The Kansas Book Festival

http://www.kansasbookfestival.ks.gov/

2006 Kansas Book Festival
September 29-30, 2006, Lawrence-Dumont Stadium and Exploration Place, Wichita

The Kansas Book Festival is a statewide event produced in cooperation with state and local organizations that offers programs to inspire, engage and enrich Kansans. By encouraging literacy and providing opportunities to personally experience literature, art, music, and history through recreation and reflection, we strengthen our communities.

More information about this year's Kansas Book Festival:

• Free and open to the public.

• Kansas Notable Authors event – The Black, White and READ All Over Ball is Friday night at Exploration Place in Wichita from 8-11 pm

• Variety of programs for all ages, interests and tastes.

• Friday Kids Special – Adventurers, Inventors and Entrepreneurs

• Readings, discussions, book signings, music, films, poetry slam

In addition, a special screening of the new Truman Capote film Infamous will take place Saturday night! HereÂ’s more information:

• Advanced screening of the new Truman Capote film Infamous

• Special Guest, Director Douglas McGrath

• Hosted by the Kansas Film Commission

• Saturday, September 30th

• Warren Theatre, 1611 E. 13th Street

• VIP Reception 7:00

• Screening 8:00 followed by a Q & A with Director Douglas McGrath

• General Admission Tickets are $15.00 and include popcorn & soft drink

• VIP tickets are $40.00 and include a balcony seat, wine & hors dÂ’oeuvres

• To purchase tickets contact Erin Schroeder at (785) 296-4927 or eschroeder@kansascommerce.com

Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is September 23–30, 2006
This is from the American Library Association:

Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

For the first time, Americans can log onto the Banned Books Week Web site (www.ala.org/bbooks) and vote for their favorite challenged book - from "Captain Underpants" to "Of Mice and Men." Organized by age group, the books all have faced expulsion from U.S. schools and libraries in the last 25 years. Votes will be tallied and announced Monday, October 2.

Google Book Search (http://books.google.com) and MAGPI have collaborated with the ALA to offer a new book search site and a virtual panel discussion with high school students around the country. Starting today, readers can visit http://www.google.com/bannedbooks, a new site created by Google Book Search that lets users explore 42 of the banned or challenged books that appear on the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century. Interested readers can search or see basic information about these books and can then check for them in their local library or buy them online.

Other resources from the ALA:

Why Banned Books Week?

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

The Top 10 List of Most Frequently Challenged Books

History of Banned Books Week

Online Collections of Images

There are a number of Web sites that have collections of images, but here are a few notable examples:

The New York Public Library's Digital Gallery

The New York Public Library's Digital Gallery provides access to over 450,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of the NYPL, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.

The Kansas University Insight Image Collection

The KU Insight Image Collection is now accessible online. Some of the collection is available only to KU faculty, staff, and students. However, images from the following collections are available for everyone to enjoy: Spencer Museum of Art, Kansas City Aerial Photographs, Kansas City Hopewell Collection, Kansas Collection Photographs, and Kansas Wildflowers.

Smithsonian Photography Initiative

The Smithsonian Photography Initiative has launched an electronic portal to a portion of the vast image collections residing in its 18 museums and galleries, nine research centers, and the National Zoo. Its search engine offers access to a cross-section of the work of more than 100 photographers, who used 50 different photographic and image-making processes and technologies.

University of California Calisphere Web site

The University of California launched on August 21 a free website that offers educators, students, and the public access to more than 150,000 images, documents, and other primary source materials from the libraries and museums of the UC campuses and cultural heritage organizations across California. Calisphere'’s primary sources include photographs, documents, newspapers, political cartoons, and other cultural artifacts that reveal the diverse history and culture of the state.

The Web Gallery of Art

The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture from 12th to mid-19th centuries. It was started in 1996 as a topical site of the Renaissance art, originated in the Italian city-states of the 14th century and spread to other countries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Intending to present Renaissance art as comprehensively as possible, the scope of the collection was later extended to show its Medieval roots as well as its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently the periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism were also included.

Online Tutoring Services

www.homeworkkansas.org

HomeworkKansas is an online tutoring service that is primarily for students in grades 4 through 12 but is also used by many freshman and sophomore college students. Adult learners are also welcome to use the service.

Students connect to tutors for one-to-one homework help sessions in an online classroom. The service is free for all Kansas residents with a Kansas Library Card.

The tutors are certified teachers, university professors, graduate school students, students at accredited colleges, and professionals who are experts in their fields. All of the Live Homework Help tutors have received a third party background check and have been certified through the Tutor.com Training Program.

Students can connect to online tutors for free seven days a week, from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The service is available in Spanish Sunday through Thursday, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Help is available in the following subjects:

Math: elementary, algebra I, algebra II, geometry, trigonometry and calculus
Science: elementary, earth science, biology, chemistry, physics
Social Studies: American History, World History, Political Science and more
English: spelling, grammar, book reports, essay writing and more

For more information, visit the HomeworkKansas blog at: http://homeworkkansashelp.blogspot.com/