http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/ News, resources, and fun stuff from the Seeley G. Mudd Library at Lawrence University en Copyright 2008 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:12:07 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Does trying to find music-related materials on the Web make you crazy? Try this guide to finding scores recordings, lyrics and other musical mayhem in no particular order, just to make the hunt all the more thrilling. It's mostly free and mostly legal.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/buried_music_treasure.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/buried_music_treasure.html Music Research Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:12:07 -0600 There is a new entry in the continuing saga of The Mudd's battle with the elements. Like Joe Btfsplk, we literally have a cloud hanging over our heads. In an ironic twist, the roof guys were making great progress in trying to eliminate our seasonal interior downpours when it, what?, downpoured. As luck would have it, the roof had been replace with a tarp just hours before deluge began. Return with us now to those soggy, squishy days of yesterday.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/someones_taking_this_mudd_thin.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/someones_taking_this_mudd_thin.html Fun Library News Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:27:25 -0600 Today Ringo Starr is 68. Yes, 68. Those of you mature enough to know his real name will be feeling extremely ancient and those who have never heard of him will be asking, "Whose grandpappy is that?" In a dastardly bit of birthday irony, it was reported yesterday that his birthplace is certain to be demolished after English Heritage decided not to list it on its register. But Pete Best's home will be preserved only because it was the location of the original Cavern Club, and..., oh, just read the article. Do what Richard requests today: "...everyone, everywhere, wherever they are, at noon on July 7 make the peace sign and say 'Peace & Love.'" And listen to some tunes.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/and_you_thought_paul_was_old.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/07/and_you_thought_paul_was_old.html Fun Music Resources Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:49:19 -0600 If ever the Apocalypse was in sight, it's now. That most scholarly of encyclopedias, The Encyclopedia Britannica, is going wiki. But the editors have taken a lot of the fun and adventure out of the wiki experience by only allowing readers to suggest revisions, not make them themselves. So you merry pranksters may not change Winston Churchill's middle name to Bassingbourne or make Inigo Jones the love-child of Elizabeth I and the Sir Walter Raleigh. If you're in the Mudd you can search the Encyclopedia Britannica and even suggest changes. Listen to the report on NPR.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/wikitannica.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/wikitannica.html Fun Resources Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:23:50 -0600 Once again it's Sir Paul McCartney's birthday. He's been in this music business for over 50 years, and he's still touring. His latest stop was in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine where he gave a concert sponsored by Victor Pinchuk, Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist. Pinchuk said, "One could not imagine this 30 years ago. Nobody could even dare to hope for this 20 years ago. One could only dream about it 10 years ago. 5 years ago we could only envy our neighbors for whom this became a reality. And finally the day has come. For the first time we have the opportunity to hear the songs that changed the world and created a new culture." We couldn't agree more. Sure, we have the Beatles recordings and even one McCartney solo disc. But the library's McCartney collection includes Lennon-McCartney tunes interpreted by vocalists Kiri Te Kanawa, Cathy Berberian and Cristina Zavalloni, double bassists, and a brass quintet. Very versatile.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/when_im_66.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/when_im_66.html Fun Music Resources Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:15:30 -0600 Reunion Weekend and the Library invites alumni to visit the Mudd. We're open Friday the 20th, 8am to 4pm and Saturday the 21st, noon to 4pm. While you're here (and even while you're not), you can search the library catalog for books by alumni authors or visit the Lawrence Archives Digital Collections to view photos and documents that document Lawrence's past. Stop by and say hello. We look forward to seeing you again. .]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/welcome_alumni.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/welcome_alumni.html Campus Events Resources Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:59:29 -0600 CD pile. Once again we've dipped into the storeroom of gifts and have emerged with arias, vocalises, songs and voice with instrumental ensemble.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/more_vocal_cds.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/more_vocal_cds.html Music Resources Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:54:01 -0600 June IS busting out all over. You may think June is noteworthy only because it is the month of Paul McCartney's birthday (June 18,) but it's also Lane Courtesy Month. Will you be compelled to purchase large women's clothing? Be polite to Superman's girlfriend? Continuously sing "Mule Train?" No, no, it's the month to yield the left lane to faster drivers. This applies to motorists only. And for those for whom "courtesy" is an alien concept, this site also has links to Fight Your Ticket and Find an Attorney. Get yourself lane-ready with the Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook and Study Guide.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/may_was_full_of_promises.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/06/may_was_full_of_promises.html Fun Resources Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:11:26 -0600 Today the Mudd and physical plant staff said a fond farewell to Connie Bruner, the Mudd's 1st and 2nd floor custodian for the last several years. We wish her well on the next part of her adventure. Happy travels Connie!]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/farewell_connie.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/farewell_connie.html Fun Thu, 29 May 2008 09:56:16 -0600 new-to-us CDs. We have dipped into our treasure trove of gifts and extracted a pile of what we like to call the good ol' M1505's. For you browsers, M1505 is excerpts from operas. To get the whole deal, go to M1500. This batch even has a few selections from musicals.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/newish_cds.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/newish_cds.html Music Resources Wed, 21 May 2008 11:41:50 -0600 Today would have been Don Martin's 77th birthday. And he was not a lounge singer, half of a comedy duo, or a manufacturer of British luxury cars. No, children, Don Martin was a brilliant cartoonist, best known for his work in Mad magazine back when it was funny. His comic strips, according to Wikipedia, "featured outrageous events and sometimes outright violations of the laws of space-time." Who else would picture a man who, after inserting a dollar bill into a change machine, was changed into a woman? One cannot think of Don Martin without remembering his great use of onomatopoeia. In his honor, and in the hopes that our gentle readers will make appropriate use of it, we give you The Don Martin Dictionary, an alphabetical archive of all his sound effects. ]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/shtoink.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/shtoink.html Fun Sun, 18 May 2008 16:26:31 -0600 You know how things work. In order to prove anything to some people, you have to have data. And that means numbers. One of our favorite sources of data is the Statistical Abstract of the United States. We just received the 2008 edition, which, in reality, gives you stats for 2005 or 2006 and sometimes several years earlier. There's an electronic version on the U.S. Census Bureau's web site that goes all the way back beyond 1878. Compare and contrast the number of post offices (1878: 39,258 - 2006: 36,826) or coal production (1878: 49,130,584 tons - 2005: 1,133,000,000 tons.) Astonish your friends with your storehouse of scintillating factoids. ]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/numbers_and_charts_and_columns.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/numbers_and_charts_and_columns.html Resources Thu, 15 May 2008 14:44:55 -0600 On May 14, 1881 Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the high cost of gas. If this family had waited just over a year and moved to Appleton, they could have had the benefit of lighting their home with hydroelectric power. Read all about the world's first hydroelectric power station.]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/le_plus_se_change.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/le_plus_se_change.html Fun Resources Wed, 14 May 2008 13:10:48 -0600 Hey kids! May 1st is RSS Awareness Day!
What's RSS, you ask? Check out this Lawrence University page about it and subscribe to Lawrence University RSS feeds. You'll especially want to subscribe to the feed for this blog, of course...]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/rss_day.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/05/rss_day.html Fun Research Resources Thu, 01 May 2008 10:54:44 -0600 Appleton. England. Not the same. This was proven by a little item in Monday's New York Times. The main reading room of the British Library, formerly a stodgy bastion of serious researchers, relaxed its admission policy in 1998 when it moved into a new building. Now the tweedy, suede-patched-elbows set must rub shoulders with "anyone who has a relevant research need," which includes college undergraduates. Here, we LOVE college undergraduates. One regular user complained of the raucous behavior he witnessed: "The worst is that they actually answer their phones...The phone vibrates and they go, 'Hold on a minute, Nigel,' and then they run out of the reading room and take the call." For the record: 1. Setting you phone to vibrate is a lovely and wondrous thing 2. Answering it and saying only "hold on" will endear you to us forever 3. And finally, walking outside to carry on a conversation makes our hearts go pitter-patter with delight The Mudd: We're Not the British Library]]> http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/04/its_not_just_for_academics_any.html http://thor.lawrence.edu/blogs/library/2008/04/its_not_just_for_academics_any.html Fun Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:07:56 -0600