Clips from next week's "Year Of" movie

This one looks good! If any of you are around next week, you should go see it! I hope to!
(These clips do contain some rough language).

"Year Of" movie TODAY at the Funk Heritage Center

If you're looking for a film to review for our "Year Of" contest, and you have a few free hours this afternoon, I encourage you to head over to the Funk Heritage Center at 2 pm today. The Year of North American Indigenous Peoples will be showing the 1998 film "Smoke Signals," directed by Chris Eyre and based on the short stories of Sherman Alexie. This movie has won several awards, including Best Film at the 1998 American Indian Film Festival, Best Debut Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards, and the Filmmaker's Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival.

"Smoke Signals" is the story of two young residents of the Coeur D'Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, Idaho. Thomas Builds-the-Fire is an eccentric youth who reveres a man named Arnold Joseph. Joseph rescued the infant Thomas from the house fire that killed his parents, and Thomas considers him a hero. Arnold's son Victor, however, remembers his father as a violent alcoholic and is annoyed by Thomas's hero-worship.

When Arnold dies in Phoenix, Arizona, Thomas and Victor take a cross-country road trip to retrieve his ashes and belongings. The trip will change forever the way the two boys view Arnold, each other and themselves.

Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times describes Smoke Signals as, "a warm film of friendship and reconciliation, and whenever it refers to historic injustices or contemporary issues in Native American culture, it does so with wry, glancing humor. Smoke Signals is indeed poignant, but above all it's pretty funny."

Remember, all you have to do is write a one- or two-paragraph review of this film (or any other book or movie in the "Year Of" collection) and submit it to Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu, and you could win a Nintendo Wii! Time is running out for this contest. Don't miss your chance!

TODAY at 2 pm in the Funk Heritage Center Theater

Black History Month Contest Ends-- Congratulations to all our winners!

The winners for the Black History Month Contest are:

CANDACE MANLEY
WHITNEY CHADWICK
SHAWN-TEL LAY
SUMMON LAY
KING WATERS
ZAINE HEDGE
BRANDON RUFF
NICOLE RICE
CLINT ADAMS
JACOB ROBERSON
BETH MCDOUGALD
CHRIS WILLIAMS
SANDRA ZUNIGA
JAMESIA ECHOLS

This contest has now ended, but don't give up hope! If you didn't get to enter this contest, you can still enter our Year Of contest to win the Nintendo Wii! Only two months left! Click here for more details!

(We'll also have a SWEET opportunity for you next month--stay tuned)!

SPRING BREAK LIBRARY HOURS!

It doesn't feel very much like spring right now, but maybe some of you are headed off to warmer climes next week.

If, however, you are staying local over the break, I'd like to let you know what our hours of operation will be.

The Hill Freeman Library & Spruill Learning Center will be closed this Sunday, February 28.

We will be open Monday through Friday March 1-5 from 8 am to 5 pm.

Normal hours will resume Sunday March 7.

Have fun everyone!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to Candace Manley, Jamesia Echols and Jacob Roberson! You are the latest winners in our Black History Month Quotation Contest!

I am very proud and pleased with everyone's participation in our contest! Great job, everyone!

Each of our Black History Month winners has his or her name posted on our "Wall of Fame" in the library. Check it out!

Dr. Wheeler and Richard Wright to speak

For those of you who missed the great talk that Richard Wright and our own Dr. Ken Wheeler gave at the Cherokee County Historical Society meeting, don't despair! Mr. Wright and Dr. Wheeler will be speaking right here in the library at 1 pm on March 10! Their topic will be "The Cherokees and the Early History of Cherokee County." Come out to hear some little-known facts about the history of this area!

This event is sponsored by the Year of North American Indigenous Peoples.

Black History Month Quotations

OK, I'm stepping up the game this last week! Now you have to give me the name of the person who said the quotation, AND the source (interview, speech, published work) as well as the date of the quotation. Let's see who is up to the challenge!

1) "I imagine that one of the reasons that people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, that they will be forced to deal with the pain."

2) "As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might."

Remember, do not post your answer to the blog or to Facebook! You must be the first student to present your answer in person at the circulation desk in order to win. Good luck!

Congratulations King Chris!

Congratulations to our Homecoming King (and library student worker) Chris Williams. No offense to any of the other candidates, but I knew all along he was going to take home the crown! Congratulations also to Homecoming Queen Chasity Miller! You two look awesome!

(Brielle, you looked GORGEOUS too, and you are definitely the Queen of the Library)!

Library contests!

Congratulations to Shawn-tel and Summon Lay, who correctly identified the sources of today's Black History Month quotes!

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”-- Coretta Scott King

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”-- Martin Luther King Jr.

Watch Monday for the next questions. They are going to get harder!

I also wanted to remind you all of the "Year Of" Contest. I know you all have seen the flyers, but over the course of the year our entries have been tapering off. We only have two months left before the Wii giveaway in April, and your chances are EXCELLENT!

All you have to do is read a "Year Of"-related book or watch a "Year Of"-related video on reserve in the library. Write a BRIEF review--only one long paragraph or two shorter paragraphs, and send it to Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu. The first place winner will receive a 4-gig flash drive and a "Year Of" t-shirt. The second place winner will also receive a "Year Of" t-shirt. ALL ENTRANTS will be placed in the drawing for the Nintendo Wii. You can enter more than once to improve your chances. Every week we have a special showing of a "Year Of" movie in the Funk Heritage Center; next Thursday's film will be "Smoke Signals." Come out and see it and write your review! Someone is going to win a Nintendo Wii, and it could be YOU.

Go Eagles! Reinhardt College Homecoming this Weekend!

The Hill Freeman Library & Spruill Learning Center would like to offer the Reinhardt Eagles our warmest wishes for the best of luck this weekend! The men's baseball team will take on Martin Methodist today at 4 pm. Saturday at noon the tennis team will play against Huntingdon College, and at 2 pm the baseball team will play a doubleheader against Martin Methodist. Also at 2, the women's basketball team will take on Union College. At 4 pm the men's basketball team will also play Union College. At halftime during this game, the 2010 Homecoming Court will be presented and the Homecoming King and Homecoming Queen will be crowned.

...of course, we aren't taking sides or playing favorites...

Ehh, who am I kidding? I'm totally rooting for our wonderful library student workers and senior court representatives Brielle Chinn and Chris Williams! Good luck, you two!

For a complete list of Homecoming activities (including the big dance Saturday at 9 pm), click here.

Congratulations to Chris Williams and Clint Adams!

They're the latest winners in the Black History Month contest.

Chris Williams won with this quote by Morgan Freeman: "I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history."

Clint Adams solved this quote by Frederick Douglass: "No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck."

There will be new quotes up tomorrow! Be watching!

"Year Of" Movie: "Powwow Highway" February 18 at 2pm in the Funk

The Year of North American Indigenous Peoples will present the movie "Powwow Highway" at 2 pm on February 18 in the Funk Heritage Center. This movie follows the format of the "buddy road" picture, but it is so much more than that. It is the story of two Cheyenne men, one a Vietnam veteran and an activist, the other seeking a more spiritual path. When the sister of one of the men is arrested, the two embark on a trip in a beat-up Buick "war pony" named "Protector" to go and help her. Along the way, the two men learn from each other's different paths about what it means to be a warrior and what it means to be Cheyenne in today's society.

Made in 1989, the movie stars A. Martinez and Gary Farmer and features then-unknowns Graham Greene and Wes Studi in small supporting roles!

Don't forget: read any "Year Of" book or see any "Year Of" movie, write a review and send it in to our Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu. You could win prizes ranging from a "Year Of" t-shirt to the ultimate grand prize, a Nintendo Wii! See any staff member for more details.

Winners!

Zaine Hedge was another winner from yesterday! Congratulations! And we already have one winner from today. Nicole Rice correctly filled in the blanks and attributed the following quotation:

"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me."--Zora Neale Hurston

Congratulations all!

New BHM quotes up on the board

Hello again,
Congratulations Brandon Ruff! Brandon correctly attributed one of our Black History Month quotations yesterday!

"We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice."

Correct answer: Carter Woodson, founder of Black History Month

"The shadow of a mighty Negro past flits through the tale of Ethiopia the shadowy and of the Egypt the Sphinx. Throughout history, the powers of single blacks flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness."

Correct answer: WEB DuBois


Just put the new quotes for our contest up on the board. These have blanks you have to fill in, plus you have to name the speaker for credit! Good luck! Remember, answers posted to the blog or the Facebook are not eligible. You must be the first student to the circulation desk with the correct answer to win. Good luck! Here are the quotes:

"Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me _______. It merely _____ ___."

"I don't want a Black History Month. Black History is __________ _________________."

The Big Read: Cherokee County and Atlanta

So you think reading is a solitary pursuit? Would you like the opportunity to read a really worthwhile book in conjunction with your neighbors and the people of your community? This shared experience can spark lively discussions. What if you could also attend special events related to the book you were reading?

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. It provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities. The initiative includes innovative reading programs in selected cities and towns, comprehensive resources for discussing classic literature and an extensive Web site providing comprehensive information on authors and their works.

This year the Sequoyah Public Library System (encompassing Cherokee, Pickens and Gilmer counties) has selected Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird for The Big Read. All this month you can attend events related to this classic novel. Check out the public library's Web site for more details and a complete list of activities.

The Atlanta History Center has selected Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God as their Big Read Project, and they too will be offering free activities related to this book, including a Harlem Renaissance-themed kickoff party today, living history performances and tours of the History Center’s exhibition Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits.

Whichever book you choose to read (or you could choose to read both), you'll have opportunities to share your experience with other people in the community. Before the advent of television, the movies and the Internet, people connected with each other through the books they read. Give it a try! You might be surprised by what you learn, about the book, about your neighbors, and about yourself.

Congratulations Richard Wright and Dr. Ken Wheeler!

They knocked it out of the park last night at the Cherokee County Historical Society meeting! It was amazing to see so many prominent, brilliant and involved Cherokee County residents, and most of them I'm sure were hearing something new they'd never known about their home! I hope this is the beginning of a new wave of Cherokee County historical scholarship! Bravo!

Congratulations Summon and Shawntel Lay!

Summon and Shawntel are today's prizewinners in our Black History Month contest! Summon correctly credited Franklin Thomas with the following quote: "One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin... instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings." Shawntel filled in the blanks in Maya Angelou's poem "Still I Rise."

Here is the poem in its entirety:

"Still I Rise"

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise

(Source: The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry--yet another of the databases available to you through your library)

Watch tomorrow for the next two quotations in our contest! Good luck!

Check Out these databases for your Black History Month needs

Hello all!

Just wanted to remind you of some of the great digital resources we have. These can help you with your Black History Month classes and projects. (They may even help you with our little contest).

Black Thought and Culture

Black Thought and Culture, from Alexander Street Press, is intended for research in black studies, political science, American history, music literature and art. BLTC contains 1,297 sources with 1,110 authors, covering the nonfiction works of African-Americans from colonial times to the present.Primary sources begin with the works of abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass (whose Feb. 14 birthday was one of the reasons this month was chosen as Black History Month). The collection specifically includes the works of W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Bunche, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Angela Davis,Thurgood Marshall, Jesse Jackson and many others. Click here for my full review.

The African American Experience

The African American Experience is a full-text digital resource exploring the history and culture of African Americans, as well as the greater Black Diaspora. The stated goals of the collection are "to provide rock-solid information from authorities in the field, and to allow African Americans to speak for themselves through a wealth of primary sources."

The African American Experience contains full-text content from more than 400 titles,over 2000 images, 5,000 primary sources, and 250 vetted Web sites. Included in the collection are more than 3,000 interviews with former slaves, indexed and fully searchable. The collection is updated twice a year with additional titles.

Black Drama, Second Edition
This database contains the work of more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. 1,379 plays are published here in their entirety. More than 25% of these plays are published here for the first time, including some by such notable writers as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Alice Childress, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, among others. Many other works included here are rare or out-of-print. Click here for more information.

African American Music Reference

Covering jazz, blues, gospel and other forms of African American music, this database provides 50,000 tracks for your listening pleasure. More than just entertainment, these recordings provide another way to connect with a people's history. You can listen to songs from the post-Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights movement, as the musicians express their life experiences through their art. There are big names like Ma Rainey, Mahalia Jackson, Lead Belly and Duke Ellington, and in most cases their entire catalogs are available. There are some early recordings dating back to the late 19th century. Many of the songs have never been published before. There are field recordings of spirituals, farming and labor songs, war songs, drinking songs, children's songs and more.

Black History Month Quotation Contest 02/15

Hello all!

We still have one unattributed quote from Friday! That will stay up on the board until it is answered!

The other quote is a stanza of a poem by my favorite living poet. You will need to fill in the blanks as well as name the author. Again, DO NOT answer here! Only the first student to present the answers in person at the circulation desk wins.

The new quote:

""You may shoot me with your ______,
You may cut me with your ____,
You may kill me with your _______,
But still, like ___, I'll ____."

Good luck!

Black History Month Quote Contest

"I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me."--MUHAMMAD ALI

Congratulations to Whitney Chadwick for correctly attributing the above quote!

Today's quotes are:

"The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down." This contest has already been won by Sandra Zuniga, who correctly attributed this statement to Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

The other quote, which as of this posting has not yet been correctly attributed, is this:

"One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin...instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings."

The first student to present correct answer in person at the circulation desk will win a prize! Remember, you have to come to the desk to get credit. Do not answer the question here!

Good luck!

"Year Of" Movie TODAY at the Funk Heritage Center: The Last of His Tribe

On behalf of the Year of North American Indigeneous Peoples committee, I would like to invite you to come out to the Funk Heritage Center today at 2 pm for a showing of the 1992 HBO production The Last of His Tribe, starring Graham Greene, Jon Voight and David Ogden Stiers. This film is based on the true story of "Ishi", believed to be the last member of the Yahi Nation. Ishi is also believed to be the last indigenous person in California to have lived most of his life completely outside the European-American culture.

The film is set in the early 20th century, when a group of ranchers "discover" Ishi. When it is learned that Ishi is that curiosity known as a "wild Indian" and the lone survivor of a people thought to be extinct, he starts to attract attention. He is taken into custody by the local sheriff and then brought to the San Francisco Museum of Anthropology. There he meets Professor Alfred Kroeber, who wants to write a book about him. Professor Kroeber gives Ishi a job and teaches him English. As the two men grow to know and to trust each other, Ishi tells Kroeber the heartrending story of how his people were wiped out by the white man.

The Last of His Tribe is based in part on the book Ishi in Two Worlds by Theodora Kroeber, Alfred's wife. (Theodora and Ishi never actually met in person).

As always, "Year Of" chairman and Library Director Michael Martinez will be on hand to offer his commentary and answer questions about the film.

Don't forget our contest! If you watch any "Year Of" movie or read any "Year Of" book and write a brief review (one or two paragraphs), you could win a t-shirt and a flash drive! Submit your reviews to Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu by the 15th of each month to be eligible for that month's prize. Every entrant will be entered into a drawing for a Nintendo Wii to be given away at the end of the school year. The more times you enter, the better your chances of winning!

Next Black History Month quotes posted.

Again...DO NOT submit your answers on Facebook or on the blog! You must be the first person to identify the speaker or writer in person at the circ desk in order to win the prize. (Yes, I know it's cold. I told you I am a mean library lady). If you post the answer here, you will not get credit and someone else might take your answer and claim the prize.

Quotation #1: If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves...

Quotation #2: I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.

First correct attributions win a prize. (The prizes will be in sometime next week, so be sure to leave your name and email address with desk personnel). Good luck!

The game will get harder next week

WE HAVE A WINNER!

We have a winner in our first Black History Month Quotation Contest!

Here are the quotes, with their proper authors:

"I feel that I am a citizen of the American dream, and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare."--ELDRIDGE CLEAVER

"The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now."-- BILL COSBY

Congratulations to CANDACE MANLEY for correctly attributing both of these quotes!

Watch tomorrow for our next contest!

First Black History Month Quotations are up on the board in the library!

DO NOT submit your answers on Facebook or on the blog! You must be the first person to identify the speaker or writer in person at the circ desk in order to win the prize. (Yes, I know it's cold and/or snowing, but I don't want to referee who posted where first. ;) I am curmudgeonly and a mean library lady). If you post the answer here, you will not get credit and someone else might take your answer and claim the prize.

That said, here are the first two quotes:

"I feel that I am a citizen of the American dream and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare."

and...

"The past is a ghost, the future a dream, and all we ever have is now."

WHO SAID THESE? (Hint.. they are not the same person).

First one to the service desk with the correct answers wins!

Another two quotes will be posted tomorrow!

More Black History Month observances in the Library!

Exciting news in the library this month-- we're going to have a Black History Month quote contest. Starting tomorrow, and every day for the rest of February, we will post two quotes on the white boards on the second floor. The first person to identify the quotes' authors will win an Important Prize Yet to Be Determined (but will be cool).

Also I will be spotlighting in the blog some of our best Black History Month resources. Some of these we've looked at before, but we could use a refresher. :)

Tune back in tomorrow morning for the first quotes in the contest! (I am also going to post them on the Facebook page, but you have to come to the library in person to answer the question and get credit).

Black History Month exhibit in the Library

Thanks to special guest blogger Karen Preslock for the following, and for setting up such an informative display!

Come on down to the Public Service area, just to the right as you enter. There is a section in the library on main campus devoted to Black History Month!

... My how time flies!...in more ways than one. It seems like yesterday that I would be in Harlem for a show with my dad, or like in '77 when Ali defeated Evangelista to retain the title in Landover, Maryland AND Ethel Waters died in California. That same year enrollment rose at Black Colleges and Universities: Howard Univ.(DC) had 9,752 Texas Southern Univ. (Houston) had 9,552 Southern Univ. (Baton Rouge) 9,002 Jackson State Univ. (Mississippi) 7,844 Norfolk State College (VA) 7,263 Morgan State College (Baltimore) 6,424....read more on pg. 326 in the book on display: "Chronology of African American History".

Movie TODAY at 2 pm in the Funk

Don't forget today's movie "The Only Good Indian" at 2 pm in the Funk Heritage Center! This film is sponsored by the Year of North American Indigenous Peoples.

Here is a synopsis of the film from the official Web site:

Set in Kansas during the early 1900s, a teenaged Native American boy (newcomer Winter Fox Frank) is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian “training” school to assimilate into White society. When he escapes to return to his family, Sam Franklin (Wes Studi), a bounty hunter of Cherokee descent, is hired to find and return him to the institution. Franklin, a former Indian scout for the U.S. Army, has renounced his Native heritage and has adopted the White Man’s way of life, believing it’s the only way for Indians to survive. Along the way, a tragic incident spurs Franklin’s longtime nemesis, the famous “Indian Fighter” Sheriff Henry McCoy (J. Kenneth Campbell) to pursue both Franklin and the boy.

Our Michael Martinez will be on hand today to lead discussion of this film. I’m interested in how it compares to John Wayne’s “The Searchers!” Michael has been in contact with the screenwriter, so I’m sure he will have some especially insightful commentary.

For more information, go to the film’s official Web site at http://www.theonlygoodindian.com.

"Year Of" Movie This Thursday at 2 pm, Funk Heritage Center

"The Only Good Indian" will be shown this Thursday (tomorrow) at 2 pm in the theatre at the Funk Heritage Center. You can learn more about the film by visiting the official Web site at http://www.theonlygoodindian.com/.

Don't forget-- if you read any "Year Of" book or watch a "Year Of" movie, and write a brief review, you could win a t-shirt and a flash drive! Submit your reviews to Karen Preslock at kp1@reinhardt.edu. All entrants will be entered into a drawing for a Nintendo Wii!

Check out the Funk Heritage Center's Web site here. You can find the official "Year of North American Indigenous Peoples" site here.

"Floating Signifiers" by Clive Thompson-- Feb/Mar '10 Bookforum

Hello!*

Well, I wasn't kidding you yesterday. The article in Bookforum really was gr8!

In the article "Floating Signifiers: The Internet hasn't killed the English language--yet," Clive Thompson reviews three books that examine how new technology (texting, tweeting, blogging, Facebooking--is that a verb now?--and even googling and wikis)may affect the way we write and even the way we think.
These books are Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World by Naomi Baron, Txtng: The Gr8 DB8 by David Crystal, and You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier.

Out of the three, I really want to read Baron's book in particular. Thompson quotes her statement: "Distinguishing between language change and language decline is avery tricky business." Amen! This is a topic I can discuss until people's eyes start to glaze over. The grammarian in me loves to grouse about improper word usage, but the linguist in me is even more excited about the ways that the English language has evolved over the years. (If you've ever read Beowulf, and who hasn't had to at some point, you know what I mean. It sounds less like English and more like the Swedish Chef).

Baron's "cautious optimism" appeals to me, social media butterfly that I am. According to Thompson's review, Baron proposes that a) language hasn't really changed so very much as a result of the newest technologies, at least not yet; and b)that these technologies are actually causing a resurgence in the use of the written word, that those young people typing with their thumbs are not just "texting" but generating more text than any previous generation. Baron is concerned, however, that this glut of ephemeral writing will result in a loss of appreciation for elegant, formal writing, and worse, will make us lazy thinkers in the process. She dislikes Google for that reason. Why train your mind to retain information when the answers to all your questions are only a click away?

Thompson, for his part, agrees with most of Baron's concerns, but points out that her fears about Google are strikingly similar to the worries some had about the invention of the printing press back in Gutenberg's day!

Thompson also suggests that the nature of online communication may give rise to new literary and cognitive skills, not merely degrade others. (I like his notion that the 140-character limit of Twitter, for example, is training millions in the art of concise expression)! This is the conceit behind Txting. According to Thompson, Crystal's work takes a primarily positive view about the new skills this technology encourages. Crystal applauds the use of acronyms (ROFLMAO) and short forms(ur gr8), which he compares to rebus puzzles.

You Are Not a Gadget brings up a different area of concern. Lanier fears that, rather than using social software to express our true selves, we are actually redesigning our personalities to fit the mold, reducing ourselves to a set of bullet points on a page and losing something essentially human in the process. The concept of the "hive mind" behind wikis denigrates the value of individual expression, and the anonymity provided by the Internet encourages a loss of empathy for our fellow man. Those are intriguing ideas, but, according to Thompson's review at least, are given little supporting evidence in Lanier's "manifesto."

Come by the library and read Thompson's full review in the latest Bookforum. In fact, I encourage you to browse more reviews, and one sparks your interest, come talk to us! If we don't have the book, we might be able to get it for you through interlibrary loan, and we're always open to suggestions and recommendations for the collection.

And if you have a few hours to debate with me about the decline or evolution of the English language, you know where to find me. I'll be on Facebook! TTFN, ta-ta for now!




*Thompson also mentions in his review some history about the word "hello." Did you know it gained popularity as a result of a new technology, the invention of the telephone? And that people decried the use of this "new word"? Fascinating! As they say on the interwebz, it are trufax.

Will upd8 2morrow

Hi--reading a great article in Book4um re: the effect of teh intarwebz and txting on teh English language. U no that's the kind of topic I luv. I will summarize it 2morrow 4 the blog, or u can come here and CIO (check it out) for urself!

(And I won't be writing the whole blog like this, I promise). ;) LOL