The Big Read: Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Faculty, staff and students are welcome to join an open discussion of one of America’s most notable writers. While renowned for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe also excelled as a literary critic, revolutionized the delivery of dramatic short stories and invented the detective-fiction genre. Come discuss the Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe!   To register online for the group, visit http://signup.uww.edu and sign in using your Net-ID.

Facilitator:Ben Strand, Development Director, Young Auditorium

Please join us March 9, 16, 30 and April 6, 13, 20 from Noon-1:00pm on the main floor of Andersen Library.

Can’t get enough Poe?  At Andersen Library we have numerous opportunities to get your fill with our collection of books, feature films, and audio books.  Get ready to read, watch and listen!

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New Stuff Tuesday – January 25

Not Quite Adults

Not Quite Adults:
Why 20-Somethings Are Choosing a Slower
Path to Adulthood, and Why It’s Good for Everyone
by Richard Settersten & Barbara Ray
HQ799.5 .S48 2010
New Book Island, 2nd floor

When I was flipping through book reviews and came across this title, I immediately thought of when I was studying abroad in Barcelona. My fellow American students and I were surprised to meet people our age and a few years older that still lived at home with their parents – it was apparently pretty common. Of course, nowadays, you hear all the time about college students graduating and moving back home. Is it a positive or negative trend for our society?

Settersten and Ray, professor at Oregon State University and non-profit consultant, respectively, set out to explain why the delay into adulthood isn’t exactly a bad thing. Their research, done as part of the MacArthur Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, identifies some interesting findings. For instance, the authors found that laziness does not motivate young people to return to the nest, but rather to improve their position by saving or furthering their education. Also of note, helicopter parents do serve an integral purpose in their offspring’s success by providing mentoring and financial support. Jam-packed with myth-busting results, this book is sure to change how you perceive the up-and-coming generation.

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State of the Union address 1/25

President Obama’s State of the Union address will be showing on Andersen Library’s big screen TV (in front of the Circulation Desk) on Tuesday, January 25, at 8pm. The broadcast should include the Republican response that will be provided by Wis.’s Paul Ryan.

There also is a special web site provided by the White House that will offer not just live streaming of the speech, but also visual aids and an opportunity to interact with officials immediately after the speech. The site also offers an iPhone app for “The White House on the Go.”

State of the Union Address web site screen shot

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Big International Business in 2010

Euromonitor, the provider of the Passport Reference & Markets, has shared their top ten articles of 2010*, which provides insight into the main growth areas and concerns in the current business environment.

* shared with permission from the publisher

  1. Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2010
    The 2010 consumer is a seasoned thrift practitioner who is now leaning towards a more positive post-recessionary optimism. Living through 2009 has left many craving for a happy ending including visible environmental improvements in the real world. Technology is the luxury many no longer do without, even if traditional high-end luxury feels like it’s in rehab. Consumer homes are temples of technology-led entertainment while cyberspace continues to fascinate more and older consumers, flattening world culture while connecting people in ways more local. Meanwhile, the recession has pushed consumers to take a long hard at their own ‘personal brands’ in an uncertain world of shaky currencies and jobs. These concerns extend to health and wellness as consumers realize cozy retirements are no longer a guaranteed part of their future.
  2. Emerging Focus: Spending power in emerging market economies grows rapidly
    Consumer markets in emerging market economies are growing rapidly owing to strong economic growth. Nonetheless, diversity amongst their spending patterns exists as these economies are at different stages of growth. Although consumer spending in most of these economies is dominated by essential goods and services, there will be a gradual shift in spending patterns by 2020 when consumers will have more room for discretionary spending.
  3. Emerging focus: Rising middle class in emerging markets
    A new middle class is developing in emerging market economies as significant proportions of the population rise up from poverty in line with rapid economic growth. The expansion of this middle class not only provides competition for labor and resources, but also enormous potential for global consumer markets. As a result, there will be a gradual shift in the dominance of global consumer markets from advanced economies to emerging market economies.
  4. What’s new with the emerging market consumer?
    Welcome to the latest edition of the Euromonitor International consumer comment bulletin tracking new consumer trends in emerging markets. Understanding the fast-moving trends shaping consumer attitudes and behavior in these difficult-to-research markets is key to successfully capturing the hearts of these prized consumers. This bulletin spotlights consumer trends in BRIC countries and other emerging nations every two months.
  5. Web 2.0 and consumers
    This monthly bulletin on all things Web 2.0 listens in to consumption as consumers themselves see and tell it online when “2-ing.” News and trends are covered under the following topics: Internet shopping & “sellsumers,” citizen advertising and crowdsourcing (brands working with consumers to promote themselves, co-create and relate,) frugalistas & consumer vigilantes, micro-blogging, tech-savvy generations Y & Z, social networking, mobile onliners and the blogosphere.
  6. Q&A: Consumption trendsetters
    The way people buy and what they buy has been gradually shifting from choosing from what’s on offer in the shops to consumers actively shaping what they want to see on offer online and offline. Euromonitor International has been observing the new consumer trends and those at their helm including sellsummers and internet shoppers, frugalistas, consumer vigilantes, micro-bloggers and other social networkers, early adopters and viral marketers. All these changes pose a challenge, and they offer a huge scope for creative operators.
  7. Online search habits and trends – a peek into what Asia-Pacific consumers are passionate about at the moment
    Consumers in the region love searching for product information and reviews before making purchases, with many of them hoping to land a bargain along the way. Some are even making it a hobby, from updating themselves with new technology to discovering medical facts and finding strangers to shop with them online for ‘grouponing’ purposes. Overall, consumers’ search habits offer insights into the latest trends and habits. Let’s now gain a better understanding of Asia-Pacific consumers by looking at what they are searching for and how they are searching for them.
  8. Special Report: Top 10 biggest consumer markets
    In 2009, eight of the ten largest consumer markets were advanced economies in North America, Western Europe and Japan. Brazil and China were the only emerging economies among the ten, yet their growing consumer demands despite the global recession, demonstrates the enormous potential for consumer expenditure. More emerging markets will enter the top 10 biggest consumer markets by 2020 and beyond.
  9. Recession: Shifting consumer responses
    Welcome to the latest edition of Euromonitor International’s global consumer tracker designed to help you keep in touch with consumer responses to the recession all over the world and more crucially to map signs of recovery via shifting consumer purchasing behaviors and attitudes in 50 developed and developing countries as they emerge. We explore the latest news within consumer themes including thrift, the allure of fakes and treats that consumers can’t do without. This tracker includes stories on recession-fueled demand for evening courses in Ireland, how counterfeit products and illegal imports are thriving in Greece and on Singaporean consumers still spending on arts and culture.
  10. Monthly economic review of emerging market economies
    The economic growth in emerging market economies slowed in Q3 2010 compared to the previous quarter but continue to attract strong capital inflows as a result of large interest rate differentials with G7 economies. This has resulted in stronger currencies and rising inflation in these countries impairing export competitiveness and increasing the risk of asset bubbles.

UW-Whitewater affiliates can access more information on these topics and much more through Passport Reference & Markets, an excellent source of international business information.

Thanks to Sean Griffin from Euromonitor for sharing these insights!

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Mathematics as poetry?

Alas, people asking questions via our online chat service “Ask a Librarian” sometimes don’t provide email addresses. Why should you do that? The chat service is a cooperative where librarians from subscribing libraries answer questions for each other, and the service itself provides staff when there aren’t enough librarians online. UWW librarians staff the chat service two hours per week, but daily we review responses our patrons have received from others staffing the service to see if additional information might be helpful. If you provided an email address you’ll receive a message that there’s more information available.

So today I see someone was looking for reputable sources that discuss “the study of mathematics as a form of poetry.” Not much help was provided by the service (apparently the person was juggling several questions), and no email was provided by the anonymous patron. Otherwise I could have recommended looking at these books to see if they’d help:
Art of Mathematics cover

If you’re out there, somewhere, I hope you see this. Or give us a call. Or email again. Or stop at the Reference Desk. We’d like to help you get what you need!

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New Books @ Book Sale

These books are hot, hot, hot and only $1 each. Get’em while they last. One cart has fiction and non-fiction books on a variety of topics, and the other has children’s books, primarily picture books. Enjoy!

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Andersen Library short videos

OK, here’s some Friday fun–and it’s somewhat educational too. Did you know Andersen Library has a few short videos on YouTube? Yup, we experimented a little about a year ago:

(1) A troll’s brief view of Andersen Library:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWKqXKclzTI[/youtube]

(2) A very brief Andersen Library ad:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwO4z8Y9rp4[/youtube]

(3) “Willie Works Hard” @Andersen:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GvHkrrwyGc[/youtube]

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50 years ago – JFK’s Inauguration

It was 50 years ago today that John F. Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States and said these famous words during his inaugural address: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country will do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

You might want to check out the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum’s  website for more information about this president, including a link to the Digital Archives.

The Andersen Library has many books about this president’s life. Here are just a few.

  • Averting ‘The Final Failure’ : John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis Meetings by Sheldon M. Stern (Main Collection, 3rd floor: E841 .S757 2003)
  • An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963 by Robert Dallek (Main Collection, 3rd floor: E842 .D28 2003)
  • The Crisis Years : Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960-1963 by Michael R. Beschlos (Main Collection, 3rd floor: E183.8 .S65 B469 1991)

For more books, search in HALCAT, the Library’s online catalog using the subject browse: kennedy john f

In the mood for a film about this president? Check out the DVD, JFK, a Presidency Revealed (Browsing DVD, Academic, 2nd floor:  E842 .J45 2003)

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Featured Resource: America’s Newspapers

If you’re looking for fulltext articles from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel or Chicago Tribune, you’ll be disappointed to learn that these newspapers were recently withdrawn from LexisNexis and EBSCO Newspaper Source Plus.

But don’t despair. The Library now subscribes to America’s News from NewsBank. Not only does America’s News cover the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel starting in 1990 and Chicago Tribune starting in 1985, but it covers more than 1,500 news sources from across the U.S. and its territories. Ten Wisconsin newspapers are represented along with videos from Wisconsin news channels. The database also offers hundreds of newspapers, news magazines, and national publications like the Wall Street Journal and Christian Science Monitor. Users may search the entire database or limit to publications from certain states or regions.

So take a closer look at America’s News to find more news that you can use.

Literature Criticism Online - Gale

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Spring Semester Library hours

Welcome to Spring Semester at UWW and Andersen Library! We are looking forward to working with you this spring.

The Library is closed over the Martin Luther King weekend (January 15-17).

Andersen Library’s Spring Semester hours start on Tuesday, January 18:
Library Spring 2011 hours image

  • M-TH: 7:30am-midnight
  • F: 7:30am-6pm
  • Sat: 9am-5pm
  • Sun: 1pm-midnight

New for Spring 2011: Reference Desk hours will end at 9pm Sunday-Thursday, because of a staff vacancy.

Remember that even when the physical Library is closed, you can:

  • Search the article databases (login when prompted with your campus Net-ID, same as for your campus email or D2L),
  • Search the HALCAT Library Catalog and use links to online titles, including ereserves for classes,
  • Renew checked-out books, DVDs, etc. (once) through your Personal Record,
  • Consult online guides for help, including citation guides for APA, MLA, and Turabian format, and class assignment guides, and
  • Ask a librarian for help using email or chat (UWW librarians respond to the emails when the Library is open, but chat is covered 24/7 by non-UWW staff).
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