Secret study spots, sun-lit nooks, silence in the stacks – we miss it all. Most of all, we miss seeing our users. So we created some library-themed and campus Zoom backgrounds to help the community feel connected while working remotely …
Yearly Archives: 2020
Dress the Part! The Costumes of Conundrum Suppers
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Protestant Churches would often host fundraising events called Conundrum Suppers. At these events, guests would order from menus entirely composed of riddles! Yet riddling menus were not the only entertainment. Performances and …
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Portrait of Dinah Lauterman
A French version follows. Une version française suit. By Jane O’Brien Davis, Museum Database Assistant, McGill Visual Arts Collection What’s in a name? The Blackader-Lauterman Library of Art and Architecture is named after two people: Gordon Home Blackader and Dinah Lauterman. …
The Biblical Business of Riddling Repas
In many ways, the history of the riddle is the history of the Bible.[1] Riddles are scattered throughout both the Old and New Testaments, present in some of the most well-known stories, such as the riddle Samson told at his …
Comical Conundrums: What’s So Funny?
Have you ever ordered food, just to be greeted with a dish of roaring laughter? At the fin de siècle of the 20th century, guests would gather at events called Conundrum Suppers, in which diners would order from menus written …
Let’s feast! Modern takes on rare recipes
Today’s Library staff cooking challenge illustrated just one of the myriad creative ways that Library collections can be brought to life! McGill’s Rare Books and Special Collections is home to around 3,000 cookbooks dating from the early 19th through to the …
Call Me By My Name: The Nomenclature of Riddling Dinners
When we first discovered Conundrum Suppers – events in which guests order from menus written entirely in riddles – the name seemed oddly fitting. It described a meal served forth as unsolved puzzles. Funnily enough, it is because of the …
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~11,300 LibQUAL+ survey responses have helped McGill Library continuously improve since 2003
Over the past two decades, McGill Library has administered the LibQUAL+ survey on a quasi-annual basis to assess satisfaction with collections, services, and spaces. After survey results are analyzed, we act to make needed improvements. Increasing the number of our …
What difference will you make? McGill24 2020
McGill24, the University’s fifth annual day of giving is almost here! On Wednesday, March 11, donations will be made around the world with the aim of impacting the current and future McGill community. If we all come together for a …
Festive Fundraising with Conundrum Suppers
“All who attend will be assured of having a good social time, an excellent supper, and of becoming acquainted with the wonders and mysteries of a ‘Conundrum Supper’.”[1] Eager participants in Conundrum Socials, fashionable dining entertainments of late 19th and …
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