Huckleberry Finn

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Barbara

On Feb. 18, 1885, Mark Twain‘s novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published in the United States. How many of us have gone along on Huck and Jim’s trip down the Mississippi? How many of us have studied this novel for a class? It deals with serious topics including slavery and racism, and it has a long history of being criticized, challenged, and even banned (see the American Library Association’s lists of the most banned/challenged books for 2000-2009 and 1990-1999).

Mark Twain book coverAndersen Library has several copies of the novel (even online and as recorded audio on compact discs), as well as other titles by Mark Twain. You also can search HALCat (Harold Andersen Library’s catalog) to find books about Mark Twain and his writings, such as Mark Twain: Strange & wonderful (2nd-floor New Arrivals Island, PS1331 .P76 2011), a UW-Whitewater student’s master’s thesis called Mark Twain, Huck Finn and racism (3rd-floor Main Collection, PS1305 .M37), and The dramatic unity of “Huckleberry Finn” (3rd-floor Main Collection, PS1305 .C3). In addition, there are many, many articles in scholarly journals and reference works about this novel and other works by Mark Twain. Search Library databases to find articles such as “Huck, Jim, and American Racial Discourse” (In Smith, D. L., 2010, Critical Insights: Mark Twain, Salem Press, pp.214-234), “Huck, Twain, and the Freedman’s Shackles: Struggling with Huckleberry Finn Today” (Atlantis, 2006, vol.28:no.2, pp.29-43), and “Huckleberry Finn and Moral Motivation” (Philosophy and Literature, 2010, vol.34:no.1, pp.).

You may know that UW-Whitewater is reading some Mark Twain for its fourth annual participation in the “Big Read.” There’s been a noon-hour discussion group meeting on Wednesdays in Andersen Library; RSVP for that was in December. But you can still get a ticket to see “Hal Holbrook – Mark Twain Tonight!” on April 21st at the Young Auditorium.

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Global Café Wed., Feb. 15, 5pm

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Barbara

The Center for Global Education’s Spring 2012 Global Café series continues on Wed., Feb. 15th, from 5-6pm with a focus on England, China, and Thailand (location: Andersen Library’s big-screen TV area, near the Food for Thought café). In this series, international, study abroad, and travel study students talk about their home countries or international experiences.

graphic from Center for Global Education web page

Check it out! Andersen Library has resources on cross-cultural communication and travel.

China book coverSearch HALCat, the online catalog, for books or videos, such as Thailand: A quick guide to customs & etiquette (3rd-floor Main Collection, DS568 .J66 2003), Kiss, bow, or shake hands: Asia: How to do business in 12 Asian countries (2nd-floor Reference Collection, HF5389 .M667 2007), and Etiquette guide to China: Know the rules that make the difference (3rd-floor Main Collection, BJ2007.C56 D42 2008). Or, check out the information on these and other countries in Library resources such as the Global Road Warrior! The Ultimate Guide to the World.

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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New Stuff Tuesday – February 14

Posted on February 14, 2012 by kyle

Empire of the Beetle

Empire of the Beetle:
How Human Folly and a Tiny Bug Are
Killing North America’s Great Forests
by Andrew Nikiforuk
SB945 .B3 N55 2011
New Arrivals, 2nd floor

This semester began with a number of biology questions, ones that we don’t normally field, with students inquiring for scientific articles on a host of creatures. While I am slightly unprepared for finding scholarly articles about beetles, I took a deep breath, showed the students Biological Abstracts, and assisted them with their assignment. Imagine my surprise to come across this week’s featured title on those creepy little insects.

Nikiforuk, an environmental journalist with several major literary awards to his credit, goes toe to toe with the bark beetle, analyzing how the insects were able to take down thirty billion trees in the western half of North America. He highlights the accomplices of the tiny bugs, as they didn’t act alone in this destruction. The journalist utilizes scientific experts on both sides of the murder case, the entomologists for the attackers and the botanists for the victims, as well as other interested individuals, to get to the bottom of the case. He also provides an extensive list of sources and further reading to explore the topic of insect domination.

[Not a very love-filled title, is it? =) ]

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V-Day: For the Love of Numbers

Posted on February 14, 2012 by kyle

We all know that Valentine’s Day is just a marketing ploy to buy gifts for your sweetie or large amounts of alcohol to deal with the public displays of affection, right? HA! I kid. Our friends at Euromonitor, the company that produces Passport GMID sent over some interesting statistics* to highlight the season:

Market Size Data – Chocolate Confectionery
As it should be no surprise, the US is the biggest international market for chocolate.

Company Share Data: Chocolate Confectionery
Mars, Inc., not Hershey, holds the top spot in the chocolate industry, but the two competitors control 53.5% of the total market.

Company Share Data: Jewelry
The company with their own shade of blue, Tiffany & Co, claims number one in jewelry production arena with a 8.5% market share.

You can access the data and analysis on chocolate, jewelry, and consumer buying habits for over seventy other countries from Passport GMID. There also plenty of other information sources on countries available on our Selected Resources for Research on Countries and Sources of Business Information: Countries guides.

*posted with permission from the publisher

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Books For That Special Someone

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Martha

The ongoing UWW Andersen Library Book Sale has a interesting assortment of books available for amazing prices.

Books about graphic design, Shakespeare’s England, travel, biology, biographies, and novels – all at the unbeatable price of 25 cents per book or ONE DOLLAR per bag!!!

So, don’t resist this wonderful offer – come check out the Book Sale carts at the front entrance of the library today!

By Christine Fary

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Darwin Day lecture on whales Feb 9

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Barbara

Hans Thewissen, professor of anatomy and expert on the evolution of whales, will deliver a talk called “Happy Birthday, Mr. Darwin! Documenting Macroevolution in the Origin of Whales” on Thurs., Feb. 9, at 6:30pm in Hyland Hall’s Timmerman Auditorium. This free public lecture is the featured event in UWW’s 2012 Darwin Day celebration. Many organizations celebrate International Darwin Day, the anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday on Feb. 12, 1809.

Thewissen’s research is identifying fossils that establish whales’ evolutionary transition from their four-legged, land-walking ancestors. The Science Daily article “How Ancient Whales Lost Their Legs, Got Sleek And Conquered The Oceans” suggests that it’s all because of the Sonic hedgehog!

Cover of the Emergence of Whales bookHave I wetted (ahem, I mean whetted) your curiosity, so that you want to learn more? Andersen Library has resources!

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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Monarchies

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Barbara

On Feb. 6th in 1952, King George VI of Great Britain passed away. If you saw the 2010 movie The King’s Speech, you’ve learned something about him. His daughter was crowned Queen Elizabeth II on June 2nd, and she’s been the queen ever since (yup, that’s over 50 years on the throne!). The notion of royalty or monarchy may seen strange in a country where it doesn’t exist. But Britain is not alone in having a monarch, although the roles of the monarch and the royal family have changed over time.

If you’d like to learn more, Andersen Library has resources.

book cover of Elizabeth the QueenSearch HALCat (Harold Andersen Library’s catalog) to find titles such as Elizabeth the Queen: The life of a modern monarch (2nd-floor Browsing Books, DA590 .S55 2012), King George VI, his life and reign (3rd-floor Main Collection, DA584 .W45 1965), The monarchy and the British nation, 1780 to the present (3rd-floor Main Collection, JN331 .M62 2007), The kings & queens of Britain (online from Oxford University Press), and Four Gothic kings: The turbulent history of medieval England and the Plantagenet kings (1216-1377), Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, seen through the eyes of their contemporaries (3rd-floor OVERSIZE, DA225 .F68 1987).

If you’re interested in a different country (contemporary or historic), try keyword searching for the name of the country and either the phrase “kings and rulers” or monarchy in HALCat. This would find titles such as Ivan the Terrible: First tsar of Russia, The road from Versailles: Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and the fall of the French monarchy, Frederick the Great: The magnificent enigma [Prussia], and Middle East monarchies: The challenge of modernity. There also are reference books that provide overviews, including Monarchs, rulers, dynasties, and kingdoms of the world (2nd-floor Reference Collection, D107 .T36 1983)–it provides a survey of the history of countries ruled by monarchs and traces the royal families’ genealogy.

Search article databases such as Historical Abstracts to find articles including “Some thoughts on the queen and Commonwealth” (Round Table, 1998, vol.347:no.1).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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The Silent World

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Barbara

On this day in 1953, French oceanographer and marine conservationist Jacques-Yves Cousteau published his first book, The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure (co-authored by Frederic Dumas). Three years later the documentary film was released, and it won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards.

Alas, Andersen Library has neither the book nor the film. However, UWW students, staff, and faculty may borrow the book from other UW campus libraries by using the free Universal Borrowing service. Requested items arrive in 2-4 weekdays. There also is this video available from the Cousteau Society‘s YouTube channel that talks about the film and contains excerpts:

YouTube video The Silent World

Andersen Library does have many other titles, both by Mr. Cousteau and about marine biology. Search HALCat to find titles such as The living sea (3rd-floor Main Collection, QH91 .C628) and The living ocean: Understanding and protecting marine biodiversity (3rd-floor Main Collection, QH91 .T49 1992). Search article databases to find articles including “State of the marine environment reports––a need to evaluate their role in marine environmental protection and conservation”
(Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2003, vol.46:no.10, pp.219-1223), “Ocean” (National Geographic, 1981, vol.160, pp.780-791; available in Andersen Library’s 1st-floor Bound Periodicals Collection).

Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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Insect Love

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Martha

With Valentine’s Day not far away, the word on many a mind is love. We all know what can happen when two people meet in our world, but what about the world of…insects?

Have you ever stumbled across a pair of butterflies linked together and attempting to fly or a pair of walking sticks intertwined, and wondered what these curious displays are about?

Survey of the Color Forms of the Southern Twostriped Walkingstick (Phasmatodea: Areolatae: Pseudophasmatidae: Pseudophasmatinae: Anisomorphini), With Notes on Its Range, Habitats, and Behaviors by OV Conle, FH Hennemann, and AT Dossey is an interesting source for a glimpse into the walkingstick’s elusive search for a mate hidden alone or in a cluster of walkingsticks amid sandy grounds, tree trunks, and palmetto fronds.

Walking Sticks (Insects)

For a full-text view of this and other fascinating articles about the “love lives” of the insect world, search BioOne UW-W users only.

By Christine Fary

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MLA, APA training, anyone?

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Barbara

Could you use some training on formatting your paper and your citations in either MLA or APA style? Well, you’re in luck! You can reserve a spot in workshops being offered by the Academic Support staff. All of the workshops are located in Andersen Library 2120 (the Academic Support Center’s satellite location). See the list of workshops at http://www.uww.edu/acadsupport/tutorial/workshop.html to find one that fits your schedule, and then register for it. Workshops are offered throughout February and March.

Andersen Library also provides citing guides that contain the most frequently needed examples of citations in MLA and APA style. We also have the manuals at the Reference Desk.

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