The Andersen Library Blog

VOTE! Tues. Feb. 19 Primary

Posted on February 18, 2008 by Barbara

I Voted

Tuesday, February 19, 2008 is Wisconsin Primary Election Day. For the first time, some UWW students may be voting at the new polling place on campus. Others will vote at the Armory. Where do you vote? See the City’s elections information. Polls are open from 7am to 8pm.

What the heck is a primary, and why is it important?

A primary is part of the process used by the parties (Democratic and Republican) to figure out who will be their single candidate for the national Presidential election later. The primary voting determines how many delegates each candidate gets. These delegates are pledged to vote for that candidate at the party conventions in August and September. Wisconsin has an open primary, meaning you don’t have to be a registered or declared democrat or republican to vote in a party’s primary, but you can only vote in the primary for one or the other.

For more information about the primary and candidates, see:

Wisconsin Vote, a service of Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio. There are Wisconsin news headlines and blogs here. The “Primary 08” link leads to info on issues for Wisconsinites and what the candidates say.
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. They have their own 2008 Presidential Primary Voters’ Guide with information about the candidates.
Project Vote Smart Information on the candidates and results of completed state primaries are available here.

Of course, the candidates have their own web sites too:

Posted in around the world, campus connection, info.gov | Tagged elections, government info, politics, presidential primary, voting, whitewater, wisconsin | 3 Comments

The Resource (Library newsletter)-Spring 2008

Posted on February 15, 2008 by Barbara

In this issue of the Library’s newsletter, The Resource – Spring 2008:

Assess That: Continuous Improvement Through Assessment (featuring the upcoming user survey LibQUAL+, the information literacy test iSkills, and collection analysis efforts)
Picture Perfect Finish!
What’s Up Doc? Just In Time Journal Articles
Favorite Study Spaces
Liaison This!
MP3-CD Audio Books: Music To My Ears
A Nod of Approval for eNotes
Friends of the Library
Librarian Liaisons

Posted in around the library | Tagged approval plans, archives, assessment, audio books, commercial document delivery, eNotes, friends of the library, information literacy, iSkills, liaisons, LibQUAL, newsletters, photos, Resource, study space, surveys | Comments Off

Student Teachers: Government Resources

Posted on February 14, 2008 by Kate

Student teachers, students in education classes, teachers, etc:
The Federal government produces materials specifically for classroom use. There are many such items in the University Library’s Federal Documents collection. Here are some examples:

Scenes of Science (Grades 6 – 12, DVD)
Call no. A 77.40:SCI 2 (ask at the Reference Desk)

Scenes of Science cover

Learn how the Agricultural Research Service is working to ensure a safe and high quality food supply, assess the nutritional needs of Americans, sustain a competitive agricultural economy, enhance the natural resource base and the environment, and provide economic opportunities for communities. Topics include; Foods and Health, Crops and Environment, Farm Animals, New Products, and Insects.

The Wisconsin State Capitol Activity Book
call no. WIS A 9/2:C 3/5/1993

This coloring and activity book for young kids will entertain as well as teach them about the history of the State Capitol building, its architectural designs, State Seal, State animal, the Governors of Wisconsin, and the flowers and trees planted around the square. Learning about the State of Wisconsin government is required for all 4th graders, but it’s also fun for those teaching and learning about it.

Wisconsin Quality Educator Initiative: PI 34 Professional Development Plan
call no. WIS ED 6/2:E 28/2/2005

Published by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, this document holds the very information all teachers within the state are concerned about: how to get licensed to teach. It gives teachers the necessary guidelines for renewing their teaching license with a professional development plan (PDP) and tells you how to write a PDP. Check out this important document today so you know what to do when you have to renew your teaching license so you can continue to have a positive influence on young kids within the education field today.

Helping Your Child Learn Math
call no. ED 1.302:C 43/35

Math isn’t everyone’s favorite subject in school. That’s why the Department of Education has published this informative document to give parents and teachers a guide to help children learn math through a variety of activities from kindergarten through fifth grade. From fractions to word problems, real life applications are used to show the important impact math has on our daily lives.

The Adventures of Echo the Bat
call no. NAS 1.19:2000-08-001-HQ

Combining a beautifully illustrated story with a set of activities for young children, this book seeks to teach kids about perspective, shape, pattern, color, and texture. It also teaches kids about the migrating adventures of bats throughout the United States.

Many of these educational kits and documents are freely available through the government. A library student worker in the Government Documents Department who is an education major frequently orders educational items to use in her classroom and highly recommends every future teacher to check out these items and order them for their classroom. You can order these free government kits and activitiy books at the Department of Education’s EdPubs website.

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!

Posted in info.gov | Tagged federal government, government info, teachers resources | 1 Comment

Blog with your gov’t: TSA

Posted on February 13, 2008 by Barbara

OK, you’ve been waiting for this one…if you travel by air and would like to, um, discuss or even question some of the security screening, well, this blog’s for you!

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) started a blog called Evolution of Security in January. OK, the title threw me, but this is the slogan: “Terrorists evolve. Threats evolve. Security must stay ahead. You play a part.” Yes, the blog is about PR, but its official purpose is “to facilitate an ongoing dialogue on innovations in security, technology and the checkpoint screening process.” The opening entry promised that “postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive but not touch the critical or cranky.” So talk to them. You never know, a posting here or there (or maybe thousands of them) might actually make things easier for all of us at some point.

As you might expect, it has had a lot of interest already. Categories include liquids, shoes, inconsistencies, etc.

And one of the TSA bloggers is Ethel from Wisconsin, who loves ice cream. It can’t get better than that, can it? But yes, it can…sometimes there are links to videos!

Government Printing Office logo

Posted in around the world, info.gov | Tagged airport screenings, blogs, federal government, government info, security, travel | Comments Off

New Stuff Tuesday – February 12

Posted on February 12, 2008 by kyle

Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses

Big Box Swindle:
The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses
by Stacy Mitchell
HF5468 .M58 2006
New Book Island, 2nd floor

After reading the Royal Purple about local coffeehouses being unaffected by McD’s and separately having a conversation about Starbucks taking over the world with the Sweet Spot baristas, I thought that this week’s featured book was appropriate.

America loves convenience – going to the store to get everything they need in one stop, using the drive-thru to get their fix of caffeine or grease, ordering movies online and delivered right to your door. Convenience is fantastic, but does it come at a price? True – you pay for it, but are you the only one affected? Mitchell, a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, contends that these mega-retailers and chain stores do more harm than good. These large corporations steer customers away from local independent businesses, taking away revenues necessary to stay afloat and funds out of the local economy. As a strong proponent of small business, Mitchell provides an excellent and well-researched argument in the debate of “Does bigger mean better?”

Along the same lines, we also just received The Local Economic Impact of Wal-Mart (HF5465 .U64 W354 2007) by Michael Hicks, conveniently shelved right next to Big Box Swindle on the New Book Island.

Posted in new stuff tuesdays | Tagged books, business, economics, new stuff, small business | Comments Off

Library Helps Reduce Global Warming

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Carol

You may have noticed something you took for granted before. Custodians used to clean the Library after hours, but now they’re here during the day and evening, tidying up after us. So how do the custodial shift changes help reduce global warming? The University can now turn off lights and power down the heat & air conditioning at night to conserve electricity. This cost-saving & energy-conservation initiative is happening across the Univ. of Wisconsin system as we do our part to help the planet.

Posted in around the library, campus connection | Tagged custodians, energy conservation, global warming, library | Comments Off

Library: Get a Fast Intro

Posted on February 11, 2008 by Barbara

OK , you’re a transfer student, a returning student, a student who never set foot in a library before (!), a new faculty, etc. Now you need to do research, use the library databases, and you’ve got some questions…

Photo of University Library Entrance

Come to a drop-in session with your questions and spend a little time talking to a reference librarian. Two sessions available (location L2211, Library instruction lab near the Reference Desk):

Wed., Feb. 13th, 4-4:30 p.m.
Tues., Feb. 19th, 4-4:30 p.m.

Can’t make those? Ask anytime… come to the Reference Desk, call us (262-472-1032), email or chat live. A librarian also can arrange to meet with you or your small group for a longer session.

Posted in around the library | Tagged library orientation | Comments Off

Michael Novacek @UWW on 2/12 (Darwin Day)

Posted on February 7, 2008 by Barbara

The 10th annual Darwin Day lecture will be given at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 12th in the Hamilton Center (in the University Center). Michael Novacek, Senior Vice President and Provost of Science at the American Museum of Natural History, will speak on “Terra: Our Million-year-Old Ecosystem and the Threats That Now Put It At Risk.” His talk will be preceded by a reception, which features an edible tree of life, from 6:45-7:20 p.m. in the Upham Hall foyer.

Terra cover

The University Library has a copy of his 1996 book Dinosaurs of the flaming cliffs in the 3rd-floor Main Collection (call no. QE862.D5 N684 1996). UWW students and staff can borrow copies of his latest book, Terra, and the 2001 book he edited, The biodiversity crisis: losing what counts, by requesting them from other UW System campus libraries via the free Universal Borrowing service. Requested items arrive in 2-4 weekdays.

Biodiversity Crisis cover

Mr. Novacek also is the author of many articles in magazines and scientific journals that can be found and read online using the Library’s databases, e.g., Academic Search Premier. One article, for example, is “The current biodiversity extinction event: Scenarios for mitigation and recovery” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America in 2001. This article discusses options for recovery and maintenance of biodiversity, degradation of habitat and extinction of species caused by human activities, and the need for international cooperation and input from the scientific community to mitigate the harmful effects of human activities.

Here is an excerpt from the preface to The biodiversity crisis:

“When the last millennium began, the world was mostly uncharted: mysterious, even terrifying in its vastness outside clusters of human habitation. Nature over large portions of continents and oceans was wild and untamed, but at the same time protected from the invasion of a comparatively concentrated human population. At the end of the millennium … humans, through their sheer numbers and their capacity for altering the natural state of the planet, present a threat to the biosphere that rivals some of the great extinction events of the past.”

Darwin image

The goal of the annual Darwin Day celebration is to “show why evolution matters–specifically, to illustrate how valuable Darwinian thinking can be in addressing significant societal challenges.” More about last year’s presentation, which addressed evolution of viruses, is on the University Marketing & Media Relations website. A podcast of the 2007 lecture is available from the Darwin Day web page.

Posted in campus connection | Tagged authors, biodiversity, Darwin Day, evolution, lectures | 1 Comment

Library Closing at 10pm Wed 2/6/08

Posted on February 6, 2008 by Barbara

The University Library will close at 10 p.m. on Wed., Feb. 6, 2008 due to the weather conditions.

Databases for articles, full-text legal research, etc.; ebooks; and the Library Catalog continue to be available during the evening

The Ask a Librarian chat reference service will be available also.

Posted in around the library | Comments Off