Teaching Carnival

This is for all the instructors who have finished a most difficult semester, graded papers, turned in grades, and are now free for a while to think about things that are not immediately required--it's called The Teaching Carnival. "Teaching Carnival is devoted to gathering select blog entries related to teaching issues in higher education." or ". . . spectacular crop of therapeutic venting about grading, apathetic students, uninformed students, panicked students, plagiarizing students, and the teaching profession as a whole." This is an annotated hyperlinked bibliography of the best thought on teaching from the best teacher-written blogs on the net. So far there have been four issues and it seems be a collaborative enterprise. I find it fascinating--the ruminations of those who have just graded 100 freshmen papers about the value of what they do. If nothing else check out some of the pseudonyms: bardiac, profgrrrl, Raining Cats and Dogma, Overread, Ancrene Wiseass, Dr. Crazy and more. js

Try it. It's free, undemanding

Teaching Carnival IV
Teaching Carnival III
Teaching Carnival II
Teaching Carnival I

The Value of the Blog

I'm reading a book by Malcolm Gladwell called the Tipping Point--that point in time when certain factors come together to cause an extraordinary explosion of interest: trends, fashion, disease, or whatever the matter. Yesterday I ran across this article talking about how PR uses the media to create "the buzz" and artificially, often bogusly, trigger these kinds of tipping points. So much hype/PR/advertising this time of year just drives me deeper into my skepticism about the authenticity of published information and my belief in the usefulness of the Internet blog (it's own point tipped this year). Here's the article that continues the thread of Dec. 15th.

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

Chambers, known for their valuable reference books, are online with what they call Word Wizards: Scrabble, Crossword Puzzle, and Anagram word aids. Chambers, being British, I expected the UK spellings, but they offer both U.S. and Brit. versions of common words.
http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/wwizards/wwizards.py/main

New JibJab entertainments: Christmas and Year in Review. It gets very busy during the workday--try it in the evenings or mornings when we, the working class, are not "working" so hard.
http://www.jibjab.com/

From Marylaine Block at http://marylaine.com/neatnew.html

The Year in Media Errors and Corrections

"Some journalism mistakes are funny, some are seriously misleading, and some are devastating to their accidental victims. Unfortunately, many people who read the original story will never see the corrections. Another warning to treat news stories and reported statistics with the skepticism of a librarian."

http://www.regrettheerror.com/2005/12/crunks_05_the_y.html

Dec. 14th
Wed.

Library Tour

I've mounted a brief photo library tour on the web. Try it! You can get to it from the library homepage or here is the direct link. js

http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/sauer/webtour.html

Word of the Year
from the New Oxford American Dictionary

PODCAST

Runners-up include: bird flu, ICE, IDP, IED, lifehack, persistent vegetative state, reggaeton, rootkit, squick, sudoku, trans fat.

Need a good dose of contemporary cultural literacy? Try Fimoculous, a website compiler of 2005 lists of all kinds: books, music, sex, toys, best movie mistakes, photos of people smiling, etc. js

http://www.fimoculous.com/year-review-2005.cfm

Dec. 7th

[Remember
Pearl Harbor]

HOT DOCS at USA

by Vickey Baggott, Docs Librarian

Need something to do while you’re on Christmas Break? How about a little exploring? Here are some new documents about historic places within easy driving distance of Mobile. They are available in the Government Documents Department which is located on the 2d floor, South. Come check us out.

Advanced redoubt of Fort Barrancas. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida District, [2004] I 29.6/2:G 95/4

Photograph, maps and information about this fort built in the mid-1800s and located in Pensacola, Florida.

Apache prisoners at Fort Pickens. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida District, [2004] I 29.6/2:G 95/3

Photographs and information about some famous “guests” (e.g. Geronimo) at Fort Pickens located near Pensacola, Florida.

Fort Pickens self-guided tour. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Gulf Islands National Seashore, [2004] I 29.9/2:F 77 P

Photographs, map, and history of this historic fort which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building in 1829 and was used as a military post until 1947.

If you're up for traveling a bit further, you might consider -

Ublasaun = first light : Inupiaq hunters and herders in the early twentieth century, northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska / prepared by the Alaska System Support Office. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Alaska Region, Shared Beringian Heritage Program, 2004. I 29.2:UB 6

Maps, full-color photographs, and information about “Beringia” located in the Bering Strait region. The U.S. and Russia governments are proposing the creation of an international park to conserve the unique natural history and cultural heritage of this area that once served as a massive “land bridge” between Asia and North America.

Dec. 6
Tuesday

The Poetry Archive

Listen to poets reading their own poems. Allen Ginsberg reading Howl II, Yeats, Tennyson, maybe Rudyard Kipling or Robert Browning. Obviously some of these are very primitive recordings, but it's amazing that they even exist. Poets reading their own stuff is not always an inspiring way to appreciate this art form. js (This has a Dominican Republic domain [.do]. Why?)

http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/home.do

Podcasts seem to have become mainstream. Gale/ InfoTrac has added podcasts to Opposing Viewpoints. This database is one we recommend to freshmen who are writing papers on current controversial issues. We will now be able to download the President's weekly radio addresses to our computers or MP3 player.

Podcasting is exploding on the Internet. You have to be extremely critical when choosing which podcasts to subscribe to or you will become like me,just adding to my guilt load by downloading several to my iPod--and choosing silence instead. js

Dec. 1st

Wed. after Thanksgiving,

Nov. 30th

From the Annals of Improbable Research, an online video of the annual IG Nobel Prize awards. "Our annual awards for achievements that make people Laugh, then Think."

To get the free tidbits, Mini-Air, leftover from the real Annals do this:
To subscribe, send a brief E-mail message to:
LISTPROC@AIR.HARVARD.EDU
The body of your message should contain ONLY the words
SUBSCRIBE MINI-AIR MARIE CURIE
(You may substitute your own name for that of Madame Curie.)

http://www.improbable.com/

Happy Thanksgiving. js

Tarzan's Tripes Forever,
and Other Feghoots
The Web's First Shaggy Dog Story Archive

If you're going to a family gathering on Thanksgiving here's the site that will make your relatives rue the day they invited you. As of today there are 1900 jokes and shaggy dog stories on this website--enough to keep the company entertained between football games and turkey-induced naps. Drag down on this page to find the latest additions.[from Marylaine Block]

http://www.awpi.com/Combs/Shaggy/

LibriVox

"Acoustical Liberation of Books in the Public Domain"
"LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain, and we release the audio files back into the public domain. Our objective is to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project."

OR

Try a little hypertext, cybertext, or new media fiction and poetry. [need flash and a sound card]
http://www.wordcircuits.com/
http://www.hphoward.demon.co.uk/poetry/hypelink.htm

OR

Time Magazine's 50 Coolest Websites of 2005
http://www.time.com/time/2005/websites/

Flash Animations for Physics

Like most people, I like to learn by doing something--phooey on manuals. Learning how to use a database requires experimentation, trial and error, then fitting the outcomes into some sort of a mental model of the contents. Though I know very little of physics, here's a great website, mentioned by Marylaine Block this week, offering 83 interactive Flash animations of basic physics principles. It allows the viewer to manipulate inputs to affect outcomes. Created by a professor at the U. of Toronto, it is a super example of learning modules on the Internet available to any student--or the use of any instructor under a Creative Commons license. js

http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/Flash/

Meme orandum

If you are a news junky, this site is an aptly-named huge upper--not only hot-off-the-press briefs from reputable sources, but links to commentary by every variety of pundit and nutcase. Self-described: "The Web is humming with discussions on politics and current affairs. memeorandum is page A1 for these conversations. Auto-updated every 5 minutes, it uncovers the most relevant items from thousands of news sites and weblogs."

[Internet] MEME: "an idea, project, statement or even a question that is posted by one blog and responded to by other blogs. Although the term encompasses much of the natural flow of communication in the Blogosphere, there are active bloggers and blog sites that are dedicated to the creation of memes on a regular basis."
www.fzelders.nl/weblog/

http://www.memeorandum.com/ js

Newseum

Several years ago I mentioned this site, but haven't visited it in ages. It updates daily the front pages of over 400 newspapers with thumbnails linked to pdf versions and links to the webpages of each paper. No archives except of major historically important dates. Interesting--and easy--to compare headline stories chosen by the editors of papers from all over the world. Alabama papers are first, of course. js

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/

I'm off tomorrow so I'm posting this silly website today. You need a sound card and Flash to appreciate it. Click on and off each equine as you wish. js

http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf

Thurs, Nov 10th

Tues, Nov. 8th

Just got an email that reminded me of a class I had a few weeks ago for the language majors. The students didn't know that they have access to daily Western European language newspapers through LexisNexis. The email was about Lexis temporarily losing access to one of the German papers, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, though there are several other German papers still available. Want to read about last night's troubles in Paris in French, go to LexisNexis under the "Articles, Indexes, Databases" link on the Library homepage. You can limit by date or time span also, but be prepared to search in the language selected. js

I had to work yesterday and didn't want to waste Saturday shopping for groceries, so the cupboard is almost bare. Google to the rescue:

Cookin' with Google

You could do this before by just entering ingredients and the word recipe into a Google search, but this refines the possibilities to types of cooking:

* General
* Vegan/Vegetarian
* WorldWide Cuisine
* Atkins Diet
* Diabetic
* Seafood
* Crockpot

According to the notes: No truncation, so "onion" will pull up different recipes than "onions." Start with just 2 or 3 ingredients. And then toss in a word like saute or boil to make things even more interesting. As with Google, put quotation marks around phrases ("green peppers") + to require and - to exclude. No 'Advanced Search' available. js

Some photos to peruse this weekend:

Science and Photography Through the Microscope

Sue Medina of NAAL fame sent this link to NYU's School of Medicine project. The conjunction of art and illness shows up all the time; this is an interesting attempt to gather and organize those occurrences. js

Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database

"The database holds annotations of works of literature, art, and film relevant to the illness experience, medical education and practice -- fiction; poetry; memoir, biography, autobiography; literary, cultural, and social criticism; visual art; film; drama. The annotations are written by an invited editorial board of scholars from all over North America."

http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu/lit-med/lit-med-db/index.html

Fri.Oct.28th

Oct. 27th, Thurs.

Another new database added: PCI Full Text

Just got this email from Kathy Wheeler, our Electronic Services Librarian: "I've now added PCI Full Text to the databases pages. This database is similar to JSTOR in that what it contains is backfiles of journals. The subject coverage for PCI Full Text is social sciences and humanities."

Here's the list of titles and dates of inclusion. Check it out. js

Oct. 26th, Wed.

HOT DOCS at USA

by Vickey Baggott, Docs Librarian

Alabama Ghostlore /  a project of the University of West Alabama in Livingston. Alabama State Council on the Arts. http://facstaff.uwa.edu/ab/ghostlore.htm

Ghosts of the White House / Executive Office of the President. http://www.whitehouse.gov/ghosts/

Not Just Halloween: Festivals of the Dead from around the World / National Endowment for the Humanities. http://edsitement.neh.gov/monthly_feature.asp?id=80

And, for some really scary reading: 

Handbook on child support enforcement : answers to your questions. Office of Child Support Enforcement, Administration for Children and Families, Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2005. HE 24.8:C 43   Also available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS63830

Local tsunami hazards in the Pacific Northwest from Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes / by Eric L. Geist.  U.S. Geological Survey, Dept. of the Interior, 2005.
I 19.16:1661-B

Mass fatality incidents : a guide for human forensic identification. National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Dept. of Justice, 2005.
J 28.15/2:F 76/2  Also available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS64125

Tues. Oct. 25th

St Crispin's Day

from Shakespeare's Henry V

"This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."

From MaryLaine Block's Neat New Stuff

The OCLC Top 1000

"The OCLC Top 1000 Web site presents the top 1,001 works most widely held by libraries, with thematic sublists, a readers' poll, sample cover art, "Find in a Library" links[], comparisons to other lists, and download files." Check out the Factoids. . . ."

Factoid: ". . . Jim Davis' Garfield is number 15 on the list. (Four of the 5 top works by living authors are cartoons!)"

http://www.oclc.org/research/top1000/complete.htm

The Beloit College Class of 2009 Mindset List.

Welcome to the world of entering college freshmen:

48. Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.
49. Libraries have always been the best centers for computer technology and access to good software.
53. They do not remember "a kinder and gentler nation."

http://www.beloit.edu/~pubaff/mindset/

Thurs. Oct. 13

I'm off tomorrow, so I'll give you a couple of sites today.

The Tate Gallery is one of my favourite places to go in London. It has put its collection [from its four sites] on the web for you to enjoy. Search by artist or just browse. http://www.tate.org.uk/

Footnote TV. Now that the new season of TV has begun, I'm going to recommend this site again. This website provides the kind of background information that even makes the network shows educational. What is the scoop on real life relations with Latin America as portrayed on the latest episode of the new show Commander-in-Chief? Check out the footnotes!
http://www.newsaic.com/ftvindex.html

AnthroSource

We just mounted a new database for anthropology.

Here's a list of the full-text journals included in AnthroSource. Find a link to it under A in the Alphabetical list of databases in Articles, Indexes, Databases. As with all our databases, we recommend you choose the "Advanced Search," because it's easier! js

Monday, Oct 10th

I thought today was the 12th. I put this up this morning--so now we both have a headstart! js

From the Library of Congress American Memory Project:

Columbus Day

"Appropriately, both hammocks and chocolate were introduced to Europeans by the people of the New World."

An LOC Exhibit on Columbus is at:

1492: An Ongoing Voyage

Thurs Oct. 7th

Thanks to Sue Medina (Network of Alabama Academic Libraries guru) for the reference to this site--my weekend entertainment.js

Folkstreams, the Best of American Folklore Films

"a group of individuals and agencies (including the Alabama State Council for the Arts) seeking to preserve documentaries that capture American folklife." (SM)

"Find rare films by independent filmmakers on diverse topics such as music (blues, roots, klezmer, gospel, playground songs, and more), outsider art, folk crafts (such as quilting and basketmaking), folk dance, religious experience, storytelling, and more. The site also includes transcripts, essays, and background information for many of the films. This not-for-profit venture is funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services." (Librarians Index to the Internet )

URL: http://www.folkstreams.net/

From MaryLaine Block:

40 Things That Only Happen in Movies
Or on TV. Because it would really slow down the action if the hero had to spend 45 minutes looking for a parking place.
http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/features/20moviethings.htm

Dine for America--Benefit for the American Red Cross

If you are going to eat-out tonight choose one of the restaurants on this list of Mobile establishments donating a percentage or their total profit for Oct. 5th to the Red Cross.

From the Internet Scout Project today we got this great site offering audio of some of the best in early jazz. Look for this sentence:"Click here to automatically search for all audio recordings." js

Louisiana State Museum Jazz Collection[Real Player] http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/JAZ/Pages/home.html

Marylaine Block sent this one to play with on this Friday:

57 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/

Just got word from Kathy Wheeler, our Electronic Services Librarian, that we now have access to SocINDEX with Full Text, as one of the EBSCO databases. (Articles, Indexes, Databases)

EBSCO's PR on this reads:

"SocINDEX with Full Text is the world's most comprehensive and highest quality sociology research database. The index features more than 1,300,000 records with subject headings from a 15,600 term sociology-specific thesaurus designed by expert lexicographers. SocINDEX with Full Text contains full text for 242 "core" coverage journals dating back to 1895, and 72 "priority" coverage journals. This database also includes full text for 547 books and monographs, and full text for 6,711 conference papers."

Looking at the Journal list, it seems that many are older issues or include only selected articles, not the whole issue. Be careful to check this list to see what dates and how complete the coverage is for any specific journal you may need. js

Librarians are a weird group. This week we are encouraging everyone to support subversive books.

"Banned Books Week emphasizes the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them." American Library Association

Try one of these:
The most frequently challenged books of 2004

The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000

Not To Do List

Got a paper or project or letter you must write, but you can't? You're blocked. You're in denial.

Here's a list of the things you are NOT supposed to do when in this state. It's a list I recognize, but I will add one more: Do not watch the Weather Channel. js

http://www.52projects.com/52_projects/2005/09/a_nottodo_list.html

And one more thing you shouldn't do:

Dig your way to China with Google Maps:

http://news.com.com/2061-11200_3-5857666.html

Websites to watch in the next few days:

National Hurricane Center
Dr. Bill's Marine Weather

Sept 16

Constitution Day

On September 17, 1787, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. Only one item of business was on the agenda that day, to sign the Constitution of the United States of America. On December 8th, 2004, President George W. Bush signed a bill (Public Law 108-447) which designates every September 17th as Constitution Day. The Government Documents Department, 2d floor, South, has the following titles to help you learn more about this important document and the events surrounding its creation.

The Ratification of the Constitution. U.S. Army Center of Military History, [1988?] D 114.2:R 18

The framing of the Federal Constitution / text by Richard B. Morris ; drawings by Leonard Baskin. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Division of Publications, 1986. I 29.9/5:103

Documentary history of the Constitution of the United States of America, 1786-1870 / derived from the records, manuscripts and rolls deposited in the Bureau of rolls and library of the Department of State. Dept. of State, 1894-1905. S 8.2:D 65 Government Documents Reference (2nd Floor North)

The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence. U.S. Congress. House of Representatives, 2003. Y 1.1/7:108-96 Also available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS48404 or http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS48406 (PDF)

Celebrating the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, [1987] Y 3.B 47/2:2 B 47/2

The Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, [1987] Y 3.B 47/2:2 B 47/3

History of the formation of the Union under the Constitution : with liberty documents and report of the Commission / Sol Bloom, Director general. Constitutional Sesquicentennial Commission, [1935]
Y 3.UN 3:2 UN 3

Sorry, I'm trying to play catch-up with my life so haven't posted this week. Have to stop reading and listening to every hurricane story in the media. Marylaine Block's Neat New Stuff arrived today and she has some good websites.

1. Fuel Cost Calculator - Trip Gas Price
http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com/
Useful (if you can find gas at all) because flying out of Mobile is problemic with Delta and NorthWest filing bankruptcy. "Using current gasoline prices from AAA's daily, online Fuel Gauge Report, as well as the latest highway fuel economy ratings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the AAA Fuel Cost Calculator estimates the amount and cost of gasoline needed to complete a vacation trip." Also gives distance.

2. Google Blog Search Want to know the latest from the world of blogging? http://blogsearch.google.com/ searches blog contents.

3. My favorite: Idea Generation Methods: the Definitive Collection
http://www.ideagenerationmethods.com/
". ...Martin Leith... lists and explains here every idea generation method he's come across." We know 'brainstorming', but here are some explanations of really funky ways of "breaking out of the box" to find creative solutions. js

Fri. the 9th

Kathy Wheeler, the Electronic Services Librarian in Reference, has created a webpage with information about Katrina. "One of these sites in the University of South Alabama bulletin board for students who need help because of Katrina or are willing to help other students." js

http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/picks/news.htm#katrina

There's little that can make me laugh these days, but there are a few bright spots. The AACRL sent this link to last week's "Google Purge" article in The Onion.

And while on the topic of Google, Dennis Guion, head of Circulation, told me that Google Maps has added a Katrina link. It works for New Orleans to view satellite images taken after the hurricane. But not all areas have been updated-the view of Waveland still has it's piers, trees and houses intact--sigh. js

I'm having some trouble communicating these days. Here's my little piece of heaven that Katrina totally erased last Monday in Waveland Ms. along with every house within a mile of the beach. js

Just got word that classes won't resume tomorrow, but will start next Tuesday. There are too many people without gas and under curfew. Library is open 8 to 5 and has air-conditioning--it is a great safe haven, as it has been throughout history. Come catch up on your class reading with no generators and chain saws buzzing in the background. js

Want to be a Cover Model?

Here's a silly thing to do on a Friday afternoon--make your own magazine cover. I am designing a dassling one for soon-to-be-written/published library newsletter using my alter-ego, the Librarian Avenger. Don't think it will fly--too scary for the newbies. js

http://flagrantdisregard.com/flickr/magazine.php

Welcome back to school.  As you begin to learn your way around the library, be sure to visit the Government Documents Department located on the 2nd floor, South.  Discover 1 of the best kept secrets in academia -- federal agencies have excellent information on a wide variety of topics.   Most of the print, and many of the CD and DVD, publications can be checked-out just like a library book.  Here's a sampling of recent titles.

Arts
United States Senate catalogue of fine art / catalogue by William Kloss, Diane K. Skvarla ; introductory essay by William Kloss ; edited by Jane R. McGoldrick. U.S. Congress. Senate. Y 1.1/2:SERIAL 14737

Business
Locking your cyber front door : the challenges facing home users and small businesses : hearing. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census.
Y 4.G 74/7:C 99/5 Also available online:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS58581

Criminal Justice
Community policing beyond the big cities. Justice Dept., Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice. J 28.40:C 73 Also available online:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS55910

Education
Teaching children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder : instructional strategies and practices. Eduction Dept., Office of Special Education Programs.
ED 1.2:C 43/29 Also available online:
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS49520

Environment
Water quality in the Mobile River Basin, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee, 1999-2001. Interior Dept., U.S. Geological Survey. I 19.4/2:1231 Also available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS49232

Health
Mental health response to mass violence and terrorism : a training manual.  Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin., Center for Mental Health Services.
HE 20.408:V 81

History
Estimative products on Vietnam, 1948-1975.  Executive Office of the President. National Intelligence Council. PREX 3.21:V 67

Mon. Aug. 22nd

Google, the Naked Emperor
By Roy Tennant — August 15, 2005

First day of classes; first assignments. Thank goodness for Google! Now you never have to bother with the library and its confusing databases-- right? NOT!!! Read this article from one of the library profession's most knowledgeable techies. js http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA633310.html

Here's a quote to ponder:

"Make no mistake, the search engine companies are not in the business of creating relevant and accurate Web search results. Google is an advertising firm--they all are. Their business is the conversion of search traffic into advertising revenue. This conversion is improved if a search engine is more popular, but good search results are the bait, not the big catch.
All search engine hit lists redirect users to advertisers' websites. Some do it more subtly than others, but even Google includes more and more sponsored links. That's how they make their money (Google, which has only 1,000 employees, is rumored to have generated $1 billion in revenue last year)."
Pace, Andrew K. "Technically Speaking: The Business of Search Engines." American Libraries May 2004 35.5: 60+. Infotrac Expanded Academic ASAP

I felt guilty about not having something fun for this Friday, then I ran across this. Here's lagniappe--have fun.

Games for the Brain

Aardvark

I have been hearing, for the past year or so, promises about preprints being available online. [Preprints--those papers in the process of publication, but not yet officially available from a publisher]. Here is a collection of disciplinary websites/databases containing preprints for those looking for the latest research still marinating in the pre-publication state. Even though it says "Asian Resources" many are not. Some you need to register for, but I haven't found any that require payment--yet. js

http://www.aardvarknet.info/user/subject19/index.cfm?all=All

University Library Tour Schedule

Just finished scheduling library tours. If you haven't spent any time in the University Library it is a good idea to take a tour with one of the Reference staff and find out who's who and what's where.js

Go get a patch!

New Internet worm affects Windows users
"Fast spreading ZOTOB virus gives remote access to attackers
A new Internet virus has been detected that can infect Microsoft's Windows platforms faster than previous computer worms, said an anti-virus computer software maker.

The ZOTOB virus appeared shortly after the world's largest software maker warned of three newly found "critical" security flaws in its software, including one that could allow attackers to take complete control of a computer."

Some interesting findings and statistics from the NEA. js

Literary Reading in Dramatic Decline, According to National Endowment for the Arts Survey

"According to the survey, the most popular types of literature are novels or short stories, which were read by 45 percent or 93 million adults in the previous year. Poetry was read by 12 percent or 25 million people, while just 4 percent or seven million people reported having read a play.

Contrary to the overall decline in literary reading, the number of people doing creative writing increased by 30 percent, from 11 million in 1982 to more than 14 million in 2002. However, the number of people who reported having taken a creative writing class or lesson decreased by 2.2 million during the same time period."

http://www.nea.gov/news/news04/ReadingAtRisk.html

Another Google invention! Those of you who have used Google Maps know how great it is for the regular map and the satellite map view, but have you tried their new wrinkle--the hybrid? Google takes their satellite view and somehow perfectly superimposes the street names from the map view on top. The result is a perfect picture of the area chosen (use the +[enlarge] function on the left to access a close-enough view) with the street names on top. js

Got back from vacation yesterday and am just catching up enough to look at my listservs and rss feeds to see what's new and exciting on the web.

I tried Google Print [beta] for the first time. I registered with email and password so I could look at the pages of books it offered me for my search term. Google is digitizing books from four or five big libraries, as well as courting publishers to get their electronic files, in an attempt at making the full-text of millions of books searchable. Library catalogs are clunky things which allow you to find books by offering a small amount of searchable info about the book, like title, author, subject heading. Often a difficult task. Google is offering the possibility of searching through millions [not yet] of books to find your search terms in the full-text of these books.

Some publishers are calling their lawyers to see if they can stop Google for fear that their content is going to be given away free--heaven forbid!

I found some books that I would never have found using a catalog, a database, or the web. Right now the search is not sophisticated enough to retrieve only the most relevant items. It is a firehose of information. But this experiment by Google is intriguing. It allows you to connect to online bookstores and, only occasionally, a library in your zipcode. If all the results did the library connection, I'd be most happy. For now I'm going to watch what happens with the lawyers and the technology. Try it yourself at http://print.google.com

js

New Seattle Public Library

Here's a link to one of the places I hope to visit in the next month. I shall perhaps send you interesting informational bits from the road and maybe a few pictures too--unless I'm having too good a time! Jan

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=branch_central_currentphotos&branchID=1

Popular Baby Names, 1880-2004

One of those weirdly interesting sites. This one on the Social Security website--from Kathy Jones:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

FYI, Did you know that, according to Marjorie Garber in Vest Interests, early in the 20th C. blue was the baby girls' color, and pink, considered the stronger color, was for baby boys. js

Open CRS

Want the best information available about PBS funding or the energy situation or gasoline prices?

I've written before about the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. These are the people (often librarians) who provide information for our congress[wo]men on issues upon which they create legislation. Kind of important! Up until the last few years, these reports were also available to us regular people. Then they disappeared. Now there is a group who is gathering recently developed reports from congresspersons and individual with access and putting them on the web. This is public information for which you pay $100 million a year. js

http://www.opencrs.com/

What do you do when you want to email a long Internet url to a friend or put it on a webpage, but it's so long that even cutting and pasting is tricky--just too many characters. js
Use this great little utility:

Makeashorterlink.com

http://makeashorterlink.com/

Annual Credit Report .com

As of June 1st, those of us in the South have been able to request our credit reports for free once a year from the three major credit agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This is the online route, though you can request it by phone or mail. Have some credit card numbers or loan numbers available so you can confirm your identity. js

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

USGS Hurricane/Volcano/Tornado/Flooding Map

What do you worry about? Try this worst case scenario map.

http://www.usgs.gov/themes/animationmap.html      js

Two sites today from Scout Reports:
1. Cogprints
http://cogprints.org/
"A number of online electronic archives have been developed in recent years to allow fellow scholars access to recent works by other colleagues in a wide variety of fields. Cogprints is one such archive, as it functions as a place where persons working in the areas of psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, and biology may place their work." If you hold the copyright on your work, you might consider putting your papers in this archive.

2. Theme Park Insider http://www.themeparkinsider.com/
"As summer enters full swing, more and more people will travel to America'snumerous amusement parks and traveling carnivals. Quite a few of these people would do well to take a look at the Theme Park Insider website for reviews of various parks and the best (and worst) attractions . . ."Accident Watch" (which documents the latest accidents at each park), and reviews of theme park hotels as well. The site also has a number of discussion boards for visitors to chime in with their own take on a number of topics, such as which rides have the longest rides and general amusement park lore. [KMG]" js

A Librarian's Guide to Etiquette

Here's an essential blog for librarians--and library staff and library users who might like a delightful mock of Librarian culture.

http://libetiquette.blogspot.com/

Tues. June 14th,
Flag Day

Public Broadcasting Targeted By House
Panel Seeks to End CPB's Funding Within 2 Years

By Paul Farhi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 10, 2005; Page A01
"A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government's financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children's educational programs as "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow," "Arthur" and "Postcards From Buster."

As a librarian, and therefore an "information person", I like the balanced and intelligent stories produced by these stations. If you like to listen to "The Morning Edition," "Day to Day," and "All Things Considered," you might like to sign a petition to try and save them. js

A website that might inspire you to poetry on a summer afternoon:

OEDILF, The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form.

"The OEDILF Project, our online Limerictionary, is proud to present the work of writers living in 13 different countries in which English is spoken." Oh, yes. You can join the project..."js

I'm reluctant to make this admission
But it's true, I'm no academician.
Still, who needs degrees
To write limericks like these?
I've got chutzpah and brains and ambition!
academician by Chris J. Strolin (Limerick #3221)

http://www.oedilf.com/db/Lim.php

Beach Water Quality from Surfrider Foundation and Beach.com

Gulf Shores Beach
in Baldwin County, ALWater Quality Warning!
Due to likely polluted runoff in the surf zone. (last updated 6/09/2005 2:00 PM) Warning Polluted Runoff Status: Warning! Runoff report from: 6/09/2005 2:00 PM.
There has been recent moderate rain in the area, which means it is likely that there are higher-than-normal levels of polluted runoff in the surf zone. Water contact is not recommended (especially at rivermouths, lagoon openings, and flowing storm drains) for at least 48 after the end of a moderate rain event.
Last rain was on: 6/06/2005 7:00 PM.
Water Testing Results: OK
Last water test taken: 06/2/2005.
The government does conduct bacteria water testing at this beach and the last water test was within state standards.

http://www.surfrider.org/waterquality/

Monday, June 6th

D-Day 1944

EPIC 2014

from the Museum of Media History

"In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline. The Fourth Estate's fortunes have waned. What happened to the news? And what is EPIC?"
http://www.halorising.com/epic//

js

The Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Now this a summer reading list for those of us who don't believe that thinking and reading are harmful activities in themselves. Plato threw poetry out of the Republic as being too dangerous. OK, OK, I can kind of understand Mein Kampf, but Kinsey Report and John Dewey??? Here's what a panel of conservative scholars and public policy leaders have considered "dangerous" reading: js   *

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=7591

If you've seen any of the Star Wars movies, here's a treat. You must have a flash player and a sound card to appreciate this organic take off. js

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

craigslist Meets Google Maps

I've heard about craigslist, but have never figured out how to use it for anything I was interested in. A brilliant person (paul rademacher?) has invented a way to combine craigslist with Google Maps and now one can hunt for: houses, rentals, sublets or just rooms in the major cities in the country. Want to sublet for a month or two while you look for housing or look for a job without totally committing to the "big" move? This is the place! (I am not trying to send you away from home--heaven forbid. And please don't take that one bdrm sublet on NYC's upper westside for July! js)

http://paulrademacher.com/housing/

The Price of Journals

The Cornell University Faculty Senate recently passed a resolution about faculty submission to for-profit journal publishers and the use of these journals which carry huge subscription fees. They made several other cogent points relating to this issue, the most powerful issue driving library budgets these day.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/scholarlycomm/resolution.html

"This is a list of some of the most expensive peer-reviewed journals in different disciplines subscribed to by Cornell University Library in 2005 sorted by discipline. . . . The purpose of the page is to give examples of what is expensive in a range of subject areas."
http://oap.comm.nsdl.org/10most.html

Oops, Google is runnning into copyright trouble with its plans to scan millions of books and allow googlers to search the contents of those books. From yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education.

University-Press Group Raises Questions About Google's Library-Scanning Project

Libraries and the Patriot Act

The Patriot Act is up for renewal. Here's one story that might give you an idea why most librarians oppose it.

The Alabama education law prohibits the disclosure of individual library circulation and registration records of public libraries, public school libraries, college libraries, and university libraries. See Ala. Code §41-8-10 (2003). js

Sometimes when you watch television shows you know that there are allusions to people and events about which you are clueless. The Simpsons always references something current--an issue or controversy. Here is a website that footnotes those people and issues and explains the zeitgeist behind some of the most intelligent TV (apparently not an oxymoron)shows: The Daily Show, news, tv specials, even movies. A work of love:

Footnote TV

http://www.newsaic.com/ftvindex.html

Friday the 13th

The best web design this year:

9th Annual Webby Award and People's Voice Award Winners

If you want to experience the latest rage on the Internet, but haven't yet gotten an RSS feed reader, go to Version Tracker(choose your operating system) and look for one with good reviews and download it. With an RSS feed reader installed in my Firefox browserand a list of XML sites identified to it (click on the XML button and copy the URL into your reader. Some may do it automatically, not sure), I can skim the first paragraph or so of the latest articles and special sections of many newspapers, newsletters, blogs, and other websites quickly. Then I can click through to whole articles or sites of particular interest or relevance. This is a news and information junkie's dream utility. I no longer have to subscribe to email newsletters that clog my inbox. I choose what I want to read when it is most convenient for me.

Here's a list of U.S. newspapers that offer RSS feeds. I need to find out how to get one for our homepage. Better than a blog?

http://www.sidewalktheory.com/newspapers/

http://www.versiontracker.com/windows/

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), has been totally digitized. There are four ways to access the fulltext of this journal. "Moving wall" means that the last six months is updated with the addition of every new issue. Note the variations of dates available:

http://pubmedcentral.gov/tocrender.fcgi?journal=2&action=archive
Fulltext v1+ (1915+) 6 month moving wall

http://pubmedcentral.gov/tocrender.fcgi?iid=13407
Open Access articles (239, as of 10 May 2005)

http://www.pnas.org/Fulltext v59+ (1968+) 6 month moving wall

http://www.jstor.org/journals/00278424.html
Fulltext v1-99 (1915-2002) 2 year moving wall; updated annually
[subscription required]
Print ISSN: 0027-8424 |  Online ISSN: 1091-6490
js

Tuesday,
May 10, '05

HOT DOCS at USA

from Vickey Baggott,
Government Documents

May is American Wetlands Month and, in honor of this, I have selected some federal government publications that will inform you of this vital natural resource. Other titles are also on display in the display case on the 2nd floor, South and on the 3rd floor, South bulletin board. The Government Documents Department is located on the 2nd floor, South in the University Library.

Fort Deposit, Alabama : constructed wetland treatment system case history Environmental Protection Agency, 2004.
EP 1.2: W 57 X http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS51045

This document looks at how one town used constructed wetlands to remove impurities in their wastewater and achieved treatment levels that met permit requirements as of 1985.

An introduction and user's guide to wetland restoration, creation, and enhancement Interagency Workgroup on Wetland Restoration, [2003] C 55.2:2003018405
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS33588

A Guide for the public containing background on wetlands and restoration and information on project planning, implementation, and monitoring. It also includes lists of resources, contacts, and funding sources.

Methods for evaluating wetland condition : #14 wetland biological assessment : case studies  Office of Water, Environmental Protection Agency, 2003.
EP 2.32/2 X: 14

The purpose of this report is to help States develop methods to evaluate (1) the overall ecological condition of wetlands using biological assessments and (2) nutrient enrichment of wetlands, which is one of the primary stressors damaging wetlands in many parts of the country.