Students weary of cracking the traditional textbook to get a glimpse of history can now browse the pages of Old News, a family-run publication which offers freshly written stories covering historical events.
The items in this tabloid-style paper may be “old news,” but they are hardly stale, as teachers have testified in recent media coverage. Headlines over the past six years have included “Antony and Cleopatra Make Suicide Pact,” “Lady Jane Grey Queen for Nine Days,” and “Red Coats Slay Five in Boston Massacre.”
Articles, which cover events up through 1930, are written as short stories using factual information. Each item is researched from historical documents and the sources used are listed in each publication.
Each issue of Old News is 12 pages long and is illustrated with contemporary photographs or drawings. The paper is published nine times a year; subscriptions are available for $15 from Old News, 400 Stackstown Road, Marietta, Pa. 17547-9300.
In response to recent changes in intellectual-property rights, the American Library Association has released an updated version of its Intellectual Freedom Manual. Designed for librarians in all fields, the 395-page reference work provides the means for identifying and confronting censorship of written material.
Among the many topics covered in the guide are the current legal issues involved in both public and private libraries, effective correspondence with legislators, and possible strategies for use in blocking a censor. Three new interpretations of the “Library Bill of Rights” are also included, as is an extensive bibliography.
The manual is priced at $31.50 for ala members and $35 for non-members and is available from the ala at 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, Ill. 60606-1719; (800) 545-2433.
A new publication by a group formed to honor Christians who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust looks at the issues involved in the moral education of today’s students.
Schools as Moral Communities seeks to answer the many questions faced by educators. How should they define the morality that they teach? Is it possible to maintain the required separation between church and state? The author, Michael Schulman, offers practical ideas for integrating moral tenets into the curriculum, along with some aimed at the effective training of teachers who can guide students through moral issues without indoctrinating them in a specific ideology.
The book is available for $12.85 from the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers/adl, 823 U.N. Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10017; (212) 885-7770.
--David Field
