Children’s books on sale

Posted on July 29, 2010 by Susan

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 50¢ each.

book sale cart

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Education & Dementia

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Barbara

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).

The Other Brain coverIn 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.

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New Stuff Tuesday – July 27

Posted on July 27, 2010 by kyle

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics

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.

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Universal Borrowing (UB) down

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Barbara

The Universal Borrowing (UB) service, which allows UWW students and staff to borrow materials from other UW libraries, will be down starting on Monday, July 26th. The service will likely resume on Monday, August 16th.

All System libraries will be undergoing an upgrade to the “Voyager” system that powers their catalogs as well as UB. The catalogs will still be available for searching, however, and local check-out will continue to be possible.

Questions? Please contact Circulation staff at 262-472-5511 (or email circdesk@uww.edu)

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Local author’s book signing

Posted on July 22, 2010 by Barbara

Whitewater author Dr. Suzanne Popke will give a book reading and signing on Sunday, July 25, at 2pm (location: 143 W. Main St., Whitewater, Office of Wisconsin Community Mental Health Counseling Center & Deeper Insight Art Gallery).

Birth of a new race: Poems for a dead storyteller, Popke’s third book, is about “a grandmother from Sioux Indian country in the late 1800s that still has things to teach her great grandchildren in the 21st century.” It combines one family’s personal story with Wisconsin history and traditional Lakota tales through narrative poems.

Andersen Library’s 1st-floor Special Collections has a copy of Popke’s book on intercountry adoption, Siberian Pearls: A Buryat journey.

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“Monkey” trial anniversary

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Barbara

Heard of the Scopes “Monkey” trial (aka The State of Tennessee vs. Scopes)? On July 21, 1925 schoolteacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee’s Anti-Evolution Act, which outlawed teaching evolution in public schools. The verdict was set aside later by the Tennessee Supreme Court–on a technicality. Read more about it, e.g., excerpts of the trial transcript from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law’s “Famous Trials” web site.

Andersen Library has materials on the trial as well. Search the HALCAT online catalog to find items including these videos: 10 days that unexpectedly changed America (2nd-floor Academic DVDs E178 .T46 2006; disc 2 has the segment called “Scopes: The battle over America’s soul”), Monkey trial (2nd-floor VHS KF224.S3 M64 2002), and Inherit the wind (a drama based on the trial in 2nd-floor feature film DVDs, “call no.” Inh). You will find books also, such as The great monkey trial (3rd-floor Main Collection KF224 .S3 D4) and Summer for the gods: The Scopes trial and America’s continuing debate over science and religion (3rd-floor Main Collection KF224.S3 L37 1998). Articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers are available, including New York Times articles from the time of the trial.

Image of New York Times with Scopes article from 1925 Please ask a librarian for assistance with finding materials.

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New Stuff Tuesday – July 20

Posted on July 20, 2010 by kyle

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics

Popular Culture and the Future of Politics
Cultural Studies and the Tao of South Park
by Ted Gournelos
PN1992.6 .G67 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Good ol’ South Park. I remember when the show first starting airing when I was in junior high, and it was all the rage. Its foul language and questionable content meant that I wasn’t “allowed” to watch it [like the rebellious teenager that I was, I still did catch a number of episodes]. The creators of the hit series didn’t shy away from the touchy subjects then, and they continue to push the envelope today. This week’s featured title takes a look at the four kids from Colorado and their effect on the critique of society.

Gournelos, a communication professor at Maryville University, utilizes the controversial television show as a vehicle to demonstrate how popular culture pushes the limits of political and social discourse within the context of three techniques for reshaping said discourse (allusive, responsive and distruptive). Using examples such as Mr. Garrison’s sex change and Muhammad, the author details South Park’s approaches to responding to current events in a satirical manner. He also pulls in other popular voices of opposition, such as the Daily Show, the Boondocks and the Simpsons to fill out his argument. If you need a scholarly source to defend your paper on why South Park is more than just a silly cartoon, this is the one to use.

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Guilty pleasures

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Ronna

All right, I’ll admit it. I am a big fan of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, on the Bravo channel. I watch it every Monday night, and if I can’t, I try to watch the re-run sometime during the week. I always feel a little silly watching it, but I can’t help it. It’s definitely one of my guilty pleasures.

Books can be guilty pleasures, too. For instance, I still love to read the Trixie Belden series. Remember Trixie? She had a great group of friends, lived in the awesome Crabapple Farm, and hated algebra. And, she solved mysteries wherever she went. Who wouldn’t want to be Trixie? I discovered her in junior high and she’s been a friend of mine ever since. You can order books from the Trixie series (free!) from another UW System library via Universal Borrowing.

There’s even been some research on this topic. A keyword search in the online catalog on the phrase “guilty pleasures” yielded books such as The feminist, the housewife, and the soap opera (Main Collection, PN1992.8.S4 B78 2000), and The taste of sweet: our complicated love affair with our favorite treats (Browsing Books, QP456 .C475 2008).

If you’ve got a favorite book or movie or TV series you just love to read or watch over and over again, check the online catalog to see if it is available, or ask a librarian for help.

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Are You Prepared?

Posted on July 16, 2010 by kyle

Coming to college can seem like a daunting task. It’s not like grade school where you pick up the school supplies and head to Target. You’ve got to pack up your whole life and move to a faraway place (or just down the road). You’ve got to buy all the stuff for your new life out of the direct reach of the parentals. In addition to all of the things for your dorm room, there’s also the electronic side of the coin to consider. What do you do for that?

The fantastically useful Lifehacker recently posted their list of tech essentials for college. The article highlights the factors to consider when laying down the money for the new digital digs. Mac or PC? Microsoft Office or an open-source alternative? External hard drive or flash drive? While the PC v Mac question is easy (duh.), the others might require a little thought. With their help, you can make the informed decisions for yourself.

Read the list for yourself:
Preparing for College: Tech Essentials for Your First Year – Lifehacker

Any suggestions from the more experienced students out there?

Thanks to Patty for the link!

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Old Spice Guy Loves Libraries

Posted on July 16, 2010 by kyle

Here’s your Friday Fun video (it’s been a while, hasn’t it?)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu-KBxOtJxs[/youtube]

There’s also been a marriage proposal as well!

UPDATE
The Harold B Lee Library at Brigham Young University has taken the Old Spice guy to the next level for libraries. See for yourself.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArIj236UHs[/youtube]

Love it.

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