Southern Israelite Archive

Mercer University Libraries have added the Digital Library of Georgia's Southern Israelite Archive to our database listings.

The Southern Israelite Archive spans the years 1929-1958 and 1984-1986 and includes over 22,000 images. Rabbi H. Cerf Straus established the Southern Israelite as a temple bulletin in Augusta in 1925. The publication was so popular, he expanded it into a monthly newspaper. Later in the decade, Straus sold the paper to Herman Dessauer and Sara B. Simmons, who moved the paper to Atlanta, where it began circulating state-wide and eventually throughout the South. In 1930, M. Stephen Schiffer, a former employee of the Atlanta Georgian, took over as sole owner of the Southern Israelite. Even in these earliest years, the paper not only covered the news of the southern Jewry, but also the issues that involved Jewish populations throughout the nation and world, including the Holocaust and later the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. In October of 1934, the Southern Israelite began publishing a four page weekly edition, supplemented by its established monthly magazine edition.

Ownership of the paper was turned over to a corporation headed by Israelite editor Adolph Rosenberg in 1951, while the paper continued its mission as the voice of the Jewish community in Atlanta. In October of 1958, the paper was at the forefront of the coverage of the Temple bombing in Atlanta, giving its readers a unique first hand perspective. The monthly edition of the paper was discontinued in 1973 in favor of its increasingly growing weekly edition. In 1987, the paper changed its name from the Southern Israelite to the Atlanta Jewish Times and guaranteed at least thirty-two page issues moving forward. The paper is today owned by Jewish Renaissance Media and continues as a weekly publication with a readership of over 25,000.

The Southern Israelite database is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia. Digitization is made possible by the Cuba Archives of the Breman Museum and the generosity of the Srochi family of Atlanta.

GPO’S Federal Digital System (FDsys)

The Government Printing Office (GPO) launched its Federal Digital System (FDsys) earlier this year. FDsys allows the GPO to receive information from federal agencies in all three branches of Government and create a repository for permanent, public access.

FDsys now posts congressional bills, documents and hearing testimonies; documents from the Federal Register; and bills and laws enacted since the 104th Congress.

The site also offers a daily online publication covering the president's orders, statements and remarks — the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents. Contributed by the Office of the Federal Register, it uses material from the White House Press Office.

FDsys offers incredible search capabilities for users such as: searching by Congressional Committee, by a Member of Congress's name, keyword, and date. Watch the GPO's FDsys online tutorials to know more about its search features.

This system gives the American people a one-stop site to authentic, published Government information. Recently GPO’S FDsys was named one of the best government web sites.

GPO makes government information available at no cost to the public through GPO Access (www.gpoaccess.gov), and through partnerships with 1,240 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. Tarver Library is one of the depository libraries.

Please watch this video about FDsys.

JSTOR Arts & Sciences III Collection

Tarver Library is delighted to announce the addition of JSTOR's Arts & Sciences III collection to Mercer's university-wide database holdings. Arts & Sciences III includes journals in languages and literature, as well as essential titles in the fields of music, film studies, folklore, performing arts, religion, and the history and study of art and architecture. There are 151 titles in this collection.

Mercer University's JSTOR holdings now include:
Arts & Sciences I, II, and III
Health and General Sciences.

Title lists for these collections can be found at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/archives/collections.jsp

Constitution Day

Did you know that today, September 17, is the U.S. Constitution Day? The U. S. Constitution was signed on this day 222 years ago by thirty nine brave men who changed the course of history. To celebrate this historic day, please check out some of the many Tarver Library books related to the Constitution. To locate the relevant materials, you can use the library catalog and do a Subject search for "Constitution United States". Or just click on this link to view the available books.

Also check out our Constitution Day display near the Government Documents area on the second floor of the library.

In addition, the Library of Congress Constitution Day Resources features a rich collection of primary documents, lesson plans, kids' stories, and more. Finally, a webcast discussion of The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution by Linda Monk is available for your viewing pleasure.

National Climatic Data Center Online Document Library

Being a depository library, Tarver Library has access to a fee-based database provided by the National Climatic Data Center.

The National Climatic Data Center(NCDC) is part of the United States Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Environmental Sateliite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). NCDC is the world’s largest active archive of weather data. The Online Document Library provides access to datasets and publications of the Center.

NCDC Online Document Library includes six components of the National Climatic Data:

Local Climatological Data
Climatological Data
Monthly Climate Data for the World
Monthly Normals
Storm Data
Hourly Precipitation Data

Access is only available from within the Jack Tarver Library. Please stop by and see a reference librarian for access.

DARTS - Depository Access to Reports, Technical and Scientific

A pilot project between NTIS and GPO, Depository Access to Reports, Technical and Scientific (DARTS) provides access to government-produced technical information.

DARTS features full text of over 240,000 online titles from 1964-2000 posted by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). NTIS's technical reports cover a wide variety of sciences, including physics, chemistry, environmental science, and the health, behavioral, and social sciences.

DARTS is provided by the Department of Commerce only to participating Depository libraries and requires a password that can only be obtained from librarians at the participating libraries.

Access is only available from within the Jack Tarver Library. Please stop by and see a reference librarian for access.

Hot Document in September

The World Factbook 2008

The World Factbook is a great source for information on countries and territories around the world. It provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. It features full-color maps and flags of all nations and geographical entities.

The 2008 version features several new additions. In the Geography, two fields focus on the vital resource of water: Total renewable water resources and Freshwater withdrawal. In the Economic category, three fields added for: Stock of direct foreign investment - at home, Stocks of direct foreign investment - abroad, and Market value of publicly shares. Concise descriptions of all majors religious included in the Noted and Definitions.

Want to know more about this title? Please view this link for a brief history of how facts are gathered for The World Factbook. This book is also located in our Government Documents area.