Author Archive for Barbara

Reference Collection check-outs

Published
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Barbara
on November 21, 2009
in around the library
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Titles in the Reference Collection may be checked out for 1 day. They are due by closing time the next day, e.g,. a title checked out at 7:30pm on Thursday would be due by 6pm on Friday. If they are returned late, the fine is $10 per day.

This does not include titles at the Reference Desk, which are restricted to in-library use only.

Instructional staff: If Reference Collection titles are needed for class assignments, please put them on reserve or talk to a Reference librarian about moving them to the Reference Desk for the duration of the assignment.

Good reads: Nat’l Book Awards

Published
by
Barbara
on November 20, 2009
in around the library and around the world
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Looking for some good books to read this weekend, or over the holidays? Check out the National Book Award winners (and the other finalists) for 2009 and earlier years.

The mission of the National Book Foundation is to “celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.”

Photo of UWW mascot browsing booksAlternatively, browse Andersen Library’s 2nd-floor Browsing Books collection for fiction or non-fiction. You can find your favorite authors there, like Robin Cook or Laurell K. Hamilton, or meet some new ones!

Geography Awareness Week

Published
by
Barbara
on November 19, 2009
in around the world and info.gov
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Geography Awareness Week, November 15-21, 2009, is upon us and has the theme of exploring the world through mapping. How are you celebrating?

If nothing else, “test your geography smarts” online with one of these challenges:

Yikes! They even ask about all those islands out there…

CIA world political map imageNeed to brush up (as I do)? Check out CIA World Factbook maps and “World Maps” available through the Oxford Reference Online Premium database. Or, Andersen Library has a number of print atlases and books about mapping–please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

Quasars, Black Holes & Galaxies talk Nov. 20

Published
by
Barbara
on November 18, 2009
in around the world, campus connection and info.gov
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Dr. Marsha Wolf, UW-Madison Astronomy Dept. research scientist, will talk about “Quasars, Black Holes and Galaxies: Which Came First?” (UWW Physics Dept.’s 4th Fall 2009 Whitewater Observatory Public Lecture) on Fri., Nov. 20, 8pm, 141 Upham Hall. Public viewing at the Whitewater Observatory will follow, weather permitting. Also enjoy Upham’s lobby exhibit, “From Earth to the Universe.”

ABSTRACT:  As a result of research using telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope, we know that most galaxies contain a supermassive black hole whose mass is nearly a constant fraction of its galaxy’s mass. Quasars are supermassive black holes (SBHs) consuming matter at a prodigious rate and giving off light & radio waves in proportion to the matter consumed. Most SBHs in nearby galaxies are not quasars, and quasars as a group are quite distant — implying that a SBH’s quasar phase happens early in its galaxy’s life. Some scientists theorize that SBHs, while growing in their quasar phase, control the rate of growth in mass of their galaxies. If true, which came first: the galaxy feeding the SBH, or the supermassive black hole controlling the growth of the host galaxy?

Chasing Hubbles Shadow coverRelated materials are available in Andersen Library! For example, a search of the HALCat library catalog would find titles such as Chasing Hubble’s Shadows (3rd-floor Main Collection, QB500.262 .K36 2006) and Bright galaxies, dark matters (3rd-floor Main Collection, QB857 .R83 1997). Searching the Library’s article databases, such as the Institute of Physics electronic journals, would find articles such as “Co-Evolution of Supermassive Black Hole and Host Galaxy From z ~ 1 TO z = 0” (The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 696, pp. 1051-1062, doi: 10.1088/0004-637X/696/1/1051).

The European Space Agency’s web pages devoted to the Hubble Space Telescope include the page “Black holes, quasars, and active galaxies.” You also can learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope and its accomplishments and images from NASA’s web site.

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

Play the CNN Challenge

Published
by
Barbara
on November 13, 2009
in around the world
. 3 Comments

Do you keep up with news from around the country and the world, or is your head stuck in the Whitewater sand? There’s a lot going on! Take the CNN Challenge and see what you know. Some questions test knowledge of old news (aka history).
CNN Challenge screenshot

Feeling like you need to learn more? There are daily newspapers to read in Andersen Library (see 2nd-floor newspaper rack for current issues), web sites of news organizations, and of course, news on radio and TV. For older topics, Andersen Library has books, videos and government publications that can be found by searching the HALCat library catalog, and articles in newspapers and magazines can be found by searching article databases such as the ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2006).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

Researching dialects?

Published
by
Barbara
on November 12, 2009
in tips for research
. 0 Comments

Where can you find scholarly/peer-reviewed articles on dialects?

Try these article databases:

Coral Reef & Ocean Educational Materials

Published
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Barbara
on November 9, 2009
in around the world and info.gov
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Teachers, student teachers, and others with the desire & opportunity to educate youth groups: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued two discs of resources for educators on coral reefs and and other ocean topics. Both contain lesson plans, videos, posters, and more:

Screenshot from Living Reef movie Contents of the 2008 NOAA Coral Reef Educational Resources CD are described online, with links to play videos and the coral reef song (yup, a theme song for the International Year of the Reef 2008) online. (My personal favorite is “The Living Reef” video.) See the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program web page “Resources for Educators” for more K-12 material. You also can visit the Marine Photobank to see images in its “Coral Degradation and Potential Solutions” photo gallery.

Orphan Orca movie screenshotThe 2009 Year of Science: NOAA Education Sampler DVD includes materials about oceans, coasts, atmosphere, and climate science. Resources provided include movies & animations, facts sheets & data sets, story books, activities & lesson plans, and podcasts for use with grades 3-12. I found the “Arctic Sea Ice Changes” animation sobering, and on a lighter note, I was a sap for the “Orphan Orca: Saving Springer” movie (Who doesn’t love a happy ending, and it’s a true story too!).

Hello Fish coverBoth discs are available from the federal depository collection of CDs & DVDs (ask at the Reference Desk), if you prefer that to using the links from the web pages. Additional related materials are available in Andersen Library. For example, search the HALCat Library catalog for “coral reef?” and limit to the Curriculum Collection to find juvenile titles such as Hello fish! Visiting the coral reef (2nd-floor Curriculum Collection, Oversize Juvenile Nonfiction, 597 Ear).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

Galileo lecture Fri., Nov. 6

Published
by
Barbara
on November 5, 2009
in campus connection
. 0 Comments

Dr. Paul Rybski, UWW Dept. of Physics, will talk about “Galileo’s Hits, His Misses and Why” (3rd fall 2009 Observatory Public Lecture) on Fri., Nov. 6, at 8pm in Upham Hall room 141. A public viewing session at Whitewater Observatory will follow at 9:15 pm, weather permitting.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:  In October 1609, Galileo Galilei began observing astronomical objects. Over the next several years he carefully recorded observations of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Milky Way and the Sun. In so doing, he laid the groundwork for the eventual acceptance  of a Sun-centered solar system. This lecture will cover what observations Galileo attempted, what he found in them and what he missed, either accidentally or because he felt he did not have sufficient evidence to announce a discovery.

Galileo Courtier book coverAndersen Library has materials on Galileo if you are interested in learning more about him. Search HALCat, the Library catalog, to find titles such as Galileo, courtier: The practice of science in the culture of absolutism (3rd-floor Main Collection, QB36.G2 B54 1993).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

Soldiers’, children’s accounts of war

Published
by
Barbara
on November 3, 2009
in campus connection
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UWW will honor Veterans Recognition Week (Nov. 3-11, 2009) with several events.

New York Times image of Things They Wrote OP-ED“Letters Home” on Tues., Nov. 3rd, at 7:30pm (Young Auditorium) is a performance of stories of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. It’s inspired by The New York Times articles, The Things They Wrote.

Mon., Nov. 9, 6-8 pm: Student panel on UWW Veterans’ Firsthand Accounts (location: Involvement Center, University Center).

Wed., Nov. 11, 5 pm: Guest speaker Ben Collins shares his experience as a Green Beret in Afghanistan (location: Summers Auditorium, University Center).

When War Becomes Personal coverThere are also materials in Andersen Library. A search of HALCat, Andersen Library’s catalog, would find titles such as When war becomes personal: Soldiers’ accounts from the Civil War to Iraq (3rd-floor Main Collection, E181 .W565 2008) and Stolen voices: Young people’s war diaries, from World War I to Iraq (2nd-floor Curriculum Collection, Juvenile Non-Fiction, 302.23 Sto).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

American History Videos & the 1918 Influenza

Published
by
Barbara
on October 22, 2009
in online @ the library
. 0 Comments

Through November 15th we have access to Alexander Street Press’s “American History in Video” collection, which contains more than 1500 titles (500 hours) of newsreels and documentaries from such sources as PBS.

Screenshot of Influenza 1918 video Since seasonal and H1N1 flu references are everywhere this fall, of course I searched for something about flu. I was not disappointed.

See the “Influenza 1918” episode of the PBS American Experience series (1998).

Of course, you can search for other topics that interest you. You can search for and view Universal newsreels from particular dates. For example, for October 22nd there are narrated newsreels of the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum in New York City (1959) and the 1964 Presidential candidates Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Baines Johnson. You can find videos on Amelia Earhart and “Two Days in October” that juxtaposes a day (Oct. 17, 1967) in the Vietnam War and a day (Oct. 18, 1967) at a non-violent protest in Madison, WI.

Use it while you can!