About me
My name is Miriam Posner, and I'm the Mellon Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Emory University Libraries. You can read more about me here.Archives
Oral Exam Lists
Tweets!
- @briancroxall Me, too! Honestly, though, I'm pretty sure the Dalai Lama is seeking me out because I am so wise. 4 hours ago
- Are we still backlashing against Jonathan Franzen, or are we backlashing against the backlash? Because I like the new book. 5 hours ago
- @StewartVarner And yet, I kind of want that app. 1 day ago
- @StewartVarner Did you really just say that? 1 day ago
- Practicing my jiu-jitsu in preparation for Wednesday's dissertation defense. Take that, interlocutors! 1 day ago
- In Minneapolis, on my way from ATL to NYC. I don't know. Cheap tickets. 2 days ago
Monthly Archives: April 2009
The National Library of Medicine launches new image database
The National Library of Medicine has just launched a revamped Images from the History of Medicine online catalog, and it’s kind of blowing my mind. There’s a lot there, and a totally redesigned interface. In theory (and mostly in practice), … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Collections
Tagged catalog, cool catalog, history of medicine, nlm
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How to make a DVD clip reel
If you’re showing film clips in class, you’ll probably want to make a DVD clip reel — your own DVD with the clips you want preloaded on it. That way you can avoid the frenzied scan through chapter titles and … Continue reading
New York Times contributor: End the university as we know it
Mark Taylor, the chairman of Columbia’s religion department, has published a New York Times opinion piece that’s sure to cause a splash. “End the University as We Know It” argues that the university’s current incarnation is obsolete and irrelevant. Taylor … Continue reading
Top 10 iPhone Apps for Librarians
Okay, I don’t actually have an iPhone — I can’t afford the monthly fees. I do have an iPod Touch, though, and I love it with all my heart. I use it most frequently to watch movies at the gym, … Continue reading
The World Digital Library shows off artifacts from around the world
UNESCO’s World Digital Library launches today. It’s a site where you can view artifacts from every UNESCO member country, or, in the words of the WDL, it “makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant … Continue reading
Zoom in and out of presentations with Prezi
Prezi is a presentation maker (still in beta) that avoids the standard linear slideshow model. Instead, you can zoom in and out of one big presentation, hopping between ideas however you want. Here’s an example of Prezi in action. I … Continue reading
Make a quick timeline with Google News Timeline
Here’s a kind of fun new visualization tool from GoogleLabs. Google News Timeline lets you search for a topic (after you pick a category) and then arrays significant events on a timeline. I don’t really understand how the Wikipedia category … Continue reading
Can Blackboard patent online learning?
A lot of schools use a “learning management system” called Blackboard to make course materials and registration functions available online. If you’ve ever used Blackboard, though, you know that it’s like a magic portal back to 1999. Blackboard’s design is … Continue reading
Google Book Search update: the Internet Archive seeks to intervene
The Internet Archive (which administers the Open Content Alliance) has sought leave to file a motion to intervene in the Google Books settlement. (Announcement, text of motion.)
Posted in Digital Collections, Libraries
Tagged copyright, google book search, open content alliance
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The deal with the Google Book Search settlement
Google Book Search has been in the news lately for a settlement it made with the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers over Google’s plan to scan books. You may have heard that people are pretty worked up … Continue reading
I do not understand the point of curated databases
Lately I’ve been volunteering to do usability testing for Yale’s library. Well, “volunteering” is probably too generous a word, since Yale pays pretty well, in the form of iTunes and Barnes & Noble gift cards. I like the gift cards, … Continue reading
Resources for the sporting male
At the Providence Public Library a few days ago, I ran across a copy of The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York. The book gives excerpts and essays from a cache of recently rediscovered newspapers for the … Continue reading
Blogging the Beinecke
Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities is a blog featuring amazing finds from Yale’s phenomenal Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. I like the lesbian pulp novels, the Revolutionary War-era lottery tickets, and the WPA textbooks from the 1940s. The blog … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Collections, Libraries
Tagged archives, cool catalogs, cool librarianship
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Getting meta in the classroom
I’ve been going through some old teaching evaluations and in between cringing (“I hate Miriam!”) and patting myself on the back (“I love Miriam!”) I was struck by one student’s comment. This was for a film theory section. I think … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching
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Libraries I like: Brown’s Friedman Study Center
I liked Yale’s Mudd Library for its endearing obsolescence, but for the Study Space of the Future, you can’t beat the Friedman Study Center in Brown University’s Science Library. The Friedman Study Center, which opened in 2007, is a 24-hour … Continue reading
My favorite tools: Record and edit audio with Audacity
Audacity is a great choice when you need to edit audio. It’s free, but it’s also pretty full-featured: it can record audio, import and export different file formats, and edit sounds. You can even use it to change the pitch … Continue reading
Wax cylinder recordings
(Via MetaFilter.) Syracuse University has started digitizing its Belfer collection of cylinder recordings. So far it has 293 online, but they’re hoping to get 6,000 recordings digitized by the end of the year. You can search the recordings by keyword … Continue reading