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Online collections from the Art, Architecture & Engineering Library

by amy

Notre Dame detail

Notre Dame (Cathedral). Portal: “The Last Judgment” in North transept.; 1211-1427. Click image for larger view.

Whether you're looking for a local map from 1923 or the plan for the Piazza Del Campidoglio, searching for detail from a great work of art or architecture, consider browsing AAEL's Lantern Slide Collection, which includes thousands of digital images created from lantern slides showing architecture, cities, and landscapes from the late 19th and 20th centuries.

The AAEL also boasts a growing collection of Artists' Books in the form of art objects or art objects in the form of books. (The books require careful handling, so many are housed in the Special Collections Room and available by appointment.)

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The Case of the Missing Mural

by Nicole R

A Leonardo da Vinci mural not seen for 500 years and an engineer on a quest to find it, spurred on by the inscription Cerca trova, or "Search, you shall find." Sounds like the makings of a great mystery! Listen to the story of da Vinci’s mural, The Battle of Anghiari, on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Need to do some art investigation of your own? Check out the Grove Dictionary of Art database to find artist biographies and images of their work.

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Join An Online Book Group!

by ErinDurrett

Do you enjoy reading book jackets and covers? Do you have five minutes in your day to enjoy a excerpt from a book in your favorite genre? Well then a Online Book Group is for you!!!

A few months back, I joined 3 online Book Discussion Groups. Each Week (Monday-Friday), you start a new book and read a few pages a day, so by the end of the week you have read a chapter or two of a book that may become one of your favorites. Choose from: Business, Non-fiction, Classics, Fiction, Romance, Mystery, Horror, Teen, Science Fiction, and more!

Readers can comment about book selections several places throughout the site and are encouraged to email Suzanne (the leader of the groups) with any suggestions or questions.

Join a Book Group Today!

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I heard it on NPR…and found it at AADL

by Nicole R

Heard a great interview on NPR? Want to use a news story in your research paper?

Transcripts and audio files from NPR shows, like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, are available in our Academic OneFile database.

When you’re searching, enter the program name in the 'publication title' field to find transcripts from a particular show. If you’re searching for content by keyword or subject, choose the 'multimedia' tab to see any NPR results.

Library cardholders can access the database from home.

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How do you make a rat laugh?

by Nicole R

By tickling it, of course!

According to neuroscientist Dr. Jaak Panksepp, laughter isn’t just a human phenomenon - rats laugh, too.

Hear ticklish rats laughing and an interview with Panksepp on the “Laughter” episode of NPR’s Radio Lab.

Intrigued by animal emotions? Read the Psychology Today article about Panksepp’s research and his critics in our General Reference Center Gold database. Library cardholders can read the article from home.

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Presidential locks, clips, and snips

by Nicole R

In honor of President's Day, The Academy of Natural Sciences museum is exhibiting the locks, clips, and snips of presidential hair from their collection of hair albums. Curious? Check out their online exhibit.

Want to learn more about a former president? Find presidential biographies, articles, websites (and no hair!) in our Biography Resource Center database.

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Job Opportunities in Higher Education

by Debbie G.

Check out a new web site with more than 1,200 job postings at 24 Michigan colleges and universities: Michigan Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC). Jobs include research, professional, executive, administrative, and support positions in academia and their hospital and healthcare facilities as well as tenure-track and instructional faculty and positions in information technology and the trades. To broaden your job search, use the AADL Employment & Jobs section of the AADL Select Sites.

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Get specific! Finding exactly the sources you need.

by Nicole R

So, you’re ready to start working on that research paper, but you need articles from peer-reviewed journals. Or images. Or newspaper editorials written this year.

The Library’s got you covered!

Our General OneFile database groups search results by document type. Plus, you can limit your search to peer-reviewed journals, articles with images, or by publication date.

Have questions about our databases or need more research help? Stop by any of our public desks!

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Blog Post

City directories available through HeritageQuest

by amy

Genealogists have long placed old city directories at the top of their wishlist of books to be digitized. And now it's happening! The Google books project already includes a few local directories and the Books section of our Heritage Quest product includes Ann Arbor and Washtenaw county directories from 1886-87, 1888-89, 1909, 1914, 1915, and 1916. For those of you who prefer perusing the original print editions, you'll find them in our Local History room on the second floor of the Downtown library.

Here are the local directories available through Google: Cole & Keating’s Ann Arbor City Directory for the year 1872; Glen V. Mills Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti City Directory 1892; Polk’s Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Washtenaw County Directory, 1916(7)

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Rosetta Stone Will No Longer Be Available After March 31, 2008

by Van

Rosetta Stone has sent us “formal notice that Rosetta Stone Online will no longer be available to public libraries for use in online database offerings.”

Therefore, the Ann Arbor District Library will no longer be able to provide online access to Rosetta Stone after our current contract expires on March 31, 2008. At that time all public library registered users will no longer be able to log on to Rosetta Stone.

Foreign Language Materials at the Library

In the Foreign Languages section of the AADL Select Sites you can find some basic online instruction through the BBC Languages, FSI Language Courses, Livemocha, and Mango Languages.

We will be adding the substantial subscription price for Rosetta Stone to the library’s budget for foreign language learning materials in order to provide the Pimsleur Language Programs on compact disc (the beginning, intermediate, and high intermediate (Levels I, II, and II) courses).

The library has very good collections of print and audio courses available for check out. Click on Read More for links to the catalog for a few foreign languages or search the catalog under the name of the foreign language you want to learn.