We’re in that awkward period between summer session and fall semester, and if you need to acquire some books to read, visit the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library (Whitewater’s public library at 431 W. Center St.) for its annual book sale!
The Friends of the ILY will be running the sale Tues., Aug. 17-Sat., Aug. 28 in the library’s community room (during library hours).
And remember that Andersen Library’s book sale truck is stocked all year long with books you can acquire, too!
School’s out (for the summer)! Andersen Library’s hours from Aug. 14 through Sept. 1 are 8 am-4:30 pm Monday-Friday only (closed on Saturday & Sunday). The Library is closed on Friday Aug. 20th for a state-mandated furlough.
Fall semester Library hours will start on Thursday, Sept. 2nd.
Remember that even when the physical Library is closed, you can:
From the Closet to the Courtroom:
Five LGBT Rights Lawsuits That
Have Changed Our Nation
by Carlos Ball
KF4754.5 .A53 B35 2010
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Given that last week’s landmark decision made in California, I thought that this week’s featured title would be a very timely addition to the discussion.
Ball, law professor at Rutgers University, looks at the struggle faced by LGBT individuals, fighting for equality in all aspects of life. He closely examines five cases, ranging from harassment and discrimination to family and marriage, and their impact on the LGBT community and society as large. Instead of a regurgitation of the court decisions, the author explores the back stories of the cases, providing a human connection to the parties named in the lawsuits. Furthermore, the narratives include the brave people that defended these cases as well.
Interestingly enough, the chapter on harassment contains the case of Nabozny v Podlesny, which takes place right here in Wisconsin.
A couple of interesting Internet-related news bites that came out last week. Not surprisingly, Google is involved with both:
Net Neutrality Was Fun While It Lasted
News broke on Wednesday of a deal between Verizon and Google that would create online delivery pay tiers. In other words, content providers could pay internet service providers money in order to have their media streamed more quickly. As Josh Silver from the Huffington Post says, it’s the end of the Internet as we know it. This agreement between the companies will seriously endanger net neutrality, the level playing field by which all content is treated equally. Want more information? CQ Researcher, one of the library’s subscription databases, dedicated an issue to Controlling the Internet – check it out.
Google Wave Being Pulled
I remember when Google Wave debuted, and I thought to myself, “what exactly is it?” According to their website, Google Wave “lets you communicate and collaborate in real time.” Well, Search Engine Land reported Wednesday that the communication tool has crashed, with Google no longer continuing to develop the product. Apparently I wasn’t the only one that was unsure, as the company cited low adoption rates for the reason for shuttering the service. Oh well, not even Google is perfect (of course, it’s not their first failure).
Thanks to Martha and Ronna for the links!
I can’t help it. My friends keep sharing great articles about plagiarism (on Facebook, of all places), and I feel compelled to share them on here.
Another article from the New York Times highlights the growing concern of plagiarism on college campuses. This article targets the change in philosophy of the cut-and-paste generation, one that doesn’t think about the ramifications of borrowing, lifting, re-purposing others’ work. As my friend, an instructor at a college in Illinois, commented, “I already see this in my classes, where people simply try to copy down the steps that I’m doing without thinking whatsoever about what those steps actually mean.” However, read the entire article – the last paragraph makes it worth it.
Full article:
Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age, Trip Gabriel, New York Times
Thanks to Carlo for sharing!
Newsonomics:
Twelve New Trends That Will Shape the News You Get
by Ken Doctor
PN4784 .062 D63 2010
New Book Island, 2nd floor
As I was laying in bed catching up on the news from the Wisconsin State Journal app on my iPhone over the weekend, I came across a headline about a cancer researcher that suddenly left the university. I went to read the full story, but received a message stating that this piece was part of a new initiative in which print subscribers get the first read. Interesting, I thought. As I searched for a new book for New Stuff Tuesday, this title jumped right out at me.
Doctor, leading media industry analyst, takes a forward look at what the story of the newspaper will look like down the road. While the ink and paper model may decrease, the power of the medium will not cease in the digital realm. Drawing from his twenty-plus years at Knight Ridder, the author surveys the electronic news landscape. While the traditional news outlets like the New York Times (the so-called “Digital Dozen”) will prevail as news leaders, more personalized news will come from the little guys – your social networks. [Just think – how did you find out that Michael Jackson died? Facebook? Twitter?] This would be a must-read for up-and-coming journalists and marketers.
OK, Library lovers, here’s some Friday fun: A video inspired by Dr. Who and dedicated to the love of libraries. And if you’re into the BBC’s Dr. Who series, Andersen Library has videos for you! Check out the 2nd-floor Browsing DVDs (Feature Film section) under the “call number ” Doc to find the first four complete seasons!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7FAH3bkR5M[/youtube]
Check out the book sale cart near the Andersen Library entrance! Most of the items this month are children’s books, and they’re all priced to sell at only 50ยข each.
According to ScienceDaily’s article “Why More Education Lowers Dementia Risk,” “studies on dementia have consistently showed that the more time you spend in education, the lower your risk of dementia. For each additional year of education there is an 11% decrease in risk of developing dementia, this study reports.” But why? Apparently an increased exposure to education enables us to better compensate for changes in our brains before we show dementia symptoms, according to a recent study.
Read the research article online: Education, the brain and dementia: Neuroprotection or compensation? (Brain, 2010, vol.133, pp.2210-2216, doi:10.1093/brain/awq185).
In addition to the article in Brain, Andersen Library has additional resources on the various forms of dementia and cognitive reserves. Search the HALCAt online catalog to find books such as The other brain: From dementia to schizophrenia, how new discoveries about the brain are revolutionizing medicine and science (2nd-floor New Book Island, QP376 .F46 2010).
Search article databases to find articles such as “On whether the environmental enrichment may provide cognitive and brain reserves” (Brain Research Reviews, 2009, vol.61:no.2, pp.221-239).
Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.
Numbers Rule:
The Vexing Mathematics of Democracy,
from Plato to the Present
by George Szpiro
QA99 .S97 2010
New Book Island, 2nd floor
When I browsed the New Book Island for this week’s New Stuff Tuesday candidate, I knew that I had to choose this one. It instantly jump out as me because 1) I went to a special math & science school growing up and 2) I have a feeling that they are a few other people out that would find this interesting [although they may not admit it]. Either way, embrace your inner nerd and read on.
Szpiro, mathematician and journalist for a Swiss newspaper, takes on math’s role in some pretty important turning points in history. More specifically, the author details how numbers have factored into the outcomes of democracy and voting, and how everyone from Plato to the Founding Fathers dealt with the power of the number. Each chapter recounts a person of interest, telling the story of the intersection of mathematics and politics throughout history.
