Information for voters

There's more than enough talk about the upcoming election, but do you have enough good information on the candidates? One of the best non-partisan resources for easy-to-find facts is Project Vote Smart. Voting records for each incumbent are provided. Additionally, public statements have been gathered for incumbents and for many of their challengers. the amount of data that has been gathered by this dedicated organization is quite amazing.

Another good source for election information is the Election 2006 website at the University of Michigan.

BearCat Enhancement: Cover Art, Summaries and more!

Check out our new, improved BearCat! We recently enhanced our on-line catalog to include the cover art of books. When you display the Full Record in BearCat, you will find that the cover art is hyperlinked. Click on the cover image to display Table of Contents, Summaries, Excerpts and Reviews. You may need to change your browser settings to allow pop-up windows to use this new service.

Here are a few examples:

Multiracial America : a resource guide on the history and literature of interracial issues

Illicit : how smugglers, traffickers and copycats are hijacking the global economy / by Moisés Naím

Americans in Paris, 1860-1900 / by Kathleen Adler

Mozart : the early years, 1756-1781 / Stanley Sadie

If you need assistance with this new service, contact the Reference Desk.

10 million krona, and the world knows his name

Orhan Pamuk is a lucky man -- today it was announced that he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, receiving 10 million Swedish krona and the recognition of the literary world. Nobelprize.org's "two minute review" of Mr. Pamuk's work is a great summary of why he has been named a Nobel Laureate.

The Wikipedia entry on Mr. Pamuk has a good bibliography of which of his works have been translated into English, as well as an in-depth account of the major events and controversies of his life. The New Yorker has a copy of a letter Pamuk wrote in regards to the biggest of those controversies, his Turkish trial over freedom of speech issues. The Guardian has a nice site on Pamuk, and my favorite site found as I researched this is the site on how to pronounce his name.

The College Libraries have two of his books, translated into English -- Snow and Istanbul: Memories and the City. Today I ordered the English translations of the rest of Pamuk's works, so if you're interested in this Nobel Laureate, check Bearcat in a few weeks to find the call numbers.

Enjoy!