Annotated Bibliography Assignment

By Gabe Cabello, Emigrants Project Team

1. Eder, Richard. Exploring a Present That Is Invaded by the Past.New York Times. New York, N.Y.:May 22, 2000. p.E.8. ProQuest. UCSB Library. Feb 2008.

This article by Richard Eder is a review of W.G. Sebald’s first novel, Vertigo. While it doe not directly review The Emigrants, it analyses many story techniques that Sebald uses. For instance, Eder explores Sebald’s use of time, and how it is related to the context of his stories. He suggests that Sebald’s use of time illustrates its control over us. Time is everywhere throughout his novels, it dictates both the future and the present; most importantly it has no boundaries. As he explains, “The present that he explores is invaded, governed, sullied and eroded by the past. In a modern Europe Mr. Sebald has created a common market or free trade zone between memory and the senses, between then and now, between what we think or do and what the past has thought and done”.

Eder also tries to understand the connection between Sebald and his characters—specifically his narrator. He argues that the connection between Sebald and his characters is more geological rather than personal. While Sebald doesn’t share the personal experiences that his characters go through, he does have a geological connection with them. Therefore, Sebald has created these characters based on geological triggers. He has either imagined them, or formulated them based on history and geology. Lastly, Eder argues that the photographs Sebald uses throughout his novels are not necessarily personal signifiers. Instead they are suggestions of the uncertainty present throughout his novels. In essence, they aren’t non-fictional markers, and instead are symbols of the geographical and historical connections between Sebald and his characters.

2. 

Helft, Miguel. With Simple New Tools on Web, Amateurs Reshape Mapmaking. New York Times.  (Late Edition (east Coast)). New York, N.Y.:Jul 27, 2007. ProQuest. UCSB Library. Feb 2008.

With Simple New Tools on Web, Amateurs Reshape Mapmaking, is written by Miguel Helft. The article describes the boom in online geographical maps and the power it is giving to everyday people. As Helft explains, with programs like Google Earth, “millions of people are trying their hand at cartography, drawing on digital maps and annotating them with text, images, sound and videos”. Throughout the article he highlights the benefits of geographical programs created by companies like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo. He ultimately concludes that these programs will eventually create a richer and more detailed map of the world. Not only will these maps serve as resources for users, they will also serve as advertising resources for businesses and services.

Heft goes on to explain that these maps range from “the useful to the fanciful and from the simple to the elaborate”. While people cannot always depend on the accuracy on maps created by users, they can be useful resources because they are usually more detailed depictions of maps. One user for instance, created a map to track graffiti sites and encouraged people to contribute to it. While online map resources were originally used for directions, these new 2-D and 3-D maps are innovating cartography. Most importantly, maps now available to the public are enabling the most novice computer users to do what only professional mapmakers could do before.

3. Kitchen, Judith. Biographical Essay: Winfried Georg Sebald. British Writers, Supplement VIII. Jay Parini, Ed. Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. Literature Resource Center. UCSB Library. Feb 2008.

This is a biographical essay written by Judith Kitchen. The Essay covers all of Sebald’s works including Vertigo, The Emigrants, The Rings of Saturn, and Austerlitz. While the essay thoroughly summarizes Sebald’s life and his novels, it also analyzes his unique writing style, often referred to as “The Sebald Zone”. Kitchen references a New York Times article by W. S. Di Piero, in which Piero describes reading Vertigo and finding a photograph that triggered the memory of an experience he had in Italy. Piero explains that the picture, which was photo of a pillar, was eerily similar to a postcard he looked at an Italian town called Limone sul Garda, This strange coincidence is the essence of “The Sebald Zone”, both Kitchen and Piero explain. The connection of two separate accounts based on historical and geological dimensions.

Ktchen goes on to explain that chronology fueled Sebald’s imagination, and that a specific place can hold multiple layers of events. The narrator’s travels throughout Sebald’s works and experiences coincidences like Piero’s that seem familiar, yet distant. Kitchen explains that all of his novels share this theme. In addition to this, Sebald’s own experiences often seem to get blurred with the experiences of his characters and narrator. This therefore causes an illusion between fiction and memoir. Kitchen ultimately concludes that his style creates stories that blur time, identity and space.

4. Mossberg, Walter S. Google Earth Thrills With Photos, Stunts, But How Practical Is It? Wall Street Journal.  (Eastern Edition). New York, N.Y.:Jul 7, 2005. ProQuest. UCSB Library. Feb 20

A review by Walter S. Mossberg, this article weighs the positives and negatives of Google Earth to find out how practical the software program actually is. Mossberg ultimately concludes that the program is convenient to have on your PC despite its issues. As he explains, it is good to be skeptical about claims of the “hype- driven technology industry”, but the Google Earth program simply wows you. He describes how fluid the program is and compares its fluidity to a Hollywood stunt. He goes on to add that the program basically lets you view satellite and aerial photos of any place n the world—although some places are blurred for legal and security purposes. Despite the programs depth though, Mossberg concludes that the program is not too practical for mapping directions, because signs and stops are not always clear. The program is fun and exciting, but is not the most practical for everyday use.

Mossburg also discusses future improvements that can be made to the program, such as better front and side views of buildings. While Google Earth does offer some 3-D images of popular buildings, it is mostly limited to aerial views. He points out that Microsoft’s product called Virtual Earth will try to cover these problems, and Google plans to eliminate them as well in future releases. The article covers many key issues of Goggle Earth and ultimately encourages people to use it.

5. VideoCap Inc., “Easy Video Capture”. http://www.video-capture.info/index.htm

2003. Feb 2008.

Easy Video Capture is a program that allows users to create video of their real-time PC screen activities. The program is published by VideoCap Inc., a company based out of Huadou, China. It essentially serves as a more efficient alternative to recording your screen activities with a hand-held video camera. Easy Video Capture is one of many software programs often called VideoCasts, Screen Casts, or Vcasts. Their main purpose it to create video tutorials or supplemental videos for presentations. While Easy Video Capture is one of many screen casting programs, the VideoCap team has created it to provide the basic screen casting capabilities without many supplemental and often confusing features.