Amblin' Along

So this is the end. We've had some laughs, shared some thoughts, but now it is time for me to return to my home division at dcplartsandlit.blogspot.com. We knew that this was only going to last for a month.

A few things that I have learned while in the Sociology Division are:

-The SOC of DCPL is alarmingly broad.
-The SOC REF section is now in better order than when I arrived.
-I now know what everyone means when they say "Government Documents".
-The collected writing of many presidents are bound and shelved as Reference here!
-I learned that I am NOT supposed to offer legal advise (which is kind of the only reason why I took this job) But okay.

I even managed to sneak in some "learning" about the LIT section.

Maelstrom and Jetsom

The "incredible shrinking attention span" has been getting a lot of coverage lately. I have also noticed a number of students asking for material about "video games and the brain"; "psychology and technology" and so forth. Yesterday Salon.com had a good primer/reading list on this very subject titled "Why Can't We Concentrate".

image: Salon via artsjournal

UNESCO World Digital Library

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recently launched the World Digital Library, which contains materials from the collections of 32 libraries and cultural institutions from around the world. The collection can be browsed by format, geographical area, time period, topic, and contributing institution. The WDL site provides all of its content in seven languages, including the item descriptions that place WDL materials in their cultural and historical contexts. The primary source materials that make up the collection, however, appear only in their original language of composition.

To explore the World Digital Library, visit www.wdl.org.

New books!

Tons of new books in Sociology this week.
Here is a smattering:

Mop Men is is dedicated to "Matt Dougherty."

I hope they don't mean my dad.

How DC Libraries Relate to The NMAAHC

As you are probably aware our fair city is getting a new museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, or NMAAHC. Coincidentally it is designed by the Freelon Group which is also designing both the Tenley and Anacostia neighborhood libraries. Philip Freelon is also the recipient of the 2009 Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Architecture from AIA.

image: Smithsonian

DCPL Historical Photo Contest!

Check out DCPL's DC Then and Now photo contest!

We recently made some DCPL photos a part of Flickr Commons. How exciting! To celebrate we are having a photo contest - grand prize is a filp MinoHD Camcorder, first runner up wins an SD card and second runner up wins a Holga! Find the photos at DC Public Library Commons. Then take a picture of the same spot in whatever way you want to interpret it!
Hope DCPL employees aren't disqualified!

x-posted

Amazon's glitch

While Amazon's 'de-ranking' of books with non-hetero-normative 'adult' material may already be yesterday's news, it is still something of note! Especially because the book featured in the Los Angeles Times' article is sitting on our Sociology new books shelf. Citycat won't be de-ranking books anytime soon.

The Littlest Giant

Did anyone catch the debut of the PUMA the other day? It is a joint project between Segway and General Motors. This ties right in with an article I read about the future thought of vehicular design by Joel Makower, via B M D Blog

Stranieri

HI!

I am usually over in Art/Music and sometimes LIT. You can find out more here.

I am on loan to the Sociology Division intermittently for the month of April, and have very little sociological expertise. I am mostly interested in things that impact societies, such as Art, Architecture (Urban Planning) and Politics, but less knowledgeable about details such as "Congressional Codes". These issues are all entangled in some way, so I will probably be a little less lost than I expect.

Speaking of Urban Planning there is an interesting book that I found while surveying the aisles. It is pictured above, and is located at 307.76 E56. The book is about the evolution, survival, decay of major world cities.

Too many books on genocide...

April is Genocide Prevention Month and April 2009 also marks the 15th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.

Voice of America has an informative blurb on the efforts taking place world-wide to bring awareness to the violence of the past and end all present and future genocide. Check out www.genocidepreventionmonth.org to learn about actions and events happening in your area and around the world.

Here at MLK Jr. Memorial Library we put up a display! An earth shattering idea- we know. The display is sitting outside the Art/History reading room and holds books on Rwanda, Darfur, Armenia, Bosnia, the Holocaust, and Cambodia. Grab a book on an area that interests you most, peruse the UN Declaration of Human Rights, or just pick up a flier on "30 things you can do during Genocide Prevention Month."

Two new titles received today were added to the table:

Mahmood Mamdani's latest- Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror and Gerard Prunier's Africa's World War.