Wed. Aug 18th

Welcome freshmen and transfers!

College, and all the new experiences you are anticipating, can be terrifying. Academic libraries are high on the list of anxiety-makers. They are big; they are complicated; they are confusing.

Right now, before you get boggled by your courses, is a great time to investigate our library. Meet some of the staff of this beautiful newly-additioned building. Find out where we hide the good stuff. Uncover what we have for you to use for your papers and assignments. Discover the services we can offer you. All in about 30 minutes, starting in the Atrium. js

Here's the tour schedule for the rest of this week and a link to those tours offered in the coming weeks:

This Week:

• Today at 10 A.M.
• Tomorrow (Thursday) 11:00, 1:00 & 3:00;
• Friday at 1:00

And here are the tours starting next week: http://www.usouthal.edu/univlib/sauer/toursfall2004.html

Wed. Aug. 11

I seem to have lost the 9th--don't have that many left that I can afford to lose a day, any day! I mentioned sometime in the past that you can now find library books through Google. Well, it seems that you can now do so through Yahoo too--at least 2 million of them. Both Google and Yahoo have loaded WorldCat database records into their own databases. If you are looking for a particular book and do a somewhat specific search you may find a retrieval from http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/. Clicking through you will be able to find out which libraries in your area own that book. Unfortunately you may have to check the library's catalog to see if it is checked out or on the shelf, but hey, it's a good way to show the book-reading public that they don't ALWAYS have to buy a book from Amazon or B & N--they can get it at the local library instead. js

ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)
is changing

"ERIC will introduce a new Web site on September 1, 2004. The new centralized ERIC will provide users with a modernized system that is easy-to-use, comprehensive, and up-to-date, with many free-of-charge full-text resources."

Does it seems to you that change, just for the sake of change, is both a government and a technology dictum these days. Well ERIC, the education information system that has been in existence since 1966, is being changed. Here's the notice I got in about 5 different emails. How it will affect students, teachers and instruction librarians(me)—I haven't a clue as yet!js

Read the whole update on ERIC at http://www.eric.ed.gov

Hot Docs for August

by Vickey Baggott

Welcome to the rest of your life! To help you stay “clean and sober” during this new school year, “Get the facts, Jack” by checking out these new government publications and videos. The Government Documents Department is located on the 2nd floor, South of the University Library.

The Challenge in Higher Education : Confronting and Reducing Substance Abuse on Campus. Executive Office of the POTUS, Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2004.
PREX 26.2:C 35

Research has shown that drug use impairs memory and brain function. Drug use by students creates a major obstacle to academic performance and interfers with normal social interaction and the formation of new relationships that are integral to the college experence. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/challenge_higher_ed/challenge_higher_ed.pdf

Ecstasy : What’s All the Rave About? Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, 2002.
HE 20.402:EC 7x/GUIDE & VIDEO

Ecstasy has become a favorite among young party goers because of the widespread misconception that it is a harmless aid to social activities and self-awareness and/or an alternative to more dangerous drugs. Research continues but it’s already known to be responsible for some deaths and may lead to future drug dependence and weakened memory.

Marijuana : Weeding Out the Hype! Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, 2002.
HE 20.402:M 33x/GUIDE & VIDEO

Marijuana continues to be the most widely used illegal drug of choice among today’s Generation Y, the group born since 1982. Today’s “grass” is stronger and comes in more varieties than the “weed” that many of today’s parents used back in the 1960s and 70s.

Meth : What’s Cooking in Your Neighborhood? Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, 2002.
HE 20.402:M 56/2x/GUIDE & VIDEO

According to the World Health Organization, methamphetamine is second only to marijuana as the most widely abused illicit drug in the world. Users may experience acute psychosis and commit acts of extreme violence. If that’s not scary enough, just making the stuff can kill you!

Steroid Abuse in Today’s Society : a Guide for Understanding Steroids and Related Substances. Justice Dept., Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion Control, 2004.
J 24.8:ST 4/3
This guide helps you understand why steroids are being abused, and how you can educate yourself and your friends, from athletes to those who innocently (and ignorantly) use dietary supplements, about the dangers of these drugs. http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/brochures/steroids/professionals/professionals.pdf

Your life, your choice – just make sure it’s a wise one.

Monday, August 2nd

Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/content.shtml "This award-winning site's games and visual demonstrations of concepts help to arouse curiosity and make those concepts interesting and intelligible."

MaryLaine Block has a list of great sites this week--you will see them here all week. For a first Monday in August, I thought this would be a great way to keep your brain alive while still having fun. Puzzles. Interactive Puzzles. Math Puzzles. I'm still working on the first one. I can see it is possible- just going to take me a little while to figure out- how to get 4 ounces of water into a glass by pouring 8 ounces into a 3 and a 5 ounce glass. Read the author's manifesto if you are one of those who claim to be totally incapable of doing math. js

Scientific Publications: Free for all?

Nothing has affected academic libraries more in the last 20 years than the cost of journal subscriptions especially in the science, technology and medical fields (called STM). Our own university researchers make discoveries, write articles to disseminate their findings, give them to publishers with no financial recompense, and then their own university libraries have to buy back the information created in their own institutions from publishers who now own the copyright to this information and whose profits are enormous. The UK has just completed a study of this incredible folly. It calls for changes in the academic publishing paradigm. Let's hope that our own government and universities recognize the importance of implementing these changes, not just for libraries, for more than just science--for the advancement of all knowledge worldwide. js

Scientific Publications: Free for all? (html)
pdf version

Sue Medina, the Director of NAAL, Network of Alabama Academic Libraries, sent a message this morning that this report is now available online: "The 118-page document contains 82 findings and conclusions and has created considerable discussion and speculation about which recommendations will be carried forward and how. Among the recommendations:

• Digitization should facilitate, not restrict access.
• Make grants available to all research institutions for the establishment and maintenance of repositories.
• The government appoints and funds a central body to coordinate the implementation of a network of institutional repositories.
• Institutional repositories should be a key component of any long-term strategy to ensure the preservation of digital publications."

The Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention: Your Disease Risk. Here's a fascinating site! I just answered the questions on cancer, diabetes and heart disease--guess it's going to be a car accident that gets me, because according to these results, I might never die. Try it--it has nice suggestions on ways to improve your chances of avoiding these big three. js

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest
2004 Winners of the Worst First Sentence

"Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." js

There is hardly anything more complicated than Copyright: the laws, the ownership, the dates for expiration, fair use provisions, and more. Here is a chart that helps explain what is in the public domain from the Cornell Copyright Information Cente--with extensive footnotes of course. (Thanks to MaryLaine Block for the link.)

http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/training/Hirtle_Public_Domain.htm

I readily admit I'm weird. I get great pleasure out of reading the questions about grammar sent into the Chicago Manual of Style website—questions from us ordinary folk with grammatical problems not easily sorted out. If you love playing with language and its infinite supply of problems, try the website: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/cmosfaq.html

And if you want to be reminded to check it out occasionally go here: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/members.html

Here's a question and response recently added: "Q. I totally agree with Chicago’s use of the serial comma. However, I am creating a style guide for a company that does not use the serial comma. For the sake of consistency, I am considering stating in the guide that the serial comma is not to be used at all (yikes!). My question is: Is it better to be consistent (and not use the serial comma at all) OR to add in the serial comma ONLY when it is necessary to prevent ambiguity? I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the serial comma at all times, but alas, I am just a lowly intern. Thanks a lot for your help!

A. Well, if you don’t allow it at all, you will at times be stuck with situations like the following hypothetical dedication page that our managing editor likes to cite: “With gratitude to my parents, Mother Teresa and the pope.” (Maybe that example will help you change your company’s policy.)" js

July 12th,
Monday

Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America

The National Endowment for the Arts came out with a report recently documenting the fact that "no one" reads anymore. What's surprising to me is that the biggest decline is in the 18 to 24 age group, many of whom are in school and should be reading all the time. My experience in the library and in class is that many (not all) students want information to complete their assignments and their papers, but they don't realize that they have to read to get that information, even if it is a literary text which they are assigned to discuss. Technology only encourages this tendency because it offers bulleted critiques that can be cut and pasted; Control-F takes one to the crucial word instantly without the need to read what comes before or after; PowerPoint distills info to minimalist drivel; text means beautiful fonts; discourse means well outlined class notes--all of which get the info one needs to complete an assignment without any thinking required. The great and beautiful conversation of human knowledge -- across time and place -- takes too long, the narrative is too hard to follow and prolonged concentration is too painful to an unexercised brain. Magazines, newspapers, the web, Sparknotes--fast, easy, simple, distilled--not really reading, but enough info for a good grade. I am complicit, as are many faculty, in encouraging easy answers, fast retrieval and the ease of new technology. Students will not be able to think critically—or write well—until they learn an old-fashioned requirement for wisdom--reading! My rant for the week.

Here's the address for the NEA Report, "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America." (which I haven't read--yet!) js

July 9th

No time!. Try these sites from MaryLaine Block:

2004 Democratic National Convention
http://www.dems2004.org/

2004 Republican Convention
http://www.2004nycgop.org/

The Internet under Surveillance 2004 [Reporters without Borders]
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=433
A nation by nation report on official efforts to restrict access to
internet information.

I've mentioned this before, but it is worth reminding you about this site, esp. for faculty looking for readings for a course you are developing, or for the self-learner who needs to know what's important to read in almost any subject area. js

MITOpenCourseWare--Massachusetts Institute of Technology has pledged to put all their course material online. Right now there are 700 courses in 33 disciplines offering "a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. . . .

"* Does not require any registration
* Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting activity
* Does not provide access to MIT faculty"

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/index.htm

I'm back, but not re-energized, nor ready to write exactly. Traveling is hard work!

Where do librarians go on vacation? To other libraries of course. I checked out the Klementinum in Prague, between the many pilsners and the "real" Budweiser Budvar!

Here's the library which was "state of the art" in the 16th & 17th Centuries.

Here's the same view from the tower that Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler saw in the 1599.

LiBlog is going on vacation!!!

Will be back June 28th--re-energized and ready to write.

almost May 27th,
Thursday

Google is amazing! I used to be able to make the distinction in class between information from the "public Internet" which you get through Google, and the information which requires that you go through the library databases to reach--not anymore. If Google can work out its latest plan, libraries, though still paying for the content, will become invisible in the process. Very interesting development! I got this yesterday from the Greenhouse Associates Digital Strategies Newsletter. js

Google Goes Over the Wall
May 2004

"While Google prepares for its IPO, it continues to make innovative moves to access information that is behind firewalls. Much of the world’s most authoritative and valuable electronic content lives behind firewalls, where it is accessible only to subscribers or authorized users. Large amounts of scientific, professional, and academic research fall into this category. One such example is scholarly journals, which carry subscription costs of hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year. Google recently announced an agreement with CrossRef, a consortium of over 100 journal publishers, whereby Google will be able to index the full text of journal articles and conference proceedings." Click here for the rest of the article.

Craig Beard of the Alabama Assoc. of College and Research Libraries sent out this article of interest today. Maybe design wins out for Google even if functionally equal with the others--it does for me.

Search Engine Contest Ends in a Draw

"Google is riding high on its reputation as the "best" search engine, but a new survey by Vividence Corp. suggests that it doesn't necessarily provide significantly better search results than its rivals. After asking 2,000 Web users to test five popular search engines, the survey found little difference among the results. For instance, when asked to find facts such as the leading cause of death for 25- to 34-year-olds, Google users came up with the right answer 55% of the time compared with 52% to 54% using Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, MSN and Lycos. "The search engines all return roughly the same results," says Vividence CEO Peter Watkins. But despite the statistical similarities, some users still prefer Google for its clean, uncluttered design. "I don't get distracted by anything," says one user. Other users reported greater satisfaction with the experience, even when they didn't find what they were looking for. Nearly 90% of Google users described their search effort as a "strongly positive experience," compared with 68% for Yahoo, 50% for Ask Jeeves, 48% for Lycos and 41% for MSN. Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy says the study indicates that Google's claims to technological superiority may be shaky, but that its brand is "a huge advantage and that matters a lot." (Wall Street Journal 25 May 2004)

Mon.
May 24th

abebooks.com is a site we use everyday in the library. It's a consolidated search through 12,000 bookstores from all over the world for used books. Check out the advanced search with all the options. But what I found on it today is it's BookSleuth Community. You have to sign in--create a user's name, etc.— but then you can query other community members.js

Booksleuth

"Is there a special book that you read, or perhaps had read to you, at some point in your life but you can't remember the author and title? Perhaps you know the plot, or a character, or maybe even what the front cover looks like. BookSleuth is here to help you find that book! Simply post a short description of what you can remember here on our board. Visitors from all over the world will read your post, and one of them is bound to know exactly what you're talking about and post a response. Not missing anything? Why not see if you can help anyone else find their long-lost books?"

Didn't really mean to continue this political info thread, but in the interest of full disclosure, I found this site that complements the one from yesterday. opensecrets.org

You can actually put in your zip code and see what your neighbors have donated to which candidate. Didn't find much that was surprising when I did mine however. This is public information--don't donate if you don't want anyone to know! Find the top individual donors in the country or the major groups or the top donors in the state of Alabama and lots more.

The site is run by The Center for Responsive Politics, "a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy. The Center conducts computer-based research on campaign finance issues for the news media, academics, activists, and the public at large. The Center’s work is aimed at creating a more educated voter, an involved citizenry, and a more responsive government." js

Thursday, 20 May

If your mail is like mine, 5 out of 6 are pleas for money, and the other one is a demand for money, with an occasional reminder that if I don't send money soon, I will eventually bemoan my loss of an excellent magazine. Everything else now comes by email--invitations, thank-you notes, pictures from family and friends.

Most of the time I don't even know who the postal beggars are! Here's I site I culled from Gary Price's Resource Shelf webpage. It's a subject-organized list put together at CS, Chico of the pleaders, the influence peddlars, and the softmoney mongers with a brief annotation as to what they use your money for. js

Political Advocacy Groups: A Directory of United States Lobbyists
http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/

AlabamaMosaic.org

Alabama, the leader. Alabama, the initiator. Alabama, the preserver. These phrases don't sound quite right? Too bad, they are true!

Alabama's librarians, under the super leadership of Sue Medina, have fostered cooperative ventures creating one of the most respected academic consortiums in the country called NAAL, Network of Alabama Academic Libraries, and an incomparable state-wide virtual library for the use of every citizen, AVL, the Alabama Virtual Library.

Now Alabama and Sue Medina are focusing in on its archives, museums and every small collection of niche history it can find. Through The Cornerstone Project the state is offering aid and encouragement to those who might have special collections that can be digitized. It's creating a central source for finding important(and unimportant, but fascinating) information that may or may not be electronic. Checkout the AlabamaMosaic.org website to find out more. Perhaps you know of a small collection of genealogical, or musical, or historical, or geographic or just eccentric information that you can add to this virtual autobiography of the State. And The Cornerstone Project will help you do it. js

Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas

Timeline of Events surrounding this most famous decision.

TGIF, the 15th

The first place I go when I come home from another "you-have-to-expect-things-like-this-because-you-are-getting-older" doctor visits is the web. I'll still do it, but now I will go first to the newly redesigned National Library of Medicine website instead of Google. The site has been sectioned by audience: The Public, Healthcare Professionals, a section for Librarians-wow! Medline Plus even has a search for clinical trials. Very nice and easy to use. js

Actually found some answers to problems I didn't even know about like:

"Using antibacterial products like household cleaners and hand and body soaps seems like a good idea. Isn't it?"
"Antibacterial products may cause long-term problems. Because they kill weaker strains of bacteria, stronger, more resistant germs can flourish. These stronger germs may be harder to kill and could pose a health threat."

, . "

' !

: ;

I've been thinking about writing lately, mostly to avoid having to actually write a paper I have to present June 10th, but also because I got a copy of Eats Shoots, and Leaves for Mother's Day. (It took me 3 tries at that apostrophe and I'm still not sure it's not Mothers'). Eats Shoots and Leaves is the bestseller book on punctuation--a seeming oxymoron. It's actually the perfect gift for millions of "sticklers," people like me who have to battle their urge to deface signs and advertising containing blatant punctuation errors. Marylaine Price caught the wave this week and pointed out the book's website. http://www.eatsshootsandleaves.com/ Check it out and take the quiz!

The other site I came across because of MP's column is the Poynter Institute's "Fifty Writing Tools", The workbench of Roy Peter Clark. http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=61811
He says, "At times, it helps to think of writing as carpentry. That way, writers and editors can work from a plan and use tools stored on their workbench. You can borrow a writing tool at any time. And here's a secret: Unlike hammers, chisels, and rakes, writing tools never have to be returned. They can be cleaned, sharpened, and passed on."

Starting April 14th, He began explaining one writing tool a week for 50 weeks. I think I will make a link to his site once a week so you can collect the tools which never have to be returned. Start at the link above to catch up.

js

4th Floor South is wireless!

Just got an email from Kathy Wheeler telling us that our Systems Librarian, Doug Wilcox, and his sidekick, new dad Mike Lloyd, have just set up a wireless router on the fourth floor of the old side of the library. So great because rewiring the old side was too costly and the new side has lots of ethernet drops for laptop. Now students in the five larger study rooms on that side can have laptop access to the Internet for group projects and single students can find a quiet corner over there to do their research. Thanks, guys! Kathy's email read in part:
js

"To use wireless access, the person's laptop has to have a wireless card that uses either the B or the G standard; there is an A standard but these kind of cards will not work with Doug and Mike's setup. I tried it and it was great. I went all the way to the other side of the fourth floor from the systems office and had no trouble using it at all. If a person is behind a lot of books, this will block the signal though and make the connection very slow."