As the semester winds down, it seems like a good opportunity to take a look at some ways you can occupy yourself over break and locate interesting material for classes in the spring. Let's take a look at some sources for free, high quality video available online. Please note that in preparing this list I have avoided some of the more familiar sources that primarily provide brief clips of programs or only recent episodes of current programs online.
Today internet users can pick and choose from far more than synchronized Christmas light shows and surfing parrots when they watch video online, all while still watching material that is both legal and free. Most people know about Hulu, the online home of a backlog of "classic" television shows, 2nd and 3rd run movies, and episodes of some current season shows. But far fewer people are aware of the availability of the Internet Movie Archive, a treasure trove of silent and unusual feature films, government films, news reels, and documentaries.
A smaller trove of films, strictly documentaries, is accessible via SnagFilms. Snag links to such well known documentary producers as the National Film Board of Canada, Lionsgate, National Geographic, and New Media. Currently viewers can view such major films as the Buena Vista Social Club, Super Size Me, Run Granny Run, Hacking Democracy, and The Times of Harvey Milk on the site. However, it's important to realize that Snag does not necessarily provide access to all of the films available on a particular site it snags from. For example, although it pulls from PBS, it only scratches the surface of this rich source of educational and documentary video. Among the shows that can be viewed extensively online are those from the American Experience, Nova, Nature, and Art21.
Looking for something inspiring or challenging? Try TED Talks. The TED series (Technology, Entertainment and Design) seek out leading thinkers and artists and ask them to present 18 minutes (approximately) worth of their ideas or performance. The subject matter can be anything from astrophysics to zoos while the performances can be in any art form. What they are all guaranteed to be is interesting. Check out some of these particularly popular talks: Ken Robinson on how schools kill creativity, Julian Assange on why the world needs Wikileaks, Jill Bolte Taylor's Stroke of insight, and Conrad Wolfram on teaching kids real math with computers. Another source of rhetorical inspiration can be found on American Rhetoric, a website dedicated to public speaking. On this site you can watch videos of powerful speakers at their best -- both real life speakers and some of the best scenes of cinema speechifying (although be aware that these change on a rotational basis for copyright reasons).
Sites that provide high quality content connected to their own cable channels and organizations are good sites to be aware of as well. For example, the Smithsonian Channel provides access to a lot of clips and several full-length programs on its site, although content is likely to change over time. Similarly National Geographic offers a lot of its material available as full episodes online. For those interested specifically in science video, Sixty Symbols, a website sponsored by the University of Nottingham, offers short videos focusing on the symbols used in astronomy in physics. AcademicEarth provides access to a variety of online courses on video, but among these is a series of videos of human anatomical dissection.
In terms of videos related to history and politics, the pickings are diverse and interesting. HaveFunWithHistory.com provides access to a wide collection of videos, mostly documentary in nature, but some old newsreel footage of the type that can be tracked down in the Internet Movie Archive. The American Memory Project of the Library of Congress includes a motion picture collection, of which 16 collections have been digitized into streaming media files available online. For those interested in politics and current affairs, nothing is quite so rich as C-SPAN's Video Library, which includes not only the recordings of floor debates and testimony, but also noteworthy events like Ted Kennedy's funeral, Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Rally and White House correspondents' dinners.
Vimeo is a site that focuses on user-created video, but the users who upload video to the site tend to be people interested in getting certain kinds of high-quality information on video. So there are large collections of animation and amateur film, as well as well as videos about film making techniques and technology. It also includes music, comedy and art videos as well as science and nature videos, including whole sections on physics and chemistry. Vimeo also has several ongoing projects that users can participate in, such as "What I Like About You", "10 Second Question" and "Me Right Now".
Finally, if nothing here suits your needs, one tool that can help you find video resources on the web is OVGuide while you can also try searching using Google Video or just adding the term "video" to a regular search with a search engine. Also bear in mind that most government agencies produce and publish video to the web that may be of interest. Search the entirety of the U.S. government web via USA.gov.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Shopping Gone Wild!
The Thanksgiving holiday marks the beginning of Shoppers Gone Wild, the annual rite of consumerism that begins with Black Friday and only ends with the after-Christmas sales. Whether or not you become part of the American retail engine that engages this weekend, its history and elements are intriguing. Time magazine runs down the history of Black Friday in this article, explaining how the term originally referred to a nineteenth-century economic crash. Only later did "black" assume a more positive meaning, referring to a retailers being "in the black" of profit rather than the "red ink" of loss. Black Friday has found its online corollary in Cyber Monday, the bane of employers everywhere. Paste Magazine offers this brief history of the quasi-official start to the online shopping season.
Most Wanted
No discussion of holiday shopping would be complete without a look back at the "it" toy of Christmases past. Buysight Insights provides a picture of all of the most popular toys from 1960 through 2008 while Forbes offers some information about popular toys from the last 100 years. To get an in-depth view of some of the most popular toys of all time, check out the National Toy Hall of Fame, where you can find out about individual inductees, like 2010's game of Life and the Deck of Cards. Hubpages offers up its core list of 2010's most wanted gifts as well as some specialized lists as well. And Listverse offers some cautionary advice with a list of the Top 10 Most Returned Gifts.
Dark Side of Shopping
But for many people, shopping seems to have a dark side. Although it has yet to be officially recognized by the American Psychological Association (it has been recognized by the comparable German organization (Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen), Compulsive Buying Disorder is certainly receiving more attention as purchasing becomes easier and easier using electronic methods. This article in World Psychiatry is just an example. Think you or someone you know may have problems with shopping? Here's a great list of warning signs and behavioral patterns of people who shop in unhealthy ways.
Choosing to Not Shop
Not everyone opts to participate in the annual shopping fest, and some choose to go so far as to actively protest it by participating in an event called Buy Nothing Day. Buying nothing, as the organization's site makes clear, is harder than you think when you include those little unnoticed purchases like interest accrual. Here's Adbusters recommended carnivalesque alternatives to shopping on Friday. But Buy Nothing has generated criticism, much of it from the political left.
Whether you buy or don't buy, have a great beginning to the holiday season!
Most Wanted
No discussion of holiday shopping would be complete without a look back at the "it" toy of Christmases past. Buysight Insights provides a picture of all of the most popular toys from 1960 through 2008 while Forbes offers some information about popular toys from the last 100 years. To get an in-depth view of some of the most popular toys of all time, check out the National Toy Hall of Fame, where you can find out about individual inductees, like 2010's game of Life and the Deck of Cards. Hubpages offers up its core list of 2010's most wanted gifts as well as some specialized lists as well. And Listverse offers some cautionary advice with a list of the Top 10 Most Returned Gifts.
Dark Side of Shopping
But for many people, shopping seems to have a dark side. Although it has yet to be officially recognized by the American Psychological Association (it has been recognized by the comparable German organization (Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen), Compulsive Buying Disorder is certainly receiving more attention as purchasing becomes easier and easier using electronic methods. This article in World Psychiatry is just an example. Think you or someone you know may have problems with shopping? Here's a great list of warning signs and behavioral patterns of people who shop in unhealthy ways.
Choosing to Not Shop
Not everyone opts to participate in the annual shopping fest, and some choose to go so far as to actively protest it by participating in an event called Buy Nothing Day. Buying nothing, as the organization's site makes clear, is harder than you think when you include those little unnoticed purchases like interest accrual. Here's Adbusters recommended carnivalesque alternatives to shopping on Friday. But Buy Nothing has generated criticism, much of it from the political left.
Whether you buy or don't buy, have a great beginning to the holiday season!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Plagiarism--Identify Theft of the Mind
As it gets toward the end of the academic term, it seems like a good opportunity to look over one of the thorniest academic and ethical problems -- plagiarism. With the advent of the internet, plagiarism assumed a whole new aspect in academia as the ease of the "copy" and "paste" functions made it so much simpler to manipulate blocks of text, not to mention artwork and other media. This development led to the rise and (because this is America) adjudication of plagiarism detectors such as Turnitin.com, currently used by DACC. The result is an arms race of intellectual technology.
On its surface, plagiarism seems like a relatively easy to understand concept. Here's the definition from the Student Rights and Responsibilities section in the DACC Student Handbook: "Plagiarism: Representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise. It is the student’s responsibility to properly summarize and/or paraphrase content derived from information sources and to give proper credit to each original source (according to the course documentation of citation standard), when the student has used thoughts, words, or any content from other sources in the completion of assignments."
Cultural Misunderstandings
But the problems of plagiarism often arise from communication failure. Often students simply aren't clear on exactly what constitutes plagiarism. For example, what is viewed as plagiarism, or perhaps more accurately, serious academic plagiarism, can vary culturally. Washington State University offers a good general overview of this situation, while Concordia University summarizes a study by Andrew Ryder that demonstrates that what is plagiarism in the United States is good academic practice in other locations. Al Jamiat, a site dedicated to helping Middle-Eastern students be more successful in U.S. colleges and universities, makes it even clearer by means of a concrete example.
What to Cite
Another tricky aspect of the plagiarism problem for students arises from the issue of what constitutes Common Knowledge, that cloudy area of information that does not require citation because of its intimate familiarity. Yale Univeristy demonstrates just how murky these waters can get in an excellent site addressing the topic. Adams State College offers some additional help on making decisions about common knowledge, while Springfield Township High School's Virtual Library makes one distinction particularly nicely on its page -- the importance of citing an author's interpretation of the significance of a particular piece of common knowledge. Both the Yale and the Adams State sites emphasize the importance of students clarifying with instructors (and by inference, instructors clarifying with students) the types of things viewed as common knowledge within their own field.
When to Cite
Even when citation is needed is not quite as simple as it first looks. The answer can vary from one discipline to the next and even from one situation to another. Yale University again offers some helpful demonstrations of the problems as well as some guidelines, including situations, such as lab work and computer programs, that move beyond the simple "research paper" context that are the only introduction many students may ever get to the topic. Unfortunately, depending on their program or point in their program where they are at, many students may never get or have gotten that by the time they encounter a particular assignment. Plagiarism.org provides a useful list of many reasons that students unintentionally plagiarize information through a variety of misunderstandings.
Two important skills students need to learn, and that instructors can encourage students to continue to develop in place of extensive quotation, are how to paraphrase and summarize works properly. Here are sites that offer help on these invaluable skills: Plagiarism.org, the Online Writing Lab at Purdue, and Yale. DACC's own Writer's Room can also offer assistance in this area (as well as citation) and students should be encouraged to visit it for assistance.
Plagiarism Education
Given the various factors complicating students' understanding of plagiarism, the key to reducing plagiarism is assignment design and communication. Washington State University offers strategies to help reduce the problem. Part of that education is to provide students with a grounded understanding of why citation is important, something that most conceive of in only the vaguest terms. Some students may even believe that citing their work makes it look as though they only copied others' ideas, and it is important to clarify this misconception. For instructors who want to help their students improve their knowledge of plagiarism, here's a nifty online tutorial and quiz students can take to help them (and you!) improve their general understanding. Discipline specifics, however, will still depend on the instructor-student relationship.
On its surface, plagiarism seems like a relatively easy to understand concept. Here's the definition from the Student Rights and Responsibilities section in the DACC Student Handbook: "Plagiarism: Representing the words or ideas of another as one’s own in any academic exercise. It is the student’s responsibility to properly summarize and/or paraphrase content derived from information sources and to give proper credit to each original source (according to the course documentation of citation standard), when the student has used thoughts, words, or any content from other sources in the completion of assignments."
Cultural Misunderstandings
But the problems of plagiarism often arise from communication failure. Often students simply aren't clear on exactly what constitutes plagiarism. For example, what is viewed as plagiarism, or perhaps more accurately, serious academic plagiarism, can vary culturally. Washington State University offers a good general overview of this situation, while Concordia University summarizes a study by Andrew Ryder that demonstrates that what is plagiarism in the United States is good academic practice in other locations. Al Jamiat, a site dedicated to helping Middle-Eastern students be more successful in U.S. colleges and universities, makes it even clearer by means of a concrete example.
What to Cite
Another tricky aspect of the plagiarism problem for students arises from the issue of what constitutes Common Knowledge, that cloudy area of information that does not require citation because of its intimate familiarity. Yale Univeristy demonstrates just how murky these waters can get in an excellent site addressing the topic. Adams State College offers some additional help on making decisions about common knowledge, while Springfield Township High School's Virtual Library makes one distinction particularly nicely on its page -- the importance of citing an author's interpretation of the significance of a particular piece of common knowledge. Both the Yale and the Adams State sites emphasize the importance of students clarifying with instructors (and by inference, instructors clarifying with students) the types of things viewed as common knowledge within their own field.
When to Cite
Even when citation is needed is not quite as simple as it first looks. The answer can vary from one discipline to the next and even from one situation to another. Yale University again offers some helpful demonstrations of the problems as well as some guidelines, including situations, such as lab work and computer programs, that move beyond the simple "research paper" context that are the only introduction many students may ever get to the topic. Unfortunately, depending on their program or point in their program where they are at, many students may never get or have gotten that by the time they encounter a particular assignment. Plagiarism.org provides a useful list of many reasons that students unintentionally plagiarize information through a variety of misunderstandings.
Two important skills students need to learn, and that instructors can encourage students to continue to develop in place of extensive quotation, are how to paraphrase and summarize works properly. Here are sites that offer help on these invaluable skills: Plagiarism.org, the Online Writing Lab at Purdue, and Yale. DACC's own Writer's Room can also offer assistance in this area (as well as citation) and students should be encouraged to visit it for assistance.
Plagiarism Education
Given the various factors complicating students' understanding of plagiarism, the key to reducing plagiarism is assignment design and communication. Washington State University offers strategies to help reduce the problem. Part of that education is to provide students with a grounded understanding of why citation is important, something that most conceive of in only the vaguest terms. Some students may even believe that citing their work makes it look as though they only copied others' ideas, and it is important to clarify this misconception. For instructors who want to help their students improve their knowledge of plagiarism, here's a nifty online tutorial and quiz students can take to help them (and you!) improve their general understanding. Discipline specifics, however, will still depend on the instructor-student relationship.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Illinois' Native American Heritage
Chief Illiniwek
For many in downstate Illinois, the mention of the word "Indian" is most likely to conjure up the image and controversy over the former symbol of the University of Illinois. That this issue stirs deep feelings in people can be seen by the recent flare-up over a Homecoming event and the push by some for the University to adopt a new mascot. Many people who can argue passionately on the subject of the Chief know little about the true history of the Illinois people (the term Illini, by the way, is a misnomer, a meaningless term), a group of interconnected tribes that numbered at least a dozen at one point and have been reduced to one relocated tribe today -- the Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma that actually contains two of the original Illinois tribes as well as the Wea and Piankashaw tribes. The Confederated Peoria shared their reservation with a portion of the Miami tribe as well. In any case, the Illinois are not an "extinct nation" but rather one whose current status has largely been misunderstood and misrepresented by outsiders.
The entire mascot issue is a vexed one for some people. They don't understand why a beloved tradition is causing such an uproar and think people are just too sensitive, while others can't understand why people have difficulty grasping the way in which racial or ethnic mascots demean people. The Honor the Chief society typifies local groups efforts to resist challenges to beloved school symbols. On the other side, Blue Corn Comics offers a good overview of why Native American mascots and logos dehumanize the people they depict. The Peoria tribe's own view on the Chief was made clear when it sent a copy of its resolution requesting the University of Illinois to cease use of Chief Illiniwek to the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media (Item 50.) Similarly the tribe was present when votes were taken on all resolutions by the National Congress of American Indians protesting any use of Indian "mascots, logos and symbols" as perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
Heritage and Identity
One of the thorny difficulties related to American Indian life today is that of identity. This factor comes up in relation to mascot controversies when people cite different poll numbers that allow individuals to self-identify as Native American. In these instances it is important to determine how pollsters identified their polling population. Even the population who identified themselves on the census as belonging to a Native ethnic group struggle with with what being Native American means and who exactly is one. Excellent essays on this subject can be found in the library's American Mosaic: The American Indian Experience database (user ID and password required off campus). For readers interested in exploring their own Native American heritage, TribalDirectory offers information on how to begin.
Black Hawk
Illinois's most famous Native American historical figure is probably Black Hawk, although there are certainly others with ties to the state that played important historical roles, such as Ely Parker and Keokuk. This legendary leader of the Sauk led his people in a war against the U.S. army over what the Sauk and Fox nations saw as an illegal treaty (or at best a misunderstanding) that was forcing them to surrender lands they regarded as theirs in Illinois and move across the Mississippi. For a detailed look at the events and personalities of the war, check out the Black Hawk War of 1832 sponsored by Northern Illinois University's Lincoln/Net digitization project. Black Hawk's autobiography is available for free online through Project Gutenberg.
Cahokia Mounds
The largest archeological site in the United States is here in Illinois at Cahokia Mounds, which is the largest prehistoric Native American city north of Mexico. It also includes the third largest pyramid in the Americas in Monks Mound. During the period from 1,100 to 1,200 A.D. this city, the name of which remains unknown, covered more than 6 square miles and encompassed a population of more than 15,000 and 20,000. It would be more than 600 years before another city in what is now the U.S. would attain this population (Philadelphia) and by that point the Cahokia were long gone. Another factor making the Cahokia site unique is the apparent large scale human sacrifice that was included as cultural practice during at least part of their existence, at least according to Cahokia scholar Timothy Pauketat. This Washington Post story provides a good summary of the civilization and its history.
Piasa Monster
And finally for flights of fancy, few beat Alton, Illinois' Piasa Bird or Piasa Monster. According to some, the Piasa bird is a legendary beast portrayed in a petroglyph by the Illinois Indians on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. Others remain firmly convinced that the "legend" was a story crafted by whites in the 1800s. In either case, it remains an engaging story of the way the two cultures interact with one another.
Explore other interesting sources of American Indian heritage at: the Native American Heritage Month site, which provides access to all of the major government resources related to the celebration.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Comics: A Brave New World
For those of you who saw the Holy Homework, Batman! Comics in the Classroom! presentation at in-service, the powerpoint is now available online. It includes a useful, partially annotated bibliography for those interested in exploring the subject further. You can access the presentation through the Faculty Information link on the Library's Home Page, where you will also find information on how to make student research projects more successful, the value of scheduling research instruction to improve student success, how to put materials and textbooks on reserve and the advantages to your students of doing so, and how to request that library purchase specific materials.
The possibilities for enjoying and working with comics have multiplied radically with the internet. Just as comics themselves have undergone a revolution in content, style and genre, the ways in which people can interact with them have as well. Interested in finding comics? Various comics can be read online, from contemporary strip comics at Comics.com to some of the more obscure (and justifiably so -- yes, I'm referring to you Yank and Doodle) Golden Age titles. Then check The Webcomic List, an archive catalog of regularly updated web comics that provides rankings, user comments, a most recent update posting, and a forum for discussions related to web comic topics. (Webcomics you may want to investigate: xkcd, 1.00 FTE, and The Oatmeal (off-color but funny).
Tools to Create Comics
Even people who regard themselves as non-artists have tools that enable them to create comics and comic books online. And depending upon the nature of what users want to do, the degree of sophistication of the results can be amazing. For example, Marvel provides a site that lets users write their own comic book or comic using templates of characters, backgrounds, etc. As with any tool of this nature, options are strictly controlled. The characters are restricted in terms of poses and are all in teenage motifs. Similar sites that let users play around with familiar characters are the South Park Create an Avatar, which let's you assemble a South Park character that looks any way you want it too, and Simpsonize Me or the Create a Simpsons Avatar from the Simpsons Movie site, which let you turn yourself into a Simpsons character. HeroMachine 2.5 lets you create your own Superhero, while Joystiq Mii Characters lets you create Miis (as used in Wii games) that can move free from the video game.
Want panel templates to use yourself or to give to students for comic project? The web provides multiples sources. Comic strip printables offers a variety of non-standard layouts in addition to a full complement of more traditional panel patterns. The Create a Comic Project's Template page has further non-standard panels to add to your collection. Here is a simulated full script for a comic book that instead explains how the manuscript functions to guide the artwork. The Read.Write.Think Project has a Comic Creator that enables users to assemble a very simple comic using standard elements. Of even more use, potentially, is the planning sheet sheet, which can guide novice strip writers through the process of creation. A much better simple construction tool is Make Beliefs Comix creator, which lets users change characters emotions and add other elements that are more important to older potential cartoonists.
Toondoo is comic creation with a flexible range of options. The site that lets users participate as individuals or lets educators subscribe for extremely reasonable rates based on time and number of users. The educator option enables instructors too create social networks, embed the site elsewhere, get additional clip art with an educational focus, customize their clip art and monitor the site in ways not available to individual users.
Especially for Teachers
TeachingComics.org is a web site that while primarily focused on material for those teaching about comics has plenty of useful resources for those who are instead teaching with comics. The handouts and exercises both contain very valuable resources to increase both an instructor's and students' understanding of the medium. Want more information about comics as a form? Here are some good sites to investigate: Artbomb.net (check out Jessica Abel's quick introduction) and Comics Worth Reading.
And in time for Halloween...
A couple of free creepy Halloween comic books online!
The possibilities for enjoying and working with comics have multiplied radically with the internet. Just as comics themselves have undergone a revolution in content, style and genre, the ways in which people can interact with them have as well. Interested in finding comics? Various comics can be read online, from contemporary strip comics at Comics.com to some of the more obscure (and justifiably so -- yes, I'm referring to you Yank and Doodle) Golden Age titles. Then check The Webcomic List, an archive catalog of regularly updated web comics that provides rankings, user comments, a most recent update posting, and a forum for discussions related to web comic topics. (Webcomics you may want to investigate: xkcd, 1.00 FTE, and The Oatmeal (off-color but funny).
Tools to Create Comics
Even people who regard themselves as non-artists have tools that enable them to create comics and comic books online. And depending upon the nature of what users want to do, the degree of sophistication of the results can be amazing. For example, Marvel provides a site that lets users write their own comic book or comic using templates of characters, backgrounds, etc. As with any tool of this nature, options are strictly controlled. The characters are restricted in terms of poses and are all in teenage motifs. Similar sites that let users play around with familiar characters are the South Park Create an Avatar, which let's you assemble a South Park character that looks any way you want it too, and Simpsonize Me or the Create a Simpsons Avatar from the Simpsons Movie site, which let you turn yourself into a Simpsons character. HeroMachine 2.5 lets you create your own Superhero, while Joystiq Mii Characters lets you create Miis (as used in Wii games) that can move free from the video game.
Want panel templates to use yourself or to give to students for comic project? The web provides multiples sources. Comic strip printables offers a variety of non-standard layouts in addition to a full complement of more traditional panel patterns. The Create a Comic Project's Template page has further non-standard panels to add to your collection. Here is a simulated full script for a comic book that instead explains how the manuscript functions to guide the artwork. The Read.Write.Think Project has a Comic Creator that enables users to assemble a very simple comic using standard elements. Of even more use, potentially, is the planning sheet sheet, which can guide novice strip writers through the process of creation. A much better simple construction tool is Make Beliefs Comix creator, which lets users change characters emotions and add other elements that are more important to older potential cartoonists.
Toondoo is comic creation with a flexible range of options. The site that lets users participate as individuals or lets educators subscribe for extremely reasonable rates based on time and number of users. The educator option enables instructors too create social networks, embed the site elsewhere, get additional clip art with an educational focus, customize their clip art and monitor the site in ways not available to individual users.
Especially for Teachers
TeachingComics.org is a web site that while primarily focused on material for those teaching about comics has plenty of useful resources for those who are instead teaching with comics. The handouts and exercises both contain very valuable resources to increase both an instructor's and students' understanding of the medium. Want more information about comics as a form? Here are some good sites to investigate: Artbomb.net (check out Jessica Abel's quick introduction) and Comics Worth Reading.
And in time for Halloween...
A couple of free creepy Halloween comic books online!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Creation, the Universe and Everything
This week the DACC Library Lines takes a look at the origin of everything, by taking a look at the what various realms of knowledge have to tell us about the creation of the universe and the origin of existence, and how those realms of knowledge co-exist with one another.
Genesis
Science
Science has long investigated the way that universe came into being. For a simple straightforward explanation of the big bang theory, the widely accepted scientific theory about the origins of the universe, as well as ways in which the theory has evolved and where there are problematic elements, see NASA's WMAP Introduction to Cosmology web site. One of the best overviews of the recent discoveries and research can be found on the PBS Nova: Origins web site, which includes a timeline of the history of the universe as well as the one hour section of the program available as online video Back to the Beginning that chronicles and explains the current thinking. NASA's web site offers information on several missions and discoveries related to elements of universal history on its Universe web site. NASA to Probe the Universe's First Moments shows how the space agency is building an instrument that will enable them to investigate the origins of the universe. Although it is no longer being updated (since 9/09), the archived web site Universe Forum, hosted at Harvard University, offers lots of clear and comprehensible information about the big bang, the earth's place in the cosmos, black holes and dark energy. And to get a sense of both scope and time, check out the Digital Universe, available for both viewing and download from the Hayden Planetarium.
Science has long investigated the way that universe came into being. For a simple straightforward explanation of the big bang theory, the widely accepted scientific theory about the origins of the universe, as well as ways in which the theory has evolved and where there are problematic elements, see NASA's WMAP Introduction to Cosmology web site. One of the best overviews of the recent discoveries and research can be found on the PBS Nova: Origins web site, which includes a timeline of the history of the universe as well as the one hour section of the program available as online video Back to the Beginning that chronicles and explains the current thinking. NASA's web site offers information on several missions and discoveries related to elements of universal history on its Universe web site. NASA to Probe the Universe's First Moments shows how the space agency is building an instrument that will enable them to investigate the origins of the universe. Although it is no longer being updated (since 9/09), the archived web site Universe Forum, hosted at Harvard University, offers lots of clear and comprehensible information about the big bang, the earth's place in the cosmos, black holes and dark energy. And to get a sense of both scope and time, check out the Digital Universe, available for both viewing and download from the Hayden Planetarium.
Creation stories
But science is not the only source people turn to for information regarding the origins of the universe. Traditionally religion has fulfilled this role by constructing stories to explain the creation of the earth and heavens. History World offers an overview of creation stories from China to the Hebrew Bible, beginning with a short discussion of common themes and motifs. View a flash animation of a wide range of creation accounts in The Big Myth video. Joseph Campbell was probably the most well known scholar of mythology, the realm of study which intertwines with religion and so has much to say about recurring thematic concerns of the type found in origins and creation accounts. You can get an insight into his thinking on these issues on the site Myths-Dreams-Symbols. Providing an interesting view into the intensity of interaction between religion and science in the area of origins is an essay on the Joseph Campbell Foundation web site by Karl E.H. Seigfried, "Stephen Hawking: The Myths and the Critics", in which he explores the furious outrage that greeted Hawking's new book The Grand Design in which the physicist dismissed the need for creator.
Genesis
Of particular interest to the majority of people in the United States is the Biblical story of Genesis. But like any textual source, Genesis is open to interpretation. A critical interpretative issue in this regard is the question of the Earth's age. Religious Tolerance provides an explanation of the various interpretations of the controversy regarding the difference between Young Earth and Old Earth creationists and scientists. Jason Lisle, who is appearing on campus this week courtesy of the Power House Christian Ministry student organization, represents the Young Earth contingent -- those that believe the earth was created by God approximately 6,000 and no more than 10,000 years ago. Connected with AnswersinGenesis.org, one of the leading Young Earth organizations, Lisle's particular area of expertise is astronomy. He is the planetarium director for the Creation Museum. He has published extensively in the creation research press, including his most recent article, Anisotropic Synchrony Convention: A Solution to the Distant Starlight Problem. The problem of light from stars so far away as to precede the Young Earth creation date is THE problem for astronomers in this field and Lisle has previously addressed it in Distant Starlight and Genesis: Conventions of Time Measurement, writing under the name of Robert Newton. (Young Earth scientists of note have felt pressured, according to AnswersinGenesis to write pseudonymously to avoid undue criticism from professional colleagues.) He responded to the PBS Origins programs in two essays, here and here. For a general view of the scientific community's response to Lisle's latest article, see the Sensuous Curmudgeon's blog entry: Jason Lisle's Instant Starlight Paper.
Despite what some on both sides of the religion/science debate would assert, there are many who comfortably inhabit both realms. Reasons.org is an example of organization that both accepts scientific discovery while also affirming the Christian faith. And several thinkers believe that Buddhism and western science are compatible to greater or lesser degrees, although there has also been criticism of this position. Hinduism's relationship to science is more complex, much like Judeo-Christianity's, but it does have a long history of embracing scientific discovery that is largely unknown in the West. Modern Islam's relationship with science is perhaps the most contested, next to Christianity's. This article from Discover Magazine explores the way that Islamic fundamentalism filters current scientific thought in much the same way Young Earth creationism preconditions the perspective of its adherents. Compare for example the latest issue of Islam & Science with Answers Research Journal. This article from Middle East Forum puts Islam in a historical context to examine the current state of the scientific/religious divide. But Islam does not have a single voice anymore than Christianity or Hinduism do. And Muslim-Science.com provides an online space in which those concerned with finding the compatible spaces between the realms can exchange ideas.
Despite what some on both sides of the religion/science debate would assert, there are many who comfortably inhabit both realms. Reasons.org is an example of organization that both accepts scientific discovery while also affirming the Christian faith. And several thinkers believe that Buddhism and western science are compatible to greater or lesser degrees, although there has also been criticism of this position. Hinduism's relationship to science is more complex, much like Judeo-Christianity's, but it does have a long history of embracing scientific discovery that is largely unknown in the West. Modern Islam's relationship with science is perhaps the most contested, next to Christianity's. This article from Discover Magazine explores the way that Islamic fundamentalism filters current scientific thought in much the same way Young Earth creationism preconditions the perspective of its adherents. Compare for example the latest issue of Islam & Science with Answers Research Journal. This article from Middle East Forum puts Islam in a historical context to examine the current state of the scientific/religious divide. But Islam does not have a single voice anymore than Christianity or Hinduism do. And Muslim-Science.com provides an online space in which those concerned with finding the compatible spaces between the realms can exchange ideas.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Ban A Good Book Lately?
The last week in September is the one set aside by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Association of American Publishers to draw attention to the issue of of book censorship through Banned Books Week. The DACC library has set up a display to raise awareness of the issue in the hallway in Clock Tower. The display shows copies of each of the 10 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009 as well as focusing on an especially current hot topic: book burning.
Burning books is the ultimate method of attempting to control history and controversial or opposing ideas -- literally scorching them from the face of the earth. When asked about people who burn books, we in the United States typically think of the Nazis and the great public bonfires of books they held prior to World War II (as documented in this University of Arizona Library online display). But book burning has happened on many occasions since then as well. Some of the more famous, or infamous, incidents are detailed in the article from the CBC.
People in the United States often like to think that we don't engage in such things, but actually there have been several popularly supported book burnings in U.S. history. The one with arguably the farthest reaching consequences was crusade against and mass burnings of comic books in 1948. The attack on comic books as degenerate literature virtually destroyed the industry, which had been robust with the success of Superman, horror and crime comics previously. It would be decades before the industry regained any real legitimacy, and it is only with the development of the "graphic novel" that adult readers have begun to recognize the form as an acceptable reading alternative. Another incidents that enjoyed significant support in certain sections of the population were the removal of works identified as "pro-Communist" by Roy Cohn and David Schine, Joseph McCarthy's primary aides, from U.S. State Department libraries. Authors and works swept under this heading included everyone from Dashiell Hammett, the creator of detective Sam Spade, to Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Some librarians went so far as to burn the suspect authors.
So just for fun to celebrate this week, test yourself with Banned and Challenged Books Quiz which asks you to guess whether particular books were merely challenged (the much more common action) or actually banned.
Burning books is the ultimate method of attempting to control history and controversial or opposing ideas -- literally scorching them from the face of the earth. When asked about people who burn books, we in the United States typically think of the Nazis and the great public bonfires of books they held prior to World War II (as documented in this University of Arizona Library online display). But book burning has happened on many occasions since then as well. Some of the more famous, or infamous, incidents are detailed in the article from the CBC.
People in the United States often like to think that we don't engage in such things, but actually there have been several popularly supported book burnings in U.S. history. The one with arguably the farthest reaching consequences was crusade against and mass burnings of comic books in 1948. The attack on comic books as degenerate literature virtually destroyed the industry, which had been robust with the success of Superman, horror and crime comics previously. It would be decades before the industry regained any real legitimacy, and it is only with the development of the "graphic novel" that adult readers have begun to recognize the form as an acceptable reading alternative. Another incidents that enjoyed significant support in certain sections of the population were the removal of works identified as "pro-Communist" by Roy Cohn and David Schine, Joseph McCarthy's primary aides, from U.S. State Department libraries. Authors and works swept under this heading included everyone from Dashiell Hammett, the creator of detective Sam Spade, to Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Some librarians went so far as to burn the suspect authors.
So just for fun to celebrate this week, test yourself with Banned and Challenged Books Quiz which asks you to guess whether particular books were merely challenged (the much more common action) or actually banned.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Lots of E-Resources to Explore
After a long hiatus, Library Lines returns to promote the new electronic content that the library has to offer DACC users. Just a reminder: in order to use any of these electronic resources from off-campus, users will need to provide their DACC user ID and password for authentication prior to accessing the database or electronic publication. If you have trouble using these while off campus, please notify the library so we can trace the source of the difficulty.
Users have several new resources available to them this fall. One of the most useful acquisitions for many will be Facts on File's World News Digest. This flagship publication provides DACC users with more than 70 years worth of national and international news, as covered in the print publication of the same name. Combined with Facts' Issues and Controversies databases, World News Digest can provide an extraordinarily rich tool for those working on speeches or hot button issues. In addition to other points of access, users can quickly locate these three databases together under the Quick Speech Topic Information Link on the Find Articles page.
Another new Facts on File database that is available to users is American Women's History Online. This resource gives users the opportunity to explore every aspect of women's experience in the United States, from Native American pre-colonial women's culture to present-day issues of work, politics, family and faith.
Like Facts on File, the ABC-CLIO social studies cluster of databases saw a significant boost in content this fall. Two additional databases make this resource collection even more useful. World at War provides outstanding content related to the history of wars across the range of human history and from around the globe. Analytical essays are combined with primary documents, overviews, and short subject specific essays on events and individuals.
The other new resource in the ABC-CLIO social studies cluster is the American Government database. This tool offers users detailed analysis of the workings of the U.S. government as well as thoughtful essays in a section entitled Idea Exchange that connect the larger context of the government's structure to current and enduring issues. Briefer sections addressing general topics of state and municipal government are also included.
Fans of EbscoHost will also notice a change in the database lineup. After some calculation and discussion with faculty, the American Psychological Association's PsycArticles, which added only 60+ journals to our online selection, and replaced it with PsychBooks, an online eBook collection of the books published by the American Psychological Association and other major publishers. The database contains more than 30,000 chapters from more than 2000 books as well as the APA/Oxford Encyclopedia of Psychology. More than 1500 classic works of psychology are also included in the database.
And finally, of special interest to DACC faculty and staff, a reminder that the Chronicle of Higher Education is now available to them online (with access to the complete archive as well), courtesy of the library.
Users have several new resources available to them this fall. One of the most useful acquisitions for many will be Facts on File's World News Digest. This flagship publication provides DACC users with more than 70 years worth of national and international news, as covered in the print publication of the same name. Combined with Facts' Issues and Controversies databases, World News Digest can provide an extraordinarily rich tool for those working on speeches or hot button issues. In addition to other points of access, users can quickly locate these three databases together under the Quick Speech Topic Information Link on the Find Articles page.
Another new Facts on File database that is available to users is American Women's History Online. This resource gives users the opportunity to explore every aspect of women's experience in the United States, from Native American pre-colonial women's culture to present-day issues of work, politics, family and faith.
Like Facts on File, the ABC-CLIO social studies cluster of databases saw a significant boost in content this fall. Two additional databases make this resource collection even more useful. World at War provides outstanding content related to the history of wars across the range of human history and from around the globe. Analytical essays are combined with primary documents, overviews, and short subject specific essays on events and individuals.
The other new resource in the ABC-CLIO social studies cluster is the American Government database. This tool offers users detailed analysis of the workings of the U.S. government as well as thoughtful essays in a section entitled Idea Exchange that connect the larger context of the government's structure to current and enduring issues. Briefer sections addressing general topics of state and municipal government are also included.
Fans of EbscoHost will also notice a change in the database lineup. After some calculation and discussion with faculty, the American Psychological Association's PsycArticles, which added only 60+ journals to our online selection, and replaced it with PsychBooks, an online eBook collection of the books published by the American Psychological Association and other major publishers. The database contains more than 30,000 chapters from more than 2000 books as well as the APA/Oxford Encyclopedia of Psychology. More than 1500 classic works of psychology are also included in the database.
And finally, of special interest to DACC faculty and staff, a reminder that the Chronicle of Higher Education is now available to them online (with access to the complete archive as well), courtesy of the library.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
New Hours & Journal Databases
New Hours!
The library's hours are changing. Effective March 1, 2010 the library will open at 7:30 Monday through Friday and will close at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 p.m. on Friday. The library will no longer have Saturday hours. Students who need access to a computer lab on Saturdays will be able to use LH 204. As always, a significant portion of the library's resources are available to students, faculty and staff via the internet. They can select an online resource and log on using their DACC user i.d. and password.
JSTOR Available!
The library has added renowned journal archives JSTOR to the electronic resources it makes available to students. For users familiar with JSTOR, its contents are made available to libraries in "collections" based on subject matter. Its contents also exist behind a "rolling wall," meaning that the most recent years of journals are not included, but years are added as time progresses. DACC students will be able to search JSTOR for journal articles in music, the performing and cinematic arts, literature, religion and art. This collection complements other academic journal resources the library provides, which include access to a majority of the journals published by Sage and Elsevier (although we do not get the entire Elsevier backfile only the most recent 15 years of most publications). Our subscriptions to these publisher databases provide the DACC community with direct access to a significant amount of premium publisher content. Many additional journals can be accessed via the aggregated databases, such as EbscoHost, which will will also link users to those articles from the publisher databases that are merely cited in the original database with the aid of the Find It! links. But users should realize that not all of the journals in the publisher databases are indexed in any given database, so searching a publisher's database as well can often prove useful or even faster depending upon the user's needs. For help with JSTOR or any library database or tool like Find It!, contact the Reference Desk x739.
The library's hours are changing. Effective March 1, 2010 the library will open at 7:30 Monday through Friday and will close at 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 p.m. on Friday. The library will no longer have Saturday hours. Students who need access to a computer lab on Saturdays will be able to use LH 204. As always, a significant portion of the library's resources are available to students, faculty and staff via the internet. They can select an online resource and log on using their DACC user i.d. and password.
JSTOR Available!
The library has added renowned journal archives JSTOR to the electronic resources it makes available to students. For users familiar with JSTOR, its contents are made available to libraries in "collections" based on subject matter. Its contents also exist behind a "rolling wall," meaning that the most recent years of journals are not included, but years are added as time progresses. DACC students will be able to search JSTOR for journal articles in music, the performing and cinematic arts, literature, religion and art. This collection complements other academic journal resources the library provides, which include access to a majority of the journals published by Sage and Elsevier (although we do not get the entire Elsevier backfile only the most recent 15 years of most publications). Our subscriptions to these publisher databases provide the DACC community with direct access to a significant amount of premium publisher content. Many additional journals can be accessed via the aggregated databases, such as EbscoHost, which will will also link users to those articles from the publisher databases that are merely cited in the original database with the aid of the Find It! links. But users should realize that not all of the journals in the publisher databases are indexed in any given database, so searching a publisher's database as well can often prove useful or even faster depending upon the user's needs. For help with JSTOR or any library database or tool like Find It!, contact the Reference Desk x739.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
E-Resources: What's New
The library is pleased to provide access to several new online resources beginning this January. Two of these add sections to a resource to which the library previously had partial access, The American Mosaic. This resource provides users with a sense of America's multicultural diversity. Previously the library subscribed to the Latino American Experience portion of the American Mosaic, but the DACC community now also has access to the other two sections as well: the African-American Experience and the American Indian Experience. Each section can be searched separately or all three can be searched through the single Mosaic interface. This database offers users the opportunity to investigate artistic, political, historical, sociological, and pop cultural aspects to each culture as well as to the cultural overlap. The more than 600 Greenwood and Praeger e-books provide high-quality research information for users.
In addition to the American Mosaic, the Library is pleased to offer DACC users access to the Springer Medical Research e-Book Collection. This collection of more than 3,000 e-books from Springer includes more than 100 titles published in 2010 alone. The titles will be added to the library's online catalog when we get the necessary information, but in the meantime, users can go to Springer's site, click on "Medicine" on the right hand side of the screen and then "Books" on the right hand side of the screen and then put their search term in the box to look for material in the collection. This will enable them to search the full-text for all possible references. Take care to limit your search to "Within these results" to prevent searching all Springer titles, because there are a lot of things we do not subscribe to.
The library will soon be getting access to part of JSTOR's journal collection, but that has not been completely set up yet. The selected collection features titles in literature, music, art and architecture, religion, folklore, film and the performing arts. We'll let you know when the journals becomes available.
In addition to the American Mosaic, the Library is pleased to offer DACC users access to the Springer Medical Research e-Book Collection. This collection of more than 3,000 e-books from Springer includes more than 100 titles published in 2010 alone. The titles will be added to the library's online catalog when we get the necessary information, but in the meantime, users can go to Springer's site, click on "Medicine" on the right hand side of the screen and then "Books" on the right hand side of the screen and then put their search term in the box to look for material in the collection. This will enable them to search the full-text for all possible references. Take care to limit your search to "Within these results" to prevent searching all Springer titles, because there are a lot of things we do not subscribe to.
The library will soon be getting access to part of JSTOR's journal collection, but that has not been completely set up yet. The selected collection features titles in literature, music, art and architecture, religion, folklore, film and the performing arts. We'll let you know when the journals becomes available.
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