April Fool's Day

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, one day of the year dedicated to celebrating the practical joke. While the actual origins of April Fool's Day are unknown, each spring both individuals and businesses enjoy trying to trick their friends and co-workers.

In a recent article, Fast Company magazine ranked the April Fool's pranks that were also successful marketing campaigns:

• In 1996, Taco Bell's announcement they would be buying the Liberty Bell and renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell.
• Burger King's introduction of the "Left-Handed Whopper," promising better eating for left-handed Americans as the condiments would only leak out of the right side.
• the infamous YouTube prank which sent clicks on any featured video to the Rick Astley classic "Never Gonna Give you Up."

Google has become infamous for its annual April Fool's Day pranks - my favorite is one for 2007 which promised free printing with the new Gmail Paper feature.

Origins of April Fool's Day:

Snopes.com

Wikipedia

National Geographic Magazine

Huffington Post

Top pranks ranked and rated:

Museum of Hoaxes

Wired Magazine

Google hoaxes

About.com

Library Hours - Spring Break

The library hours for March 2009 Spring Break are:

Women's History Month

Please join the Sullivan Library and Learning Resource Center in celebrating Women’s History Month during the month of March. In addition to a book display and a bibliography that you can see in the library, here are some websites that tell about the achievements of women.

Alice Ramsey (first woman to drive across the United States)

Amelia Earhart Papers

American Women in the Arts

Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Global Library of Women’s Medicine

National Women’s History Project

Notable Americans-Women (click on the subject area to see information on notable women)

Voices of Women Oral History Project

Women in the Workforce from the American Revolution through the Industrial Revolution

Women’s History Guide-Library of Congress

Women’s History Month-Library of Congress