Google Scholar Alerts

For those who enjoy Google Scholar, do note that it now enables you to set an alert--that is, to save a particular search strategy on a topic, specific article, or author and have Google send you an email notification when more articles are added to its database that match your criteria.

It’s as simple as running your search, then clicking the envelope icon "create email alert". If you are interested in "cited by" information for a particular article, run the search for that article, click "Cited by" beneath the search result, then click the envelope icon "create email alert".

• See the Help pages for more information.

Additionally, consider setting your Scholar Preferences to include a link to Find It at UW-Madison and a link to export your records to a preferred Citation Manager (EndNote, RefWorks, etc.) The Find It at UW Madison link will map you to local holdings for particular articles--either in full-text online or as available in print from campus libraries. (When using Google Scholar on-campus, you should see this Find It at UW-Madison link).

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).

Select boxes for your campus library system and the Open WorldCat Library Search.

Select your preferred Bibliography Manager from the drop menu near the bottom of the Preferences page. Once selected, links will appear with your retrieval to enable you to export citations to that manager.

Click to Save Preferences.

(Do note that selecting a link to a full-text article from off-campus will require you to login with your UW-Madison NetId).

Manage Your References!

Citation Managers are software products that can help you to perform the following tasks:

• Create and organize a personal research database of references gathered from databases.

• Format manuscripts and reference lists instantly in a variety of styles (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.)

• Share your databases with classmates and colleagues.

In order to decide which product will work the best for you (and you may even find it useful to use more than one), visit the online chart to compare features or consult the flyer, "Which one is right for you?"

The libraries support several products (EndNote, RefWorks & Zotero) and offer free workshops to students and staff. Visit the workshop schedule for November, browse the workshop calendar by topic (look for citation managers) or ask to speak with your librarian consultants.

• EndNote & EndNote Web Consultants
• RefWorks Consultants
• Zotero Consultants

Every Purchase Matters

October has been designated as National Fair Trade Awareness Month by TransFair USA, a third-party certifier of fair trade products in the United States and member of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International which looks to alleviate poverty by securing sustainable, fair practices on behalf of small producers and agricultural workers.

And, do note that, earlier this year, WISPIRG’s Fair Trade Campaign also managed to secure the city of Madison the distinction as "First Fair Trade State Capital" and 16th "Fair Trade City" in the United States.

So, how can you make your purchases matter? Look for fair trade certified products in campus shops and local businesses. You may also wish to "save the date" for the 14th Annual Fair Trade Holiday Festival, Saturday, December 4, 2010 at the Monona Terrace.

• Where to Get Fair Trade Products in Madison, Willy Street Coop
• Where to Buy Fair Trade Certified Products, TransFair
  

Go Big Read, Author Event (October 25)

Plan to attend the free, Go Big Read public lecture with Rebecca Skloot, October 25 (7:00 PM), at the Kohl Center.

Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, compassionately recounts the very human origin of HeLa cells and their astounding contribution to modern medicine.

No tickets are required for this event; it is FREE and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:00 PM.
Captioning for attendees will be provided.

• Read the Response from Damon Williams, Vice-Provost for Diversity and Climate (as posted to the Go Big Read blog, October 20).

Putting the Wisconsin Idea Online (Oct 19)

The Wisconsin Idea is the principle that our efforts here, as students and staff, should inform and enrich our communities beyond the university. UW-Madison researchers are now able to fulfill this guiding principle by using the Web to reach Wisconsin residents and an interested audience worldwide.

On October 19, faculty, staff, students and librarians will have an opportunity to discuss efforts to archive and to impart the product of one’s research online.

Visit the site to view the schedule of featured speakers and to submit your registration. Registration for this day-long event is free.

Putting the Wisconsin Idea Online
October 19, 2010 (9:00 AM – 4:00 PM)
Memorial Library Commons (Room 460)

This event coincides with Open Access Week 2010.

Spam!

On a recent drive across southern Minnesota, I could not help but notice billboards advertising the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota, birthplace of this much-maligned but rather ubiquitous tinned meat product. And, charmingly, I might add, Spam made a recent "Word of Mouth" blog post at the Guardian in which the author considered the enduring appeal of this product, offered some insight on its history, and supplied a snippet from the famous Monty Python sketch in which the characters bicker about their choice of Spam-enhanced meals.

As Spam continues to make many a dinner table, consider some fine examples for its preparation from Steenbock’s cookbook collection.

Author: Burckhardt, Ann
Title: A Cook's Tour of Minnesota
Publisher: St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, c2004
Call Number: TX715 B9497 2004

Author: Wyman, Carolyn
Title: I'm a Spam Fan: America's Best-Loved Foods
Publisher: Stamford, CT: Longmeadow Press, c1993
Call Number: TX370 W95 1993

Title: Great-Tasting Recipes with SPAM Luncheon Meat
Publisher: Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, c1996
Call Number: TX749 G8225 1996

Should you wish to research other food products, food trends and traditions of thrifty cooking, come chat with your Steenbock librarians for assistance finding these topics and more.

Book Discussions, Go Big Read

As you read the Go Big Read selection, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, do plan to attend a book discussion forum. There are many discussion forums planned in a variety of venues, on campus and off, including one for this coming Monday, October 11 at Steenbock Library. The Steenbock Library forum will begin at 6:30 PM in Room 340.

Discussion forums provide a great opportunity to wrangle with the issues raised by a book as those issues are examined by a community of readers who bring their knowledge, experience and reflections to the table. For students, insight drawn there can often make for a more satisfying reading experience and serve to help you with related class exercises. It is also just plain fun to hear what others have been thinking.

Of related information, consider this list of related articles and reviews (as shared via RefWorks).

Save the date! Rebecca Skloot will speak at the Kohl Center on October 25, 2010. This event is free and open to all; doors open at 6:00 PM with the presentation to begin at 7:00 PM. We hope that you will attend!

Shane Hamilton Public Lecture, WHEATS

The WHEATS 2010 Planning Committee has invited Shane Hamilton to speak on Friday, October 8, as a kickoff lecture for WHEATS, (Workshop for the History of Environment, Agriculture, Technology, and Science). His presentation, entitled, "Where's the 'C' (for Capitalism) in WHEATS" will explore political economy as a lens by which to examine and draw together the research literature from history of agriculture, environment, technology, and science.

This public lecture will begin at 4:00 PM in the CHE Theater (Room 123/125) of the Bradley Memorial Building, 1225 Linden Drive.

Shane Hamilton is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia and author of Trucking Country: The Road to America's Wal-Mart Economy (Princeton University Press, 2008).

• See the flyer for this lecture event.
  

Informing Consent, Exhibit

In conjunction with the Go Big Read selection, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Ebling Library has compiled an exhibit of texts, magazines, newspapers and photographs examining issues and ethics of human subject experimentation, tissue use, and policies to protect the rights of patients. Additionally, the exhibit lends insight into the world of Henrietta Lacks and the science of HeLa.

Materials for this exhibit have been drawn from campus collections in the University Archives, Ebling, Memorial and Steenbock Libraries and the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Biological Imaging.

Free and open to the public, this exhibit, "Informing Consent: Unwitting Subjects in Medicine's Pursuit of Beneficial Knowledge," will run until March 31, 2011 in the Historical Reading Room and Third Floor Gallery, Ebling Library (Health Sciences Learning Center).

What's Your Question? Go Big Read

For those of you who have been reading the Go Big Read selection, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, do you have any questions you would like to ask the author?

Due to the scale of the author event at the Kohl Center, the question and answer period will be moderated. If you would like to suggest a question, please post it as a comment to the original Go Big Read blog post by October 18.

Please also consider including some very brief information about yourself. The moderator will select a representative group of questions and ask them of Rebecca Skloot during the event.

Save the date! Rebecca Skloot will speak at the Kohl Center on October 25, 2010. This event is free and open to all; doors open at 6:00 PM with the presentation to begin at 7:00 PM. We hope that you will attend!

A Cozy Shelter Yarn Bombing

The School of Human Ecology’s Design Gallery is sponsoring a "yarn bombing" of a bus shelter at the intersection of State and Johnson Streets.

This "cozy shelter" installation is slated to begin on September 30th and will be completed by October 1st, to coincide with the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallery Night. Members of Madison’s Knitters Guild have loaned their talents, in garter-stitched what-nots, to this installation, with yarn products distributed and collected by staff with the Sow’s Ear. This installation project has been coordinated by Professor Diane Sheehan and Lisa Frank, Interim Director of the Design Gallery.

See the Wisconsin Radio Network report!

Be sure to visit; it will leave you in stitches!