Over the river and through the woods...

I've moved! Keep reading me at http://blog.library.temple.edu/devoek.

The "Phony" Scholars

In his recent article appearing in The Chronicle of Higher Education, John Gravois highlights the seeming spread of "imposter syndrome" among young academics -- the mortal dread of being discovered as phonies within the ivory tower, despite being brilliant, highly successful scholars.

Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature

A new edition of the Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature is now available via Oxford Reference Online.

This volume offers over five thousand alphabetically arranged entries on individual novels, plays, songs, poems, novelists, poets, playwrights, essayists, philosophers, historians, fictional characters, literary movements, legends, and much more.

Useful plot summaries, entries on important fictional characters, and countless biographical articles on authors and other influential figures in the world of letters are also included.

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics

A new edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics is now available online via Oxford Reference Online.

Fully revised and updated for the second edition, this invaluable work is the most authoritative dictionary of linguistics of its kind available.

Encyclopedia of Life Writing

Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms is now available online via Credo Reference.

Exploring not only autobiography and biography proper, but also letters, diaries, memoirs, family histories, case histories, and other ways in which individual lives have been recorded and structured, this encyclopedia includes entries on genres and subgenres, national and regional traditions from around the world, and important auto-biographical writers, as well as articles on related areas such as oral history, anthropology, testimonies, and the representation of life stories in non-verbal art forms.

Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850

Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850 is now available online via Credo Reference.

Exploring the developments that influenced the profound changes in thought and sensibility during the second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century, the encyclopedia provides readers with a clear, detailed, and accurate reference source on the literature, thought, music, and art of the period.

JSTOR Updates

JSTOR, the electronic journal database, has added 40 new titles to its collection. Some of the highlights include:

Natural Language & Linguistic Theory published by Springer, including the first 21 volumes (1983-2003). The journal provides a forum for the discussion of theoretical research that pays close attention to natural language data, so as to provide a channel of communication between researchers of a variety of points of view. The journal actively seeks to bridge the gap between descriptive work and work of a highly theoretical, less empirically oriented nature.


Rhetoric Society Quarterly published by Taylor & Francis, including volumes 6-29 (1976-1999). The journal features original articles on all areas of rhetorical studies including theory, history, criticism, and pedagogy. The journal addresses an interdisciplinary audience of scholars and students of rhetoric who work in communication studies, English studies, philosophy, politics and other allied fields.



The Women's Review of Books published by Old City Publishing, Inc., including volumes 1-21 (1983-2003). The journal provides a unique perspective on today's literary landscape and feature essays and in-depth reviews of new books by and about women.

"America's Finest News Source"?

In his recent Reason Magazine article, Greg Beato asks whether the fake daily news publication, The Onion, is our "most intelligent newspaper," citing its frank, yet irreverent and biting take on worldviews and human behaviors.

Mark Twain Project Online

The University of California recently launched the Mark Twain Project Online, a digital collection of Mark Twain's writings.

Providing access to texts, notes, and facsimiles online at no charge, the collection currently includes more than 2,300 letters written between 1853 and 1880 and will later include more than 10,000 known correspondences as well as many never-before published letters, plus electronic editions of Twain's most famous literary works.

Library Prize for Undergraduate Research

Temple University Libraries is pleased to announce the fourth annual Library Prize for Undergraduate Research. The Library Prize encourages the use of library resources and the development of library research techniques. The Prize honors the best research projects by Temple undergraduates.

Papers or projects, in any format, completed for a Temple University for-credit course in Summer 2007, Fall 2007, or Spring 2008 semesters may be submitted. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, April 10, 2008.

Winners will be selected by a committee of faculty and librarians. Up to three grand prizes will be awarded. Winning research projects will receive a $1,000 cash prize and will be displayed online and in the library.

Lessing Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature

English writer Doris Lessing has been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Announcing the award in Stockholm, the Swedish Academy described her as “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny.”

KYW-TV Donates Film Footage to Libraries

CBS 3 (KYW-TV) recently donated its vast video archive to Temple University's Urban Archives.

The video archive comprises over 20,000 videotapes, including daily local newscasts and video clips from the last 30 years of Eyewitness News as well as 15 years of the local lifestyle show, Evening Magazine. Once cataloged, the collection will be available to students and the local community.

For additional information, see the Temple Times article, or watch the KYW-TV news coverage of CBS 3 President and General Manager, Michael Colleran presenting the video archive to Temple President, Ann Weaver Hart and Dean of Libraries, Larry Alford during the recent ceremony and reception.

NYPL Digital Gallery Resources

The NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 550,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

A few collections that may be of interest for literary and media studies include:

• Authors: Photographs from the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
• Cigarette Cards: ABCs
  
• Dust Jackets from European and American Books, 1926-1947
• Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts from Western Europe
• Miss Frank E. Buttolph American Menu Collection, 1851-1930
  
• Turn of the Century Posters
  
• Walt Whitman Manuscripts
  

Check them out!

Digital News Archive Trials

TU Libraries is currently trialing the following digital news archives:

• American Spectator
• Commentary
• Commonweal
• Harper's
• NACLA
• The Nation
• National Review
• New Republic
  

Let us know if you believe any or all of these sources should be added to our collection of eResources permanently.

Find other available trials at eResource Trials.