Ramsey Library News

Please join us as UNC Asheville welcomes award-winning author Robert Morgan for a reading and discussion on Friday, November 14 at 3:30 in the Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Morgan will be reading from his latest book Boone and discussing issues of Appalachian identity formation and authorship. This event, sponsored by Ramsey Library and offered in conjunction with the regional Together We Read program, is free and open to the public. Morgan, who was raised on a family farm in western North Carolina, is the author of eleven books of poetry and eight books of fiction, including the bestselling novel Gap Creek. Winner of a 2007 Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, Morgan lives in Ithaca, NY, where he teaches at Cornell University. For more information about this event, contact Heather Stewart Harvey, Information Literacy & Outreach Librarian at Ramsey Library, at 828/251-6632 or hharvey@unca.edu

Posted by Brandy at 02:55 PM | Permalink

ELECTION DATA ANALYSIS

NOTES FROM RAMSEY is pleased to thank its newest reporter, Merianne Epstein, for sharing most timely information about a new web resource. The University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab recently announced a collaboration with Google as part of a project to share historical data for U.S. presidential elections. The data comes from a standard source, VOTING AMERICA: UNITED STATES POLITICS, 1840-2008. “Google will make digital maps of presidential elections from 1980 to 2004 available in Google Earth. These maps detail how people voted in every county in the United States, providing far more detail and information than what is currently available in Electoral College maps. The voting returns are also paired with population data—including information on race, age, gender and income levels—in every county, allowing people to examine the factors that affected voting in any given election.” “Anyone can access the Google Earth layer by going to Google's 2008 Election site, Google 2008 U.S. Election.”

In a complementary discussion, the Chronicle of Higher Education’s “The Wired Campus” alluded to the University of Richmond/Google project before asking “As more scholars try similar map-based data projects, should they use Google as a platform?” You can join that discussion at:

Is Google Earth Becoming a Platform for Academic Scholarship?

WIKIPEDIA REVISITED

This is a bit dated but NOTES FROM RAMSEY loves anything to do with WIKIPEDIA. Back on April 10, the Chronicle’s “The Wired Campus” reported that the venerable Oxford University Press’ publisher, Niko Pfund (glad this is in writing!), “. . . paid Wikipedia the ultimate compliment: He compared it to the Oxford English Dictionary.” Pfund went on to note that “After all, the Oxford English Dictionary, arguably the greatest reference work in the English language…found its origins in a wiki model, whereby scholars put out the word to English speakers far and wide that they would welcome hard evidence of the earliest appearances of English words.”

And the best part is that you can find links both to the OED and Wikipedia via the library’s tried and true web site. Check it out at:

Ramsey Library
http://bullpup.lib.unca.edu/library/

Publisher Compares Wikipedia to Oxford English Dictionary

Posted by Brandy at 02:33 PM | Permalink

Currently on display upstairs is an assortment of books & DVDs related to new pop technologies. Check out a book or DVD to learn how to master podcasting, Facebook modifications, or software packages from Photoshop to Garageband to Final Cut Pro. Or explore the human side of technology with an anthropological look at cell phone use globally or a book of essays on the sociological implications of gaming.

Posted by Brandy at 01:09 PM | Permalink