Read, Listen, Watch

Staff Picks and Suggestions

Library Liberty

The library, with a partially respectful nod to the SC’s recent partial protection of Habeas Corpus, might be the last functional democratic institution around. Serves the demos, check. Equality, check. Transparency, check. Meritocratic, check. You get the point. But, check this. Librarians subvert, like founding fathers but different imperials and less with the slavery and Caucasian patriarchy. They actually care about information and an informed, civil society, that is, news. I mean real news: the stuff that “they” don’t want you to know, and not the standard gossip columns, celeb reviews, and adverts that are sold between commercials at 6, 10 and now at 11 as well. News about the restriction of news just doesn’t seem to make it on the telly so much. Back to the librarians. The American Library Association has a commando called the Intellectual Freedom Committee. Unlike most committees, this one doesn’t suck. Instead, it puts out a Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom–a real news source. You just probably never heard of it because it is a real news source and thus non-profitable and sometimes embarrassing to the point of being anti-profitable and thus democratic. This library has this title in current periodicals @ Z1.N7400 or for you Law folks out there, click here to get started. This is just one little tidbit of the system busting stuff that lives in the Library. Don’t tell anyone, because if the word gets out, the rules might change and information might not flow anymore…say in something called the Patriot Act…

In the Woods and other fun stuff

I just recently finished the fairly new book, In the Woods by Tana French.  I had seen this book displayed in a Barnes and Noble, read the synopses, and immediately felt the need to read it.  It had a very promising plot line: In 1984, three 12-year-old friends go missing in the woods of Knocknaree, Ireland.  One boy is found clinging to a tree with blood in his shoes and no memory of what happened to himself and his friends.  His two friends were never found.  The book takes place over 20 years later where this boy is now a 30-something detective who gets assigned to a murder case in Knocknaree.  There are pieces of evidence found that connect back to his 1984 case.  The detective struggles throughout the book with trying to remember the events that happened in the woods, as well as struggling with his current difficult case. This book had suspense, an intricate plot, poetic language, and… the worst ending I have ever read.  Without giving away too much detail, the worst thing you can do to a character as a writer-worst than killing them off- is set them up to be a very real, human, compassionate character that is very identifiable to the reader.  Then, make their life completely miserable and end the book without any hope or resolution for the reader to hold onto, “Sorry, but that’s the way life goes sometimes.  You can’t always get what you want!”  This is exactly what French did with this book and I was left feeling extremely empty at the end. If you (for some reason) feel a desire to read this book, we unfortunately do not have this book at Snell Library.  I didn’t want to pay the $14 at Barnes and Noble, so I ordered it through the Virtual Catalog. As I promised in a previous post on library school, I will post my websites for all to see with the same warning: I am not a very good website-maker! Tricia’s Writing And as a bonus, my final site for the same Web Design class!: All About Fred!

Today’s Bloomsday!

Ulysses June 16, the day Joyce’s “Ulysses” takes place, is the time to have a Guiness, re-read your favorite passages (also here) or, if you’re near a radio or computer tonight, listen to WBAI in New York which is broadcasting some passages read aloud, along with period music. In the Boston area, there’s a festival on the Boston College Campus, and another at Back Pages Books in Waltham. The NU Libraries (PR 6019 .O9 on the Snell Third Floor) have several copies, along with essays, readers companions, adaptations, and so on nearby.

Facebook

The Library has a facebook group: I Love NU Libraries!  Joining is a great way to stay up to date on Library events, as well as show your support for the Library.  Join and invite student and faculty friends to do the same.  You can also see promotional videos, along with photos and recordings of past events.  For the fall semester, were going to be looking to increase discussion about our program authors and their books, through the facebook group.  Stay tuned!

Britannica to launch collaborative site

Britannica logo Britannica has just announced that it’s developing what seems to be a parallel site in which end-users can contribute content to the Encyclopedia as they do in Wikipedia. It looks like the user-contributed content will appear side by side with their original content (which will be marked “Britannica checked” to distinguish it from the flotsam and jetsam of the hoi polloi). A beta version of the new Britannical Online is available. It’s not clear to me exactly how the user-contributed content is going to be associated with the regular academic Encyclopedia Britannica, which NU has already by subscription. When I go to the new site it thinks I’m logged in, and recognizes me as “Northeastern University,” although I don’t seem to be able to actually contribute anything (not that I’m sure what I could/would contribute). I have some quarrels with the new site, notably the insufferable amount of advertising especially for a subscription service. Some small things, like a “return to home page” button have probably just been overlooked since this is still beta. I like the article layout better than the traditional encyclopedia site. Another good thing and a plus over Wikipedia is that all the content will be signed and contributors (yes, that means you!) will submit a profile, no anonymous posting allowed.