Billy Collins, Poet Laureate Hief Librarian Pamela Gillespie Done Three Or Four Readings Together
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City College Library of The City University of New York no.65 (n.s.) Fall 2002 Billy Collins, Poet Laureate hief Librarian Pamela Gillespie done three or four readings together. They opened this well-attended April would “close out the night by reading Cevent in the library’s atrium by alternate poems as jazz, imitating a jazz announcing that Billy Collins’ talk tradition–– trading fours.” celebrated National Library Week and Collins next read poems by Poetry Month. As importantly, the poet’s Matthews and himself, noting that “Bill talk constituted the 5th Annual William was out of the box very quickly.” He read Matthews Memorial Reading. (The late “Blues for John Coltrane, Dead at 41,” William Matthews was a widely read and “Poem for Coleman Hawkins, RIP,” poet and beloved faculty member in and “Well, You Needn’t,” all by CCNY’s English Department before his Matthews, followed by his own untimely death in 1997). “Questions about Angels,” “Snow,” and English professor Paul Oppenheimer “Piano Lessons.” introduced Collins noting that it was an He ended with a reading of “Mingus “indirect personal pleasure for me because in Diaspora” from the last book of I have a tremendous respect for Billy Matthews’ poetry. Collins then played a Collins’ poetry.” recording of Matthews reading the same The poet began by saying that he poem years earlier to show how the poem “wished I weren’t giving this lecture, but had evolved over the years before being rather wished Bill Matthews were here.” eraser on a saxophone; no delete button finished––the art of revising. Collins He had agreed to give the talk “to help on a stand-up bass.” called this a “keyhole view of his methods keep his memory alive.” Noting that Bill While “the poet enjoys the of revision.” The recording took place in was “tagged as a jazz poet,” he asked, advantage of an eraser,” the jazz 1992 in Northern Ireland in the Poets’ “What do jazz and poetry have in musician is on a “higher-risk limb of House. Collins had been teaching at UC common?” He noted that the link is that improvisation, but, is he really? The Dublin and Matthews had invited him to both involve lyric expression and jazz musician like the poet does not join Matthews at a night of poetry reading. improvisation. “Poetry attempts to write really know where he is going when he Collins joked that a dog––Charlie––was phrases that are as expressive as begins his solo.” Collins said that they always present during these readings and, improvised jazz.” Collins said, however, both “want to maintain the benefit of “If Charlie got up and left the room while that poetry does not improvise the way that ignorance as long as possible.” This you were reading, it was considered worse jazz does. Poetry revises. “There’s no is the link: exploratory curiosity. It’s than a bad review in the Irish Times.” “like driving at night when you can just In closing, Collins said that see far enough ahead, and no more.” Matthews “took the risk to be wise–to Collins says you hear different (Continued on p. 2) NOV EB O voices when you IS DSPICE R B A A R C read others’ or even U one’s own poetry. S P I I R I O G E When he reads S C I P G I P I L C S Bill’s, he hears E E E L R L U “Horace, Marshall, L M O John Dunne, and C M all the voices that D II made Matthews CC LV CX possible.” Collins and Matthews had 2 Fall 2002 CircumSpice From The DeskCircumSpice Of The Chief Librarian s every student on this campus is Internet Journal of Chemistry, painfully aware, the CUNY PhysChemComm, Theory and Practice Iraq – A New Online ABoard of Trustees established a of Logic Programming, and Evolutionary technology fee of $75 per semester for Ecology Research. Bibliography full-time students and $37.50 per semester for part-time students that went into effect Next, we will be adding CIAO— The position and policies of the for fall 2002. The trustees specified that Columbia International Affairs Online— United States government towards Iraq colleges use the revenue from this fee to the most comprehensive resource for have been front-page headlines for improve computer services for students theory and research in International months. But how much do you know and faculty. Affairs. CIAO began in 1991 and includes about Iraq beyond the information working papers from university research contained in sound bites and news clips? “Computer services” in this digital institutes, occasional papers series, What exactly did President Bush say to age also include access by computer to foundation-funded research projects, and the United Nations? The City College information resources, those materials proceedings from conferences, books, Government Documents Division has a traditionally provided by the library. Well journals, and policy briefs. CIAO also new bibliography of online government before the imposition of this fee, the has teaching materials such as original resources to help answer your questions. library provided access to many full-text case studies written by leading resources on the Web, and a portion of international affairs experts and course You’ll find background information the new tech fee will be used to add more packs of background readings for history about Iraq and links to full-text resources that we haven’t been able to and political science classes. Congressional hearings, information purchase before. about the sanctions, the British Then we will be improving access government’s dossier on the Iraqi regime, First, we will be adding new to other databases that we have been and the text of President Bush’s address electronic periodical titles from the receiving for years: We will convert our to the United Nations. SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and subscriptions to Science Citation Index Academic Resources Coalition) partners, (on CD ROM) and Current Contents Find the bibliography on the CCNY a group founded by the Association of Connect (on the Web) to Web of Science, Library’s Website at: www.ccny.cuny.edu/ Research Libraries. We will be adding providing totally Web-based access library/Divisions/government/iraqbib.html the BioOne package of 56 journals, the under the Web of Knowledge platform. Grace-EllenMcCrann MIT CogNet package of eight journals, [email protected] and the following individual titles: Also, we will drop our current INSPEC CD ROM in favor of Web access that will allow everyone to access this LIBRARY important physics, engineering, and Billy Collins, Poet... (Continued from p. 1) PHONE computer science resource. ✆ NUMBERS tell you a truth.” “He was never guilty of Chief Librarian 650-7271 Comments, suggestions, and moralizing,” and, although a contemporary, Archives 650-7609 feedback regarding the library’s services Matthews “was a complete hero and master Circulation 650-7155 are always welcome and should be to me.” Reference 650-7611-12 addressed to me by calling x7271, sending A reception and book-signing Architecture 650-8768 followed. This event was co-sponsored Music 650-7174 email to [email protected], or by Science/Engineering 650-8246 dropping by NAC 5/333 (Cohen Library). by the Friends of the City College Library, iMedia 650-6708 City’s English Department, and the Simon Pamela Gillespie Slide Library/Architecture 650-8754 H. Rifkind Center for the Humanities and Slide Library/Art 650-7175 the Arts at CCNY. Fall 2002 3 2 iMEDIA COLUMN Faculty may have a need to display (3) In the “File name” box, type a Web pages in a classroom setting. They descriptive name for the page if the may not be in a room equipped with a default name is not adequate. You network connection, and it is risky to can also just number the pages depend on the Internet or remote sites consecutively if you will be being available when needed. presenting multiple pages. The safest and most dependable (4) In the “Save as type” box, select he City College Library will way to display Web pages in a class is to “Web Page, complete” file type. celebrate Black History Month save the Web page, text, and graphics (5) In the “Encoding” box, select Tin 2003 with the only regional prior to the class. The page can be saved “Western European.” showing of The Jazz Age in Paris: 1914- on the faculty member’s laptop or on (6) Click “Save.” This saves all the 1940, a traveling exhibition organized removable media such as a floppy disk files needed to display this page, by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling or CD-Rom. If you are using Microsoft including graphics, frames, and Exhibition Service (SITES). The Explorer, you can save a Web page on style sheets in the original format. exhibition will be on view in the Cohen your computer by following the (7) Disconnect from the Internet, Library Atrium from January 18 through instructions below. click on the files that you have March 16, 2003. saved and check for any problems. The Jazz Age in Paris is a panel (1) On the “File” menu, click (8) Now you are ready to exhibition that examines Europe’s early “Save As.” dependably and quickly present jazz movement, its close relationship to (2) Double-click the folder in Web pages to a class regardless of the development of jazz in the United which you want to save the page. I Internet availability or connection States, and the American artists, writers recommend creating a new folder speed. and musicians who lived in Paris during on the desktop with the name and Jeffrey Clapp the early 1900s.