Posts filed under 'Articles'
[via Bookslut] Last Thursday BBC News reported on the discovery at Exeter University of a photo album of photos possibly taken by J. M. Barrie. The album was found in vaults containing a collection of Daphne du Maurier’s papers and feature the Llewelyn-Davies children, who were the inspiration for Barrie’s Lost Boys. The BBC article includes a gallery of images from the album.
As an aside, although most of my recent posts have been about children’s literature, I have not changed the overall theme/topic of this weblog–at least, not yet. It simply seems that lately children’s literature-related news and stories have been catching my attention.
December 15th, 2003
Today’s New York Times New York Region section features a profile of paper engineer (or, if you prefer, pop-up artist) Robert Sabuda. I have raved before–in fact, very recently–about Sabuda’s work so I will spare you another gush-fest.On an interesting note, according to this article, Sabuda is considering the Kama Sutra for an upcoming project. (Quite a departure in subject matter from his previous projects!) While this is not a new format for this particular work–perpetually curious, I checked Amazon, and apparently, there is at least one other pop-up Kama Sutra–I am certain that Sabuda’s version will cause quite a stir if and when it is released.
December 9th, 2003
First, an apology and an update . . . I have been busy (to say the least) so, unfortunately, this weblog has not been updated in some time. And, since I will be away for most of December, I am afraid that things will be very quiet on this weblog for a while longer. I hope to be back in January with many, many posts and links for you to enjoy.Now, the midweek diversion, as promised . . . This week’s diversion is a link [via LIS News] to a “news” story from The Watley Review about an alumnus donating his collection of Haik-O’s cereal boxes to the Bowdoin College Library. I loved the last line: “We’ll be adding this to our Special Collections,” said [librarian Sherrie] Bergman. “I can’t wait to see what scholars will do once they have the opportunity to work with this unique resource.”
Before any cereal box researchers reading this decide to visit Bowdoin, hoping that this “new collection” will provide further insight into the study of food packaging as literary genre, I should add that this is a spoof. It’s completely fictional and funny simply because it could be true.
December 3rd, 2003
Library Link of the Day is pointing to an article on Special Collections and the Web in the most recent edition of First Monday. The article, “Studying special collections and the Web: an analysis of practice” by Lorraine Normore, is based on interviews conducted by OCLC at 24 American sites. Information about issues surrounding digitization and how those in charge of special collections deal with those issues is revealed through this data. The author also touches on the culture of special collections.This article is interesting and entirely relevant since, as the author points out in her introduction, special collections account for most of the digital projects on the Web. I hope that future studies will be conducted and published on this topic.
October 8th, 2003
Yesterday, I received the latest issue of Real Simple (yes, I subscribe to Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living…and most of the MSL spinoffs…I know…I am weird), and I noticed something rather funny in one of their articles. The article, “Breathing Room”, is about selecting and using a self-storage center. On the third page of the article, the author offers suggestions for packing, including a suggestion for packing books: “Pack books flat to protect the spines.”Well, the first page of the article shows a neat, perfect Real Simple storage locker with almost everything packed in clear plastic boxes and labeled. Five of these boxes are filled with books, but the books do not seem to be stored as suggested. In fact, they seem to be stored foredges down (i.e., with their spines facing up), the worst possible way to shelve (let alone store) a book. That way of shelving causes the text block to pull away from the spine, especially with heavy books, such as the ones shown in the picture.
I suppose this is a case of do as we say but not as we do. If you are planning to store your books or if you are interested in guidelines for the care and handling of books (rare or not), there are many excellent resources available. The Library Preservation at Harvard site is a good starting point. Although mainly about the preservation of Harvard’s collections, this site also has a selection of online resources for preserving personal collections.
Now, should I write in and point out this inconsistency? Or will that brand me as an obsessive bore? What a strange quandary!
October 8th, 2003
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