Don't tell your children, but a new study finds swearing like a sailor may alleviate pain. Four-letter words may help alleviate pain, suggests a study in the August 5 NeuroReport. Swear words "are really the link between the languge system andthe emotional system," according to psychologist Timothy Jay. The inspiration for this study came to a psychologist as he listened to his wife let loose with some unsavory language during the throes of labor.
Source: Science News August 1
Friday, July 31, 2009
Straining the Safety Net: CQ Researcher
As unemployment keeps mounting, millions more Americans are being forced to rely on a network of federal and state programs to meet their basic needs. The added pressure on the so-called safety net has prompted increases in unemployment insurance payments and expanded food-stamp and welfare caseloads, authorized under this year's $787 billion stimulus package. Budget crises, however, are forcing some states to cut back on safety-net programs, including health care and meals for disadvantaged children. At the same time critics say welfare reforms enacted in 1996 requiring aid recipients to work don't mesh with the reality of today's job shortage. But supporters of the reforms say the extra spending on benefits shows the system is working. With employment growth unlikely any time soon, a renewed debate on government responsibility to the disadvantaged is gathering force. Read the full report online (password protected).
Source: CQ Researcher
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Crap Detection 101
Howard Rheingold,well-known writer and lecturer, posted this about evaluating online resources on SF Gate (home of the San Francisco Chronicle)last month.
"The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception. Learning to be a critical consumer of Webinfo is not rocket science. It's not even algebra. Becoming acquainted with the fundamentals of web credibility testing is easier than learning the multiplication tables. The hard part, as always, is the exercise of flabby think-for-yourself muscles."
Librarians have been saying this, too, but perhaps in not so colorful a style. Read and distribute the article.
Source: SF Gate
"The first thing we all need to know about information online is how to detect crap, a technical term I use for information tainted by ignorance, inept communication, or deliberate deception. Learning to be a critical consumer of Webinfo is not rocket science. It's not even algebra. Becoming acquainted with the fundamentals of web credibility testing is easier than learning the multiplication tables. The hard part, as always, is the exercise of flabby think-for-yourself muscles."
Librarians have been saying this, too, but perhaps in not so colorful a style. Read and distribute the article.
Source: SF Gate
Systems Administrator Appreciation Day Tomorrow
Friday, July 31, 2009, is the 10th annual System Administrator Appreciation Day. On this special international day, give our System Administrator and IT Department something that shows that we truly appreciate their hard work and dedication--perhaps an expensive sports car,large piles of cash or something within reason. It's the thought that counts.
Advice From Veteran Teachers
Advice from Veteran Teachers is a collection of resources and tips for new teachers on a variety of topics, from teaching methods to assessment. You'll find great advice from experienced educators in two formats: slideshows or text. We hope that every teacher who spends his or her days making a difference in the life of a child will appreciate these choice bits of wisdom from veteran teachers.
Source: Teacher Vision Online
Source: Teacher Vision Online
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
New Books
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) annually sponsors nominations for the top ten books for young adults. The 2009 nominations, chosen by young adults in 15 book groups throughout the country, are listed here. The library has recently purchased some of these for our young adults (and those who wish they were). The top ten chosen from this list will be announced in October.
Graceling*
Untamed*
City of Ashes*
The Hunger Games*
Truancy*
Trunacy Origins*
The Graveyard Book*
Paper Towns*
Runemarks*
Identical*
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks*
Daughter of the Flames*
Wake*
Breaking Dawn*
Bloodline*
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Evermore
Geek Charming
Melting Stones
Living Dead Girl
Eternal
Flygirl
Wherever Nina Lies
Impossible
Absolutely Maybe
Those marked with an asterisk are in the Goodwin Library. The others may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
Graceling*
Untamed*
City of Ashes*
The Hunger Games*
Truancy*
Trunacy Origins*
The Graveyard Book*
Paper Towns*
Runemarks*
Identical*
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks*
Daughter of the Flames*
Wake*
Breaking Dawn*
Bloodline*
The Knife of Never Letting Go
Evermore
Geek Charming
Melting Stones
Living Dead Girl
Eternal
Flygirl
Wherever Nina Lies
Impossible
Absolutely Maybe
Those marked with an asterisk are in the Goodwin Library. The others may be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
Essential Men's Movie Library
And for better and for worse, film has had a huge impact on masculinity in the 20th Century. Movies have produced archetypes of manliness that many men judge themselves against today. To view how male characters of cinema have been portrayed over the decades, is to see clearly the ways in which our perception of masculinity has changed and continues to change. Thus it seemed only proper that The Art of Manliness take a stab at creating a list of essential movies every man should see.
Source: Art of Manliness
Source: Art of Manliness
Thursday, July 09, 2009
History of Medicine Database
The History of Medicine Division, National Library of Medicine, has launched a new image platform for its database, Images from the History of Medicine (IHM). You can now view search results in a multi-image display, download high-resolution copies of images, zoom in on image details, move images into a user-defined workspace for further manipulation, and create media groups for presenting images and sharing them via email or posting on blogs. Comprising almost 70,000 images,IHM is one of the largest image databases in the world devoted to images of medicine, dentistry, public health,the health professions, and health institutions. IHM is available online, free of charge.
Source: Medical Library Association News June/July 2009
Source: Medical Library Association News June/July 2009
Environmental Public Health Tracking
CDC Launches New Environmental Public Health Tracking Network
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today the launch of the Web-based Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, a surveillance tool that scientists, health professionals, and – for the first time – members of the public can use to track environmental exposures and chronic health conditions.
The web-based tool unites vital environmental information from across the country, including air and water pollutants and information for some chronic conditions, including asthma, cancer, childhood lead poisoning and heart disease into one resource. While scientists know exposures such as air particle pollution and lead contribute to illnesses, many environmental and health connections remain unproven since detailed health and environmental data existed in separate silos until now.
For more information Watch the YouTube video.
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today the launch of the Web-based Environmental Public Health Tracking Network, a surveillance tool that scientists, health professionals, and – for the first time – members of the public can use to track environmental exposures and chronic health conditions.
The web-based tool unites vital environmental information from across the country, including air and water pollutants and information for some chronic conditions, including asthma, cancer, childhood lead poisoning and heart disease into one resource. While scientists know exposures such as air particle pollution and lead contribute to illnesses, many environmental and health connections remain unproven since detailed health and environmental data existed in separate silos until now.
For more information Watch the YouTube video.
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Emerging Student Loan Crisis
Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis
Higher education has never been more expensive. The price of attending a public university doubled, after inflation, over the last two decades, and family income and student financial aid haven’t kept pace.1 As a result, students have no choice but to borrow, and more college students are borrowing more money than ever before.
But a new analysis of federal financial aid records reveals more than just surging debt levels. Students are taking on more of the riskiest debt: unregulated private student loans. Here, students have the least protection and pay the highest rates. For-profit colleges are leading the way in this trend, and minority college students appear to be borrowing a disproportionate share. If this continues, the consequences will be severe: reduced access to higher education, diminished life choices, and increasing rates of catastrophic loan default.
Source: Education Sector July 9 2009
Higher education has never been more expensive. The price of attending a public university doubled, after inflation, over the last two decades, and family income and student financial aid haven’t kept pace.1 As a result, students have no choice but to borrow, and more college students are borrowing more money than ever before.
But a new analysis of federal financial aid records reveals more than just surging debt levels. Students are taking on more of the riskiest debt: unregulated private student loans. Here, students have the least protection and pay the highest rates. For-profit colleges are leading the way in this trend, and minority college students appear to be borrowing a disproportionate share. If this continues, the consequences will be severe: reduced access to higher education, diminished life choices, and increasing rates of catastrophic loan default.
Source: Education Sector July 9 2009
Twitter Gains Entry in Dictionary
Twitter has gained academic respectability with inclusion in the Collins English Dictionary. The social networking tool, which has 1.8 million users, will be listed in the 30th anniversary edition to be published later this year.
The word Twitterati, referring to users of the website, will also be entered, as will Twitterverse, which defines the website and its users.
Source: The Telegraph July 7, 2009
The word Twitterati, referring to users of the website, will also be entered, as will Twitterverse, which defines the website and its users.
Source: The Telegraph July 7, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
New Books Just In
Trophy Wife by Ashley
White Lines by Tracy Brown
Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey
Sensuality by Zane
Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah (additional copy)
Dutch by Teri Woods
Beowulf on the Beach by Murnigham
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth G. Smith
White Lines by Tracy Brown
Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey
Sensuality by Zane
Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah (additional copy)
Dutch by Teri Woods
Beowulf on the Beach by Murnigham
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth G. Smith
What You Need to Know About Goodwin Library
The Goodwin Library provides some of the very best electronic reference resources for students,faculty,administration, and staff. Just go to the library page www.goodwin.edu/library, look under "find articles" and they are listed. Faculty teaching distance learning classes should find these resources particularly valuable. The library staff will provide training and tutorials upon request. Today I am highlighting just a few for you:
Credo Reference
The simple search field on the front page belies the sheer volume and quality of information in Credo Reference. You can get to one of the three million-plus entries contained in over 400 reference sources from about 60 publishers through precise searching or a more general concept map.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
There are now three million documents in 2,025 ebooks on this well-known platform, available to us through ICONN. Many of the titles ae highly specialized, thus offering excellent depth and quality of results. Features like quick higlight dictionary search, citation tools, and persistent URLs should not go unnoticed.
History Reference Center
This file from ICONN provides a wealth of material from pe-Columbian America through the Bush administration, with integrated searching and cross-linking to 5000-plus primary source documents, 39 reference titles, 110 plus full-text journals, 200-plus country overview, and scores of images.
Biography Resource Center
This produce, now available to academic libraries through ICONN, draws from 135 Gale-publihed sources to offer 440,000 engaging biographies. Also available in full-text are articles from more than 325 magazines and newspapers like the New York Times and USA Today. Via add-on modules, the database interfaces with Marquis Who's Who and opens access to scholarly biographies by Macmillan and Scribner. Noteworthy amenities include timely biographic spotlights and detailed lessonp plans for teachers--well structured and attractively designed.
PsycINFO
With almost 2400 journals dating back to the early 1800s and including a broad spectrum of psychological aspects across many fields-e.g., business, education, law, medicine, and social work--PsycINFO is by far one of the most comprehensive psychological databases available. Since it lacks full-text access, users can use the sister database PsycARTICLES with full-text access to the journals of the American Psychological Association and other sources.
Science Reference Center
This is the last one highlighted this week. Students will appreciate the initial page of this rich resource (boasting 2.5 million full-text articles), with its unique approachable layout and a comprehensive A-Z listing of common topics. An interactive time line features hyperlinks to relevant entries, while the "Science Standards" tool displays benchmarks and grade level expectations by state. "Person Search" brings up a wealth of biographical information, and results pages are fairly easy to navigate. This is also from ICONN. Check back next week for more.
Credo Reference
The simple search field on the front page belies the sheer volume and quality of information in Credo Reference. You can get to one of the three million-plus entries contained in over 400 reference sources from about 60 publishers through precise searching or a more general concept map.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
There are now three million documents in 2,025 ebooks on this well-known platform, available to us through ICONN. Many of the titles ae highly specialized, thus offering excellent depth and quality of results. Features like quick higlight dictionary search, citation tools, and persistent URLs should not go unnoticed.
History Reference Center
This file from ICONN provides a wealth of material from pe-Columbian America through the Bush administration, with integrated searching and cross-linking to 5000-plus primary source documents, 39 reference titles, 110 plus full-text journals, 200-plus country overview, and scores of images.
Biography Resource Center
This produce, now available to academic libraries through ICONN, draws from 135 Gale-publihed sources to offer 440,000 engaging biographies. Also available in full-text are articles from more than 325 magazines and newspapers like the New York Times and USA Today. Via add-on modules, the database interfaces with Marquis Who's Who and opens access to scholarly biographies by Macmillan and Scribner. Noteworthy amenities include timely biographic spotlights and detailed lessonp plans for teachers--well structured and attractively designed.
PsycINFO
With almost 2400 journals dating back to the early 1800s and including a broad spectrum of psychological aspects across many fields-e.g., business, education, law, medicine, and social work--PsycINFO is by far one of the most comprehensive psychological databases available. Since it lacks full-text access, users can use the sister database PsycARTICLES with full-text access to the journals of the American Psychological Association and other sources.
Science Reference Center
This is the last one highlighted this week. Students will appreciate the initial page of this rich resource (boasting 2.5 million full-text articles), with its unique approachable layout and a comprehensive A-Z listing of common topics. An interactive time line features hyperlinks to relevant entries, while the "Science Standards" tool displays benchmarks and grade level expectations by state. "Person Search" brings up a wealth of biographical information, and results pages are fairly easy to navigate. This is also from ICONN. Check back next week for more.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
CQ Researcher This Week: Treating Depression
"Depression and suicide always increase in tough economic times, as indicated by a rash of suicides by men despondent over their families' financial troubles. Meanwhile, a wave of suicides and mental disorders — mainly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression — has hit military personnel returning from repeated deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq, swamping military health-care systems. Depression, the most common serious mental illness, is sometimes caused by genetics, but it also can be triggered by stress or trauma. Access to treatment has expanded in recent years, as more and more primary-care doctors screen for the disease. And a new mental-health-care “parity” law passed by Congress in 2008 is expected to increase insurance coverage as well as access to mental-health services. But many people with severe depression remain uninsured and dependent on public health-care programs, which recession-plagued states are cutting back as revenues dwindle."
Source: This is the introduction to the full report in CQ Research June 26 2009 (online; Goodwin College access requires user name and password.)
Source: This is the introduction to the full report in CQ Research June 26 2009 (online; Goodwin College access requires user name and password.)
What They are Reading on College Campuses
Love the One You're with
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Uaccustomed Earth*
Angels and Demons*
Olive Kitteridge*
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man*
Twilight Series*
The Shack*
Pygmy
Outliers:The Story of Success*
The titles marked with an asterick are in the Goodwin Library collection.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education July 1
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Uaccustomed Earth*
Angels and Demons*
Olive Kitteridge*
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man*
Twilight Series*
The Shack*
Pygmy
Outliers:The Story of Success*
The titles marked with an asterick are in the Goodwin Library collection.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education July 1
ICONN Changes Start Today
ICONN Changes on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
•Gale’s U.S./World History and Science Resource Centers will replace the corresponding title from EBSCO.
•Gale’s What do I Read Next will be added.
•50 e-reference books will be added.
•Access to the biography Resource Center will be extended to all academic librries.
•We lose access to Consumer Reports, but will retain access to the full-text backfile from 1/1/1999 to 6/03/09.
•Gale’s U.S./World History and Science Resource Centers will replace the corresponding title from EBSCO.
•Gale’s What do I Read Next will be added.
•50 e-reference books will be added.
•Access to the biography Resource Center will be extended to all academic librries.
•We lose access to Consumer Reports, but will retain access to the full-text backfile from 1/1/1999 to 6/03/09.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Time Magazine: Health Issue
Time magazine's annual health issue looks at how to avoid illness rather than just treat it. Articles in this issue:
This Doctor Does not Want to See You (Cleveland Clinic)
Getting Well While You Shop
Staying Sane May Be Easier Than You Think
Food as Pharma
A User's Guide to Good Health at Every Age
Take a mental health break and sit by the window overlooking the river while you read this issue--good for your health immediately.
This Doctor Does not Want to See You (Cleveland Clinic)
Getting Well While You Shop
Staying Sane May Be Easier Than You Think
Food as Pharma
A User's Guide to Good Health at Every Age
Take a mental health break and sit by the window overlooking the river while you read this issue--good for your health immediately.
Event Supporting State Library Funding
FRIDAY, June 19th 10AM
The House of Representatives will convene in special session on Friday June 19 at 11:00am to take up bills regarding Medicaid deficit mitigation and bills necessary for the receipt of federal stimulus money for summer youth employment programs. We are hoping to bring some awareness to the issues facing each and every library in the state. We are asking people to join us in helping get the word out not to cut support to the Connecticut libraries. Librarians will begin to gather about 10:00am outside the Legislative Office Building cafeteria.
Source: Library Advocacy Committee
The House of Representatives will convene in special session on Friday June 19 at 11:00am to take up bills regarding Medicaid deficit mitigation and bills necessary for the receipt of federal stimulus money for summer youth employment programs. We are hoping to bring some awareness to the issues facing each and every library in the state. We are asking people to join us in helping get the word out not to cut support to the Connecticut libraries. Librarians will begin to gather about 10:00am outside the Legislative Office Building cafeteria.
Source: Library Advocacy Committee
Thursday, June 11, 2009
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