Musings from Sam Houston's Stomping Grounds

"Musings from Sam Houston's Stomping Grounds" The Special Collections librarians up at Sam Houston State University Newton Gresham Library are casting their pods.  Back in 2006 Paul Culp and Cheryl Spencer started talking into one of those talking machines and called them "Musings."  Somebody plugged them into the internet.  Before long it got to be a habit (a good one) and twice a month they'd find some old historical or news article to read or just recollect (no doubt with a bit of research) history about the University, ol' Sam himself, or other local matters.  They read about 2 to 5 minutes each, but sometimes up to 7 minutes.  Rather interesting listening.  Now there's quite a collection online for you.  Should you prefer reading it quietly to yourself, transcripts are available.  And the entries can be arranged by topical place or person.  And here's a bit of news.  They started putting slide shows together to go with the audio.  Well, a good thing gets noticed and sometimes other librarians get their moment in the sound booth. Two recent entries are self-described as: Harmon L. Lowman - 15 Nov. 2009: Cheryl Spencer reads an article about Dr. Harmon Lowman, one of Sam Houston's most beloved presidents. Dr. Lowman was president of Sam Houston State Teacher's College from 1941 - 1964. Episode originally aired 1 March 2007. (2:30) Read the transcript. Dia de la Muertos - 01 Nov. 2009: Erin Cassidy, Reference Librarian, reads a short essay about Dia de los Muertos (the Days of the Dead), written by Norma Beth Williamson, Spanish pool faculty member in the Department of Foreign Languages. (4:19) New format! See more images while listening! (4:35) Read the transcript. Get audio only. I swear, sometimes a college education sure pays off.  I guess what I like best is that the staff is actually expected to know the contents of their archives a trend to encourage. Check the hotlist at  http://library.shsu.edu/podcasts.archive.php Or peruse the Special Collection Thomason Room at http://library.shsu.edu/about/specialcollections/index.php