I’ve asked students in my “Writing about Literature” class to write a book review, in order to establish a connection to the literary world outside the classroom. The Purdue Online Writing Lab has a brief handout, Writing a Book Review, which begins by explaining the difference between a “book report” (written for the teacher who…
A good collection, on a well-designed page. www.readprint.com Thanks for the suggestion, Josh. Similar:Post Gazette Corrects Headline of Seton Hill iPad FollowupEveryone makes mistakes. As a student jo…AcademiaYep, it's time to read student papers on Flannery O'Connor.AcademiaWe'll Always Have Paris (TNG Rewatch: Season 1, Episode 24)Rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generatio…MediaLet Me Explain Why Miley…
When the University announced its Kindle e-reader pilot program last May, administrators seemed cautiously optimistic that the e-readers would both be sustainable and serve as a valuable academic tool. But less than two weeks after 50 students received the free Kindle DX e-readers, many of them said they were dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the devices.…
Ms Watts, from Islington, north London, said: “I asked why I couldn’t borrow a pair of scissors and she said, ‘they are sharp, you might stab me’. “I then asked to borrow a guillotine to cut up my leaflets but she refused again – because she said I could hit her over the head with…
Dear MR BAGGINS, Fellow Conspirator, I am Thorin Oakenshield, descendant of Thrain the Old and grandson of Thror who was King under the Mountain. I am writing you to discuss our plans, our ways, means, policy and devices for rescuing our treasure from the dragon Smaug. — Stephen Granade riffs on the Nigerian e-mail scam…
The Seton Hill registrar describes how her devotion to mathematics and logic has helped her serve her community. “Nearly everything I need to know, and that I currently believe, I think I’ve learned at school board meetings…. I’ve survived seven elections, I’ve been beaten up by the press, made deep friendships and bitter enemies. I’ve…
[L]ast fall, for the first time in 15 years, Ms. McNeill, 42, did not assign “Mockingbird” — or any novel. Instead she turned over all the decisions about which books to read to the students in her seventh- and eighth-grade English classes at Jonesboro Middle School in this south Atlanta suburb. Among their choices: James…
I was on the road (and away from a computer) for the past few days, on a little family outing. My wife brought along a copy of Choose-Your-Own-Adventure #4 that she picked up cheap at a library sale. The cover of this book, originally published in 1979, features a big-jawed space hero in a suit…
Colbert’s tag line brought tears to my eyes. (Thanks for the suggestion, Kerry!) The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Nailed ‘Em – Library Crime www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Tasers Similar:Kate Upton and Ryan Gosling Explain the SequesterApparently these are two famous and phys…AestheticsRatified 100 years ago today, the 19th…
This is a little late, but it’s still the right way to handle the criticism. From Amazon: This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is…
David Stanley pointed me to this thoughtful essay. Modern librarians who prioritize information over knowledge perpetuate a distraction from the real purpose of a library. A library facilitates the patient gathering of knowledge – whose acquisition is superior to almost every other endeavor. Religions have adapted to technology for the most part without being destroyed…
This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for–thought they owned.–David Pogue, NYT The citizens whose Kindles needed rectification had purchased unauthorized George Orwell books. So 1984 disappeared down the…
A bit predictable, but still enjoyable. Similar:Dissecting a Frog: How to Write a Humor PieceAnalyzing humor, as E.B. White famously …AmusingI did not know how much I would appreciate this detailed exploration of Star Trek: TOS pro…I’m amazed at the level of detail that w…AwesomeTuxedo Pooh Reads Oscar Wilde I spent an hour on this.…
Older words also making their debut as a result of renewed interest online: sock puppet (a false identity used to manipulate opinions in online forums) and fan fiction. (Via Guardian) Similar:The News from Ferguson – Live, on Twitter[I]t turns out that Twitter is not just …AcademiaMurder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell…
From a thoughtful review of the Kindle: The Kindle DX’s five-way joystick is quick, convenient, and expertly designed. (Plastic Logic’s touch screen really isn’t markedly better than using Amazon’s joy stick, but that’s because the touch options are fairly rudimentary.) The problem is the dearth of good places to direct the cursor. That’s a real…
Chris Anderson is best-known for championing the long tail (marketing to the niche customers who fill out the trailing end of a demographics chart, rather than trying to create products to please the mass market) and has been promoting a book on the topic. One of the early reviewers for his book identified great swaths…
I have not yet bought a Kindle, though I’d like one. However, this bit of news gives me pause. It’s exactly the worry that has kept me from sinking money into a proprietary format. Here’s Dan Cohen, explaining what he learned from an Amazon customer service rep, after some of the books he purchased failed…
Roundtable Chair. Charlie Lowe, Grand Valley State University Scott Banville, University of Nevada, Reno David Blakesley, Purdue University How can open source software, open access publishing, and commons-based peer production (CBPP) principles help us to create a sustainable university? How can they positively impact the social and economic development of the university and expand the…
Chair. Bonnie Kyburz, Utah Valley State University Planning for Sustainability in Multimodal First-Year Composition Programs Michele Ninacs, Buffalo State College Fast, Free, and On the ‘Net: The Story of a Self-Published Textbook Steve Krause, Eastern Michigan University How College Textbook Publishers Will Thrive in Ubiquity. Or Die Trying. Nick Carbone, Bedford/St. Martin’s Similar:Orson Welles Radio…
I enjoy steampunk, a cultural aesthetic which celebrates what both ordinary and extraordinary things might look like, had technology progressed along the lines that Jules Verne and his contemporaries imagined. As a literary subgenre, it imagines that the immeasurable power of steam has opened the skies, leading legions of top-hatted gentlemen-explorers and parasol-wielding adventuresses to…