Students from Professor Garth Bond’s fall-term English 527: History of the Book class will be exhibiting their term projects in the Mudd Library. The exhibit opens Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 4:30pm. Come join us for refreshments and interesting conversation about the research the students have done on books housed right here in the Mudd.
Category: Fun
Winter shenanigans
Winter term got you down? Perhaps a tricycle race is in order. This photograph from the University Archives shows LU students and Appleton children facing off in a tricycle race during Winter Carnival, circa 1977. The Winter Carnival was a tradition that began at Lawrence in the 1930s and continued off and on for decades. Visit the Archives for more information (and check out our exhibit on curling at LU on the first floor of the library).
Image stabilization is old technology. Just ask a chicken…
Disappointed with the results you get when you use your iPod or smartphone to videotape your latest escapades? We have found the perfect solution: the “Do It Yourself Steadicam Using A Chicken.” Here in the library we are always keeping an eye out for the latest technology.
(Chicken by Rob Neilson)
Don’t forget to vote!
It’s that time of year when we are all looking forward to seeing our distant relatives. Don’t forget to vote for your favorite photo at the Little Fockers Holiday Photo Contest before you hit the road!
While you were on break…
There will be a new reference desk when the students return from winter break. Here are a couple of pictures of the men at work this morning. They are dismantling the old media desk to create a larger reference desk. Look for more progress in the next couple of days.
Think That Elk’s Had Enough?
Some may argue that Tycho Brahe wasn’t such a colorful guy: Danish astronomer (but there were probably many of those), nose cut off in a sword fight and replaced by a silver and gold prosthetic (things happen), possibly poisoned by his assistant (certainly had the means and the opportunity). But did you know he had a clairvoyant dwarf jester and a beer-swilling elk? (either of which would be an excellent name for a rock group)
An article in the November 30th New York Times suggests a feature film may be in order. Read Murder! Intrigue! Astronomers? And, of course, the Mudd has scads of books about Tycho.
National Gaming Day 2010
National Gaming Day is an initiative of the American Library Association, created with the purpose of educating the public about the many opportunities provided by libraries- including gaming. Libraries around the world are invited to sign up to host gaming events on Saturday, November 13, 2010. As of November 1st, more than 1,800 libraries have signed up to participate in this event. For more information about National Gaming Day, see the official American Library Association Press Release.
We at the Mudd Library encourage gaming for fun, as a way to socialize, and even as a topic of study. We will, of course, be participating in National Gaming Day. We will have board games including Scrabble, Twister, and Wits & Wagers, as well as Mario Kart Wii available to play on Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. So, bring a friend and take a gaming break @ the Mudd.
all hallow’s read
All Hallow’s Read is a (brand new) Hallowe’en tradition proposed by the author of The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman. Here’s what he says “Give children scary books they’ll like and can handle. Give adults scary books they’ll enjoy.” To find out more check out the brand new page about this tradition at all hallow’s read.
Find A Grave
“Lover of Ugly Little Dogs.” Need a good Epitaph for that cardboard gravestone you are planting on your lawn this Halloween? Looking for a long lost relative? Check out the web site Find A Grave where you can find millions of cemetery records and some interesting pictures of gravestones.
National Punctuation Day!
Friday, September 24 is National Punctuation Day, a “celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis.”
Want to use punctuation correctly?
Start with a search English language punctuation guides in LUCIA. We have a bunch, in the reference and main collections.
Also useful:
- Purdue Online Writing Lab: Punctuation
- HyperGrammar: Punctuation from the University of Ottawa
- What is the Oxford Comma? from Oxford Dictionaries Online
And some (entertaining) examples of not-so-correct usage:
- Apostrophe Catastrophes: The Worlds’ Worst. Punctuation;
- The “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks or join the Facebook group, Quotation Mark “Hunters”
- Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar
- The Apostrophe Protection Society
- Misplaced comma costs US government $1 million.