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