Google Zeitgeist 2007

Each year Google’s Zeitgeist site pulls together the annual trends in Google searching, as drawn from use in the United States and internationally. Check out the 2007 trends. From the sidebar, you can browse top ten searches in such amusing categories as “Newsmakers,” “Showbiz,” “All the Rage,” and “Top of Mind.”

Each page of the 2007 site also supplies a Google tip that changes frequently. One favorite is to type weather madison wi for a quick four day forecast with links to additional weather forecasts (particularly handy if you will be traveling soon). Or, you can type weather and add your zipcode (e.g. weather 53706).

With thanks to librarian, Barbara L, for this blog post.

Library Resources for the New Grad

If you have just completed your university studies—we congratulate you on that achievement. And, did you know that there are library resources you can continue to access once you have left our institution?

Visit the Wisconsin Alumni Association Library Access page for information about publicly-available online collections and association membership benefits that also include online access to two sizeable, article databases.

Information is also available from our libraries’ Website about borrowing privileges for residents (Wisconsin) and non-residents and fee-based document delivery services.

If you remain in the state of Wisconsin, you will also be able to use Badgerlink, a project of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning that supports access to quality online information resources. See the Frequently Asked Questions page for more information.


Wherever you go, do acquaint yourself with your local public and academic libraries where you will be able to visit and to access many of their resources in-house and online.

Protecting Your Identity, Resources and Tips

The Wisconsin State Office of Privacy Protection offers some terrific strategies and resources for protecting your personal information, online and off.

Handy printable brochure, “Identity Theft Consumer Tips”

Identity Theft: The Basics of Safeguarding Your Information

Identity Theft: Protecting Your Information While Shopping

Students and ID Theft: It Happens A lot!

Tips for Off-line Protection

Tips for Online Protection

Two of my personal favorites:

Wisconsin’s No-Call List

Stop the insanity and the disruption! Register your phone number with the Wisconsin No Call Program to limit the number of calls you receive from telemarketers.

OptOut (of credit card offers)

End the mail clutter of pre-approved credit card offers with the OptOut service. *

*Of similar interest, you can opt-out from all the unsolicited catalogs that fill your box by signing on to the free Catalog Choice service.

Faculty Senate Endorses Author's Addendum

Do you have a legal right to post copies of your previously published work on your Website? Your right to do so will depend on the contract you signed with a publisher for your work. The Faculty Senate encourages academic authors to append a special Authors’ Addendum to contracts signed with publishers. Use of the addendum is intended “to ensure that academic authors retain certain intellectual property rights that facilitate archiving, instructional use, and sharing with colleagues to advance discourse and discovery.”

The addendum is available online.

Complete the Addendum online, print and sign it, or print or save a blank copy for later use. The UW Author's Addendum is a variation on a similar document endorsed by the CIC Provosts earlier this year.

But what about contracts you may have signed in the past? While the actual contract is the definitive document that determines your rights, a Website called “SHERPA/RoMEO” is an excellent source of information about the terms of different publishers’ standard contracts. You can consult it to determine the rights you (probably) have to items you previously published, or to find out more about the standard contract terms of journals where you are considering submitting your work for publication.

Additional information:

Office of Scholarly Communication and Publishing, UW-Madison Library System

Your Liaison Librarian can also help with resources and information related to scholarly publishing and archiving, including information about using the university's digital archive, MINDS@UW.

With thanks to librarian, Bev P, for this blog post.

Course Reserves Deadline, December 20

Steenbock Library invites instructors to submit course reserve requests by December 20, 2007. Submitting your reserve requests by this date will ensure that your students enjoy access by the first day of spring semester classes.

See the Steenbock Course Reserves page for more information.

Contact Reserves staff by email: steeresv@library.wisc.edu or phone 263-8331.

The Prokaryotes, Now Available Online

The Prokaryotes, Third Edition (2006) provides new and updated chapters, from its seven volume set, on taxa of relevance to medicine, ecology and industry. Entries combine phylogenetic and systematic data with insights into genetics, physiology and application.

Browse by chapter or run keyword searches across all content or within specific volumes.

The Prokaryotes:
Volume 1: Symbiotic associations, Biotechnology, Applied Microbiology
Volume 2: Ecophysiology and Biochemistry
Volume 3: Archaea. Bacteria: Firmicutes, Actinomycetes
Volume 4: Bacteria: Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria
Volume 5: Proteobacteria: Alpha and Beta Subclasses
Volume 6: Proteobacteria: Gamma Subclass
Volume 7: Proteobacteria: Delta, Epsilon Subclass

In order to acess the online edition:

1. Go to www.library.wisc.edu
2. Click E-Resource Gateway
3. Type Prokaryotes in the By Name text box and click Search.
4. Click Prokaryotes to open the seven volume searchable resource!

With thanks to librarian, Barbara L. for this blog post.

Crafting Kimono, SOHE Design Gallery

Do you appreciate elegant fashion and fine craftsmanship? If so, then savor a visit to the SOHE Design Gallery. Its current exhibit, Crafting Kimono features examples of wedding, formal, and everyday kimono and describes the weaving and dyeing methods used in their construction.

The SOHE Design Gallery is located in Room 70, ground floor of the Human Ecology Building, 1300 Linden Drive. During scheduled exhibitions, the Gallery is free and open to the public, Wednesday - Friday (11:00 am - 5:30 pm) and Saturday and Sunday (12:00 -5:00 pm).

Crafting Kimono runs from October 31, 2007 until February 3, 2008. Do note that the Gallery will be closed during winter break December 17 - January 22.

Steenbock Library has several books in its collection about kimono and kimono embroidery. Consult with a librarian for assistance locating these titles.

Photo snippet is detail from a Young Woman’s Kimono (Oburisode), 1920s.

ScreenHunter and Jing: Free Apps for Screen and Video Capture

ScreenHunter offers free screen capture software to capture any part of a screen image, then print and edit the screenshot with annotations. Screenhunter also works well with Web capture and scanning. ScreenHunter can capture a full screen, an active window or a specific rectangular area of your choice. You can capture virtually anything on your computer screen. ScreenHunter can be used for group projects, research papers, presentations etc. It can be downloaded for free here (http://wisdom-soft.com/products/screenhunter.htm).

After an image is captured it automatically saves them in BMP or JPEG formats. It also can save captures to the clipboard to be copied to other programs, such as Word. ScreenHunter is simple to use because of a selectable hot-key capture which allows users to capture images at any point with the push of a button (F6).

Similar to ScreenHunter is the Jing Project. Jing is also currently a free program but it allows users to instantly generate video with audio from screen captures on your computer to share anywhere. Jing works on a Mac or PC and is ideal for step-by-step instruction. If your grandma is having technical trouble with her computer, use Jing to record the necessary steps to a solution. You can save the video clip with audio and add it as an attachment in an email to her—a convenient service for both of you. Jing also has the option of uploading your video to Screencast.com. After you add your file to Screencast.com simply send the link and your video can be viewed directly on the Website with no additional download required.

Jing Project, Frequently Asked Questions

Example Jing video: Using the Ethnic Newswatch Database to Retrieve a Full-Text Article

With thanks to intern, JM for this blog post.

Hours (Final Exam and Winter Intersession)

Steenbock Library will observe the following hours during the final exam period and winter intersession:

Final Exams/End of Term (December 10 - December 23, 2007)

Monday - Friday (December 10-14): 8:00 am - 1:00 am

Saturday - Sunday (December 15-16): 10:00 am - 1:00 am

Monday - Thursday (December 17-20): 8:00 am - 1:00 am

Friday (December 21): 8:00 am - 8:00 pm

Saturday - Sunday (December 22-23): CLOSED

Winter Intersession (December 24, 2007 - January 22, 2008)

Monday - Tuesday (December 24-25): CLOSED

Wednesday - Friday (December 26-28): 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Saturday - Tuesday (December 29 - January 1): CLOSED

Monday - Friday (January 2-4; 7-11; 14-18): 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Saturday - Sunday (January 5-6; 12-13; 19-20): CLOSED

Monday (January 21, MLK Day): CLOSED

Tuesday (January 22, Classes Resume): 8:00 am - 1:00 am

Library hours information is posted online at: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/hours.html

Country Statistical Yearbooks (DISC)

The Data & Information Services Center (DISC) maintains a growing resource of online statistical yearbooks from 84 countries (at current count) listed alphabetically and grouped by continent. When available, the DISC page also includes links to multi-country volumes, too.

Country statistical yearbooks are particularly useful for finding facts and figures for assessing a country's agriculture, economy, education, health and population.

Scitopia.org

Search portal Scitopia.org, was created with the collaboration of 15 professional science & technology societies to search the contents of the digital libraries of the participating societies, government documents from the DOE Information Bridge and patents from the USPTO and European and Japanese patent databases.

Simple and advanced search options are supplied with the advanced search enabling limits by date and by publisher/society. Retrieval sorts records by society, patents and government documents (as indicated by tabs).

In some instances, particularly to government documents, full-text may be available. While purchasing options are supplied to content retrieved using Scitopia.org, campus libraries often enjoy subscription access to society journals or may already have the document in their collections. Do consult Find It for locating journal articles or MadCat for documents and conference proceedings. If you need assistance, contact a Steenbock librarian.

For publications that campus libraries do not have access, place a request with Library Express.

Many of the Scitopia.org partners also supply free email alerts and RSS feeds to news and newly-published journal articles.

Got Leftovers?

Ever wonder what you should prepare with that plate of leftovers?
Take advantage of Steenbock Library’s cookbook collection to find a few recipes for tasteful reinvention.


The cookbook collection is shelved in the stacks and vertical files
(filing cabinets) on the first floor of the library. The collection
includes titles that reflect various historic and cultural periods as
well as contemporary food topics, trends and international flavors.


A sampling of a few cookbooks featuring “leftovers” follows below:


Title: The Camden connection cook book : a collection of kitchen tested recipes featuring luscious leftovers and creative desserts, submitted by residents of midcoast Maine to help pay for a children's room at the Camden Public Library.
Publisher: Camden, ME : Cricketfield Press, c1989.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: TX715 .C34 1989


Author: Wooding, Loyta
Title: Leftovers cookbook
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, 1972
Location: Steenbock Library Vertical File
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: VF (Budget)


Author: Field, Michael, 1915-1971.
Title: Culinary classics and improvisations. Illus. by Mozelle Thompson.
Publisher: New York, Knopf, 1967.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: TX725.A1 F48 1967


Author: Brunner, Lousene Rousseau.
Title: Magic with leftovers. Illustrated by Paul Callé.
Publisher: New York, Harper [1955]
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: TX740 B73


Author: Berolzheimer, Ruth
Title: 500 Delicious dishes from leftovers
Publisher: Culinary Arts Institute, 1950
Location: Steenbock Library Vertical File
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: VF (General)


Author: Newman, Clare.
Title: A cook book of leftovers, by Clare Newman and Bell Wiley [pseud.]
Publisher: Boston, Little, Brown and company, 1941.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Catalog: UW Madison
Call Number: TX715 N566


Consult with librarians at the reference desk to find other cookbook themes.

Breaking News in Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine

Direct reprogramming of human skin cells may lend itself to myriad medical applications in a potentially less controversial manner than the use of embryonic stem cells.

Two journals, Cell and Science are reporting the findings from two research teams, one led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and the other led by Junying Yu of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

News articles:

UW-Madison News: http://www.news.wisc.edu/14474

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7101834.stm

Organize your e-life! Try iGoogle

Google now offers iGoogle, a free interactive Web personalization tool that allows you to individualize a Web page to meet your needs with a number of useful applications.

Applications range from finance and technology to lifestyle and entertainment. iGoogle makes Web browsing simple by organizing your favorite Web sites into one Web page that you can thoroughly navigate. Users can watch their favorite YouTube videos, listen to music or enjoy live streaming television. iGoogle also provides a variety of news, weather and resource applications (Wikipedia, Dictionary, etc.). To create your own iGoogle homepage, click here (http://www.google.com/ig).

Applications include:

--Live streaming TV

--Wikipedia, dictionary, thesaurus

--To do list

--Live weather

--Google map search

--YouTube video search

--ESPN news

--Financial tips

--Daily news from a variety of newspapers

Other customizable Web portal products include netvibes and Pageflakes, among others.

Do you use iGoogle or another product? What are your favorite applications? Reply to this blog post to tell us more.

With thanks to ISIP intern, Jacob M, for this blog post.

Off-Campus Access

Will you be leaving campus during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend or during the winter break? If so, did you know that UW-Madison students, faculty and staff have off-campus access to library databases and full-text resources?

Stay productive and continue your pursuit of information. Select the resource you need to use from the Library system’s homepage. Licensed resources will prompt you to log in with your campus NetId. In some instances, alternatively and apart from NetId, you may still be asked to submit your University ID number and last name as a password. Once you have entered either of these two pieces of identifying information, you will be able to use the resource as if you were on campus.

Consult the Libraries’ off-campus access page for more information or assistance.

Software Training for Students

The Division of Information Technology (DoIt) offers free computer software training classes for UW-Madison students covering a variety of programs including Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint as well as Photoshop and Linux.

Classes offered this week (November 12-16) include Word, Excel, and Access.

Class information can be found at http://www.doit.wisc.edu/training/student/. Create a user profile to enroll in classes and to access class manuals and files.

Individual help from software trainers is also available in a variety of ways including instant messaging, phone, E-mail or in person at the Open Book Café located on the first floor of College library.

With thanks to ISIP intern Jacob M for this blog post.

Write that paper! Writing Center Assistance

The Writing Center can help you with the mechanics of organizing your thoughts and materials to complete writing assignments for your classes. The center offers several options for individual consultation including email or face to face instruction and live online conferencing.

The Writing Center office is located at Helen C. White Hall, Room 6171. Drop-by tutoring is offered at several campus locations including Memorial Library (West Corridor) and several residence halls.

Steenbock librarians can help you find information to inform your papers and projects and assist you with using a citation manager to organize citations to the research literature and to format bibliographies/reference lists. (Citation managers include such products as EndNote and RefWorks).

Introduction to GIS and ArcGIS Workshop (November 16)

Advance registration required. Workshop participants will have an opportunity to learn the basics of Geographic Information Systems by working through an exercise designed to familiarize them with ArcGIS software. The exercise will involve working with the Census Bureau’s demographic data for Dane County. By completing the exercise, participants will learn about spatial data, tabular data, joining tables and thematic mapping.

Introduction to GIS and ArcGIS Workshop
Friday, November 16 (4:00-6:00 PM)
Science Hall, Room 380

Advance Registration is required

Send an email to: kstuerk@wisc.edu
Subject line: Intro GIS Workshop

Please include your name, address, email and classification (UW student, UW faculty/staff, or non-UW affiliated).

Job Hunting on the Internet (Workshop, November 7)

Discover resources and strategies for job hunting on the Internet/Web. The workshop will cover resume writing resources, databases for job postings, tips for finding non-advertised jobs, and methods for researching potential employers. There will be time for hands-on exploration.

Job Hunting on the Internet

Wednesday, November 7 (3:30-5:00 PM)
Steenbock Library, Room 105

No registration is necessary in order to attend. All workshops are free to students, faculty and staff.

Stem Cells, Essential Science Indicators Special Report

The Essential Science Indicators Website special report for November treats the topic of Stem Cell Research. According to the site’s collected information, UW-Madison ranks 7^th among worldwide institutions in stem cell research. See report: http://esi-topics.com/stemcells2007/

Lists for the Top 20 Authors (JA Thomson is 3rd), Top 20 Stem Cell Papers Overall (a UW-Madison paper (JA Thomson) is 2nd), Top 20 Journals (all available from UW-Madison Libraries), Top 20 Papers in last 2 years (none from UW-Madison), and Top 20 Nations are also included in this report.

With thanks to Steenbock Librarian, Barbara Lazewski, for this blog post.

RSS Journal Feeds (Ebling Library)

Do you use RSS to keep current with the literature in your field of research or study? If so, you may find the journal feeds collected and organized by library staff at Ebling Library to be particularly useful for that purpose. The list of journal feeds ranging from such disciplines as allergy and immunology to genetics and genomics to nutrition and dietetics to virology can be browsed by these subject areas or alphabetically by journal title. Subscribing to each journal feed will furnish a “table of contents” to the most recent edition of that particular journal. A selection of feeds is also supplied to news sources for general health, medicine, NIH research and pharmacy.

There are a variety of feed-readers available for your use including Bloglines or Google Reader, among others. The Ebling journal feed site includes general information about RSS and feed-readers. Additional information about feed-readers can also be found at the campus Libraries’ Alerts and RSS Feeds page.

GIS Day Expo (November 7, 2007)

The GIS Day Expo brings together more than 40 agencies, departments and businesses to showcase their use of GIS resources and data. Visitors will be able to browse exhibits, participate in hands-on demos, listen to speakers and discover campus GIS training opportunities. There will also be children’s activities and door prizes.

The Expo, which is free and open to the public, will be held at Memorial Union, Great Hall (fourth floor), from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM.

For more information, including a schedule of speakers and activities, visit the GIS Day Expo page from the Department of Geography.

University Archives Open House

The University Archives welcomes visitors during its two open house occasions, October 30 and November 1 from 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. During the late summer and early fall, the offices for the University Archives and Records Management Services consolidated into renovated space on the fourth floor of Steenbock Library.

Come tour the new office space and storage facilities, browse collections and special displays. (Tours commence on the hour).

Tales from Planet Earth (November 2-4)

Tales from Planet Earth is a three-day film festival featuring environmental films from around the world. From the fanciful to the profound, the films selected should engage audiences in thoughtful discussion of environmental issues and the film media to capture and to examine those issues.

The festival is the first public outreach event for the Center for Culture, History, and Environment within the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

All festival events are free and open to the public as space/seating accommodates.

UW Digital Collections, Lesson Plans and RSS Feed

How might you use UW Digital Collections in your teaching and learning?

Not only do the digital collections grant you access to primary literature and imagery in many topics and disciplines, the collections staff invites you to browse sample lesson plans or to submit your own. Once reviewed and accepted, the lesson plans utilizing UW Digital Collections content will be entered into the ide@s database where other Wisconsin educators can access them.

Keep up-to-date on new collections and news from UW Digital Collections by subscribing to its RSS feed.

Ebling Library Book Sale (Thursday, October 25)

Check out the bargains at Ebling Library’s book sale. Titles are available in such topics as pharmacy, medicine, nursing, history of medicine and more!

The book sale will be held in the Historical Reading Room, third floor of Ebling Library, HSLC (Health Sciences Learning Center) from 9:00AM-4:00PM.

(Campus bus 80 will get you there!)

New Resource! SocINDEX

As its name may imply, SocINDEX can be used to search topics in sociology and related areas of scholarship including criminal justice, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, marriage and family studies, political sociology, religion, rural and urban sociology, social psychology, social work, and sociological history, research and theory, among other topics.

The database provides search-able access to more than 800 journals (from 1895 forward) and full-text to some 547 sociology and "priority coverage" journals--as per scope of database--(from 1908 forward). Its full text offering also include books and conference papers.

SocINDEX also features more than 10,000 Author Profiles covering the most prolific, most cited, and most frequently searched-for authors in the database. A Cited Reference search can also be run for specific authors and/or article, revealing the cited references and times-cited by other articles within the database.

Try SocINDEX

Online QuickGuide for searching database

Managing Your Citations with RefWorks (Workshop, October 16)

This workshop will cover the basic features of using RefWorks including organizing, searching and sorting records, importing records from MadCat and journal databases, and preparing bibliographies. Hands-on practice will be included.

No registration is necessary in order to attend. All workshops are free to students, faculty and staff.

Managing Your Citations with RefWorks
Tuesday, October 16 (11:30-1:00)
Room 105

If you need additional assistance beyond these introductory workshops, email Patricia Herrling to schedule small group or individual appointments.

Dissertation Calculator

Calendar your steps to completing your dissertation. The Dissertation Calculator, available from the CIMC Website (Center for Instructional Materials & Computing), enables you to enter your start and anticipated completion dates to generate a step-by-step plan of action for running a literature search, conducting your research, and beginning the writing process. Each stage of the plan will suggest strategies for successfully completing that stage.

Of related interest, visit the links, below, to guides created by the Graduate School office:

Guide to Preparing Your Master's Thesis

Guide to Preparing Your Doctoral Dissertation

Wisconsin Book Festival (October 10-14)

Need some opportunities to feed the mind and stir the soul? If so, consider taking a break to cozy up to the bountiful harvest of author presentations and book discussion forums that comprise the sixth annual Wisconsin Book Festival. (Apologies for my lavish use of feeding/harvest metaphor but if there any better illustration for that which the season implies and good literature can inspire?!)

The theme for the book festival this year is that of “domestic tranquility” and what that may connote for writers and their readers. Featured speakers include: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Rick Bass, T.C. Boyle, Ana Castillo, Michael Cunningham, Susan Faludi, Kirin Narayan, Michael Perry, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Terry Tempest Williams, among many others.

See the list of presenters.

View the five day schedule of events.

UW-Madison Libraries and the Friends of UW-Madison Libraries are among the festival sponsors.

Reserve a Study Room Online!

Steenbock Library’s group study and meeting rooms can now be reserved using the Study Room Online Reservation System.

This online system can enable you to search for rooms by date and location, find amenities and policy information regarding use of the rooms, and place reservations, as needed, at College, Ebling, Memorial and Steenbock libraries.

Visit: http://studyrooms.library.wisc.edu

Scirus for Scientific Information

Scirus is an openly-accessible Web search engine designed for searching Websites of scientific content—including free Web content and sites where access may be restricted. In this latter instance, UW-Madison users (faculty, staff and students) will be able to enable a Scirus search preference to additionally retrieve available full-text articles and print subscription information from UW-Madison Libraries. (Once set, a Find It button will appear in the retrieval for articles).

The basic search interface to Scirus enables a user to enter his/her search query into a single search window and to select limits to Journal sources, Preferred Web sources (set of open access journals, research e-print sites, government agency sites, patents and digital archives) or Other Web sources. Specific phrase searching can also be indicated.

The advanced search interface enables a user to construct a more complex search query with multiple windows joined by Boolean operators and to apply limits to fields of the online record, date range, Web content sources and subject areas.

Scirus is an Elsevier product.

Find Books and More using MadCat (Workshop, October 2)

MadCat contains information about the books, journal titles, government documents, videos, and other materials available from UW-Madison campus libraries. The hands-on workshop will explore the various search options for MadCat and offer tips and strategies for finding materials on your research topic.

The workshop will also review the convenience services incorporated within the MadCat product for requesting retrieval of library materials and for viewing your library record online.

MadCat: Find Books & More for Your Research

Tuesday, October 2 (4:30-5:45)

Room 105, Steenbock

Public Reading of Banned Books, (Thursday, September 27)

Come celebrate intellectual freedom with a public reading of banned literature. Local authors, media personalities and concerned community members will read selections from frequently-challenged titles. This event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Open Book Café, College Library (6:00-8:00pm). Banned Books Week is observed September 29-October 6, 2007.

Some of the most profound and inspiring works of literature have faced challenges to their access from groups or individuals who have felt threatened by their content. The American Library Association, Office of Intellectual Freedom maintains lists and press releases regarding these challenged titles.

Ten Most Challenged Books from 2006

Most Challenged Books of the 21^st Century (2000-2005, so far)

Explore the Issues with the CCBC and Madison Public Library:

The CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) specializes in intellectual freedom issues—particularly related to children and teen access to works—and can supply support for librarians and teachers. Visit its Intellectual Freedom site: http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/freedom/default.asp

Information from the Madison Public Library System: http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/calendar/september/bannedbooks.html

Laptops Available!

Steenbock Library has 50 laptops available for three-day loan from the Information Services/InfoLab desk. As a wireless building, the laptops easily facilitate working just about anywhere within the library.

Use the UW InfoLabs’ Laptop Checkout System page to determine where you can find an available laptop (or other equipment such as cameras and projectors). The page shows InfoLab locations and how many pieces of equipment remain available, in real-time, at each location. Laptop policies and due-dates can also be viewed on the site.

PubMed for the Life Sciences Workshop (Wednesday, September 19)

Learn how to successfully mine PubMed (MEDLINE) using such features as Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), limits, citation matcher, and the My NCBI feature for saving searches and search results and for setting up customized tabs or topic/journal alerts. Harness the power of PubMed record links to additional Entrez databases such as Gene, Protein, and PubChem Compound.

PubMed for the Life Sciences
Wednesday, September 19 (4:00-5:00pm)
Steenbock Library, Room 105

Food for Thought Festival, September 14-15, 2007

The ninth annual Food for Thought Festival, sponsored by the REAP Food Group, will explore regional food traditions and the desirability of eating sustainably by tapping the seasonal harvest of local producers.

The Friday Night Forum, 125 Agricultural Hall (7:30-9:30) will feature a panel of speakers including Dan Barber, Leah Caplan, Scott Williams and Anne Strainchamps.

Saturday festival events will be held just off the Capitol Square on Martin Luther King Blvd. from 8:00 AM until 1:30 PM. Enjoy cooking demonstrations, information tables, tasty samples, activities and raffle prize opportunities.

Of related interest, you may wish to consider taking part in the Eat Local Challenge (Wisconsin). Good for the local economy, the environment and your health—and what a pleasant way to do so given our area bounty of farmers’ markets and CSAs!

Bon appetit!

Steenbock Journal Assessment and Proposed Journal Cancellations

Journal prices continue to increase rapidly, but Steenbock does not receive an annual increase to its acquisitions budget. Therefore the library must reduce its anticipated journal expenditures for next year by about $45,000. To do this, the library plans to discontinue about 70 print subscriptions for which the publisher’s online version is available to you. This will save about $22,000 annually.

To generate an additional $23,000 in savings, the library is also planning to cancel 140 low use and/or high cost journals. A list of titles proposed for cancellation is posted at: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/news/journal_assessment07.html. The table also shows cost-per-use data for each title for the past year.

Please continue to request articles you need via Library Express. The library cancels subscriptions because document delivery is more cost effective. Nevertheless, the library continues to provide the articles you need at no cost to you. If you have any questions about document delivery, please contact your liaison librarian.

We also encourage you to work with your liaison librarian to set up table of contents and subject email alerts to keep you informed about new articles of interest to you. To learn more or to request an alert, see: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/alerts.html

High journal costs create barriers to sharing research findings with other scholars. You can also help change the scholarly communications landscape. For additional information about managing your rights as an author and about open access publishing, see: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/news/journal_assessment07.html#need

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, Now Available Online

The Cold Spring Harbor Protocols are an interactive source of new and classic research techniques. Coverage includes cell and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, and imaging.

The Protocols are presented step-by-step and are continuously expanded, updated, and annotated by the originators and users of the techniques and are peer-reviewed by experts to ensure technical quality. The database product can be browsed or searched by keyword and subject and includes such additional features as discussion forums and personal pages.

Campus users can sign up for RSS feeds and email alerts to new protocols appearing in the database.

Access Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Getting Clued In

Know anyone who could use a refresher on using library resources? If so, then suggest taking the CLUE Tutorial—a multimedia tutorial of five short modules reviewing aspects of college-level research expectations, the UW-Madison Library system, library research strategies, and searching catalog and journal literature databases.

Access CLUE at: http://clue.library.wisc.edu/

Links to the CLUE Tutorial can also be found on the UW Libraries Website, from the Help and Guidance pull-down menu.

Welcome to Campus!

Steenbock Library welcomes students and staff to campus. Many events are scheduled during the first few weeks of the semester.

The campus has issued its welcome for new students at:

http://www.newstudent.wisc.edu/wiwelcome/

Welcome Week(s) events are posted at:

http://wisconsinwelcome.wisc.edu/ww/schedule.aspx

Additionally, campus libraries offer free tours and drop-in workshops. Visit the campus libraries’ schedule at: http://library.wisc.edu/workshops/workshop-date.html#september

Or Steenbock Library’s schedule at: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/instruct/dropin.html

Fundamentally Sound, September 4 (6:30 PM)

Performance update, Fundamentally Sound will perform at 6:30 PM (and not 4:30 as previously posted). Come, check them out--in front of the Steenbock Library building, corner of Babcock and Observatory.

Original post:

Come listen to the sweet sound of UW-Madison men’s a cappella group, Fundamentally Sound. The group will give a short performance on Steenbock Library’s front terrace, September 4th at 4:30 PM.

As the group will be looking to recruit some additional talent, do plan to nab a brochure and schedule a time with them to audition. For more information and a schedule of future appearances, visit the Fundamentally Sound website.

http://www.fundamentally-sound.com/

Steenbock Library staff thanks Fundamentally Sound for supplying this great Welcome Week entertainment!

Fundamentally Sound Performance, Steenbock Terrace, September 4

Come listen to the sweet sound of UW-Madison men’s a cappella group, Fundamentally Sound. The group will give a short performance on Steenbock Library’s front terrace, September 4th at 4:30 PM.

As the group will be looking to recruit some additional talent, do plan to nab a brochure and schedule a time with them to audition. For more information and a schedule of future appearances, visit the Fundamentally Sound website.

http://www.fundamentally-sound.com/

Steenbock Library staff thanks Fundamentally Sound for supplying this great Welcome Week entertainment!

Fall Semester Hours Commence September 4

Steenbock Library will observe the following hours during the fall semester:

Monday – Thursday (8:00 am – 1:00 am)

Friday (8:00 am – 10:00 pm)

Saturday (10:00 am – 10:00 pm)

Sunday (10:00 am – 1:00 am)

Reference librarians are available for consultation at the Information Services Desk, Monday-Thursday (10:00 am – 8:00 pm) and Friday (10:00 am – 5:00 pm).

Other hours are available by appointment or in-house request. Make an appointment with your library liaison or place a request for assistance at the Circulation Desk (if needing to consult with a reference librarian before 10:00 am, for instance).

Bus Route Changes, Effective September 4 (Correction/Update)

Do note that changes to the Bus 80 route will go into effect this coming September and not just for 2008 as accidentally recorded in the title of the original blog post. (I must have been thinking about the 2007-2008 academic year and jumped ahead a semester--my apologies for any confusion).

The original post follows below:

There will be changes in store for riders when regular Bus 80 service resumes Tuesday, September 4. Among these changes will be the elimination of a stop at Union South (and a new stop added at the northwest corner of Charter and West Johnson streets for those heading to Union South) and reduced frequency of trips to Eagle Heights (15 minute intervals between 10:00am and 3:00pm).

During rush times, though, (before 10:00am and after 3:00pm), riders can anticipate the full route running at intervals of seven-eight minutes. According to Transportation Services, these changes are intended to make the Route 80 circuit a shorter journey for some buses and improve frequency.

For more information about these changes and a map of the route, see the current Wisconsin Week (August 22, 2007) story, on page 13.

Additionally, City of Madison bus schedules can be accessed at: http://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/

For those traveling to Steenbock Library, a convenient stop remains at the corner of Babcock and Observatory Drives.

New Digital Collection, Historical County Plat Maps from South Central Wisconsin and Early Madison City Directories

A collaborative effort of the UW Digital Collections Center and the Madison Public Library brings online access to a collection of historic plat books, city directories and atlases of South Central Wisconsin—specifically Columbia, Dane, Portage and Wood counties. The plat books and atlases can help to elucidate the formation of particular communities.

The early Madison city directories provide information on specific people (addresses and occupations) and businesses in the area during the 1800s and early 1900s.

These particular materials were selected for digitization given frequency of use and fragile condition.

Take a look at:

Historical County Plat Maps from South Central Wisconsin and Early Madison City Directories

http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.MadisonLocHist

Campus Bus Route Changes, Effective September 4

There will be changes in store for riders when regular Bus 80 service resumes Tuesday, September 4. Among these changes will be the elimination of a stop at Union South (and a new stop added at the northwest corner of Charter and West Johnson streets for those heading to Union South) and reduced frequency of trips to Eagle Heights (15 minute intervals between 10:00am and 3:00pm).

During rush times, though, (before 10:00am and after 3:00pm), riders can anticipate the full route running at intervals of seven-eight minutes. According to Transportation Services, these changes are intended to make the Route 80 circuit a shorter journey for some buses and improve frequency.

For more information about these changes and a map of the route, see the current Wisconsin Week (August 22, 2007) story, on page 13.

Additionally, City of Madison bus schedules can be accessed at: http://www.cityofmadison.com/metro/

For those traveling to Steenbock Library, a convenient stop remains at the corner of Babcock and Observatory Drives.

Fall Tours and Workshops

Get acquainted with Steenbock Library! Join a free tour or come to a workshop.

Library Tours are scheduled for the following days/times:

Thursday, August 30 at 2:00pm, 3:00pm, or 4:00pm
Friday, August 31 at 3:00pm or 4:00pm
Thursday, September 6 at 4:30pm

Free, drop-in workshops:

Libraries in a Nutshell

Thursday, August 30 (4:00-5:00pm)
Wednesday, September 5 (11:30am-12:30pm)
Friday, September 14 (3:30-4:30pm)

Managing Your Citations with RefWorks

Friday, August 31 (11:00am-12:30pm)
Wednesday, September 12 (12:00-1:30pm)
Tuesday, October 16 (11:30am-1:00pm)

Google for Academic Research

Wednesday, September 12 (3:30-4:30pm)

MadCat: Find Books and More for your Research

Thursday, September 13 (4:00-5:15pm)

PubMed for the Life Sciences

Wednesday, September 19 (4:00-5:00pm)

Managing Your Citations with EndNote and EndNote Web

Friday, September 21 (11:00am-12:30pm)
Tuesday, October 23 (3:00-4:30pm)
Wednesday, November 28 (12:00-1:30pm)

For a list of other workshops and workshop descriptions, see: http://steenbock.library.wisc.edu/instruct/dropin.htm

Check the entrance lobby sign for room location. All workshops incorporate hands-on practice. No registration is required in order to attend.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Encourage new staff and students to attend. Post a Workshop and Tour Flyer.

University Archives Consolidation at Steenbock

Offices for the University Archives and Records Management Services have consolidated into renovated space on the fourth floor of Steenbock Library. Archives Director David Null and remaining staff have arrived with collections from Memorial Library to join forces with those already at Steenbock. The Archives has also recently hired Troy Reeves as head of its Oral History Program.

Please join Steenbock Library in welcoming the archivists to their new space, and we invite you to visit the next time you enter our building! The Archives is open from 8:00am until 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. More information about the University Archives and the Oral History Program can be found on the Archives web site.

Interface Changes to Biological Abstracts and Zoological Record

Biological Abstracts and Zoological Record have now moved from the former SilverPlatter WebSPIRS to the ISI Thomson Scientific/Web of Knowledge platform. (Frequent users of the Web of Knowledge/Web of Science databases will recognize the look and feel). The content of these databases remains unchanged. Biological Abstracts indexes 4000 biology journals each year and covers 1969 to the present. Zoological Record indexes about 5000 zoology journals and covers 1978 to the present.

Two additional changes are coming soon. Come August 19 or so, there will be a new look to all three databases. You will still be able to run the searches you do now, but additional features will be available, too. When the new interface comes online, the library will post more information about these new features. At about that same time, the coverage of Zoological Record will expand back to 1864!

If you have any questions regarding how to search these databases effectively, please contact your Steenbock Liaison Librarian.

Take a Video Tour of the New Look
Search Biological Abstracts
Search Zoological Record
Search Web of Science

Do you know your Library Liaison?!

August is a good time to get acquainted. Steenbock liaisons work as principal contacts for each department and program the library serves.

Library liaisons can provide the following services:

Assist with library services and policies (e.g., Library Express, faculty runner cards, UW System search and retrieval…)

Customize email alerts to keep you informed about new articles matching your topic criteria and tables of contents of your favorite journals

Provide in-depth reference consultations—our office or yours (e.g., help with strategy and database choices, customize your email alerts…)

Supply customized instructional sessions and course web pages for students (e.g, hands-on training in using specific databases in your subject area, cited reference searching, website evaluation)

Verify citations

Assist with purchase requests or recommendations

Consult on questions related to publishing your research (e.g., identifying target journals, managing copyright, measuring research impact, open access publishing)

Provide in-depth orientation for new faculty, staff, graduate students, and project and research assistants

Find Your Steenbock Liaison

Other campus library liaisons

Course Reserves Deadline, August 10, 2007

Steenbock Library requests that faculty and staff submit course reserve materials by August 10, 2007. Submission by this date will enable these materials to be ready by the first day of class.

Follow the links below for additional information:

Steenbock Course Reserves Information page

Online Request Form

Contact Reserves staff by email or phone, 263-8331

Course Reserve pages can also include customized, tabbed links to useful library resources and library staff support. To request this course support content, contact your Steenbock library liaison.

Keeping Current using RSS Feed-Readers (or News Aggregators)

RSS or "Really Simple Syndication," is an XML format for sharing syndicated information—generally, frequently-changing information—on the Web. RSS enables you to monitor Websites for new information without needing to visit each site or database.

Some RSS readers are freely-available to Web users; these include Bloglines or My Yahoo.

Many news sites and publication Websites supply RSS feeds of new/current information and/or research. Using a feed-reader enables you to view all of these feeds of news and research information in one place. Within a feed-reader, the feed will show a short description with a link to the full content.

Subscribe to a feed by entering the feed's link (URL in browser address bar) into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon to initiate a subscription process.

A subscription maps a feed to the user’s reader. Look for feed links on a feed service page or from a site’s main/home page or look for icons on the page or from within the browser’s URL address bar.

While feeds are commonly found at many news sites (BBC, CNN, Guardian, among many others), feeds are also available from the following research news sites:

Biology News Net

EurekAlert

PLOS (Public Library of Science)

Using the Bloglines Feed-Reader

Visit: http://www.bloglines.com/

Create an account: http://www.bloglines.com/register/

The Bloglines login is your email address; the password you create must be six characters in length (and ideally, not easily guessed).

Once you are logged in, you will be able to subscribe to feeds and to organize them into folders or categories of feed information.

For additional information about RSS readers, see:

http://www.library.wisc.edu/alerts/more-about-rss.html

On Steenbock Shelves…Flower Confidential

Years ago, I worked in the floral industry. As I unwrapped shipments of roses and Peruvian lilies and marveled at their provenance, I knew a great story was there for the telling—and that story has finally made it to Steenbock’s shelves. Amy Stewart, author of Flower Confidential examines the ins and outs of the cut-flower industry from plant breeders who craft a flower for its color and longevity as a cut specimen and the laborers who plant, harvest and process that commodity (sometimes at great peril) to the consumer whose appetite for the ‘perfect sentiment’ drives the market.

A rose is a rose…or is it just that? While I may wince at any reference to Valentine’s Day, the reader will be fascinated by this event and other critical dates on the industry calendar. A thoroughly engaging read.

Find Flower Confidential at: SB443.3 S74 2007 (book stacks, first floor)

Google Scholar Preferences

Users of Google Scholar will be pleased to note that retrieval can include a link to Find It at UW Madison. If you are using Google Scholar from an on-campus location, following the Find It at UW Madison link will map you to local holdings for the particular article—either in full-text online or as available in print from campus libraries.

If you are using Google Scholar from off-campus, select Scholar Preferences from the Google Scholar search page, and search for the name of your library in the Library Links section (for example, enter UW Madison).

Check boxes for your campus library system and Open WorldCat “Library Search”.

You can also select your preferred Bibliography Manager (EndNote, RefWorks, etc.). Once selected, links will appear with your retrieval to enable you to import citations into that manager.

Click Save Preferences in order to generate an active Find It and import links.

Do note that selecting a link to a full-text article from off-campus will require you to login with your UW Madison NetId. For information regarding remote access, see: http://www.library.wisc.edu/off-campus/

Steenbock Workshops for July 17 (Publishing Your Research Article and Managing Citations with EndNote)

Steenbock Library will host two workshops on July 17. No registration is necessary in order to attend and all workshops are free to students, faculty and staff. Check the sign near the library’s front entrance for room location.

Publishing Your Research Article in the Sciences and Social Sciences
Tuesday, July 17 (10:00-11:15)

Designed for graduate students and newer faculty in the sciences and social sciences, this workshop introduces library resources to help you prepare your research article for publication, find appropriate journals for submission, and manage your rights when signing a contract with a publisher. Join your colleagues to share ideas and to discuss the issues you face as an emerging academic author.

Managing Your Citations with EndNote/EndNote Web
Tuesday, July 17 (11:30-1:00)

This workshop covers the basic features of using EndNote Web and/or Endnote Desktop version, including organizing, searching and sorting records, importing records electronically from MadCat, journal article databases, and Web pages, and preparing bibliographies with a word processor (Cite while you Write).

Chemistry Database Workshops (SciFinder Scholar and Beilstein/Gmelin)

The Chemistry Library will host two workshops exploring databases for researching chemical literature and structure/property data.

SciFinder Scholar: Searching the Chemical Literature
Tuesday, July 10 (12:00-1:00 PM)
Chemistry Library, Room 2361 (Chemistry Building, 1101 University Avenue)

Workshop provides an overview of SciFinder Scholar and its search features, including structure, substructure, reaction, and research topic. Use of the ANALYZE/REFINE feature for improving retrieval, remote access, and downloading for citation management will also be covered.

Beilstein/Gmelin Crossfire: Searching for Organic, Inorganic and Organometallic Compound Information
Tuesday, July 31 (12:00-1:00 PM)
Chemistry Library, Room 2361 (Chemistry Building, 1101 University Avenue)

Workshop provides an overview of Beilstein/Gmelin Crossfire databases and search features, including structure, substructure, and property data. Modifying record display, combined structure and fact editor searching, exporting, and client availability will be discussed.

Workshops are free to attend (no registration necessary) and hands-on practice is incorporated into each session.

Library Resources for Bioenergy and Biofuels Research

There are many library databases suitable for searching research literature on topics of bioenergy and biofuels. A selection of these databases is listed below with brief descriptions, dates of coverage, and links to the products themselves.

Steenbock Library congratulates faculty, researchers and affiliated staff who will continue to pursue research and innovation with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

Do speak with librarians at Steenbock and Wendt libraries for assistance using these resources.

Research Literature Databases

Applied Science (1983 - updated quarterly)
Indexes articles, product evaluations, and book reviews from more than 390 leading periodicals published in the United States and elsewhere. Includes trade and industrial publications, journals of professional societies, and specialized subject periodicals.

Biotechnology & Bioengineering Abstracts (1982 - updated monthly)
Indexes some 539 journal covering research, applications, regulatory developments and new patents across all areas of biotechnology and bioengineering.

Business Source Elite (1984 - updated daily)
Full-text database of more than 900 business journals plus an indexing and abstracting database of approximately 1600 journals. Scholarly and popular business magazines are included.

CAB Abstracts (1910 - updated quarterly)
Indexes some 11,000 journals, books, technical reports, theses, symposium, patents, conference proceedings, and annual reports each year. Subject matter includes agricultural engineering, forest products, biofuels, dairy science and technology, irrigation and drainage, postharvest technology, animal and plant science production, and soil science and fertilizer technology.

Engineering Research
Aggregate search within the following databases—all of which can be searched individually:

ANTE: Abstracts in New Technology & Engineering (1981-)
Civil Engineering Abstracts (1966-)
Earthquake Engineering Abstracts (1971-)
Environmental Engineering Abstracts (1990-)
Mechanical & Transportation Engineering Abstracts (1966-)

Engineering Village (INSPEC and Compendex) (1884 - updated weekly)
Provides searchable access to multiple engineering databases through one interface. Databases include: Compendex (Engineering Index); INSPEC; ENGnetBASE, with over 160 handbooks; patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office; esp@cenet, the European Patent Organisation database: Scirus, a comprehensive science-specific web search engine; and daily news feeds from LexisNexis on a broad spectrum of engineering topics.

Environmental Science & Pollution Management
Aggregate search within the following databases—all of which can be searched individually:

Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology Abstracts (1993-)
ASFA3: Aquatic Pollution and Environmental Quality (1990-)
Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B) (1982-)
Ecology Abstracts (1982-)
EIS: Digests of Environmental Impact Statements (1985-)
Environmental Engineering Abstracts (1990-)
Health Safety Science Abstracts (1981-)
Human Population & Natural Resource Management (1995-)
Industrial and Applied Microbiology Abstracts (Microbiology A) (1982-)
Pollution Abstracts (1981-)
Risk Abstracts (1990-)
Toxicology Abstracts (1990-)
Water Resources Abstracts (1967-)

GEOBASE (1980- updated twice monthly)
Abstracts scholarly literature on geography, geology and ecology and provides comprehensive bibliographic references to more than 2,000 primary journals, books, monographs, reports, conference proceedings and theses in the fields of human and physical geography, cartography, geographic information systems (GIS), geomorphology, climatology, hydrology and development studies.

GrayLit Network (1960 - updates vary)
Portal to technical report information generated through federally funded research and development projects. Many of the documents are available in full-text.

Managing Your Citations with RefWorks (Workshop, July 11)

This workshop will cover the basic features of using RefWorks, including organizing, searching and sorting records, importing records from MadCat and journal databases, and preparing bibliographies. Hands-on practice will be included. No registration is necessary in order to attend and all workshops are free to students, faculty and staff. Check Steenbock's entrance sign for room location.

Managing Your Citations with RefWorks
Wednesday, July 11 (3:00-4:30)

Summer 2007 Steenbock Workshop Calendar

Can't make a scheduled workshop? Library staff can set up a time for you or your group. Use the request form or contact Patricia Herrling (263-6373 or by email).

For additional workshop opportunites from campus libraries, visit the Workshops, Classes and Tours page.

Urban Forestry Index (UFind)

The Urban Forestry Index (UFind) is a searchable database to popular and research-oriented publications and other media of urban forestry and arboricultural interest. The content of the database is supplied in cooperation with US Forest Service, University of Minnesota and Treelink and includes many full-text documents. Browsing categories include subject, format and regional options.

In instances when full-text is not available through the database (usually journal articles), consult local library holdings and/or request assistance from Steenbock librarians. Use the MadCat catalog for locating books or documents; use Find It for locating journal articles.

If the item is not available from campus libraries, the libraries can obtain a copy for you (at no charge to you) from another institution. Place a request via Library Express (ILL) for non-campus items.

Register Now for PubChem Workshops!

PubChem registration is now open for workshops slated for August 1-2, 2007.

Submit your registration via the online form. While registration is free, space will be limited.

Workshop descriptions:

PubChem Essentials (August 1)
Content: Understanding the content and organization of the PubChem databases and finding links from a given compound to related data including bioactivity studies, literature abstracts, protein sequences, protein structures, genes, and diseases.

PubChem Powertools (August 2)
Content: Finding structurally similar chemicals to a given compound and finding sets of compounds with defined bioactivity profiles.

For more information about the PubChem product, visit: http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Biology News Net

Keep on top of breaking news in the life sciences with Biology News Net. This comprehensive site pulls news from a variety of sources—including Reuters, Associated Press, NIH, Nature, Scientific American, among others.

News headlines can be browsed by filtered categories of interest including Aids and HIV, Bioinformatics, Gene Therapy, Microbiology, Stem Cell Research, (etc).

If you are accustomed to using a feed-reader such as Bloglines or others, then feeds to each of the news categories can be selected.

The site also supplies a web board to current job opportunities in biology/life sciences (most in academia—at the time of this blog posting).

SVM Featured Images

In recognition of the School of Veterinary Medicine, Alumni Reunion (slated for June 16, 2007), the University Archives has posted several images from the last two decades on its “Featured Images” page. Browse images and/or submit comments and information.

Enjoy!