Public Health in General Education

Ask 10 people what an educated citizen should study and you’re bound to get 10 different answers (albeit with some overlap). The Educated Citizen and Public Health Initiative continues to make its case that public health should make any such list, and recently released a set of recommendations for integrating public health into general and liberal education. “This is not about professional education. This is about citizenship,” said Susan Albertine, co-author of "Recommendations for Undergraduate Public Health Education." Read more here.
Source: Inside Higher Education April 2 2009

Before Your Time: Universal Newsreels

Friday's history lesson introduces you to the newsreel. Most of your are too young to know what a newsreel is. In the pre-TV era, people saw the news every week in their neighborhood movie theaters. Newsreels were shown before every feature film and in dedicated newsreel theaters located in large cities. Universal Newsreel, produced from 1929 to 1967, was released twice a week. Each issue contained six or seven short stories, usually one to two minutes in length, covering world events, politics, sports, fashion, and whatever else might entertain the movie audience. These newsreels offer a fascinating and unique view of an era when motion pictures defined our culture and were a primary source of visual news reporting.

Universal City Studios gifted Universal Newsreel to the American people, put the newsreels into the public domain, and gave film materials to the National Archives in 1976. Surviving materials from the entire collection are available at the National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland.
Browse the collection.
source: Universal Newsreels. The image is from Flickr.

Robot Scientists Make Original Discoveries

In recent decades, robots have replaced millions of manual laborers; now they're moving in on scientists, too. Computer scientist Ross King of Aberystwyth University along with systems biologists at the University of Cambridge, U.K., developed a robot named Adam to identify genes involved in yeast metabolism. Adam doesn't look so much like an android as a huge box of Rube Goldberg–type equipment. But it does far more than just analyze cells.

Using algorithms programmed by scientists, Adam formulates hypotheses about the origins of "orphan enzymes": enzymes for which scientists have been unable to identify the encoding genes. The robot then plans and executes experiments to test its hypotheses--selecting yeast mutants from a collection, incubating cells, and measuring their growth rates. As King's team reports this week in Science, Adam came up with 20 hypotheses about genes encoding 13 enzymes, 12 of which it confirmed.

Computer scientist David Waltz says "There's an interesting message from this and perhaps a daunting one for some scientists." In the future, he says, scientists, in order to carry out their work, "might have to learn how to program computers and express knowledge about the world the way people in artificial intelligence have done."
Source: Constance Holden in ScienceNOW Daily News 2 April 2009

CQ Researcher: Future of Newspapers

"Thomas Jefferson once famously remarked that if he had to choose between government without newspapers or newspapers without government, he wouldn't hesitate to preserve newspapers. Today, however, newspapers across the country are declining in circulation, advertising and profitability. Some are ceasing to publish. Others are reducing or closing Washington and state-capital bureaus, laying off staff and cutting back the news coverage they provide.

Many journalists, scholars, political activists and government officials worry that government without newspapers could be on the horizon, and that citizens then would be unable to obtain sufficient information for effective self-government. As more Americans turn to the Internet and cable television for news, however, others are hopeful that new forms of journalism will fill the gaps. Meanwhile, newspapers are attempting to give themselves new birth online."

Source: CQ Reearcher March 27
Image: After publishing for 150 years, Denver's Rocky Mountain News shut down on Feb. 27, ending daily newspaper competition in the city. Scores of other papers are cutting staffs, closing bureaus or facing bankruptcy. (Getty Images/John Moore)

Preventing Medical Mistakes

"The terrifying truth: Our big, complex, and imperfect health-care system can sometimes make you sicker. In this three-part series, Health investigates why more than 100,000 people a year are dying from medical errors and millions are being injured, what safety measures may help, and how you can protect yourself during your three points of vulnerability—at the hospital, your doctor’s office, and the drugstore."

Source: Health online

Nursing Procedures Video Series

The library just purchased Lippincott's video series entitled Nursing Procedures Student set. Students can follow a team of nursing students and their instructor as they perform 90+ nursing procedures in realistic clinical settings. The videos are organized into basic, intermediate, and advanced procedures. They are on reserve to be used only in the library or classroom.

New Features in Goodwin Catalog

There was a system upgrade yesterday to our reQuest Goodwin Catalog. This update includes the following new features:

1. Creating Lists – any reQuest user will be able to create and view a list of items in reQuest they would like to read, have read, or would like to request through ILL by easily creating a password-protected account, then checking the items in reQuest that they would like to add to their account. Each user will be able to create multiple lists for different purposes.

2. New search indexes for Title and Subject searches:

- Title Begins With
- Title Exact
- Subject Begins With
- Subject Exact

These indexes will appear in the Advanced Search and Browse screens.

Soon after this upgrade takes place, there will be links from records in reQuest to Google Books (both preview-only and full-text, where available). This capability is close to being completed and we will send out another announcement as soon as we have an implementation date.

Source: ICONN

Another Free Trial: American History in Video

American History in Video is a massive, first-of-its kind collection of streaming video covering the entire gamut of American history–it will total 2,000 hours of video / 5,000 total videos at completion (currently it’s at about 420 hours and growing fast). It includes a wide range of documentaries (like those from The History Channel), newsreels–including the complete series of both Universal News and United Newsreel–and other contemporaneous films. It’s all deeply indexed, and the technical features make it easy to zoom in on exact moments of footage, make clips, create playlists (of clips by theme, entire films, and anything else anywhere on the Web) and share them with a class, for example.There are synchronized scrolling transcripts for every video (and those are searchable, too).

This trial is available to all through April 30. No login/password is required during the trial. The new database comes from Alexander Street Press.

More Technology, Please

The physics department at M.I.T. has replaced the traditional large introductory lecture with smaller classes that emphasize hands-on, interactive, collaborative learning. M.I.T. is not alone. Other universities are changing their ways, among them Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina State University, the University of Maryland, the University of Colorado at Boulder and Harvard. In these institutions, physicists have been pioneering teaching methods drawn from research showing that most students learn fundamental concepts more successfully, and are better able to apply them, through interactive, collaborative, student-centered learning.

Today M.I.T. students meet in high-tech classrooms, where students sit at 13 round tables equipped with networked computers. The walls are covered with white boards and huge display screens. Circulating with a team of teaching assistants, the professor makes brief presentations of general principles and engages the students as they work out related concepts in small groups. Teachers and students conduct experiments together. The room buzzes. Conferring with tablemates, calling out questions and jumping up to write formulas on the white boards are all encouraged. The new approach at M.I.T. is known by its acronym, TEAL, for Technology Enhanced Active Learning.

Source: New York Times January 19 from article by Sara Rimer

Literary Reference Center Free Trial Now

The library has just arranged a free trial of Literary Reference Center,a full text database that combines information from major respected reference works, books, literary journals as well as original content from EBSCO Publishing.

This database contains full text for 31,098 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, nearly 100,000 articles/essays of literary criticism, nearly 140,000 author biographies (including more than 22,000 in-depth bios), more than 430 literary journals, more than 613,000 book reviews, more than 67,000 classic and contemporary poems, more than 17,000 classic and contemporary short stories, more than 5,400 author interviews, more than 8,200 classic texts and much more.

In addition, the Reference Center also includes Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature, Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature, Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, Beacham's Research Guide to Biography and Criticism (six volumes), The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature, The Literary Encyclopedia, The Columbia Companion to the 20th Century American Short Story, all of MagillOnLiterature Plus™, and much more.

This is one of the most highly recommended electronic literary references available for two and four year college students. PLEASE TRY IT! Access will be available from the library page today.

Source: Fact Sheet on Literary Reference Center from the publisher

Global Researcher Monthly Report: Aiding Refugees

Some 42 million people worldwide have been uprooted by warfare or other violence, including 16 million refugees who are legally protected because they left their home countries. Most live in refugee camps and receive aid from the United Nations or other agencies but cannot work or leave the camps without special permission. Another 26 million people who fled violence are not protected by international treaties because they remained in their home countries. The number of such “internally displaced persons” (IDPs) has risen in the last decade, largely due to wars in Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and Colombia. Millions of IDPs live in harsh conditions, and many receive no aid. Some critics say the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees should do much more for IDPs, but the agency already faces severe budget shortfalls and bleak prospects for more donations from wealthy nations. Meanwhile, scientists warn that the number of people displaced by natural disasters — now about 50 million a year — could rise dramatically in coming years due to climate change. The photo shows Somali refugees waiting to be admitted to the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

CQ Global Researcher monthly reports provide Goodwin students with definitive, in-depth coverage of global affairs from a number of international viewpoints. Access to the full report is available on and off-campus. Ask the library staff for the user name and password.

Source: Global Researcher March 2009
Photo source: IRIN/Manoocher Deghati

Historic American Sheet Music

We are indebted to Duke University and other colleges and universities that share their special collections. The Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University holds a significant collection of 19th and early 20th century American sheet music. The Historic American Sheet Music Project provides access to digital images of 3042 pieces from the collection, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920. This is only one of Duke's digital collections arranged alphabetically and by subject.

Source: Information and image from Duke University
Digital Collections at http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/hasm/

Women Striving Forward Image

Lowell, MA - Portuguese mill girls between 1910 and 1915






At the time, there were few respectable ways for a girl to earn money. She could hire herself out as a domestic to work in someone else’s home for no more than fifty cents per week. She could set up her own business as a seamstress, or she could teach school, but only in the summer. During the regular school year, that position was reserved for men. She might also have worked as a book binder. Starting wages were $1.00 per week.

Source: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.

About Music and the Brain

The Library of Congress's Music and the Brain events offer lectures,podcasts, conversations and symposia about the explosion of new research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and music. Project chair Kay Redfield Jamison convenes scientists and scholars, composers, performers, theorists, physicians, psychologists, and other experts at the Library for a compelling 2-year series, with generous support from the Dana Foundation.

So far, these podcasts are available at Music and the Brain: Your Brain on Jazz: Neural Substrates of Spontaneous Improvisation; The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature; The Music of Language and the Language of Music; and Dangerous Music.

Source: Library of Congress: Music and the Brain

Global Gateway: Internet Resource

The Library of Congress (LC) calls Global Gateway a portal to its"unparalleled internatinal collections and those of other major repositories worldwide." Users will find it sensational. It is a stunning portal to primary sources from countries across the globe. It is an excellent starting point for both beginning and experienced researchers
Source: Sarah Goodwin Thiel, University of Kansas in C&RL News March 2009

Alternative Search Engines

An article by Adrian Janes in Free Pint last month urges us to search the Web with alternatives to Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Live. "The alternatives are useful, he says, "because it can be more efficient to search with something that may have a smaller but more focused, index." It is also important to encourage smaller comp[anies so as to prevent companies like Google from taking over. Janes provides links and mini-reviews for Zuula, Hakia, Agent 55, Mednar, Clust, and others. Read the article.
Source: College and Research News March 2009

Women Striving Forward Images

Women Striving Forward is a collection of 23 photos from the Library of Congress that highlight the many arenas in which women have striven individually and collectively not only for their own betterment, but for better conditions and greater justice in the world at large. The photos show the resilience, determination, and humor that it takes to survive and flourish, sometimes against great odds. For the rest of Women's History Month, the blog will be including pictures from this collection.

This photo, taken between 1910 and 1915, shows women suffrage hikers General Rosalie Jones, Jessie Stubbs, and Colonel Ida Craft, who is wearing a bag labeled "Votes for Women pilgrim leaflets."
Source: Flickr Commons project, 2008)
George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress)
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication

Environmental Chemicals Database

EPA has released a new online database that collects information on more than 500,000 man-made chemicals from over 200 public sources. The Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource (ACToR) database allows access to hundreds of data sources in one place, providing a new level of transparency and easy access for environmental researchers, scientific journalists and the public. Sources of information include EPA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies; state databases, Health and Environment Canada, the European Union, the World Health Organization and other international groups; and non-governmental organizations, private companies and universities.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

FREE Has a Twitter Feed

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) is a wonderful and growing searchable directory of education resources. Now they have their own Twitter feed.
+ Direct to FREE Twitter Feed

Source: U.S. Department of Education March 14 2009

CQ Researcher:; Vanishing Jobs

The news is grim and getting grimmer. The jobless rate recently hit 8.1 percent — the highest level in a quarter-century. American workers lost 651,000 jobs in February alone. All told, more than 12.5 million Americans are jobless — including 2.9 million who have been unemployed for at least 27 weeks. The nation is banking on the Obama administration's newly enacted, $787 billion “economic stimulus” bill to spark job growth through government spending on infrastructure projects and other programs. Conservatives argue that the spending won't help, and some liberals say the magnitude of the crisis calls for still more stimulus money. The huge spending measure also includes funds to encourage states to expand eligibility for unemployment insurance, though some governors are resisting on the grounds that their states will wind up footing future bills. With no quick turnaround predicted, creating or saving jobs will remain the top priority for President Barack Obama and the millions of citizens counting on his administration's rescue plan. Read the full report online(password protected).

Source: Introduction from CQ Researcher March 13 2009
Photo AP by Paul Sakuma

New in the Library

Just in to the Goodwin Library:
Act Like a Lady: Think Like a Man by Steve Harvey
Best Short Stories by Black Writers: Classic Anthology edited by Langston Hughes
Children of the Night: Best Short Stories by Black Writers edited by Gloria Naylor
Leading Quietly by Joseph Badaracco
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
Sleeping with Strangers by Jerome Dickey
Tell me How this Ends: General David Petraeus & the Search for a Way Out of Iraq by Linda Robinson
ASP.NET 35 Unleashed +CD
Sense of Wonder (Life of Rachel Carson) DVD
Silent Spring DVD
The Gamble by Tom Ricks
Justice Talking: Women's Rights 3 DVDs
There is no Such Thing as Woman's Work DVD
The Piano Lesson by August Wilson DVD
Year's Best Science Fiction edited by Gardner Dozois
and many more!

Why Go to College

This week the U.S. Department of Education announced their new higher education resource Web site. The Web site, wwww.college.gov, is designed to motivate students to want to attend college, acting as a resource for high school students by providing information about planning, preparing, and paying for college. The site provides interested students with first-person accounts of college students who have faced—and surmounted—great challenges to attend college.
Source: National Council of Teachers of English

MLA Format Updated

"Even in citations, print is the default no more. The seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, released yesterday, states that the Modern Language Association no longer recognizes print as the default medium, and suggests that the medium of publication should be included in each works cited entry.

Moreover, the MLA has ceased to recommend inclusion of URLs in citing Web-based works – unless the instructor requires it or a reader would likely be unable to locate the source otherwise. “Inclusion of URLs has proved to have limited value… for they often change, can be specific to a subscriber or a session of use, and can be so long and complex that typing them into a browser is cumbersome and prone to transcription errors. Readers are now more likely to find resources on the Web by searching for titles and authors' names than by typing URLs,” states the handbook."
Source: Inside Higher Ed March 11 2009
View the article.

National Faculty Survey

The report, "The American College Teacher: National Norms for the 2007–08 HERI Faculty Survey," was just issued recently by the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at UCLA, which puts out the national faculty report triennially. Here are some of the results:

"Compared to just three years ago, a significantly greater number of today's college teachers consider civic engagement and appreciation of racial and ethnic diversity important educational goals for undergraduates, according to a UCLA report on teaching faculty at the nation's colleges and universities.

The majority of college faculty (55.5 percent) nationwide now consider it "very important" or "essential" to "instill in students a commitment to community service," an increase of 19.1 percentage points since the survey was last conducted in 2004–05, and 75.2 percent indicate that they work to "enhance students' knowledge of and appreciation for other racial/ethnic groups," a gain of 17.6 percentage points over three years." Read the entire press release and view the executive summary powerpoint here.

Did You Know?

The First Friday in March is the World Day of Prayer.The idea of designating a day for Christians to pray together was suggested in 1887 by the Presbyterian Church in the United States. Today, the observance has spread to other denominations, all of which hold the same service—translated, of course, into the appropriate language—on the first Friday in March. In each community, one church is selected for the service, and throughout the day women of all denominations come and go, each staying as long as she wishes, to take her place in this world-wide chain of prayer.
Source: Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary in the Credo Reference Database
Painting: Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494), Angel Musician (fresco) from The Bridgeman Art Library Archive, also available from Credo Reference

Adult Online Learning

“About 70 percent of adult learners taking classes online do not finish their courses,” according to a study by Shawna L. Strickland, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The report says that while more introverted or shy personality types, or individuals with schedule conflicts, can thrive in online-learning programs, difficulties with operating the required technology or heavy workloads can stand in the way of course completion. The author drew from academic journals and studies on distance learning for the report, which examined adult learners ages 20 to 40.
Source: Mary C. Breaden, Adult Online Learning, Education Week, March 5, 2008, Vol. 27, Issue 26. Original Report, “Understanding Successful Characteristics of Adult Learners.”

National Women's History Month

In 2009, the National Women's History Project honors women who have taken the lead in the environmental or "green" movement. We are featuring Rachel Carson, the founder of the contemporary environmental movement, as the iconic model of the theme. Rachel Carson's work provides an admirable model for comparison. The 2009 Honorees are scientists, engineers, business leaders, writers, filmmakers, conservationists, teachers, community organizers, religious or workplace leaders or others whose lives show exceptional vision and leadership to save our planet.
Source: National Women"s History Month Project

Recommended New Book

Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns by Clayton M. Christensen
Library call number: LB1027.C4662 2008

This paragraph comes from the book cover:
"According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive--academically, economically, and technologically--we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our educational system, and reinvigorate our committment to learning. In other words, we need 'disruptive innovation.'"

This book is highly recommended and available in the library.

Is America safe from terrorism today?

Homeland Security
Is America safe from terrorism today?
By Peter Katel
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government created the Department of Homeland Security, giving it stepped-up power to shadow and detain terrorism suspects. Then-President George W. Bush credited these measures — and intelligence and military operations abroad — with preventing new attacks on U.S. soil in the nearly eight years since 9/11. But some intelligence. . . .read the full report on CQ Researcher online (password protected). Call or stop in the library for access information.
Source: CQ Researcher February 13, 2009

Recommended New Book

Human: The Science Behind What Makes us Unique by Michael S. Gazzaniga

"Readers interested in an overview of current research will find much of it conveniently packaged here. Those looking for answers will instead find ample reminders of how far brain science has to go before speculation and metaphor can be replaced with concrete models. Gazzaniga does not offer any grand conclusions. Despite all we have learned about the brain, we cannot yet explain how it makes us who we are. What Human resembles most is a voyage through Gazzaniga's own left hemisphere, which has amassed a wealth of information to be digested and pondered. Finding yourself in such a rich setting, you may well agree with Gazzaniga's closing sentiment: "Am I ever glad I am not a chimp!"

Source Citation:Semeniuk, Ivan. "We're special and you know it: something in the human brain sets us apart from other animals. Ivan Semeniuk follows an expert guide as he attempts to pin it down.(Book review)." New Scientist 199.2669 (August 16, 2008): 45(1). Academic OneFile. Gale. Goodwin College. 19 Feb. 2009
.

Two New Beta Releases to Know About

+ WizeHive

Manage your activities, collaborate with others, and organize your life (or business) all in one integrated platform. Note: At the moment, you need to register for this Beta release. Free!

+ iTrackmine.com - Aggregating Your Collection Online

In a nutshell, iTrackmine stands as a web-based collection manager that lets you import your collection online and easily manage it and share it with whomever you want.

Source: KillerStartUps.com and MoMB

Academic Earth Offers Free Video Lectures

Academic Earth is "building a user-friendly educational ecosystem that will give internet users around the world the ability to easily find, interact with, and learn from full video courses and lectures from the world’s leading scholars. Our goal is to bring the best content together in one place and create an environment that in which that content is remarkably easy to use and in which user contributions make existing content increasingly valuable."
Source: Academic Earth on Facebook
Image: Image from Academic Earth Facebook page

Free Web Seminar

On February 17th, New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers presented a National Council of Teachers of America (NCTE) Web seminar, "Teaching Dope Sick in the Classroom," as part of the National African American Read-In. This book, one of Myers's most recent, is available for free viewing from the Adlit.org website until February 24, 2009. In the Web seminar, Myers talks openly about growing up in Harlem, the origin of his book ideas, the significance of Dope Sick, ways to bridge the gap with inner city youth, and ideas for writing about literature. View the recording of the Web seminar as part of your National African American Read-In celebration during the month of February!
Source: NCTE Inbox February 18 2009

Management Tip of the Week

Schedule Regular Meetings . . . With Yourself
As we continue venturing into uncharted economic waters, how can you keep your job on track and continue delivering your best? Schedule a weekly meeting with yourself. That's right: no matter how busy you are, this is not a luxury. It's essential.

Every week, take a quiet hour to reflect on recent critical events -- conflicts, failures, opportunities you exploited, observations of others' behavior, feedback from others. Consider how you responded, what went well, what didn't, and what might be more effective in the future.

Never cancel this meeting -- it's crucial
Today's Management Tip was adapted from "A New Year's Resolution: Schedule Regular Meetings with Yourself," posted on January 5, 2009, by Gill Corkindale on "Letter from London."
Source for the blog: Direct quote from Harvard Publishing

Life of Zora Neal Hurston

Paul LaRocca has given the library a signed copy of Speak, SoYou Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston written by her grand-niece, Lucy Anne Hurston. It is a documented journey with an interactive collection of photographs, poetry, articles, cards, handwritten notes, and a CD. Thank you, Paul. This gift is greatly appreciated.
Image: book cover

Global Warming Animated

“Climate change is an enormously complex issue. Some scientists have dedicated their entire lives to researching it. Lately, we've been coming across lots of great animations that can help us understand and discuss these complex issues through their entertainment and educational value, or through political and social commentary. Here are some of the best I found. They range from satirical to musical, public service to comedy:” (Sarah Kuck)

This article last month, Global Warming Animated, by Sarah Kuck in World Changing is not to be missed. She gives you a chance to sample some of these entertaining and education animations. Try “Wake up, Freak Out—Then Get a Grip” first.
Source: World Changing December 18, 2008
Image: www.careglobalwarming.com/global-warming.jpg

Closing the Gap

Closing the Gap Between Education and Technology
"According to Apple curriculum evangelist Mark Benno, we live in a time when "our kids are being pushed harder, faster, and in ways we never would have imagined." And that, he insisted, is creating a variety of challenges for today's educators." You must read this.

Source: The JOURNAL February 2009

Blackboard 9.0 Release

Blackboard has released an all-new version of Blackboard Learn, formerly known as the Blackboard Academic Suite. The new 9.0 release adds social learning and Web 2.0 tools, as well as capabilities for integrating the software with open source systems like Moodle and Sakai.

Blackboard Learn 9.0 focuses heavily on Web 2.0 and social and collaborative learning tools. These include a variety of enhancements to existing features, as well as some completely new capabilities, in the areas blogs, group tools, journals, notifications, and the UI itself, which has undergone a redesign and is now built on Web 2.0 technologies.

Some of the other new features include:

1) Facebook integration, including access to course information and alerts within Facebook;
2) SafeAssign for plagiarism detection and prevention;
New navigation capabilities, including enhanced keyboard navigation;
3) "Standards based design for ease of use with assistive technologies such as screen readers"; and
4) New integration capabilities for using Blackboard in conjunction with open source and home-grown learning management systems.

America's Favorite Movie Star

I know you have all been waiting for this information. For the third year in a row, Denzel Washington comes in on top as America’s favorite movie star. Returning to the list this year at number two, after a one year absence, is Clint Eastwood. The perennial favorite, John Wayne, who died 30 years ago, is tied with Will Smith at number three. These are the some of the results of The Harris Poll, a new nationwide survey of 2,388 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between December 9 and 15, 2008.
Source: Harris Poll

American History:American Presidency Project

The American Presidency Project is an impressive resource for the study of the Presidency, complete with a searchable database of more than 84,000 records. This project of the University of California-Santa Barbara offers a rich combination of both current and historical information on American Presidents from 1789 to 2008. Researchers and students will find themselves exploring these primary documents for just one more piece of history. The information is presented through an attractive and highly functional web site.
Source: College and Research Libraries News January 2009

Stimulus Plan Aids for Education

The economic stimulus plan that The House of Representatives passed yesterday will shower the nation’s school districts, child care centers and university campuses with $150 billion in new federal spending, a vast two-year investment that would more than double the Department of Education’s current budget. Read the article in the New York Times.

Source: New York Times January 28

Working with Students with Autism

Working With Students With Autism
When: Wednesday, January 28, 4 to 5 p.m. EST
Where: http://www.edweek-chat.org

Children are currently being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders at the staggering rate of 1 in 150. Many of these children are being mainstreamed, but how can general education teachers support them in an inclusive setting? How can teachers transform a challenging classroom situation into a growth experience for all students? Chat guests will discuss teaching strategies and behavior-management techniques for the general and special education classroom. If you are unable to attend the Edweek chat, transcripts are available after the chat.

American Library Association Book Awards

Neil Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book, won the American Library Association's Newberry Medal while the Caldecott Medal for children's book illustration went to Beth Krommes for The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson. The Coretta Scott King Award for best author was given to Kadir Nelson, for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. The illustrator award went to Floyd Cooper for The Blacker the Berry. The King prizes were founded 40 years ago to honor the works of black Americans. They will be in the Goodwin library soon!

CQ Researcher: REgulating Toxic Chemicals

Chemicals are integral to many everyday products, from electronics and toys to building materials and household goods. But environmental, health and consumer advocates say the agencies responsible for protecting Americans from exposure to harmful chemicals are allowing too many dangerous substances into the market without testing them for toxicity. Some goods, such as medicines, are tested for safety before they can be sold, but many common products do not go through premarket safety screening. Many concerns focus on infants and young children, who are especially sensitive to toxic hazards. Chemical manufacturers say the existing regulatory system works effectively and can be tightened to address new concerns, but critics argue that a precautionary approach — which would require producers to show that materials are safe before they can be marketed — would protect consumers more fully.
This report is available online for the Goodwin community (password protected).

LaRocca's Intro to Sociology Course Resources

Here is the list of resources recommended by the Goodwin LIbrary for Introduction to Sociology. Please contact the library staff for additional information.

SiCKO by Michael Moore

The library has fulfilled a faculty member's request and now has SiCKO, Michael Moore's scathing 2007 film indictment of America's failing health system. It includes over 80 minutes of all-new material. If you haven't already seen it, it might be a good follow-up to today's meeting with Senator Dodd.

Does fMRI See the Future?

For decades, scientists have used an imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to chronicle the brain in action. But a study in the January 22nd issue of Nature suggests that fMRI might show more than what the brain is doing—it might reveal what the brain’s about to do.

FMRI studies assume that blood flow in the brain correlates with neuronal activity. Active brain cells need nutrients, which are brought to the cells by freshly oxygenated blood. But in the new study, scientists found that fMRI also detects increased blood flow in brain regions that aren’t active—but that may be in the near future.

The researchers trained monkeys to perform a specific visual task. And they found that, even when the animals were sitting in the dark waiting for the test to begin, fMRI nevertheless revealed an increased blood flow to the monkeys’ visual cortex.

The study suggests that fMRI data may be a lot more interesting than we thought. Scientists may be looking at their imaging data in a way that’s too simplistic. And fMRI may not be measuring exactly what we thought it did. What will they think of next? Maybe fMRI can tell.
(This is an exact transcript of Scientific American's 60-second podcast. Subscribe to 60-Second Science podcasts--great for stimulating discussions in classes.)

Follow this Blog

You can now actively follow this blog. Just follow the directions and do as you wish.

Text Messaging

I am sure you will now be surprised by this information The Nielsen Company estimates that 57 percent of all mobile phone subscribers ages 13 and older use text messaging on a regular basis. U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they make phone calls. In 2008, mobile phone subscribers sent or received an average of 357 text messages per month, compared with placing 204 phone calls. Among 13 to 17 year-olds, the average is 1,742text messages per month.
Source: Short Code Marketing Opportunity December 2008

Autism Speaks Adopts Open Access

Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy organization, has announced that all researchers who receive an Autism Speaks grant will be required to deposit any resulting peer-reviewed research papers in the PubMed Central online archive, making the articles available to the public within 12 months of journal publication. This policy makes the result of their research freely and easily accessible to individuals with autism, families and other advocates, as well as interested researchers. Autism Speaks is the first U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy organization to institute this public access requirement.
Source: Association of College and Research Libraries January 2009

Women in Science

"With the inauguration of an administration avowedly committed to Science as the grand elixir for the nation’s economic, environmental and psycho-reputational woes, a number of scientists say that now is the time to tackle a chronic conundrum of their beloved enterprise: how to attract more women into the fold, and keep them once they are there."
Source: In ‘Geek Chic’ and Obama, New Hope for Lifting Women in Science" in the New York Times

Students Avoid Remedial Courses

Community colleges are increasingly concerned about the large number of students who require remedial education and never make it into college-level classes. And a new study confirms what some have long suspected: Many students don’t even attempt to take remedial classes.

According to the study, 36 percent of those referred to remedial mathematics did not complete their precollege work because they did not enroll in a required course. Likewise, 27 percent of those who required remedial English failed to enroll in a required course.

Source: Report based on the study: "Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colletes"

CHANGE OF HOURS ON SUNDAY

Starting Sunday, February 1, the library will be open from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The library will be closed Sunday, January 25.

Guide to Inauguration Day

From the New York Times, here is an interactive map of the swearing-in and parade, with schedule and transportation information.

Free Healthcare & Nursing Job Fair

FREE HEALTHCARE & NURSING JOB FAIR
HARTFORD, CT
Wednesday, March 4
The Connecticut Convention Center
100 Columbus Blvd, Hartford, CT 06103

FREE Job Fair: 9:30am - 2:30pm / FREE Classes: 8:00am - 3:30pm
Join us for a FREE healthcare Job Fair in Hartford, CT. Enjoy up to 5 hours of FREE CE and an exhibit hall packed with top recruiters, awesome prize drawings,
on-site shopping and more.

New Book of Interest

Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge by Iiyoshi and Kumar

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. The essays in this book by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. An electronic version of this book is openly available under Creative Commons license at the MIT Press Web site. A copy of the book is also available in the library.

LIBRARY CLASSES AND MORE

So far the library staff has scheduled 13 classes and meetings in the library for January and some in February as well. You may contact us directly or use the form on the library page to request a session. All of the activities are on the calendar on the library page.

50 State Report Card

"Quality Counts 2009" is the 13th edition of Education Week’s series of annual report cards tracking state education policies and outcomes. Drawing heavily on data from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center’s annual state policy survey, the report once again offers a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of key indicators of student success. With English-language learners as the special focus of this year’s report, it also, for the first time, provides 50-state information on this diverse and growing student subgroup, complemented by explanatory articles from Education Week reporters.
Source: Education Week

Best Careers 2009: LIBRARIAN

Forget about that image of librarians as a mousy bookworms. More and more of today's librarians must be clever interrogators, helping the patron to reframe their question more usefully. Librarians then become high-tech information sleuths, helping patrons plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. Librarianship is definitely an underrated career! If I do say so myself, librarians are among our society's most empowering people.
Source: U.S. News & World Report

Peeking Inside a Singular Mind: Autistic Savant

This is the title of an article in the current issue of the New Scientist.
"Autistic savant Daniel Tammet shot to fame when he set a European record for the number of digits of pi he recited from memory (22,514). For afters, he learned Icelandic in a week. But unlike many savants, he's able to tell us how he does it. We could all unleqash extraordinary mental abilities by getting inside the savant mind." He tells Celeste Biever how he does it--definitely worth reading!
Source: New Scientist January 3 2009

Making a Science of Education

In 2006, the Science magazine began a monthly Education Forum. They now plan to build on this strong beginning by recruiting high-quality articles on education from the world's best experts for every section of the magazine. They will be publishing important work in education as Perspectives, Policy Forums, Reviews, or as original Research Reports and Articles, while continuing to cover education in the News section. The first issue of 2009, with its focus on Education and Technology includes:
1) Making a Science of Education (editorial by Bruce Alberts)
2) Computers as Writing Instructors
3) NSF Rethinks Its Digital LIbrary
4) Online Education Today
5) Opening Education (open educational resources)

This issue is in the library and highly recommended.

The Hobbit Name Generator

I,Esmerelda Brandybuck and Inwë of Dorthonion in Elfish, offer this site so you, too, can find your Hobbit name and Elf name. It isn't necessary to be serious all the time.

Site: Hobbit Name Generator
Sourc: Mary Laine

Can You Identify this?

WHO WILL BE THE FIRST TO IDENTIFY THIS SECTION OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER? PUT YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENTS.

New Web Site: Humanities Indicators

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences yesterday unveiled the Humanities Indicators, a prototype set of statistical data about the humanities in the United States. The new on-line resource is available at www.HumanitiesIndicators.org.

The Academy project collected and analyzed data from existing sources to compile a prototype set of 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts, accompanied by interpretive essays covering five broad subject areas. The Indicators will be updated as new information becomes available, including data from a survey administered last year to approximately 1,500 college and university humanities departments. The Academy views the Indicators as a prototype for a much-needed national system of humanities data collection.

Source: American Academy of Arts and Sciences

New Books in the New Library

Stop by to see the wonderful new library! They are hanging bird feeders outside the library today to attract more birds. We also have a few new books:

A Mercy by Toni Morrison--The fate of a slave child abandoned by her mother animates this novel about orphaned women who form an eccentric household in late-17th-century America. Read the first chapter.

The Forever War by Dexter Filkins--The New York Times correspondent let us witness the rise of the Taliban, the attacks of 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This book is hailed as one of the best books about America's wars and the nature of war itself. Read the first chapter.

These two were chosen in the ten best books of 2008 by the New York Times. The first chapters provided here come to us from the New York Times book section. Other new books include:
Nothing to be Frightened of by Julian Barnes*
The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb
Snake Oil Science by R. Barker Bausell
2666 by Roberto Bolano*
The Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew G. Faust*
The World is What it is by Patrick French*
Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives by Palfrey & Gasser
Wikipatterns by Stewart Mader
Four Skills of Cultural Diversity Competence by Mikel Hogan

(*These books were also on the Times Best Boooks of 2008 list.)

Library Moves to New Campus Thursday

The Goodwin Library is moving to the new campus at One Riverside Drive on Thursday, December 18. There will be no acess to the library catalog or databases on or off campus from December 19 to December 23. (The picture was taken before the building was finished.)

CQ Researcher New Blog

The mission of the CQ REsearcher blog is to open the CQ Researcher up to be more participatory. What topics should they cover in the coming months? What’s your opinion on the latest pro/con question? What ideas do you have for making the Researcher better? They will share some of the behind-the-scenes, sausage-making that goes into the CQ Researcher. And we will blog about how a current news story or an issue in library land. But most importantly we will play and experiment.
Source: CQ Researcher news

Second Life for Nursing Students

In Second Life,the wildly popular virtual world now inhabited by more than eight million residents, Elsevier has conducted a large prototype project and built a small simulated environment to train nurses in how to use the communication protocol SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation). As it allows multiple, geographically dispersed colleagues to meet and collaborate online in real time, using text chat and voice communication, Second Life was a natural choice for this project. Elsevier is a leading publisher and database vendor in the field of nursing and health science fields.

The clinical environment in SL features simulated patients which respond to visitors via simple chat bots and react following a basic model of human vital signs that can be tailored for different scenarios. Nurses can interact with the environment and use instruments to assess patients and then, following the SBAR protocol, talk to the assessor doctor in-world.
Source: Elsevier Library Connect Newsletter December

New Web 2.0 Platform for Education

The Social Media Classroom (SMC) is a new project started by Howard Rheingold which offers an open-source Drupal-based web service to teachers and students for the purpose of introducing social media into the classroom. The service includes tools like forums, blogs, wikis, chat, social bookmarking, RSS, microblogging, widgets, video conferencing, and more. The SMC is more than just a collection of new media tools repurposed for educational use, though. The end goal of the service is to move education away from being a unidirectional delivery of knowledge to become a more collaborative learning process.
Source: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

New ACCUPLACER Platform Coming Soon

I am pleased to remind you that beginning in 2009, the ACCUPLACER program will be supported by a new platform, ACCUPLACER i3, created by Pearson Education. Really, this is good news. ACCUPLACER i3, ACCUPLACER's third Internet-based platform, will maintain the same general functionality of the current system, while offering more features and flexibility.

The move will begin in early 2009 and conclude by June 30, 2009. ACCUPLACER i3 will have a look and feel very similar to the current system, and we anticipate only a minor learning curve. To ensure a smooth transfer, Person Education will provide ample training and assistance. Several Goodwin representatives will attend a training session in January. If you want to know more, just ask us.

Majors Making a Difference

For our students looking for a career in which they can make a difference in the world, this series from WorldChanging will be of interest. The fact that several of these seem to be careers of the future makes them even more appealing. Worldchanging is a media organization that comprises a global network of independent journalists, designers and thinkers covering the world's most intelligent solutions to today's problems.
Source: Worldchanging

E-patients

About 80% of internet users go online for health information. Surprisingly, E-patients who feel they have serious health problems are more likely to go online in search of health information. For example, 75% of e-patients with chronic conditions reported their last health-related search affected a decision about how to treat an illnes or condition.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project

What happened in Bhopal?

On the night of Dec. 2nd and 3rd, 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, began leaking 27 tons of the deadly gas methyl isocyanate. None of the six safety systems designed to contain such a leak were operational, allowing the gas to spread throughout the city of Bhopal.[1] Half a million people were exposed to the gas and 20,000 have died to date as a result of their exposure. More than 120,000 people still suffer from ailments caused by the accident and the subsequent pollution at the plant site. There are extensive links from the parent page of Bhopal.org at:
http://www.bhopal.org/

30,000 ebooks in Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg this month has officially passed 30,000 original eBooks, bringing the the original Project Gutenberg editions to as many titles as the average U.S. public library. Another major landmark is that the number of books in the Chinese language has now passed Dutch to become the newest member of Project Gutenberg’s “Top 5 Languages”, with a total of over 375 books in the Gutenberg archives.

There are still around 300 Chinese titles being held on the PrePrint site so we really need help in cataloging these. If you can work in Chinese you are encouraged to look into the directory called /china over at PrePrints, or get the .zip file (one directory above) to downloaded all the files in one go.

Project Gutenberg encourages the creation and distribution of digital books. They have provided copyright free eBooks for downloading since 1971.
Source: Project Gutenberg

Read The Federal Register

Federal Register announces launch of new Electronic Public Inspection Desk.The Office of the Federal Register has created an Electronic Public Inspection Desk to provide free worldwide electronic access to public documents. For the first time in the 72-year existence of the daily Federal Register, the documents on file are available for viewing anytime, anywhere. Every Federal business day, anyone with access to a computer now can read critical documents governing Federal regulations relating to business, health, and safety as soon as the documents are placed on file.
Source: Peter Scott's Library Blog

National Book Awards 2008

Here are the winners of the National Book Awards for 2008 announced this week:


Young People's Literature

Judy Blundell
What I Saw and How I Lied
(Scholastic)

Poetry

Mark Doty
Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems
(HarperCollins)

Nonfiction

Annette Gordon-Reed
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
(W.W. Norton & Company)

Fiction

Peter Matthiessen
Shadow Country
(Modern Library)

Source: National Book Foundation

Seven Titles Added to Credo Reference Today

Today Credo Referenc, online reference library, integrated seven Edward Elgar titles into the Credo General Reference collection. Elgar is recognized as a leading publisher in the fields of economics, business and finance, as well as publishing other cutting-edge titles in law and public policy. The seven titles will provide Credo researchers with key content in the area of economics:

A Biographical Dictionary of Dissenting Economists
A Biographical Dictionary of Women Economists
Elgar Companion to Feminist Economics (Choice Outstanding Academic Title)
An Encyclopedia of Macroeconomics (Choice Outstanding Academic Title)
An Encyclopedia of Keynesian Economics (Choice Outstanding Academic Title)
Nobel Memorial Laureates in Economics
Who's Who in Economics, 4th edition

The Credo Reference Library is available to the Goodwin Community. This is always a good place to start research.

Equal Opportunity Day

At the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery in southern Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863, President Abraham LINCOLN delivered the GETTYSBURG Address, a 270-word speech that is considered one of the greatest in American history, though it didn’t receive much attention at the time. Equal Opportunity Day is observed at Gettysburg National Cemetery each year, where ceremonies commemorating Lincoln’s address are held under the sponsorship of the Sons of Union Veterans and the Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania. Sometimes this day is referred to as Gettysburg Address Day.

Source: From Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary in the Credo Reference database at Goodwin Library. The painting is by Franz Marc called "The Fox."

Biodiversity Heritage Library

Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library Project. The group is developing a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. This literature will be available through a global “biodiversity commons.” Most of the literature is in the developed world, in the Northern Hemisphere, but most of the biodiversity is in the developing world and the Southern Hemisphere. One ofthe most desirable outcomes of the project is to repatriate literature to the originating countries of
publication by making it accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.
Source: WORLD LIBRARY AND INFORMATION CONGRESS INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LIBRARIES AND ASSOCIATIONS

World Wide Science Resource

WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway connecting you to national and international scientific databases and portals. WorldWideScience.org accelerates scientific discovery and progress by providing one-stop searching of global science sources. The WorldWideScience Alliance, a multilateral partnership, consists of participating member countries and provides the governance structure for WorldWideScience.org. This site enables anyone with Internet access to launch a single-query search of 32 national scientific databases and portals from 44 countries, covering six continents and nearly half of the world’s population. Users of WorldWideScience.org can search more than 200 million pages of science and technology information not typically accessible through popular search engines.

CA Researcher: National Debt: Too Big?

With the national debt now more than $10 trillion — twice what it was eight years ago — the country faces a dire financial future, some analysts argue. Over the past eight years, the Bush administration has run larger and larger annual deficits, adding to the national debt and restricting the government's ability to respond to a new crisis. Now, with the U.S. and global financial meltdown. . . .

Source: CQ Researcher
Read the Full Report online. (Ask the library staff for password.)

Medical Image Search Engine

OmniMedicalSearch.com - Medical Image Search Engine
http://www.omnimedicalsearch.com/images.html

For students looking for medical imatges, this is a great site. It also includes
1. Web: The Web search option finds authoritative, consumer-oriented health and medical information.

2. News: the news search option reports the latest health & medical news from around the world.

3. Forums: Here one can discover what other patients, caregivers and health professionals are discussing about the conditions, diseases and treatments. Communicating with others about the progress and mutual support may be one of the most underestimated aspects of recovery.
Source: Omni Medical Search

Freshmen Success Studies

Three new studies of college freshmen suggest that even the most promising can run into academic difficulties as a long-term consequence of experiences like attending a violent or run-down high school or being raised by parents who never went to college.

Two of the studies call into question a large body of research on the educational benefits of racial and ethnic diversity on campuses, concluding that most first-year students do not reap any gains from diversity that can be measured objectively.Taken together, the studies not only challenge many of the assumptions colleges make in admitting and educating freshmen but could also influence discussions of how to improve the nation’s high schools to promote college preparation.

Source: "Studies Focus on Factors That Influence Freshmen's Success" in The Chronicle of Higher Education November 13

New York Public Library Treasures Online

The New York Public Library quietly rolled out a new video series last month. Titled "Treasures," it showcases 11 gems of the library's vast collection of more than 50 million items. And since then it has joined Facebook, broadening an online reach that already included YouTube and iTunes pages to gain more of an audience.
The library has made the videos available on its site, nypl.org, as well as on YouTube— where its photography piece is by far its most popular with more than 13,000views. (Picture: Harlem Renaissance)
Source: USA Today

LeWitt Retrospective Opening

Sol LeWitt American minimalist conceptual artist 1928-2007
Something really great is happening in New England Sunday. Sol LeWitt: A Wall Drawing Retrospective, a collaboration between the Yale University Art Gallery, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCa) , and the Williams College Museum of Art. opens Sunday, November 16, , at MASS MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts. The retrospective is housed in a three-story 27,000 square foot historic mill building. The exhibition will consist of more than 100 works –-nearly one acre of wall surface -- that LeWitt created over 40 years. Sol LeWitt was born in Hartford and later lived in New York City.

The opening at noon is free and about a two hour drive from the Hartford area. Of course, there is no hurry. The exhibit will be on view for 25 years!

Seatle Public Library

The Seattle Public Library is the first in a new series here about libraries in the United States. Twenty-nine major national, international and local firms sought the opportunity to design the new Seattle Library. The surprise winner was Rem Koolhaas and his Office for Metropolitan Architecture in Rotterdam, in partnership with the Seattle firm of LMN Architects. The iconoclastic Dutch architect had no major buildings built in America when the Library Board selected him. His 11-floor, 362,987-square-foot library, a dazzling avant-garde symphony of glass and form, has many innovative features, including: A "Books Spiral" that displays the entire nonfiction collection in a continuous run; A towering "living room" along Fifth Avenue that reaches 50 feet in height; A distinctive diamond-shaped exterior skin of glass and steel. The new Central Library opened May 23, 2004, and immediately prompted international interest.

Veteran's Day Message

"Ninety years ago today, the guns fell silent in Europe. World War I – the “war to end all wars” – was over. Almost five million Americans served during that first modern, mechanized war. Our last living link with them, 107-year-old Army veteran Frank Buckles, observes this Veterans Day at his farm in West Virginia. It is important, on Veterans Day, for all Americans to reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans."
Source: VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake

Military Photographers on the Frontlines

"The assignment… simple. The objective… illusive. The cost… immeasurable. We are the men and women who go through great risks to get the shot. We extraordinary videographers and photojournalists train with the best, operate in the worst and get noticed the least. Our mission is to be there when history happens. Ever notice that photo or video clip in the news, book, or documentary? Well, someone had to be there. Someone had to get the shot. Someone had to tell the story. We are that someone.” This is a nice collection of slideshows.
Source: Department of Defense

Unde Obama, Web Would Be the Way

Armed with millions of e-mail addresses and a political operation that harnessed the Internet like no campaign before it, Barack Obama will enter the White House with the opportunity to create the first truly “wired” presidency.

Obama aides and allies are preparing a major expansion of the White House communications operation, enabling them to reach out directly to the supporters they have collected over 21 months without having to go through the mainstream media.

Source: Washington Post

Measuring Skills for the 21st Century

When ninth-graders at St. Andrew’s School, a private boarding school in Middletown, Delaware, sat down last year to take the school’s College Work and Readiness Assessment (CWRA), they faced the sort of problems that often stump city officials and administrators, but rarely show up on standardized tests, such as how to manage traffic congestion caused by population growth.

Students were given research reports, budgets, and other documents to help draft their answers, and they were expected to demonstrate proficiency in subjects like reading and math as well as mastery of broader and more sophisticated skills like evaluating and analyzing information and thinking creatively about how to apply information to real-world problems. Ninth Graders? Do we do this in Connecticut?
Source: Educator Sector

New Book: Politics in Music

Politics in Music: Music and Political Transformation From Beethoven to Hip-Hop by Courtney Brown
ML3916.B76 2007

"This book is a fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of the growing role of political activism in music. Starting with Beethoven's politics and the political battles in Germany to exploit Beethoven's legacy, Brown explores the growing understanding of the political power of music as shown in the nationalist fervor of Verdi, the philosophical and political goals of Wagner and Bob Marley, the legacy of the union struggles of Joe Hill, the 60's era of protest music embodied by Bob Dylan, and on to the modern juggernaut of hip-hop. There are so many interesting facets of music history presented here that are never discussed in traditional music study programs. An easy and engaging read, the book shows clearly the theme of political awareness that has developed in modern music. This book is essential reading for those interested in understanding where music is today and where it will be heading in the future."
— Albert Ahlstrom, D.M.A. (from The Juilliard School), Director of Music, Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Atlanta, Georgia.

The book is in the Goodwin Library now.

Sample APA Research Paper

Click here for a copy of a research paper in APA format titled "Can Medication Cure Obesity in Children?" This is a research paper written by Luisa Mirano, a student in a psychology class. The assignment was to write a review of the literature paper documented with APA style citations and references. This sample research paper was published in The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker. The library staff is prepared to help you with research and the APA format.

American Diabetes Month

November is American Diabetes Month®, a time to bring even greater awareness and attention to the seriousness of diabetes, its deadly complications, and the importance of proper diabetes control. This year, the American Diabetes Association is asking the American public, "Why should you care about diabetes?"

Throughout the month, the American Diabetes Association will conduct activities – and encourage others across the country – to get involved in efforts to raise awareness about diabetes and its serious complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and blindness.

Source: American Diabetes Association

Blog Readers Get New Books First

Some New Books in the Library

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
Film as Social Practice by Graeme Turner
Short Guide to Writing About Psychology by Dana Dunn
Birthday Party & The Room: Plays by Harold Pinter
The Widow of Eastwick by John Updike
Cultural Resistance Reader edited by Stephne Duncombe
Joe Orton Complete Plays
DIY The Rise of LO-FI Culture by Amy Spencer
Politics in Music by Courtney Brown
Amerioa on Film Benshoff and Griffin
Saved by Edward Bond
Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago

Ccoming soon: The Post-Modern American World by Fareed Zakaria

The Lancet has Relaunched

Welcome to your new online resource for The Lancet, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, The Lancet Oncology, and The Lancet Neurology. In addition to the Lancet journals' medical news, research, review, and opinion, the new site, The Lancet Global Health Network, offers more functionality and features and will continue to expand in the coming months. The Lancet is the British medical journal available in full text on several of our subscription databases.

Listen to Richard Horton and Harriet Bell introducing the new website in the launch podcast. (mp3, 10:27 mins, 9.57Mb) The directions are on the Lancet page.
Source: The Lancet

Taking Notes: Evernote

Here is a look at a new (to me) Web 2.0 tool that has the potential to help students do better in school, collaborate with their fellow students, and save them time

Evernote is a great note taking application, but that only scratches the surface of what it can do. If you are in a lecture, for example, you can also take a picture of the blackboard with your phone, upload it to the Evernote server, and thanks to Evernote's clever OCR algorithms, even pictures of handwritten notes become instantly searchable.

You can also use it to bookmark web pages and write down your own lecture notes. Best of all, you can use a web app, a Windows or Mac desktop app, or a Windows Mobile and iPhone app, all of which seamlessly synch with each other, so that your notes are always up to date.

Source: Evernote

Google's RSS Feed

Google’s been the lone hold out among major search engines on RSS but the company quietly enabled feeds for web search results this week. The offering is pretty limited and frustrating, you have to go through Google Alerts to get an obscure RSS URL, but ReadWriteWeb offers a tutorial and some strategic advice in this post.

Web search RSS is useful for being alerted whenever search results for your keywords or link have changed; subscribing to at least a few searches will let you know when Google users are seeing something new in the first few pages of search results for Goodwin College, for example.
Source: ReadWriteWeb

USA.gov--Presidential Election 2008

USA.gov now offers a new page on the presidential election. You’ll find information about President-elect Barack Obama, inauguration day (January 20, 2009), and the 2008election. It also has biographies of President- and Vice President-Elect Obama and Biden, and their wives.

Source: USA.gov

New Dog for the White House

Sasha and Malia," Obama said in his victory speech at Chicago's Grant Park, "I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House."

Harry Truman once said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.” But presidents have kept an unusual assortment of animals other than dogs and cats, according to CNN this morning. Thomas Jefferson kept two grizzly bears in a cage on the White House lawn, while John Quincy Adams is said to have let his alligator use a bathtub inside. Calvin Coolidge walked his raccoons on a leash. Theodore Roosevelt's sons escorted their pet pony onto the White House elevator to cheer up a sick sibling. And perhaps the strangest of all: Martin Van Buren briefly owned two tiger cubs, a gift from the Sultan of Oman. Some of us remember Nixon’s Checkers speech and Lyndon Johnson lifting his beagles by their ears. I wonder what kind of dog the Obama girls will have--a Bichon maybe?

New Directions for Youth Development

The fall issue of this journal, New Directions for Youth Development, is just in at the library. The topic for the articles in this issue is "Youth, Violence, and Social Disintegration." This volume examines violent behavior and addresses these questions in an international context. The theoretical framework for all of the articles is the theory of disintegration.