Monday, January 31, 2011

Encyclopedia of Modern China

David Pong, editor in chief
online access from Gale Virtual Reference Library
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The book received a prestigious American Library Association RUSA award as one of ten outstanding reference sources for 2010.

Encyclopedia of Modern China provides critical information on the most populous country and most dynamic trade market in the world: the people, politics, economics, religion, philosophy, traditions, art, and literature of this ancient and enduring civilization is explored from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day.
Given China's increasing role in world affairs, its modern history and culture are of great interest to many, and this work is designed to bring reliable and accessible facts and analysis to students, professionals, and others who study and interact with China and her people.
• Commissioned contributors from colleges and universities in China and around the world provide authoritative content and fresh scholarly analysis
• Scores of tables, charts, graphs, and maps illustrate key points
• A glossary appendix listing transliteration of unique names, terms, and expressions
• A cumulative index, cross references, and lists of related topics
• All articles end with bibliographies and sources for reference and further reading
• A chronology of Chinese history since 1800
• An appendix of primary sources
• Thematic outline of contents
(Excerpt from gale.cengage.com)

為什麼過節 : 中國節日文化之精神

孫秉山 编著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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……與西方的節日相比,中國的傳統節日有兩大特色:一是它發端於中華民族的農耕生活;二是它本身就是中華大文化的具體“展現”。也就是說,中國人過節本身就是“人文化成”的過程。不明白這兩大特色,就難懂中國傳統節日的精神價值與意義……
中國傳統的所有節日,有著一個共同的主旨。也就是說中國傳統的節日,共同追尋著一個深層的終極目的,那就是,這所有的節日都各自在適當的時間、適宜的場合,運用節日中的各項活動,來適時地調節和協調人與人、人與天地萬物的關係;也就是協調著 “天、地、人三才”的關係,以期達到人人和諧的社會與“天人合一”的境界。
……當代的一位儒學大家,唐君毅先生在其所撰《中國之祠廟與節日及其教育意義》一書中,就有這樣的一些分析,他把人生分為三類不同的時間段:
工作日:是人們為了生計,必須努力地去從事某項工作,這項工作必定是有著生活實用的目的和實用的價值。
休息日:是為了恢復體力和精力,以便再繼續從事工作。別無任何目的與價值,這休息日是工作日中不可缺少的一環。
節日:既不是為了生計而從事的具有實用價值的工作,也不是為了恢復體力和精力的休息,那麼這節日中的一切活動又有什麼意義呢?
唐先生說:此種活動或生活,大都是具有藝術性、宗教性、道德性,而有社會教育之意義的,因而都是純精神性的……
(摘錄自書中的“序”)

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations

Edited by Elizabeth Knowles
online access from Oxford Quick Reference
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“When a thing has been said and well said, have no scruple: take it and copy it” – Anatole France
A major new edition [Seventh Edition] of the most authoritative dictionary of quotations available brings you the wit and wisdom of past and present--from the ancients of East and West to the global village of the 21st century. Find that half-remembered line in a browser’s paradise of over 20,000 quotations for all occasions, comprehensively indexed for ready reference. Whether you lean towards the words of Jane Austen: ‘Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure’, or the advice of Paris Hilton: ‘Dress cute wherever you go. Life is too short to blend in’, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations provides the ultimate answer to the questions ‘Who said that? (and when, and why)’.
Drawing on Oxford's unrivalled dictionary research program and unique language monitoring, almost 1,000 new quotations have been added to this seventh edition from over 500 authors, from Mary Wollstonecraft and Sarah Palin to Herman Hesse and William Hazlitt. These include classic quotations from established names for which new evidence of current usage has been found, such as ‘The worth of a soul cannot be told’ (the African writer and former slave Olaudah Equiano) and ‘Work first—love next’ (American writer and feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman), as well as earlier quotations used by well-known literary authors from around the English-speaking world, e.g. the maxim of Confucius for a ruler, ‘If you desire what is good, the people will be good’ (quoted by Thoreau), and the view of the Phrygian Stoic philosopher Epictetus that ‘Not things, but opinions about things, trouble men’ (cited by Laurence Sterne).
(Description from the publisher)

你可以更了不起 : 解構你的心智魔力 (Mind Magic)

約翰羅倫斯・米勒 (John Laurence Miller)
online access from McGraw-Hill Education
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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是什麼讓人變聰明?你能提升你的智能嗎?二十世紀最偉大的思想家之一,瑞士心理學家皮亞傑讓我們對心智運作方式及人類學習方式的理解有了徹底的改變。在早期針對孩童時期認知發展的實證研究中,皮亞傑有了革命性發現,亦即智能和創造力並非天生既定無法改變,和一般符合科學規律的看法正好相反。他發現,人類心智的成長潛能無限,實際上,要培養智能與思考的能力,就像學習其他技能一樣,可以透過良好的訓練和練習,使心智能力更強勁、精練。
想知道你有什麼了不起嗎?本書以大師皮亞傑的心智發展理論為基礎,解構你的心智魔力,幫助你了解自己,以更協調的情緒與智能,開發、儲備在知識經濟時代必備的四大智能類型:適應力、創造力、資訊管理,以及問題解決能力,建立更健康、更聰明、更富足的人生。
(摘錄自商務網上書店)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Developing More Curious Minds

By John Barell
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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… He believes many students have become too passive in their learning, accepting information and "facts" as presented in textbooks, classes, and the media. Drawing on anecdotes from educators and his own life, Barell describes practical strategies to spur students' ability and willingness to pose and answer their own questions. Antarctica expeditions, outer space discoveries, dinosaur fossils, literature, and more help define the importance of developing an inquisitive mind, using such practices as
* Maintaining journals on field trips,
* Using questioning frames and models when reading texts,
* Engaging in critical thinking and problem-based learning, and
* Integrating inquiry into curriculum development and the classroom culture. To become habits of mind, students' daily curiosities must be nurtured and supported. Barell draws a vivid map to guide readers to "an intelligent revolution" in which schools can become places where educators and students imagine and work together to become active citizens in their society.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)



人生之體驗

唐君毅
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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作者不從尋常的學理角度出發,不以邏輯的推理攻城略地般的解說人生問題,而是結合自己人生外在經歷和內在的靈魂煎熬,率性而思而訴諸亦文亦白的文字。因此,本書可謂直指人心,直逼世道,有很強的震撼力。本書亦可謂作者的精神自傳,寫得千回百轉,蛛絲馬跡,須讀者用心一一尋覓。
(摘錄自中國圖書網.台灣)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Climate Change: In Context

Edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner & K. Lee Lerner
online access from Gale Virtual Reference Library
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The book received a prestigious American Library Association RUSA award as one of ten outstanding reference sources for 2009.

Offers coverage of the history, politics, and ethical debates related to climate change, including the impact of climate change on daily life, trade and commerce, travel, and the future of both industrialized and impoverished nations. Provides insights on leading social issues and spurs critical thinking about the impact of environmental issues on daily life and globalization.
(Description from the publisher)



大學之理念 = The Idea of a University

金耀基
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這本書是金耀基對大學的理念,性格及發展的精微論述,並涉及到人文與科學的文化觀的論爭,大學的世界精神,通識教育,以及在世紀之交大學理念與角色的轉換,現代性,全球化與華人教育等問題。
(摘錄自三聯版封面)

什麼是大學?這個問題,我真正認真思考是七十年代中作客劍橋大學時開始的。《大學之理念》在八十、九十年代的台灣曾引起不少回響與共鳴,並且在台灣的大學改革運動的過程中產生了一些影響,其中有幾篇文字還被有些大學指定為通識教育的讀物。
國是一個高度重視教育的國家。從古以來自有一套教育制度。但清末以還,「廢科舉,設學校」,是中國教育制度至為關鍵性的「現代轉向」。北京大學是中國現代型大學之開端,而其制度與精神,實是借鏡西方大學的,所以中國的現代大學是「橫向的移植」,而非「縱向的繼承」。
在今日知識經濟的時代,大學作為發展知識主要的地方,己經成為社會中最重要的一種機體了。大學越變得重要,就越需要對大學之理念與功能作反思。何謂知識?知識是否只是一種或一型?大學又是否只是求真,而與美、善無涉?不誇大地說,大學之發展方向關乎到一個國家的文明之性格。《大學之理念》是我個人對「大學之為大學」的一些看法。當然,在書中處處透顯出我的主觀的價值傾向。
在這個新的牛津版中,我刪去了原台灣版中六篇短文,增加了四篇新的文字,我希望這新版《大學之理念》能繼續引起關心中國的大學前景的人一些思考。
(摘錄自牛津版封面內頁)

Monday, January 3, 2011

The Climate Diet : How You Can Cut Carbon, Cut Costs, and Save the Planet

Jonathan Harrington
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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We live in a world of excess. We consume too much of everything—food, clothes, cars, bricks and mortar. Our bingeing is often so extreme that it threatens our own health and well being. And we are not the only ones who are getting sick.
The Earth—which provides the food, air, water and land that sustains us—is also under severe pressure. Gluttonous consumption of nature's trans-fats—carbon-based fossil fuels, deforestation and unsustainable resource use—is disrupting the global temperature-regulating machine that mother nature has carefully maintained for millions of years. Try as she may to keep from running a fever, the environmental reengineering wrought by six billion people, like a force of nature, is warming our world. At some point, something just has to give. We either take steps to put our personal lifestyles and planetary systems back into balance or we suffer the consequences.
So, what does any unhealthy overweight person do when the doctor tells him or her that they are eating themselves into an early grave? Go on a diet!
The Climate Diet offers an optimistic, easy to understand and engaging message. It has never been easier for families to cut back on their use of fossil fuels and protect the climate all while saving money. By using the familiar language of weight loss, The Climate Diet explains climate change concepts, problems and solutions in ways that anyone can easily understand. Following a five-step climate diet plan, families will be able to count their carbon calories, learn how to reduce them and aim for one of four different levels of achievement: Participant, Bronze, Silver and Gold, each of which can be tailored to fit almost any lifestyle.
This is the must-have guide to the most important diet ever. If we all participate, the greenhouse gas emissions bulge can be beaten, leaving us with a slim healthy planet now and for the future.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

生活簡單就是享受 (Simplify Your Life)

愛琳.詹姆絲 (Elaine St. James)
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<新簡樸運動>宣言:
「大」不見得就好,「多」也不見得就是富有;唯有簡單自在,生活才真正是一種享受!
本書提供讓你身心都「簡單」的妙方:
*住小房子吧!否則你會疲於打掃房子。
* 衣櫥不要太大,大了就想多買衣服。
* 關掉電視機吧!因為它佔掉我們太多時間了。
* 不要電話一響,就反射式地急著接。
* 在家裡度假吧!不要出去人擠人。
* 檢討你的購物習慣,不要為買而買!
* 不要做行事曆的奴隸!
* 少工作,多讓自己享受人生吧!
* 學習如何大笑吧!
* 每個月讓自己獨處一天。
* 一次只做一件事。
* 找個時間看夕陽吧!
* 學習說「不」!
* 散步要比去健身院好。
您是否覺得房子太大了,需花費很多時間去打掃?您是否一回家就守在電視機前,並覺得時間永遠不夠用?您是否覺得衣櫃總是少那麼一件,於是不斷地在買新衣服?您是否被生活搞得頭痛、胸悉、失眠,心裡也愈來愈煩躁?請試試書中100個讓您生活簡單自在的妙法!作者旨在提醒我們:「所謂「擁有幸福的秘密」,只要減少對幸福的需求就可以!
(摘錄自book.douban.com)