The Reading Room
A collection of papers and other writings.
Are Bookstores the New Information Centers? Drawing users back into the library
Spring 2004
A look at the growth of the chain bookstore as social gathering place and information center and ways college libraries can reclaim their place in the educational community.
The Birth of the Underground Railway
Fall 1998
A short history of the birth of the London Underground.
Copyright and the Internet
Spring 2000
With the proliferation of the internet and new digital copying technology, copyright holders are scrambling to keep control of their works. Although early cases of online copyright infringement were handled in more traditional ways, in the last couple of years intellectual property owners have resorted to whatever means possible to protect their work, including suing content providers and their access providers and lobbying to make copying devices themselves illegal. Free speech advocates, however, believe they have gone too far.
The future of libraries in a democratic society
Fall 2002
A discussion of the place of libraries in a democracy, as a haven for free speech and free access to information (in both the financial and philosophical sense).
The use of sound in The Full Monty and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Spring 2000
A short paper discussing the use of unreleastic sound elements to heighten the credibility of the ridiculous plot elements of two films.
We're Only In It for the Money vs. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Spring 1998
The 1968 Mothers of Invention album We're Only in it for the Money, composer/bandleader Frank Zappa's vicious attack on hippie culture as more of a fashion statement and social club than a vehicle for serious social change, is made more effective by its structure. Its form as an answer to the Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band makes more of an impact than a mere collection of anti-hippie songs would.
Frank Zappa: The Present Day Composer Refuses to Die!
December 1995
Frank Zappa was one of the most important composers of the 20th Century. Throughout his 30 year career he pioneered or helped to pioneer many new techniques, styles and sounds. From mixing rock with other genres including neo-classical and jazz in the 1960s to being one of the first to adopt and embrace sequencing technology in the 1980s, Zappa was always on the cutting edge.
Regulation of Speech on the Internet
Spring 1999
Abstract: Is the Internet more like a broadcast medium or a print medium? The answer is it is like neither. Although the government, though legislation like the Communications Decency Act and the Child Online Protection Act, has attempted to regulate speech on the Internet in a manner similar to the regulation of radio and television, the courts have consistently struck down these laws as unconstitutionally restricting speech which is protected under the First Amendment. The Internet is a unique medium, one the likes of which the world has never seen before, one which allows average people the world over to not only access the information presented, but to publish their own content. For this reason, online speech should be protected to the fullest extent provided under the First Amendment.
Functions of political parties in Britain
Fall 1998
For all who are interested in the differences between the British and American political systems (besides the obvious: the monarchy).
The Voice of America
Spring 1997
A short history/current status (as of 1997) of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.