Posts

Dennis O’Rourke films added to Ethnographic Video Online

News from the producers of Ethnographic Video Online:

New content has been added to Ethnographic Video Online, Volume III: Indigenous Voices, which our library owns (see http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1001356~S7 ). This update contains the full filmography of legendary documentarian Dennis O’Rourke.

O’Rourke’s portfolio occupies a significant space in the canon of visual anthropology and ethnographic research methodologies. His lens has captured the social, cultural and political processes of decolonization in the Pacific and advanced the dialogue around definitions of “self” and “other” in ethnographic research and filmmaking in significant ways. The films Cannibal Tours and Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age are taught in anthropology courses at all levels and his films will also appeal to film studies, indigenous studies, political science, environmental studies, cultural studies, and 20th century world history. In the coming months, we are targeting secondary content to support the teaching of these films in the classroom, including director’s commentary, film reviews, and journal articles.

The Dennis O’Rourke Filmography includes:

Cannibal Tours – One of the most influential and enduring ethnographic documentaries ever produced, Cannibal Tours explores the phenomenon of the growing tourism industry in Papua New Guinea, and in the process turns the ethnographic lens on Western mass-market culture with disturbingly perceptive insight and candor (1988).

Half Life: A Parable for the Nuclear Age – Rooted in first-person narratives, Half Life is a chilling and honest investigation into United States-led nuclear testing in the Pacific and the lasting impact it had (and continues to have) on people, now and in the generations to come (1985).

Yumi Yet – O’Rourke’s first film changed the shape of visual ethnography and set a new precedent for documentary filmmaking. An account of Papua New Guinea’s first independence day after a century of colonial rule, the narrative is pieced together through the words of real-life characters and footage of events, allowing local voices to resonate with the audience (1976).

Ileksen: Politics in Papua New Guinea – Building on the story of Yumi Yet, Ilekson is the report of Papua New Guinea’s first electoral process and a deeply dark exploration of postcolonial reality (1978).

Yap … How Did You Know We’d Like TV? – When televisions were brought to the Pacific Island of Yap, complete with the American programming and the advertising that came with them, many islanders believed it was a conspiracy to foster dependency. In this film, O’Rourke gives voices to those perspectives and the lasting impact that television has had on Yap (1980).

The Sharkcallers of Kontu – Depicting an ancient ritual whereby a select group of men undertake a journey to capture and kill sharks by hand, this film raises provocative and necessary questions about how such sacred rituals are being destroyed by Western religion, education and values (1982).

Couldn’t Be Fairer – A candid window into the often hidden side of Aboriginal Australian society, told through the voices of Aboriginal activist Mick Miller. The issues raised, such as race relations and violence, substance abuse, and political oppression, remain relevant 20 years later (1984).

Good Woman of Bangkok – A candid story about prostitution, this film is, in the words of O’Rourke himself, “ … a metaphor for capitalism, here played out across borders of race and culture, and about prostitution as a metaphor for all relations between men and women” (1991).

MLA BibLink

The MLA International Bibliography is pleased to announce the launch of MLA BibLink, a new application that enables authors to associate their works listed in the bibliography with a unique author identification number from ORCID. MLA BibLink allows you to search the MLA Bibliography for your publications, including works you’ve published under variant names, and in one click link them to your ORCID identifier to create a digital record of your scholarship. If you’ve already created an ORCID profile, any alternative names you’ve included there will be prepopulated in an MLA BibLink search. Haven’t created an ORCID profile yet? You can register for one from the MLA BibLink welcome page (biblink.mla.org) and immediately start adding works.

Additional Streaming Films through Alexander Street Press

In addition to the Criterion Collection, we acquired some other streaming modules recently:

Silent Film Online – http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1001710~S7
New World Cinema: Major Independent Features and Shorts, 1990-Present – http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1001708~S7

and some others. Once you are in one database in Alexander Street Press you can search for a title across all the modules we have. Also, it’s possible to see the other modules by clicking the dropdown menu under “Collections”.

Criterion Collection streaming films available through Alexander Street Press

OSU Libraries now has 312 films from the Criterion Collection available for streaming.  The database can be accessed through the Research Databases list on our website or at this link http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=e1001720~S7 .

The collection includes films in these areas:

Research Commons Spring Workshops

The Research Commons spring workshop schedule – covering topics such as research posters, funding opportunities, data management, digital scholarship, and more – is now open for registration.  Please visit the Events page to register for specific sessions.

 

The first workshop is next Wednesday, January 28th and covers the topic of research posters:

 

Prepare, Present, and Preserve: Moving Your Research Posters from Physical to Digital

Looking for tips on how to prepare an eye-catching and informative research poster? Curious about how to archive and increase access to your poster so it can still make an impact long after the forum is over? Join the Knowledge Bank and the Undergraduate Research Office to learn more about best practices for preparing research posters and opportunities to preserve them digitally. If you’re a graduate preparing for the Hayes or an undergraduate preparing for the Denman, then this session is for you!

Who: OSU graduates and undergraduates

When: Wednesday, January 28, 5:00 – 6:30pm

Where: Thompson Library, Room 150A/B

Register: https://library.osu.edu/researchcommons/registration-research-posters/

New delivery service to OSU distance users

Circulation Services and Interlibrary Services are pleased to announce a new one year pilot program to offer off-campus delivery of OSU, OhioLINK, SearchOhio, and interlibrary loan items to OSU patrons starting Monday, January 12, 2015.

 

  • Current OSU faculty, staff, and students within the United States but outside the state of Ohio can request that OSU, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio items be mailed to them by choosing ‘Distance User (Out of state)’ as the pick-up location in our catalogs, including WorldCat@OSU.  The Circulation Paging Office staff will confirm a delivery address via email with the patron before sending the requested items via UPS (delivery signature required).  Patrons without access to an OSU campus can also use the ‘Distance User’ delivery option when requesting interlibrary loan items through ILLiad to have the Interlibrary Services office mail items to them as well.  Users do not necessarily need to be enrolled in a distance education course to request materials for off-campus delivery; so OSU faculty doing research out-of-state or OSU grad students finished with coursework and writing their dissertation elsewhere in the U.S. would be eligible.
  • The OSU Libraries will subsidize the cost of one-way delivery to the patron, but users will be responsible for return shipping to Thompson Library at their own expense via a traceable delivery method (such as UPS, Fedex, USPS with Tracking).
  • Only circulating materials with loan periods of 3 weeks of longer can be mailed and are subject to recall.
  • OSU faculty, staff, or students located within the state of Ohio are not eligible for off-campus UPS delivery and should use the OhioLINK catalog to request OSU, OhioLINK, and SearchOhio materials for pick-up at any of the 80+ OhioLINK member libraries around the state.

 

For questions, please contact Tony Maniaci in Circulation Services or Brian Miller in Interlibrary Services.

Center for Digital Research and Scholarship Launches New “Digital Dante” Research Resource

Columbia University Libraries/Information Services’ (CUL/IS) Center for Digital Research and Scholarship (CDRS), in collaboration with the Department of Italian and CUL/IS’ Humanities and History Division, are pleased to announce the launch of the new Digital Dante website atdigitaldante.columbia.edu, a publicly accessible digital research resource on Dante’s works with a special focus on the Divine Comedy and its translations.

http://cdrs.columbia.edu/cdrsmain/2014/12/center-for-digital-research-and-scholarship-launches-new-digital-dante-research-resource/