Distracted Drivers CQ Researcher May 4 Report

Should driver texting and cellphone use be banned? "Drivers have long tried to manage any number of distractions ranging from eating a snack and reading a map to dealing with unruly children in the backseat and putting on makeup. But with the increasing popularity of cellphones and texting, distracted driving has emerged as a central concern of safety experts. Studies indicate that distractions are involved in more than 5,000 traffic fatalities every year. Most states have enacted laws to restrict texting or talking on handheld cellphones, and policymakers face calls for a near-total ban even on hands-free communications devices — including those that are built into the dashboards of new cars and heavily marketed by automakers. But even if more restrictive laws were passed, many motorists would find it hard to set aside the devices they have come to rely upon to make business and personal calls and also to check websites or update their Facebook pages." Full report is available from the library page (password required). Source: CQ Researcher May 4, 2012

Fiction Books most Borrowed in U.S. Libraries

1. The Hunger Games
2. Private: #1 Suspect
3. Explosive Eighteen: A  Stephanie Plum Novel
4. Kill Alex Cross
5. Catching Fire
6. V is for Vengeance
7. The Drop
8. Love in a Nutshell
9. The Affair: A Reacher Novel
10. The Help

Let us know if you want to read any of these!

Friday is Arbor Day

National Arbor Day is Friday, April 27. It's a time to celebrate the wonders of nature, and to plan for an even greener future by planting and caring for trees.

Turn Off Your Lights at 8:30 tonight for Earth Hour!

Tonight, the largest voluntary action for the environment is reaching further than ever before. Earth Hour is being celebrated in a record 150 countries and territories and 6494 towns and cities to send the message that our combined efforts are needed to change our future to one that is sustainable.

Hundreds of millions of people, businesses and governments around the world unite each year to support the largest environmental event in history – Earth Hour.
More than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change. It also ushered in a new era with members going Beyond the Hour to commit to lasting action for the planet. Without a doubt, it’s shown how great things can be achieved when people come together for a common cause.

This year Earth hour has launched “I Will If You Will” on YouTube to showcase how everyone has the power to change the world we live in, bringing together the world’s biggest social video platform with the ‘world’s largest action for the environment’. The ask is simple, head to YouTube to tell us what you are willing to do to save the planet or accept one the challenges we’ve already received from our supporters.

Earth Hour is organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

INFORMATION LITERACY & HEALTH

"What has traditionally been understood as literacy has been disrupted, like so much else, by the advent of the Internet. No longer is it regarded as simply the ability to read and write. In the Information Age, information literacy is a concept that recognises skills in judging trustworthiness and quality as critical. The flood of information unleashed by the Internet has exposed the many area of life to which a literacy of some sort applies, and thus how many more people need to ecome information literate.

Information literay of various kinds has become a growing issue, and perhaps no more so than in the field of health. Health is a universal yet personal concern, where to be literate ranges from knowing the correct dosage of medication to take to the implications of new researhc, and can be literally vital."

Information literacy is a major focus of the Hoffman Family Library this and every year.

Source: Information from a report by Adrian Janes

Most Students don't use social media for research

Some 59 percent of students are not using social media for research or study, according to ebrary’s 2011 Global Student E-book Survey – Social Media Addendum.

Lynn Brainard, ebrary’s media relations sales coordinator, told the Library Journal, “The survey was taken by undergraduate and post-graduate students. We also pushed this out to community colleges, so it could be first year, second years there too. Over 6,600 students participated in the survey.”

The students seemed receptive to the idea of using social media to connect with fellow students: 69 percent said they are likely or very likely to use social media to connect with students with similar academic interests, and 58 percent said they would use social media to share research with peers.

However when authority figures enter the picture, the numbers drop to a minority. Only 45 percent said they would usual social media to pose a question to faculty, and even fewer, at 35 percent, would use social media to pose a question to a librarian.

Are you surprized?

Wednesday, 29th February 2012

Springer added six new quarterly clinical review journals to its existing medicine portfolio this month. These new journals will expand the publisher’s medical specialty coverage, focusing on dermatology, geriatrics/gerontology, nutrition, obesity, obstetrics/gynecology and respiratory care.

Gale Public Library Announcement

March 14, 2012
Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced Gale Gateways, an innovative program for public libraries. Designed to represent the unique way in which a community interacts with its public library, Gale Gateways bring together thematic products and services to provide an organized approach to help patrons find and use information. Unlike anything else on the market, Gale Gateways will help libraries demonstrate their value and worth to their community.

Resource of the Week: Yahoo Search Clues

Yahoo! now has a "trends" service. OK, so they're a little late to the party on this one -- Google, after all, launched Google Trends back in 2006 -- but now you can see what's trending on Yahoo!

Yahoo! Clues can be accessed directly, via http://clues.yahoo.com/, or from a link on the search results page. Type a search term of interest into the "Find Trends" text box or click on the link from one of the "popular searches" you'll see on the lefthand side. Then click "Discover." (You also have the option of comparing trends for two search terms, side by side.)

The Corporate Professor: The Hedgehog Review

"A specter of determinism seems to be hanging over every aspect of our lives. We are constantly told that we are being shaped by inexorable forces--biological, economic, technological, historical--against which resistance is more or less futile, so we should quit worrying and get on board." (from the editors)

In thie current issue of The hedgehog Review: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Culture, each essay responds to some form of determinism. In the thematic section on corporate professor, the authors contend with the corporatization of higher education and scholarship. This is a very important issue with many thought-provoking essays:
Pressured and Measured: Professors at Wannabe U
Do College Teachers Have to Be Scholars?
Under the Sign of Satan: William Blake in the corporate University
Why Google isn't Making us Supid...or Smart
Family Income and Student Achievement
Blue Tube, Red Tube
Capitalism, Modernity, and the Politics of Place

This issue is available in the Hoffman Family Library
The Hedgehog Review: Critical Refelctions on Contemporary Culture (published by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia)
Spring 2012

Best Recent Articles

On January 30, Adam Gopnik addressed the scandal of our prison system in "The Caging of America" in the New Yorker beginning on pge 72. That issue of the New yorker is available in the library.

Internet Resources: Hepatitis C

1)American Liver Foundation: Hepatitis C
2)Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Hepatitis C & Information for the public
3)C. Everett Koop Institute, Dartmouth Medical School: Hepatitis C: An Epidemic for Anyone
4)Hep C Connection
5) National LIbrary of Medicine: Medline Plus: Hepatitis C Interactive Tutorial
6) World Health Organization Media Centre: Heaptitis C, Fact Sheet No. 164
7) US Department of Health and Human Services: NationalDigestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC): What I Need to Know About Hepatitis C

Source: Mary Spalding, Western Maryland Area Health Eeduation Center-Cumberland
MLA News February 2012

Women's History Month

Congressional Resolution Designating the Month of March as "Women's History Month

"be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that March is designated as "Women's History Month. The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation each March, calling upon the people of the United States to observe March as Women’s History Month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

~ This resolution was passed by Congress in 1987 and successive years since then.

Free Trial of eHRAF World Cultures and Archaeology

I have arranged a free 30 day trial for eHRAF World Cultures & Archaeology databases. HRAF produces two major full-text databases (eHRAF World Cultures and eHRAF Archaeology), encyclopedias, and other resources for teaching and research.

The Human Relations Area Files, Inc. (HRAF) is an internationally recognized organization in the field of cultural anthropology. The mission of HRAF is to encourage and facilitate worldwide comparative studies of human behavior, society, and culture. Founded in 1949 at Yale University, HRAF is a financially autonomous research agency of Yale.

The trial will be available this week.

2011 Best Overall Database: Credo Reference

The Library Journal staff polled a group of librarians and Library Journal reviewers to choose the “best” of 2011

Best Overall Database
Credo Reference
Credo; www.credoreference.com
Looking for material from the Library of Congress? Elsevier? Edinburgh University Press? Credo Reference hosts more than 550 reference titles from those and other respected houses. Some librarians say the best are the database’s “Topic Pages” gathering materials by subject, which adds accessibility options to a resource that the considered awesome to begin with. Others nominated the collection for “Best Integration of Media” and “Best Integration of External Content.”
They also praised Credo’s Mind Map feature for narrowing and broadening topics, helping students to visualize their topic and identify keywords. The upcoming Credo ­literati is an information literacy add-on that includes subject-specific tutorials and videos, customization that reflects the language an institution uses for information literacy instruction, pre- and postassessment surveys, and library marketing programs.

Go to the library page section, "Research Databases" to use Credo Reference and any of our other databases.

Source: Library Journal

Rising Tension over Iran: CQ Global Researcher

Is Iran trying to develop a nuclear weapon?
Successive U.S. presidents have insisted that a nuclear-armed Iran is “unacceptable.” Iran's Islamic leadership insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. A nuclear Iran would alter the strategic balance in the tense Middle East and, some say, possibly trigger a regional atomic arms race. Although the United States and Europe have imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran, the Iranians have not stopped enriching uranium or begun operating their nuclear program with more transparency. But with Israel reportedly considering a pre-emptive strike on nuclear facilities in Iran — which has vowed to destroy Israel — the question of the sanctions' effectiveness may be moot.

This report is available online through the Hoffman Family Library (password protected).

Source: CQ Global Researcher February 7, 2012
Picture: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center) inspects some of the 9,000 centrifuges used to enrich uranium at the Natanz nuclear facility, 200 miles south of Tehran. (Getty Images/Office of the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran/April 2008)

Hoffman Family Library Staff opposes HR 3699

The staff of the Hoffman Family Library joins the Medical Library Association (MLA) and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries(AAHSL)in opposing HR 3699, the Research Works Act. HR 3699 would restrict access to information generated through public funds, overturn the successful National Institutes of Health public access policy, and prohibit other federal agencies from establishing similar policies.

MLA and AAHSL worked to promote access to quality health information for the health care community and the public. The academic library community maintains that government-generated information, including online access to articles that report the results of federally funded research, is a public good and must be disseminated with as few barriers as possible. This act would restrict access to information generated through public funds, overturn the successful NIH public access policy, and prohibit other federal agencies from establishing similar policies.

Can Obama Withstand the Rebpulican Challenge?

CQ Researcher Report
February 3, 2012
"The 2012 contest pitting President Obama against a yet-to-be-determined Republican challenger ranks as one of the most intriguing presidential campaigns in history. Two powerful populist factions — the conservative Tea Party movement and Occupy Wall Street protest against income inequality — are helping to shape campaign ideologies and stump speeches. An unusually large field of Republican candidates, including multimillionaire Mormon Mitt Romney and thrice-married Newt Gingrich, have fought each other as aggressively as they have Obama, leaving the GOP so fractured that some think a nominee won't emerge until the party convention in August. Meanwhile, following a controversial Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance, wealthy donors are pouring millions of dollars into TV attack ads through so-called SuperPACs. And overshadowing the entire spectacle is the shaky U.S. economy and the question of which candidate is best equipped to turn it around."

The CQ Researcher weekly reports are available through the library (password protected). Ask in the library for username and password.

Source: CQ Researcher February 3, 2012
Picture: President Obama stops for a campaign photo op in Phoenix on Jan. 25. (AFP/Getty Images/Jewel Samad)

Granta Magazine of New Writing

Issue 118: Exit Strategies

In this latest issue John Barth contemplates the end of writing fiction. Alice Munro explores the interior world of an elderly woman losing her memory. Aleksandar Hemon tells the story of his family's escape from the Bosnian War, and the love and fate of Mek, their Irish setter. David Long writes about a man haunted by a sexual encounter decades ago. Claire Messud searches for her father's Beirut, long since gone, as he himself lies dying in a hospice in Connecticut. Other well-known writers in this issue include Adrienne Rich, Ann Tyler, ad Ann Beattie. The cover is by Michael Salu.
Granta has publishes many of the world’s finest writers tackling some of the world’s most important subjects. Granta does not have a political or literary manifesto, but it does have a belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction. This is one of the most exciting publications in the library—highly recommended by the library staff.

Previous Issues
117: Horror
116: Ten Years Later
115: The F Word
114: Aliens
113: Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists
112: Pakistan
Source: Information from Granta

New Information on TOXMAP

TOXMAP helps users create nationwide, regional, or local area maps showing where TRI chemicals are released on-site into the air, water, and ground. It also identifies the releasing facilities, color-codes release amounts for a single year or year range, and provides multi-year aggregate chemical release data and trends over time, starting with 1988. Maps can also show locations of Superfund sites on the National Priority List (NPL) (http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl), listing all chemical contaminants present at these sites.

TOXMAP now includes the 2010 Toxics Release Inventory data (TRI) (http://www.epa.gov/tri/tridata/tri10/nationalanalysis/index.htm).

TOXMAP maps the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).

A complete list of TRI chemicals required to be reported to the EPA can be found at http://www.epa.gov/tri/trichemicals/index.htm.

Access information HERE.

Source: United States National Library of Medicine
February 8, 2012

Registration Window Opens

February 20 –March 7
Registration windows will be open for students who wish to ADD a second half class for February 29th.

Official ACCUPLACER Study App is here!

ACCUPLACER® launches the official ACCUPLACER study app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. For only $1.99, students can brush up on their skills and become familiar with the style and content of questions asked on an ACCUPLACER test.

Product Features
•Interactive practice tests for ACCUPLACER Arithmetic, Elementary Algebra, College-Level Math, Reading Comprehension and Sentence Skills tests
•Immediate feedback and a detailed explanation of the correct response to multiple-choice questions

For more information go HERE

Evaluating Drug Information: Avoid Wikipedia

Be careful about using Wikipedia for drug information.While Wikipedia provides some basic drug information, students are encouraged to supplement that information with traditionally edited sources. Quality drug information is freely available from US government–provided sites such as the National Library of Medicine's Drug Information Portal,or MedlinePlus: Drugs, Supplements, and Herbal Information. Commercial consumer sites such as WebMD's RxList, Medscape: Pharmacists, and DailyMed are also available.

American Slaves Narrative

From 1936 to 1938, over 2,300 former slaves from across the American South were interviewed by writers and journalists under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. These former slaves provided first-hand accounts of their experiences on plantations, in cities, and on small farms. Their narratives remain a peerless resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves. What makes the WPA narratives so rich is that they capture the very voices of American slavery, revealing the texture of life as it was experienced and remembered. Each narrative taken alone offers a fragmentary, microcosmic representation of slave life. Read together, they offer a sweeping composite view of slavery in North America, allowing us to explore some of the most compelling themes of nineteenth-century slavery, including labor, resistance and flight, family life, relations with masters, and religious belief.

The web site provides an opportunity to read a sample of these narratives, and to see some of the photographs taken at the time of the interviews. The entire collection of narratives can be found in The American Slave: A Composite Autobiography .
READ IT HERE.
Source: University of Virginia Archives
Photograph: Picture taken at the time of the interviews

Literature to Life Web Cast: Zora

Zora Neale Hurston was one of the most important and celebrated figures to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance. Outspoken, spirited and gifted, Ms. Hurston was the most prolific African-American woman writer of the 1930's. Adapted from the theatrical biography of her life by Laurence Holder, this performance brings to life her story. The introduction is not so easy to hear, but the performance is very strong!
Source: Library Congress Web Casts

As Journal Boycott Grows, Elsevier Defends Its Practices

Librarians and scholars are pushing back at the high prices of journals and the supression of research by publishers.

According to Josh Fischman, "A protest against Elsevier, the world's largest scientific journal publisher, is rapidly gaining momentum since it began as an irate blog post at the end of January. By Tuesday evening, about 2,400 scholars had put their names to an online pledge not to publish or do any editorial work for the company's journals, including refereeing papers.

The boycott is growing so quickly—it had about 1,800 signers on Monday—that Elsevier officials on Tuesday broke their official silence to respond to protesters' accusations that they charge too much and support laws that will keep research findings bottled up behind a company paywall."

Read the article in today's edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Source: "As Journal Boycott Grows, Elsevier Defends Its Practices" By Josh Fischman
The Chronicle of Higher EducationFebruary 1, 2012

"

Readings for Kim Reese's Class

The library purchased all of the books on Professor Reese's list. We have additional copies through Interlibrary Loan that are available in the library now.
Don't Kill the Birthday Girl
Year of Wonders
Fever 1793
Molo'kai

Extended Library Hours

Beginning this Saturday, February 4, the library will be open every Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm. We have many requests for longer hours during the week, which we are considering. Thanks to all of the students who have put suggestions in the suggestion box. That helps us provide all of you with better service.

DSM-5: The Future of Psychiatric Diagnosis

Publication of the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) in May 2013 will mark one the most anticipated events in the mental health field. As part of the development process, the preliminary draft revisions to the current diagnostic criteria for psychiatric diagnoses are now available for public review. Use this opportunity not only to learn more about the proposed changes in DSM-5, but also about its history, its impact, and its developers. If you are writing research papers or giving speeches on such topics as autism, for example, you should include information on these revisions.
Source: American Psychiatric Association DSM-5 Development

Librarians oppose Research Works Act

A bill introduced December 16 in the House of Representatives has exacerbated tensions between open access advocates and the scholarly publishing industry over the dissemination of publicly funded scientific and medical research.

The Research Works Act (H.R.3699), co-sponsored by Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), has only just been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a zone from which few bills emerge unmodified (if they emerge at all), but the measure’s import has had, nevertheless, the effect of a 3 a.m. tocsin on librarians and other open access champions who wish to raze paywalls that enclose taxpayer-funded, peer-reviewed research.

The American Library Association said today that it “vehemently opposes the bill.”

Essentially, the bill seeks to prohibit federal agencies from conditioning their grants to require that articles reporting on publicly funded research be made accessible to the public online. The proposed bill, if it were to pass, would roll back the National Institute of Health’s Public Access Policy, which was introduced in 2008 and which makes NIH-funded research publicly available within 12 months via PubMed Central (many scholars object even to this 12-month delay before posting on this free online repository).

Free Access to Theses and Dissertations

A new web property called OpenThesis (www.openthesis.org) has been launched. It exposes theses and dissertations, making them highly accessible, useful, and shareable-at absolutely no cost. OpenThesis.org will allow authors to upload their theses/dissertations, and the documents will then be vaulted for posterity and made searchable anywhere in the world. If an author (or an author's family) has only a paper copy of a thesis/dissertation, the site will give guidance on how to get it scanned into computer-readable form for subsequent uploading.

Death Comes to Pemberley

For those of you who have read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and wonder what happened to Elizabeth and Darcy, P.D. James has written a murder mystery about just that subject--Death Comes to Pemberley: A Novel. James is a famous British writer of mysteries. The book is now available in the library.

New Subscription: Lapham's Quarterly

The library now subscribes to Lapham's Quarterly published four times annually. The current issue focuses on Family. In the introductory essay, Lewis Lapham tell us that "families grow as do the flowers and the weeds, of their own accord and as they will. Sometimes they lay waste to empires; sometimes they achieve the dignity of a dress label, but always they furnish a society with its living tissue and its intimations of immortaily, impart to the individual a sense of self if not a criminal record or a noble name."

Each issue of Lapham’s Quarterly adopts and explores a single theme. A typical issue features an introductory Preamble from Editor Lewis H. Lapham; approximately 100 “Voices in Time” — that is, appropriately themed selections drawn from the annals and archives of the past — and newly commissioned commentary and criticism from today’s preeminent scholars and writers. Myriad photographs, paintings, charts, graphs, and maps round out each issue.The current issue, Winter 2012, is dynamite! Last year's issues, which will be available, focused on Lines of work (Spring), Food (Summer), The Future (Fall), and Celebrity (Winter).

JSTOR Tests Free, Read-Only Access to Some Articles

Now you may have some access to JSTOR articles!
"It’s about to get a little easier—emphasis on “a little”—for users without subscriptions to tap JSTOR’s enormous digital archive of journal articles. In the coming weeks, JSTOR will make available the beta version of a new program, Register & Read, which will give researchers read-only access to some journal articles, no payment required. All users have to do is to sign up for a free “MyJSTOR” account, which will create a virtual shelf on which to store the desired articles.

But there are limits. Users won’t be able to download the articles; they will be able to access only three at a time, and there will be a minimum viewing time frame of 14 days per article, which means that a user can’t consume lots of content in a short period. For more information, contact the librarian.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education January 16

LIBRARY HOURS 2012

LIBRARY HOURS FOR SPRING SEMESTER:

Monday-Friday 7am-9pm
Saturday 9am-2:30pm
Sunday 11am-4pm

The library will have extended hours on the week before final exams. That will be posted.

Internet Resources: Childhood Obesity

A Google search on the topic of "childhood obesity" turns up millions of hits--one of the problesm with Google searches. Here are some websites that provide relevant information on recognizing and addressing childhood obesity.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Overweight and Obesity:
www.aap.org/obesity

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Adolescent and School Health: Childhood Obesity Facts
www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/obesity/facts.htm

Let's Move: America's Move to Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids
www.letsmove.gov

Mayo Clinic: Childhood Obesity
www.mayoclinic.com/health/childhood-obesity/DS00698

MedlinePlus: Obesity in Children
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesityinchildren.html

National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ): Childhood Obesity
www.nichq.org/childhood_obesity/

Free Music Download

Every two weeks, Alexander Street and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings offer a free music download from the popular online collection Smithsonian Global Sound® for Libraries. This download is freely available. This week it is "Sao Chegados Os Trez Reis (The Three Kings Have Arrived)" by Various Artists from the album "Christmas Songs of Portugal"(FW0684)

When this album was recorded in the 1950s, Estrella Church in Lisbon celebrated Christmas with a choir, a bagpiper and an elephant. Hear some of the sacred favorites of the season, generally sung unaccompanied. (On this recording, elephant not included.)

Download the MP3.

Source: Alexander Street Press;
Illustration: Christmas Songs of Portugal FW06845

Murakami Fans: What is he Doing Next?

Haruki Murakami's latest novel, Haruki,1Q84, has been on many Best Books of 2011 lists. What is he doing next? I am a fan and am thrilled to hear that he is writing a new book, Absolutely on Music: The Conversation with Seiji Ozawa. According to the Library Journal, it will be out in Japan next October and later in the United States.

1Q84 is in the Goodwin Library. We also have other works by Murakami:
The Elephant Vanishes (1993)
Dance Dance Dance (1994)
Norwegian Wood (2000)
Kafka on the Shore (2005)
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: Twenty Four Stories (2005)
After Dark (2007)

Best Dataases of 2011

Best Overall: Credo Reference
Best Original Content Runner-Up CQ Researcher/CQ Global Researcher
Most Ambitious in Scope and Content: Gale's Virtual Reference Library

THE HOFFMAN LIBRARY HAS THESE!

EXTENDED LIBRARY HOURS

EXTENDED LIBRARY HOURS BEFORE FINALS!
DEC. 5-9 (7 am TO 11 pm)
DEC. 10 (9 am TO 5 pm)
DEC. 11 10 am TO 6 pm)

Tip of the Day

True perfectionists get a bad rap for being time-wasting sticklers who demoralize those around them. But it isn't all bad. In fact, being a stickler has some valuable attributes. The key is to separate healthy perfectionist behaviors, such as striving for high but achievable standards or devoting time to things you care about, from the damaging ones, such as feeling that every mistake is catastrophic. Focus on the positives of being a perfectionist while keeping an eye out for the harmful tendencies.
Source: Harvard Business Review

Best Web Site of the Month for Kids

What really happened at the First Thanksgiving in 1691? Be a history detective and discover for yourself, as you learn more about the lives of the English colonists and the Wampanoag people: Plimoth Plantation

National Book Award for Nonfiction: "The Swerve"

Stephen Greenblatt won for The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, a “rumination on the pleasure of knowledge and on the agony of its loss,” the judges’ citation said. It was published by W.W. Norton & Company.

“My book is about the power of books to cross boundaries, to speak to you impossibly across space and time and distance, to have someone long dead seem to be in the room with you,” Mr. Greenblatt said in his acceptance speech. “My book is about what the magic of the written word is.” Last year's winner was Patti Smith for Just Kids.

National Book Award for Fiction: "Salvage the Bones"

Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for fiction last night for Salvage the Bones, a haunting tale of the struggles of a 15-year-old pregnant girl as a hurricane bears down on her fictional Gulf Coast town of Bois Sauvage, Miss. Accepting the award, Ms. Ward said she had begun writing stories to honor her younger brother after his death.

“I understood that I wanted to write about the experiences of the poor, and the black and the rural people of the South,” Ms. Ward said, “so that the culture that marginalized us for so long would see that our stories were as universal, our lives as fraught and lovely and important, as theirs.”

“Salvage the Bones” was published by Bloomsbury USA, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing. Ms. Ward, a former writer in residence at the University of Mississippi, has also written the novel Where the Line Bleeds. Last year's winner was Jaimy Gordon for Lord of Misrule . To be eligible,a book must have been written by a United States citizen. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze statue. Each of the other awards will receive a separate posting on this blog.

Veteran's Day

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Goodwin Library makes the American Archives List

October was American Archives Month—an opportunity to raise awareness about the value of archives and archivists. There is strength in numbers, and our collective voice can be more powerful than individual voices when we set aside time each year to celebrate our collections. Goodwin Library is on the list, "See How Your Colleagues Celebrated American Archives Month."

Library Science Exhibit at Artspace

Artspace in New Haven will have an exhibition, "Library Science", opening Saturday in New Haven beginning at 5 p.m. Conceived of by New York based curator Rachel Gugelberger, the exhibition will feature 22 contemporary artists, both emerging and established, who are inspired by libraries in their drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, painting or web-based projects. The exhibtion runs through January 28.

The exhibition title references Eleanor Antin's artwork "Library Science" (1971), which appropriated libraries' classification methods to represent the identities of living women. The title also refers to Library and Information Science, a field that studies library resource usage, human interaction with library systems, and information organization. The show will investigate how our physical, intellectual and personal relationships with the library and its materials are changing as libraries adapt to the digital world. If the book dies, might the library survive? How can libraries evolve to keep pace with the 21st century?

How cool is this? Artspace is located at 50 Orange St. in New Haven

New Titles in Credo Reference

Credo's General Reference collection now has over 560 titles. The following well-regarded titles were recently added:
•The 2011 Annual Register: World Events 2010, ProQuest
•Animals: A Visual Encyclopedia, Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc.
•Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Cambridge University Press
•Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language, Cambridge University Press
•Collins English-Greek Dictionary, Collins
•Collins Greek-English Dictionary, Collins
•Cultural Geography: A Critical Dictionary of Key Concepts, I.B. Tauris
•Dictionary of Trade Policy Terms, Cambridge University Press
•Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, ABC-CLIO
•Encyclopedia of New Jersey, Rutgers University Press
•Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History, ABC-CLIO
•Environmental Debate: A Documentary History, Grey House Publishing
•Exemplary Economists: Europe, Asia and Australasia, Edward Elgar
•Exemplary Economists: North America, Edward Elgar
•Globalization: Encyclopedia of Trade, Labor, and Politics, ABC-CLIO
•Handbook of Political Sociology: States, Civil Societies, and Globalization, Cambridge University Press
•History of Feminist Literary Criticism, Cambridge University Press
•History of South African Literature, Cambridge University Press
•Key Concepts in Anti-Discriminatory Social Work, Sage UK
•Key Concepts in Education, Sage UK
•Key Concepts in Governance, Sage UK
•Key Concepts in Nursing, Sage UK
•Key Concepts in Public Health, Sage UK
•Key Concepts in Social Research, Sage UK
•National Gallery Companion Guide, The National Gallery
•Pocket Guides: Myths & Legends, The National Gallery
•Pocket Guides: Narrative, The National Gallery
•Poverty and the Government in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO
•Slavery in the United States: A Social, Political, and Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

Here is a video presentation on how to distinguish between scholarly and popular journals and magazines. Melinda Brown, Sharon Weiner, Patricia Armstrong and Leslie Foutch, all part of the Heard Library at Vanderbilt, provided editorial support for this tutorial. Watch the video HERE.

Hoffman Family Library

The library staff is pleased to announce that the library is now officially the Hoffman Family Library. Yesterday afternoon was the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony of the Hoffman Family Library, formerly the Goodwin College Library. We thank the Hoffmans for their generous donation to the scholarship fund and continuing support for the Goodwin College community.

What is the Best Way to Study?

What foods are best to eat before a test? When is the best time to review the toughest material? A growing body of research on the best study techniques offers some answers. Find those answers in Today's Wall Street Journal's Personal Journal section article "Toughest Exam Questiona; What is the Best Way to Study?" If you are in the library, the Wall Street Journal is on the table when you first come in.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 26

This Week's Issue: Copyright

Golan v. Holder: Supreme Court agrees to Review Copyrighting Works in Public Domain.

Issue: (1) Does the Progress Clause of the United States Constitution, Article I, § 8, cl. 8, prohibit Congress from taking works out of the public domain? (2) Does Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?
Plain English Issue: Can Congress restore copyright protection to a work whose copyright protection had previously expired and was therefore in the public domain?

Symphony Conductor Lawrence Golan along with a group of supporters have successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari in their public domain copyright case. The lawsuit arose after Congress enacted the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA) of 1994. Section 514 of URAA restored the copyright term for works created by foreign authors who had lost their rights due to some reason other than expiration of the copyright term. Most frequently, the authors had either failed to renew their copyrights or failed to include a notice of copyright on the works. According to the petitioners, Section 514 restored copyright protection to thousands of works that had previously been in the public domain, including symphonies by Stravinski, books by C.S. Lewis, films by Federico Fellini, and artwork by Pablo Picasso. These works had been previously recognized as public domain in the US and had been used extensively by the petitioners.

Copyright: A Fair(y) Use Tale

Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University created this humorous, yet informative, review of copyright principles delivered through the words of the very folks we can thank for nearly endless copyright terms. Watch it on YouTube.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License

APA and DOI (Digital Object Identifier).

The APA documentation style requires the use of DOI numbers. However, occasionally one will run into a reference that does not have a DOI number.Cross Ref has a free tool that allows you to enter your full citation or what information you have, and will give you the DOI number for the article if it has one.

Ethanol Cost and Environmental Factors

The use of ethanol in gasoline has increased substantially over the past decade. Most ethanol in the United States currently is produced from domestically grown corn, and the rapid rise in the fuel’s production and usage means that roughly one-quarter of all corn grown in the United States is now used to produce ethanol. Since 2006, food prices have also risen more quickly than in earlier years, affecting Federal spending for nutrition programs (such as school lunches) and the household budgets of individual consumers.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the increased use of ethanol accounted for about 10 percent to 15 percent of the rise in food prices between April 2007 and April 2008. In turn, that increase will boost Federal spending for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp program) and child nutrition programs by an estimated $600 million to $900 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. In 2010, the use of ethanol reduced gasoline consumption in the United States by about 4 percent and greenhouse-gas emissions from the transportation sector by less than 1 percent.

Read the article in the Congressional Digest Debates Online, a Pro & Con Service.

Source: Ethanol Cost and Environmental Factors
Congressional Budget Office Analysis
Congressional Digest

Modernist Journals Project: 2nd Web Site of the Week

The Modernist Journals Project is a major resource for the study of modernism in the English-speaking world, with periodical literature as its central concern. This is a joint project of Brown University and the University of Tulsa. Their primary mission is to produce "digital editions of culturally significant magazines from around the early 20th century and make them freely available to the public on our website."

"The historical scope of the project has a chronological range of 1890 to 1922 (though the earliest journals that currently appear on the site date from 1896 and 1904), and a geographical range that extends to wherever English language periodicals were published. With magazines at its core, the MJP also offers a range of genres that extends to the digital publication of books directly connected to modernist periodicals and other supporting materials for periodical study.

They end at 1922 for both intellectual and practical reasons: the practical reason is that copyright becomes an issue with publications from 1923 onward; the intellectual reason is that most scholars consider modernism to be fully fledged in 1922, a date marked by the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses, Virginia Woolf’s Jacob’s Room, and T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land." This looks like a great place to do some original and interesting research.

Source: All of the information and the image came from the MJP page.

Opinion: A New Global Health Agenda

Last month (September 19-20), the General Assembly of the United Nations held a historic High-Level Meeting to discuss noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), an often overlooked burden on the world’s populations and economies. Only the second of its kind for a public health issue, the meeting was an unparalleled opportunity to put NCDs—including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disease—on the global health agenda. The successful meeting drew an impressive 34 heads of state, and member states unanimously adopted a political declaration that included important language to accelerate effective programs and resources to address NCDs. Read the article HERE.

Source: The Scientist October 4, 2011
Image: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS JOSEPH SCOZZAI

Free Trial Access to ARBonline

ABC-CLIO is offering free trial access to ARBAonline through December 30, 2011. ARBAonline, American Reference Books Annual, is the most comprehensive, authoritative database for quality reviews of print and electronic reference works. Recent updates include 100 reviews of new releases in the world of reference. ARBAonline currently features over 22,000 reviews of reference works published since 1997 and covers reference sources from more than 400 publishers in over 500 subject areas. User name and password are available at the library.

ProCon.org: Web Site of the Week

procon.org is a nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind. They promote critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily pro-con format. They choose issues that are controversial and important, and present them in a balanced, comprehensive, straightforward, and primarily pro-con format at no charge on our websites.

Last week, ProCon was selected as "Website of the Week” by Booklist, a 100-year old monthly publication of the American Library Association (ALA). A division of the ALA voted ProCon.org as one the Top 25 Free Reference Websites of 2011.

Can it be only 13 years?

The search engine marks entering its teens by turning its home page into a birthday party scene. Surrounded by multi-coloured balloons and streamers, its logo is adorned with party hats and sits behind a table heaped with wrapped presents and a large white birthday cake with 13 candles.

Although Google's founders, Stanford University graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, built their first search engine in 1996, it was not until 1998 that they formalised their work and created Google.

The search engine officially celebrates its birthday today, September 27. The pair came up with the name as a play on the word “googol”, the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Happy Birthday, Google.

Living in Connecticut

It is true that one of the best times to be living in Connecticut is in the fall. The October issue of Connecticut magazine offers lists of things to do: hikes and drives, cozy bars, comfort foods, and healthy living. Soon the view from the library will be worth a visit.

Science Times Every Tuesday

Small Fixes
"Sometime this year--if it hasn't already happened--the world population will reach seven billion. Many of those people lack the sophisticated medical care taken for granted in the industrial world, and they are still getting sick and dying from diseases that have been all but eradicated in countries like the United States. One way to address the problem is to make drugs and vaccines availble to everyone, but in many countries that remains an expensive dream. So what to do? This special issue is devoted to low-cost innovations that are making a big difference."

The Science section of the New York Times is published every Tuesday. Read about turning a square as big as a thumbnail into a miniature diagnostic clinic. In Mozambique patients share the burdens of living with AIDS. Other articles talk about sweet poison to lure mosquitoes, drug packages for newborns, self-adjustable eyeglasses for $19, vanquishing smallpox again, a straw that filters out pathogens, volunteer networks transforming health care, and more.

Source: New York Times September 27

Most Challenged Book of 2010

Topping the 2010 list is And Tango Makes Three, a children's book by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell about a same-sex penguin couple and its adopted baby. It was challenged for "homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group".

Banned Book Week

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. This event is observed this year from September 24through October 1.

What's the difference between a challenge and a banning? A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others. Due to the commitment of librarians, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens, most challenges are unsuccessful and most materials are retained in the school curriculum or library collection.

Please take a few minutes to look at the display by the elevators showing some books that have been banned or challenged.Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. In 2011, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Council of Teachers of English; and PEN American Center also signed on as sponsors.

Remedial Education: Obstacle or Second Chance

The September issue of Youth Today has a long article on remedial education, "Remedial Education: Obstacle or Second Chance" by Andrew Atwal.
First paragraph

"Some call itthe Bermuda Triangle of highereducation. Some see it as a needless expense--double payment for students to attain skills they should have learned in high school. Others praise the programs for opening postsecondary education to students who have been underserved by their local schools."

This is an interesting article for those of us involved in remedial education English and math.

YouthToday is in the library now.

Become Code-Literate

It might be the case that everyone doesn’t have to learn how to program, but it’s true that people should at least be familiar with the rudiments of programming, or at least scripting. Even if you’re never going to program something from scratch, it’s helpful to understand a little bit about the basic structures underpinning so much of our lives and appreciate the people who do this for us.

For people without any experience in programming, but with some curiosity and a few minutes to spare, Codecademy is a clever website that provides a free, interactive overview of basic programming concepts. You, too, can learn to say “Hello, world,” teach a website your name, learn about if-then statements, variables, and a few other fundamental ideas.

Codecademy is simple, free, and more fun than frustrating. Folks who are interested in becoming more conversant with programming concepts, but don’t (yet) have the time to actually learn a language, will probably find it helpful.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education September 20

16,000 more books in Ebrary Academic Complete

New in Academic Complete
We have recently added over 16,000 multidisciplinary e-books from Ashgate Publishing Group, Brill Academic Publishers, Harvard University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of Michigan Press, and other leading publishers.

Preview all newly added e-books, or browse featured Doody's and CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles of 2010. To open a document, click on the jacket.

THIS DATABASE NOW HAS 69,491 BOOKS FOR THE GOODWIN COMMUNITY.

CONSTITUTION DAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

The events of 9/11 have taken center stage over the past week as Americans remember that day 10 years ago. This week we need to remember a day that is arguably more important today than at anytime in our nation's history. Americans should not only celebrate this event but commit to learning about our country's founding principles. America celebrates Constitution Day on Friday, a day to reflect on what this document has done for our way of life and how to preserve it for our future.

On Sept. 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. The most important document in American history is the blueprint by which our government operates. Yet, many Americans have never read this short document, and most have an erroneous view of what it says.

22 percent of Americans can name all five family members of the Simpsons, but only one in 1,000 could name all five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment. Can you name those freedoms?

CONSTITUTION WEEK ACTIVITY

Goodwin College Celebrates the birthday of the United States of America government during Constitution Week beginning today, September 16.

On Monday, Sept. 19 at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room, join us as Dr. Harold Schramm examines the landmark case, Snyder v. Phelps, and the extent of free speech in the United States. Light refreshments will be served.

In March, the Supreme Court ruled in Snyder v. Phelps that the Westboro Baptist Church had the right to protest military funerals, despite strong emotional reactions to the group, its mission, and its role in promoting intolerance.

The Library Advocacy Committee is sponsoring a discussion on the Constitution by faculty members on Friday, September 23, in the auditorium. Time will be announced next week.

Please look at the display on the Constitution by the elevators and the book exhibit in the library. In the library, volunteer to take a short quiz on the Constitution and enter a drawing for a MYSTERY prize.

Value of a College Education Questioned

Wired Campus of the Chronicle of Higher Education has an entry today on the Youtube video. I am quoting from that entry here. This is not the entire entry.

"Have you heard that higher education is a scam? That accusation is racing around YouTube these days, in a video that has been viewed more than two million times.

The hourlong video, College Conspiracy, was produced by a group called the National Inflation Association.

Most college officials would undoubtedly dispute those charges, and question some of the facts rattled off in the video. But the video’s popularity highlights a growing frustration among members of the public with the soaring costs of education at a time of rising unemployment.

The producers of College Conspiracy did not return calls and e-mail messages requesting comment. One professor who appears in the film, Karl Klein, an associate professor of computer studies at Onondaga Community College, said he was not aware of how the interview would be used when he talked to a member of the National Inflation Association.

I would have called it something like, ‘Is There a College Bubble?’” he said. “But I think there are some things in that video that we need to think about and talk about, and I’m not sure there is a real good conversation taking place in higher education about cost.”

Source: "Questions About Higher Education's Value go Viral on Youtube" by Jeff Young
Wired Campus, Chronicle of Higher Education
September 15, 2011

New Book Explores Academia, Digital Media and Technology

Hacking the Academy, about academe in the digital age, was compiled from blog posts and Twitter messages posted during a single week last year. The book is now out and freely available online, courtesy of the publishing division of the University of Michigan Library. It has sections on ‘Hacking Scholarship,” “Hacking Teaching,” and “Hacking Institutions.”
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education

Twitter Update

Five years ago, Twitter came to life when @jack sent the first Tweet to his seven followers. Now, 100 million active users around the globe turn to Twitter to share their thoughts and find out what’s happening in the world right now.

More than half of them log in to Twitter each day to follow their interests. For many, getting the most out of Twitter isn’t only about tweeting: 40 percent of our active users simply sign in to listen to what’s happening in their world

Copyright Basics Video

The Copyright Clearance Center has produced a new introductory video, Copyright Basics, available at this link.
Enjoy this fun and informative video about the ins and outs of U.S. copyright law.

Constitution Week Activity

Join Us for An Exploration on the Extent of Free Speech Monday, Sept. 19 In March, the Supreme Court ruled in Snyder v. Phelps that the Westboro Baptist Church had the right to protest military funerals, despite strong emotional reactions to the group, its mission, and its role in promoting intolerance. On Monday, Sept. 19 at 2:30 p.m. in the Community Room, join us as Dr. Harold Schramm examines the landmark case and the extent of free speech in the United States. Light refreshments will be served.

Text Books in the Library

The library does not keep text books for current classes. We know some of you are waiting for books to arrive in the book store. Faculty members may put texts on reserve for you until your books arrive. We now have texts for A & P I and II on reserve in the library. These may be used in the library and, with some restrictions, copies can be made of a section on which you may be tested before your books arrive. Please talk the the librarian when you come in.

CINAHL PLUS WITH FULL TEXT

THE LIBRARY NOW SUBSCRIBES TO THIS DATABASE. IT WILL BE AVAILABLE FROMT THE LIBRARY PAGE LIST OF DATABASES TONIGHT! Read about this amazing EBSCOHOST database below.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text is the enhanced online version of Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). It is designed to meet the information needs of nurses and allied health professionals.It indexes virtually all English-language nursing journals, publications from the American Nurses' Association and the National League for Nursing, and primary journals from allied health fields. The allied health fields covered include: Athletic Training, Audiology, Cardiopulmonary Technology, Dental Hygiene, Emergency Services, Health Information Management, Medical Assisting, Medical/Laboratory Technology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Physician's Assistants, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Therapy, Social Service in Health Care, Speech-Language Pathology, and Surgical Technology. CINAHL Plus with Full Text also includes pertinent articles from the biomedical, education, behavioral science, management, and popular literature.

Materials indexed include journal articles, selected pamphlets, selected books, dissertations, selected conference proceedings, standards of practice for nursing specialties, audiovisuals, educational software, and selected poems and cartoons. Foreign language nursing & allied health journal articles are included when English abstracts are provided. Over 4,500 journals are indexed as of July 2010 -- indexing can cover as far back as 1937. A list of journals with dates of coverage is linked from EBSCO Publishing. Searchable cited references have been included since 1994 for over 1,300 journals.

CINAHL Plus with Full Text provides full text of over 770 journals and 275 books/monographs, plus legal cases, clinical innovations, critical paths, drug records, research instruments and clinical trials. There are also Evidence-Based Care Sheets and Quick Lessons available in full text from the search screen - simply click on the links at the top of the search screen to access these items. Other items indexed in CINAHL Plus with Full Text may be available in full text through the library either electronically or in print form.

Ebrary Cyberbullying Sources

Welcome to ebrary’s Searchable Information Center on Cyberbullying!
According to the National Crime Prevention Council, 43% of teens have been the victims of cyberbullying in the past year.

To help educators and students better understand, prevent, and take action against this growing concern, ebrary is subsidizing a collection of e-books on cyberbullying. Additionally, ebrary employees have uploaded a number of government documents from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, U.S. Department of Justice, and other organizations. Access here.

Hurricane Survival Kit

It is rare to see a hurricane forecast cone pointed toward the Northeast. Be prepared with this information from the Weather Channel. During a hurricane, and possibly for days or even weeks afterward, electricity and other utilities might not be available. Debris and/or water might block the roads, preventing vehicles from getting in our out of your neighborhood. Help might not reach you for days after the hurricane, so you’ll need to be completely self-sufficient during that period.

Here are some of the most critical supplies to have on hand, well before a hurricane threatens:
At least a 3-day and preferably a 7-day supply of water (1gallon/person/day)
Non-perishable food
Formula, diapers, and other baby supplies
Manual can opener
First aid kit
Prescription and non-prescription medicines
Toiletries
Cell phones and battery-powered cell phone chargers
Battery-powered radios and flashlights
Plenty of batteries
Extra cash
Blankets, sleeping bags, books, and games (especially if evacuating)

Smart Phones: Portal to the Library

Last week, an instructor came to our library to be oriented. She wanted to know what was available online and pulled out her iPhone. She wanted me to show her the applications she needed not only to access clinical and drug information, but also to access our other library resources, including online journals and information databases. It was clear she had no plans to come to the library ever again nor to sit at her computer in her office looking for information. This jolted me once more into recognition of how our librarianship field is changing. This instrucor is not alone. More than 70% of education professionals are now using smart phones, and the number is increasing. We can expect many, if not most, will want to use their smart phones as their standard portal to the library.

Focus on East Hartford PublicLibrary

The first in our series of featuring local libraries is a tribute to East Hartford Public Library. Within days, you will see that tribute in the display case in front of the elevators.

New Titles in Virtual Reference Database

As the final step in iCONN's special agreement with Cengage Gale for e-reference books, we now have the following titles added to iCONN's Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) collection:

American History Through Literature 1870-1920
American Revolution Reference Library
American Social Reform Movements Reference Library
American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present
Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
Black Literature Criticism, Classic and Emerging Authors since 1950
Dictionary of Literary Biography, Nobel Prize Laureates in Literature
Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Elizabethan World Reference Library
Encyclopaedia Judaica
Encyclopedia of American Industries
Encyclopedia of Bioethics
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
Encyclopedia of Food and Culture
Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Encyclopedia of India
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender
Endangered Species
Everyday Finance, Economics, Personal Money Management, and Entrepreneurship
Gale Encyclopedia of Diets, A Guide to Health and Nutrition
Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health
Gale Encyclopedia of Science
Gale Library of Daily Life, American Civil War
Gale Library of Daily Life, Slavery and America
Gothic Literature: A Gale Critical Companion
Government, Politics, and Protest: Essential Primary Sources
Human and Civil Rights: Essential Primary Sources
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences
New Encyclopedia of Africa
Presidents: A Reference History
Psychology of Classroom Learning, An Encyclopedia
Shakespeare for Students, Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry
Social Policy: Essential Primary Sources
U*X*L Encyclopedia of Weather and Natural Disasters
World Eras

It just keeps getting better and better!

Hunger: New DVD

British filmmaker and artist Steve McQueeen has turned one of history's most controversial acts of political defiance into a jarring, unforgettable cinematic experience about the Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands played by Michael Fassbender.

DVD Edition now available in the library
2008
96 Minutes
Color
Surround
2.35:1 Aspect Ratio

New From Google

This week Google launched two new services: Photovine and Magnifier.
The service, which debuted as an invitation-only application last month, lets users snap photos and share them with friends much the way they'd blurt out tweets on Twitter. With Photovine, though, photographers group pictures thematically, with one person taking a snap of, say, their desk and sharing it under the theme of "cluttered desks."

Magnifier will add features like videos of live performances, interviews with artists, explorations of different musical genres and free songs users can add to their Music Beta collection, Google said in a blog post.

As part of the new Magnifier launch, Google is giving away two tracks to Music Beta users, one of which is an exclusive to Magnifier: a live performance of "The Day is Coming."

U.S. Code Available in Online format.

The U.S. Code, a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States, is now available in a searchable online format.

Book of the Week: Raging Grannies

Women’s courage is ancient. Women fought against slavery and offered shelter to hunted runaways, demanded economic justice for the starving or working poor, raised their voices when rights were trampled, raised their fists when their children were murdered. Women’s collective acts of resistance have played, and continue to play, a vital but often unacknowledged role in humanizing social, political and economic policies.

This is the tale of the Raging Grannies by Carole Roy. Their beginning and growth, the invention of their identity, the educational and daring potential of their activism, the values expressed in their actions and songs, and their impact on issues, stereotypes, media and people.

The Grannies’ distinctive approach is surprisingly effective: many groups of Raging Grannies exist across Canada, in the United States, and as far away as the U.K., Australia and Greece (Greek Grannies call themselves Furies). Their popularity reveals the desire of older women to claim their space on the political scene.

70,000 Students for Free Online Course

"Stanford University has opened up to the public an introductory artificial intelligence class, taught by two luminaries in the field. Anyone with high-speed Internet, anywhere in the world, can enroll in the online course.

Just don’t expect a lot of face time with the professors. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 70,000 people had signed up to receive registration information for the AI course, which runs from October until December. Participants will be allowed to register in late summer, according to the course Web site."

Source: Scientific American Observations Blog, August 16--written by John Matson who is an online news reporter for Scientific American focusing on space, physics and mathematics. August 16, 2011

Future of Libraries: CQ Researcher

"As economic pressures wrought by the recession continue to squeeze millions of Americans, they are turning increasingly to the nation's libraries for help. Many are taking advantage of computer workstations to hunt for jobs and polish their résumés. Those who can no longer afford to buy DVDs or books are now borrowing them from the library. Yet state and local governments are slashing library budgets, and many public library systems have been forced to reduce hours and staff and close branches. Academic and school libraries also are struggling with budget cuts. Meanwhile, the role of reference librarians is evolving to meet emerging demands spurred by digital publishing. The myriad challenges facing libraries raise questions about their future: Should the physical library shrink as books, journals and other materials increasingly become available in digital form? What role will libraries play if e-books come to dominate the reading experience? And should public libraries be privatized in an effort to save money?"
Source: Introduction to the CQ Researcher Report on the future of libraries. Read it online, courtesy of the Goodwin Library. (password protected)
Image: Visitors to an online reading room at the New York Public Library can bring their own laptop or borrow one for free. (Getty Images/Spencer Platt)

Free Music Download

Every two weeks, Alexander Street and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings offer a free music download from the popular online collection.

This week it is "Cowboy Jim" from the album Pioneering Women of Bluegrass by Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard. When they were recording in the mid 1960s, bluegrass music was dominated by male performers. Their widely admired performance made them role models for future generations of women in bluegrass.

Find information for the free download HERE.

Proquest Central Library Search Steps

•At the flashing cursor type your search word or phrase; click on Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed to search only scholarly, including peer-reviewed journals; and then click on Search.
Ex. elder abuse

•At the Results list click on the (blue) article title to view the full record with abstract.

•Mark records desired by clicking on the box to the left of each citation within the Results list.

•Click on the My Research tab to review selected records, print out a bibliography or email articles.

•Print out available articles by clicking on Page Image-PDF (first choice); or Full text (second choice); or Article Linker (third choice).

International Year of Forests

Forests are home to 80% of our terrestrial biodiversity. Forests cover 31% of total land area. Forests are home to 300 million people round the world. The livelihood of 1.6 billion people depend on forests.Trade in forest products was estimated at $327 billion in 2004.

Did you know that this is the International Year of Forests? The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.

On their website, you will find information regarding events being organised throughout the International Year as well as interactive web tools and resources to promote dialogue on forests.

Reviving Manufacturing-CQ Researcher Report

"The United States is losing its place as the global leader in high-tech innovation and manufacturing, say many business and Obama administration officials. They point to a steady decline in manufacturing's share of the U.S. economy — and the corresponding erosion of a key source of well-paying jobs.

Most worrisome, they say, is the outsourcing of key high-tech products, including certain semiconductors, screens for some electronic reading devices and batteries for portable electronics. Defenders of globalized manufacturing argue that U.S.-based inventors and engineers devised most of those outsourced products and that high-end manufacturing will survive in the United States even if more factories are built abroad. Yet, both advocates and critics of globalization agree that young Americans aren't getting the training needed to keep the United States competitive in the high-tech arena."
Source: CQ Researcher July 22 issue Available online through the library

Image: A worker assembles a recreational vehicle at the Middlebury, Ind., Jayco plant, where layoffs in 2009 cut the workforce by about one-third. More than 5 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost since 2001. (Cover: Getty Images/Scott Olson)

Botnet Steals Passwords from Facebook Photos

Think twice before uploading your holiday pictures to Facebook-you could be helping someone steal information from your computer. A botnet called Stegobot was created to show how easy it would be for a crook to hijak Facebook photos to create a secret communication channel that is very difficult to detect. Read the article on page 18 in the July 23 issue of New Scientist available in the library. Very scary!

Book of the Week: Give Some Take More

Sherell Simonet, a graduate of Goodwin College, published her first novel in April, Give Some Take More: Is Blood Thicker than Water.
Sherell, a native of Hartford, received an associate degree in Medical Assisting here. She now lives in Baton Rouge where she is completing a Master's Degree in counseling education at Southeastern Louisiana while working on her next novel.

The book is highly recommended by members of the Goodwin community. It is currently available in the Goodwin Library.

New Books in ebrary Academic Complete

This database has recently added over 16,000 multidisciplinary e-books from Ashgate Publishing Group, Brill Academic Publishers, Harvard University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, Oxford University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of Michigan Press, and other leading publishers.Y our library has access to Academic Complete, a growing e-book collection spanning all academic subject areas.

The list of new additions includes:
Accidental Archaea: Molecular and Cellular Biology, by Ricardo Cavicchioli
Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent: Why We See So Well, by Lynne A. Isbell
Odes of Horace,by Quintus Horatius Flaccus Horace
Oxford Bible Atlas, by Adrian Curtis
Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, by Trita Parsi

Required Reading: Zeitoun

Zeitoun by David Eggers is required reading for incoming freshmen at Northeastern University in Boston and Tulane University in New Orleans. It is available in the Goodwin Library.

Eggers returns to his journalistic roots with this nonfiction account of one family's surreal experiences in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Eggers spent three years researching these events and working closely with the Zeitoun family to understand what happened, and the disturbing details of story he uncovered illustrate the atmosphere of fear which pervaded the Big Easy in the wake of the disaster. He uses Zeitoun's experience to brilliantly illuminate how the most pertinent issues of our time--xenophobia, terrorism, the flawed justice system, and FEMA's abysmal response to Katrina--are mere branches protruding from a trunk of distrust between the American government and the citizens of the world. Selected by the New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of 2009.

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics

The 92nd edition of the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics: A Ready Reference Book of Chemical and Physical Data is now available in the reference section of the library. Faculty members may take it to classes. This edition, published in June this year, includes new tables, major updates, and a reorganization of several sections.

There is no search engine to help you navigate through the pages, but the index should be sufficient. "As ever in science, the serendipity of a detour by accident into a new territory", accordingto Sir William Wakeham's foreward, "is itself often fruitful when one can have confidence in what you find."

This is not a handbook to be read from cover to cover, but is to be dipped into from time to time as a source of secure information.

Library of Congress Call number
REF QD64.H3 2011

Booker Prize Long List Announced!

The long list for the 2011 Man Booker Prize for Fiction - the 'Man Booker Dozen' - is announced today, Tuesday 26 July. The 13 books on the list include: one former Man Booker Prize winner; two previously shortlisted writers and one longlisted author; four first time novelists and three Canadian writers. The list also includes three new publishers to the prize - Oneworld, Sandstone Press and Seren Books.

Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending (Jonathan Cape - Random House)
Sebastian Barry - On Canaan's Side (Faber)
Carol Birch - Jamrach's Menagerie (Canongate Books)
Patrick deWitt - The Sisters Brothers (Granta)
Esi Edugyan - Half Blood Blues (Serpent's Tail - Profile)
Yvvette Edwards - A Cupboard Full of Coats (Oneworld)
Alan Hollinghurst - The Stranger's Child (Picador - Pan Macmillan)
Stephen Kelman - Pigeon English (Bloomsbury)
Patrick McGuinness - The Last Hundred Days (Seren Books)
A.D. Miller - Snowdrops (Atlantic)
Alison Pick - Far to Go (Headline Review)
Jane Rogers - The Testament of Jessie Lamb (Sandstone Press)
D.J. Taylor - Derby Day (Chatto & Windus - Random House)

The prize aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. Howard Jacobson won last year with "The Finkler Question." Hilary Mantel won with "Wolf Hall" in 2009. The prize is one of the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers.

The short list will be announced some time in early September. The prize is awarded in October.