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