YouTube for Smart People

Posted on April 10, 2009 by kyle

Some people kill time by watching YouTube videos or your favorite television shows on Hulu for hours. And if Alec Baldwin is correct, then your brain will turn to mush. What if there was a place where you could watch interesting videos and expand your mind?

There is. Academic Earth provides thousands of videos of lectures done by today’s greatest minds. With six of the most prestigious universities in the country participating in the project, you can listen to individual lectures, such as To Get an MBA or Not? from Stanford, to entire courses like Introduction to Solid State Chemistry from MIT. In true Web 2.0 fashion, you can even grade instructors on their presentations as well.

Check it out – you might just learn a thing or two.

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Movie Night Options

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Barbara

The Library’s Browsing collections of feature movies in VHS or DVD formats includes 96 of the titles on the American Film Institute‘s “AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies” 10th anniversary list. Most of them are available in DVD format.

Bringing Up Baby DVD coverCasablanca DVD coverThis list has something for everyone, including sci-fi classic Blade Runner (one of my personal favorites), Casablanca (go ahead and hum “As Time Goes By“), and Bringing Up Baby (it’s not every day you see the subject “Leopards as pets” in the Library Catalog).

When you search for a movie title in the Library Catalog, click on “Full View” to see more information such as plot summary, original motion picture date, stars, and running length. You can also get additional information from web sites such as Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes.

Of course, the Library has movies that are not on the AFI list too. Try a title search in the Library Catalog if you’re looking for something specific. Feature films in DVD format are on the shelf alphabetically by title, so you can browse too. Looking for videos on a topic or titles appropriate for children? There are ways to search the catalog, such as a keyword search for “juvenile films” or “children’s films” with the “Quick Limit” video collection. Please ask a librarian for assistance.

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WisconsinEye: Watching State Government Work

Posted on April 9, 2009 by Susan

Wisconsin Eye provides broadcast coverage of all three branches of the Wisconsin State Government—legislative, executive, and judicial.  This public affairs network, available on the Internet and on cable television, is a nonpartisan source of information, covering legislative floor proceedings, committee meetings, and oral arguments in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In addition, Wisconsin Eye provides coverage of some civic events around the State of Wisconsin.

More information, including the current schedule, links to live and archived video, and links to political news is available online at http://www.wisconsineye.com.

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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Jing: Screen capturing quick & easy…and free

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Barbara

What’s that saying about a picture being worth a thousand words? It’s especially true when you’re trying to describe doing something online when the other person can’t watch your monitor. There are, of course, software packages you can buy for “capturing” screenshots to send to others.

There also is Jing, which you can download free (there’s a “pro” version that costs about $15 per month too). It’s very simple to use and the completed files are kept on the company’s server. Some UW libraries use Jing to email library users little videos showing how to get to or use online library resources, but students and faculty might have uses for this too. There’s a comparison of Jing and some other similar screencasting tools in the January 2009 issue of Library Journal.

Here’re my first two stabs at ‘on-the-fly’ screen capture videos using Jing:

  • Universal Borrowing (How to use “Universal Borrowing” to request a book from other UW libraries) and
  • Reserves (How to find course reserves).

The Library has some online tutorials that were made using Captivate software, which is a bit fancier. These tutorials include how to use ILLiad for interlibrary loan requests, how to use Find It, and how to use specific databases such as ProQuest Historical Newspapers and ABI/Inform. See the complete list at http://library.uww.edu/guides/index.html#cap

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New Stuff Tuesday – April 7

Posted on April 7, 2009 by kyle

Milk

Milk:
The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages
By Anne Mendelson
SF251 .M46 2008
New Book Island, 2nd floor

In honor of Barb’s 200th blog post over the weekend, this week’s featured title made me think of her and her beloved animal. Oh yeah, and Wisconsin.

Mendelson, a seasoned food writer, takes an exploratory trip down way down memory lane at one of the first foods. In the first part of the book, she examines the origins of milk in the Old World, in which people used sheep’s and goats’ milk to make their yogurt. She then heads to the “Northwestern Cow Belt” (northern Europe and North America as defined by the author) and discusses the modern approaches and practices of the dairy ‘industry’. The second (and best) part of the book – or at least the part that will make you hungry – is a compilation of recipes that feature milk, cream, yogurt and other dairy products. Personally, I’ve always wanted to know what clotted cream was, other than delicious, and how to make it. Now I know!

Milk. Does a body good.

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University Library’s 12th Annual Book Sale

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Susan

Well, it’s almost that time of the year again. The University Library’s annual book sale is starting next week! There will be over 3,000 items for sale including new and used books (fiction, non-fiction, biography, mystery, children’s books), videos in various academic subjects, LP’s, magazines, cassettes, and more.

The presale, which is for UWW faculty, staff, students, and members of the Friends of the Library, takes place on Monday evening, April 13, from 6-8 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday (April 14-15), the sale is open to everyone and runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Thursday, April 16, remaining items will be sold for half-price until the sale ends at 4 p.m. Proceeds will be used for library purchases.

It’s not too late to donate books, CD’s, DVD’s, magazines, and videotapes for the sale. Just drop them off at any library service desk!

See you at the sale!

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Works Cited & Annotated Bibliographies

Posted on April 5, 2009 by kyle

Unsure how to cite a book, article, newspaper or website at the end of your paper? Curious how to reference a citation in your paper? The University Library Citing References guides provide examples of citing books, newspapers, magazines and internet sources with the major citation styles.

If you’ve been ask to put together an annotated bibliography, check out the Annotated Bibliographies guide, which points you to sources that explain what to do. However, because the format, content and length of annotations vary, please ask your professor for guidelines to follow when beginning your assignment.

Still have questions? Get your questions answered here:

  • University Library Reference Desk – Librarians are available in person during regular desk hours, by telephone (262-472-1032), by email or by chat.
  • Look at a style manual, located at the Reference Desk:
    • MLA: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition. REF LB 2369.G53 2003
    • APA: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition. REF BF 76.7.P83 2001
    • Turabian: A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition. REF LB 2369.T8 1996
    • Annotated Bibliographies: On compiling an annotated bibliography. REF Z1001 .H33 2000
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Peace, Poetry, Redwoods, & Reading

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Barbara

The Janesville Gazette has been running its annual “50 Who Matter” special section that shines a light on local individuals who make a difference, and in it I read the bio of Sue Nelson, a nonprofit administrator and peace activist who is “not too old to dream about a peaceful future.” I thought she sounded like an interesting person, so I wanted to know more about her favorite book (“The Naylor Sonnets”) and her role model (Maurine Ryan), since neither was familiar to me. It also seemed appropriate because March 30-April 9 is Peace Week.

UWW’s Library does not have a copy of There is a spirit: the Nayler sonnets, a small volume penned by economist and peace activist Kenneth E. Boulding that has been in print since it was published in 1945, but it is available to UWW students and staff from other UW campus libraries by using the free Universal Borrowing service. Each of the 26 sonnets is inspired by a four- to sixteen-word portion of 17th-Century Quaker James Nayler‘s dying statement.

Maurine Ryan, according to Sue Nelson, is a 102-year-old Washington State environmentalist who once chained herself to a redwood (at age 72). This seemed especially interesting to me since Arbor Day is coming up this month (April 24th). Apparently both Maurine and her husband Al were very active conservationists in the Washington State area, and they have been honored by having a portion of South Whidbey Island State Park, a park that features 347 acres of old-growth forest, named for them.

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Distinguished Scholar talk 4/7

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Barbara

Kwame Anthony Appiah will receive the Distinguished Scholar Award and speak on “Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers” on Tues., April 7, at 7pm in the Young Auditorium.

Cosmopolitanism coverKwame Anthony Appiah is the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. His book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (3rd-floor Main Collection BJ1031 .A635 2006), was the 2007 winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award. Other books of his include Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race (3rd-Floor Main Collection, E185.615 .A77 1996, or online via NetLibrary) and The Ethics of Identity (available to UWW students & staff from other UW System libraries by using the free Universal Borrowing service). He has published widely in African and African-American literary and cultural studies. Search the Library’s article databases for examples, including “Cosmopolitan patriots” in Critical Inquiry (Spring 1997, vol.23, no.3, pp.617-639). Appiah has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and also is a trustee of Ashesi University College in Accra, Ghana.

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Just Who Are the G20?

Posted on April 2, 2009 by kyle

As the G20 Summit wrapped up today in London, some of you may wonder, “What makes these twenty countries so special?” or perhaps, “Which countries are part of this ‘elite’ group?”

Global Market Information Database

In honor of the historic meeting, Global Market Information Database, one of the Library’s excellent resources from Euromonitor, has put together a featured story on the matter. Once you log into GMID, select Countries in the navigation bar at the top and then on G20: In Focus. You’ll find out interesting facts about the G20’s contribution to the global economy as well as be able to dive further into researching particular countries. GMID may be a business resource, but it has great insights into countries and their populations.

And for those of you that didn’t know (I didn’t), the G20 is comprised of the following countries: USA, Japan, China, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Australia, South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, South Africa and the rest of the EU

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