eBook of the Week – Would You Kill the Fat Man?

A runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You are standing on a footbridge looking down on the unfolding disaster. However, a fat man, a stranger, is standing next to you: if you push him off the bridge, he will topple onto the line and, although he will die, his chunky body will stop the train, saving five lives. Would you kill the fat man?

Intrigued? Read

Would You Kill the Fat Man? The Trolley Problem and What Your Answer Tells Us about Right and Wrong by David Edmonds

The trolley problem, a thought experiment in ethics, illustrates the dilemma in deciding what’s right and what’s wrong.

Check it out!  EBSCO eBook Collection

CHS Artwork at Gannon Gallery / BSC Library

The Gannon Gallery at the BSC Library is displaying an all-media juried show by Century High School art students through February 27. 

Join us for the reception on Thursday, January 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the BSC Library.

This is the second year that BSC has hosted CHS artwork in the Gannon Gallery/BSC Library. There are some 160 pieces in the show, and the artwork is impressive and has such variety.  Don’t miss it!

Here are a few images to whet your appetite …

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Sarajevo’s Gazi Husrev-bey Library & BookTalk at BSC 2014

On January 15, 2014, the new Gazi Husrev-bey Library opened in the heart of the Ottoman-era Old Town section of Sarajevo to house ancient books and manuscripts that had been moved to various locations during Bosnia’s war and the siege of Sarajevo to save them from destruction.

I was especially interested in this news because of its connection to the second book in our BookTalk at BSC 2014 discussion series, People of the Book by Gwendolyn Brooks.  The story is about the Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript which was created in Spain during the 14th century.  The author imagines this very real book’s  journey through five centuries and shows how it has survived through the expulsion of Jews from Spain, the Inquisition in Italy, the upheaval of World War II, and the bombings in Sarajevo during the 1992-95 war.

Click here for the full story about the new library.

The next BookTalk discussion will be on Sunday, March 2, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the BSC Library.  Kim Crowley, Assistant Professor of English, will lead the discussion.  You are invited!

Copyright Week – January 13-17

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is one of the many groups and organizations celebrating Copyright Week.  EFF was founded in 1990 and is a donor-funded nonprofit working to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights.  EFF champions the public interest regarding digital rights.

Copyright Week focuses on these six copyright issues:

• Transparency
• Building and defending a robust public domain
• Open access
• You bought it, you own it
• Fair use rights
• Getting copyright right

The Harm of Booklessness

From Brian Matthews, The Ubiquitous Librarian:

You’ve probably seen the press about BiblioTech, the first bookless public library system in the country. It is being hailed as a “big success” and “the future of libraries.”

While I can appreciate the marketing tactic they are using, I actually think they are doing more harm than good. This library has been hyping the “bookless” concept for a while now. In fact, I’ve had faculty and administrators on my campus forward me renderings/press and suggest that we move in a similar direction.

My primary concern is that this might (or already has?) create false expectations of what “all libraries” should become. It’s setting a precedent. Read more …

eBook of the Week

Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) was one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. Find out more in:

Starting at Zero: His Own Story by Jimi Hendrix

“It didn’t take long after Jimi Hendrix’s death for the artist to become a myth of American music. He has been surrounded by a shroud of intrigue since he first came into the public eye, and the mystery has only grown with time. Much has been written and said about him by experts and fans and critics, some of it true and some of it not; Starting at Zero will set the record straight in Hendrix’s own words.”

Check it out! Beyond Library Walls Digital Collection

The eBook Reading Experience: Two Views

What’s your take on the eBook reading experience?  Do you favor traditional print formats or are you an eBook fan?

Do you agree or disagree with these views?

Why or why not?  

 

 

 

BookTalk at BSC 2014

Readers are a hardy bunch! Despite the extreme cold on Sunday, January 5, we had a great turnout for our first discussion in the BookTalk at BSC 2014 series, as well as lively conversation about The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  Janelle Masters, our discussion leader, kept things going and challenged us with some great questions and observations.

BookTalk continues with …

 People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

  Discussion: Sunday, February 2, 1 to 3 p.m., BSC Library

  Discussion leader: Kim Crowley, BSC Assistant Professor English

  This book is widely available from booksellers and can be checked out from libraries.

About the book

When Geraldine Brooks started this writing project, her intention was to write a nonfiction book about the censorship of Hebrew books in Venice during the 17th century. As she delved into the project, she decided her idea would make better fiction. Inspired by a true story, People of the Book focuses on a single Hebrew text, the Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in Spain during the 14th century.

In the story, Hanna Heath, an Australian rare book expert, is called upon to do some conservation work on the priceless Sarajevo Haggadah. In doing so, she finds a series of tiny artifacts in the ancient binding — a fragment of an insect wing, wine stains, salt crystals, and a white hair. The author imagines the book’s journey through five centuries and shows how the haggadah survives through the expulsion of Jews from Spain, the Inquisition in Italy, and the upheaval of World War II.

Check out the BookTalk at BSC 2014 LibGuide: http://bsc.libguides.com/booktalk2014

eBook of the Week

New Year’s Resolution: Think more critically, learn to question everything, and don’t let your own brain trip you up.

Think: Why You Should Question Everything by Guy P. Harrison

This book will show you “how to better navigate through the maze of biases and traps that are standard features of every human brain. These innate pitfalls threaten to trick us into seeing, hearing, thinking, remembering, and believing things that are not real or true.” … “With a mix of wit and wisdom, it challenges everyone to think like a scientist, embrace the skeptical life, and improve their critical thinking skills.”

Check it out! Beyond Library Walls Digital Collection