Brouhahaha!

Guest Article by Paula Guran (paula@writers.com) who produces the Writers on the Net newsletter of the writers.com website.

ROOTS
"brouhaha"

A "brouhaha" is an uproar, a hubbub, a confusion. There's also a connotation of more fuss and noise about a matter than it merits.

One theory of its origins is that the word entered English directly from French sometime during the late nineteenth century. It is said that in sixteenth-century French drama, characters portraying the devil disguised as clergy cried "Brou-ha-ha!" (Rather, one gathers, as evil villains might say, "Mwahahaha!") It may have begun as an "imitative" word describing the sound of a noisy squabble.

Another linguistic theory is that "brouhaha" come from the common Hebrew phrase "barukh habba" -- "blessed be the one who comes" -- used in prayer and to welcome people to weddings and other public ceremonies. The leap from "welcome" to a word meaning "noisy uproar" comes from the sound of a crowd's festive commotion on such an occasion. (In dialectical Italian, "barruccaba" also means "confusion" and it is definitely derived from of "barukh habba.") And, going back to the French theatrical connection, if one considers medieval anti-Semitism (many Christians believed that Jews possessed magical powers gained from making a deal with the devil), the connection of "barukh habba" to a dramatic demonic exclamation makes historic sense.

[words]

Prose Primer

Nancy Kress says that, "The building blocks of effective prose are simpler than you think" in Prose Primer at Writer's Digest online. She mentions several aspects of polishing your prose, aspects that correlate well with the most common mistakes I find when editing: brevity, transitions, variations, accuracy (yes, in fiction!), and using strong, descriptive nouns and verbs to make your writing sparkle and glow. Don't mention just a cat walking. Is it an alleycat, Siamese, tom cat? Does it slink, trot, zip past?

[writing]

Magic & Technology

The two sides of my brain collided when I received an email from Suzanne Axtell about the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (ETech 2007) "Sufficiently Advanced Technology". In her news release, Auxtell noted:

According to Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." But just how advanced is sufficiently advanced? Clarke's Third Law provides the inspiration for the next ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. The 2007 edition of the conference is all about magical innovations and will reveal the sufficiently advanced technology behind them.

I wouldn't know whether to attend for the techiness, which I love, or the magic and inspiration for science fiction writing, which I also love. Wow! A double-header. I guess, for me, attendance would be a no-brainer, huh? For more information, contact Auxtell at (707) 827-7114 or suzanne@oreilly.com. For conference details, visit Etech.

[creativity]

Writely Sign-ups

In case you hadn't heard, C-Net announced Google welcomes Writely sign-ups:

Five months after being bought by Google, the Writely online word-processing application is now open for anyone who wants to sign up and use it. Writely has been closed to all but its existing members since its acquisition by search giant Google in March. But last Thursday, Google allowed anyone to join and make use of the hosted word-processing application. Writely is a hosted word-processing package that enables users to edit and publish documents online.

When I first introduced you to Writely, several commented on the software's potential utility, especially for group projects. If anyone has been using it, please let us know about your experiences.

[writing technology]

Amazon Plogs

I was diddling around in my Amazon account, updating my profile to reflect current activities, when I came upon a newer service -- Plogs:

Your Amazon.com Plog is a personalized web log that appears on your customer home page. Every person's Plog is different (hence the name) and just like a blog, your Plog is sorted in reverse chronological order. Each post also gives you the opportunity to provide feedback to the sender as to whether you liked the post or not. This feedback loop means your Plog becomes even more relevant and interesting over time. Your Plog will appear if you are logged into our web site and is visible only to you.

Authors with at least one book for sale on Amazon.com are eligible to participate in AmazonConnect. To learn more about the program and to sign up, visit www.amazon.com/connect.

More information is available on this help page.

[marketing]

Nature Archives to Open

Nature Publishing Group announced in a recent release that beginning January 2007, archives of the professional journals NPG publishes will be open to the public for issues published prior to January 2003. They explain:

The decision to open the journal archives has been made jointly by NPG and by the societies for whom we publish. Making each journal's older content freely accessible will encourage wider usage. The policy also helps to address the issue of perpetual access to archives of society-owned journals that transfer between publishers.

The NPG is the scientific publishing arm of Macmillan Publishers Ltd. and includes Nature, Nature research journals, Nature Reviews, Nature Clinical Practice journals and NPG academic journals. Another recent venture seems to be ResearchSEA - Asia Research News, but more on that website at a later time.

[research]

PBI: Random Digits

Partly Baked Ideas appeared in columns or newsletters I used to read/write for Mensa groups. I doubt the title originated, although it certainly resonated, with me. It is still applicable. Wonderful one-liners wander through my mind, only to escape into the ether or the Internet nowadays. Take this title for a blog: Random Digits. I just read the words in a report from the Pew Research people about their latest study of bloggers. They selected telephone interviewees by dialing random digits. We blog with out digits (fingers on keyboard). Sometimes our thoughts are random. I guess I sort of think edge-wise as words cross my field of vision, and the logic goes sideways at times. "Random Digits" as a blog title, however, will just slip-slide away, and that makes it a PBI. It goes nowhere. It never gets done.

[creativity]

Urban Dictionary

Urban Dictionary: Define Your World:

August 25, 2006

urban exploration

The act of going places you're not supposed to go. "Urban exploration" acts as an umbrella phrase for other terms like infiltration, draining, buildering and other actions which take place in an urban setting.

[words]

Tears and Fears

As some of you know, I'm recently occupied fitting furniture and household goods from my mother's Ohio home into my cozy California abode. Currently, the challenge is to integrate Mama's seven decades of cookware into my forty. Do I really need two containers of probably defunct baking powder? It takes a few days of having "Mama's box of cocoa" sit on the counter before I can attempt combining it with mine. Sorting silverware is equally difficult. The instinct is to keep Mama's separate, the reality is that no space exists for such a luxury. The forks must all live together in one tray.

And all along, the writer who lives in my mind takes notes. Did you know an adult child, past 60, will wake in the night in fear knowing she's alone and, worse, now the family's eldest? If I ever write fiction about a woman unpacking boxes as I have been, I'll know how some contents can leap out and grab at the throat and heart in an emotional ambush. I'll write in a scene of the unexpected rush of tears, just when the main character thought the crying was over. Yes, "it's all grist for the mill" for writers, but some grist, like love, is tougher than other.

[creativity]

Updated Worst

Victoria Strauss provides an update on the 20 Worst List Updated:

Since the Worst Agencies went live on Absolute Write on March 13 of this year, we've discovered three name changes.

- American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc. is now doing business as Capital Literary Agency. (How do we know? They're using the same URL and mailing address.)

- Finesse Literary Agency is now doing business as Elite Finesse Literary Agency. (How do we know? The owner, Karen Carr, didn't change her name--or her fee-charging M.O.)

- And Sherwood Broome, Inc. is now doing business as Stillwater Literary Agency. (How do we know? Same agent--Mark Black. Different mailing address, but same location: Stillwater County, Montana. Same verbiage on website and publicity materials.)

Sadly, no mention of the infamous Barbara Bauer brouhaha, but just see what they wrote this week, catching up with literary scamsters having their days in court.

[scams]

Writing Websites

Two websites for writers that have come to my attention recently are theNextBigWriter and Writers.com. "What? Only two?" some wag wings. Well, yes, I receive emails promoting all sorts of sites, but don't pass along any unless I've explored it a bit and feel there's something positive to offer you, Dear Reader. For example, last week someone suggested I'd be interested in a new site/service whereon authors and publishers can list their books for free and readers can search and purchase. How is this different from Amazon, B&N, Powells, Abes, etc., I ask?

Writers.com, subtitled Writers on the Net, is actually quite old in web years. The site is a simple, no nonsense design, literally black and white, with classes the mainstay. I haven't taken any, so I can't vouch for their efficacy, but I'm impressed with the group's business-like approach. The site also issues a nice monthly newsletter with useful advice. Watch for a guest post here by the editor coming up soon.

The NextBigWriter site is completely different -- slick, hip, contemporary and very interactive with forums and critique groups, a ranking system for work posted, awards and competitions. It's password protected and costs to be able to post work, and it sports a credit system I hadn't the patience to study. Must be geared more for the younger audience.

[writing websites]

Author Podcasts Struggles

You know how much I admire writers who blog, journal, and otherwise document their processes. The gutsiest one yet has to be Iowa novelist Jean Tennant, who will podcast her struggles to find an agent and publisher starting September 11. Tennant's saga is hopefully billed as "Getting Published" although she will share her journey, no matter the outcome, on The Writing Show. She'll ask listeners for feedback, posting portions of her manuscript, sample query letters, and marketing plan in The Writing Show blog. She says:

If I fail, I'll pull myself up by the bootstraps and try to figure out where my writing is lacking, and use the experience to improve my work. This should be fun. Scary, but fun.

FYI -- Podcasts are audio shows you can listen to on your iPod, standalone MP3 player, or computer. To listen on your computer, you need software like Windows Media Player, iTunes, Winamp, Real Audio, etc. You do not need to own or have access to an iPod to listen, but you can use one if you want to.

[podio writing]

Grammar Check

This may be an oldie, but it's a goodie! GrammarCheck is a free e-mail newsletter created and published by writing professors who teach college-level writing courses to thousands of students and conduct business writing workshops for industrial training. In addition to the newsletter service, the website has a search function, and it allows viewers to submit grammar questions. The newsletters themselves are packed with grammar and punctuation information (sounds like Conjunction Junction!) The professors answer real life questions and tackle Grammar in the Wild issues that plague us daily. They are not without humor, either. [writing]

Media Giants

After writing about Who Owns What recently, I stumbled into PBS' frontline: merchants of cool: media giants | PBS. It features an interactive "map" of media holdings covering News Corp, Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, Sony, AOL Time Warner, Walt Disney, and Viacom. Less extensive, but way more cool than the CJR site.

[media]

Rilly Silly

I like to post some sort of silliness on Saturdays, as you might have noticed. This time the joke's on me, because my draft with the address of the website where you can create your own self-deprecating humor such as this:


disappeared from my Blogger holding tank. I did all that work resizing the screen capture of Writer's Edge being walked all over, and now I can't tell you where it was created. Sob! You could make bullet holes and pull all sorts of pranks. If anyone knows whereof I speak, please comment.

[creativity]

Bargain Books

To hear some authors, it's difficult to believe that anyone wants books. However, Bargain Book News, the remainder, bargain and value book industry's newsletter, has launched Bargain Book Bids, a means of matching buyers who need books with publishers who have too many. "Whether it's 500, 5000 or 50,000 books, Bargain Book Bids can help," explains Larry May, founder of BBB. Bargain Book News has received numerous requests for information on how to liquidate book product from various size publishers and saw this as a viable industry need that should be addressed," he explained. Bargain Book Bids, a natural transition for Bargain Book News, is a way of connecting sellers with buyers during non-trade show times. Bargain Book Bids will help publishers reduce inventory while helping buyers find inventory. From the website, "The term micro publisher is typically synonymous with independent publishers who may have a book or two that they wish to reduce inventory on in order to move on to another project. Small publishers may have anywhere from 10 to 100 titles that they would like to liquidate." Looks like there's help for the self-publishers with 492 copies of their books still sitting around.

[book selling]

National Punctuation Day

Is it too soon to announce National Punctuation Day? Think an ellipsis is when the moon moves in front of the sun?

Celebrate National Punctuation Day
September 24, 2006

Directly from the website come these suggestions for How to Celebrate National Punctuation Day

Sleep late.
Take a long shower or bath.
Go out for coffee and a bagel (or two).
Read a newspaper and circle all of the punctuation errors you find (or think you find but aren't sure) with a red pen.
Take a leisurely stroll, paying close attention to store signs with incorrectly punctuated words.
Stop in those stores to correct the owners.
If the owners are not there, leave notes.
Visit a bookstore and purchase a copy of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style.
Look up all the words you circled.
Congratulate yourself on becoming a better written communicator.
Go home.
Sit down.
Write an error-free letter to a friend.
Take a nap. It has been a long day.

[punctuation]

Podcast Services

A growing cadre of communicators are adopting the podcast as medium of choice, or one of the choices provided to website visitors. I like the convenience of listening to podio while my eyes are busy elsewhere, but it's damned inconvenient when I want to find a reference or take a quotation from the recording. Enter CastingWords - Podcast Transcription. For a fee, this company will provide a written copy of recordings in a variety of formats. You might have found the podcast at Podcast Alley, which bills itself as PodcastAlley.com -- The place to find Podcasts.

[podio]

Windows Books

Not available yet to the general public, but if you're a book publisher (self?), you can sign up for the Windows Live Books Publisher Program. And if you send in 25 books by September 15, they'll send you a snazzy courier bag. Questions?

How does it work? You enroll your books, and we take care of the rest:

We'll scan and index your titles.
Millions of Windows Live Search users will then be able to discover them.
It's easy, and it's free!

I can't help but wonder about that "millions" of users mentioned -- for a service that doesn't even yet exist. Is this akin to vaporware? Notice the program is still listed as "beta".

[book marketing]

Who Owns What?

Who Owns What is part of a larger set of Journalism Tools provided by the online Columbia Journalism Review. If you want to see how tangled media relationships are, click on one of the giants in the left column and behold the varieties of outlets just one group might hold. I used the search facility to follow up the teasers currently running on a local channel about an upcoming switch to "The CW".[media]

Winning Contests

Admittedly writing contests have been on my mind lately as I wrote about reading entries for the Writing Show and on the Gather/Amazon contests. A question often asked on fora and lists concerns the validity and value of writing contests. Writer's Digest offers some guidance to consider before entering. Here's the results of one contest that I know is valid. You judge the worth. The info comes from the July 25th Writer's Digest newsletter update:

Petra Miller's "Saving Grace" beat out more than 2,200 entries to win the Inaugural Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Awards. As the grand-prize winner, Miller won $2,500, a manuscript critique and marketing advice from a Writer's Digest editor, and $100 worth of Writer's Digest Books.

Judges also chose five category winners (Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Mystery/Crime) who received $500, a manuscript critique and marketing advice from a Writer's Digest editor, and $100 worth of Writer's Digest Books.

Read the five first-place entries in their entirety or read the grand-prize winner, "Saving Grace" by Petra Miller. The entry deadline for next year's contest is November 1. See Writers Digest for rules and entry forms. The fee is $12.50 USD, and you can enter online.

[writing contests]

Calling Bluffs

Liz Cohen of the Answers.com Blogwatchers told me to go get myself bluf'd at blufr.com: bruising your ego one bluf at a time, a free, addictive trivia game challenging you to identify statements as true or false with answers apparently provided by Answers.com, although there a page on which you can add a bluf. You're supposed to be able to embed the game or an individual item on your blog, but apparently not within a post. Too bad. You'll have to visit to try it out.

[creativity]

Writers Matter

Poets & Writers may be the nation's largest nonprofit literary organization. Most of you probably know it from the magazine of the same name, and its website. However, the group's purpose is to provide information, advice, and financial support to creative writers. According to
Poets & Writers, Inc. - Endowment Campaign-Writer Matter,

early in their careers, National Book Award winners Philip Levine and E.L. Doctorow; Pulitzer Prize winners Charles Simic, Alice Walker, and John Ashbery; and best-selling author Sue Monk Kidd benefitted from Poets & Writers' support.

P & W has undertaken a fundraising campaign to increase the numbers of writers it helps and the ways it does so. You can support the literary arts by participating.

Amazon Feeds

From the guy who gave us an interesting quotations database, Paul Bausch now offers RSS feeds from Amazon's database. Yummy for that preliminary market research we all must perform before we sit down to write a book, right? Right? Try it out for yourself at onfocus.com | Better Amazon RSS Feeds.

Tara Calishan at Research Buzz says:

There are two ways you can run a search: you can do a enter a keyword, enter a product type, and then enter a results sort (publication date, bestselling, review, price, etc.) You also have the option to use Amazon's "power search" and then choose a sort option.

Once you've filled in the blanks for a feed, the feed generator shows it to you along with several chicklets to subscribe the RSS feed to several popular RSS feed readers. Feeds include a cover image, essential book information (ISBN, publication date, publisher, Amazon price) and description.

[research]

New Yorker Cartoons

Cartoonbank.com allows you to put New Yorker cartoons (the best!) into your publications and presentations. For a stiff fee, unfortunately.

[creativity]

Hyphens

As I read (and read, and read) entries for the contest at The Writing Show, the number of missing hyphens caught my eye. I think newer writers must be afraid of misusing hyphens and just ignore them. Here's a rule-of-thumb for correct usage: it's all in the wrist. No, wait, that's tennis ... golf? It's really mostly in the compound words and ones on their way to becoming one word.

Only hyphenate two adjectives that combine to describe a following noun (not a previous one.) Example: He bought a six-foot ladder.

Also use a hyphen when two or more separated words or word elements modify the same noun: Did he buy a six- or eight-foot ladder? pre- and post-testing.

Other uses for hyphens include to avoid doubling a vowel or tripling a consonant (bell-like), after prefixes ex- and self-, and to clarify pairs of words beginning with re- when one of them has a special meaning (resign and re-sign.)

And, of course, use a hyphen at the end of a line to indicate a division of word syllables. Oh, and for special words like anyone-in-law or the aforementioned thumb rule.

[words]

Signing Books

Recently, I offered writers a free report on book signing. In it, I advise authors not to use a ballpoint pen. One reader wrote to ask:

This may appear to be a stupid question, but if one doesn't use a ball point pen, what DOES one use? I guess I'm not that familiar with different types of pens -- other than marking pens, and ball point pens.

A wide variety of pens exist from the original quills or pens with metal nibs that require a bottle of ink [see illustration] to fountain pens (now a sign of status) to newer "roller ball" (not ballpoint), to fine felt tips, to the latest, "gel". Just in case you're wondering, the ballpoint pen ink contains a lubricant that eventually bleeds into paper and smears, making an oily blotch on a page. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen for more penlightenment.

[writing]

Gather Ye Shorts

According to the The Writer Magazine newsletter:

Gather.com is sponsoring the Gather Short-Form Writing Competition. Entries must be 2,000 to 10,000 words length and must be previously unpublished. Each month, the top three highest-rated stories, as voted upon by Gather members, plus one Editors' Pick will be submitted for publication on Amazon.com through the Amazon Shorts program.

Amazon Shorts was created last summer as a place for published authors to try out their new works. Now, for the first time, Amazon is giving non-published authors the chance to be published alongside them. This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity, and there's no fee to enter!

Group Invite Gather: " The new Gather.com writing contest where unpublished writers compete to sell their short-form work on Amazon.com. Winners will be the 3 entries with the highest number of votes and average rating, along with 1 editors' pick. Enter now! "

I guess I finally have an answer to an old question about whether or not Amazon Shorts only accepted well-known authors' works. All this hoopla over a piece that will sell for only 49 cents!

[writing contest]

Happy Birthday, Dictionary!

Eek! I'm a mouse potato according to Merriam-Webster Online. Nearly 100 new words and senses were added to the 2006 version of the best-selling Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (available this fall.)

Also, according to the Merriam-Webster website, 2006 marks the 200th anniversary of America's first dictionary--Noah Webster's A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. See some of the words that made the list in 1806.

[words]

Cutting the Cards

Back in the dark ages of the early 1970s, I subscribed to several magazines, all of which arrived with a plethora of "tip-ins"--loose advertising cards that scattered over the floor, your lap, the couch. These nuisances so incensed me, that I complained to Lewis Lapham, then publisher of Harper's (I think.) Mr. Lapham personally responded, telling me, in essence, "Get over to it!" He said the cards were here to stay. Decades passed with me grumbling in living room, the library, at the newsstand.

Now, vindication! Philips Electronics is paying Hearst, publisher of Redbook, O At Home, Weekend and House Beautiful, $2 million to eliminate the cards from the September issues. It's part of Philips's marketing promise to make life easier for people. The cards only generate about 12% of subscriptions anyway, although publishers still find them cost effective, according to WSJ.com - Cutting Out The Subscription Cards -- Literally.

[magazines]

Error Buttons

Two websites that could be just for fun, are The Buttonator and the Error Message Generator.

Copyright Fees

Earlier this year, much hoopla was made over proposed increases in the fees charged by the U.S. Copyright Office. See U.S. Copyright Office - Fees Changes--Effective July 1, 2006. Here are the U.S. Copyright Office - Current Fees. Check this info on the advantages of registering copyrights from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr which says:

In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection. Even though registration is not a requirement for protection, the copyright law provides several inducements or advantages to encourage copyright owners to make registration. Among these advantages are the following:

Registration establishes a public record of the copyright claim. Before an infringement suit may be filed in court, registration is necessary for works of U.S. origin. If made before or within 5 years of publication, registration will establish prima facie evidence in court of the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.

If registration is made within 3 months after publication of the work or prior to an infringement of the work, statutory damages and attorney's fees will be available to the copyright owner in court actions. Otherwise, only an award of actual damages and profits is available to the copyright owner.

Registration allows the owner of the copyright to record the registration with the U. S. Customs Service for protection against the importation of infringing copies. For additional information, go to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website at www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import. Click on "Intellectual Property Rights."

Registration may be made at any time within the life of the copyright. Unlike the law before 1978, when a work has been registered in unpublished form, it is not necessary to make another registration when the work becomes published, although the copyright owner may register the published edition, if desired.

If you still have problems understanding these issues, the Writer's Digest publishers recently advised:

The editor of Guide to Literary Agents wants to address your copyright questions in a future issue of the directory. Be as general or specific as you want—issues from your own writing experience are welcome.

For instance, are you uncertain about how to protect your book or story idea? Are you unsure about getting permission to use a quote, lyric or excerpt in your story? Do "fair use" and other legal terms make your brain feel fuzzy?

If so, send your questions to literaryagent@fwpubs.com by October 9, 2006. Please include your name and either an e-mail address or phone number in case the editor needs to follow up.

[copyrights]

Blogs vs. Bookstores

Never thought I'd find anything to quote in Auriana Huffington's blog, but take a look at 500 Blogs versus 500 Bookstores? by Jessica Keener. Similar info about Rose's participation plopped into my email box from Lauren Cerand:

From now until August 15, author M.J. Rose will donate $5 to the winning charity (see poll -- and vote for your personal favorite! -- at www.myspace.com/venusfix) for every blog that links to MJRose.com AND Vidlit.com/Venus in a post.

Please send permalink to venusfix@gmail.com to be counted; every blogger who participates will also be entered in a weekly drawing for a signed, personalized copy of THE VENUS FIX!

M.J. will also pledge an additional $1 for every "Friend Request" that myspace.com/thevenusfix receives until 11:59pm on August 15. Please help us to reach our goal of a $2500 donation by M.J. Rose to the winning organization!

My vote's going to Reading is Fundamental, of course. May the best marketer win!

[book marketing]

Best Sentence

Here's another interesting use for a blog--The Best Sentence of the Day. The author describes it as a cut-up of a dissertation in progress. Each day, I will post my favorite sentence that I have newly scribed. Everything out of context, but suggestive. I hope. And from her other blog, Avant Game:

Key ideas: structure, homology, pattern recognition, performing similarity, pareidolia, reproduction that is not sensory-based, classification and taxonomy

Jane McGonigal of Berkeley, CA, we wish you all the best.

[blogging]

English Mistakes

Common Errors in English is a compendium of mistakes I find constantly in newer writers' works. Better yet, Paul Brians, Professor of English at Washington State University explains the correct usage. He'd like visitors to start at the home page of this website, but I wanted you to have the most helpful reference right at hand. In a series of Q&A about the site, Dr. Brians addresses a controversial issue:

Why do you discuss mainly American usage?
Because I'm an American, my students are mostly American, most English-speaking Web users are Americans, and American English is quickly becoming an international standard. I am slowly reworking the site to take note of American deviations from standard British practice. However, the job is complicated by the fact that Canadians, Australians, and many others often follow patterns somewhere between the two. If the standard usage where you are differs from what is described here, tell me about it; and if I think it's important to do so, I'll note that fact. Meanwhile, just assume that this site is primarily about American English.

He sends you to The President's English if you feel inclined to argue this point; there he states that "My goal is to defend American standard usage from the bullying of non-American critics, and to warn Americans not to be parochial in assuming that everyone speaks like they do. For obvious reasons, careful writers have to pay attention to a relatively small number of differences; but we don't have to let those differences whip us into a frenzy of mutual denunciation."

I have no difficulty reading non-American versions of English (although some flaming misconceptions have resulted, especially with Australian stories). A problem arises when I read the awkward prose of Indian, Pakistani, and Afghan writers for whom English is a secondary form of communication. They take umbrage at suggestions that their writing is usually self-evident as ESL and less than perfectly proper expressions, whether in a British or American style. I'm beginning to wonder if the schools in those countries are using colloquial forms and telling the students it is standard English?

[English]

Search Posters

You can download the three posters depicted in thumbnails below in two sizes from the Google Librarian Center. The one on the bottom concerns Google Book Search. The other two offer tips for constructing a more useful search and how to understand the results the search engine presents.

[research]