Lessons Learned from 9/11

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 impacted the way of life for many Americans. From government agencies to law enforcement, changes have been implemented to prepare for the next disaster.

Lessons Learned from 9/11

The National Institute of Justice utilized the knowledge of experts related to the field of forensic sciences who have experience with the events of September 11th to publish their findings of “lessons learned” in the policies and procedures of identifying victims who perished in the World Trade Center attacks. These experts discuss “DNA protocols, laboratory techniques, and statistical approaches” for officials who deal directly with mass fatality incidents. Covering such issues as the basics of DNA identification, major decisions for officials and forensic experts to make during the mass fatality event, information technology used in each procedure, how to properly conduct media sessions, establishing relationships between those identifying the bodies and the victims’ families, how to report accurate statistics and findings, and how to maintain quality control in a DNA laboratory.

If you’re a forensics, biology, or a criminal justice student, or just curious about DNA procedures, check out this government documents publication.

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 – May 8

It’s that time of the week again… New Stuff Tuesday! This week it’s all about people and our social nature.

How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature

Herd:
How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature

Mark Earls
HF5415.123 .E37 2007
New Book Island, 2nd floor

This intriguing book, written by a leading thinker in consumer behavior, covers a whole lot of ground. Although this book centers around the principle of mass behavior and its effects on advertising and marketing, it quickly moves from the idea of the group versus individual mentality to the keys of “herd marketing,” such as interaction, influence, and letting go. What’s great about the book is the use of real-world examples as illustrations, like urinal etiquette to describe unspoken rules about choosing the correct point of relief, if you will. Bet you didn’t see that coming, did you?

The Relational Revolution in Psychology

This Changes Everything:
The Relational Revolution in Psychology

Christina Robb
HM1106 .R63 2007
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Christina Robb, former Boston Globe reporter & Pultizer Prize winner, delves into relational psychology and the women who causes this fundamental shift in thinking. This pioneering group — Carol Gilligan, Jean Baker Miller & Judith Lewis Herman — asserted that relationships serve ad the foundation for our psychological wellbeing, not the Freudain camp’s Sense of Self. This provides the “missing link between feminist politics and female reality.” (Jennifer Baumgardner). So did it really change everything? Find out for yourself.

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Ask?Away Awareness Week

Do you know what Ask?Away is? Then Ask?Away Awareness Week is for you!

Here at UW-Whitewater, we call it Ask-a-Librarian, so don’t feel bad if you didn’t know. Ask-a-Librarian allows you to get help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We participate in a consortium of libraries all over the world to offer this service available whenever you are. If you’re up pulling an all-nighter and you get stuck while doing research, then there’s a librarian to help you (they’ll probably be in Australia because we’ll be sleeping).

The hours in which the librarians at Whitewater are online are posted on the Ask-a-Librarian page. You can start chatting or send us an e-mail from this page.

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Favorite Presidential Words

The great thing about government information is that there is no copyright. What does this mean? It means that tech-savvy people can create really cool and useful websites using government information.

US Presidential Speeches Tag Cloud
Chirag Mehta developed this tag cloud (what’s a tag cloud?) by taking over 350 presidential speeches dating back to 1776 and analyzing the words used in those speeches. The result is a visually and intellectually stimulating representation of presidential vocabulary. bigger = used more frequently ; brighter = used more recently. From this, you quickly know that Lincoln liked to reference the Constitution, Franklin Delano Roosevelt concentrated on the nation’s economy, and George W. Bush talks a lot about terrorists. Pretty cool, huh?

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 – May 1

You never know what you’re going to find when you browse the sciences section of the stacks. How’s this for making science fun?

The Physics of Superheroes

The Physics of Superheroes
James Kakalios
QC24.5 .K3 2006
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Studying for a physics exam and it’s not making sense? Well, obviously your instructor should have read this book, which teaches physics using comic book heroes for the examples. Going from Mechanics to Energy to Modern Physics, Kakalios, a physics professor at the University of Minnesota, breaks down the sometimes hard-to-digest equations and principles by giving them life in the form of Magneto and Ant-man and other superheroes. The author accomplishes the task of teaching physics and saving the day at the same time.

How the Weather Has Changed History

Blame It On the Rain:
How the Weather Has Changed History

Laura Lee
QC981.L43 2006
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Ever wonder what this world would be like if Russia didn’t have the extreme climate that it does? If you have any doubts, just ask Napoleon or Hitler. Their defeats were greatly influenced by none other than the weather. The author looks at different historical events and the weather in which they transpired. With chapter titles like The Mud That Made England and Operation Thwarted by Desert Storm, the reader should expect a light read while picking up fun facts about world history.

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A Successful Book Sale!

We’re pleased to report that the 10th Annual Friends of the Library Book Sale, held April 16-19, raised over $3,000! As much as we’d like to run off to the casino and gamble the night away, we’ll be a little more practical with the money. The funds raised are deposited into the Library Acquisition Endowment Fund, which supports Library purchases. The Friends of the Library’s website features previous acquisitions from this account.

We’d also like to recognize the hard work of the Book Sale Committee (Patty Fragola, Peg Murray, Doreen Acker-Ritter and Martha Stephenson) and the volunteers that make this event the success that it is!

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Working out… at the Library?

Youtube has some real gems. And since it’s Friday, we’d like to point a rather amusing video that was found when browsing for entertainment. This video was made at Arizona State University in 1987 – can you say ‘retro’?

In honor of its twentieth anniversary, we present the Betty Glover Workout Tape!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k8BKX2eQ0Q[/youtube]

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Research Paper Season – Documenting Sources

It’s that time of the semester again, and regardless of your major, you’ve probably got a research paper. After a semester (or the day night, either way) spent researching to construct a fantastic essay, you have to prove that you did just make up everything that you wrote. All that research must be documented in the form of a works cited page or reference list. No one gets out of this part of the research process, not when you’re in school or out in the real world.

Did you know that you can use the Library’s databases for this part of the process as well? Many of our databases, such as the databases from EBSCOhost and Proquest, will actually format citations for you? Just another reason why you should use them!

Here’s how in EBSCOhost:

  • Find an article or articles that you would like to use in your research.
  • When viewing the result list, click on the folder icon to the right of the citation to Add to Folder.
  • Scroll to the top and click on the link for Folder has items.
  • This page should list all of the sources you’ve selected. You can choose to e-mail, print or save those citations. Click on your preferred method.
  • From this page, you should see to the right the options for citation format. The second drop-down menu allows you to select a particular style, i.e. APA, MLA, etc.
  • Depending on which option you selected, click on Print, E-mail or Save in the left corner.

Just as with any automatic process, you need to make sure that the citations are properly formatted. It’s still a whole lot easier than starting from scratch, no?

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Happy Belated Birthday, Library of Congress!

The Library of Congress, the largest in the nation with over 30 million volumes, turned 207 yesterday. It was in 1800 that Congress allocated funds of $5,000 to start a library, which began with 740 books and three maps. If only that same amount of money could do that much now.

So how does a library such as the Library of Congress celebrate their birthday? By starting a blog, of course!

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 – April 24

This week features two books about famous people and the lives they lead out of the spotlight.

Private Lives, Public Consequences: Personality and Politics in Modern America

Private Lives, Public Consequences:
Personality and Politics in Modern America

William H. Chafe
E743 .C425 2005
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Chafe, faculty member at Duke University and respected historian, writes about how the private lives of some of the most distinguished politicians of the twentieth century shaped their political careers. Not all come from dynasties like the Kennedys and the Bushes, and this book demonstrates that these individuals led ideal lives. The author argues that it is the adversity which these individuals face that contribute to their greatness as leaders of our country. Politicians profiled include the Roosevelts, Nixon, Reagan and the Clintons.

3000 Years of Great Athletes Whose Sexual Orientation Was Different

The Lavender Locker Room:
3000 Years of Great Athletes Whose Sexual Orientation Was Different

Patricia Nell Warren
GV708.8 .W373 2006
New Book Island, 2nd floor

Several former athletes have made headlines in the past months by coming out of the closet, waiting until after retirement to clear the air about their sexual orientation. It may make you wonder, who else is hiding? The Lavender Locker Room, as its subtitle declares, explores three thousand years of history and the athletes that dared to play by different rules. The book is written as more of a narrative, with the author taking tangents on topics like Brokeback Mountain, Troy and Harry Potter. Great light reading and informative at the same time.

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