Monthly Archive for August, 2008

Witches of Whitewater

Published
by
kyle
on August 8, 2008
in around the library, around the world and campus connection
. 7 Comments

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…

YouTube Preview Image

Olympic fever?

Published
by
Barbara
on August 8, 2008
in around the world
. 0 Comments

Yes, it’s time for the summer Olympics, being held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, on August 8-24, starting with the opening ceremony (on television Friday evening).

swimmer clip artfencing clip artVisit the International Olympic Committee’s official web site, which lists the summer events and provides details about the medals and other trappings of the games, the history and goals of the Olympic Movement, and information about athletes and future Olympic sites.

Visit the official site of the 2008 Beijing Olympics for the 2008 competition schedule.

You can read more about the Olympics in Library resources.

For example, do a subject keyword search in the Library Catalog for olympics and find titles such as Olympic turnaround: how the Olympic Games stepped back from the brink of extinction to become the world’s best known brand (3rd-Floor Main Collection, GV721.5 .P34 2006) and A picture history of the Olympics (3rd-Floor Main Oversize, GV721.5 .C63 1972). You can also find materials on specific events, such as fencing. Or, search for articles on the 2008 Olympics in databases such as ProQuest Newspapers (a possible search is olympics and beijing).

Roswell revisited

Published
by
Barbara
on August 7, 2008
in around the library and info.gov
. 0 Comments

Recently one of my iGoogle science gadgets alerted me to an interview with Apollo astronaut Edgar Mitchell in which he says he believes there really was an alien spacecraft that crashed at Roswell, NM, in July 1947. Now, I hadn’t thought about that for a long time, probably not since the last time I saw X-Files on TV. I suppose this is timely, since the X-Files movie was recently released.

NYT article on Roswell July 9, 1947The Roswell incident has been debated for years: Was it just a weather balloon as was initially reported? Was it a top secret research device? Or was a UFO crash covered up by our government, and kept so secret that nobody knows the truth anymore, not even our President? Were previous Presidents unable to get to the bottom of it? (oooh, cue spooky music here)

Roswell final report coverAs late as the 1990’s the government launched an investigation, and issued a report based on exhaustive Air Force research, The Roswell report: case closed (2nd-floor U.S. Federal Documents Collection, D 301.2:R 73).

A search of the Library Catalog would find a few more materials on this fascinating incident in our history, such as UFO crash at Roswell: the genesis of a modern myth (3rd-floor Main Collection, TL789.5.N6 S25 1997), and on UFOs in general, UFO photosuch as Hidden truth, forbidden knowledge: it is time for you to know (3rd-floor Main Collection, BF2050 .G74 2006).

You can search for New York Times articles from the time of the Roswell incident, or from the time that the incident was being investigated, using the Proquest Historical Newspapers database.

martian clip artThe National Archives has had so many requests for materials related to Roswell and UFOs that it actually has a web page explaining what records and documents exist, and what does not, e.g., “Periodically, it is erroneously stated that the remains of extraterrestrial visitors are or have been stored at Wright-Patterson AFB. There are not now nor ever have been, any extraterrestrial visitors or equipment on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.” Well, there you have it. If you decide to research this topic, don’t go looking for the aliens’ remains.

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!

Deja vu all over again

Published
by
Carol
on August 6, 2008
in summer reading
. 0 Comments

It’s summer and that means baseball season is in full swing. If you like baseball, chances are you like Yogi Berra, too. The witty former Yankee player, manager, and Hall of Famer sure has a way with words. He’s coined phrases like it ain’t over till it’s over, ninety percent of this game is half mental, and this is like deja vu all over again.

Enjoy Yogi’s unique sense of humor in his latest book, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching: What I’ve Learned about Teamwork from the Yankees and Life (McNaughton Collection, Ber).

Here are a couple more Yogi books:

  • When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take it!: Inspiration and Wisdom from one of Baseball’s Greatest Heroes  (Main Collection, GV865.B4 A3 2001)
  • Yogi: It Ain’t Over (Main Collection, GV865.B4 A27 1997)

The Library has more than 400 other books and movies about baseball, so you’re sure to find something you like.

New Stuff Tuesday – August 5

Published
by
kyle
on August 5, 2008
in new stuff tuesdays
. 0 Comments

Aggression in the Sports World

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.

Quotes Gone Wrong

Published
by
kyle
on August 1, 2008
in around the world
. 0 Comments

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