From the Research Desk

The first blog of Summer! A reminder of those glorious days spent at Aunt Gertrude’s tea party instead of down at the beach wishing you hadn’t forgotten the SPF-30. People have always thought it would be useful to be in two places at once, and the same goes for information. Unfortunately, you can’t do this unless you have a clone, and with your luck, it’s the clone that will always get the beach assignment. Same for information. Unless there are...

Recently, Sue Homant, Head of Reference Services at the library, discussed her trip to Normandy, France with Cameron Pierson, library intern. Her experiences (and pictures) had them thinking about D-Day and the part librarians played in World War II. So, they dug a little deeper.    American Cemetery, Normandy, France       72 years ago, on 6 June 1944, the Allied Forces landed on Normandy in an event that would become known as D-Day. This was a major turning point...

At times events unfold that reveal the true nature of violence. Whether it be sanctioned and justified, or punished and condemned, few would argue that the aftermath is complex and full of emotion. There is room for understanding realities vastly unfamiliar to our own, but it means that we will be uncomfortable. It means being forced out of our comfort zone and into the realms of the unfamiliar where it may seem as if there is little to go on,...

Take a few moments this month to relax with some of your favorite poems, or to discover some new ones.  Stop by the UDM McNichols campus library to pick up volumes of recent Pulitzer prize winners including Gregory Pardlo’s Digest, Vijay Seshadri’s 3 Sections, and Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars.  For something closer to home, check out Roses and Revolutions, by Dudley Randall, who served as a poet-in-residence in 1969 at what was then the University of Detroit. The...

Stuff happens, and then accumulates. Of course it’s important stuff that you’ll want to use again, else you wouldn’t keep it, right? As long as it’s just a little stuff you can let it lie around randomly and just remember where everything is. Of course, your mother or significant other or even a helpful friend may foul everything up by putting your stuff where it belongs, but otherwise the system works well enough. But eventually there is just too much...

In my continued efforts to locate individuals and groups doing good work for Detroit and surrounding environs, I came upon these.  Please spread the word about them; and even consider joining one of them if you are so inclined.   People’s Potluck Detroit A spinoff of Occupy Detroit, this group holds an educational potluck on the fourth Monday of most months (meaning the next one will likely be on March 28).  The February potluck was focused on the resistance to...

It’s the one of the most notorious dates in history; the day Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C. It’s been immortalized by Shakespeare: Soothsayer: “Beware the Ides of March.” Act 1 Scene 2 Caesar: (To the Soothsayer) “The Ides of March are come. Soothsayer: “Ay Caesar, but not gone. Julius Caesar: Act 3 Scene 1 http://shakespeare.mit.edu/julius_caesar/full.html Almost everyone has heard the phrase “Beware the Ides of March” and they know it means certain doom, but where does all of...

  Have you ever noticed those people sitting at the desk with the sign over it that reads “Research & Information Services”? Have you ever noticed that sign? Have you ever wondered why those people are sitting there? Well, the people sitting at the Research & Information Services desk are faculty librarians and they can help with a lot more than just selling you a scantron, of course we’re happy to do that too! Librarians are research specialists that can...