#cornell library

[hauntedbystorytelling]

Ira L. Hill :: Irene Foote Castle (1893 - 1969), ca. 1920. Gelatin silver print. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

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Ira L. Hill :: Irene Castle (1893 - 1969), 1910s. Other fashion photos. | src Cornell Library

[agreeablecar]

[lionofchaeronea]

How Sir Launcelot fought with a fiendly dragon, illustration by Arthur Rackham from The Romance of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, adapted from Sir Thomas Malory by Alfred W. Pollard and published by Macmillan in 1917

[sitting-on-me-bum]

An eastern black rail, among the most elusive birds a biologist can study, walks through marsh grass.

Photograph by Marky Mutchler, Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab

[thebotanicalarcade]

n48_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: The Garland of the year, or, The months: their poetry and flowers : London :Marcus Ward & Co.,[1873]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58434928

[university-dayz]

Pomodoro and Cornell study technique: PART 1

having an exemplary method for taking and reviewing notes is imperative if you want to improve your understanding of the material covered in class.

Cornell note-taking method

what is it

the Cornell method is a note-taking method that aims to improve grades by creating a more efficient note-reviewing system

the process

the page is split into three distinct sections (the note-taking area, the cue column and the summary area) and each has a specific purposes

during the lesson notes should be recorded within the "note-taking section". in this section of the page aim to write notes that are as complete and informative as possible. when you get to summarizing the notes, it will be helpful as you will have more to work from

the cue column is the area to the side of the page where words that are specific but relatable to the notes go. this column plays a major role when it comes to reciting the information and assessing how much of the information you truly understand. these words should act as gentle reminders or prompts for the content covered in the "note-taking area". filling in this column should be left until after class when more time can be allocated to thinking of a suitable word

the summary should reiterate the content from the "note-taking area" and rephrase it in a simpler way that uses fewer words. it can be found at the bottom of the page and makes it easier, at a glance, to see what is covered in the notes

why use this method

as you can see due to the colour coding each section works together in this method to achieve the 5 R's of studying

record

recording meaningful facts and ideas in the "note-taking section". at this point, it doesn't need to be neat. just an area to quickly get important information down

reduce

in the clue column choose a specific relevant word for each paragraph to act as clues for what the paragraph as a whole is talking about. This helps to clarify meanings, reinforces continuity and improves memory

recite

cover up the note-taking section and, using those "specific relevant words " in the clue column try and write down the information from the notes from memory. using this method of reciting means that you can visibly see the gaps in your knowledge

reflect

find out how the notes are relevant to your course of study or class and make your own opinions on the process or organisation. Knowing its relevancy helps to avoid it being forgotten as it implies that you have a deeper understanding of the matter

review

spend at least 10 minutes a week going over the notes and testing yourself on the subject matter in order to fully ensure that you understand

the website used to gather this information

[mannlibrary]

Lorenzo Langstroth unvarnished

Lorenzo Langstroth, 1890. From Langstroth on the hive & honey bee, rev. by Dadant. 1892.

December 25th, Christmas Day, is a day for sharing and giving. It also happens to be the birthday of a man known as the father of American beekeeping: Lorenzo Langstroth, born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1810. With both happy occasions in mind, Mann Library is pleased to announce a resource that we’re pretty sure students of beekeeping and its history will find a wonderful gift: a fully digitized, searchable copy of Langstroth’s handwritten personal journal. Where a researcher would have once had to make an in-person trip to our special collections reading room to attempt a deciphering of Langstroth’s (infamously difficult to read) handwriting, the journal is now freely available (and actually readable!) as both a digitized version of the original work and in a transcribed form as part of the online Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Page from "Journal on matters relating to bees, etc.," unpublished manuscript, Lorenzo Langstroth 1852-1895. in the special collections of Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University.

For those not yet fully in the know, Lorenzo Langstroth looms large in American beekeeping history thanks to discoveries and inventions he made as a self-taught apiarist, innovations which essentially revolutionized the 19th century practice of beekeeping in North America and facilitated its development into the profitable industry of today. His guide on beekeeping, The Hive and the Honeybee, was first published in 1853 and remains in print even today.  Langstroth’s story is also poignantly notable for a reason that you don’t have to a be a beekeeper to appreciate deeply: his struggles with debilitating depression, which stymied many of his professional endeavors. While working intermittently as a pastor and teacher when his mental health allowed, Langstroth found constant, life-affirming inspiration in the bee world he observed closely through the prism of the hives he kept for most of his adult life.

The history of beekeeping stretches back to prehistoric times, but when Langstroth patented his movable frame beehive in 1852 it created a worldwide revolution in the practice of keeping bees. On this page of his journal, we see the exact moment—the “aha” moment—that Langstroth landed on his brilliant insight: the significance of applying the concept of "beespace" to design hives that allow easier harvesting of honey than possible in earlier hive structures. The rest, as they say, is history.

The journal Langstroth kept is a treasure for several reasons. It provides fascinating insight into pivotal moments of beekeeping’s technological history. It is, as well, an intimate view of resilience in face of sometimes devastating mental health challenges. And last but really not least, in the comments and pet peeves that Langstroth also recorded in his ongoing notes-to-self, his off-the-record writing offers a more mundane but no less instructive tour through the day-to-day concerns—from keeping bee hives productive to the vexing challenges of protecting trade secrets and securing patents for promising new discoveries in a timely way—that would have been top-of-mind for any aspiring agricultural entrepreneur of the 19th century.

Page from "Journal on matters relating to bees, etc.," unpublished manuscript, Lorenzo Langstroth 1852-1895. in the special collections of Albert R. Mann Library, Cornell University.

The online availability of Langstroth’s journal in both its handwritten and transcribed form has been a work very long in the making. When early 20th century entomologist Everett Franklin Phillipps joined the Cornell faculty 1924, he made it his mission to establish one of the world’s most important collections of beekeeping materials—now known as the E. F. Phillips Collection at Mann Library. Recognizing the importance of one of this collections’ gems—the Langstroth journal—for the beekeeping field, Phillips began the painstaking process of transcribing 600 pages of its cramped, highly slanted script—rendered even more illegible by the frequent ink bleed-through from other pages—into easily readable typescript. The project remained unfinished at the time of Phillips passing in 1951, and others took up the work intermittently over the following decades. But it wasn’t until the epic pandemic-era national lockdown of 2020 that intrepid collections specialist Betsy Elswit finally found herself with the time needed to finish transcribing of the journal's final 200 pages.  Thanks to this heroic work, a browse through the work on the Biodiversity Diversity Heritage Library today provides a look at Langstroth’s original writing with a side-by-side view of transcribed, machine-readable text.  Thank you Betsy! And thank you, Reverend Langstroth, for persevering through the inspirational highs and deep lows of life to impact the practice of beekeeping so profoundly, and to leave us such a rich record of such remarkable scientific observation and personal achievement.

And with that, we leave you with our best wishes for a good, hope-filled winter holiday season!

[northamericanbirder]

  Get to know your bird organizations:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The Cornell Lab provides quite a number of data-driven apps and repositories, with many of the contributions through citizen science (birders like you and me):

eBird (website and mobile app) This has become the de facto app and website for submitting bird sightings. It's also great for researching birding hotspots all around the world. The website offers a great deal more information and functionality than the app (such as uploading photos to accompany your sightings, and providing you with your own central sightings hub complete with maps), so using them in tandem is the best strategy. All rare sightings are reviewed for accuracy by qualified volunteers.  

Merlin (mobile app) This is the app that gets a lot of press due to its ease of entry to the world of birdwatching. Hit the 'record' button and it will listen for bird calls and suggest species. It does a decent job of that. You can also upload photos of birds to see if they match anything in the database. Note however, that it has developed a bit of a reputation for frustrating ornithologists due to false positives that novices might not catch, suggesting rare birds that wouldn't be anywhere nearby, and thus tainting the eBird data.  

All About Birds Cornell's bird guide; search by species and it will provide a great deal of information. There's a lot of clicking involved (there's an Overview tab, an ID info tab, a Life History tab, a Maps tab), instead of the info being presented on a single scrollable page, but I enjoy their 'Cool Facts' section.  

Macaulay Library This is Cornell's media library (photos, videos, audio). When a photo or audio clip is submitted through eBird, it will then show up here in the archives, along with any additional information that the photographer might have included (e.g., how many are in the photo, is it male or female, is it foraging). The library has been operating since 1929, and has over 60 million pieces of media. The information included in the library helps to power the Merlin app, providing more photographs and audio clips for comparison purposes.  

eBird Status and Trends data visualizer Using the eBird data to track bird population increases and declines, as well as possible geographic shifts. The visualizer provides heat maps superimposed on a globe, and you can hit the 'play' button to see how things shift throughout the year.  

Feeder Watch This is a backyard counting project (in conjunction with Birds Canada) that is roughly the same as eBird, but for bird feeders and backyards. Participants spend two consecutive days per week (or as much as they can) watching to see who shows up, and you can compare your data to your neighbours. The data goes back decades, and you can use a few different visualizations to see trends.  

Bird Academy As Cornell is a university, they offer online classes. They range from the simple (eBird essentials; Free), to the more complex (Ornithology: Complex Bird Biology; $240 USD; 100+ hours to complete).  

(Eastern Bluebird photo by @everydayesterday)

[garadinervi]

The Last Poets and the Oppressed Peoples' Theater will be featured Sat. nite, July 13.. at the Red Top Club, New York, NY, ca. 1969 [Hip Hop Flyer Collection, #8112m. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY]

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 377

Joseph Cornell: Shadowplay…Eterniday

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Walter Hopps, Richard Vine, and Robert Lehrman

Thames & Hudson 2003

Every few years or so, someone publishes a new book on Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) to mark a new retrospective or anniversary, and I seemingly need to buy all of them. This one was published to celebrate the centennial of Cornell’s birth, and it’s very well done. With over 200 illustrations of Cornell’s work, many in detail, it’s an impressive volume. What’s different about this book are the various perspectives offered about Cornell and his work from the four essayists, and the DVD-ROM included with the book that includes a compendium of the art and source materials, commentary by scholars and critics, and access to his experimental films.

[minilibrarian]

Been super interested in reading more about how more established librarians view the future of our work and spaces.

~Including a picture from working at the public library the other day, which I should do more often~

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

[sassy-zorua]

Uris Library, Cornell University, New York

[devonellington]

Tues. April 11, 2023: A Promised Stretch of Good Weather to Support The Writing

image courtesy of Jill Wellington via pixabay.com Tuesday, April 11, 2023 Waning Moon Sunny and pleasant Ready to curl up and catch up? It looks like we’re plunging straight into summer, skipping spring this week. Friday was frustrating. On the upside, I managed to write 9 ½ pages on FALL FOREVER. I caught up with Thursday’s missed pages, wrote Friday’s pages, and worked ahead through…

[thebotanicalarcade]

n58_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: The Garland of the year, or, The months: their poetry and flowers : London :Marcus Ward & Co.,[1873]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58434938

[makingqueerhistory]

This collection of postcards of female and male impersonators and cross-dressing in Europe and the United States, 1900-1931, 1955 features copies of original postcards held by Cornell’s Human Sexuality Collection, part of Cornell Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!