Thursday, July 31, 2008

Heirloom Gardens Symposium (September 6)

Old World Wisconsin will host a symposium devoted to gardening with heirloom plant varieties, Saturday, September 6, 2008. Speakers for this event include Dick Zondag (president of Jung Seed Co.), Lee Somerville (horticulturist and historian) and Shelley Ryan (host of WPT’s The Wisconsin Gardener). Participants will also enjoy a tram tour to selected heirloom gardens at the site.

Tickets for this day-long event (9:00 AM – 5:00 PM) cost $85.00 per person and reservations are required. Phone 262-594-6301 to reserve your space or submit a form online. Breakfast, lunch and additional refreshments are included.

Wine Pairings

The research suggests that judicious consumption of red wine can be good for the heart.

Take heart that Steenbock has collections available to support your interest in viticulture, (as well as cookbook collections and titles in dietetics).

Some collection examples from cookery and viticulture:

Cookery

Author: Olney, Richard.
Title: Ten vineyard lunches / Richard Olney.
Publisher: New York : Interlink Books, 1988.
Description: 128 p. : col. ill. ; 26 cm.
Series: The Ten menus series
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TX735 O46 1988


Author: Smith, Jeff.
Title: The frugal gourmet cooks with wine / Jeff Smith ; illustrations by Gary Jacobsen ; with articles on tasting and selecting wine by Corbet Clark.
Publisher: New York : Morrow, c1986.
Description: 447 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TX726 S64 1986


Author: Warrick, Sheridan F.
Title: The way to make wine : how to craft superb table wines at home / Sheridan Warrick.
Publisher: Berkeley : University of California Press, c2006.
Description: xiv, 252 p. : ill. ; 21 cm.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TP548.2 W366 2006


Viticulture

Author: Jackson, David, 1935-
Title: The production of grapes & wine in cool climates / David Jackson & Danny Schuster.
Publisher: Wellington, N.Z. : Butterworths, 1987.
Description: xiii, 192 p. : ill. (some col.), forms, maps ; 27 cm.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: SB388 J26 1987


Author: Jackson, Ron S.
Title: Wine science : principles and applications / Ron S. Jackson.
Publisher: San Diego : Academic Press, 1994.
Description: xiii, 475 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.
Series: Food science and technology series
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: TP548 J15 1994


Author: White, R. E. (Robert Edwin), 1937-
Title: Soils for fine wines / Robert E. White.
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.
Description: vii, 279 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: S591 W493 2003

Please consult with your Steenbock librarians for assistance locating additional and related titles.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Beatrix Potter Birthday (July 28)

July 28th marks the birth (1866) of beloved children’s author and illustrator, Beatrix Potter. Not only did she document the natural world so lovingly in both her whimsical and botanical illustrations/observations—it was in the latter, she would also prove to be an accomplished mycologist.

For examples of some of that work, consult the following title from the Steenbock collection:

Author: Findlay, W. P. K. (Walter Philip Kennedy)
Title: Wayside and woodland Fungi [by] W. P. K. Findlay; with 59 colour illustrations of fungi by Beatrix Potter, 28 by R. B. Davis and 20 by E. C. Large.
Publisher: London, F. Warne [1967].
Description: xi, 202 p. col. front., illus., 50 plates (some col.),diagrs. 22 1/2 cm.
Series: [The Wayside and woodland series]
Subjects: Fungi--Great Britain.
Location: Steenbock Stacks -1st Floor
Call Number: QK607 F55

Additional books about the life and work of Beatrix Potter can be found using the MadCat catalog. Consult with campus librarians for assistance.

Food Safety Fact Sheets

What with recent summer media attention paid to pathogens in the food supply—namely mass-quantity/processed fresh produce (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)--you may be experiencing some growing interest in food safety.


The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service offers a handy menu of fact sheets suitable for home use or outreach efforts and instruction. Fact sheets address safe food handling, generally, and handling as recommended for particular food products, foodborne illness, emergency preparedness and food labeling, among other topics. Many guides are available in both English and Spanish languages.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

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

Monday, July 21, 2008

Simple Green Tip

Use your library! Saves space, funds and trees. Or so suggests Re-Nest, a pleasant blog I follow for its refreshing take on home life and interior design. Of course, as someone engaged with libraries personally and professionally, I couldn’t agree more that using the library is a good thing.

Get acquainted with your library today—contact us to schedule a tour or meet with your library liaison.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Course Reserves Deadline for Fall 2008

Faculty and instructors are invited to submit their course reserve materials to Steenbock’s Reserves department by August 10, 2008. Materials received by this date will be processed and available to your students by the first day of class.

Information about Steenbock Course Reserves

Information for Faculty/Instructors

Online Request Form

Email or phone (263-8331) with any concerns or questions.

Homeland Security Digital Library

Agroterrorism, Climate Change, Energy, Pandemic & Avian Influenza, and Security, Food & Fuel, are among the Featured Topics in the full text Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL). (The link to Featured Topics is found in the Highlights box to the right on the opening page).

The HSDL collection provides quick access to some 57,000 important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources, such as theses and reports, developed by various universities, organizations and local and state agencies.

To access this resource, visit the UW Libraries home page and select the E-Resource Gateway.
Enter "Homeland Security" in the Find Resources by Name search box.
Click on the title, Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) to launch the resource.
Click Featured Topics to browse by the subjects listed above or search the collection (a search of the general collection on the term “biofuels” nets 297 full text reports!)

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

Monday, July 14, 2008

Textbooks

Need textbooks? Visit the University Bookstore Text Department site to see what texts may be required for your classes this coming term. In addition to the campus bookstore, you may also be able to purchase necessary texts from your local and/or independent new and used booksellers.

In addition to that which could be purchased, the frugal student may also wish to consult campus libraries and Reserve collections. Depending upon what your required reading may entail, some texts may be available in campus libraries. Search MadCat or expand your search to the UW-System to find items to borrow.

Many texts are also placed on Reserve in campus libraries. Visit My UW to find information about all reserve items that may be available for your class—either in a digitized format or held physically at a library location. (In this latter instance, you can also search for Reserve items using the MadCat Course Reserve search).

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Readers' Advisory

One of the interesting—and sometimes challenging—activities in librarianship is matching a library user to the texts that he/she will most like to read, be it for research or entertainment.

If you intend to read for entertainment this summer, you may wish to speak with your librarian or try some of the resources, below. Each resource enables you to explore a genre or factor a recommendation based upon authors or books you already enjoy.


Locate available copies of books on campus or within the UW-System by using the MadCat catalog and its UW System search feature. The Madison Public Library, as part of the South Central Library System, is also an amazing resource for satisfying popular reading interests--search its LINKcat catalog to locate items of interest.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Campus Area Housing

Are you new to the Madison campus and need to secure housing?

If so, then visit the Campus Area Housing Listing Service to conduct a free search for area options. The service, hosted by campus Visitor & Information Programs, is intended to assist faculty, staff and students with finding housing appropriate to their needs whether this is an apartment, private residence hall, house or primary residence. The site also includes links to handy area maps and Madison community information.

Monday, July 07, 2008

Human Factors & Ergonomics Society Digital Library

After rigorous weekend cycling, I have been musing about the ergonomics of cycling and how a bicycle may be adjusted for a more comfortable ride. That said, I turned my attention to a resource available from campus libraries—the HFES Digital Library.

The HFES Digital Library (Human Factors & Ergonomics Society) supplies access to the most recent three years of the following titles: Human Factors, Ergonomics in Design, Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, HFES Annual Meeting Proceedings, Reviews of Human Factors and Ergonomics.

Browse by journal volume or run a simple or advanced search. (The advanced search can be selected by clicking “Search” from the heading Shopping Cart, Marked List, Search above the Signed In note recognizing UW-Madison users).

Access HFES Digital Library from the E-Resource Gateway.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Energy Stats (consumption, production, projections)

The Energy Information Administration, created in 1977 as a statistical agency of the US Department of Energy, has released three reports of interest.

Annual Energy Review, 2007
Report includes data on total energy production, consumption, and trade; overviews of petroleum, natural gas, coal, electricity, nuclear energy, renewable energy, international energy, and financial and environmental indicators.

Annual Energy Outlook, 2008
Report presents projections and analysis of US energy supply, demand and prices through 2030.

International Energy Outlook Highlights, 2008
Report presents the EIA’s assessment of the outlook for international energy markets through 2030.

Of related interest, do consult the EIA’s Country Energy Profiles.