Friday, February 13, 2009

LIBERAL ARTS BLOGS

It can be hard to keep up with listservs, never mind the ever-expanding "blogosphere." Here's a site that lists blogs related to the liberal arts. You'll notice that some subjects are omitted, but it's a useful list nonetheless. Enjoy!

http://www.universityreviewsonline.com/2005/10/the-top-100-lib.html

You can also create your own list of your favorite blogs by searching for blogs at a variety of sites: Google Blog Search, Technorati, and Blog Search from Ask.com are few that I have used. Here's a more thorough list of blog search engines.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

AMERICAN SLAVERY: A COMPOSITE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

During Black History Month, we'd like to remind the community about a resource that the University Library added several years ago at the request of our former president, Dr. Corts.
The source is "American Slavery: a Composite Autobiography." Click here to access it.

Published online in 2000, this Greenwood product reproduces over 2,000 American slave narratives. The database is searchable by name of the narrator, subject under discussion, “master,” interviewer, and county. These narratives are a primary source treasure trove for researchers. The narratives are filled with detail and provide first-hand accounts of slave life and life after slavery. They were recorded in the 1930’s by the Works Project Administration, and the interviewing methods and questions as well as the interviewers are themselves potential subjects for research. Several sound files, recorded in the South in the mid-‘30s by Alan Lomax, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle, are also included in the collection.

Friday, February 6, 2009

JAMES BALDWIN, "ANOTHER COUNTRY" - NEW YORKER ARTICLE

Just in time for Black History Month, the most recent New Yorker has published a wonderful article about the life and work of writer James Baldwin and his conflicted, often heart-breaking relationship with the U.S., the civil rights movement, his public role as a black writer, and the artistic process. The article can be found here:

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/02/09/090209crbo_books_pierpont

Monday, February 2, 2009

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

February is Black History Month! You can learn more about black history in Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Guide to Black History, available online at http://www.search.eb.com/blackhistory .

This guide and many other useful and enlightening resources are a part of the Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, a subscription made available to you through the University Library and the Alabama Virtual Library. This online academic version of EB contains much more information than its free online counterpart, available on the free Internet. This subscription includes:

· Full EB content;
· Research tools, including Timelines, World Data Analyst, Compare Countries, World Atlas, Notable Quotations, and Gateway to the Classics;
· Thousands of video clips, images, and animations;
· Daily features;
· The Britannica Blog;
· News headlines; and
· Featured spotlights relevant to current events and history.

If it’s been awhile since you used the Encyclopedia Britannica, toss out any notions you have of multivolume dusty texts; get acquainted with EB Online Academic. You’ll be surprised at what you can find.


Thanks to Lori Northrup for this posting.