On Display for Hispanic Heritage Month

Visit the UCBA Library to browse a selection of print books about the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Be sure to also visit the Hispanic Heritage Month Display online guide.

Hispanic Heritage Month

 

by Christian Boyles

Book of the Month for September 2019

Your UCBA Library’s Book of the Month for September:

Money: 5000 Years of Debt and Power 

by Michel Aglietta 

Money book cover 

As the financial crisis reached its climax in September 2008, the most important figure on the planet was Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke. The whole financial system was collapsing, with little to stop it. When a senator asked Bernanke what would happen if the central bank did not carry out its rescue package, he replied, “If we don’t do this, we may not have an economy on Monday.” 

What saved finance, and the Western economy, was fiscal and monetary stimulus – an influx of money, created ad hoc. It was a strategy that raised questions about the unexamined nature of money itself, an object suddenly revealed as something other than a neutral signifier of value. Through its grip on finance and the debt system, money confers sovereign power on the economy. If confidence in money is not maintained, crises follow. Looking over the last 5,000 years, Michel Aglietta explores the development of money and its close connection to sovereign power. This book employs the tools of anthropology, history and political economy in order to analyse how political structures and monetary systems have transformed one another. We can thus grasp the different eras of monetary regulation and the crises capitalism has endured throughout its history. 

Is it checked out?  Don’t worrywe’ve got you covered: 

The Ascent of Money: a Financial History of the World (DVD)
HG171 .A83 2009 

Bestselling author, economist and historian Niall Ferguson takes a look at how money evolved, from the concept of credit and debt in the Renaissance to the emergence of a global economy and the subprime crisis we face today 

A History of Money (E-Book) 

A History of Money looks at how money as we know it developed through time. Starting with the barter system, the basic function of exchanging goods evolved into a monetary system based on coins made up of precious metals and, from the 1500s onwards, financial systems were established through which money became intertwined with commerce and trade, to settle by the mid-1800s into a stable system based upon Gold. This book presents its closing argument that, since the collapse of the Gold Standard, the global monetary system has undergone constant crisis and evolution continuing into the present day. 

Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money 
HG1710 .P68/ 2015

The notion of a new currency, maintained by the computers of users around the world, has been the butt of many jokes, but that has not stopped it from growing into a technology worth billions of dollars, supported by the hordes of followers who have come to view it as the most important new idea since the creation of the Internet. Believers from Beijing to Buenos Aires see the potential for a financial system free from banks and governments. More than just a tech industry fad, Bitcoin has threatened to decentralize some of society’s most basic institutions. An unusual tale of group invention, Digital Gold charts the rise of the Bitcoin technology through the eyes of the movement’s colorful central characters, including a British anarchist, an Argentinian millionaire, a Chinese entrepreneur, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, and Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Already, Bitcoin has led to untold riches for some, and prison terms for others. 

 

by Christian Boyles

Reduced Hours on July 12, 2019

by Heather Maloney
closed for maintenence sign
The UCBA Library will have reduced hours on Friday, July 12th from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. due to facility maintenance.  We will resume our regular Summer hours on Monday, July 15th at 8a.  Please visit our hours webpage to view all UCBA Library hours, including holidays and any exceptions to our regular schedule.

UCBA Library is Hiring!

by Elizabeth Sullivan

Now Hiring Student Workers with 3 people icons

Are you a positive, service-oriented, and reliable person?  Do you love books, technology, and helping others?  Are you looking for student employment for summer and fall semesters?  Then, a job at the library may be for you!

The UCBA Library is seeking enthusiastic student workers to join Continue reading

UCBA Faculty Research Lightning Talks

by Lauren Wahman

These short presentations will showcase faculty research and share different aspects of the research process.

Thursday, March 28 from 2:00-3:00 pm
Muntz Hall 117

Ruth Benander
Barriers and Supports: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Student Perceptions in Comp and Comm Courses

Amy Miller & Patrick Owen
Blending Ecological, Microbiological, and Molecular Techniques to Create Multifaceted Undergraduate Research Projects

Ornaith O’Dowd 
The Ethics of Microaggressions