The official announcement is Monday, which happens to be Tolkien Reading Day, an annual event to encourage reading the works of Tolkien. Why March 25? That's the day in Tolkien's timeline when the ring was destroyed.

All are welcome to participate in the oral history project whether they be fans of the books or fans of the movies, or both; whether they be elves, hobbits, humans, dwarves, wizards or orcs. Actually, probably not orcs, who were not fans of anything.

Marquette is kind of a pilgrimage site for Tolkien fans. I thought we should collect their voices," says William Fliss, curator of Marquette's Tolkien collection.

Fans are given just three minutes to briefly expound on why they love Tolkien. To help people distill their thoughts, Fliss asks them to answer three questions:

• When did you first encounter the works of J.R.R. Tolkien?
• Why are you a Tolkien fan?
• What has he meant to you?