Posts by Communications Office (169)

Blog Articles

According to their official website, Google has "teamed up with astronomers at some of the largest observatories in the world to bring you" Google Sky , a new tool offering "an… continue reading Google Reaches the Stars

By written by Communications Office    March 17, 2008    1

Don't get it? "For fans of numerical information or the history of mathematical discoveries," writes poetry blogger Edward Byrne , "March 14 represents a day of celebration. Since… continue reading Happy Pi Day

By written by Communications Office    March 14, 2008    2

“Before the comics were beset by the prolonged crackdown that is described [in David Hajdu’s The Ten-Cent Plague ], they were created in a spirit best summarized by Mickey Spillane,… continue reading A Kid's Dime

By written by Communications Office    March 12, 2008   

If you’re a tech-savvy grammar enthusiast, you’re probably already familiar with Mignon Fogarty (aka “Grammar Girl”) and her weekly podcast, Quick and Dirty Tips for Better… continue reading Grammar Girl's Top 10 Language Myths

By written by Communications Office    March 10, 2008   

It was recently revealed that Love and Consequences , an acclaimed memoir of gang life in Los Angeles, ostensibly written by Margaret B. Jones--a woman of mixed Caucasian and Native American… continue reading The Latest Publishing Scandals

By written by Communications Office    March 7, 2008   

How did Daniel Handler end up on the cover of someone else's novel ? According to the New York Times books blog, "When it came time for Grove Press to design a cover for the United States… continue reading Daniel Handler as Cover Art

By written by Communications Office    March 5, 2008   

March 4 is National Grammar Day , according to the  Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG). Why March 4? According to the SPOGG website, "It's not only a date, it's an… continue reading Happy National Grammar Day

By written by Communications Office    March 4, 2008   

A reporter for more than 20 years, including more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun , Laura Lippman infuses her Tess Monaghan Mysteries with the authenticity of experience. Ms. Lippman will be… continue reading Take Five with . . . Laura Lippman

By written by Communications Office    February 27, 2008   

Whether you like it or not, Wikipedia matters. According to Web information company Alexa, Wikipedia is currently the eighth most popular website in the United States --six spots ahead of… continue reading Digital Literacy, Democracy, and the State of Wikipedia

By written by Communications Office    February 25, 2008    1

This week's edition of the Philadelphia City Paper includes a piece on the Free Library's Automobile Reference Collection . Managed by librarian Kim Bravo, who is featured prominently in the… continue reading Meet Kim Bravo

By written by Communications Office    February 21, 2008   

Excited about the three-month exhibition of more than 40 works by Frida Kahlo opening tomorrow at the Philadelphia Museum of Art? Just in time to prepare for your visit, the Free Library’s… continue reading Frida in Philadelphia

By written by Communications Office    February 19, 2008   

Today's edition of the New York Times features a piece on Susan Jacoby’s new book , The Age of American Unreason , which the author’s website describes as a “tough-minded work of… continue reading Don't Be Anti-Rational

By written by Communications Office    February 14, 2008   

While deciphering handwritten manuscripts, letters, and journals may challenge fewer and fewer editors as we move forward into the age of new media , there’s still plenty of head-scratching… continue reading Incomprehensible Handwriting of the Greats

By written by Communications Office    February 12, 2008   

Test your typographic recognition skills with Sara Newton's Fontastic Quiz . continue reading Name That Font

By written by Communications Office    February 8, 2008    1

According to an essay by Rachel Donadio in the most recent edition of the New York Time s Sunday Book Review, "Technology may be speeding up the news cycle, but in publishing, things actually seem… continue reading The Speed of Publishing

By written by Communications Office    February 6, 2008   

A new two-week film education program in partnership with One Book, One Philadelphia whose mission is to promote film literacy and critical thinking by encouraging all Philadelphians to watch,… continue reading Get Ready for One Film

By written by Communications Office    February 5, 2008   

If you’re a lover of words and you haven’t already added the Oxford English Dictionary ’s Word of the Day RSS feed to your aggregator, do so now. It’s tailor-made… continue reading Tailor-Made for Logophiles

By written by Communications Office    January 31, 2008   

In a comprehensive piece published in the current issue of the New York Review of Books , Sarah Boxer asks, “[What is] the effect of blogs on language? Are they a new literary genre? Do they… continue reading The Defining Essence of Bloggy Writing

By written by Communications Office    January 30, 2008    2

According to the New York Times , "Hundreds of men and a smaller number of women eke out a living scavenging books in Manhattan ." continue reading Used Books on the Streets of Manhattan, An Economy of Small Scale

By written by Communications Office    January 28, 2008    1

"What if scholarly books were peer reviewed by anonymous blog comments rather than by traditional, selected peer reviewers?" So begins a piece by Jeffrey Young recently published in the Chronicle… continue reading Peer Review in the Blogosphere

By written by Communications Office    January 25, 2008