Hours Change for New Years Eve

On Thursday, December 31, the library will close at 1600.  The rest of the holiday hours will remain the same, and can be found at http://carl.army.mil/hours.asp

ARCHIVES CLOSED

The Archives Department and the Documents Department located on the 3rd
floor of the CARL are closed for renovations to improve the climate
control system.


From now to April 2010 Archives and Documents will not be able to
retrieve materials or answer archival research in preparation for the
renovation.


After April 2010 Archives and Documents will be on the 1st floor to
provide reference to assist in finding sources which are available
online or at other institutions but will not be able to retrieve CARL
archival or document materials as the collections will be in storage.


We expect the renovation to take about a year. Faculty, students, and
researchers should be aware that third floor materials will not be
available during that time.

CARL holiday hours

The CARL will be running on reduced hours for the holiday season.

Holiday Break -- 21-23 Dec 2009 -- 0700-1700
Holiday Break -- 24 Dec 2009 -- 0700-1200
Holiday Break -- 25-27 Dec 2009 -- CLOSED
Holiday break -- 28-31 Dec 2009 -- 0700-1700
Holiday Break -- 1-3 Jan 2010 -- CLOSED

On January 4th, we will resume our normal hours of operation.

Audio Book Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

What would happen if, not only did the Bennet daughters have to contend with a zombies, in addition to their need and desire to marry well?

Fortunately, authors Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith have answered this question for us, and provide a humorous look at life, love and duty in the time of the regiency zombie-apocslypse. Katherine Kellgren's dulcet and cultured tones remind the listener of BBC period dramas played on PBS in the afternoon, albeit with the occational interruption for zombie slaying and violence.

Overall, it's a fun look at the world of class drama among the upper crust of society, because even one's own ability to kill a zombie has a greater meaning in the social hierarchy.

This audiobook is available via CARL and the State Library of Kansas' subscription to Overdrive. If you would like more information about accessing Overdrive, please talk to any of the librarians.

MMAS Theses online

The Birrer-Brookes Award winner and nominee papers for the 2009-02 CGSC class are now in the digital library.

The theses can be found here, in the CARL's digital library. Other MMAS theses from this class will added to the digital archive as soon as they become available.

Overdrive audio books

Did you know that you can download audiobooks, music, videos and other materials from the library, straight to your desktop or MP3 player?

CARL subscribes to a service called "Overdrive" through the State Library of Kansas. You can browse Overdrive at http://kansas.lib.overdrive.com/ to see what titles are available, but you'll need a Kansas State Library card to actually "check out" audio books and other materials. If you don't already have one, the library staff at CARL can help!

Once you have a card and access, you can check out new adult titles in every genre, including romance, mystery, thriller, and even radio classics! Overdrive also has kid and young adult titles such as Pendragon, The Tale of Desperaux, Charlie Bone and more. Audio books are great for early literacy and reluctant readers, because while reading teaches language and vocabulary, being read aloud to teaches kids pronunciation, context, rhythm and pacing.

Audio books are great for a long drive, or a workout (and are MUCH safer than reading a book while running!), or just for fun while you're cooking and cleaning this holiday season.

CARL closing early today

Due to the weather, the CARL will close today at 1700. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Book Review: The Killing Joke

(Found in the Graphic Novel section at CARL)

The Killing Joke is the story of One Bad Day. The Batman had a bad day once. It informed the rest of his life. So did the Joker. Now the Joker is out to give Jim Gordon the worst day of his life, just to prove that that is all it takes to move someone from 'normal guy' to insanity.

This "one-shot" Batman story was written in the 80's by comic great Alan Moore (The Watchmen, V for Vendetta, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc) but still holds up to modern audiences. There's a level of grit and violence that moves away from the lighthearted 1960's Superfriends and brings the story of the Dark Knight and his oldest enemy into a darker and perhaps more realistic context.

Some ideas were lifted (lovingly) from this comic and used to great effect in The Dark Knight, such as the idea of the Joker as an agent of chaos, and the Joker's attempt to take eveyrthing away from a "good man," in an attempt to drive him to madness. It's not a story for kids, or the faint of heart. It is a valuable piece of comic book history that explores the psychology behind the hero and the villian and what it takes to make someone either.

CARL closing early on Friday, Dec. 11th

Friday, December 11th, the CARL will be closing at 1130 for its anual holiday party.

Normal hours will resume the following day, Saturday the 12th.

Thank you for your understanding, and please have a safe and joyful holiday season. We look forward to seeing you soon!

New Graphic Novel collection

Watch this space! You may have seen the signs around the library recently: CARL is in the process of creating a new Graphic Novel collection. We're adding a host of new titles, including The Watchmen, Batman: Hush, Jersey Gods, Ultimate Spider-Man and Amelia Rules! and bringing other titles such as Dean Koontz' Frankenstein and Allstar Superman to a central location. The collection will be located on the second floor, near the Women's Vietnam Memorial. We hope that by moving the books, previously located in the New Non-Fiction section on the first floor, the Young Adult section, and the second floor Non-Fiction section to a single collection, we will be making it easier for our patrons to locate these items. If there are graphic novels that you don't see on the shelves, feel free to check our catalog and place a hold, if the library owns it. If we do not own it, let us know, and we can purchase the graphic novel for our collection, or get it for you via Inter-Library Loan (ILL).