Knit Wit

I see them everywhere…on the bus, in the lecture hall, at the coffee shop…knitting. While there have always been aficionados of the craft, knitting has found a brave new audience of artists, crafters and do-it-yourself-ers who can appreciate some good ol’ lambswool (among other fibers) and the satisfaction to be found in producing one’s own clothing and decorative items. And, what’s more, there is a burgeoning marketplace of new texts, to add to the collected classics, to inspire the contemporary knitter.

A short skein from the Steenbock collection follows below. Be sure to speak with library staff to locate these and other titles from campus collections. Should titles from our campus collections be out to other users, do consider searching the UW System or Madison Public Library.

Author: Chin, Lily M.
Title: The urban knitter / Lily M. Chin.
Publisher: New York : Berkley Books, c2002.
Call Number: TT820 C48493 2002

Author: Gibson-Roberts, Priscilla A.
Title: Knitting in the old way : designs & techniques from ethnic sweaters / by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson ; illustrations by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts.
Publisher: Fort Collins, CO : Nomad Press, c2004.
Call Number: TT825 G52 2004

Author: Newton, Deborah.
Title: Designing knitwear / Deborah Newton.
Publisher: Newtown, CT : Taunton Press, c1992.
Call Number: TT820 N555 1992

Author: Righetti, Maggie.
Title: Knitting in plain English / Maggie Righetti.
Publisher: New York : Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin, 2007.
Call Number: TT820 R54 2007

Title: Vogue knitting : the ultimate knitting book / by the editors of Vogue knitting magazine.
Publisher: New York : Sixth & Spring Books, c2002.
Description: 280 p. : col. ill. ; 27 cm.
Call Number: TT820 V624 2002

Tales from Planet Earth, Film Festival (Nov 6-8)

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 a public outreach event from the Center for Culture, History, and Environment within the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

The festival kicks off at the Wisconsin Union Theater (Friday, November 6, 7:00 PM) with keynote address from MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipient and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, Majora Carter.

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

View film schedule; speaker schedule.

e-Book Readers, Product Comparison

With a new, yet growing market for portable e-Book readers, the UW-Madison Library system decided to partner, this year, with two faculty members to pilot the use of one particular product (Kindle DX) as a means by which to access required texts.

For the individual who may be in the market for such technology, Harry McCracken from Technologizer (Reviews, News and Opinion about Personal Technology) has produced a “cheat-sheet” product comparison of nine e-Book readers.

Alumni Access to RefWorks

Campus Libraries are pleased to announce that UW-Madison alumni will now have access to RefWorks.

Accessing RefWorks:

If you no longer have an active UW-Madison NetID and password, contact AskRefWorks to obtain the UW-Madison RefWorks Group Code. In order to verify alumni status, you will need to provide your uwalumni e-mail address. Click here to sign up for this free e-mail address.

• Enter the Group Code at the RefWorks Group Code Remote Access login site.

• Click Go to Login.

• Log into your RefWorks account with your log-in name and password.

Updating Your User Status:

In order to help us track the number of alumni participating in this program, please change your RefWorks user status to "alumni".

• Log into your RefWorks account.

• Click Update User Information in the Tools menu.

• Select Alumni in the Type of User drop-down menu.

• Click Update.

Accessing Other Library Resources:

Due to licensing agreements with our resource providers, only currently-enrolled students, faculty and staff are permitted remote access to many library online resources, including online journals, article databases, and the FindIt links in your Refworks account.

Refer to Visitor Information for details regarding on-site and off-campus access to library resources. Consider document delivery services.

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, face to face instruction, and live chat conferencing.

• Face to Face Instruction

• Email Instruction

• Online “Chat” Conferences

The Writing Center office is located in Helen C. White Hall, Room 6171. Drop-by assistance is offered at several campus locations including College and Memorial Libraries and several residence halls (including Lakeshore).

The Writing Center may also have a free class that fits your needs. Click here to view the class list.

(Writing assistance for the community can be obtained from Madison Public Libraries).

Steenbock librarians are happy to help you find information to inform your papers and projects and to 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). Contact us!

Equipment Checkout System

Need to borrow a laptop computer or camera equipment?

Visit the Equipment Checkout System to find available laptops (Macs or PCs) and camera equipment (still or video) from campus lab locations.

The system site will indicate a location and the number of laptops or cameras available from that location. Tabs link to policy information and to a search form for confirming the return date.

Should you need access to other or additional audio-visual equipment, College Library maintains a useful list of contacts and services.

NatureBreak

Take a break, from business as usual at your computer, and experience a bit of nature (some quite curious) with NatureBreak’s video blog and social network.

The NatureBreak site, created by a wildlife film-maker, invites its members to share videos, photos and stories about experiences out-of-doors (generally necessitating that actual break from one’s computer).

Join its free community to receive updates and to post to the site.

Google for Academic Research (Oct 16)

Power search with Google to quickly locate quality resources!

This free, drop-in workshop will give you hands-on practice using Google, Google Scholar, Google Patents, and Google Book Search. You will also learn to use Find It and Refworks with Google Scholar and to evaluate your search results to get the best information from the Web.

Google for Academic Research
Friday, October 16 (noon-1:00)
Steenbock Instruction Lab, Room 105

No registration is necessary in order to attend.

Visit the calendar for a listing of other library workshops offered this fall.

Study Room Reservation System

Reserve a group study room online with the Study Room Reservation system. This online system enables 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 Steenbock and Wendt libraries.

In order to place the reservation, you will need to log in with your NetID and password.

Reservations cannot be made for Steenbock Rooms 240 and 340 using the Study Room Reservation System. Should you wish to reserve either of these larger spaces for your group, phone 262-9635 or visit the Information Services/Reference Desk, Monday-Thursday (10:00 AM - 8:00 PM) and Friday (10:00 AM - 5:00 PM). During the weekend, speak with staff at the Circulation Desk.

Now Available! Portable Energy Meters

Thanks to Madison Gas and Electric, students, staff and faculty can now check out a "portable energy meter" from Steenbock Library. The model for the two available energy meters is the "Watts Up?" Standard. These are the same type of meters that are also available from Madison area public libraries.

Madison Gas and Electric supports an energy meter website with a video demonstrating the use of these energy meters.

The meters can be checked out for two weeks at a time, and you can use "Place Requests" in MadCat to have them sent to the campus library of your choice.

The Schwerdtfeger Library (space science and engineering) also has energy meters; these meters are the Kill a Watt model.

Friends Used Book Sale (Oct 7-10)

In conjunction with the Wisconsin Book Festival, the Friends of UW-Madison Libraries will host a used book sale, October 7-10, in Room 116 of Memorial Library.

A preview sale, with $5.00 admission, will be held from 5:00 until 9:00 PM, Wednesday, October 7. The regular sale, which is open to all at no charge, will be held from 10:30 AM until 7:00 PM on Thursday and Friday, October 8-9.

On Saturday, October 10 (10:30 AM – 2:00 PM), you can bring a bag and fill it for $3.00.

For more information on the sales, including how to donate books or volunteer for the spring book sale, please call 608-265-2505, e-mail the Friends, or visit the Friends book sale page.

Wisconsin Book Festival (Oct 7-11)

Need an opportunity to feed the mind and stir the soul? If so, consider taking a break to sample the bountiful harvest of author presentations and book discussion forums that comprise the annual, fall Wisconsin Book Festival.

The theme for the book festival this year is that of “courage” and what that may connote for writers and their readers—as they step outside their comfort zone to examine a world of ideas, learning to honor and to appreciate the other—be it a place, an experience, or a point-of-view.

Featured speakers include: Lynda Barry, Wendell Berry, Jane Hamilton, Gregory Maguire, Lorrie Moore, Agate Nesaule, Harvey Pekar, Michael Perry, among many others.

See the full list of presenters.

View the schedule of events.

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

A Novel Way to Travel

According to Susheila Nasta, editor and founder of Wasafiri magazine, "reading is a passport to travel elsewhere. “

In the spirit of that adventure, she has recommended several of her favorite titles (with plot synopsis) in a recent article from The Guardian. I am pleased to note that all ten of the recommended titles are available from campus libraries.

Use the MadCat catalog or speak with your favorite librarian to confirm availability. Should one these titles be checked-out to other library users, do consider a UW-System search or visit one of our area public libraries. Again, campus librarians are happy to help you find available copies.

1. The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

2. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (other editions, multiple copies on campus)

3. Baumgartner's Bombay by Anita Desai,

4. Austerlitz by WG Sebald

5. Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah

6. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (other editions, multiple copies on campus)

7. Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

8. Mr. Potter by Jamaica Kincaid

9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

10. The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

What to Eat: A Seven Discourse Meal

Sink your teeth into Agroecology’s fall lecture series, What to Eat: A Seven Discourse Meal. This lecture series, inspired by Go Big Read’s selection In Defense of Food, invites campus area experts for insightful discussion about food culture, production and sustainability. For more information, download the poster or visit the Agroecology web site. The series also celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. All presentations begin at 4:00 PM.

The lecture series is made possible with support from the Bradshaw-Knight Foundation.

Lectures:

Thursday, October 1
Room 2103 Chamberlain Hall
Wisconsin Farmers: What to Eat
Speakers:
Bill Bruins, President of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau and dairy farmer, Waupun
Richard Cates, Member of the DATCP Ag Board and pasture-based beef farmer, Spring Green
Louise Hemstead, Chief Operating Officer of Organic Valley Coop and an organic dairy farmer, La Farge
Tom Lochner, Executive Director, Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association

Introduction by John Shutske, Associate Dean, Cooperative Extension, CALS
Reception to follow

Tuesday, October 6
Room 2103 Chamberlain Hall
CALS Faculty: What to Eat
Speakers:
Brent McCown, Gottschalk Distinguished Professor of Horticulture
Franco Milani, Assistant Professor of Food Science
Susan Nitzke, Professor and Chair of Nutritional Sciences

Introduction by Irwin Goldman, Vice Dean, CALS

Tuesday, October 13
Room 270 Soils Building
Changing Tastes: Sustainability, Demographics and the Marketplace
Speaker:
Arlin Wasserman, Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Sodexo Corporation

Introduction by Jack Kloppenburg, CIAS co-director

Tuesday, October 20
Room 270 Soils Building
Fertility, Fertilizers and Food: In Defense of Haber
Speaker:
Phillip Barak, Professor of Soil Science, UW Madison

Introduction by William Bland, Chair, Soil Science

Tuesday, October 27
Room 270 Soils Building
Healthy Land, Food, and Eaters: An Ecological Approach to Health
Speaker:
Angie Tagtow, managing editor, Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition

Introduction by Gregg Mitman, Interim Director, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies

Wednesday, November 4
Room 270 Soils Building
Growing Food and Knowing Food: The Traceability of Sustainability
Speaker:
Hugh Campbell, Director of the Centre for the Study of Food, Agriculture, and Environment at Otago University, New Zealand

Introduction by Michael Bell, Chair, Agroecology Program

Tuesday, November 10
Room 2103 Chamberlain Hall
The Seasonal Connection: From the Land to Your Plate
Speaker:
Monique Hooker, Wisconsin chef, storyteller, and author of Cooking with the Seasons

Introduction by Julie Luke, Associate Director of Dining and Culinary Service, University Housing
Reception to follow

Managing Your Citations with EndNote (Oct 2)

This workshop will explain the basic features of EndNote including organizing databases and records, importing records from MadCat and research literature databases, and formatting bibliographies. Its Web companion, EndNote Web, will also be featured. (EndNote Web is free to campus users courtesy of UW-Madison Libraries).

Managing Your Citations with EndNote
Friday, October 2, (11:30 AM -1:00 PM)
Room 105

Should you not be able to attend the October 2 workshop, two additional workshops are scheduled for October 23 (noon – 1:30 PM) and November 17 (3:00 – 4:30 PM) at Steenbock Library. Check the campus libraries workshops page for more information and dates for all upcoming library workshops.