The Cards Are Shuffled

In a recent post, I noted that the Arizona (by way of St. Louis and Chicago) Cardinals won the NFL title in 1947. A diligent reader posted a reply stating that the Cardinals also won the NFL championship in 1925. This may depend upon who you ask, especially if they live in Pennsylvania. A summary of the situation can be found here.

Apparently, back in 1925, there were no playoffs. The championship was awarded to the team with the best record. That normally would have gone to the Pottsville Maroons of Pennsylvania, who finished with the best record in the league that year (similar to many soccer leagues). The Maroons also won a convincing victory over the Cardinals in Chicago during the season. However, the Maroons then went on to play a Notre Dam All-Star team in a non-league game. As a result, in part because the game was played in Philadelphia and violated the rights of another team in the league, the league stripped the Maroons of the trophy and awarded the championship to the Cardinals. According to some sources, the Cardinals refused to accept the championship.

Attempts have been made by Maroons fans over the years to have the championship restored to Pottsville. Pottsville fans claim that these attempts have been thwarted over the years by the Bidwell family, longtime owners of the Cardinals (although not in 1925), who want to see the Cardinals remain recognized as the 1925 champs.

It should be noted that the website of the Pro Football Hall of Fame notes that the Cardinals are the 1925 champions, without an asterisk next to their name.

JWF

Pollock

January 29th is the birthday of the late American painter Jackson Pollock. Pollock is noted for his unique style of painting, particularly the paint drop method he used primarily in the fifties. Many of his works from this time period are simply noted with a number and a date. Pollock's paintings sell for millions of dollars.

Google adapted its logo today to resemble one of Pollock's paintings to celebrate his birthday. A sample of Pollock's paintings and a biography are available in the Galileo database Oxford Art Online. Simply do a search, or an advanced search for 'pollock' or 'Jackson Pollock.' Remember, you will need a password to use Galileo off-campus. Contact the library to get the current Galileo password, or your local Georgia librarian.

JWF

Haunted Libraries in the South

Hello,

Encyclopedia Britannica recently did a series of Blog entries on 'haunted libraries' in the United States. They broke that same list down by region, including a list of 'haunted' libraries in the south (although one wonders if Texas is still truly a southern state), as well as a list of international haunts.

Interestingly, Britannica was unable to find any haunted Georgia libraries. One library that is supposedly haunted is in Tennessee, the Hoskins Library at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The Hoskins Library was the main academic library for many years until it was converted to a special collections library in the 1980's.

Encyclopedia Britannica is always doing many fine blog entries on history, society, politics, and health, among other subjects. Remember that North Metro Tech students can access Britannica through Galileo. Please contact the library if you need the current Galileo password.

JWF

And the winners are

For librarians and bibliophiles - the mid-winter meeting of ALA holds a particular pleasure - the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott winners- along with others of note.

I no longer keep up with the Newbery but I do avidly await the Caldecott announcement to build up the Early Childhood collection. Yes, I've ordered the winner.

This year someone (sorry I can't remember who) noted the 2009 Newbery winner was available online as Neil Gaiman read aloud the The Graveyard Book over a 9 day book tour trip in October 2008. Delightfully the author has an easy voice to listen to and great expression as well.

I admit it starts off a bit gruesome for my taste but as I continued to listen I was drawn into the story. Mr. Gaiman has a very expressive voice (and an expressive face).

In GALILEO , Novelist K-8 has a book talk and several reviews to help one push this book!

Yes, get the password from your Georgia librarian to access Novelist through GALILEO.

-kls

RIP Rabbit writer

Hat tip to Titus One Nine for RIP John Updike.

I started looking for verification. I did a Google search, figuring there might be a news story. First on the results list was Wikipedia and they had the death date listed. I looked for a newsy source, skimmed fan sites which did not yet list the death date. In a box I saw the Bloomberg site. I read their news story on John Updike.

Now I'm curious- how fast will other sources update the information. Was the updated Wikipedia a fluke?

Went to GALILEO and looked in Encyclopedia Britannica for John Updike - not updated yet (3:10 EST). How long will it take? Should I send in an edit comment?

Many times the bloggers are ahead of the curve but we need to verify the information with other sources. There's that carpenters adage - measure twice, cut once- which can be translated to check your sources!

-kls

Happy Australia Day!

Today, January 26th, is celebrated as a holiday called Australia Day in the nation continent of Australia. January 26th, 1788 was the date of the arrival of the First Fleet ,a collection of eleven British ships under the command of Governor Arthur Phillip, at what is Port Jackson/Sydney Cove/Sydney Harbour near the present day site of the Sydney Opera House . This marked the establishment of a permanent British presence on the eastern coast of the Australian continent and also began the series of events that led to the creation of the modern day state of Australia. Of interest is the fact that many of the colonists aboard the First Fleet were convicts.

The national holiday is also used to reveal the awarding of the Australian of the Year Award. The 1988 holiday was significant in that it marked the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the first fleet.


JWF

EB clarifies itself

Encyclopedia Britannica has a blog that covers a variety of topics. They must be hearing that folks aren't thrilled with the idea of EB turning into Wikipedia.

Britannica.com : new features

A “Suggest Edit” button allows a user to edit any section of an article and submit the changes to Britannica’s editors. Edits submitted by readers are suggestions to our editors that must be reviewed and approved by them before they’re posted. We’re eager for editorial suggestions from our readers, and we’ll review and act on them as quickly as we can, but no one can actually change a Britannica article except our editors.

That's good to hear!

-kls

Math on Sunday

The comics on Sunday, January 25, had a math pattern -
First there is Luann by Greg Evans


Then Foxtrot by Bill Arnend.

Math has never been my favorite subject. It is so rigid, so black and white, so right and wrong- so precise. It's easier to mush around in the Social Sciences. Yet, I ,along with LuAnn and Paige, - use math daily. I'm grateful that I was 'forced' to memorize the multiplication tables as I figure out how much several items will cost. I value being made to practice adding and subtracting in my head, quickly - as I look at a restaurant bill to see if it's correct. I appreciate being able to quickly figure percentages when faced with how much tip to leave.

We have several books in the Q's to help our students brush up on their math skills as they prepare for various standardized tests.

GALILEO has a search link for math. You may search Academic Search Complete - National Science Digital Library -
Research Library (at ProQuest) - and Science and Technology Collection - plus adding other databases.

Math is for everyday use!

-kls