Our online resources are vast and full of wonder, but in the digital age it behooves us to remember that sometimes the answer is housed in a more analog format. To that end, some of us librarians have undertaken a mission to (re)acquaint ourselves with our Print Reference Collection. I got Art and Law.
First, there's Every Tenant's Legal Guide. Ours is the 2nd edition, which is a bit dated now that the 6th is out. Law moves quickly - likely on minor details the 2009 6th edition is dated, let alone the 2006 2nd ed. But its usefullness hasn't totally evaporated. Students (and probably more than students) are vulnerable in a community where landlords hold far more power than tenants, but there are rights and you can exercise them. Use this book with caution, and if you're in a situation involving legal matters get legitimate counsel as quickly as your resources permit, but if you're lost as to where to even start this isn't a bad choice. Good for everyone.
Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: Rights and Liberties Under the Law. I don't want to get to civil libertarian here...wait...yes I do. If we ordinary citizens don't take it upon ourselves to defend our rights (and the first step is knowing all we can about them) then we might as well just hand them right back to the authorities. "No thanks, guys. You keep your Fourth Amendment." Well, that's not for me and it's not for you. Written in 2006 as part of a series on America's Freedoms, this text lays out what abuses of the law citizens can expect from Authority and how to react. Great for students of law, political science, criminology, philosophy, and rabble-rousers like myself.
On the Art side of my assignment, I found this delightful little number by Helene E. Roberts: The Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art (v. 1&2). This is the cure for what in modern terms could be called the "haven't seen Star Wars syndrome." If you haven't seen Star Wars, there's a whole lot of popular culture that can go right over your head. That same thing can happen if you're unfamiliar with Ovid's Metamorphoses. If you're knowledge of art, mythology, literature, and history is incomplete from, say, the origin of culture to today, this set will help you fill in the gaps for why certain themes in art are portrayed certain ways.
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