Galápagos at the Crossroads:
Pirates, Biologists, Tourists and Creationists
Battle for Darwin’s Cradle of Evolution
By Carol Ann Bassett
F3741 .G2 B38 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Back in grade school, I remember learning about the islands off the coast of Ecuador where thousands of species of plants and animals could be found only there. The islands also provided Darwin with the scientific evidence to support his theory of natural selection. This week’s featured book alerts readers that the birthplace of The Origin of Species is at risk due to economic exploitation.

Bassett, writing instructor at the University of Oregon, presents the case that the Galápagos Islands, known for their natural and unique beauty, could (or more accurately, will) be lost forever if something doesn’t change. She tells the history of the islands and their exploration by Spanish conquistadors and adventurous scientists and naturalists. The author then takes a chapter to discuss each stakeholder in the current situation, from the tour companies to fishermen to the pirates. If you are looking for an example of the battle between the natural environment and human encroachment, this book provides the perfect case.

One more thing, which I (as a librarian) thought was cool: Bassett not only includes a bibliography, but breaks up the sources by type, with books, magazines/journals, etc. – makes your life easy when trying to figure out citations!

Since seasonal and H1N1 flu references are everywhere this fall, of course I searched for something about flu. I was not disappointed.

See the “Influenza 1918” episode of the PBS American Experience series (1998).

Of course, you can search for other topics that interest you. You can search for and view Universal newsreels from particular dates. For example, for October 22nd there are narrated newsreels of the opening of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim Museum in New York City (1959) and the 1964 Presidential candidates Barry Goldwater and Lyndon Baines Johnson. You can find videos on Amelia Earhart and “Two Days in October” that juxtaposes a day (Oct. 17, 1967) in the Vietnam War and a day (Oct. 18, 1967) at a non-violent protest in Madison, WI.

Use it while you can!

So get into a ’90s mood! Some Andersen Library resources might help, such as the DVD set of the complete Friends series (2nd-floor Browsing DVD–Features, call no. Fri). You can spend a whopping 4800 minutes watching this television series that premiered in September 1994. Or read about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a television series that first aired in March 1997. A search of HALCat, the Library catalog, would find titles such as Fighting the forces: what’s at stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (3rd-floor Main Collection, PN1992.77.B84 F54 2002) and The physics of the Buffyverse (3rd-floor Main Collection, QC75 .O84 2006). I was among many who bought some “magic eye” art. You can see three books on this in Andersen Library (Magic Eye, Magic Eye II, and Magic Eye III, all in the 3rd-floor Main Collection, N7430.5 .M24)

The ’90s were years of many scientific and technological wonders. Who can forget Dolly, the cloned sheep born on July 5, 1996? Read all abaaaaaaht it in Clone: The road to Dolly, and the path ahead (3rd-floor Main Collection, QH442.2 .K65 1998). And think about the ’90s this week as you search the Internet, watch DVDs, play video games, and take pictures on your digital camera…the World Wide Web, HTML, digital cameras, and the DVD format all started during the ’90s. And in the 1990’s video games underwent a major explosion, fueled by the advent of optical storage and 3-D. Games like Final Fantasy, Mortal Kombat, and Pokemon started during this decade. Andersen Library has the video games Final fantasy XII (PlayStation) and Mortal kombat vs. DC Universe, among others (2nd-floor Browsing Video Games). So, you see, we haven’t left the ’90s, we’ve just improved upon them.

Please ask a librarian for assistance in finding additional Library materials, such as the Reference book Day by day: The nineties.

Paradise Found:
Nature in American at the Time of Discovery
By Steve Nicholls
QH102 .N53 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor

How has your hometown changed over the last ten years? Your lifetime? Ever wonder what your hometown looked like before anyone actually lived there? This week’s featured title take a look at our continent and its natural history around the time that Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Nicholls, known for his work as a wildlife filmmaker, takes the reader on a journey through North America – before the first settlers left their lasting marks. The Europeans that made the voyage across the ocean were met with untouched natural beauty, leaving behind detailed notes of the flora and fauna that they encountered. The author uses his vast knowledge of natural history and experience from directing and writing documentaries to bring the picturesque beauty of the landscape to life. He utilizes the firsthand accounts from the past and scientific research being done today to create portraits of each of the regions of the continent.

If you are interested in this bit of history, Andersen Library has materials that you could use! You can read the Warren Commission report and supporting volumes of evidence (2nd-floor Federal Documents Collection, PR 36.8:R 29 or 3rd-floor Main Collection, E842.9 .A55 1964a). There also are many books about the assassination and the investigation that can be identified by searching the HALCat Andersen Library Catalog, such as Rush to judgment: A critique of the Warren Commission’s inquiry into the murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J. D. Tippitt, and Lee Harvey Oswald (3rd-floor Main Collection, E842.9 .L3), The weight of the evidence; the Warren report and its critics (3rd-floor Main Collection, E842.9 .A68), The killing of a president: the complete photographic record of the JFK Assassination, the conspiracy and the cover-up (3rd-floor Main Collection, E842.9 .G76 1993), and Conspiracy in Camelot: The complete history of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (NetLibrary online book).

There also are many articles in journals, magazines and newspapers that could be found using the Library’s article databases. For example, searching America: History and Life would find articles including “Top ten myths of the Kennedy assassination” (American History, 2003, v.38, no.5, pp58+).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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!

Today Peace Corps volunteers are in over 70 countries, working with local people in areas of education, business and community development, technology, agriculture, youth outreach, health, and the environment. Learn more from the Peace Corps web site, which provides the quarterly Peace Corps Times newsletter, its mission, statistics (94% of volunteers have their bachelor’s degree), and application information for those considering volunteering. There also is an opportunity on Wed., Sept. 30th, to chat online with a returned volunteer and recruiter (preregistration required).

You also can find digital images and text (including the public law and executive order noted above) from the National Archives (search the Archival Research Catalog for “peace corps” (the “Digital Copies” button should be highlighted), and search HALCat (Andersen’s Library’s catalog) for the keyword phrase “peace corps” to find titles in our collection such as Crossing cultures with the Peace Corps: Peace Corps letters from the field (online), A life inspired: tales of Peace Corps service (2nd-floor Federal Documents collection, PE 1.2:L 62), and So, you want to join the Peace Corps–what to know before you go (3rd-floor Main Collection, HC60.5 .B34 2000).

Please ask a librarian for more assistance with finding materials.

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!

So happy birthday, Smithsonian! It exists now as a complex of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo. I’ve visited several of the museums, and I can enthusiastically recommend them. My favorites are the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. But if you can’t travel there, the museum web sites have wonderful content. The Natural History Museum, for example, has a virtual tour that I’ve enjoyed.

The Smithsonian Magazine (also on Twitter) is full of interesting articles on all kinds of topics. Andersen Library receives it in print and puts the most recent issue on the 2nd-floor magazine racks.

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!

On August 3, 1949, the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). You can read more about it on both the NBA’s web site and the History Channel’s web site.

Andersen Library also has materials on the history of basketball (and sports in general) if you’d like to read more about it. A search of the Library Catalog would find titles such as They cleared the lane: The NBA’s Black pioneers (3rd-floor Main Collection, GV885.7 .T46 2002) and A Century of women’s basketball: From frailty to final four (3rd-floor Main Collection, GV886 .C45 1991). Encyclopedia of world sport: From ancient times to the present (2nd-floor Reference Collection, GV567 .E56 1996) has information on the Basketball Association of America, National Basketball League, National Basketball Association, and the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

It was front-page news in the New York Times of July 31, 1928 – you can read it by searching for “home movies in colors” in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers – The New York Times database.

There is more relevant material in Andersen Library’s collections; please ask a librarian for assistance.

For example, the Library Catalog lists books with entries for Eastman such as The Reader’s companion to American history (2nd-floor Reference Collection, E174 .R43 1991) and They made America: From the steam engine to the search engine: Two centuries of innovators (3rd-floor Main Oversize Collection, T39 .E83 2004).

The illustrated “biography” Bugs Bunny: Fifty years and only one grey hare is available to UWW students and staff from UW-Oshkosh’s library (use ILLiad interlibrary loan to make requests while Universal Borrowing is down for an upgrade July 27-August 17).

Andersen Library has materials on the history of cartoons. Search the Library Catalog to find titles such as Cartoons: One hundred years of cinema animation (3rd-floor Main Collection, NC1765 .B4213 1994) and the DVD Looney tunes (2nd-floor Browsing DVD, Feature Film, Call Number Loo).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.