What can be done about the troublesome numbers of overdue library books? A set of strategies (10 in number) is provided by Bacon, Pamela S. in the journal Library Media Connection. For example: • ‘Never allow students to renew a book’ • ‘No matter what the question . . . always say no first’ • […]
Tag: Books
Blank pages in 18th century books (study)
Anyone who’s seen the phrase “This page has intentionally been left blank” and who has been left thinking that it’s a relatively modern construct – think again. Intentionally blank pages have been around, in abundance, since at least the 18th century. Dr. Anne Toner (Trinity College Cambridge, UK), has extensively researched varieties of incompleteness in […]
Whatever happened to the punctus? [punctuation studies]
Why is there such a paucity of academic literature on medieval punctuation? Is it (as Reimer, 1998, suggested) “[…] partly because there is so much evidence which needs to be studied, and partly because editors of texts have considered the effort needed to be a waste of time”? For a discussion of the subject, turn […]
Girls in books, statistically
Emily St. John Mandel [pictured here], a former girl, who writes books, analyzed data about the many of the characters who are specifically identified as a “girl” in the title of a book. Mandel wrote up her findings for the FiveThirtyEight web site: “The Gone Girl With The Dragon Tattoo On The Train — Why are there so many books with “girl” in […]