Supreme Court October 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHow does the Supreme Court decide which cases to hear? Where do they make announcements once they have decided?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: From the article “Supreme Court of the United States” in Wikipedia: “A case is brought before the Supreme Court by way of: (1) a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a party to a case that has been decided by one of the United States courts of appeals or the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, or (in extremely rare cases) a case that is pending before a court of appeals but not yet decided, (2) a certified question or proposition of law from one of the United States courts of appeals, (3) a petition for writs of either mandamus, prohibition or habeas corpus (each of which is known as a petition for an extraordinary writ), or (4) a petition for writ of certiorari from a decision of one of the state courts, after all state appeals have been exhausted, involving an issue of Federal constitutional or statutory law.”
and …
“By custom, certiorari is granted on the vote of four of the nine Justices. In most cases, the writ is denied; the Supreme Court normally only considers matters of national or constitutional importance.”
There are also several excellet Supreme Court encyclopedias and reference works that go into more detail in the Reference Department.
At the Supreme Court web site http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ , you can find listings of “certiorari granted” from the “Orders and Journals” links, eventually getting to the “Order List.” The official published versions eventually end up in the “Orders” sections of the United States Reports, in the Law Library or in the Public Documents Department of Perkins/Bostock.
Chinese October 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentWhich cities have the most Chinese people, outside of China? Got any numbers/estimates?
thank you!
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Wikipedia’s article on Overseas Chinese has a population chart by country, not by city. Singapore is sort of both, and they list 3.4 million, which might be the most. Since some of the other southeast Asian nations have high numbers, I assume cities such as Jakarta, Medan, Kuala Lumpur, and Rangoon would be in the running.
In the USA, according to the 2000 Census, the Metro areas (not individual incorporated cities) with the most persons of Chinese ethnicity are New York, San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, and Los Angeles, all in the ballpark of half a million.
You may want to do a literature search in one of the databases the library subscribes to or else contact the Chinese Studies librarian in the library’s International and Area studies Department.
24 Hour Access October 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHey AP,
I was wondering why the library doesn’t have 24 hour access for students in Bostok Library?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Please see the answer in the regular paper suggestion book to 3220C. Basically, for student and collection security reasons we can’t have the library opened when unstaffed and we have to balance the costs of staffing with the minimal use that it would get at 4, 5, or 6 in the morning. If we can get staff, we’re considering an extension of the hours until 4:00 AM, and it’s already open 24 hours during finals.
Since it might be a while before it gets posted to the web, here it 3220C and answer:
Q: Why does a top-5 university have a library that is not open 24 hours?
A: We try to base our service hours balancing demand and staffing costs, and we do keep some study areas open all night (e.g., Gothic and Deryl Hart Reading Rooms). Looking at the hours of other libraries, Princeton’s main library closes at 11:45, Yale’s at midnight, Stanford’s at midnight, and Harvard at 11:00, so I think they’ve come to similar conclusions about 24-hour service. In fact, we’re open more.
Need more e-Print stations in Bostock October 31, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHello Answer Person,
It is very, very frustrating that there only appears to be one e-Print station in Bostock. Would it be so difficult to introduce 2 or 3 more, in the spirit of the comp lab in old Perkins?
Also, you could use some posters on the walls (really ugly right now), a new carpet (also hideous), and some recycling bins by the xerox machines. Other than that Bostock is OK.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I’m probably as confused as you. There are two separate e-print networks.
We always had zero “OIT” e-print stations in Perkins and/or Bostock until just now, when one was installed. The several “Library” e-print stations are there as always. Most printing demand in the library is generated from the hard-wired computers here in the library and 10+ page print jobs go to those printers. The OIT e-print stations receive print jobs from any OIT cluster, from dorm rooms, and from wireless networks on campus (including wireless laptops in Perkins/Bostock), but not from the hard-wired library computers. One of those was just installed in the library.
Current inventory:
Library e-print system: 2 printers in Reference; 1 in basement lab.
OIT e-print system: 1 printer ner Bostock front door (plus in OIT labs around campus).
Color e-print station: 1 printer in Perkins Reference; hooked in to both systems — prints from hard-wired library computers and from OIT clusters, but not yet from dorms or wireless since they don’t have it set up yet to download and install the drivers yourself.
We realize there’s a demand for more OIT e-print stations in the library and to unify the two systems to increase convenience and reduce confusion. It’s apparently not as easy as you’d think to do this (technically or bureaucratically) but your concerns have been passed on (you’re hardly the first one to ask!).
Decorating the walls will slowly occur, so please be patient. We all know there’s a need for vastly increased recycling capacity, and this need should eventually be addressed (don’t hold your breath). The carpet is a matter of personal taste (of the architects and the various committees that approved it), so don’t expect any changes there. I don’t think it’s as controversial as the carpet in the Bryan Center or in the Duke South clinic.
Backpacks October 27, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentMy backpack has waist and chest straps to help with heavy loads. What is the appropriate manner in which to use these straps? Should some be tighter and others loose? How tight should the backpack be against my back? Thanks.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: I think you just want it to feel comfortable, and that’s very subjective. All straps should be tight enough to provide extra support when heavy and keep it from having a life of its own when you bend over, but be careful not to cut off your circulation!
Acorns October 27, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentPeople eat walnuts, pecans, and other nuts grown on trees. Why don’t we eat acorns?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: They require some preparation, but many native peoples ate oak acorns. The process includes cracking, peeling, grinding into a meal, leaching out the tannin (bitter tasting substance in oaks) in hot water, and drying if you’re going to do more grinding or not use it immediately. The flour or meal is used for a porridge or in baking.
The bitter tannin doesn’t seem to bother squirrels, bears, or hogs.
You can do a Google search for words like
http://siouxme.com/acorn.html
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/clay79.html
http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/recipe.php?recipeid=11
http://www.kumeyaay.com/history/article_detail.html?id=58
crowell October 27, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , 2commentsHow do you pronounce the name Crowell? I think I lived in that quad. Yep, still do. Thank ye
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: When you hurt yourself, you say Ow!
A female pig is a sow.
It’s usually rhymed with those words, and that’s how I pronounce it.
In the South, this surname is often pronouced like “crawl,” but Mr. Crowell was a Yale graduate from the North and so probably pronounced his name as I mentioned above. He died in 1931, so we can’t be sure. Please see the biographical sketch at the University Archives website: http://www.lib.duke.edu/archives/history/presidents.htm#Crowell
Dear/Deer October 26, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIn a previous post, I believe I used “dear” when I meant to use “deer”. I am sorry for the mistake. Is it possible to correct?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If you’re the “deer in the headlights” person, then you really did spell “deer” correctly. There’s no way for you to update a submission that you previously made to the Online Suggestion Book, although I could have cleaned it up for you. Even if you had spelled it wrong, I’m confident there would have been little chance that I would have interpreted it as meaning that a car was about to make roadkill out of your sweetheart.
I suspect from these to questions that you may worry too much, and probably for no reason! I’m sure things will be OK.
Frozen like a deer in headlights October 26, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentIn class the other day, I was called on to answer a question that I did not expect to be asked. The question was an abrupt switch from what we had been talking about, and I expected to speak about the former topic of discussion. I was so surprised that I became frozen, almost like a deer in headlights. Rather then speak, I fumbled through my notes until the teacher called on someone else. The impression I gave was that I was either a) not participating or b) not understanding.
But the truth is I did understand the reading and I had an incisive comment to make. I contend that the surprise, and then subsequent panic as I though how foolish I must look, prevented me from speaking. What should I do? Is it inappropriate to email or speak with the professor and apologize. The class is a large discussion, and I don’t get an opportunity to speak often, does that change how I should react? Thanks.
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If you have a lot of other opportunities to “prove yourself” in the class (exams, papers, homework assignments), then I would drop it and focus on these other methods. Is the class small enough so that the instructor would recognize your name? Does class participation count? If so, you need to relax and be prepared for another such eventuality, and, better yet, assertively volunteer incisive comments in the future. Only if you think this will be a major factor on how the professor remembers you should you think about a very simple apology that your mind was wandering, but you don’t want to sound like you’re making excuses or over-apologize.
Sorry if this reply is too delayed to help you, but hopefully it will be useful in the future.
Gender Language October 26, 2005
Posted by Library Answer Person in : Uncategorized , add a commentHow many and which languages associate gender with nouns? Historically, how did a particular gender come to be associated with a particular noun?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Hundreds, perhaps thousands. More broadly, these can be called noun classes, and many languages have more than just “masculine” and “feminine.” Those designations, as you suggest, can seem rather arbitrary. Since the languages developed over many millenia, it’s got to be lost to history why one noun is classed this way or that.
For a free online introduction, I recommend the article on “grammatical gender” at http://en.wikipedia.com . It includes long listings of languages with and without grammatical gender, with the disclaimer, “This is an incomplete list, which can or may never satisfy any subjective standard for completeness.” Some languages are gouped in the list (”most Slavic languages”) or only discussed in the essays. It also includes fictional languages, such as Klingon! There’s a nice bibliography, too, if you don’t trust Wikipedia.
