UFOs and Government Documents

October 21st, 2010 by rachel sher No comments »

In honor of Halloween, take a look at some of Gleeson’s more unusual, “spooky” government documents.

In addition to the pamphlet pictured here, in which the United States Air Force put together Aids to Identification of Flying Objects, Gleeson Government Documents Print Collection also has materials on the Roswell Report.   This document concerns a series of mysterious incidents in Roswell New Mexico in the Summer of 1947.   Several people reported sighting unidentified flying objects and the alleged debris of extra-terrestrial beings.  After the military claimed the debris was from a high-altitude surveillance balloon from a top-secret project and closed the case with its report, many people claimed it was just a government cover-up.   What do you think?  Take a closer look at the documents for more details!


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USF Book Club: Cold Comfort Farm

October 20th, 2010 by Kelci No comments »

Hello! The USF Book Club will read and discuss Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons for our November selection. We will meet on November 17, 2010 from 12 noon – 1 pm in the seminar room (#209) of Gleeson Library. Feel free to bring your lunch!

How to get the book: since Gleeson’s copy is checked out, you can request Cold Comfort Farm through our free service Link+ by clicking here. The book will arrive at USF within 4 business days. You can also check out a copy from the San Francisco Public Library. Lastly, an ebook version of this title is available on the Kindle and iPads that the library is loaning to patrons.

(yes I picked the weirdest cover art of the many editions of this book, hah!)

In Gibbons’s classic tale, a resourceful young heroine finds herself in the gloomy, overwrought world of a Hardy or Bronte novel and proceeds to organize everyone out of their romantic tragedies into the pleasures of normal life. Flora Poste, orphaned at 19, chooses to live with relatives at Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex, where cows are named Feckless, Aimless, Pointless, and Graceless, and the proprietors, the dour Starkadder family, are tyrannized by Flora’s mysterious aunt, who controls the household from a locked room. Flora’s confident and clever management of an alarming cast of eccentrics is only half the pleasure of this novel. The other half is Gibbons’s wicked sendup of romantic cliches, from the mad woman in the attic to the druidical peasants with their West Country accents and mystical herbs.

I think I heard someone compare the power structure in this book to USF’s own hierarchy. Blasphemous? Or true? Read it and let us know what you think. Hope to see you there!


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project two

October 19th, 2010 by david silver No comments »
project two for digital media production.1. think of something that interests you. it could be a band, a band you're in, a cafe, cooking, dancing, DIY, facebook, family, fashion, film, food, justice, money, music, newspapers, philosophy, photography, poetry, politics, religions, san francisco, science, sports, surfing, tv, video games, or anything else you choose.2. take many photographs of that thing. select your favorite.3. upload the photograph to flickr, title and tag it, put it into a new flickr set, and title the set.4. take some time - a few hours, a day, a few days.5. then, take some more photographs of this thing that interests you. upload them to your already existing flickr set. title and tag the photographs. at this point in the project, your flickr set should include 3-5 photographs.6. when finished and before class on wednesday, october 27, tweet it. be sure to include a link to your flickr set.7. in class on wednesday, october 27, be ready to demo your work.8. keep in mind that you will be adding new photographs to this flickr set throughout the rest of the semester.rules and suggestions:a. follow all directions.b. be sure to select something that truly interests you. if after a few days you are no longer interested in photographing that thing which days ago fascinated you, start over and select a new topic.c. if you have no work to demo for wednesday's demo day, do not come to class.

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Climate Change and Proposition 23

October 14th, 2010 by rachel sher 1 comment »

On October 10th, 188 countries participated in over 7000 climate action events for the Global Work Party, ranging from local garden plantings to solar panel installations.

Global Warming is also a critical issue in the upcoming November 2nd elections in California with Proposition 23, which proposes suspending certain clean air laws until unemployment drops in the state. The California Government website has a climate change portal where you can read more about California’s climate impact and legislation.

Would you like more information on ways the federal government is involved? Gleeson’s Government Documents collection has documentation from the U.N. climate change conference as well as several interesting hearings from the Committee on Natural Resources:


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flickr assignment #3

October 14th, 2010 by david silver No comments »
flickr assignment #3 for digital media production.today in class, i shared some observations about your photographs of gleeson library, or flickr assignment #2, and briefly discussed some examples that i thought really worked: bryce's Midterm Week; yakuri's UFO?!; evelyn's comment on yakuri's Dizzy Stairs; chris's Great comic book selection at Gleeson!; and quincy's set PR6023.A93 J64. exciting work, folks!for flickr assignment #3, i want each of you to:1. do it again.2. this time, be careful to follow all steps: limit yourself to 3-5 photos, tag them, title them, and add one or some or all of them to the Gleeson Library at USF flickr group.3. last time, i encouraged you to include human beings in your photographs. this time, i required you to include at least one human in at least one of your photos.4. consider including librarians and library staff in your photographs.5. following today's creative commons lecture by shawn calhoun, think about and set your creative commons license on your flickr account (go to "Your Account" and select "Privacy and Permissions"). have questions? use twitter to ask your fellow DMPers, me, or shawn for help.6. once finished and before class on friday, tweet about it. be sure your tweet includes a link to your flickr set.rules:a. follow all directions.b. if you have no work to demo for friday's demo day, do not come to class.

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