As we end our One Book, One College Program on Studs Terkel’s book Working, I wanted to share the link below about a recent documentary about the life of Studs Terkel:

• Eight Forty-Eight: A Preview of New Studs Terkel Documentary: http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=41796

Get out and explore the natural and man-made wonders of our state or check out some local events.

General Links:

Enjoy Illinois - Includes links to arts & culture, attractions, nightlife, outdoors & recreation, shopping and sports.

Illinois.Gov - Includes links to all kinds of stuff including parks, forests, historic sites, museums, fairs and festivals.

Chicago Traveler

Outdoor Recreation:

Illinois State Parks

National Parks in Illinois

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

Illinois Campground Directory

Fairs, Festivals, Games and Shows:

Illinois Festivals 2010

Illinois Food, Festivals and Shows

The following information was sent to us from the libraries at Western Illinois University:

Through an award from the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) , the Western Illinois University Libraries and Illinois State Library have digitized many volumes of the Laws of Illinois; some of the volumes were digitized through Google’s books digitization project and the Hathi Trust Digital Library.Linda Zellmer, Government Publications & Data Services Librarian, Western Illinois University, has put together a web site with links to this set at:

http://www.wiu.edu/library/govpubs/illinois_laws/

While this is not a complete collection, it is hoped that additional volumes will be added to the online collection over time.

This could be a great resources for students studying Illinois history.

Over the past decade, Google has morphed into THE superpower technology company. It has become ingrained in our lives. From search, to gmail, to youtube, to advertising, to a whole list of other online tools, Google plays a huge part in our lives and economy. That being said, Google knows a whole lot about you. Google has done a few things in recent years to help promote free speech on the Internet. They are not perfect, but they also are not controlling as they might be.

Well, one interesting site that I wanted to send along is a new site: Google’s Government Trends Request. Google has received 3850 request for data from US government agencies. They have had 123 request for the removal of information by these agencies. You can see how other countries of the world compare. I applaud Google for making this information public. This is the sort of open information that our society needs for a health debate about Internet policy.

If you are studying or working in the field of education, you should know about The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  This government entity’s website is chocked full of information–reports, data, and statistics– about everything from early childhood to post-secondary and adult education in the U.S. and other nations.

Want to view the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study? Take a gander at the 2009 Teachers’ Use of Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools report. Check out these fast facts about MVCC.   Find these and many other types of information on NCES!

While out at a function on last weekend, I was in awe of the prints worn by some Nigerian women in the gathering. I was told by a friend of mine that these prints were specifically worn by certain tribes, that they were identifiers of one’s relationships to and with others. This got me thinking about fabric generally and how fabrics so enrich the aesthetic pleasure in our lives and that it frequently has many meanings. And yet, how much critical attention does fabric usually receive? Painting is placed in museums and in galleries, but what about the gorgeous work of textiles? Is knowledge about material relegated only to people who create clothing and housing stuffs?

For those interested in diverse cultures and sustainability, be sure to check out the blog, Red Thread Studio created by Elaine Lipson, who has a discussion of the “slow cloth” movement, a movement that parallels the “slow food” movement in its interest in sustainability and enhancing the pleasure of life. She also includes a great deal of information on current practices in many cultures. Of all the sources I perused, this was my favorite.

For the more scholarly among you,  check out the many centers about the history of fabrics in universities and museums. For example, the California Academy of Sciences studies Coptic textiles from Egypt; the American National History Museum in Washington has a special collection of textiles around the world,  and there exists an entire Textile Museum in northwest Washington D.C. Here in Chicagoland, the Field Museum has an extensive textile collection. There are even several scholarly journals that focus on textiles—for example, The Clothing and Textile Research Journal.

The moral of the story: Never underestimate the research that has already been done before you look.