Archive for December 2004
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December 22, 2004
Search Engine May Widen Access to UT Library Materials
KNOXVILLE -- Books in the University of Tennessee library system will be more visible to those searching the Internet, thanks to two new projects by the search engine Google.
UT libraries dean Barbara Dewey said Wednesday that one project is the Google Scholar service. When a user searches for a topic, a list of books and scholarly journals relating to that topic is generated.
The user can then input their zip code and see if any of those books are geographically close to them. The search results will show any related materials in the UT Libraries collections.
"We have so much unique material here at UT," Dewey said, "such as East Tennessee regional history and special collections like those of Andrew Jackson and Estes Kefauver, that aren't available anywhere else.
"This will be a great way to let people see these historical documents."
Another project by Google, to digitize much or all of the library content of universities such as Harvard and Stanford, has drawn national media attention.
Dewey said the books that will be digitized and posted to the Internet are those that have passed their copyright date and are now in the public domain.
"Materials that remain under copyright protection will not be viewable online, but they will still be searchable by zip code," Dewey said, "and if any are available here at UT, people can come to the library and check out the material or read it here."
The Google Scholar Web site is located at http://scholar.google.com.
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Contact: Barbara Dewey (865-974-4127); Charles Primm (865-974-5180)
University of Tennessee Communications
(865-974-2225) http://pr.tennessee.edu/news/
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Posted by Laura Purcell at 10:19 AM in Press Releases
December 20, 2004
Award-winning writer-in-residence to share work
Elizabeth Gilbert will satisfy both lovers of fiction, nonfiction
December 18, 2004 Writers in the Library continues its Spring series with readings by Elizabeth Gilbert, current Writer-in-Residence in the English Dept., Monday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Gilbert has written creative nonfiction for Spin, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar; in fact, an article written for GQ about her time working in a Manhattan bar was the basis for the 2000 film Coyote Ugly. Her time at the Coyote Ugly Saloon was merely one of the life experiences Gilbert used as a writer's education before settling into writing in New York.
Instead of going into a Masters of Fine Arts program after getting her undergraduate degree from New York University, the Connecticut native chose to travel, to learn about real people and real situations. Educating herself on real life was the main reason she decided on political science rather than English for her degree.
After college, Gilbert worked as a waitress in Philadelphia and a trail chef in Wyoming, and two years later, found herself in Bob Guccione Jr.'s office at Spin working as a temp for three days while his assistant was on vacation. She had no office experience and spent most of her time trying to sell her writing skills. Later, after selling a short story to Esquire, she sent a copy of the article and a note to Guccione and was soon writing for his magazine as well.
In 1997, Gilbert left journalism and published a collection of short fiction called Pilgrims, which was selected as a New York Times Notable Book, called one of the "Most Intriguing Books of 1997" by Glamour Magazine and a finalist for the 1998 PEN/Hemingway Award. While writing a novel was not on Gilbert's to-do list, Stern Men, about Maine's lobster fishermen, was published in 2000. In 2002, she wrote a book about Eustace Conway, whom she profiled in GQ in 1998. The Last American Man details Conway's life as a mountain man in the Appalachians of North Carolina and was nominated for a 2002 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
Because she has written fiction and nonfiction, as well as the "fourth genre" of creative nonfiction for magazines, Gilbert does not see a major difference between the genres. To her, writing narratives in fiction or nonfiction are no different, which spices her writing with natural dialog, colorful scenes and deep stories. A writer of American life, Gilbert is noted for coaxing out the stories of people on the edge of traditional Americana.
The Writers in the Library series is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the Creative Writing Program of the UT English Department. For further information, please contact Jo Anne Deeken, Head of Technical Services, UT Libraries, at 974-6905 or deeken@aztec.lib.utk.edu, or R.B. Morris, Writer in Residence, UT Libraries, at 974-3004 or rbmorris@utk.edu.
Posted by at 11:30 AM in Writers in the Library
December 15, 2004
Non-fiction storyteller to kick-off Writers in Library 2005
Phil Cousineau shares his expertise in myth, spirituality
December 15, 2004 Writers in the Library will begin its 2005 season with author Phil Cousineau Monday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Lindsay Young Auditorium of Hodges Library. The event is free and open to the public.
In addition to reading from his works, Cousineau will discuss the simultaneously romantic and terrifying day-to-day life of a lifelong writer.
Cousineau's lifetime dedication and in-depth investigation of art, culture and literature has tinged his work with a variety of subjects - mythology, travel and soul - and has taken him on several trips around the world. His collaborations include work with Joseph Campbell, James Hillman and Marija Gimbutas.
"Cousineau has been a strong voice for cultural and spiritual awareness," R.B. Morris, UT Libraries' Writer-in-Residence, said. "He is also an award-winning poet, and his poetic vision comes through all his books, whether they are about myth, travel, UFOs, synchronicity, soul explorations or the Olympics. He's a great scholar and powerful inspirational speaker."
Cousineau has written 17 books. His most recent publications include The Way Things Are: Conversations with Huston Smith on the Spiritual Life, an introspective look into the religious scholar’s own spiritual journey, and The Olympic Odyssey, a detailed linkage between the passion of the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece and the games of today. He has also stretched his poetic soul in Deadlines: a Rhapsody on Famous and Infamous Last Words and The Blue Museum.
In addition to writing and travelling, Cousineau has garnered international acclaim for screenwriting documentary films, including A Seat at the Table, The Peyote Road and The Red Road to Sobriety. He has also appeared on CNN, Fox News and the Discovery Channel.
Born in Columbia, S.C., Cousineau grew up in Detroit and worked his way through the University of Detroit in an automotive parts factory. After getting his degree in journalism, he worked as a sportswriter, played semi-pro basketball in Europe and harvested date trees on a kibbutz in Israel before dedicating himself to writing.
The Writers in the Library series is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the Creative Writing Program of the UT English Department. For further information, please contact Jo Anne Deeken, Head of Technical Services, UT Libraries, at 974-6905 or deeken@aztec.lib.utk.edu, or R.B. Morris, Writer in Residence, UT Libraries, at 974-3004 or rbmorris@utk.edu.
Posted by at 01:07 PM in Writers in the Library, Writers in the Library