Toronto Reference Library Blog

Bloody Words and Bony Blithe: Readings from the Bloody Words Light Mystery Award shortlist

Wednesday May 30, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Toronto Reference Library
Elizabeth Beeton Auditorium
Free admission

Murder is nothing to have fun with...or is it?

You can decide for yourself when you hear readings from the five books shortlisted for Canada’s newest literary award, the Bloody Words Mystery Conference Light Mystery Award.

This award -AKA the Bony Blithe Award-is  for “books that make us smile.” Think feel-good mystery. Maybe a cozy or a caper, but not necessarily. Maybe a guffaw-a-minute book, but not necessarily. But definitely no gore nor angst because Bony Blithe just isn’t into that.

The prize will be awarded at the upcoming Bloody Words Mystery Conference http://www.bloodywords2012.com/

Why the War of 1812 Still Matters

Two hundred years ago today, U.S. President James Madison sent a war message to Congress.  How did this affect us? To see how it affected British soldier Neal McNeale and the Town of York (now Toronto), check out "Finding the Fallen: The Battle of York Remembered" now on exhibit at the Market Gallery. Then come to the Toronto Reference Library to find out more.

The Toronto Public Library has an extraordinary collection of books and memorabilia on the War of 1812, much of it at the Reference Library. Visit the Humanities and Social Sciences Department on the second floor and see a sampling of what we have in our War of 1812 display. We'll help you look for other treasures to be found here at the library. 

Wayne Reeves, Chief Curator for City of Toronto Museum Services, will tackle these questions almost 200 years to the day that the United States declared war on Great Britain. Come and find out Why the War of 1812 Still Matters.

 

 

Wayne Reeves on

Why the War of 1812 Still Matters

 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012 

1-3 pm.

Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library

789 Yonge St.

 

[The image: 'The Death of Captain Neal McNeale at the Battle of York, 27 April 1813' by B.T.A. Griffiths, c. 1930. City of Toronto Museum Services] 

Trees

 

As leaves return to Toronto's trees, the city softens. Rough urban edges are smoothed out, and we, along with thousands of resident and migrating birds, are grateful for this canopy of green.      

If you are interested in researching trees, in, and beyond your backyard, consider coming into the Business, Science and Technology Department of the Toronto Reference Library.

 

 To immerse yourself in the wonder of trees, I recommend Remarkable Trees of the World, by Thomas Pakenham. The author travels the world to photograph trees with incredible histories, such as the hollow Australian "Prison Boab." Legend has it that Aboriginal prisoners were detained during a march at the turn of the century within this tree. The Boab is the Australian species of the Baobab, and some of these huge, ancient, hollow trees are over 1000 years old. These trees have played a significant role in Aboriginal life, serving as gathering places and storage areas.

In addition to amazing photographs, Trees: a Visual Guide contains excellent diagrams and cross sections of everything from bark to roots. This is an easy book to dip into and the close up photos are fascinating and beautiful.

For tree identification, Trees of Ontario, including Tall Shrubs, is an excellent guide with photographs of foliage, flowers and bark, as well as location maps and silhouettes of the full tree. This field guide is great for excursions.

For more in-depth information, we also have The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees with its beautiful detailed paintings. This book has a European focus though, so an alternative is The Encyclopedia of Trees: Canada and the United States, which discusses each tree's range, its habitat, and the wood's commercial uses.   

Don't forget to sign up if you want the city to plant a tree in your front yard!

 

 

Sherlock Holmes: The First Criminal Profiler

We seem to hear of Sherlock Holmes everywhere these days. If you have been enjoying the wealth of recent movies, TV shows, books and graphic novels that give the Great Detective a 21st century spin, why not investigate how it all began? The Toronto Public Library's world-famous Arthur Conan Doyle Collection is at your disposal.

On Saturday, May 26th, the Friends of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection will present a talk on "Sherlock Holmes: the first criminal profiler." The talk begins at 3:00 p.m. in the Toronto Reference Library's Beeton Auditorium, and will be given by Doug Wrigglesworth, Sherlockian cognoscente and Chair Emeritus of the Friends of the ACD Collection.

The program is free and everyone is welcome to attend.

 For more information about the Library's Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, link to:

www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/specialized-collections/literature-genre-doyle.jsp

CANCELLED : Spiders of Toronto program, Tuesday May 22, 2012

Spiders.

Thinking about spiders gives most of us a creepy, crawly feeling.

Seeing spiders frightens us.

Seeing pictures of magnified spiders ... well, you get the picture.

 

 

 

 

CANCELLED

  Biodiversity in the City : Spiders

on Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Toronto Reference Library

Beeton Auditorium

Time: 1 – 3 p.m.

Please check our website www.tpl.ca for future programs on biodiversity.

Twitter your way to your next good read

What do Margaret Atwood, Jeanette Winterson and Salman Rushdie have in common? They are all writers who engage in the social media phenomenon known as Twitter.

A 140 character tweet from a favourite author can be very satisfying indeed.

 

A recent tweet from Jeanette Winterson led me to read her stunning new autobiography, Why be happy when you could be normal?

 

 

 

 

The next time you are looking for something to read try Twitter -  it may lead you to something quite unexpected.

Salman Rushdie says he enjoys Twitter because “it allows one to be playful, to get a sense of what is on a lot of people’s minds at any given moment.”

Jeanette Winterson has written that " – to my surprise – I am enjoying my Twitter outings. I don’t do it everyday or back and forth – but it is fun..."

Margaret Atwood writes that "the Twittersphere is an odd and uncanny place. It's something like having fairies at the bottom of your garden. How do you know anyone is who he/she says he is, especially when they put up pictures of themselves that might be their feet, or a cat, or a Mardi Gras mask, or a tin of Spam?.....But despite their sometimes strange appearances, I'm well pleased with my followers – I have a number of techno-geeks and bio-geeks, as well as many book fans. They're a playful but also a helpful group".


Books by these authors are available at the Toronto Reference Library in the Languages and Literature Department (and at many other TPL branches).

Why be happy when you could be normal? is also available  in eBook format (Library card required)

If you are interested in learning more about Twitter consider attending a class at the Toronto Reference Library.

Government Publications to go paperless by 2014

 

Government of Canada Publications recently announced the decision "to completely transition all publications published by the Publishing Program and publications provided by departments to the Depository Services Program from traditional print to exclusively electronic publication in two years."

This announcement marks a shift in the official position of the government with respect to their strategy for future access to publc information. The change especially affects those familiar with using libraries like the Toronto Reference Library - a full depository member for decades - with its comprehensive and rich collection of government documents in print.

The Depository Services Program (DSP) was created by an Order-in-Council in 1927 "to acquire, catalogue and distribute federal government publications in all formats to a network of depository libraries as well as parliamentarians." The DSP acts as an "information safety net, collecting current and archival government publications and making them widely available to the Canadian public." And with the advance and spread of information technology, new expectations and capabilities arise.

Government information first made an appearance on the internet through applications such as 'gophers' and 'ftp' sites. In less then 20 years, more and more information has become available on the web. Consider these "Key Statistics" for 2011-2012 from the Services for Depository Libraries page: there were 84,421 electronic publications available for download, 225,652 viewable bibliographic records, and a total of 10.2 million downloads of electronic publications.

Presently, Retention Guidelines for depository libraries recommend what sorts of government information should be held, for how long, and in what circumstances. With the transition to 'exclusively electronic publication', these guidelines will only apply to past collections since the Goverment will become the sole distributor of current publications through its website.

Publications Canada will need to develop and apply its own policies for the retention of electronic documents to ensure digital authority control and future long-term access to materials that would have otherwise been preserved in print. In other words, Publications Canada will need to provide Canadians with a new and different kind of information safety net . . . one that is digital . . .

 

 

 

TCAF Has Landed at TRL

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival just opened its doors to enthusiastic fans here at the Toronto Reference Library. This is definitely the place to be on this sunny Saturday.

For a fourth and exciting year, TPL will host the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) during the weekend of May 4 to 6, 2012. We will welcome over 300 cartoonists from across Canada, USA and around the world, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Several guests will be visiting Toronto for the first time just for TCAF.


The exhibition weekend consists of:

• Exhibitors on the main floor atrium, Browsery, Beeton Auditorium, Learning Centre B and Appel Salon
• Programs and workshops in Learning Centre A and Novella Room (Appel Salon)
• Artist signings outside Toronto Star Newspaper Room

 

 

Additional programming will take place at The Pilot across the street on Cumberland and at St. Paul’s Church (near Bloor/Jarvis).

 



While you are here, don't forget to visit the Browsery, where we have graphic novels available for loan and don't miss the Arts Department (5th floor) for our collections of books and journals on the comic arts.

Have a Great Festival, Everyone.