Book Description
In The Oral History Manual, Barbara Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan have designed a guide to help anyone interested in doing oral history research think like an oral historian. Written with direct, clear language, the manual offers step-by-step instructions, checklists, full-size reproducible forms, sample planning documents, project descriptions and summary sheets, sample materials, and extensive illustrations to help guide readers in taking ideas for an oral history project and turning them into a successful format.
Customer Reviews:
Good Guidebook For Teachers.......2001-05-10
According to the... review this book is good for all people who want to "bring a personal feel to the oral history" or something to that measure. That's not really true.
This book is great for teachers to use as a guide to conducting oral history projects with pre-teen and teenaged students. It's less helpful to adults who are working on lenthy book projects.
Customer Reviews:
Well-Written But More Useful For Folklorists and Archivists.......2001-05-11
I'm compiling an oral history of hip hop and this book wasn't really useful in helping me anticipate and solve problems I'm likely to come across in my project.
The author is a folklorist/archivist who specializes in New England folklore and crafts. His suggestions are geared toward people who will be interviewing "the common man" and older people, so suggestions like "put an ad in the local paper asking for interviewees" and "your subject may be hesitant to talk and/or think his experience doesn't have value" are totally not helpful in regard to my project.
Also, the guide is really geared towards archivists who will naturally consider their cassettes of interviews the most important source as opposed to the transcript, so little attention is given to the concerns of those editing oral history book projects. Little info is given regarding editing interviews down, narrative structure, how lengthy quotes should be and other concerns the first-time editor will undoubtedly have.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good book. It is well-written, the illustrating examples are interesting and the appendix containing release forms is very helpful. It's just better for field researchers than project editors.
a very good instructional book on tape recorded interviews.......1999-07-12
This book is a very good instruction manual on the tape recorded interview. He talks about both the technical and nontechnical aspects of the interview. It is an excellent primer for the starting interviewer. I recommend it highly.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent conversation starter and guide
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Reaching Back
Alice Chapin
Manufacturer: Betterway Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 155870454X |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent conversation starter and guide.......2001-12-28
I've had this book for several years, and tried to interest my parents and in-laws in it. Their interest was only marginal. But I recently used the book to help me with interviewing my father-in-law. I used a video camera to record the event so that I didn't need to write during the interview (the book is designed as a workbook to be filled out), and worked through the questions in the book. While some of the questions seemed silly at first (what clothing did you wear as a child), they actually helped us to explore some interesting topics (his mother was good at sewing, and made knickers for him!).
So, I can heartily recommend this book as a guide to interviewing your ancestors/relatives. Be forewarned: it takes quite a long time to do the interviewing, so don't wait until your relative is on his or her deathbed.
Book Description
Sprinkled with 6 family photographs and some personal anecdotal accounts, this 40-page book (actually a work booklet) can be especially useful for African-ancestored people interested in getting started at researching their own genealogies and family histories. In bite-size conversational sections, the author covers the “why,” “who,” “when,” and “how” aspects of conducting African American oral history interviews, a most essential part of one's family research process. Readers are reminded that several hundred years of enslavement of African-ancestored families often necessitates questions to insure coverage of that part of a family's history, if known.
The cornerstone section, titled, “Some Questions You May Want Answered,” includes over 170 sample questions from which the reader can choose for each prospective interviewee. Among those samples are inquiries designed to extract any family oral history related to the enslavement period and any subsequent discrimination and/or segregation. “This entire list of questions can be reviewed in preparation for an interview, “ asserts Mr. Nelson, “just to make sure one is prepared to one's own satisfaction. It's also helpful to decide beforehand which questions are priorities to have answered. Readers are also encouraged to use any personal knowledge and relationships to formulate other questions. To that end, the author added 7 blank “Personal Worksheet Pages” for writing one's own questions, reminders, notes, etc. Readers are also encouraged to re-word or re-phrase questions to fit their own personalities and styles.
Customer Reviews:
Great Booklet.......2007-07-27
I learned a lot from this little booklet, it could have had several more pages. I was able to get a guideline on how to construct questions to ask older family members.
Book Description
Beowulf is the best known and most closely studied literary work surviving from Anglo-Saxon England, and the modern reader is faced with a bewildering number and variety of interpretations about such basic matters as the date, provenance, and significance of the poem. A Critical Companion to Beowulf addresses these and other issues, reviewing and synthesising previous scholarship, as well as offering fresh perspectives. After an initial introduction to the poem, attention is focused on such matters as the manuscript context and approaches to dating the poem, before a lengthy discussion of the particular style, diction, and structure of this most idiosyncratic of Old English texts. The background to the poem is considered not simply with respect to historical and legendary material, but also in the context of myth and fable. The specific roles of selected individual characters, both major and minor, are assessed, and in a chapter on the degree of piety and Latin-derived erudition implied by the text consideration is given to the original intended audience and perceived purpose of the poem. A final chapter describes the range of critical approaches which have been applied to the poem in the past, and points towards directions for future study.ANDY ORCHARD is Professor at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto.
Customer Reviews:
BAR NONE!.......2007-05-31
Yes, you still need the Klaeber (or at least the student's Jack edition) to get Beowulf. And yes, it's always good to read your Tolkien to get the basics...but that aside, Orchard is the ultimate, up-to-date academic resource to study this incredible text. It is very rich, well structured, with a great index, awesome passage maps and outlines, and fine translations of selected passages. Though intended for scientific work, it can still be read by non-English majors who love to know one central root of our modern myths, from movies to books. Orchard has something to say, he is not afraid to say it, but fair enough to mention even approaches that have become unfashionable today.
Book Description
Drawing on archaeology, biology, art, literature, and ethnography, this singular study illuminates the relationship between horse and human throughout history. From the Ice Age to the post-industrial age, horses have provided sustenance, transportation, status, companionship, and the ability to establish and expand empires. Included are stories of horses at work, at war, at play, and in art, film, and books, starting with the first equestrian encounters in which early humans in Asia and Europe hunted native horses for food. The dualities in the horse–human relationship are explored, such as humans' ability to both care for and slaughter horses, and the travel benefits that horses have provided that have enabled devastating warfare. Training techniques and breeding practices are examined from a global viewpoint, discussing cultures as varied as the Persians and the Nez Perce and looking at breeding stock that range from Lippizaners to quarter horses. Written in lucid prose full of wisdom, passion, and wonder, this far-reaching story explores a vital shaping force in the history of the world.
Customer Reviews:
fascinating and magical.......2006-04-27
This is no straight history of the relationship between mankind and horses. Chamberlin somehow manages to convey the horse spirit in terms both mundane and mythological. One feels the muscled power of the beast, and can both see and hear a breath expelled from velvet nostrils on a cold rural morning. I picked this up in idle curiosity and was smitten with Big Bird. Could not stop turning the pages. I now "get it" - what all those horse lovers are about. Very cool book.
A Love Story . . . .......2006-04-05
Chamberlin's book describes the deep emotional connections between human beings and horses, which transcend civilizations. His discussion of the historical artifacts and art forms depicting horses reveals that our respect for the horse has existed since long before recorded history, and extensively details the strong positive feelings horses have consistently evoked among 'horse people'. I also particularly enjoyed Chamberlin's selection of historical anecdotes, which included vignettes illustrating Genghis Khan, Napolean and Alexander the Great's enduring relationships with their horses (among others.)
As a whole, the book was a charming portrait of how humans have seen and loved horses, which changed and broadened my view of the most important of inter-species relationships. The stories, images and facts related comprise a fascinating whole, one that I plan to revisit in the near future. This is a book that I will read and re-read.
Very Well Written..........2006-04-03
This book is the best cultural history of horses and humans from earliest times to the present that I am aware of. I especially liked the passages on horse racing and horse games around the world, from the Scythians to the Sioux and from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the quarter horse races of the Old West. The author makes connections between ancient and modern races, and describes race courses, audiences, and horse breeding techniques around the world over thousands of years. I had no idea that so many cultures played on horseback, from the tournaments of medieval knights and the polo of India's Moguls to the pato of the gauchos in Argentina and the chicken fight of the Navajo. This is both great fun and food for thought!
A Fascinating Book.......2006-03-31
I thought I knew a great deal about horses and their history until I read this book and now I feel that a wealth of information has been added to my tiny store. This is a fascinating worldview of where horses came from and where and how they traveled, in addition to the relationship between horses and civilizations. Bravo!
Book Description
Martha Bolton's refreshing take on life will have her fans-new and old-laughing as they nod in agreement. Her observations about how much the world has changed over the years and how much it has stayed the same, about both the tragedies and the comedies of life, about faith, family, health food, exercise, air travel, and the challenges of middle age are just a few of the topics from which she spins her memorable anecdotes.
Customer Reviews:
Transmutation of mundane experiences to moments of hilarity.......2005-02-16
Most of us are candidates for headaches at some point of time in our lives. Instead of allowing our thoughts giving us headache, we can use humor to keep us sane and to keep the headaches at bay. Martha takes the most mundane experiences in our lives and turn them into moments of hilarity. Martha Bolton is a full-time comedy writer and the author of 40+ books. She has received two Angel awards and an Emmy nomination.
The cover page is the modern version of Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture `The thinker'. As you must have seen, the man in the sculpture thinks as a full body exercise - not only with his brain, his knitted brow, nostrils, compressed lips, with every muscle of his arms, legs clenched first and gripping toes. Socrates allowed himself ample time and space to think. Thinking is hard work. No wonder it gives us a headache.
Socrates never would have survived today's crowded schedules. There are too many meetings to go to, projects to work on, e-mails that need answering, and kids who need to be picked up from soccer practice, piano lessons, karate classes, and gymnastics. We're too busy living life to take any time to actually contemplate it.
As proclaimed by Anton Chekhov "Any idiot can face a crisis-it's this day-to-day living that wears you out." That's why this book is important-thinking and laughing for day-do-day living. Thinking about how much our world has changed over the years. And how much it has stayed the same. Thinking about both the tragedies and the comedies of life. Thinking about politics, faith, family, health food, exercise, air travel, modern conveniences, and more. Let us study Martha Bolton's refreshing take on life.
Martha starts the connection of headaches to drugs (p 17), food (p19), work (p23), space (p29) name tags (p33). She describes brain exercises, brain concerts, brain speeches and brain skydiving (p37). Her delineation of Methuselah and Methuselah tree (p 41-44) is humorous and thought provoking. She points out nicely how by adapting to circumstances and shaping our attitudes we can survive easily. She recommends chocolate for healing and healthy life (p 53-54), stresses the importance of a penny (p 59-62), deals with noises (p 63-65). She says as a matter of fact that minds are never meant to be shrink wrapped. She traces the connection between words, meaning and language (p 77-79). We should put more thought into our words. She comments about inventions (p 81-83) and on e-speak (p 85-88). The sample email communication she mentions is pertinent and relevant. She emphasizes good listening skills (p 95-97),the hazards of air travel (103-105), the hazards of poor memory and the gifts of selective memory (p 111-113). The title `borrowed thoughts' for headaches due to credit cards is excellent and apt. (p 115-117) She proves that children are the same from the days of Socrates (p 137 - 138). She describes nicely the idiosyncracies of instructions and announcements in public places (p 139-141). Even Queen Elizabeth II's family has eccentricities, family disagreements and wayward youngsters. But a family keeps life interesting. Martha wants to see a hypochondriac line of greeting cards (p 147-149). She elaborates how friends, parents, dieters and Christians can act as travel agents for guilt trips. She succinctly puts, `Life is too short to carry heavy purses. Carrying a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee (p 155-158). She wants you to wear a hat if a meteor is headed your way. Imagination of worrying scenarios is borrowing trouble from tomorrow. The strength is not there - only the worry and stress (p 159-161). She humorously connects cloning and business group discounts (p 163-164). She stresses the importance of fun : We are afraid to use the laugh muscles that came with the original packaging. We allowed our smiles to sag and our negative outlook to drag us down. God intended each new dawning to be met with anticipation, not apprehension; wonder, not whining. Martha elucidates the common exercise of jumping to conclusions - how it can jeopardize the relationships, jobs and peace of mind (p 173-175). Martha's emphasis on laughter is illuminating : "It is perfectly legal to laugh and drive. Laughter does not have an expiration date. The average child laughs about 400 times per day. An average adult laughs 15 times a day. What happened to the other 385 laughs?
The quotations underlying the title and the end of the passage are eye-openers and they amplify the experience. I liked this one in p 107 : "All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind"-- Khalil Gibran and the one in p 131 : "The difference between the right word and almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug" -- Mark Twain and the one in p 161 : "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia." - - Charles Schultz
Book Description
The preeminent explicator of mathematical logic to non-mathematicians, John Allen Paulos is familiar to general readers not only from his bestselling books but also from his media appearances, including The David Letterman Show and National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and "Science Friday," as well as articles in Newsweek, Nature, Discover, Business Week, the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York Review of Books, and The London Review of Books.
Paulos originally wrote this charming little book on analytic logic, its mathematics, and its puzzles in 1985. And as in his later books, he uses jokes, stories, parables, and anecdotes to elucidate difficult concepts, in this case, some of the fundamental problems in modern philosophy.
Download Description
The preeminent explicator of mathematical logic to non-mathematicians, John Allen Paulos is familiar to general readers not only from his bestselling books but also from his media appearances, including "The David Letterman Show" and National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" and "Science Friday", as well as articles in Newsweek, Nature, Business Week, the New York Times Book Review, The Nation, New York Review of Books, and The London Review of Books. Paulos originally wrote this charming little book on analytic logic, its mathematics, and its puzzles in 1985. And as in his later books, he uses jokes, stories, parables, and anecdotes to elucidate difficult concepts, in this case, some of the fundamental problems in modern philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
Humor disquised as philosophy or vice versa?.......2004-12-30
It takes a rare writer to synthesize Descartes, Russell and Marx - Groucho, that is. Somehow John Paulos manages to write a treatise on analytical philosophy (logic, self-referential statements, language recognitition) using examples from humor. Yet perhaps that is the story - that humor comes from logical contradiction.
Written for the non-philosopher, this concise book is packed with great learning and quite a few laughs as well. Definitely a worthwhile read.
COGITO ERGO HA HA HA!!.......2004-08-26
IN John Allen Paulos's book 'I think therefore I laugh: An alternative approach to Philosophy', he is inspired by Ludwig Wittgenstein's statement that one can write a comprehensive Philosophy book consisting of jokes alone. If you get the joke, you get the philosophical point. After reading this book, I tend to agree. If we really think about it, it's surprising how many jokes we crack everyday; mundane, sophisticated, derogatory, or otherwise, mostly at the expense of others. Many of these jokes are downright stupid, and we are aware of that. Now in this book, Paulos explains why they illustrate important points of philosophy. And in doing so, he sure gives us a rollicking, rib-tickling time. Paulos weaves an extremely entertaining web of anectodes, humor, and language puzzles, each time demonstrating a central philosophical point. In doing so, he also pays due homage to more or less most famous classic and contemporary philosophers including Russell, Wittgenstein, Hempel, Dewey, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Hume, Descartes, Kant, Quine and Popper, among others. He uses examples from daily life, indicating the paradoxes we unknowingly indulge in during our everyday hustle- bustle. He inspires us to look about for such examples, and most importantly have a good laugh about them.
Case in point. Today, I started to read the manual of a computer program named SYBYL which I am supposed to learn. All of you will know how mind numbingly unforgiving a manual reading session can be. However, my spirits were immediately uplifted when, on the first page of the manual, I saw the following typed statement:
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK
I got the joke; I got the paradox. I laughed- thanks to Paulos.
Highlights of the book include a hilarious dialogue between two most unlikely men: Bertrand Russell and Groucho Marx, trapped in an elevator on a 'virtual' level in the Empire State Building. Their conversation is completely nonsensical, each talking from his unique point of view. But just like Lewis Carroll's nonsense, it makes perfect sense. All through the book, Paulos uses two proverbial scapegoats, George and Martha, to illustrate the finer points of philosophical thought through seemingly idiotic, bizzare and generally hilarious conversations. In doing so, he touches upon reductionism, syllogism, sylligism, opportunism, and most of the other famous "isms". A few examples:
Everybody loves a lover
George does not love himself
Hence George does not love Martha
Illogical as the above argument looks, by the rules of logic, Paulos explains that it makes perfect sense. Or consider this "Proof that God exists"
1. God exists
2. Both these statements are false.
Welcome to the world of paradoxes! Some thorny thinking convinces us that irrespective of whether the second statement is true or false, the first statement HAS to be true. In fact, you can substitute any statement in place of the first one (For example, 'George Bush was in love with Elizabeth Taylor'). The second one will guarantee that it's true.
How about this one. Its a chilly winter night and Martha meets George in front of his house.
Martha: George, what are you doing?
George: Oh, I am looking for my car keys. I lost them near that bush there.
Martha: So why aren't you looking for them there?
George: Because its brighter here and I can see better.
Some of the examples are outright stupid, great examples of PJs that all of us crack sometime or the other.
Martha: That's the last straw! I have had enough of this. I wash my hands of the whole business.
George: A good idea. You can wash your neck too.
Paulos says that this dialogue actually demonstrates an important philosophical principle.
The title of the third section is: "The Titl of This Section Contains Three Erors"
Can you spot them? If yes, you would have unearthed a very important philosophical 'classification of classes or sets', having deep implications for math and logic.
Another examples of this 'classification of classes':
'Robert Benchley once remarked, "There may be said to be two classes of people in the world; those who constantly divide the people of the world into two classes, and those who do not." He should have added paradoxically that he belongs to the latter class.
I could go on and on! But I don't want to give away the wonder of the book. It is a truly refreshing read, for the sheer reason that it shows us how we can constantly laugh at others, life, and most importantly ourselves, and have an educational experience doing it. I think it would be a fascinating experience for us to glance around everyday, and have a look at the idiosynchracies that we indulge in, the jokes that we crack, and the criticisms that we dispense, and endure, knowingly and unknowingly demonstrating philosophical insights. Paulos tried to convince us that there is more to daily life than we think, and that philosophy need not be a separate 'subject' to be studied. It is a part of our everyday where-withal and exemplified in all its glory in all our relationships. I had a ball of a time reading this book, and I think that you will too.
Great Refresher in Analytical Philosophy --maybe the best.......2004-02-10
I found this copy last week at Waterstone in London . It made me feel the plane ride was very short! I should have bought a couple. This is a great book for a refresher in analytical philosophy: pleasant, clear. Great training for people who tend to forget elementary relationships.
I did not know that JAP was a logician. Go buy this book!
The only competition is "Think" by Blackburn (rather boring).
I think, therefore I review.......2001-07-02
Paulos is entertaining, awesome, etc. My first book by him I couldn't put down. I was so intrigued with Innumeracy that I even had a hard time finding time to do my math homework. Ironically, Innumeracy was "advertised" in the math book that I was working in. Really, any books by this genius is worth your time and money. "I Think" reminds me a little of Lewis Carroll, word and math games. Paulos does what all of these math wizards out there claim they can do: make math more palatable and interesting. I tried, "Laugh With Math." What? I wasn't laughing! Paulos, I believe, doesn't even have to try.
I Laugh Therefore I Think.......2001-02-16
This is a wonderful joining of laughter (which nearly everyone does) and mathematics/logic (which not as many do well as they should be able to - me included). I would hesitate to use it as a supporting text in a mathematics, logic or philosophy class but many of the examples given would be great teacher's aids. (The book is sometimes too technical for students and its technical details may alienate some of them - in my estimation anyway.) But I have written elsewhere (see 'Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea') that I believe mathematics education will be greatly assisted by humanising it, putting people back into it (who could not be fascinated by Ramanujan, Erdos, Gauss and company?). The writings of Paulos would be a great tool in this direction and I wouldn't hesitate in prescribing 'Innumeracy', for example, as a required text. This book, however, would be a great source of ideas for a teacher or an interested reader like myself. And there are some very good laughs too!
Average customer rating:
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Las Vegas places its bets on habitat plan.(Nevada) : An article from: Endangered Species Update
Randi Thompson
Manufacturer: University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources
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ASIN: B0009FX2OC
Release Date: 2005-07-31 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Endangered Species Update, published by University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources on November 1, 2002. The length of the article is 858 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Las Vegas places its bets on habitat plan.(Nevada)
Author: Randi Thompson
Publication:
Endangered Species Update (Newsletter)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources
Volume: 19
Issue: 6
Page: 28(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
- The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
- The Oxford Illustrated History of Tudor & Stuart Britain
- The Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas of the Balkans
- The Past is a Foreign Country
- The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings (Hist Atlas)
- The Revolutionary War Quiz and Fact Book
- The Routledge Atlas of the First World War: The Complete History (Routledge Historical Atlases)
- The Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Hegel and Philosophy of Right (Routledge Philosophy Guidebooks)
- The Ruins: Or, Meditation on the Revolutions of Empires: And the Law of Nature.
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Special Agent: My Life On the Front Lines As Woman in the FBI
- Horse, Follow Closely
- Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education
- History: Fiction or Science
- History: Fiction or Science
- Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
- Military Innovation In The Interwar Period
- Varga, the Esquire Years: A Catalogue Raisonne
- History: Fiction or Science
- The Flora capensis of Jakob and Johann Philipp Breyne
Doing Oral History
Transcribing and Editing Oral History
Recording Oral History, Second Edition: A Guide for the Humanities and Social Sciences
The Voice of the Past: Oral History (Opus Books)
Like It Was: A Complete Guide to Writing Oral History
