The Oxford University Press

Today, after class we met at the Oxford University Press where we saw the very first printing press, the first copies of Alice in Wonderland, a letter from Charles Schulz (creator of Peanuts comics; no relation to me). The museum is an interactive room where you can put your favorite word on the board, build a dictionary definition, use online sources to get more information, and see/hear the history and examples of the large variety of stuff the Press publishes.

The reference library is the happiest room I have ever seen! They had so much color and stuffed animals that I would not have thought it would be a working library like that. I was very impressed with the staff who did not mind the pictures and studiously ignored us while they concentrated on the work they were doing. That takes some REAL focus!

We also got some real English sterotypical weather today, which I must say, IT IS ABOUT TIME!! Grey clouds, light rain, cool winds, and damp cobblestones really let us know we were finally in England!