Garden Expo (February 10-12, 2012)

Think Green with the annual Garden Expo! The Expo will be held at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center, February 10-12, 2012. The Expo features exhibits, seminars and hands-on workshops for the gardener and landscaping enthusiast. Many of the speakers are staff with UW-Extension, Cooperative Extension.

Ticket prices, on-site, are $8.00 for a single day, $11.00 for two days and $16.00 for three days (a discount coupon is available from the Website). Admission proceeds support Wisconsin Public Television. And, see what’s new for 2012.

Of related interest, Steenbock Library receives seed catalogs that can be found and browsed near the first floor vending area. Additionally, the library maintains an extensive collection of books about gardening, organic gardening, landscape design, composting, flori-culture, and pest management, among other related topics.

Consult with library staff for assistance locating and using these collections.

Unnatural History, Darwin Day 2012

"Toxic newts capable of poisoning humans, and the snakes that eat them. Delicate beauties and nightmarish monsters from the ocean depths. Plants that make a living sucking the life out of other plants..."

For all that and more, mark your calendar for UW-Madison’s annual Darwin Day(s), February 9-11, 2012.

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will play host to a series of lectures and science stations, free and open to the public, that explore the science of evolution.

The UW-Madison Darwin Day website supplies the schedule of events, speakers and themes, and a list of teacher resources.

"There is grandeur in this view of life... from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
--Charles Darwin

Call for Projects, 3rd Annual Digital Salon

UW Libraries and the Digital Humanities Initiative invite students (undergraduate and graduate) to submit their new media projects for exhibition during the 3rd annual Digital Salon, April 15-20, 2012.

The deadline for submitting a project will be Friday, March 5, 2012. Complete the online form to submit a project to the curatorial committee.

The Digital Salon seeks examples of artistic and research-oriented projects that take digital form or rely heavily on digital technologies in the production process. Examples of this work might include podcasts, experimental videos, animations, graphic novels or essays, websites, blogs, multimedia installations, posters, etc.

Additionally, undergraduate students who want to participate in the Undergraduate Symposium can elect to have their projects displayed at the Digital Salon Exhibition at the Symposium (in addition to the main Digital Salon exhibition in College Library's Open Book Cafe and online). The Undergraduate Symposium is Wednesday, April 18 at Union South. To do this, students should fill out an application to the Undergraduate Symposium and check the "Digital Salon" box on their application.

Two previous exhibitions can be visited online: Digital Salon 2011, Digital Salon 2010.

The Digital Salon is organized by the Digital Humanities Initiative and UW-Madison Libraries, with additional support from DesignLab.

For more information, contact digitalsalon-l@library.wisc.edu.

Undergraduate Research Awards

College Library invites students to apply for its annual Undergraduate Research Awards. The awards celebrate excellence and creativity in using the library to complete an undergraduate research project.

(Examples may include a literature review for a lab study, the use of primary sources in a historical research paper, or the background research for a creative arts project).

Up to three Library Research Awards and one Research in Progress Award will be presented at the Undergraduate Symposium. (The Research in Progress Award is intended for projects that will not be completed before the award deadline).

Winners of Library Research Awards receive a cash prize of $300. The winner of the Research in Progress Award receives a cash prize of $150.

(Please note: The Financial Aid Office may need to modify your aid package if you were to receive outside aid, such as this cash prize).

The deadline to apply for the 2012 library research awards will be March 30, 2012.

How to Apply--the process:

1. Meet with a librarian or attend a drop-in information session to review and discuss your research.

2. Reflect on the various tools and strategies used to locate relevant materials.

3. Write a 600-800-word essay describing your research strategies and reflecting upon your experience--noting the successes, difficulties, and surprises you encountered.

4. Submit an application, a statement of faculty support, a final version of your project, and the essay.

Drop-in information sessions will be offered in the student services area on first floor (College Library) during the following days/times:

• Tuesday, February 7, 4:00-5:00 pm
• Monday, February 20, 6:00-7:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 7, 4:00-5:00 pm
• Tuesday, March 20, 5:00-6:00 pm
• Wednesday, March 28, 6:00-7:00 pm

For more information, contact Kelli Keclik or Carrie Kruse.

Cool Science Images, Contest

Share your work or share your passionate interest in science by contributing an entry to the Why Files’ Cool Science Images contest.

The contest is open to UW-Madison students, faculty and staff and can depict objects or phenomena from any discipline. See the site and flyer for details about how to enter. Entries will be judged on their "aesthetic and informational qualities."

Deadline for entries will be February 28, 2012. Winners, who will receive gift certificates and enjoy the honor of having their images posted to the Why Files site, will be announced mid-March. All qualified entries will also be exhibited during the 2012 Wisconsin Science Festival.