And the winner is

Atlanta poet edged out of 'Out Loud' contest....

"Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, said the contest seeks to bring poetry to life. "Poetry was originally an oral art ... great words, powerfully spoken," Gioia said. The program "starts with the idea that poetry is to be experienced," he said. "We want to help restore the pleasure to poetry."

There's always next year! Congratulations to Elijah P. Orengo for making it to the finals.

One more step up the ladder

Georgia teen makes national poetry recitation!

Georgia's young poetry reciting champion has advanced to the final rounds in the national Poetry Out Loud recitation contest.

Elijah P. Orengo, 16, a sophomore at Westlake High School in Fulton County, emerged Monday as one of the top four poetry reciters in his region and will compete with 11 other students Tuesday night in the national finals........

-from the Atlanta Journal Constitution

They said it and they did it

Lexis Nexis had posted that on April 28 the look of their site would change. They didn't misinform us!

Go look
- they switched sides for the links
- more white space between lines
- where you used to have the links drop down when you selected Federal cases, now it goes to another page and there is a column headed by Federal Cases.

I'm going to show the Business Law class how to find information about businesses. I'm going to have to learn how to do it myself!

To access Lexis Nexis through GALILEO, you need to get the current password from your Georgia librarian. Be aware that some Georgia libraries do not have Lexis Nexis as part of their GALILEO offerings.

Better heard then read

Poetry seems to be best enjoyed when heard.

Todays AJC had an article about Elijah P. Orengo who will be particpating

in the finals of a versifying smackdown called Poetry Out Loud.

The Poetry Foundation notes:

Recitation and performance are major new trends in poetry. There has been a recent resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of hip-hop music. Poetry Out Loud builds on that momentum by inviting the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken word, and theater into the English class.....

You may listen to previous years winners. Good luck to Elijah!

What a nice way to bring Poetry Month. to a close.

Civil Rights Digital Library

The Atlanta Journal Constitution had an article about the Civil Rights Digital Library (CRDL) initiative in Sundays edition.

The Press release information:

......is the most ambitious and comprehensive effort to date to deliver educational content on the Civil Rights Movement via the Web.

The CRDL promotes an enhanced understanding of the Movement trough its three principal components:

1)a digital video archive delivering 30 hours of historical news film allowing learners to be nearly eyewitnesses to key events of the Civil Rights Movement
2) a civil rights portal providing a seamless virtual library on the Movement by aggregating metadata from 75 libraries and allied organizations from across the nation
3) instructional materials to facilitate the use of the video content in the learning process.

The centerpiece of the site is a collection of more than 30 hours of historical news film held by the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia Libraries. These moving images—about 450 clips--cover a broad range of key civil rights events, including the following:

- desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957)
- the Atlanta Temple bombing (1958)
- Atlanta sit-ins (1960)
- Freedom Rides (1961)
- desegregation of the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech (1961)
- the Albany Movement (1961-1962)
- desegregation of Ole Miss (1962) and University of Alabama (1963)
- the Americus Movement (1963, 1965)
- Birmingham demonstrations (1963)
- many other topics

The video archive covers both national figures and local leaders. There is more than two hours of film related to Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr.
King’s role in the Albany Movement is documented extensively, including clips of speeches at mass meetings, his arrest by local police, press conferences, and his visit to a pool hall to urge local African Americans to adopt non-violence in achieving change in Albany. Among the clips is coverage of King’s reaction to President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, his receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and his funeral in 1968.

In addition to the news film, the digital library includes related collections from 75 libraries, archives, and museums across the nation.
Most are original documentation of the period, such as oral histories, letters, diaries, FBI files, and photographs.

A partnership with the online New Georgia Encyclopedia is a key component, providing concise, authoritative articles on events and individuals associated with the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia, supplemented by images and multi-media files.

The CRDL initiative includes a special site for teachers, called "Freedom on Film" (currently in development) that relates civil rights stories from nine Georgia towns and cities, along with related news film, discussion questions, lesson plans, and related readings. Freedom on Film is being developed by University of Georgia faculty and students, along with scholars from other institutions.

The Civil Rights Digital Library receives financial support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services.