Forgotten books

Forgotten Books is an on-line library of books that you can read on-line for free. They are hosted by Google. The titles are listed alphabetically. The collection has 1736 books on-line. However, almost half are unreadable due to some hosting error. But in any case this is an interesting example of what books on-line look like.

Shakespeare on the Common

As Stephanie reported last year, if you’re a Shakespeare or outdoor theater fan, you’ll want to be sure to check out this summer’s performance of The Comedy of Errors on Boston Common.  If you like you can brush up on the play ahead of time by checking out one of Snell’s copies.  The Boston Globe ran an article recently on the popularity of outdoor summer Shakespeare performances in the US. They also covered some background to the production and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company earlier this year. The Comedy of Errors is playing now through August 16, so take a picnic and enjoy it while you can!  

Bike racks!

Have I been walking into the library with my eyes shut, or are there many new bike racks all around the library? I feel certain I didn’t see them yesterday. I know many people who bike to campus, and I’m sure the additional racks for locking up are a welcome addition. It’s exciting to see these changes, and I do hope they will be well-used!

Old Meets New: 200-Year-Old Tweets?

Very interesting article on Boston.com today about John Quincy Adams’s very short diary entries and how closely they resemble “tweets,” the 140-character posts on Twitter. Now the Massachusetts Historical Society will be posting his line-a-day entries as tweets exactly 200 years later, starting tomorrow with the first entry of his trip to Russia that began August 5, 1809. You can follow John Quincy Adams on Twitter — his handle is JQAdams_MHS. What a great way to bring history alive!

Re-use

We all know we should recycle, but what about products that can’t be placed in the recycling bin? Are there ways to re-use some of these products? AltUse attempts to help you do just that, with its user-submitted suggestions for re-using everyday products. A quick look at fabric softener sheets tells me that there are 8 ways to use them that have been submitted. The interface is clunky, but the idea is good. And you can rate the use idea for the product. It’s worth a look, and can perhaps help you save money and the environment.