The Angel is My Watermark

A couple of quotes from the short essay, “The Angel is My Watermark,” by Henry Miller.  (It was the preface of Miller’s book of watercolors published in 1961, and reproduced in Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, pp. 38-41).

“We don’t have to turn out a masterpiece every day.  To paint is the thing, not to make masterpieces.”

“…in fair weather or foul the men who make the last fuss do more to save what is worth saving — and how much is worth saving, do you ever stop to think? — than those who push us about because they think they have the answer to everything.”

“You don’t call flowers friends and stars enemies, or horses Communists and angels Fascists.  You accept them for what they are and you praise God that they are what they are.  You desist from improving the world or even yourself.  You learn to see not what you want to see but what is.  And what is is usually a thousand times better than what might be or ought to be.”

“One doesn’t sing because he hopes one day to appear in an opera; one sings because one’s lungs are full of joy.”

screencasting with Jing

Draft research guides

I’ve sent feedback to everyone who submitted a rough draft.  If you didn’t hear back from me would you please let me know ASAP?

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions, and don’t forget that the final version is due this Wednesday, March 21st @ 5:00 pm.

Research guide examples

My colleague at Georgia State, Prof. Nancy Johnson, requires students to create research guides as major projects in Advanced Legal Research.  As we’re running a similar assignment as part of tech tools research module, I thought you might like to see examples from Prof. Johnson’s classes.

Please note:

• These are not examples of A+ projects; some are better than others.
• Georgia State’s platform, LibGuides, provides a standard look and feel.  We’re not going that route; instead I’d like you to post your guide as a page on your web site.
• Many of the guides use four tabs: “home,” “primary sources,” “secondary sources,” and “interest groups and associations.”  This MIGHT make sense for you, but please let your topic dictate the structure.  Federal Legislative History, for example, might use: “compiled legislative histories,” “specific documents (e.g., hearings, reports, etc.),” “databases,” and so on.  Or for treaty research, you could have “when the United States is (not) a party,” “multilateral treaties,” “treaties by subject,” etc.

See you tomorrow!

 

Recording of class #7: legal research

Google Custom Search for Tech Tools Class Websites

I just created this Google Custom Search Engine (CSE):  Tech Tools Class Websites.  Try it out; see if it catches words you know are published on your site.

You can take the code and embed into your own site (though not WordPress.com, unless I’m missing something).  This is a preview of what a CSE gadget / widget would look like.