You probably don’t have it marked on your calendar, but this month, the book Gone with the Wind turned 75. Calendar or no, it’s been hard to avoid; I’ve come across several blogs and magazines that have taken the opportunity to talk about about how awful the book is, in both its style and content. At one point people’s unhappiness with Scarlett and Rhett would have surprised me, because I first read Gone with the Wind when I was 12. I had never read a story where the heroine was not only unkind and selfish but altogether quite unlikeable, and … Continue reading →

I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t want Adam Savage’s job. He works for the TV show Mythbusters and spends his days blowing things up, driving fast cars and re-enacting Hollywood stunts (can 007 really jump out of that plane and live? Really?) His job is Awesome. When Mythbusters comes up – and if you ever experience an awkward lag in conversation among strangers, it’s a good topic to try – you can actually watch the flush of wistful longing cross people’s faces. But I am skeptical of such dream jobs, because one summer, I actually had one. I was hired … Continue reading →

I love my e-reader, mainly because it allows me to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in public without being publicly shamed. (And you really shouldn’t judge: it’s a funny book, in an absurd sort of way.) I also love that I can buy a book at 2 a.m., read a PDF in the sunshine and download my library books. But while higher ed seems eager to experiment with other technologies in the classroom – tablets; BlackBerries; even twitter and texting – the e-reader doesn’t seem to come up very often. So I thought I would ask Brenda Smith, TRU’s distance and document delivery librarian and all-around book guru, about why we don’t hear more about e-books in higher ed, and what you should consider if you’re shopping for an e-reader. Here’s what she said. Continue reading →

With a wave of new and returning students wishing to register for summer courses, it has come to my attention that some people don’t find TRU-OL’s new registration process as fun as a day at the beach. Because OL students are so different – some taking whole programs, others a single course; some taking paced courses with specific start dates; and others taking courses they can start whenever they like (Christmas Day, anyone?) – the process can seem littered with details that don’t immediately make sense. We’re working on this, but in the meantime, maybe this will help. Here’s a … Continue reading →