As the Library relocates and expands its more popular collections, the name of the McNaughton Collection has been changed to Browsing Books. The collection is still located near the cafe. To make the books easier to browse, the fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels and audio books are separated on the shelves. DVDs and VHS tapes will soon be moved to the main floor as well. So stay tuned for more changes on the main floor of the Library!
Driver Distraction:
Theory, Effects and Mitigation
Edited by Michael Regan, John Lee and Kristie Young
HE5620 .D59 D75 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor
We’re pretty much all guilty of it. I can only think of one person maybe that can claim to be above this. To what am I referring? Getting behind the wheel and driving while… distracted. Talking on your cell phone, eating, putting on makeup (I’ve never understood how that one works out for anyone) are all commonplace on the road. This week’s featured book reminds us all this holiday travel season to keep both hands and mind on task with the goal of arriving to your destination safely.
The book’s description quotes a statistic that up to twenty-three percent of crashes and near-crashes can be chalked up to driver distraction. The editors have compiled an excellent assortment of chapters about the distractions themselves and their correlations to driving performance and risk of accidents. It also covers prevention strategies, from legislation to automobile design. As this is a scholarly source, each chapter includes a list of references for further reading. If you’re researching the effects of cell phone use on drivers, this would be the perfect starting point.
Plan to drive safely this winter! Look up weather ahead of time.
Check road conditions ahead of time. The Wis. Dept. of Transportation’s Driving Conditions web site provides a map showing conditions on interstates and other major highways in Wisconsin, info on work zones, links to traffic cameras and congestion maps for Madison and Milwaukee, and links to weather sites. Other states may have similar sites, e.g., Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and Michigan.
There are often toll-free phone numbers to call also, e.g,. for Wisconsin’s road report call 1-800-ROADWIS (762-3947).
And don’t forget to prepare for cold weather by dressing appropriately and having a winter survival kit in your car, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control.
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!
Keeping Found Things Found:
The Study and Practice of Personal Information Management
by William Jones
HD30.2 .J664 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Think about the stuff that you take with you when you leave your house. For me, it’s my keys, laptop, cell phone and iPod. You keep those items with you at all times. What happens when you lose one of the essential things, like your cell phone? You’ve lost not only the phone itself, but the stored information, such as phone numbers and the crazy pictures from the previous weekend. You can replace the physical device, but the intangible information may be gone forever. This week’s featured book centers around keeping all of your ‘intangibles’ in one known place.
Jones, research associate professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, delves into the subject of personal information management (PIM), which is just what it sounds like it is. It encompasses both the finding of information, as well the maintenance, reuse, distribution and a whole host of actions performed to (borrow from the title) and ‘keep found things found.’ The author divides the volume into sections: ‘Foundations’ covers the basics and background to the study of PIM; ‘Activities’ describes the various tasks of PIM; and ‘Solutions’ looks at technology and its role in PIM. The book also includes a list of references for future research on the topic. All in all, a very interesting read!
We’ve talked about the Google Book Search and its partnership with libraries – you know the one where Google is scanning millions of books and making them searchable. All in all, a pretty sweet project.
Well, they haven’t stopped with just books. They announced last week that they’re working with magazine publishers to digitize their backfiles and making them freely available. They’ve got titles like the Vegetarian Times, Jet and my personal favorite, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. If you use the advanced book search, you can limit your results to only magazine articles. You can then view the content as it was originally published, ads and all.
Of course, the University Library has tons of magazines, journals and newspapers for your research, both online and in print. Just use the Journal Holdings List to find a title’s availability.
Thanks to Renee Pfeifer-Luckett in the Marketing Department for the story!
As I was browsing my Facebook mini-feed, I noticed a link that a librarian friend had posted from the Very Short List about online scholarship. There has been a study done by James A. Evans, University of Chicago, and published in the July 2008 issue of Science Magazine that says that although the ability to access scholarly scientific literature has increased reach to a broader audience, it has also in turn caused scientists to continually cite the same studies. Dr. Evans utilized Web of Science, a database to which we subscribe, to analyze over 34 million citations to come up with his conclusion (taken from the abstract):
The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon.
Source: Lazy Minds (Very Short List) via Facebook
Study: Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship
James A. Evans, Science Magazine
The Library has a “Wishing Tree” where you can use paper ornaments to tell us what DVDs, books, graphic novels, CDs, or video games you wish we would consider adding to our collections! Make your wishes known!
The Wishing Tree is near the Food for Thought cafe, Circulation Desk, and the Mitten Tree.
The Gamma Omega sorority is hosting its third annual Mitten Tree fundraiser, now through Dec. 19th. Please donate new and/or gently used winter hats, gloves and scarves on the tree, which is located just inside the University Library, near the Food for Thought cafe and the Circulation Desk. Donations will go to the Whitewater Food Pantry.
Thank you!
On Thurs., Dec. 11, at 5pm the Muslim Student Association is sponsoring a lecture on Women in Islam and Jihad (location: Winther Hall 1001).
“Learn about women in Islam and jihad from Janan Najeeb, director of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition and co-director of the Muslim-Catholic Women’s Dialogue.”
Your University Library has resources if you’d like to learn more. Search the Library Catalog to find titles such as Muslim women in America: the challenge of Islamic identity today (3rd-floor Main Collection E184.M88 H34 2006) and Islamism: A Documentary and Reference Guide (2nd-floor Reference Collection, BP161.3 .C35 2008), which includes a section on women and family. Searching the Library article databases would find additional information.
Please ask a librarian if you’d like assistance finding materials.
Starting on Saturday, December 13th, the Library will have special extended hours for your exam studying pleasure (Good luck everyone!):
Sat. Dec. 13: 9am-10pm
Sun. Dec. 14: 9am-2am
Mon. Dec. 15: 6am-2am
Tues. Dec. 16: 6am-2am
Wed. Dec. 17: 6am-2am
Thurs. Dec. 18: 6am-2am
Fri. Dec. 19: 6am-6pm
Sat. Dec. 20: 9am-5pm
Sun. Dec. 21: 1pm-10pm
After that we go into special hours for the break/Winterim period. See Library Hours online for details.
