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Dear All, Now, I know it is African-American History month, but this situation is getting ridiculous. All week we have had school kids coming into the library attempting to find non-existent inbformation for a "research" (and I use the term loosely) project on Black Inventors. Teachers are handing out sometimes names, sometimes patent #'s, and sometimes mundane, everyday items which were, supposedly, invented by African Americans. For example, the 1800's African-American "inventor" of the horse-shoe. Now horseshoes have been around a lot longer than even America has. An African-American did get a patent for a new design of horseshoe back then, but he did not invent it. These kids are getting the impression that everything we use in daily life was invented by an African American in the 19th century. One very bad site on the web lists such things as the "riding saddle" as having been invented quite recently by an African-American. I don't think so! Others include the fruit press (my German ancestors might want to debate that one; they owned orchards & vineyards, and fruit presses, as far back as the early 1700's. I still like a nice glass of Rhine Wine on occasion.), the dust pan, and the broom. I have two thoughts on this matter. 1) Why pick obscure inventions as a Black History Month assigment?? There are enough truly meaningful contributions, which should be highlighted. 2) Teachers don't realize that just b/c they found a fact somewhere that it means that the same fact can be found in any other authentic, reliable resource. They're supposed to be researching information about these persons' births, lives, and deaths, and all that is available are just lists of names and "alledged" inventions on web sites, and even in books which do not bother to authenticate themselves or provide references of authority. Education is supposed to be about learning about the important things of life. It's not supposed to be about the trivial and mundane, and it's MOST CERTAINLY not supposed to be about tears & frustration, which is what these kids are experiencing. Dawn Sardes Teen Services Librarian Cumberland County Public Library Fayetteville, NC 28305 dmsardes@aol.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), send email to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=