Would You Include Libraries?

Posted on August 15, 2007 by kyle

The Chronicle of Higher Ed’s The Wired Campus blog featured a post last week about a list of the Top 100 Tools for Learning and how libraries were not included. The question posed to “e-learning experts” was What are your Top 10 tools for your own personal learning or working and/or for creating, delivering or supporting learning? I personally think that the Top 100 respondents focused more on the technical production of the e-learning experience, not the inspiration or the intellectual, research-driven component of e-learning. As was pointed out in the comments, the majority of the experts don’t work in academia, so they may not have access to a research library.

I think that they should ask students the same thing. I would expect slightly different results. What do you think?

direct link to Wired Campus post, “A List Without Libraries“

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New Stuff Tuesday – August 14

Posted on August 14, 2007 by kyle

With all this commotion about the upcoming election, which – minor detail – is still SIXTEEN months away, I thought that I’d feature this book.

Spanking the Donkey

Spanking the Donkey:
Dispatches from the Dumb Season
by Matt Taibbi
E905 .T35 2005
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Matt Taibbi, a columnist for the New York Press and contributor to Rolling Stone and the Nation, puts forth a book that was meant to be a campaign diary but ended up as a “compelling, and somewhat chaotic, mix of reporting, anecdote, social commentary and rant.” (Publishers Weekly review via Amazon) I would definitely identify Taibbi as left-wing, but he hates on Democrats just as much as Republicans – basically, no one is safe with this guy. He takes a hard look at the current state of American politics and the journalists that cover it. As James Wolcott, cultural critic for Vanity Fair, eloquently states, this book is “the funniest angry book and the angriest funny book since Hunter S. Thompson roared into town.”

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Wisconsin Magazine of History

Posted on August 9, 2007 by Kate

Wisconsin Magazine of History

With the endless hot days of summer come the excited calls of fans cheering on their favorite baseball teams. Barry Bonds recently broke the home run record held by Hank Aaron. But did you know Hank Aaron once played for the Milwaukee Braves?

In the summer 2007 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History, the history of the Milwaukee Braves is remembered. The magazine highlights the glory days of baseball, recalling the history of the game from its early days before the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta, the beginning of a new era with the Brewers in 1982, and memorable pictures of County Stadium and photos of famous players and events. The Wisconsin Magazine of History covers many issues related to Wisconsin and the people and places and events of this wonderful state. The magazine is published by the Wisconsin Historical Society four times a year and is shelved in the Periodicals Department located on the first floor of the University Library. Check it out and learn all about the fascinating history of Wisconsin!

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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New Stuff Tuesday – August 7

Posted on August 7, 2007 by kyle

In honor of the fact that today marks my one-year anniversary here in Whitewater, I’ve decided to feature a book about careers.

Cracks in the American Dream

The Career Mystique:
Cracks in the American Dream
by Phyllis Moen & Patricia Roehling
HD4904.25 .M638 2005
New Book Island, 2nd floor

The Career Mystique (think Feminine Mystique) questions whether or not the hard work really does pay off in the long run. Authors Moen and Roehling, professors of sociology and psychology respectively, contend that although the American Dream did exist and had a good run, the realities of today prevent many from reaching it. They examine the origins and historical perspectives, as well as the future of the “lockstep life course.” The book, althoughly scholarly (it has a HUGE list of references), is incredibly easy to read, interspersed with personal accounts of surveyed individuals.

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Destroy the Books – They’re Full of Lies

Posted on August 6, 2007 by kyle

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported online today that Cambridge University Press (CUP) has settled a libel lawsuit with Khalid bin Mahfouz, a Saudi banker. Mahfouz cried foul when CUP published Alms for Jihad by Robert O. Collins and J. Millard Burr, which contained allegations that the businessman financed terrorists around the world in the 1990s. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as Mafhouz has successfully sued for libel against three other publishers for works with similar accusations.

You might be thinking, “What does that have to do with the library?” Well, CUP’s settlement included that the press will destroy all unsold copies of the books and attempt to persaude libraries to take the book of their shelves. The University Library does not own Alms for Jihad, but one of the other titles under fire by Mr. Mahfouz. A librarian from Virginia Tech assessed the situation by saying, “If we were to remove this book, would we by implication be saying that we stand behind the factual accuracy and fairness of the remaining 1,999,999?”

So what do you think? What should libraries like UW-Madison that own Alms for Jihad do with the book?

For more information, you can read the original article from the Chronicle or check Mr. Mahfouz’s website.

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MySpace is Dying? WHAT?!

Posted on August 1, 2007 by kyle

The last time I checked, the social networking giant was doing pretty well for itself. But according to Lance Ulanoff at PC Magazine, MySpace, Second Life and Twitter were all doomed. He says that MySpace could be the first one out because it’s “huge, ugly, unmonitored, unrestrained, and pointless.” I do agree that some MySpace profiles could use a serious makeover – you can’t even read some people’s profiles because of the backgrounds and bad color combos. What do you think? Is it going under before the end of the decade?

In other news, Facebook may go offline too because a lawsuit claims that the founder, Mark Zuckerberg, stole the code from ConnectU.

What will we do without our social networking sites?

link to the PC Magazine article, “MySpace, Second Life and Twitter are Doomed”
link to the MSNBC article, “Lawsuit seeks to Shut Down Facebook”

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New Stuff Tuesday – August 1

Posted on August 1, 2007 by kyle

I do realize that today is Wednesday, but I forgot to do New Stuff Tuesday yesterday. So it’s a day late – cut me some slack. I also secretly wanted to keep the cute kitteh at the top of the blog for as long as possible.

My forgetting actually works out well because today is the first day of our subscription to Academic Search Premier. You’re probably familiar with Academic Search Elite when doing research, but now we are glad to offer this better product. You won’t notice a difference when you’re initially searching, but you’ll quickly realize how much more you’re getting – both in terms of search results and full-text articles. That’s because Academic Search Premier has three times the number of abstracted and indexed journals and twice the number of full text journals as Academic Search Elite.

Now if that doesn’t impress you, then maybe this will. A search for “water pollution” in Academic Search Elite retrieves only 3,841 articles, 1,730 of which are available full text. Compare that to Academic Search Premier, which produces 7318 results, with 2,771 articles in full text! Wow! Not too shabby, eh?

Academic Search Premier from EBSCOhost

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A Bit of Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Posted on July 27, 2007 by kyle

You know when it’s pouring cats and dogs and you just want to curl up in bed? Unfortunately, it’s not the weekend and we can’t do that. On the other hand, when you need a little pick-me-up, we here at the Library have just the thing for a break from the harsh reality of the (much needed) rain.

In case you’ve missed out of the lolcat revolution and all things cute, check out Cute Overload and I Can Has Cheezburger?. There’s just something about furry little animals that make the world seem like an OK place to be. Some are even library-related, as seen in the picture from I Can Has Cheezburger? below.

128286656616093750iisinalphabe.jpg
moar funny pictures

Librarians have also joined in the fun with lolbrarians. Just watch out, there’s some bizarre library humor (and a few swear words here and there) – you may need to be a librarian to understand it.

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New Stuff Tuesday – July 24

Posted on July 24, 2007 by kyle

Literary Essays on Ambivalent US Latino/a Identity

Killing Spanish:
Literary Essays on Ambivalent US Latino/a Identity
by Lyn Di Iorio Sandín
PS153 .H56 S36 2004
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Browsing the New Book Island, this book instantly grabbed my attention, as I studied Spanish language and literature for seven years. Sandín, a professor at the City College at the City University of New York, delves in the question of the US Latino/a identity through the examination of several contemporary authors, such as Edward Rivera, Cristina García and others. She conjectures that the protagonists struggle between their present assimilation to American culture and their past origins. The ties to the homeland take shape in the other characters, with the protagonist embodying the American way of life. The novels in question handle the situation by killing the “Spanish” counterpart, which sheds light on the title. It’s definitely a scholarly work, but an interesting subject nonetheless.

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I Know I Don’t Turn Down Free Music

Posted on July 23, 2007 by kyle

Alexander Street Press

Who doesn’t like free stuff? If you’re a fan of classical music, then you’ll love free weekly music downloads from Alexander Street Press. It’s like the Single of the Week on iTunes – they select a work from their Classical Music Library each week that is available to everyone to download for free. You can even sign up for an e-mail alert to remind you to go download the new stuff. Not bad, eh?

Just a heads up – we subscribe to several of ASP’s electronic offerings, such as North American Women’s Letters and Diaries and Black Drama, but not the Classical Music Library – that means you won’t be able to search/browse for other music. But enjoy the free music!

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