You Won’t Get Puzzled if You Map it Out

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Nestled in the passageway between McLennan and Redpath, a new arrival is finally bringing cartographers to the table (literally). That’s right, a new puzzle is here! What’s special about this puzzle is that it’s no store-bought piece. This one is custom-made, using a scan taken from the McGill map collection. The puzzle is located at the typical spot, the De-Stress Station, along with the original map it’s based on being shown-off right next to it.

This particular puzzle features a soil map of Australia, completed in 1960 by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Division of Soils. This is the first of what is hoped to be many puzzles made from content in the McGill map collection. If you’re interested, come and take a peek! If the student record is anything to go by, it won’t be long until this puzzle is complete.

While the map collection may not be the most well-known part of the McLennan Library, we still like it. After all, we’d be lost without it.

New Quiet Pods: Thanks PGSS!

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Filling a need, once again, thanks to funding from the PGSS Library Improvement Fund, the Humanities and Social Sciences Library has just received two new “Quiet Pods”.

Students in search of a silent room to hold a private telephone call, web conference or job interview have two new spaces to try in HSSL.

The pods are soundproof. They have power in their shelf, and a light and fan for circulation that turns on as soon as the pod is occupied.

 

The pods were designed and built by Framery, an award-winning office design firm in Finland. The Framery O pod is constructed with sustainably sourced materials. The pods are echo-free and provide a comfortable working environment for one, that includes access to McGill’s wireless network.

Located on the main floor (M1) of the McLennan Library building, adjacent the Recently received – newspapers and journals shelves, the pods are currently available without a booking. Be sure to send us your feedback, once you have tried one.

The Cundill History Prize Exhibition

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Julia Lovell has won the 2019 Cundill History Prize for her book, Maoism: A Global History (The Bodley Head, Knopf).

Each year the Cundill Prize, administered by McGill University and selected by an international jury, recognizes the book the “embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal.” It is the most lucrative prize of its kind, with winners receiving an award of US$75,000 and two runners-up receiving US$10,000.

To highlight the achievements of these authors, the Humanities and Social Sciences Library has put on an exhibition on the main floor of the Redpath Library Building showcasing the eight shortlisted books for this year’s prize:

  • Julia Lovell, Maoism: A Global History (Winner)
  • Mary Fulbrook, Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice (Finalist)
  • Jill Lepore, These Truths: A History of the United States (Finalist)
  • Sunil Amrit, Unruly Waters: How Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Shaped Asia’s History
  • Helen Berry, Orphans of Empire: The Fate of London’s Foundlings
  • David Blight, Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
  • Toby Green, A Fistful of Shells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution
  • Victoria Johnson, American Eden: David Hosack, Botony, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic

Accompanying the exhibition is a display of library copies of this year’s nominees and past finalists that readers can borrow.