Milligan Library Life

by the staff of P.H. Welshimer Memorial Library & Seminary Library

Plato, the invention of writing, and the e-book

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This post originally appeared on my now inactive blog, Voyage of the Paradigm Ship, January 19, 2009.

The following is a two-part email I sent to my good friend and colleague (he is chair of the faculty Library Committee) on March 27 and 29, 2006, after he sent me an editorial written by Edward Tenner in The New York Times, entitled “Searching for Dummies” (March 26, 2006). My friend is a history professor and an avid bibliophile. Though he has largely “come around” to my way of thinking regarding the benefits of electronic delivery of journal literature, he is far more resistive when it comes to surrendering the marvelous technology expressed as the printed book. He knows he has been socialized into this preference, but insists that a full embrace of computer and electronic information resource technology is damaging his students’ capacity to think through complex ideas in a sustained and deep way. I retort that our task should not be rejection of the technology but the instruction into its proper use, and building an awareness (understanding) both of its advantages/limitations and its impact (both good and ill) on human culture and knowledge. In my argument I drew an analogy from another ancient technology—writing itself.

Greetings. Further to our on-going conversation (print vs. electronic information resources), here is an interesting excerpt from Plato’s Phaedrus, where Socrates tells a story of the Egyptian god Theuth, the inventor of, among other things, writing. I have not read the full piece, but it is interesting here to see Plato’s critique of the losses sustained by writing (and reading) as a new technology over oral culture and true memory.

At the Egyptian city of Naucratis, there was a famous old god, whose name was Theuth; the bird which is called the Ibis is sacred to him, and he was the inventor of many arts, such as arithmetic and calculation and geometry and astronomy and draughts and dice, but his great discovery was the use of letters [grammata=writing]. Now in those days the god Thamus was the king of the whole country of Egypt; and he dwelt in that great city of Upper Egypt which the Hellenes call Egyptian Thebes, and the god himself is called by them Ammon. Theuth came to him and showed his inventions [technas, “arts”], desiring that the other Egyptians might be allowed to have the benefit of them. Thamus enquired about their several uses, and as Theuth enumerated them, Thamus praised some of them and censured others, as he approved or disapproved of them. It would take a long time to repeat all that Thamus said to Theuth in praise or blame of the various arts [technai]. But when they came to letters [grammata], Theuth said, “This invention, O King, will make the Egyptians wiser and give them better memories; I have discovered a remedy [pharmakon: potion, medicine, drug] both for the memory and for wisdom.” Thamus replied: “O most ingenious [technikotate] Theuth, the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them. And in this instance, you who are the father of letters, from a paternal love of your own children have been led to attribute to them a power opposite to that which they in fact possess. For this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it; they will not exercise their memories, but, trusting in external, foreign marks [graphes], they will not bring things to remembrance from within themselves. You have discovered a remedy [pharmakon] not for memory, but for reminding. You offer your students the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom. They will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.”

This is all very ironic in view of our conversation. We long ago adopted the writing technology of Theuth. We frankly no longer know what we lost through its adoption, since we have lived under its ideological assumptions for so long. Neil Postman, in his book Technolopy: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (Vintage, 1992) alludes to this story in rightly claiming the non-neutral and ideological function of every technology and technological adoption.

I have contended in our conversation that print books are every bit as much a technological invention of information transmission, and laden with ideology, as any book in electronic format. Postman urges caution, in deference to your concerns. I am not insensitive to these, of course. I am no heedless technophile any more than you are a heedless technophobe. My real point is offered by Postman where he writes: “[Thamus] would allow, I imagine, that a technology may be barred entry to a culture…But…once a technology is admitted, it plays out its hand; it does what it is designed to do. Our task is to understand what that design is—that is to say, when we admit a new technology to the culture, we must do so with our eyes wide open.” (p. 7, emphasis added)

For good or ill, electronic information technology has been admitted into our culture. Since this technology has become proliferated into every facet of our students’ lives, it no longer makes sense to bar it here at Milligan College Library as some well-meaning bulwark against the flood. That is the surest recipe for irrelevance. Yes, we can and should keep the books around and in plain sight as an act of ideological subversion. But I believe our mandate now is to fight, not by insisting that our students use the books, but by building understanding instead of heedlessness. This is the instructional role of a comprehensive program of information literacy. Data is not information; information is not knowledge; and knowledge is not yet wisdom. Wisdom comes through passionate, responsible (ethical), critical (discerning) and mature use of information, and the organization of information that forms into structures of knowledge. This, it seems to me, has always been our task. Only now we can’t take anything for granted.

* * *

Plato, by having Socrates tell this story, is engaging in a form of rhetoric. Everything here is inescapably in written form! But for Plato this is also a concession and (what we are calling “ironic” in our current conversation) really a paradox. Plato writes to critique writing! But not all writing, as not all speech, is of equal value. For Plato, writing that preserves the living dialogical (mind-to-mind conversational) nature of true human (philosophical) knowledge, and which asks more questions than it answers, is the best. Incidentally, much of Plato’s writing is construed as dialogue between great philosophical minds. But he would say that even his writing is a concession, if only because of the inherent limitations of written communication. [See Robin Waterfield’s excellent commentary on this in the section of his Introduction to Plato’s Phaedrus (Oxford World’s Classics, 2002) entitled, “Dialectic and the Weakness of Writing,” pages xxxvii-xlii.]

My original allusion to this story, and giving it out as ironic, is a technical (pun intended!) misuse of Plato’s intention. But my warrant for it (as also picked-up by Neil Postman) is that Theuth is said to have invented writing. As such, writing is unmistakably recognized as a technology. As a tool, technology requires instruction for its proper use, and (because it is not value neutral) requires an awareness (understanding) of its advantages/limitations and its impact (both good and ill) on human culture and knowledge.

I think this is really the point of Plato’s critique. I imagine Plato would prefer not to use writing in human discourse because of its inherent limitations. But paradoxically, he has no choice to use writing if he wants his ideas disseminated and preserved (for reminding, not for true memory, as Thamus notes!). So, given the inherent limitations of writing, he must instruct his readers (in the guise of the highly-esteemed Socrates) into an awareness through critique of how this technology functions, and what is the most profitable writing form—the form that best preserves dialogical nature of human knowledge.

By analogy, you (and I) have come to view the writing of and reading from printed books as the best form for preserving and engaging the accumulated ideas of human knowledge. (You may quibble on my wording, but the basic gist is there, right?) We honestly believe and assume that a living conversation is still preserved within those pages for fresh engagement. We are no longer troubled by Plato’s concerns because we have come to view the book as a most acceptable means of disseminating and preserving ideas. To us, it is no longer a mere concession. Rather, it has been (for the last several thousands of years) the primary technology for this very purpose. Praise be to Theuth for his miraculous invention!

But now, after a very lengthy and productive stint with the printed form of the book, along comes a new technology that proposes a new form—an electronic/digital form. [I’m still in analogy mode here.] How do we react to this? Well, we may sense that this new technology will, to quote Thamus, “create forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it; they will not exercise their memories, but, trusting in external, foreign [virtual!] marks, they will not bring things to remembrance from within themselves.” We offer appropriate critique. To use this new technology implies a concession (but not the same level of paradox, since it still involves the use of writing [with multimedia capabilities thrown-in]). The preferred use or non-use of this technology does not (yet?) place a person in a “I have no choice” position as it did for Plato. But the use of this technology does involve certain advantages and certain limitations. And so, the use of this technology requires instruction for its proper use, and (because it is not value neutral) requires an awareness (understanding) of its advantages/limitations and its impact (both good and ill) on human culture and knowledge.

So, I would argue that Plato makes my case—though not because he is forced (paradoxically/ironically) to use writing even while critiquing it. The analogy is not in equating the move from printed book to digital book with Plato’s paradoxical move from using a pure form of human knowledge transmission (oral communication) and preservation (memory) to a compromised form through writing and (mere) reminding. The analogy, rather, is that given the invention of the electronic/digital form of the book and its inevitable/increasing use, we now need to instruct in its proper use and build an awareness of its advantages/limitations and its cultural impact. Thamus critiqued writing at its invention (in the ancient time of the myth). Plato critiques it (as it were) after long use. Thamus could warn the god of the dire unintended consequences of its use. Plato can allude to those warnings in order to offer contemporary instruction, even as he himself uses the technology!

I would say Plato was doing a form of information literacy. And so the New York Times Op-Ed piece [Edward Tenner, “Searching for Dummies,” March 26, 2006]. Information literacy is a “fighting back” strategy to the (dire?) unintended consequences of the miraculous invention called the Internet … and information resource access via electronic databases. Information literacy is instruction in the proper use and awareness-building of this new technology. What do you think?

Million Pennies Campaign Update, May 2011

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Milligan College Library is proud to announce that you, our loyal library users, contributed $158.00 in cash and change to our Million Pennies Campaign in April 2011. We have now raised $3,081.06 since the start of the campaign in April 2010, which means we’ve exceeded 30% of our goal!

The Library staff would like to extend a hearty thank you to our April contributors: Clint Holloway, Ryan Hughes, Mary Jackson, Wesley Jones, Katie Payne, Alan Stengel, and Adam Tomlinson. Remember, if you’d like us to thank you by name, please write your name down on the slips of paper in the tray next to the donation box, and we’ll let everyone know about your generosity!

Ryan Hughes is the winner of our monthly drawing. He will receive the paperback Looking for Alaska by John Green. Congratulations, Ryan!

Next month’s prize is the hardcover The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. Donate to the campaign, write your name on a slip of paper, and place it in the box. On June 1st, we’ll draw a winner from the names in the box!

We still need your help in raising funds to help us reach our goal of a totally renovated library.  Bring your loose change and help us get closer to $10,000. Remember, when we raise the money, we’ll allow you, the contributors, to name a study room whatever you like. Every penny helps! If you’re not familiar with the Campaign, check out the library blog. And remember you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Thank you!

New Books and Media Received (April 2011)

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The following Books, Musical Scores, and DVDs (181 items) were received into the Library collection through the Acquisitions Budget during April 2011. Check availability of new titles in the Milligan Online Catalog, or come into the Library and browse the New Books Shelf.

Across Spoon River; an autobiography. New York, Farrar & Rinehart, [c1936].

The age of innocence / Edith Wharton ; introduction by Louis Auchincloss. New York : Modern Library, 1999.

The agony and the ecstasy [videorecording] / Twentieth Century Fox ; International Classics ; producer/director, Carol Reed ; screen story and screenplay, Philip Dunne. Beverly Hills, Calif. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, c2005.

Aida / Giuseppe Verdi. New York : Dover, 1989.

Algae : anatomy, biochemistry, and biotechnology / by Paolo Gualtieri and Laura Barsanti. Boca Raton : Taylor & Francis, 2006.

Allah : a Christian response / Miroslav Volf. New York : HarperOne, c2011.

Allegro non troppo [videorecording] / Italtoons Corporation ; una produzione Bruno Bozzetto film ; soggetto e sceneggiattura, Bruno Bozzetto, Guido Manuli, Maurizio Nichetti ; regia, Bruno Bozzetto. [Chicago] : Home Vision Entertainment, 2004.

Ann Vickers / by Sinclair Lewis ; introduction to the Bison Book edition by Nan Bauer Maglin. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [1994].

Another country / James Baldwin. New York : Vintage Books, 1993.

Apollo 13 [videorecording] / Imagine Entertainment presents a Brian Grazer production ; a Universal picture ; screenplay by William Broyles, Jr. & Al Reinert ; produced by Brian Grazer ; directed by Ron Howard. Universal City, CA : Universal Home Video, [1999].

The Apu trilogy [videorecording] / Satyajit Ray Productions ; scripts and direction by Satyajit Ray. [South Korea] : PD Entertainment, 2008.

Aquatic photosynthesis / Paul G. Falkowski and John A. Raven. Princeton : Princeton University Press, c2007.

Babbitt / Sinclair Lewis ; edited with an introduction and notes by Gordon Hutner. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Babette’s feast [videorecording] / a film by Gabriel Axel. Santa Monica, CA. : MGM Home Entertainment, 2001,c1987.

Babies without borders : adoption and migration across the Americas / Karen Dubinsky. New York, NY : New York University Press, [2010].

Baby, we were meant for each other : in praise of adoption / Scott Simon. New York : Random House, c2010.

A backward glance / by Edith Wharton. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1998, c1964.

Big girls don’t cry : the election that changed everything for American women / Rebecca Traister. New York : Free Press, 2010.

The Big O [videorecording] : complete collection / a production of Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. and Sunrise, Inc. ; created by Hajime Yatate ; director, Kazuyoshi Katayama ; producers, Tsutomu Sugita, Eiji Sashida, and Ohashi Chie ; written by Chiaki Konaka … [et al.] ; English adaptation by Bandai Entertainment, Inc. in association with ZRO Limit Productions and Animaze, Inc. ; producers, Charles McCarter, Yutaka Maseba, and Haruyo Kanesaku ; translation, David Fleming ; ADR director, Quint Lancaster ; ADR script writer, Lia Sargent. Cypress, CA : Distributed by Bandai Entertainment, 2007.

The Big O II [videorecording] : complete collection / produced by Sunrise Inc. and Bandai Visual Co. Ltd. ; co-produced by Cartoon Network ; created by Hajime Yatate ; director, Kazuyoshi Katayama ; producers, Tsutomu Sugita, Eiji Sashida, and Ohashi Chie ; written by Chiaki J. Konaka … [et al.] ; English adaptation by Sunrise Inc. in association with ZRO Limit Productions and Animaze, Inc. ; producers, Charles McCarter, Yutaka Maseba, and Haruyo Kanesaku ; translation, David Fleming ; ADR director, Quint Lancaster ; ADR script writer, Lia Sargent. Cypress, CA : Bandai Entertainment, [2007], c2003.

The big thirst : the secret life and turbulent future of water, / Charles Fishman. New York : Free Press, 2011.

Blue submarine No. 6 [videorecording]. [Cypress, Calif.] : Bandai Entertainment, c2003.

The bridge of San Luis Rey / Thornton Wilder. New York : Perennial, [2003], c2002.

The cabala ; and, The woman of Andros / Thornton Wilder ; foreword by Penelope Niven. New York : Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

The Cambridge companion to Moliere / edited by David Bradby, Andrew Calder. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

The canon : a whirligig tour of the beautiful basics of science / Natalie Angier. Boston : Mariner Books, 2008, c2007.

The cantos of Ezra Pound. [New York, New Directions Pub. Corp.], 1993,c1934.

Carmen / Georges Bizet. New York : Dover Publications, 1989.

Cavalleria rusticana. German & Italian. Cavalleria rusticana / Pietro Mascagni ; [libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci based on the story and play by Giovanni Verga]. New York : Dover, 1993.

Change by design : how design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation / Tim Brown ; with Barry Katz. [New York] : Harper Business, c2009.

Chasing Manet / by Tina Howe. New York : Samuel French, 2011.

Child of the fire : Mary Edmonia Lewis and the problem of art history’s Black and Indian subject / Kirsten Pai Buick. Durham, NC : Duke University Press, c2010.

Christendom at the crossroads : the medieval era / J.A. Sheppard. Louisville, Ky. : Westminster John Knox Press, c2005.

The Clinton 12 [videorecording] : a documentary film / written and directed by Keith McDaniel.[Oak Ridge, TN] : Secret City Films, c2007.

Collected plays, 1944-1961 / Arthur Miller. New York : Library of America : Distributed to the trade in the United States by Penguin Putnam, c2006.

The collected plays of Neil Simon / with an introduction by Neil Simon. New York : New American Library, [1986]-

The collected plays of Neil Simon. Volume IV / by Neil Simon ; [with an introduction by Neil Simon]. New York : Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005.

The collected poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar / edited and with an introduction by Joanne M. Braxton. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia,1993.

The collected short plays of Thornton Wilder / edited by Donald Gallup and A. Tappan Wilder ; with additional material by F.J. O’Neil. New York : Theatre Communications Group, 1997-c1998.

Complete poems, 1904-1962 / E.E. Cummings ; edited by George J. Firmage. New York : Liveright, c1991.

Complete stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe.Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, c1966.

Conversations with catalogers in the 21st century / Elaine R. Sanchez, editor ; foreword by Michael Gorman.Santa Barbara, California : Libraries Unlimited, 2011.

The creative life : true tales of inspiration / Julia Cameron. New York : Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, c2010.

Danse macabre and other works for solo piano / Camille Saint-Saens ; selected and with an introduction by Victor Rangel-Ribeiro. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, 1999.

Design th!nking / Gavin Ambrose, Paul Harris.Lausanne : AVA Academia ; La Vergne, TN : Distributed in the USA & Canada by Ingram Publisher Services, c2010.

Design thinking : integrating innovation, customer experience and brand value / edited by Thomas Lockwood. New York, NY : Allworth Press, c2010.

The diatoms : biology & morphology of the genera / F.E. Round, R.M. Crawford, D.G. Mann. Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007.

The Didache : a window on the earliest Christians / Thomas O’Loughlin. Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Academic, c2010.

Dreamers of a new day : women who invented the twentieth century / Sheila Rowbotham. London ; New York : Verso, 2010.

Dreaming a world : Korean birth mothers tell their stories. Yeong & Yeong Book Company : Seoul.

Easter oratorio : BWV 249 / Johann Sebastian Bach ; from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition edited by Wilhelm Rust. Mineola, NY : Dover Publications, 2001.

The eighth day / Thornton Wilder ; foreword by John Updike.New York : Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.

Eleven great cantatas : in full vocal and instrumental score : from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition / Johann Sebastian Bach. New York : Dover Publications, 1976.

Elias. English & German. Elijah : from the critical complete works edition / Felix Mendelssohn ; edited by Julius Rietz. New York : Dover, c1995.

Emily Dickinson: an interpretive biography. Cambridge, Mass., Belknap Press, 1955.

Evidence-based review of interventions used in occupational therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder. AOTA: The American Occupational Therapy Association.

The evolution and emergence of RNA viruses / Edward C. Holmes. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2009.

The evolution of plants / K.J. Willis, J.C. McElwain.New York : Oxford University Press, c2002.

Exodus / by Leon Uris.New York : Gramercy Books, 2000.

Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis and other works for orchestra / Ralph Vaughan Williams. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 1999.

A farewell to arms / Ernest Hemingway.New York : Scribner, 2003, 1929.

The fathers of the church : a comprehensive introduction / Hubertus R. Drobner ; translated by Siegfried S. Schatzmann ; with bibliographies updated and expanded for the English edition by William Harmless and Hubertus R. Drobner. Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, c2007.

Fiddler on the roof [videorecording] / the Mirisch Production Company presents a Norman Jewison film ; produced by Norman Jewison ; screenplay by Joseph Stein ; directed by Norman Jewison. Santa Monica, CA : MGM Home Entertainment, c2001, c1971.

Final entries, 1945 : the diaries of Joseph Goebbels / edited, introduced, and annotated by Hugh Trevor-Roper ; translated from the German by Richard Barry. Barnsley, South Yorkshire : Pen & Sword Military, 2007.

The flying Dutchman / Richard Wagner ; edited by Felix Weingartner. New York : Dover, 1988.

For whom the bell tolls / Ernest Hemingway. New York : Scribner, 1996.

Froken Julie [videorecording] = Miss Julie / Janus Films ; Sandrew Produktion visar [presents] ; produktionsledning, Rune Waldekranz ; manus och regi [screenplay written by/directed by], Alf Sjoberg.[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, c2007.

Ghost in the shell. S.A.C. 2nd gig [videorecording] / Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex Committee, Production I.G., Magna Entertainment, Shirow Masamune-Production ; producers, Yuichiro Matsuka, Hisanori Kunizaki ; chief writer, Kenji Kamiyama ; director, Kenji Kamiyama. [United States] : Bandai Entertainment, c2009.

Ghost in the shell. Stand alone complex complete collection [videorecording] / Bandai Entertainment, Inc.[United States] : Bandai Entertainment, Inc., 2008.

Going to meet the man / by James Baldwin. New York : Vintage Books, 1995.

Good morning, Vietnam [videorecording] / [presented by] Touchstone Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners III . Dead Poets Society / [presented by] Touchstone Pictures in association with Silver Screen Partners IV. Burbank, CA : Touchstone Home Entertainment : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2006.

Great soul : Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle with India / Joseph Lelyveld. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.

The great waltzes / Johann Strauss, Jr.New York : Dover Publications, Inc., 1989.

Hansel und Gretel. Hansel and Gretel / Engelbert Humperdinck. New York : Dover, 1995.

The help / Kathryn Stockett.New York, N.Y. : Berkley Books, 2011, c2009.

Higher education in the Internet age : libraries creating a strategic edge / Patricia Senn Breivik and E. Gordon Gee.Westport, Conn. : Praeger Publishers, 2006.

Hillary Clinton’s race for the White House : gender politics and the media on the campaign trail / Regina G. Lawrence, Melody Rose. Boulder, Colo. : Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010.

His girl Friday [videorecording] / Columbia Pictures Corporation ; screen play by Charles Lederer ; directed by Howard Hawks. Culver City, Ca. : Columbia TriStar Home Video, [c2000].

A history of the monks of Syria / by Theodoret of Cyrrhus ; translated with an introduction and notes by R.M. Price. Kalamazoo, Mich. : Cistercian Publications, 1985.

The Holy Bible : King James version. Peabody, MA : Hendrickson Bibles, 2007.

In his steps, Charles M. Sheldon. Grand Rapids, Mich., Zondervan Pub. House [1970, c1967].

In the year of the pig [videorecording] / produced and directed by Emile de Antonio.[United States] : Home Vision Entertainment, [2005].

International adoption : global inequalities and the circulation of children / edited by Diana Marre and Laura Briggs.New York : New York University Press, c2009.

The invisible enemy : a natural history of viruses / Dorothy H. Crawford. Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2002.

King Lear [videorecording] / by William Shakespeare ; directed by Michael Elliott ; [adapted by Laurence Olivier] ; produced by Fraser Peacock Associates on behalf of Granada Video. West Long Branch, NJ : Kultur, 2000.

The king’s speech [videorecording] / [screenplay, David Seidler] ; director, Tom Hooper. [United States] : Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2011.

Last exile. The complete series [videorecording] / Gonzo/Victor Entertainment. [Texas] : FUNimation Entertainment, [2009].

Lichen biology / edited by Thomas H. Nash III. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Lichens / William Purvis.Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Press in association with the Natural History Museum, London, c2000.

Life is beautiful [videorecording] / Miramax Films ; Cecchi Gori Group ; Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori present a Melampo Cinematografica production ; directed by Roberto Benigni. [New York, N.Y.] : Miramax Home Entertainment ; Burbank, Calif. : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Video, [2002].

The Literary Ladies’ Guide to the Writing Life : inspiration and advice from celebrated women authors who paved the way / by Nava Atlas. South Portland, Maine : Sellers Publishers, ; c2011.

Look homeward, angel : a story of the buried life / Thomas Wolfe ; with an introduction by Robert Morgan and an introduction by Maxwell E. Perkins.New York : Scribner, 2006, c2000.

Lost mountain : a year in the vanishing wilderness : radical strip mining and the devastation of Appalachia / Erik Reece ; foreword by Wendell Berry ; photographs by John J. Cox.New York : Riverhead Books, 2007, c2006.

Love Wins : A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived / Rob Bell. New York, NY : HarperOne, 2011.

Madama Butterfly. German & Italian. Madama Butterfly / Giacomo Puccini. New York : Dover, 1990.

The magic never ends [videorecording] : the life & work of C.S. Lewis / a production of Crouse Entertainment Group & the Duncan Group and Chicago’s WTTW-TV. [Chicago, IL] : Crouse Entertainment Group/Duncan Group, 2005,c2001.

Choral music. Selections. Magnificat in D ; and, the six motets / Johann Sebastian Bach ; from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition. New York : Dover, 1995.

Main Street / Sinclair Lewis ; with an introduction and notes by Brooke Allen ; George Stade, consulting editorial director. New York : Barnes & Noble Classics, 2008, c2003.

Major orchestral works : from the Breitkopf & Hartel complete works ed. / Felix Mendelssohn ; edited by Julius Rietz.New York : Dover Publications, 1975.

Mending a tattered faith : devotions with Dickinson / Susan VanZanten. Eugene, Or. : Cascade Books, c2011.

Millennium actress [videorecording] / the Klock Worx presents ; Go Fish Pictures presents a Chiyoko Committee production, Genco Inc. ; production, Millennium Actress Committee ; screenplay, Sadayuki Murai, Satoshi Kon ; animation directors, Takeshi Honda … [et al.] ; executive producer, Taro Maki ; director, Satoshi Kon.Universal City, CA : DreamWorks Home Entertainment, [2003].

Mobile web design for dummies / by Janine Warner and David LaFontaine. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley ; Chichester : John Wiley [distributor], 2010.

New destinations : Mexican immigration in the United States / Victor Zuniga and Ruben Hernandez-Leon, editors. New York : Russell Sage Foundation, c2005.

Noch na Lysoi gore (1880); arr. A night on Bald Mountain : fantasy for orchestra / Modest Moussorgsky ; completed and orchestrated by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, 1999.

The noble revolt : the overthrow of Charles I / John Adamson. London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007.

Novels and stories : The lottery, The haunting of Hill House, We have always lived in the castle, other stories and sketches / Shirley Jackson. New York, N.Y. : Library of America ; Distributed in the United States by Penguin Putnam, c2010.

Shchelkunchik. Suite. Nutcracker suite / Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. New York : Dover, c1987.

“O” [videorecording] / a Chickie the Cop production in association with Daniel Fried Productions and Rhulen Entertainment ; a film by Tim Blake Nelson ; producers, Eric Gitter, Daniel L. Fried, Anthony Rhulen ; screenplay writer, Brad Kaaya ; director, Tim Blake Nelson.[United States] : Trimark Home Video : Lions Gate Home Entertainment, [2002].

Obchod na korze [videorecording] / Ceskoslovensky filmovyustav ; Filmove studio Barrandor ; natocili reziseri, Jan Kadar a Elmar Klos ; scenar napsali, Ladislav Grosman, J. Kadar, E. Klos. [Irvington, N.Y.] : Criterion Collection, c2001.

The old maid : the fifties / Edith Wharton ; introduction by Roxana Robinson ; notes by Jennifer Mooney. New York : Modern Library, 2003.

Olivier’s Shakespeare [videorecording] : 3 films / by Laurence Olivier. [Irvington, N.Y.] : Criterion Collection, [2006].

O’Neill and his plays, four decades of criticism, edited by Oscar Cargill, N. Bryllion Fagin [and] William J. Fisher.[New York] New York University Press, 1961.

Origin. Spirits of the past [videorecording] / Shochiku ; Gonzo ; produced by Gonzo ; screenplay by Nana Shiina, Naoko Kakimoto ; directed by Keiichi Sugiyama. [Fort Worth, Tex.?] : FUNimation Entertainment, 2007.

Otello : in full score / Giuseppe Verdi. New York : Dover, 1986.

Othello [videorecording] / by William Shakespeare ; Warner Bros. Pictures presents ; a B.H.E. production from The National Theatre of Great Britain ; National Theatre production directed by John Dexter ; produced by Anthony Havelock-Allan [and] John Brabourne ; directed by Stuart Burge. Burbank, CA : Distributed by Warner Home Video, c2007.

Overtures and preludes in full score / Richard Wagner. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, c1996.

Overtures “in the Italian style” and other works / Franz Schubert. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, 2002.

Pagliacci / Ruggiero Leoncavallo. New York : Dover, 1992.

The pearl / John Steinbeck. New York : Penguin Books, 2002.

Periodic tales : a cultural history of the elements, from Arsenic to Zinc / Hugh Aldersey-Williams. New York, NY : HaperCollins Publishers, c2011.

Phycology / Robert Edward Lee. Cambridge [England] ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Piano concertos nos. 7-10 : with Mozart’s cadenzas for nos. 9 and 10 : from the Breitkopf & Hartel complete works edition / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ; introduction by Susan Kagan. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, c2000.

The poems of Henry Van Dyke. Amsterdam, The Netherlands : Fredonia Books, c2004, 1921.

Pregnancy, childbirth, and the newborn : the complete guide / Penny Simkin … [et al.]. Minnetonka, Minn. : Meadowbrook Press ; New York : Distributed by Simon & Schuster, c2010.

The president’s lady : a novel about Rachel and Andrew Jackson / Irving Stone. Nashville, Tenn. : Rutledge Hill Press, [1996], c1951.

Prophets and gravestones : an imaginative history of Montanists and other early Christians / William Tabbernee. Peabody, Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, c2009.

Pulp fiction [videorecording] / Miramax Films presents a Band Apart and Jersey Films production ; a film by Quentin Tarantino ; co-executive producers, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Richard N. Gladstein ; executive producers, Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher ; stories by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary ; produced by Lawrence Bender ; written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. [S.l.] : Miramax Home Entertainment ; Burbank, CA : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, [2002].

The recognition of Nathaniel Hawthorne; selected criticism since 1828. Edited by B. Bernard Cohen. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press [1969].

The red thread : a novel / Ann Hood. New York : W.W. Norton & Co., c2010.

Religion and the body / edited by Sarah Coakley.Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Grande Messe des morts. Requiem / Hector Berlioz. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2006.

Rigoletto / Giuseppe Verdi. New York : Dover, 1992.

Robert Indiana / Simon Salama-Caro … [et al.]. New York : Rizzoli, 2006.

Romeo et Juliette (Fantasy-overture). Romeo and Juliet overture ; and, Capriccio italien / Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. New York : Dover, 1986.

The S word : a short history of an American tradition… socialism / John Nichols. Brooklyn, NY : Verso, 2011.

Sabotage [videorecording] / Gaumont-British Picture Corporation Ltd. presents ; directed by Alfred Hitchcock ; screen play, Charles Bennett ; dialogue, Ian Hay, Helen Simpson.[United States] : Metro Goldwyn Mayer ; Beverly Hills, Calif. : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, [2008].

Le salaire de la peur [videorecording] / Filmsonor Societe Anonyme presente ; un film de Henri-Georges Clouzot ; adaptation et dialogues de H.G. Clouzot & Jerome Geronimi ; une co-production Franco-Italienne, C.I.C.C. … [et al.]. [S.l.] : Criterion Collection, c2005.

Scheherazade / by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.New York : Dover, 1984.

Serenades, string orchestra, op. 22, E major. Serenade no. 1, op. 22 ; and Serenade no. 2, op. 44 : in full score / Antonin Dvorak. Mineola, NY : Dover Publications, 2001.

Seven great sacred cantatas : in full score : from the Bach-Gesellschaft edition / Johann Sebastian Bach. New York : Dover, 1985.

Shakespeare in love [videorecording] / Miramax Films and Universal Pictures and the Bedford Falls Company present ; directed by John Madden ; written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard ; produced by David Parfitt, Donna Gigliotti, Harvey Weinstein ; produced by Edward Zwick, Marc Norman. Burbank, Calif. : Miramax Home Entertainment : Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, [1999].

The Shawshank redemption [videorecording] / Castle Rock Entertainment  ; screenplay by Frank Darabont ; produced by Niki Marvin ; directed by Frank Darabont.Burbank, CA : Distributed by Warner Home Video, [2007].

Six Masses / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.New York : Dover, 1992.

Smiles of a summer night [videorecording] / a film by Ingmar Berman ; director/screenplay, Ingmar Bergman ; producer, Allan Ekelund.[Irvington, N.Y.] : Criterion Collection ; [United States] : Distributed by Home Vision Entertainment, [2004].

The sorcerer’s apprentice / Paul Dukas. And, Espana / Emmanuel Chabrier. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, 1997.

South Sea tales / Jack London ; introduction by Tony Horwitz ; edited, with a preface and notes, by Christopher Gair. New York : Modern Library, 2002.

The stock exchange [videorecording] / written and produced by Terry Fitzpatrick ; producer, Bruce Nash ; Actuality Productions, Inc. for the History Channel ; a presentation of Hearst Entertainment ; A & E Home Video. New York : A&E Television Networks ; Marketed and distributed in the U.S. by New Video, 2005.

The stranger [videorecording] / Metro Goldwyn Mayer ; an Independent Releasing Corp. production ; International Pictures, Inc. presents ; screen play by Anthony Veiller ; adaptation by Victor Trivas and Decla Dunning ; produced by S.P. Eagle ; directed by Orson Welles. [Los Angeles, CA] : MGM Home Entertainment, 2007.

Swan Lake ; and, the Sleeping Beauty : suites from the ballets / Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 1997.

Symphonic dances : op. 64 / Edvard Grieg. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, c2003.

Symphonies, D. 82, D major. Symphonies nos. 1 and 2 in full score / Franz Schubert. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2009.

Symphonies nos. 3, 4 and 5 : from the Breitkopf & Hartel complete works edition / Felix Mendelssohn. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 2007.

Symphonies, no. 6, op. 60, D major. Symphonies nos. 6 and 7 / Antonin Dvorak. New York : Dover, 1994.

Symphony in C / Georges Bizet. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover, 2005.

Symphony in D minor : in full score / by Cesar Franck. New York : Dover, 1987.

Tales and sketches: including Twice-told tales, Mosses from an old Manse, and the snow-image ; A wonder book for girls and boys ; Tanglewood tales for girls and boys, being a second Wonder book / Nathaniel Hawthorne. New York: Literary Classics of the United States: Distributed by Penguin Books, c1982.

The ten faces of innovation : IDEO’s strategies for beating the devil’s advocate & driving creativity throughout your organization / Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman. New York : Currency/Doubleday, c2005.

Tenku no Esukafurone [videorecording] = The vision of Escaflowne / Sunrise ; directed by Kazuki Akane ; original story by Hajime Yadate, Shoji Kawamori ; written by Shoji Kawamori … [et al.]. [Cypress, Calif.] : Bandai Entertainment, [2006].

Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse [videorecording] / ein Fritz Lang Film ; der Nero ; [director, Fritz Lang ; producer, Seymour Nebenzal ; screenplay, Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou]. [United States] : Criterion Collection, c2004.

The theology of Thomas Aquinas / edited by Rik Van Nieuwenhove and Joseph Wawrykow. Notre Dame, Ind. : University of Notre Dame Press, c2005.

Time and eternity : uncollected writings, 1933-1983 / Malcolm Muggeridge ; foreword by Mother Teresa; edited with an introduction by Nicholas Flynn. Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, 2011.

The time of man : a novel / Elizabeth Madox Roberts ; with introductions by Wade Hall and Robert Penn Warren and illustrations by Clare Leighton. Lexington : University Press of Kentucky, c2000.

Top gun [videorecording] / Paramount Pictures ; produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer ; written by Jim Cash & Jack Epps Jr. ; directed by Tony Scott. Hollywood, Calif. : Paramount, 2004, c1986.

Trigun [videorecording] : the complete series / Japanese version produced by Mad House Animation ; English version produced by Geneon Entertainment ; producer, Massao Morosawa ; directed by Satoshi Nishimura. [United States] : FUNimation, [2010].

Twilight sleep / Edith Wharton. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Unbearable weight : feminism, Western culture, and the body / Susan Bordo ; new preface by the author ; new foreword by Leslie Heywood. Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, 2003.

La valse / Maurice Ravel. Mineola, N.Y. : Dover Publications, 1997.

Virology : principles and applications / John B. Carter and Venetia A. Saunders. Chichester, England ; Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, c2007.

Voiceovers : everything you need to know about how to make money with your voice / Terri Apple. Studio City, CA : Michael Wiese Productions, 2011.

Watching with the Simpsons : television, parody, and intertextuality / Jonathan Gray. New York : Routledge, 2006.

Watership Down / Richard Adams. New York : Scribner, 2005, c2000.

The web and the rock / Thomas Wolfe.Baton Rouge : Louisiana State University Press, 1999.

What to expect when you’re expecting / by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel ; foreword by Charles J. Lockwood. New York : Workman Pub., c2008.

Who should be first? : feminists speak out on the 2008 presidential campaign / edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnnetta Betsch Cole. Albany, N.Y. : State University of New York Press, c2010.

William Shakespeare’s As you like it [videorecording] / Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation ; a Paul Czinner production for Inter-Allied Film Producers, Ltd. ; produced and directed by Paul Czinner.Chatsworth, CA : Image Entertainment [distributor, 1999].

The winter of our discontent / John Steinbeck ; introduction and notes by Susan Shillinglaw. New York : Penguin Books, 2008, c1961.

The wonderful, horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl [videorecording] / Kino International ; [presented by] Omega Film, Nomad Films ; written and directed by Ray Muller ; a co-production of Omega Films … [et al. ; produced by Hans-Jurgen Panitz, Jacques de Clercq & Dimitri de Clercq]. New York, NY : Kino on Video, [1998].

World upside down : reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman age / C. Kavin Rowe. New York ; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2010.

The Yemassee : a romance of Carolina / John Caldwell Guilds, editor. Fayetteville : University of Arkansas Press, 1994.

Yojimbo [videorecording] ; Sanjuro / [two samurai films directed by Akira-Kurosawa]. Irvington, N.Y. : The Criterion Collection ; Chatsworth, Calif. : Distributed by Image Entertainment, [2006].

Your creative brain : seven steps to maximize imagination, productivity, and innovation in your life / Shelley Carson. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, c2010.

The following Books (3 items) were received into the Library collection as Gift Donations during April 2011

At home in Mitford / Jan Karon. New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Penguin Books, 1996.

The collected writings of Zelda Fitzgerald / edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli ; with an introduction by Mary Gordon. Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 1997.

A light in the window / Jan Karon. New York : Penguin Books, 1996.


“When you’re used to paper rolls it takes some time to convert to turning pages of a book.”

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“Medieval Helpdesk” sketch from the Øystein og jeg show from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), 2007.

I originally published this post on my now mothballed blog, Voyage of the Paradigm Ship on February 22, 2009. Even two years later, I think it is a relevant commentary as we observe the technological developments of the book form on various electronic platforms.

In this video we see the medieval equivalent of the IT guy making a house call (in true Geek Squad fashion) to help walk a frustrated user through a new piece of technology. The situation is familiar to most people (especially those of us over a certain age), though the time-shift takes us off guard. That’s what makes the sketch so hilarious. Familiarity in an unfamiliar context. As a non-Norwegian-speaking person, I find this “familiarity in the midst of unfamiliarity” dynamic enhanced even further.

I imagine that many people watching this video will, in fact, identify with the described situation while thinking of an analogous modern situation, such as learning to use a computer, a new piece of software, or the latest consumer electronics gadget. But as a librarian, I am interested in the described situation itself. Although the historical time-frame is off slightly, the sketch allows me to imagine the cultural, intellectual, and (even) emotional processing that accompanied the technological transition in the form of the book from roll/scroll to codex.

With the benefit of this perspective, I can extrapolate some of the processing required as we are once again approaching a credible point of transition in book form from paper to electronic (i.e., the so-called e-book). I am not interested in speculating about the imminent demise of the ink on paper book, which I do not see. Rather, and at the risk of over-analyzing a two-and-a-half minute bit of humor, I am interested in thinking about human interaction with and reactions to technology at points of significant technological transition, such as the maturing of the e-book format, which I do think is now well underway.

The “familiarity in the midst of unfamiliarity” dynamic of the sketch allows us the space to see, by analogy, that the form of the book we all take for granted was itself a technological innovation that encountered significant resistance to adoption in the presence of an existing and presumably satisfactory alternative—the book roll. Vocal detractors to the codex as an appropriate form for literary texts were well known in first and second century Roman society.

Brother Ansgar says, “When you’re used to paper rolls it takes some time to convert to turn[ing] pages of a [book].” Familiarity to the point of taking a technology for granted is a key point exposed in the sketch and shouldn’t be missed. Adoption of any technology by a society and individuals within that society becomes complete when that technology effectively disappears as a technology—it becomes ubiquitous. That is why technological developments that disturb ubiquity are frequently met with resistance. After fifteen hundred plus years it’s easy to forget that the printed book as we have it today is still a technology, an invented thing that hasn’t always been.

Notice how this ubiquity is reflected in modern language usage. Here is a definition for the word “codex” from the New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition (2005):

Notice the phrases “in book form” and “hence a book.” The definition is offered from the standpoint of “everyone knows (is familiar with) what a book is, and a codex is like a book in its form.” This definition is not untrue. But this usage reinforces identification with what is ubiquitous, and inadvertently contributes to resistance to change. How can an e-book be a real book? I imagine that a literate person in second century Rome would vigorously reject this dictionary definition. He or she would say that while a codex might be fine for keeping a grocery list, or for children to use to practice their alphabet, it is definitely not a book! “Would you read Virgil’s Aeneid on a grocery list?!” How far off is this, really, from someone today saying, “Would you read Virgil’s Aeneid off a computer screen?!”?

I have gone to persistent pains in this post to talk about the roll/scroll, codex, printed book, and e-book as book forms. I will even throw-in a text inscribed on a clay tablet as an authentic book form. Literate Akkadians or Babylonians certainly thought so as they read the Epic of Gilgamesh! I disagree, however, with the notion that a book is only about content. It does seem significant that a book needs to have a form—needs to be in some sense a discrete object that exists as a container for its associated content. But why can’t that discrete object be a digital file accessible in virtual space at the click of a mouse, or the touch of a screen?

I know there are a raft of conscious and unconscious, social and conventional, personal and emotional associations that build-up over time to authorize a book form as ‘real’ and authentic (e.g., the dictionary definition above). But these associations are learned, as the use of any technology is learned. From the safe distance of several centuries we can laugh at Brother Ansgar for his technological difficulty with something that, to us, is so obvious. But if we laugh we’re really only laughing at ourselves. If a codex can become a ‘real’ book even if at one time it was not deemed to be so, then by analogy an e-book should be able to acquire a similar authorization. It’s just a question of time.

While writing this post I stumbled across an article by John Siracusa on Ars Technica entitled, “The once and future e-book: on reading in the digital age.” Siracusa was involved with efforts in the 1990s to get e-books adopted into the publishing and reading mainstream. Although I disagree with his contention that the book is format agnostic, and only about content, his article is otherwise very illuminating and well-worth a read. I may interact with Siracusa’s article further in a subsequent post because he addresses some of the common technological issues that have hampered the pace of wide-spread e-book adoption (like the Medieval Helpdesk producing their user manual for the codex in codex form! “Oh. We hadn’t thought about that.”).

Coming attractions: Ebook improvements!

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Everyone who works in the Milligan College Library has had the following experience. A student asks for help finding a book, we go over with them to the catalog to search their subject. When scanning the results list, the student finds an item they like. We mention that it is an electronic book. The student sighs and asks if we have a “real” version of the book. By “real” they mean, “Do we have the book in print?” We sigh and try to explain the strong points of an electronic book. But we know in our hearts why students are reluctant to use our collection of electronic books (which now exceeds 73,000 titles–approaching 50% of our entire book collection in all formats!). The interfaces are clunky, require too much clicking, and on-screen readability is poor.

Libraries have been purchasing electronic versions of books for over a decade. While many librarians were aware of user reluctance to use them, libraries continued to buy ebooks because of convenience and other advantages, including attractive pricing. And because libraries continued to purchase ebooks, vendors often felt little pressure to improve their products. NetLibrary, the largest source of ebooks in the Milligan Library collection, has done little to improve their interface in the past 10 years.

The original Kindle ereader from Amazon.com

In 2007 Amazon.com released the Kindle for $399, and the ereader/ebook world as we knew it began to change. This was not the first attempt at an ereader. I remember seeing some Sony products at a library conference over 10 years ago. But they were too expensive, had too few book choices, and were unwieldy. They never caught on. It seems Amazon did their homework and figured out what features people really wanted in an ereader, and the types of books people wanted to read. They had the ability to deliver on both by leveraging their well-developed online book distribution system and massive purchasing power to negotiate Kindle-compatible editions with publishers. Kindles have also continued to drop in price. Amazon just released an ad-supported Kindle for $114, a price that will likely fall to under $100 by Christmas. Amazon has also extended its reach by providing Kindle book reading software applications that work on various computer, smartphone, and tablet devices. I’m not necessarily promoting the Kindle. Its proprietary (closed) file format is especially problematic for use in a library context. But Amazon has probably been the most successful to date in raising the profile of ebooks to the general public by releasing a viable, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive reading device into its hugely popular online marketplace.

Now that an increasing number of library users have experienced the wonders of ereaders, they are even more frustrated by the limitations of ebooks available from academic libraries. They want user-friendly interfaces that work on their ereaders and other mobile devices (e.g., smartphones and tablet computers). In short, they want the “Kindle experience” when accessing ebooks from the library.

That experience may be getting closer to reality. About a year ago, NetLibrary was purchased by EBSCO. You may already be familiar with this company through the use of its popular library-provided EBSCOhost journal databases—ATLAS, CINAHL, Education Research Complete, Humanities International Complete, PsycINFO, and others. When Milligan librarians learned that NetLibrary was purchased by EBSCO we were hopeful that they would work to make the product more attractive for our users.

Last summer EBSCO began surveying all NetLibrary libraries asking for feedback on ways to improve the interface. Based on the questions EBSCO was asking, the library staff was cautiously optimistic that NetLibrary would finally be getting a much-needed makeover in the right way. We were not disappointed. A new NetLibrary interface will be rolled out over the summer utilizing the EBSCOhost database platform. We have seen previews and demos. While not absolutely perfect, the interface is much improved and easier to navigate. There is built-in note taking, dictionary look-up, citation creation and export, and enhanced printing.

Most exciting, we have learned that EBSCO is developing an app for iPhone/iPad and Android mobile devices that will, via a personal Adobe Digital Editions account, enable NetLibrary ebooks to be downloaded (essentially “checked out”) on to your device for a specified period of time! To accompany these changes, EBSCO is retiring the NetLibrary moniker, and is simply calling the service eBooks on EBSCOhost.

Watch this blog for further updates as this story continues to unfold!