Bike to Work Week (June 6-12)

The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin encourages you to discover a fitness and transportation solution with its spring “Bike to Work Week” event.

Visit the Federation Web site to view the Madison calendar of events where you can tune up that bike, snack, and socialize with fellow cyclists. The Federation also supplies brief resource articles at its site to “Bicycling 101” and “Commuting”.

The City of Madison also supplies bicycle commuting information at its, Bicycle Information page.

Class Integration: Go Big Read!

How will you participate in Go Big Read? Chancellor Carolyn “Biddy” Martin and steering committee have selected Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto as the first common book selection for the UW-Madison campus.

The Go Big Read Program is looking to identify instructors who currently use this title as part of their class curricula or who would like to use it during the coming fall and spring semesters.

Instructors can apply for free copies of the book, for use with their classes, by completing a request form. The deadline for a fall semester request will be July 1, 2009.

“Go Big Read 2009” will be UW-Madison’s first common book program where students, staff and the community are invited to read the same book, then participate in a variety of related programs in-and-out of the classroom.

For more information about the book, and a taste from its introduction, visit the author’s site for the book.

Campus Bus Route Detours

Now that the spring semester has come to a close and we are in the throes of high construction season, it will be important to note changes to Campus Bus Routes, 80 and 85.

As of Monday, May 18 (and through August), Bus 80 will observe a significant detour.

Do note that the bus stops on Observatory Drive between Park and Charter are closed. Riders can catch Route 80 buses on Langdon Street in front of the Memorial Union or on Linden Drive at Van Hise.

And due to construction, Randall Avenue is closed between University Avenue and Dayton with Route 85 detouring to Charter. The Route 85 detour is expected to last until the first week of June.

Both routes are observing recess hours. Plan your arrival by visiting the service charts for Bus 80 and Bus 85.

Visit the Transportation Services site for additional updates regarding construction zones and concerns to parking and navigation.

Community Gardening

Did you know that there are over thirty community gardens in Madison? If you are not familiar with community gardening, it is an excellent way to unite and beautify the community, conserve resources, and produce nutritious food. Although community gardening is by no means a new phenomenon, it has become quite prevalent in South Central Wisconsin over the past few years. The Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin, Inc, works with more than thirty-one community gardens in the Madison area, and, according to their website, those gardens produce more than a quarter million pounds of produce a year.

If you are interested in the history of community gardening in the U.S., you might want to visit the first floor of Steenbock Library and have a look at Laura Lawson’s work, City Bountiful: A Century of Community Gardening in America (or its electronic edition). For a another, practical take, you might want to borrow Elizabeth Henderson and Robyn Van En’s work, Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community Supported Agriculture.

To find more titles about community gardening, you can do a MadCat catalog search (HINT: try using “community gardens” or “community gardening” as a search term). You can also learn more or find a community garden in your area by visiting the American Community Gardening Association’s website.

With thanks to Sam B for this blog post.

Recycling and Donation Sites for Residence Halls

The Division of Housing, in partnership with Facilities Planning’ We Conserve and St. Vincent de Paul, has named four sites where students can recycle certain products—such as metal and carpeting--and donate other, reusable items.

These recycling and donation sites are located at Tripp Circle (recycling only), Cole Beach (behind the residence hall), the Sellery Hall loading dock and the Witte Hall backyard.

For more information about moving out, dates, and tips from the Division of Housing, see its Moving In and Out site.

Where will you be living? (Campus Area Housing)

Are you new to the Madison campus or need to find another place to live?

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.

History of Protests and Social Action

University Archives has launched a new Website that chronicles the history of protests and social movements at UW-Madison during the twentieth century. In addition to a chronology of major events, the site supplies links to photos, flyers, documents and oral history clips (interviews with key players and witnesses).

Visit the History of 20^th Century Protests & Social Action site.

RefMobile (New from RefWorks!)

RefMobile enables you to access and to view your RefWorks account using a mobile phone, Smart Phone, or PDA. With RefMobile, you will be able to search your account, view references by folder (create and remove folders), add comments to Notes fields, and add references using its Smart Add option.

In order to use RefMobile, you will need to request our campus Group Code and login information. Please contact askrefworks for the UW-Madison Group Code information.

Go Big Read: In Defense of Food

Chancellor Biddy Martin and steering committee have selected Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto as the first common book selection for the UW-Madison campus.

“Go Big Read 2009” will be UW-Madison’s first common book program where students, staff and the community will be invited to read the same book, then participate in a variety of related programs in-and-out of the classroom.

Newly available in paperback, In Defense of Food dissects the Western diet where the question of “what’s for dinner” has been complicated by conflicting health claims, media hype, and agricultural production and distribution concerns. The author’s advice, “eat food, not too much, mostly plants” (advice which is elucidated in greater detail in the book) should serve to elicit discussion, from a variety of perspectives, on issues of importance to members of the campus community—a learning opportunity for all involved.

For more information about the book and a taste from its introduction, visit the author’s site for the book. And, do consult with campus and area public libraries for available copies.

Pet Therapy

Take a study break and romp with some friendly dogs on Library Mall, Wednesday, May 6 (from 3:30-5:00 PM). (Rain date will be Friday, May 8). This annual “Pet Therapy” event, hosted by the Counseling & Consultation Services unit of University Health Services, will also afford an opportunity to chat informally with counselors about any end-of-term stress and how to manage it.

In order to schedule a free, individual session with a counselor, students are asked to call 608-265-5600. Students may also use that same number to schedule 50 minutes of massage therapy ($40.)

If guided relaxation techniques interest you, visit the Relaxation Exercises (MP3 audio) page.

UW Commuter Solutions

How do you get to campus? If you are interested in sparing yourself the frustration of driving and parking (what with numerous construction corridors) and would like alternatives that capitalize on the area’s existing network of bicycle and pedestrian routes, take a look at the Transportation Service's Commuter Solutions page. In addition to choices that promote that incidental fresh-air and exercise, there are options to reduce that wear and tear to your vehicle (by not driving every day and saving money) and environmental toll (less exhaust and congestion).

Staff is also prepared to supply you with a customized packet of information, maps, and coupon incentives.

New to MadCat: RefWorks Export

MadCat has upgraded in such a way that a reference may be directly exported to a RefWorks account. Simply go into MadCat and do a search as you usually would.

Next, select a specific reference to view and click on the “Export” icon located above and to the right of the item’s descriptive information. (By doing this, you will be supplied with a pared-down version of the item record).

Your next move would be to select the “Export Record” link which is located above the item’s descriptive information.

Lastly, select the “Export to RefWorks” icon. This is an easy and reliable way of exporting your references to RefWorks directly from MadCat. Enjoy!

Want to see how to do it? Watch this Jing video clip!

With thanks to Tierra G for this blog post.