New Stuff Tuesday – December 27, 2016

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Martha

The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link between Music and the Structure of the Universe book cover

The Jazz of Physics:
The Secret Link between Music and the Structure of the Universe
by Stephon Alexander
QB981 .A54 2016
New Arrivals, 2nd floor

John Coltrane combined physics and geometry with music over 50 years ago and now Stephon Alexander is doing the same with physics and jazz. The melding of these spheres actually goes back as far as Pythagoras and includes other brilliant scientists such as Albert Einstein, all inspirations to Alexander. Jazz musician and theoretical physicist Alexander uses his keen abilities to improvise and explore to discover the connection between the fundamental waves of sound and those of everything else. He uses jazz as an analogy when explaining the process of discovery in theoretical physics research, from the tiny quantum world to our much larger universe. The book explores modern physics, relativistic cosmology, and music theory through the eye of an expert, but in the language of the common person. There are some, perhaps complex, equations, but in the words of the author, “I encourage you to skip [them] and continue reading” if you don’t get them.

Watch Stephon Alexander speak about The Jazz of Physics on TEDx Talks, TEDxSanDiego (16:35)

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New Stuff Tuesday – December 20, 2016

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Diana

The Gene: An Intimate History book cover

The Gene:
An Intimate History
by Siddhartha Mukherjee
RB155.M85 2016
Browsing Books, 2nd floor

Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies, has written a new book tracing the history of the scientific discovery of genes and the field of genetics. He begins with Gregor Mendel and follows the story of genes from Mendel’s experiments with pea plants to current gene-therapies and the mapping of the human genome. Mukherjee’s family’s genetic history guides his discussion of the science and provides the reason for the “intimate history” of the title. He writes well for a non-specialist audience and has the ability to explain complex ideas without oversimplifying them. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about current genetic science and the moral and philosophical questions it raises.

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T3: Apps for Stress Relief

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Diana

Image of stress

By now, you are probably feeling rather stressed out about papers, projects, exams, and other end-of-semester work. If not, lucky you! For the rest of you, here are some apps that will help you relieve your stress. Some of the apps also help you manage anxiety and stress in daily rituals that will hopefully prevent you from feeling overwhelmed in the future. Try these out over Winter Break and plan ahead for Spring semester.

Headspace: Guided Meditation and Mindfulness (Free: iOS/Android)
This is “meditation made simple.” The app provides guided meditations suitable for anyone–even beginners. Meditation may help you improve your focus, exercise mindful awareness, relieve anxiety, and reduce stress.

Self-help for Anxiety Management (Free: iOS/Android)
This app was developed by a university team of psychologists, computer scientists, and student users. You can use this to help track your anxiety triggers, work through physical and mental relaxation exercises, and interact with other users of the app.

For more apps (some free and some costing a few bucks), see this blog post.

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Break & Winterim Library Hours

Posted on December 16, 2016 by Barbara

Library hours during the break (Dec. 24-28) are:

  • CLOSED Sat-Mon Dec 24-26
  • Tues-Wed Dec 27-28: 8am-4:30pm

Winterim (Thurs Dec 29-Sat Jan 14) Library hours are:
Mon-Wed: 7:30am-6pm, Thurs-Fri 7:30am-4:30pm, Sat: CLOSED, Sun: noon-8pm
However, because of New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, there are some adjustments:

  • CLOSED Sun-Mon Jan 1-2, 2017

The Food for Thought Café is closed until Spring Semester, so pack a sandwich or plan other dining options.

Please plan ahead! Remember that even when the physical Library is closed, you can:

  • Search the article databases (login when prompted with your campus Net-ID, same as for your campus email or D2L),
  • Search for Andersen Library’s holdings of Books, Media and more (UW Whitewater) and use links to online titles, including ereserves for classes,
  • Renew checked-out books, DVDs, etc. (once) through your Account,
  • Consult online guides for help, including citation guides for APA, MLA, and Turabian format, and course assignment guides, and
  • Ask a librarian for help using email or chat (UWW librarians respond to the emails when the Library is open, but chat is covered 24/7 by non-UWW staff).

If you will be driving, please drive safely. See winter driving tips from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation!

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New Stuff Tuesday – Dec. 13, 2016

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Ellen Latorraca

The Cage-Busting Teacher book cover

The Cage-Busting Teacher
by Frederick M Hess
LB1775 .H4532 2015
New Arrivals, 2nd floor

In Cage-Busting Leadership (2013), Rick Hess challenged principals and educational leaders to take on the laws, rules and regulations that obstruct meaningful educational change. In this newer title, he insists that teachers can do a lot more than they think they can do to create positive change in their schools and districts. He defines the cage as both the rules and regulations that have accumulated over decades, and the mindset that some teachers fall into – that they have no authority beyond their classroom, much less authority to influence changes to the system. He sets out to show how teacher leaders can recognize opportunities to break through barriers that get in the way of their best work.

This is a complement to other teacher leadership titles in the Andersen Library collection which focus on what happens inside the classroom.

Teaching as Leadership: The Highly Effective Teacher’s Guide to Closing the Achievement Gap, by Steven Farr

Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques That Put Students on the Path to College  by Doug Lemov

Teach Like a Champion Field Guide: A Practical Resource to Make the 49 Techniques Your Own (e-book) by Doug Lemov

Building a Better Teacher: How Teaching Works (and How to Teach it to Everyone) by Elizabeth Green

Rick Hess is a member of the American Enterprise Institute and regularly offers commentary on education policy, politics, research and reform in his Straight Up blog in Education Week. Listen in as he briefly describes what cage-busting leadership entails:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRrnrG7i5Ak[/youtube]

and listen in as he leads conversation about the impact of cage-busting teachers:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Bs4t15TEs[/youtube]

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Warhawk Book Talks – Nov. & Dec.

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Rebecca Jones

Ever wonder what your faculty or colleagues are reading? Here’s your chance to find out! Warhawk Book Talks is a series where professors, staff, and students at UW-W talk about their favorite books!

John Kozlowicz, Ringside Seat

Richard Harris, Redeployment

 

Thomas Drucker, On The Shoulder of Giants

Carol Scovotti, Essentialism

Dec 5th: Michael Flanagan, Zero K

 Dec 12th: Brian Schanen, I Am Malala

 

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T3: Printing Unofficial Transcripts

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Diana

Now is the season to apply for scholarships! You may need to print off various documents from WINS–here are some instructions. In addition, you can visit the Registrar’s Office website for further instructions and tutorials on YouTube.

Unofficial Transcript:

  • Click on Self Service
  • Click on Student Center
  • Under the Academics section select Transcript: View Unofficial from the drop down menu
  • Click the “GO” arrow
  • Select Univ of Wisconsin-Whitewater for Academic Institution
  • Select Unofficial Transcript for Report Type
  • Click “Go”
  • You will need to copy and paste the transcript information from the main frame of the webpage into a Word document in order to print it out. If you do not copy and paste the page you will only see as much of your transcript as appears in the window of your browser without scrolling.
  • Instructions | Video tutorial

Academic Advising Report (AAR):

  • Click on Self Service
  • Click on Student Center
  • Under the Academics section select Advisement Report from the drop down menu
  • Click the “GO” arrow
  • To print your AAR (Academic Advisement Report), click on “view report as pdf” in green
  • TIPS:
    • Make sure that you allow popups. If the browser has a popup blocker, it will block the PDF from showing in a popup. Allow popups in your browser, re-click “view report as a pdf” and try again.
    • Use Firefox or Chrome for best results
  • Instructions | Video tutorial
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Generations of Southeast Asian Youth: Assimilation, Styling and (Racial) Profiling

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Barbara

Pao Lee Vue, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Program Co-director of Women and Gender Studies at St. John Fisher College, will talk about “Generations of Southeast Asian Youth: Assimilation, Styling and (Racial) Profiling” on Thurs., Dec. 8, 2016, from 3:30-4:30pm in UC 259. It’s part of the Southeast Asian Heritage Lecture Series.

cover of Assimilation and the Gendered Color Line bookAmong Dr. Vue’s publications are a newspaper article for the USA Today network about a Hmong teenager in Wausau who was tried as an adult for stabbing another teen in an altercation, “Justice system made Dylan Yang a ‘monster’” and his book, Assimilation and the gendered color line: Hmong case studies of hip-hop and import racing (ebook available online from ebrary). The publisher’s web site says about this book that

His work sheds light on how second generation children are positioning themselves within the U.S. racial order. Findings indicate that the color line, though blurred, is still very strong in the U.S. and structures how children of immigrants adjust to American life.

There also are sources such as the journal articles, “Strategic transformation: Cultural and gender identity negotiation in first-generation Vietnamese youth” (American Educational Research Journal, 2007, vol.44:no.4, pp.853-895) and “Acculturation processes of Hmong in eastern Wisconsin” (Hmong Studies Journal, 2010, vol.11, Special section pp.1-21).

If you’d like assistance with finding additional resources, please ask a librarian (choose chat or email, phone 262-472-1032, or visit the Reference Desk).

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Andersen Library exam hours

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Barbara

Andersen Library is extending its hours for exam study:

Mon.-Thurs., Dec. 5-8: 7:30am – 2am
Fri., Dec. 9: 7:30am – 10pm
Sat., Dec. 10: 9am – 10pm
Sun., Dec. 11: 9am – 2am
Mon.-Thurs., Dec. 12-15: 7:30am – 2am
Fri., Dec. 16: 7:30am – 10pm
Sat., Dec. 17: 9am – 10pm
Sun., Dec. 18: 9am – 2am
Mon.-Thurs., Dec. 19-22: 7:30am – 2am
Fri., Dec. 23: 7:30am – 6pm

The first and third floors of the Library close at midnight; only 2nd/main floor is open from midnight until 2am. All three floors are open until closing on nights when then Library closes earlier than 2am. Doors are locked 15 minutes before closing.

Free coffee on weekends and late nights, and popcorn on evenings the Library is open until 2am! Information will be forthcoming about the Relaxathon events, but you can plan ahead for the pet therapy dogs! They will be visiting from noon-2pm on Mon., Dec. 5, Mon.-Thurs., Dec. 12-15, and Mon.-Tues., Dec. 19-20.

collage of images of students studyingStudy hard and good luck, everybody!

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New Stuff Tuesday – December 6, 2016

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Amanda Howell

Banjo book cover

Banjo:
An Illustrated History
by Bob Carlin
ML1015.B3 C37 2016
Browsing Books, 2nd floor

For my last New Stuff Tuesday post, I wanted to write about something a little more fun than management and economics (hard to imagine, I know!). So this post will highlight the banjo. No, I don’t play the banjo. I don’t even consider myself a fan of most bluegrass and country music. But every once in a while, I just fall in love with a song featuring the instrument. Banjo: An Illustrated History provides images and details of how the banjo has changed throughout history, traveling from Africa to the US and then around the world. The banjo has played a distinct cultural role in the United States over time. The book also highlights famous banjo players like John Hartford, Steve Martin, Tony Trischka, and Bela Fleck. Check out the book and learn more about this unique instrument!

Check out the database DRAM to stream music featuring the banjo.

And here are a few NPR Tiny Desk Concerts featuring banjo-playing bands:

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