New Stuff Tuesday – August 25

Monty Hall Problem

The Monty Hall Problem:
The Remarkable Story of Math’s Most Contentious Brain Teaser
By Jason Rosenhouse
QA95 .R67 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor

“What’s behind door number one?” The famous question of Let’s Make a Deal‘s Monty Hall has spawned much discussion on strategy, bringing in mathematics, probability, psychology and philosophy into the arena (and made the front page of the New York Times). After you’ve selected the door of your choice and Monty reveals what’s behind the one of the other doors, do you stay with your first choice or do you switch to the other doors? That, my friend, is the Monty Hall Problem.

Rosenhouse, math professor at James Madison University, set out to compile his notes about the problem spawned from the game show and present them in book format. However, he ran into some difficulty when he started researching because the problem attracted the attention of more than just mathematicians. The author therefore has incorporated the aspects of psychology and philosophy that have been studied in relation to the conundrum presented by the prizes behind the doors. Rosenhouse does explain in his preface that while chapters three and four are pretty math-heavy, the rest of the book is relatively easy-to-understand.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhlc7peGlGg[/youtube]

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Library Catalog Upgrade

The Library Catalog had a significant upgrade right before Orientation Week (convenient timing, isn’t it?!).

We’ve named our new catalog HalCat (short for Harold Andersen Library Catalog). It needs more tweaking, and we are experiencing some technical difficulties with its functionality (which are not local), so please bear with us.

If you want to search other UW System campus library catalogs and borrow materials, either click on the “Universal Borrowing” link on the Library home page’s left sidebar, or once in the catalog click on “Change” on the line where it tells you what catalog you are searching (and then scroll down to click on “Select”):

Database:UW-Whitewater (HAL CAT) Change

After you do a search and you are looking at the record for a title you want to borrow, look at the blue box on the right side of the display. Click on “Make a Request” and log in when prompted.

Yesterday morning and again this morning we are all getting an error message when we try to use this capability. I hope they can fix it again so we can all use it later today…and we apologize for any inconvenience.

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Orientation Week Events

The Library is involved in several events during Orientation Week and we’d like you to know about them!

Google for Scholarly Research
Presented by Martha Stephenson, Reference & Instruction Librarian
27 August 2009 (Thursday) — 9-10 AM — UC 261
Google is ubiquitous, yet constantly evolving. Advances and improvements in Google products offer opportunities to more effectively and efficiently find information on the internet. This Googleology workshop features Google Scholar, Books, and Reader, which offer vital contributions to scholarship. By participating in this workshop, you’ll learn to:

  • Personalize Google Scholar to hybridize Andersen Library resources and the free internet:
    → Search with Google simplicity and find quality articles and books available through the Andersen Library
    → Interlibrary Loan materials not available in our library system
  • Use Google Books to find relevant books, book chapters and quotes.
  • Use Google Reader to aggregate pertinent RSS feeds.

Library Services & Online Resources
27 August 2009 (Thursday) — 2:30-3:30 PM — Andersen Library 2211 (BI Lab)
We’ll provide an introduction and overview of library services & online resources for new faculty and instructional academic staff (if you need a refresher, that’s OK too!). You’ll also get a chance to meet the library director and your librarian liaison. There will be refreshments served and the first fifteen attendees will receive a FREE t-shirt!

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New Stuff Tuesday – August 18

Tabloid Valley

Tabloid Valley:
Supermarket News and American Culture
By Paula Morton
PN4888 .T3 M67 2009
New Book Island, 2nd floor

I’ve always been fascinated and entertained while standing in line at the checkout because I have a chance to catch up with what really matters in our society, like who dressed to impress or who has found themselves unexpectedly expecting. That’s right, the celeb rags have captured my attention and curiosity for the rich and famous people important enough to grace those pages. This week’s featured title talks all about the tabloid industry and the dirt that it has managed to spread throughout time.

Morton, a freelance author, explores the history and culture of Tabloid Valley, the Silicon Valley equivalent for the gossip industry. The six major publications were all headquartered through Palm Beach County, FL, until they were bought up by AMI in 1999. The author examines the industry’s rise to fame and prominence within grocery stores everywhere and how their outlandish headlines and sensationalist stories have infiltrated our culture for all-you-can-handle celebrity news. Written in a similar format to a tabloid, Morton interviewed many of the tabloid insiders and provided the list of sources she used in compiling her story. You will find yourself bouncing back and forth between fact and fiction.

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What’s a Card Catalog?

card catalog with arms

What’s a card catalog, you say? It’s OK, you must be a freshman.

Beloit College has released their annual Mindset List, a listing of interesting factoids about the incoming class of new students that arrive in approximately twelve days. According to the list, the card catalog, arguably one of the most identifiable objects associated with our fine establishment, is practically a dinosaur to the fresh crop of kids. They also have never understood what RSVP stands for (I don’t either), only known postal abbreviations for states to contain two letters and (this one’s probably the saddest) have never been Saved by the Bell, in prime-time anyway.

As a precaution, please make sure that you’re in a good mood because it may be a little depressing to think how well you remember some of the things that the class of 2013 never experienced.

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Play Google Image Labeler

When you have some time to kill, you can spend it helping Google “improve the quality of Google’s image search results.” Go to Google Image Labeler.

They’ve made this into a “game.” When you start labeling you are paired with a partner (someone else who happens to be playing at the time). Each of you is shown the same series of images, one at a time, and you enter descriptive labels until the two of you match on a label. Points are awarded based on “how specific your label is.” At the end of two minutes you get a total score.

Now, I’m not sure how much this will improve image retrieval, because I often matched my partner on very simplistic labels like “woman,” “people,” and “black and white.” And sometimes I just had NO IDEA what an image was. so my descriptive labels may have been way off.

Try it for yourself, but I think the time limit influences players to stick with very simple labels and discourages coming up with more interesting (and useful) ones, which would be less likely to match your partner’s labels.

Believe it or not: This came to my attention at a meeting of librarians (Yes, that’s right, we get together sometimes, and you just never know what you’ll learn when we do!).

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Library Hours Aug 15-Sept 1 ’09

Ah, the end of summer! Where did it all go?!

library hours aug 15-sept 1 2009 Andersen Library’s “summer break” hours between the end of summer classes and the start of fall semester are M-F 8 am-4:30 pm. Please note: The Library is closed on Friday, August 21, as one of four designated campus-wide furlough days for all UWW staff, required as part of the State of Wisconsin’s mandated furloughs.

Remember that even when the Library is closed:

  • The Library’s article databases are available…just login when prompted with your campus Net-ID (same as for your campus email or D2L).
  • You can search the Library Catalog and use links to the titles that are online, including ereserves for classes.
  • You can renew your checked-out books, DVDs, etc. online (once) through your Personal Record.
  • You can ask a librarian for help using email or chat, or phone us at the Reference Desk during open hours (262-472-1032). Chat will be answered by non-UWW librarians. If you call or email you will not receive a response until the Library is open again.
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New Stuff Tuesday – August 11

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

The $12 Million Stuffed Shark:
The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art
By Don Thompson
N6490 .T525 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Have you ever wondered how they came up with the price of a work of art? You see it in the news that this painting has gone for a record sum of money, but then you wonder, ‘They paid WHAT?! They must be out of their minds!’ What factors control the demand for art – the creator? the circumstances? the mood of the agent? This week’s featured title can probably provide a few answers for you concerning the mysterious art world.

Thompson, marketing & economics professor at York University, takes you into a world that most people can only dream of experiencing – the contemporary art scene. The author examines the artists that produce the extravagant pieces of art; the agents and auction houses responsible for convincing individuals to pony up the dough for their client’s creative endeavors; and the aforementioned souls forking over the money for the privilege of displaying the art in their personal galleries. It’s a convergence of art, economics and psychology that keeps you entertained with Thompson’s excellent knowledge of the subject matter. Anyone interested in contemporary art, from either the aesthetic or business perspective, should read this book.

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Perseid meteor shower

If you’re a fan of stargazing, check out the Perseid meteor shower. The best time for viewing these “shooting stars” is from midnight to dawn tonight and again late tomorrow night. According to NASA’s website, this meteor shower is an annual event in August as the tail of the comet, Swift-Tuttle, intersects with the earth’s orbit.

Want to read about meteors and comets? Below are just a few books that are available in Andersen Library on these topics.

  • Cosmic Pinball: The Science of Comets, Meteors, and Asteroids by  Carolyn Sumners and Carlton Allen (QB721 .S85 2000, main collection, 3rd floor).
  • Comet Science: The Study of Remnants from the Birth of the Solar System by Jacques Crovisier and Thérèse Encrenaz ; translated by Stephen Lyle (QB721 .S85 2000, main collection, 3rd floor).
  • Cosmic Phenomena by Gabriele Vanin (QB500 .V36 1999, main oversize collection, 3rd floor).

To find more books on astronomy, search the library catalog.

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Smithsonian Institution anniversary

On August 10, 1846, President James Polk signed legislation that created the Smithsonian Institution. It all started in 1826 when James Smithson, a British scientist, named his nephew as his beneficiary, but stipulated that if the nephew died without heirs (which he did) the estate would go to the United States to found the Smithsonian Institution, “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Read more about it on the Smithsonian web site.

So happy birthday, Smithsonian! It exists now as a complex of 19 museums, 9 research centers, and the National Zoo. I’ve visited several of the museums, and I can enthusiastically recommend them. My favorites are the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of the American Indian. But if you can’t travel there, the museum web sites have wonderful content. The Natural History Museum, for example, has a virtual tour that I’ve enjoyed.

Smithsonian Magazine coverThe Smithsonian Magazine (also on Twitter) is full of interesting articles on all kinds of topics. Andersen Library receives it in print and puts the most recent issue on the 2nd-floor magazine racks.

Government Printing Office logo

The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!

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