The official schedule for the Fourth Annual International Festival has been released!  The festival will take place Saturday, September 28th at Spragins Hall.  Please see below, and contact Belinda Ong if you have any questions.

Thanks to everyone who made Fall Open House at Salmon Library a success!  Check out all our pictures from the event!

Couldn’t make it to the library for Open House and wish you could be eligible for a prize too?  Don’t forget- we have a photo contest going on until September 20th.  Take a creative picture at Salmon Library with the #SalmonLib13 on Facebook, Twitter, OR Instagram.  Our top 5 favorites will be getting a special prize!

On Tuesday, September 10^th from 11am-3pm we will have fun activities, free lunch, and the chance to win free prizes at Salmon Library!  Our large prize this year is a tablet!  All Faculty, Staff, Alumni of UAH are invited to participate in Open House.

**Participants in our Open House MUST follow us on either Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram to find out if they have won any prizes!**  So don’t wait and become a fan of us today!

Don’t think you can come by the library on Tuesday?  Don’t worry, you can still register to win a prize by participating in our first ever Photo Contest!

We look forward to seeing you at the Salmon Library Fall Open House!

It’s simple, all you have to do is take a creative picture at Salmon Library on Tuesday September 10th during Open House (11am-3pm), post on Facebook, Twitter, OR Instagram with official hashtag #SalmonLib13 

If you can’t be here during Open House, we will be accepting picture submissions at #SalmonLib13 until September 20th.

We will be selecting our top 5 favorite pictures and giving out special prizes to the winners.  We look forward to seeing your photos!

HUNTSVILLE, ALA.:  Each fall, the International Society of Huntsville and UAHuntsville present the ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF NORTH ALABAMA (iFest)!

Our fourth year’s festivities will be held on Saturday, September 28^th from 10:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. in the Gymnasium, Parking, and Sidewalk areas of Spragins Hall, 1070 Ben Graves Drive, NW on the UAHuntsville campus.

The iFest is a one-day, family-friendly spectacular―Open to the Public, with NO Admission Charge―and links with the Alabama Tourism Bureau’s “Year of Alabama Food” promotion.  Join us for:

• 11:30 a.m. – On, West Parking Lot Area (Tent):  a $5 Sampling of International Comfort Foods―a festival favorite!  Savor such delights as Bœuf Bourguignon (France); Bulgogi (Korea); Tofu Pad Thai (Thailand); Satay Ayam (Malaysia); and Mupunga une Dovi (Zimbabwe)
• 2:00 p.m. – On, Gymnasium Area:  International Dessert/Snack Samplings from many of the participating nations!  Examples include:  Chrusciki (Angel Wing Cookies), Strudel Jabłkowy (Apple Strudel), Sernik (Cheesecake), & Oranżada (Citrus Soft Drink)—Poland; Tiramisu & Espresso—Italy; Baklava—Turkey & Palestine; Anzak Biscuits (Rolled Oat/Coconut Cookies)—Australia; Zoolbia (Crunchy Persian Pastries) & Iranian Tea—Iran; Biscochitos(Sugar/Cinnamon Wedding Cookies)—Mexico; and Trung Nguyên (Deep-Roast, Heirloom Coffee)—Vietnam
• All Day, West Parking Lot Area (Tent):  A wealth of Global Performances, from Folk Dance and Traditional Instrumentals to Ethnic Song and Martial Arts.  Expect to see such artists as:  Fitness Arts Center Irish Dancers (Traditional Step Dancing); The Little German Band (Waltz/Polka/Military/March Music from Austria & Germany); Center for Kuchipudi Art (Classical Dance from State of Andhra Pradesh, India); the UAH Salsa Club (Latin American Dance); and Heidi Kaeding (Ehru (Chinese Three-Stringed Instrument) Performance)
• All Day, Gymnasium Area:  FREE, Hands-on Children’s Activities, ranging from: Making Boomerangs (Australia) to creating Flowers w/Caribbean Flag “Petals” (Caribbean Islands), crafting Crowns (British Isles), and a chance to write your name in Greek (Greece) and/or Kiss the Blarney Stone (Ireland)!
• All Day, Gymnasium Area:  Transnational Table Displays featuring Cultural Artifacts, Flags, Travel/Historic Literature, Handicrafts, Native Apparel, Maps, Educational Videos, and so much more!
• All Day, Front Sidewalk Area:  A Cutout (a.k.a. “Stand-In” or “Character Stand”) Lineup in Traditional Clothing, offering great photo ops!

For 2013, the iFest Spotlight Country is Colombia—watch for their showcase!  Our Featured Performers are Step Afrika!, a Washington-based “percussive dance troupe” sponsored by the UAHuntsville Office of Student Affairs and dedicated to the tradition of stepping and its use as an educational, motivational, and healthy tool.

Other campus organizations supporting the fest include the Student Government Association; Office of Diversity; Office of Advancement; M. Louis Salmon Library; Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA); and the Indian Student Organization (ISO).

Though many of the school’s students and faculty assist in presenting the iFest, this extravaganza’s source of power comes from the volunteers within the North Alabama community, particularly those associated with transnational organizations.  Nations as diverse as Poland, Thailand, India, Ghana, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ireland, Australia, Nepal, Turkey, Panama, Egypt, Greece, and MORE (37 nations in all!) will be represented in 2013…and each year is bigger and better than the last.

For more information, visit www.internationalsocietyofhuntsville.org or the ISH Facebook page, or contact Belinda Ong at (256) 824-6432 or ongb@uah.edu.  One can also visit the individual organizations’ websites and the iFest event page on Facebook.

Bring the entire family and join your friends and neighbors in celebrating the MOSAIC that is NORTH ALABAMA!

About the International Society of Huntsville…

The goal of the organization is “to bring diverse international citizens together for social interaction and cultural awareness in the general region of Huntsville, Alabama.”  It is the goal of the Society to establish a permanent International Festival (iFest) for Northern Alabama along the scale of those in Birmingham and Mobile.  You can follow them on Facebook.

Drop-in office hours with a Reference Librarian!  We will be having a graduate student orientation on September 12^th and 13^th from 1-3pm in Room 210 of Salmon Library.  Free pizza included!  Come by and ask us anything, including (but not limited to) how to submit interlibrary loan requests, how to access UAH Theses and Dissertations, and how to use Zotero (free citation management software).

For more information, contact us at erefq@uah.edu  We look forward to meeting you!

Matthew Nolfo from Bloomberg will be joining us to provide an introduction to Bloomberg and a company walkthrough and analysis.  This session is ideal for business students new to using the Bloomberg terminal available to you in Salmon Library.  Don’t forget that you can earn a “certificate” in using Bloomberg by completing the training modules.  Be sure to ask how at the training!

Please join us on August 28^th from 4-5pm in room 111!  If you have any questions, please contact us at 256-824-3529.

The UA System Scholars Institute is hosted each year on a rotating basis by one of the three University of Alabama campuses and is open to faculty, staff, and administration attendance from all three campuses.  The Scholars Institute supports collaboration among faculty and administration system-wide, and encourages a shared community of knowledge for implementing best practices into the use of technology in the teaching, learning, and research processes.

This year’s was hosted at the UAHuntsville campus.  Please check out the photos below!