Talking in the Library

Study Break: American History

Are you about up to your limit in finals studying? There's more than one way to get info into your brain. Let's try a little video. Maybe you're taking American Constitutional History or US History to/since 1877. (Maybe you can tell me what happened in 1877 that makes it such a breaking point?) In any case, here are a few videos to help you learn some basic American history.

The Presidents, explained in song by Jonathan Coulton.  Now needs a new final verse, but still great:

One I've already linked on this blog, but still can't get over. I blame the 80s.

 

Hope a little history in song gets you through a final or two.

MLA 7th edition released

Just when you figured out the rules from the 6th edition, the Modern Language Association (MLA) rolls out a new edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.  We're still waiting for our copy--we do have the 6th and earlier editions. Until then, here are guidelines from a writing center and a library:

Purdue University's OWL
Duke University Libraries Citing Sources

And here's what you can do with all of those in-draft articles and papers that you formatted according to the older rules*:

*Unless, of course, you've been using RefWorks.  RefWorks is all set for the 7th edition--just log into your account, go to Tools/Output Style Manager, and select and add MLA 7th from the list on the left to your Favorites.  Then take whatever paper you've been writing in Word in MLA 6th and reformat it in 7th.

Philosophy Talk

Thanks to my mp3 player, I get a little smarter--ok, a little better informed--every time I walk to work or rake my leaves or hop on the elliptical machine at the gym.  What's my secret?  Mozart? Nah, I save Mozart for studying.

Instead, I get my pop culture, grammar, political junky, ethical dilemmas, and neuroscience updates via podcasts like: Grammar Girl, To the Best of our Knowledge, Fresh Air, Studio 360, and Radiolab. 
Now, I've found another one to add to my list: Philosophy Talk.  Out of Stanford, this podcast covers the wide spectrum of philosophy.  Some episodes I plan to check out: Digital Selves, If truth is so valuable, why is there so much BS?, and Morality of food.

So, question to the masses:  What's your favorite podcast?  What's your favorite source of information?

And, people, Jamene got 21 comments on her post about Halloween DJ for a Day.  I'm shooting for 3!  Help me out, throw me a bone, show me some love!