Inside the Mind of the Shopper:
The Science of Retailing
By Herb Sorensen
HF5429 .S5937 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Shopping. Even in a recession, it’s sometimes impossible to pass up a good deal. Or when you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach – now that’s a dangerous idea. I always end up with way too much junk food and not enough of the good stuff. Although this week’s featured title doesn’t tackle the question of the eyes being bigger than your stomach and its impact on purchasing habits, it will make you look at your local supermarket in a whole new way.
Sorensen, widely recognized as the foremost retail consultant, offers scientific insights into the shopping experience with the purpose of improving sales for retailers. Using second-by-second analysis of consumer behavior, the author begins by boldly stating that eighty percent of shopper time is wasted. He then goes on to explain this assertion and others, like the influence of store layout on sales, the big box concept that might not always better, and the placement of products. It’s an eye-opening read that make you think the next time you head to the store.
The Monty Hall Problem:
The Remarkable Story of Math’s Most Contentious Brain Teaser
By Jason Rosenhouse
QA95 .R67 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
“What’s behind door number one?” The famous question of Let’s Make a Deal’s Monty Hall has spawned much discussion on strategy, bringing in mathematics, probability, psychology and philosophy into the arena (and made the front page of the New York Times). After you’ve selected the door of your choice and Monty reveals what’s behind the one of the other doors, do you stay with your first choice or do you switch to the other doors? That, my friend, is the Monty Hall Problem.
Rosenhouse, math professor at James Madison University, set out to compile his notes about the problem spawned from the game show and present them in book format. However, he ran into some difficulty when he started researching because the problem attracted the attention of more than just mathematicians. The author therefore has incorporated the aspects of psychology and philosophy that have been studied in relation to the conundrum presented by the prizes behind the doors. Rosenhouse does explain in his preface that while chapters three and four are pretty math-heavy, the rest of the book is relatively easy-to-understand.
Tabloid Valley:
Supermarket News and American Culture
By Paula Morton
PN4888 .T3 M67 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
I’ve always been fascinated and entertained while standing in line at the checkout because I have a chance to catch up with what really matters in our society, like who dressed to impress or who has found themselves unexpectedly expecting. That’s right, the celeb rags have captured my attention and curiosity for the rich and famous people important enough to grace those pages. This week’s featured title talks all about the tabloid industry and the dirt that it has managed to spread throughout time.
Morton, a freelance author, explores the history and culture of Tabloid Valley, the Silicon Valley equivalent for the gossip industry. The six major publications were all headquartered through Palm Beach County, FL, until they were bought up by AMI in 1999. The author examines the industry’s rise to fame and prominence within grocery stores everywhere and how their outlandish headlines and sensationalist stories have infiltrated our culture for all-you-can-handle celebrity news. Written in a similar format to a tabloid, Morton interviewed many of the tabloid insiders and provided the list of sources she used in compiling her story. You will find yourself bouncing back and forth between fact and fiction.
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark:
The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
By Don Thompson
N6490 .T525 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Have you ever wondered how they came up with the price of a work of art? You see it in the news that this painting has gone for a record sum of money, but then you wonder, ‘They paid WHAT?! They must be out of their minds!’ What factors control the demand for art – the creator? the circumstances? the mood of the agent? This week’s featured title can probably provide a few answers for you concerning the mysterious art world.
Thompson, marketing & economics professor at York University, takes you into a world that most people can only dream of experiencing – the contemporary art scene. The author examines the artists that produce the extravagant pieces of art; the agents and auction houses responsible for convincing individuals to pony up the dough for their client’s creative endeavors; and the aforementioned souls forking over the money for the privilege of displaying the art in their personal galleries. It’s a convergence of art, economics and psychology that keeps you entertained with Thompson’s excellent knowledge of the subject matter. Anyone interested in contemporary art, from either the aesthetic or business perspective, should read this book.
Txtng:
The Gr8 Db8
By David Crystal
TK5105.73 .C79 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
It’s those darn kids – you know, the ones with their electronic devices and unlimited text plans and super-fast fingers. They reward skill for speed and accuracy with a $50,000 prize purse at the US National Texting Championship, conveniently sponsored by LG. Yet, with the emphasis on speed, abbreviations and acronyms rule and can leave people not in the know completely lost. Does this shortening of language cause any other effects, such as hindering literacy or promoting laziness? This week’s featured title takes on the great SMS debate.
Crystal, honorary professor at the University of Wales, Bangor, offers his knowledge and expertise in the area of linguistics to tackle the texting phenomenon. He examines the origins of this ‘weird’ form of communications and how/why it’s used. Although most of the media attention is devoted to adolescents’ addictive habits, the author also investigates who texts (hint – it’s not just the kids). Furthermore, Crystal addresses the criticisms of (mainly) adults that predict that texting has contributed to decreased literacy. Included in this book are two handy appendices with definitions to common abbreviations, not only in English, but also in eleven other languages.
Al’ America:
Travels Through America’s Arab and Islamic Roots
By Jonathan Curiel
E169.1 .C853 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
They don’t call the America the “melting pot” for nothing. As the land of opportunity, we have traditionally been a place of refuge from those struggling in their homeland, whether that may have been. Therefore, in wake of all of the turmoil with the “outsiders” and closing the borders, this week’s featured title reminds us about all of the different heritagess that have been woven into this country’s fabric.
Curiel, writer for the San Francisco Chronicle recognized for his reporting of Arab and Muslim culture, takes a trip through the United States and examines the influences that the Arabs have had on our society. Some are to be expected – for instance, words in English with Arabic roots (did you know that giraffe originated from Arabic? I didn’t!). Others are less obvious and/or well-known, such as the Muslim roots in American blues music. The author writes in an easy-going tone, making this a quick and enjoyable read for a sometimes tense and sensitive topic.
Reading Japan Cool:
Patterns of Manga Literacy and Discourse
By John Ingulsrud and Kate Allen
PN6790 .J3 I54 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
When you were younger, did you read comic books? Did your parents give you a hard time for reading ‘books’ with so many illustrations and barely any words? I know that my parents always did (”How can you call it ‘reading’ with all of the pictures?” was the common reaction). If you’re looking for a comeback to that question, look to the west for answers. In Japan, with one of the highest literacy rates in the world, manga, or Japanese comics, proves to be as pervasive as baseball and apple pie here in the states. This week’s featured title looks at the influential medium and its impact on its readers.
Ingulsrud and Allen, faculty members at universities in Tokyo, present their work with literacy in Japan, which grew out of their study of college students and their reading habits. They discovered that manga not only monopolized much of the students’ current literature consumption, but it also formed a major part of their literacy development. The authors researched the genre’s place in the overarching issue of literacy, giving background of its growth in popularity, as well as the motivations for continuing to read manga into adult life. If you’re interested in manga or in teaching, then this book would be a good start.
It’s been a while since I’ve featured an electronic resource for New Stuff Tuesday (you have to go all the way back to 21 October 2008 for the last digital NST). It doesn’t mean that we haven’t gotten anything new for our online collection – on the contrary, we have added a number of e-reference titles and the Gale Literature Criticism Online, among others.
However, Barb mentioned in her post yesterday that the Wisconsin Department of Instruction had added Newspaper Source Plus to BadgerLink, the state’s online electronic library. What she didn’t mention that they added so much more! Apparently, the DPI decided to celebrate BadgerLink’s tenth birthday in style with the massive upgrade of its offerings from EBSCOhost. All of the residents of the state of Wisconsin now have access to TWENTY-EIGHT resources from the vendor. That number includes twelve resources that are either new or upgraded.
- Auto Repair Reference Center
- Book Collection: Nonfiction — Elementary, Middle and High School Editions
- Business Source Premier
- Consumer Health Complete
- Educational Administrative Abstracts
- History Reference Center
- Humanities International Complete
- Literary Reference Center
- Newspaper Source Plus
- NoveList
- NoveList K-8
- Science Reference Center
Make sure to check out the new resources either through BadgerLink or our website!
Fixing Sex:
Intersex, Medical Authority and Lived Experience
By Katrina Karkazis
JK1764 .H56 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Raise your hand if you’re heard of cystic fibrosis. That’s probably most, if not all, of you. Now, raise your hand if you’re heard of intersex (bonus points if you’re heard of disorders of sex development). I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a significantly less number of you know about the latter. But can you guess which is more common? This week’s featured book explains much more about this sensitive, yet virtually unknown, topic.
Karkazis, a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University, takes a look at intersexuality and the current debate regarding its diagnosis and treatment, as well as the societal issue of gender. The author provides a history of how the medical condition(s) have been treated in the past, when it was referred to as hermaphroditism, and the controversy that has surrounded those procedures. Karkazis delves deeper than just the medical dispute and gives it a human face with interviews from intersexed individuals and their parents, as well as physicians. The writer does an excellent job making an accessible and thoughtful volume on this complex and contested issue.
As the King of Pop would say, “It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white.”
The Myth of Digital Democracy
By Matthew Hindman
JK1764 .H56 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
The Internets have revolutionized the way we live our lives. You get your news of the day from CNN.com as opposed to flipping through a newspaper or turning on the television. Instead of making phone calls, you send e-mails. You rely on online product reviews to make purchasing decisions. You blog about your opinions to the world on everything from how you’re feeling at the moment to your political leanings. The electronic series of webs and tubes have given the power to the people, right?
Not so fast there, buddy, says Hindman, political science professor at Arizona State University. The popular belief that the Internet has made politics and the public sphere more accessible given the proliferation of political websites and blogs doesn’t hold up. The author contends that the power has not shifted, that when in reality, it has only strengthened the elite media outlets. He and his colleagues not only looked at the top political and news websites, but also examined link structures and search engine queries to find out just how individuals end up at particular sites. Hindman’s work demonstrates that while the Internet has definitely changed political participation in some ways, the corporate media, the big guys if you will, still control the scene.
