U of M hosting indigenous librarians

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This article was published 01/08/2015 (3956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Librarians, archivists and indigenous knowledge keepers from around the world are gathering this week at the University of Manitoba for the ninth International Indigenous Librarians Forum to discuss ways of protecting and passing on indigenous knowledge. The forum, founded in New Zealand in 2001, is attracting participants from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Norway.

The Association of Manitoba Book Publishers will be on hand to promote books by its members, given that 20 per cent of Manitoba books in the last five years have been by indigenous authors or about indigenous issues.

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Bestselling thriller The Girl on the Train — often described as “this year’s Gone Girl” — is going through a transformation on its way to the big screen.

Author Paula Hawkins told the Sunday Times that the setting for her story of a mystery glimpsed from a British commuter train is likely to be moved to New York. Tate Taylor (The Help) is slated to direct the film for DreamWorks and Emily Blunt is favoured to get the starring role.

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Retired lawyer Norm Larsen takes readers through 140 years of Manitoba’s most important, fascinating court cases in his self-published Notable Trials From Manitoba’s Legal History.

Larsen, whose legal career included working in Legal Aid and drafting laws for Manitoba Justice, devotes a large portion of the book to sedition trials that followed the Winnipeg General Strike. Other noteworthy cases include Louis Riel and Thomas Scott, and more recent cases of David Milgaard and Thomas Sophonow.

Larsen, who turned 80 this spring, is already working on a follow-up to be called Notable People from Manitoba’s Legal History.

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Poetry doesn’t take a holiday. The long-running poetry open mike series Speaking Crow keeps going in the dog days of summer with an Aug. 4 event at the Millennium Library’s Carol Shields Auditorium. Marika Prokosh is the featured poet, followed by open three-minute slots for all who sign up. The readings run from 7 to 9 p.m.

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The creator of television’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly is getting into print with a feminist steampunk superhero graphic novel.

Joss Whedon announced at this year’s San Diego Comic Con that his next project, called Twist, is coming out from Dark Horse Comics. It’s the story of a “meek chambermaid who is fed to a dark power — but instead of dying, she returns with knowledge, power and rage that she can neither deny nor control.”

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A New York artist has created a room-sized installation featuring 7,473 print volumes containing the full content of Wikipedia as of April 9, 2009.

The project was developed to illustrate the massive amounts of information in the online encyclopedia — so much that it takes 36 volumes to create an index. Artist Michael Mandiberg created the print version of the online encyclopedia using a print-on-demand service that took him until this July to complete the full set.

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Forgetful parents are the main suspects in the loss of about 100,000 books and videos at Canada’s largest public library.

The Toronto Star reported the Toronto Public Library’s records indicate an estimated $2.1 million worth of missing or long-overdue items. High on the list of missing items: books by Robert Munsch, Dr. Seuss and other children’s authors.

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