Need some easy money?

The Columbia Examiner, an online publication, is looking for instrumentalists to write about events in the Columbia area. You write as you can, and are paid based on the number of page views and comments you get.

They are currently looking for a violin examiner, a cello examiner, a flute examiner, a drumming examiner, and so very many more. To see the full list, click here.

To see examples of Columbia Examiner articles, click here.

Flat Stanley visted us!

For those of you unfamiliar, Flat Stanley is a children's book.

"Stanley Lambchop...is given a bulletin board.... He hangs it on the wall over his bed, but during the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state, and soon he is entering locked rooms by sliding under the door, and playing with his younger brother by being used as a kite. Stanley even helps catch some art museum thieves by posing as a painting on the wall. But one special advantage is that Flat Stanley can now visit his friends by being mailed in an envelope." from wikipedia

Flat Stanley was sent to us by librarian Ashlie Conway's friend Luke who attends Kingston Elementary school in Kingston, TN. Ashlie gets to keep Flat Stanley for a week, show him around Columbia, then mail him back to Luke's classroom Tennessee. For Luke, this exercise will aid with reading by having him read the story. It'll also tie in art by having him make a paper "Flat Stanley." It'll also aid in reading, writing, and geography by reading Stanley's travel journal. But for the employees of the Music Library, having Flat Stanley around for a day was lots of fun!

Flat Stanley really liked the musical instruments we have in the Music Library.
   
(We normally don't let just anyone play on the instruments, but since Stanley is a VIP, we made an exception.)

Ashlie then took Stanley upstairs to see all the books and scores.

They pulled a book from the Educational Resource Center and read it.


Flat Stanley didn't know much about how people listened to music before radio and CDs were invented. Ashlie showed Stanley the Music Library's collection of 78 rpm recordings. She then explained how 78s later became LP or vinyl records. They even played one!
   


But the best thing Stanley did at the USC Music Library was find himself in the PASCAL online catalog:

How do you participate in social media?

Lots USC students that I know are on facebook. I see more and more turning to twitter. Myspace is still around, but seems to be an outgoing trend.

Which types of social media do you participate in? How do you feel about various University services participating in the social media realms? We want to hear from you-
leave your thoughts in the comments section!

While we're on the topic of social media, did you know that Columbia has it's own Social Media Club? The Social Media Club of Columbia meets once a month to provide ways to connect, educate, and build your personal and professional brands using social media. Visit their website at smccolumbia.com.