Monthly Archive for June, 2008

Tracking Online Usage

Published
by
Barbara
on June 27, 2008
in around the world and tips for research
. 0 Comments

There is plenty of interest in knowing what we’re doing online–what we’re searching, where we’re surfing–by marketers, researchers, educators, and others. Here are some examples of available resources:

Google Trends allows you to compare up to 5 words or phrases to see how often they’ve been searched relative to each other over time, e.g., cats,dogs. Results can be displayed for geographic areas of interest (below are results for the U.S. and France, both 2004-2008). You also can export the data to a .csv file and open it in a spreadsheet application. More information about Google Trends is online.

Google Trends graph example 1

Google Trends graph example 2

Google Trends for Websites shows where a website’s visitors are. The UWW campus website ’s visitors come mostly from Wisconsin and Illinois (no surprises there), but the third most frequent state from which our online visitors come is California.

Alexa.com provides lists of the most-visited websites, globally and for specific countries. If you click on “Site info for” a particular “top” website you can get detailed traffic information such as the countries from which the site’s users are coming, where on the site users go, average page views per user, and the percentage of global users who go to the site.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project is constantly surveying people to learn more about who is online and the types of online activities in which they engage (bill paying, blogging, online shopping, email, file downloading, etc.). A special report on The Internet and The 2008 Election is available online. You can even take one of the Pew surveys, e.g., take the typology quiz to see what category (Inexperienced Experimenter, Connector, etc.) fits your use of information and communication technology.

Art Road Trip, Anyone?

Published
by
Rebecca
on June 26, 2008
in around the world
. 1 Comment

What’s going on?! Here are links to some museums and art collections (plus a few other things) within a short drive of Whitewater.

Bad Blood equals an “ok” read

Published
by
Ronna
on June 25, 2008
in summer reading
. 0 Comments

Bad Blood

Bad Blood
by Linda Fairstein
MCN Fai
McNaughton Collection, 2nd floor

Last time I introduced you to Eve Dallas, a feisty police lieutenant from New York City, circa 2058. Now meet Alexandra (aka Alex) Cooper, Assistant District Attorney in charge of the Sex Crimes Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She works closely with New York City detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace to solve any murders that come their way. In Bad Blood, Alex is prosecuting Brendan Quillian for the strangulation death of his wife, Amanda. Unfortunately, Alex’s case is not very strong, but an explosion in an underground water tunnel leads to an old unsolved crime of which Quillian was also accused, which might bolster her case. Family skeletons and a courtroom shocker are thrown in for good measure. And of course, a possible new love interest for Alex.

Linda Fairstein, former chief prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Sex Crimes Unit, has interesting characters in Alex, Mike, and Mercer, and a neverending source of plotlines in their respective jobs. But, her dialogue is often a bit stilted, and the faint “will they or won’t they” romantic undertone between Alex and Mike doesn’t add much to the series, now nine books long. You might ask why I’ve read all nine, and honestly, I don’t know. Maybe because most of the action where I live shuts down by 6 p.m. and I need something to do.

Come by the University Library and check out Bad Blood. Let me know what you think. In my opinion? A pleasant way to spend an evening, but you won’t have trouble putting it down when it’s time to go to bed.

New Stuff Tuesday - June 24

Published
by
kyle
on June 24, 2008
in new stuff tuesdays
. 0 Comments

The Book of Salsa

The Book of Salsa:
A Chronicle of Urban Music from the
Caribbean to New York City
by César Miguel Rondón
translated by Frances Aparicio with Jackie White
ML3475 .R6613 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor

We’re going to spice things up a little here on New Stuff Tuesday with a little salsa - and I’m not referring to the kind that you eat (although that sounds tasty right now… is it snack time yet?).

One of the more popular paper topics for students is music, as it generally has a major impact on their lives and can provide enough inspiration to write ten pages. We just received an excellent book for those students. César Miguel Rondón, a Venezuelan journalist and media personality, has provided the world with a comprehensive history of salsa music, a prominent aspect of Latin American culture. Thanks to translator Frances Aparicio, professor of Latino Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago, this definitive compilation is finally available in English and at your University Library.

Has your brain been Googled?

Published
by
Barbara
on June 19, 2008
in around the world
. 3 Comments

Is Internet use affecting our brains, and should that should worry us? Read Nicholas Carr’s provocative article “Is Google making us stupid?” in the July/August Atlantic Monthly (also available via the Academic Search Premier database).

Carr suggests that our use of the Internet is affecting the way our brains work. Whereas he used to read entire books, now that he spends time surfing the Internet he finds that his attention wanders after reading only a couple of pages. Carr cites Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University, who suggests that the reading style promoted by the Internet stresses efficiency and immediacy at the expense of our capacity for deep reading, making readers “mere decoders of information.”

“Our ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and without distraction, remains largely disengaged.“

And Carr adds,

“As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought.“

Does the use of the Internet affect our ability to absorb and retain information? After all, why remember anything when you can just look up information again if needed? And is that a concern?

Does Internet use affect the depth of research we do? Do we become accustomed to skimming headings and and scanning short text passages? Is that sufficient to acquire a real understanding of a research topic?

What about the way we think? If we don’t absorb and retain a lot of information in the first place, how do we connect new information with other information and build on it?

In The Open Road, Matt Asay blogged about Carr’s article also. He quotes Carr,

“As we use what the sociologist Daniel Bell has called our “intellectual technologies”–the tools that extend our mental rather than our physical capacities–we inevitably begin to take on the qualities of those technologies.“

Asay then writes,

“ “Excellent!” you say, “Now I’ll be able to retrieve an infinite amount of information, like Google.” Maybe. Or maybe our ability to retain and process information will continue to dwindle. Remember books? Those were the things we read before e-mail, Web browsing, and Twitter came on the scene.

Speaking of Twitter, am I the only one who views it as further evidence of a soundbite culture that struggles even to think beyond 140-character blips?

We really don’t want to think like Google. We don’t want to speak like Twitter. We don’t want to converse like e-mail. And yet we increasingly do, as the Internet reshapes the world in its image.“

It’s something to think about…if we still can, that is.

Read (or skim) more reactions to Carr’s article in his own blog, Rough Type.

You may also be interested in Carr’s 2008 book, The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google. You can read a blog review of it on The Open Road. It’s on order for UWW’s Library, and also available from other UW libraries. UWW students and staff can request it through the free Universal Borrowing service.

New Stuff Tuesday - June 17

Published
by
kyle
on June 17, 2008
in new stuff tuesdays
. 1 Comment

You’re going to be excited this week - we’re featuring not one, but two new electronic resources for the university community to utilize. I know, contain yourself.

First up, we have a fantastic Reference Collection here in the Library. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether a book is useful until you actually look at it yourself. That’s all changed - we now subscribe to Reference Universe. Reference Universe is like one big index of many of the titles right here in our collection. Now you don’t have to guess if the particular book covers your topic. For example, if you search in the Library’s catalog for snowboarding and limit to the Reference Collection, you’ll only find one book. Using Reference Universe, it turns out that there are really TEN titles that have sections on snowboarding. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

Reference Universe

The other new resource that we have to offer is SAGE eReference. Instead of coming to the library, you can browse the entire reference material online! Being reputable sources, you can rest assured that you’re getting quality and up-to-date information from a credible source. Although we currently only have two titles through Sage, we are looking to expand this collection - make sure to use it!

SAGE eReference

Book ‘Rentals’?

Published
by
kyle
on June 13, 2008
in around the world
. 1 Comment

Alright, it’s Friday and I have to share this.

The text reads:

book rental service?

was just thinking. my sister does -alot- of reading, and spends like $1000 a year on just books alone. most of them she reads once then never looks at again. is there any kind of like…video rental store but for books? would make things alot cheaper, plus once one person had read one the next person can get enjoyment from it etc

Now, I may be slightly biased because I am a librarian, but COME ON. Seriously people, I would hope that even non-library users at least KNOW that we exist!

Fortunately, the other users let this person have it in the discussion forum thread.

source: Book Rental Fail from failblog.org

Watch for flooded roads…

Published
by
Barbara
on June 13, 2008
in around the world and info.gov
. 0 Comments

There are maps/news releases online to show where roads are flooded…

Also see the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation’s “Incident Alerts” site which includes a link to a map of the incident sites and links to county web sites with flooding information.

The NOAA National Weather Service Milwaukee/Sullivan station has maps of warnings (see detailed text of warnings by clicking on “Read watches, warnings & advisories” at the right).

Wisconsin Emergency Management has a web site on the current storm situation, with a list of Red Cross shelters, dam conditions, and park closures, and a web page with other flood information for the public (what to do, safety information, etc.).

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!

“Death”-ly fun summer reading

Published
by
Ronna
on June 13, 2008
in summer reading
. 2 Comments

Strangers in Death

Strangers in Death
by J.D. Robb
MCN Rob
McNaughton Collection, 2nd floor

For some fun, “light,” non-mind-expanding summer reading, try a book from what I call the “death series” by J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts. The series starts with Naked in Death, and many, many books later, the latest is Strangers in Death. (Mind you, I got this information from Nora’s website, as I long ago gave up trying to remember which book follows which.) The plot line seldom varies: set in the late 2050’s, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her trusty sidekick, Peabody, solve horrible murders with the help of Eve’s fabulously rich and unbelievably handsome hubby, Roarke. A cast of other regulars, such as the eccentric e-detective McNab, and the wild and colorful singer, Mavis, appear in each book. The plots are similar enough that I can’t keep the books straight, but little thought is required to digest the titles, and Eve is a feisty, take-no-prisoners (pardon the pun) dame. And for the romance-minded among you, there are at least two or three steamy love scenes in each book—this is Nora Roberts, after all.

So stop by the University Library and pick up Born in Death, Innocent in Death, Creation in Death, and/or Strangers in Death, all in the McNaughton Leisure Collection under the call number Rob. You’re guaranteed a good murder mystery, a relaxing time, and you probably won’t learn a blessed thing. Perfect for summer reading.

Tornado season…be prepared

Published
by
Barbara
on June 12, 2008
in around the world and info.gov
. 0 Comments

It’s peak season (May-August) for occasional tornadoes. Be prepared!

Know the difference between a watch and a warning:

tornado imageA Tornado Watch or Severe Weather Watch means a tornado may develop. Be alert and be prepared to take action if the watch becomes a WARNING. (It is not necessary to seek shelter for a severe weather watch.)

A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been spotted in the area. Immediate action may mean the difference between life and death. (It is not necessary to seek shelter for a thunderstorm warning.)

What does the University Library do when there is severe weather?
Our weather radio alerts us when severe weather threatens Walworth, Jefferson, and Rock counties, and we follow procedures in our emergency manual. If there is a tornado warning, and it is heading towards Whitewater, we make an announcement over the public address system directing people to go to the nearest tornado shelter area within the Library (marked with large blue signs). The elevator should not be used, and no one should exit the building until the warning has ended.

If you are interested in knowing more about tornado preparedness, you can search the Library Catalog for tornadoes. A basic explanation of what you need to know about tornadoes is available from the Milwaukee/Sullivan office of the NOAA National Weather Service. The Milwaukee/Sullivan site also lists current watches and warnings (tornadoes, flash floods, severe thunderstorms, and marine warnings) for Wisconsin. The American Red Cross has an online preparedness checklist.

Forces of Nature book coverIf you are explaining tornadoes to young children, the University Library has some materials that may help. Search the Library Catalog for tornado? and juvenile for a list of titles, including the National Geographic book “Forces of nature: the awesome power of volcanoes, earthquakes, and tornadoes” (2nd-floor Curriculum Collection, Oversize Juvenile Nonfiction, Call no: 551.2 Gra) and an online coloring book from the National Weather Service “Billy and Maria learn about tornado safety.”

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!