How old is the Universe? Dec. 7

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Barbara

A talk called “How old is the Universe and how do we know it?” will be presented by Peter Timbie, professor of physics at UW-Madison, on Fri., Dec. 7, at 8 p.m. in Upham 140. It’s the last entry in the Observatory Lecture Series, which has the theme “The Age of Life, the Universe and Everything” and is meant to explain “how biologists, geologists and astrophysicists answer questions about the age of the universe and its contents.” The series is sponsored by the UW-Whitewater Science Outreach Office and the College of Letters and Sciences. The talks are free and open to all! Following the talk there may be a viewing session at the observatory, weather permitting.

How Old Is the Universe coverLike to learn more? Andersen Library can help! Search HALCat to find books like How old is the universe? (3rd-Floor Main Collection, QB501 .W45 2011). Search the article databases to find articles such as “The age of the universe” (Russian Physics Journal, 2010, vol.53:no.7, pp.759-761). There are also reputable web sites you can consult, such as NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which says “WMAP definitively determined the age of the universe to be 13.75 billion years old to within 1% (0.11 billion years).”

Please ask a librarian if you’d appreciate assistance with finding materials.

FDLP logo Andersen Library is a federal and Wisconsin depository library with federal and state government documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in various formats (print, DVD/CD-ROM, online). Check out your government at Andersen Library!

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New Stuff Tuesday — December 4

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Ronna

Discord: The Story of Noise

Discord: The Story of Noise
by Mike Goldsmith
QC225.15 .G65 2012
New Arrivals, 2nd floor

We used to have a ceiling fan in our dining room that had a faint “hum” when turned on. I couldn’t stand to listen to the noise. My husband couldn’t hear it, though, and I’m pretty sure he thought I was nuts. But if I was home, that fan stayed off. We finally replaced it with a chandelier.

So as I browsed the New Book Island looking for a book for New Stuff Tuesday, I couldn’t resist Discord: The Story of Noise. The author, Mike Goldsmith, used to work in the Acoustics Group at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. He starts out with a brief chapter on the nature of noise, which discusses what sound is and how the ear processes it. He also includes chapters on the history of noise, starting at the beginning of the universe up to today. There’s a chapter on “machineries of noise,” like the steam engine, sounds of war, and the noise of new technology like the automobile and telephone. He even discusses information about noise underwater and its impact on marine life. If you want to learn about noise–where it comes from, the study of it, its impact on people and other living creatures, and efforts being made to lessen noise pollution–this book may be for you.

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NoveList: What to Read Next…

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Martha

stack of booksWinter break will be here in just a few weeks and the question arises, what are you to read? You could always read ahead on your course materials…but more likely you’ll be looking for something fun to read. If you’re looking for fiction, you’ll find all kinds in the Andersen Library from classics to modern action adventure, mysteries, and romances. What we don’t have you can frequently get via UW Request or from your local public library.

Once you’ve decided that fiction is the way to go, you may immediately think of New York Times bestsellers or other hot contemporary books like the Life of Pi (20 copies in other UW system libraries) or series like Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (Curriculum Collection, Juvenile Fiction, call number F Mey and on Kindle) and the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Curriculum Collection, Juvenile Fiction, call number F Col), all of which have had movies out in the last year. On the other hand you may have already read them and are looking for something along the same vein to entice you. Well in this case, the library has the perfect database for you to investigate: NoveList. This helpful database will aid you in finding read-alikes and more books by authors you know and love, or maybe even just learned about. To start check out the description and review sections of the entry for a book you like or are interested in. Here you can get an idea of what the book is about and how it’s been rated. Next, progress to the fields below: genre, storyline, pace, tone, writing style, grade level (when relevant) and lexile (also when relevant). These are searchable and will find you new things to read.

For example, let’s say you read and enjoyed Life of Pi and even saw the movie. Now you’re interested in mystical literary fiction that was made into a movie. An advanced search for these criteria finds you To Dance with the White Dog by Terry Kay (three copies in other UW system libraries) and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Main Collection, call number PQ8098.1.L54 C313 1986). Or maybe you are a Janet Evanovich fan, loved One for the Money (7 copies in other UW system libraries), and want to find similar funny chick lit mystery stories to read. An advanced search for these criteria finds you 50 stories. So in addition to the 18 sequels and other novels by Evanovich, you’ll encounter titles like Size 12 is not Fat by Heather Wells (UWs Madison and Green Bay) and Dating Dead Men by Harley Jane Kozak (UW-Oshkosh). These look great.

Most books checked out from UW-Whitewater, such as those in the Main, Browsing, and Curriculum collections, and via Universal Borrowing can be checked out for 4 weeks, and you might be able to renew them for a second (or third if you are faculty or staff) 4 weeks if no one else has requested the book. If you cannot renew a book, just return it to the closest UW system library and they’ll make sure it gets back to the Andersen Library swiftly.

I hope you enjoy your winter break and get lots of reading done in the spare moments between holiday shopping, eating and other general merry-making. In the immortal words of Oscar Wilde, “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

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Immigrant teenagers: Contemporary Issues Lecture Dec 3

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Barbara

Author Brooke Hauser will talk about “The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens” at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 3, in the Irvin L. Young Auditorium. It’s the last Fall 2012 Contemporary Issues Lecture.

Google Books summarizes this work of “narrative journalism” as a chronicle of a year in the lives of teenagers who are new to the United States and its culture, as they are adjusting to this culture and surviving various obstacles (war, pressures to marry or work, etc.).

New Kids book coverAndersen Library has a copy of Hauser’s book, and related information as well, if you’d like to learn more. Search HALCAT to find that Hauser’s book is at the 2nd-floor New Arrivals Island, LC3746.5.N7 H38 2012. Search for phrases like “children of immigrants” to find additional titles with related information, e.g., Learning a new land: Immigrant students in American society (3rd-floor Main Collection, LC3746 .S83 2010), Inheriting the city: The children of immigrants come of age (3rd-floor Main Collection, JV6600 .I64 2008), and Identity Formation of Vietnamese Immigrant Youth in an American High School (eBook). Search article databases to find articles such as “Promoting Academic Engagement Among Immigrant Adolescents Through School-Family-Community Collaboration” (Professional School Counseling, 2010, vol.14:no.1, pp.15-41) and “Parental Contributions to Southeast Asian American Adolescents’ Well-being” (Youth & Society, 2008, vol.40:no.2, pp.289-306).

If you’d like assistance with finding additional materials, please ask a librarian.

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Anniversary of partitioning Palestine

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Barbara

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, creating an independent Jewish state. Both Jews and Arabs had claimed the area, and Jews from all over the world had been immigrating to the area in significant numbers in the first half of the 20th century (one article cited the increase in Israel’s Jewish population from a Census count of 83,790 in 1922 to a registration of 713,000 in 1948*). Of course war broke out, and as we know, conflicts and ceasefires in the area are ongoing.

The United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL) provides access to a wealth of documents on the “question of Palestine,” including “Resolution 181 (II). Future government of Palestine” dated November 29, 1947, and the 1937 report of the Palestine Royal Commission (aka Peel Report), in which the British Royal Commission of Inquiry recommended partition.

Interested in learning more? Andersen Library can help. Search HALCat to find titles such as The case for Palestine: An international law perspective (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS119.7 .Q7219 2005), The Israel-Palestine conflict: One hundred years of war (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS119.7 .G3895 2005), How Israel was won: A concise history of the Arab-Israeli conflict (3rd-Floor Main Collection, DS126.5 .T495 1999), and The 50 years war: Israel and the Arabs (2nd-floor Browsing VHS videos, DS126.5 .A15 2000). Search article databases for articles such as “Jewish Peoplehood, ‘Jewish Politics,’ and Political Responsibility: Arendt on Zionism and Partitions” (College Literature, 2011, vol.38:no.1, pp.57-74), “Alternatives to partition” (Foreign Affairs, 1937, vol.16:no.1, pp.143-155), and “Appeasement in the Middle East: The British white paper on Palestine, May 1939” (The Historical Journal, 1973, vol.16:no.3, pp.571-596).

Please ask a librarian if you’d like assistance with finding materials.

*Bachi, R. (1950). Statistical research on immigrants in the State of Israel. Population Studies, 3(4), 45-58.

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How old is the Milky Way and how do we know it? Nov. 30

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Barbara

A talk called “How old is the Milky Way and how do we know it?” will be presented by Dr. Robert Benjamin, associate professor of physics, on Fri., Nov. 30, at 8 p.m. in Upham 140. It’s the penultimate entry in the Observatory Lecture Series, which has the theme “The Age of Life, the Universe and Everything” and is meant to explain “how biologists, geologists and astrophysicists answer questions about the age of the universe and its contents.” The series is sponsored by the UW-Whitewater Science Outreach Office and the College of Letters and Sciences. The talks are free and open to all! Following the talk there may be a viewing session at the observatory, weather permitting.

Lecture abstract:
Every star that you can see in the sky is part of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Although it common to think of the sky as timeless, stars are constantly forming and dying over the billions of years of years of the Sun’s past and future existence. In this lecture, I will describe how we determine the age of the Milky Way and other galaxies like the Milky Way. The age of the Milky Way comes down to determining the ages of the oldest clusters of stars, and of the oldest individual stars. The oldest stars indicate that the Milky Way started to form approximately 13 billion years ago, not very long after the Big Bang (13.7 billion years ago). But there is a great deal of evidence that the Milky Way formed over a rather long period, with the disk of the Galaxy forming significantly later than the first stars. I will contrast this with the picture of we have of the formation of other galaxies. Modern telescopes are now detecting galaxies so far away that we are seeing what galaxies look like when the light left the galaxy billions of years ago. Understanding the rate at which the different parts of galaxies have formed over the history of the universe is one of the frontiers of modern astrophysics.

How Old Is the Universe coverLike to learn more? Andersen Library can help! Search HALCat to find books like How old is the universe? (3rd-Floor Main Collection, QB501 .W45 2011). Search the article databases to find articles such as “Astrophysics: Young dwarfs date an old halo” (Nature, 2012, vol.486:no.7401, pp.38-40), “Milky Way faces midlife crisis” (New Scientist, 2011, vol.210:no.2814, p.8), and “Age Estimates of Globular Clusters in the Milky Way: Constraints on Cosmology” (Science, 2003, vol.299, pp.65-69).

Please ask a librarian if you’d appreciate assistance with finding materials.

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New Stuff Tuesday – November 27

Posted on November 27, 2012 by kyle

Getting to Graduation

Getting to Graduation:
The Completion Agenda in Higher Education
edited by Andrew Kelly & Mark Schneider
LA227.4 .G49 2012
New Arrivals, 2nd floor

For the past several years, including the latest round of budget talks, there has been plenty of discussion about the Growth Agenda, the University of Wisconsin System initiative aimed at producing more graduates from UW schools over the next decade. Much of it centered around helping students not only get to college, but stay in through receiving the degree. This week’s featured title should shed some light on the focus of a major point of contention in higher education.

Kelly and Schneider, researchers at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, pulled together a number of chapters from leading thinkers in higher education to address the issues and challenges with getting all students to walking across the stage. The scholars address the topics of America’s lagging performance against the rest of the world, the effectiveness of sub-baccalaureate (two-year / community college) programs, and the barriers to completing degrees, such as financial aid and credit transferability. There is also consideration from a public policy standpoint, examining three cases from Ohio, Texas, and Colorado, all with possible implications for government. This book serves as an excellent starting place for researching a current debate that impacts our society.

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Deck the Library’s wishing tree!

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Barbara

treeAre there books, graphic novels, audio books, videos, video games, CDs, etc., that you wish Andersen Library would consider acquiring? Let us know by hanging your wish(es) on the tree!

The tree is located near the Circulation Desk and the Food for Thought Café. Paper “ornaments” on which you can write your wishes are provided.

Thanks!

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Book Sale Extravaganza

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Martha

Mayan CalendarCome one, come all and do your holiday gift shopping in the Andersen Library. For December, starting on Cyber Monday actually, all book sale books will be sold for $.25 each or $1 per bag. Bags are provided at the book sale carts and at the circulation desk. Subjects fall all over the place, so you are likely to find something that you, a special friend or family member would like to read. Buy early and buy often as we will replenish the books when the supply gets low.

Happy Hannukah, Solstice, Festivus, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. May the end of the world not interfer with your celebrations.

Happy reading!

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Scholastic Book Fair Nov. 26-30

Posted on November 26, 2012 by Barbara

Student Wisconsin Education Association (StWEA) will again be hosting a Scholastic Book Sale within the Andersen Library.

The sale will be held daily:

  • 9am – 5pm Monday, Nov.26 – Thursday, Nov.29
  • 9am – 3pm on Friday, Nov. 30

Books make great gifts for birthdays, holidays, and everyday!

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