Found in the Stacks by Peggy Firman: Suite Francaise

Find this lovely book in our stacks: call number PQ2627.E4 S8513 2006. The New York Times Book Review indicates that, “Nemirovsky wrote what may be the first work of fiction about what we now call World War II.” Irene Nemirovsky was a successful writer living and working in France during the onset of the war. She was in a unique position to view and document the experience of the individuals affected by the war, and started writing the parts to this novel as she herself was experiencing the events. The work contains two parts. The first part, A Storm in June, chronicles individuals and families fleeing Paris in advance of Nazi occupation. The imperative of survival strips individuals of their normal surroundings and allows us to see their essential natures. Nemirovsky’s clarity of prose makes the reader a participant in the chaotic exodus from the city. In the second part, Dolce, we experience the occupation of a small town from both points of view: the conqueror and the subdued. The appendi ces contain transcripts of notes written by the author on plans for the following parts. But we readers never see the conclusion, because the author was arrested in 1942 and sent to a concentration camp, where she died within the month. The survival of the manuscript is explained in additional notes and the publication of the work in 2006 a true gift to readers everywhere.

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DON'T FORGET – Edible Book Festival This Week!

This year’s Edible Book Festival will have super cool prizes and is also partnering with Social Justice and Pi Beta Phi with a canned food drive and promotion of programs in support of literacy. Stuck for an idea?  Visit these sites to get some inspiration and be sure to check out photos from past events on our web page!

A bit of fun:  Some good sites for Edible Book Ideas!
http://www.cutefoodforkids.com/2012/02/51-rainbow-food-ideas-for-st-patricks.html?utm_source=BP_recent

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Music in the Library: Harp – Friday, March 23, 3-3:30 p.m.!

Join us for Harp music by Lauren Eklund!

Friday, March 23, 2012
3-3:30 p.m.
Collins Library Reading Room

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Author Brian Doyle Reading & Book Signing, Wednesday, March 21, 6:30-8 p.m.

Brian Doyle self-portrait and photo

Brian Doyle, Author
Reading & Book Signing
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
6:30-8 p.m.
Collins Library, Room 020

Brian Doyle edits Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, in Oregon – “the best spiritual magazine in the country,” according to author Annie Dillard, obviously a woman of surpassing discernment. Doyle is the author of twelve books: six collections of essays, two nonfiction books (The Grail, about a year in an Oregon vineyard, and The Wet Engine, about hearts), two collections of “proems,” the short story collection Bin Laden’s Bald Spot, and the sprawling Oregon novel Mink River. Doyle’s books have five times been finalists for the Oregon Book Award, and his essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, Orion, The American Scholar, and in newspapers and magazines around the world. His essays have also been reprinted in the annual Best American Essays, Best American Science & Nature Writing, and Best American Spiritual Writing anthologies. Among various honors for his work is a Catholic Book Award, two Pushcart Prizes, and, mysteriously, a 2008 Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, this last particularly amazing because previous recipients include Saul Bellow, Kurt Vonnegut, Flannery O’Connor, and Mary Oliver, and wouldn’t that be a great dinner table, you know?

His greatest accomplishments are that a riveting woman said yup when he mumbled a marriage proposal, that the Coherent Mercy then sent them three lanky snotty sneery testy sweet brilliant nutty muttering children in skin boats from the sea of the stars, and that he once made the all-star team in a Boston men’s basketball league that was a really tough league, guys drove the lane in that league they lost fingers, man, one time a guy drove to the basket and got hit so hard his right arm fell off but he was lefty and hit both free throws, so there you go.

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"Circus Libris" Artist Books by Jessica Spring – Opening Reception March 29, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Exhibit open: March 29–May 14
Opening Reception: March 29, 4:30–6:30 p.m.
Artist Talk: April 25, 7–8:30 p.m., Library Room 020

Using an array of old-fangled technologies from papermaking to letterpress printing, Jessica Spring, the proprietor of Springtide Press tames words and images to delight the reader. Small finely-crafted editions consider historical topics and popular culture from a unique perspective, expanding the library’s tent with new-fashioned books. Sponsored in part by the Tacoma Arts Commission.

Ms. Spring was recently named the winner of the fourth annual Foundation of Art Award given by the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. Spring has exhibited in many local and regional gallery shows, collaborated with other artists, founded the letterpress/book Wayzgoose event at Kings’ Bookstore. She has an MFA from Columbia College Chicago Center for Book & Paper and teaches book arts at Pacific Lutheran University. Her books are part of many collections including the British Library, Northwestern, University of Washington, Yale, the Ringling School of Art & Design, and the Collins Memorial Library.

Funding from the Tacoma Arts Commission.

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Tools to Make Your Research Easier

Spitfire at en.wikipedia CC-BY-SA-3.0

Humans are tool users; indeed, it has been argued that our use of tools is a part of what makes us human. However, it’s been found that a wide variety of primates, crows (both New Caledonian and the kind we see here) and as well as other animals use tools. And why wouldn’t they, given how much a good tool improves a job?

So while we can’t console ourselves that tools make us special, we can console ourselves that it makes us faster and more efficient.

With that enticement, check out our New Tools and Widgets page, where we’ve listed information about a wide variety of our tools. Check back now and again as we’ll add new tools that we find particularly useful, too.

Tools profiled include:

  • Collins LibX toolbar, a tool that connects the open web to library resources,
  • Collins Links toolbar, a tool that brings together all the Puget Sound library resources you’d need to do your research,
  • New York Times article-finder bookmarklets, which let you reload published articles you find on the New York Times after your free 20 articles and read them through our databases.

Have suggestions for a tool you’d love? Let us know in the comments or via Collins is Listening!

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Using e-books Made (Even) Easier

By Design Continuum ($100 Laptop Website) CC-BY-2.5

Have you noticed that Collins Library seems to have a lot more e-books this year? That’s because, well, we do! We’re participating in a great project with all the Orbis Cascade libraries that lets us pool our resources and share e-books from EBL. Collins Library has a lot of other providers of e-books, too, so you’ll see e-books on a wide variety of topics popping up as available at Puget Sound. No matter where the e-book comes from, you’ll be able to discover it in Puget Sound WorldCat or Collins Catalog and access it from a link in the catalog record.

Most of our e-books are usable on the web, the simplest option. But many are also downloadable using Adobe Digital Editions, a free e-reader application. This is a great solution if you’re interested in reading on a desktop or laptop. If you’re using an iPad, e-reader or other mobile device, you can find all kinds of solutions on our e-books resource page, too.

The e-reader and mobile device landscape is changing all the time, so if you notice something different, have a question, or have a tip, please let us know! We’d love to help and learn with you.

To find everything you’d want to know, and, we hope, even more, check out our e-books resources page!

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Found in the Stacks by Rebecca Kuglitsch: Christian Health Science…"

This is a slim little book (Christian Health Science [Flynn Vital Center System of Health Culture] vs. Christian Science“, Call no. RA776 .F65) by W. Earl Flynn, copyright 1907, which was written to instruct the reader on living a long and healthful life. It’s certainly an interesting primary source for early 20th century health trends, but it’s also kind of a hoot to see the photos of physical culture exercises, performed in laced leather shoes, knee breeches, and a tie. Yes, a tie. A sports tie.
 Enjoy!

-Rebecca Kuglitsch

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Stereogranimator Site: Turning Historic Stereographs into Animated Images

Our new Stereogranimator site (which was created by NYPL Labs and allows you to turn historic stereographs from the Library’s collections into animated GIFs or 3-D images) has gotten tons and tons of attention (as well as tens of thousands of hits), so we thought we’d use it for this week’s Caturday! Check out this amazing dancing cat, originally photographed in September 1918. The original image is in our Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views. How cool is it to breathe new life into these old photos? Gotta love it.

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Are You a Procrastinator? Don’t worry – Join the Long Night Against Procrastination

In solidarity with writing centers in Germany, Puget Sound’s Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching (CWLT) will be one of two universities from the US participating in the Long Night Against Procrastination, on March 1.

The Long Night event is designed to help confront those writing tasks we have been procrastinating: papers, grant proposals, homework, and more (we all know what our own specifics are). This event began in Germany in 2009.

At the CWLT, the celebration launches at 3:00 p.m. (German midnight) with German treats, public declarations of non-procrastination, and live interaction with writing centers in Germany. From 4:00 p.m.-midnight, they will be holding regularly scheduled tutoring appointments and writing conferences, and also have special space set aside for those who want uninterrupted time to write quietly, eat some snacks, and stop procrastinating!

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