The Chancellor’s State of the University Address this morning made several mentions of entrepreneurship and the University’s involvement in regional affairs. We’ve taken notice of the increased focus on local economic development and you’ll find quite a few books dealing with small business and innovation when browsing the New Book Island. Here’s a few:
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals (pictured)
HD62.5 .C423 2008
Part of the Entrepreneur’s Guide series from Praeger, focuses on constructing one of the most crucial elements of a successful business venture. The business plan can make or break a proposal, and this book outlines the process for you.
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Managing Information Technology
HD30.2 .R525 2008
Also part of the Praeger series, the author takes on IT for new businesses - what you need to know about IT and the difficulties in dealing with technology and network infrastructure.
The Entrepreneur in Youth: An Untapped Resource for Economic Growth, Social Entrepreneurship and Education
HD60.5.U5 K68 2007
No, this book doesn’t talk about the kids on the street with the lemonade stand. It reports the results of a study of high school students, finding that they have a high entrepreneurial interest but don’t know what to do about it.
Oh, wait, you wouldn’t know what that’s like (unless you’ve traveled to Europe).
Beloit College has released their annual Mindset List, which examines the worldviews of incoming freshmen. Just in case math isn’t your forte, the majority of students beginning college this year were born late 1990 or early 1991. According to the list, these kids have been deprived of the raw umber crayon and Benefit Cereal with psyllium but have always had global positioning systems and been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
The list provides insight into what our new fresh faces have under their thinking caps, but it also might make you feel old - just FYI.
Fat Rights:
Dilemmas of Difference and Personhood
by Anna Kirkland
KF4757.5 .O94 K57 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Civil rights and the struggle for equality have come a long way over the last century. This week’s NST book features one group commonly left out of the discussion for equal rights, but that might be changing.
Kirkland, assistant professor at the University of Michigan, tackles the topic in a bold way, starting with the title (in the preface, she addresses her use of the term ‘fat’ as opposed to ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’ because of their medical and pejorative nature). The book examines whether or not - to use the author’s words - fatness should be added to the list of protected classes like race and gender. Because of this, the book not only looks at the current issue, but also the general case of antidiscrimination laws and movements over the years. The author explores how our society and legal system decide what differences constitute added protection under the law. It’s an eye-opening study which incorporates real-life examples accompanying the text.
Whatever Happened to Thrift?:
Why Americans Don’t Save and What to Do About It
HC110 .S3 W54 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
You hear about it all the time - make sure you’re saving money, make sure you put enough money away for retirement. It turns out that we as a country aren’t doing a very good job about it.
Wilcox, professor at the University of Virginia, actually thinks that we’re downright awful at it. Dr. Wilcox contends that although personal savings may only seem to affect you as an individual, it also has effects on society and the economy. The author takes a hard look at saving habits (of lack thereof) of Americans and their financial literacy, painting a grim picture of the future. Of course, he doesn’t just tell us we have a problem and end it there. Wilcox offers solutions from the top down, starting with government policies and coming down to personal practices. Overall, the book provides real, hard-hitting insight to a real issue.
One of our favorite questions here at the Reference Desk is, “Is it true that there’s a book in the library that will make you go crazy?” Since we’re all pretty sane around here, that would mean that we haven’t seen the book ourselves.
This question is certainly going to come up a lot more in the future thanks a movie currently in development, aptly titled The Witches of Whitewater. The topic is the fascination to those in the surrounding area, and the movie caught the attention of NBC 15 in Madison. They even interviewed our very own Karen Weston, University Archivist, about the town’s paranormal connections.
Whitewater’s “Witches” Subject of Movie Trailer - NBC 15
Just in case you haven’t seen the trailer…
Aggression in the Sports World:
A Social Psychological Perspective
GV706.4 .R867 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
I think that title happens to have some timely appeal. I mean, how many times do you have a bench-clearing brawl (White Sox-Royals game), a coach admitting to violence as a part of the game (Ozzie Guillen, Chicago White Sox) AND an internal dispute gone wrong in the dugout (your very own Brewers), ALL in the matter of a few days? And that’s just the baseball players. I almost forgot about the rivalry between the Cubs and the Brewers rearing its ugly head last week (two Cubs fans charged in beatdown of Brewers fan).
Dr. Russell, professor emeritus and leading scholar in his field, takes on sports and the supposed predisposition to aggression that comes with the territory. Instead of focusing on the players, the author tackles the fans’ issues of rowdy behavior. He examines not only the acts of hostility themselves, but also social influences like peer pressure and violence in the media as motivation to commits acts of aggression. He then delves into riots and panic situations (think of the those crazy Euro soccer fans). The book has TONS of resources for further research and would make a great source for a paper or just interesting reading.
One of the main reasons of citing original authors is to give credit where credit is due. Here’s another one: If you’re going to use a famous quote in public, make sure that you get it right. Instead of being called out for plagiarism, you’ll be up for public humiliation.
Just ask the vandals in Pittsburgh that decided to deface the Carnegie Library with a quote from what they thought was from J. Alfred Prufrock. In reality, they should have attributed T.S. Eliot and his poem, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
I think that Suzanne Thinnes, the library spokesperson, has the best comeback - “They should come into the library and use our services.”
source: Graffiti Vandal Tags Carnegie Library, Gets Quote Wrong, WTAE, Pittsburgh
Thanking the Monkey:
Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals
HV4708 .D39 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
The title of this week’s featured stuff sort of jumped out at me while I was browsing the shelves to find the topic for NST. It’s not everyday that you think about thanking the monkey.
But that’s just what animal rights activist Dawn thinks we should do. Jam-packed with information about every aspect of the animal’s impact on society, the book exposes the reader to all forms of animal cruelty without the sermon-like tone. In addition its light-hearted delivery of serious matters, comics from Bizarro and others make you laugh and think at the same time. As if the information weren’t enough, it also features well-known individuals showing their support for animal rights. In the end, the author allows you to draw your own conclusions, although she does make a pretty convincing case for the vegans and the vegetarians.
And for the Wisconsinites, she does tackle the everyone’s favorite topic - California and their ‘happy cows.’ That’s right - she says they’re not happy.
I hate to sound like a downer, but with all of the news reports about the lackluster economy, it’s hard not to think about the difficult times upon us. On the other hand, Consumerist shared a reader’s comments about seven ways your public library can help you during a bad economy - and it’s not just about summer reading. As a library of a public university, we serve not only the faculty, staff and students of UW-Whitewater, but also community members from Whitewater and the surrounding area.
Of course, we’re not the only library in town. You can also walk about six blocks east of the University Library to the Irvin L. Young Public Library on Center Street.
The Last Lecture:
A Love Story For Your Life
QA76.2 .P38 L3 2008 DVD
Center Video Collection, 1st floor
This week’s featured item came highly recommended from Char… almost a month ago. She said that we had just gotten it in and that I should feature it on the blog. Well, now it is now in my possession after being checked out right away. And instead of writing anything, I’ll let the focus of the video, Professor Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University, speak for himself.
For the background to Pausch’s amazing story, check out the ABC News website. In addition to the video, we also have the book by the same title in the McNaugton Collection - 2nd floor (call number MCN Pau).
