Garden Expo (February 13-15)

What with the warmer temperatures, of late, it hasn’t been too hard to imagine that spring could really be just around the corner. If that thought energizes you to plan for that future garden, consider taking in the Garden Expo.

The 16th annual Garden Expo will be held at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center, February 13-15, 2009. 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 $7.00 for a single day or $10.00 for two days. Admission proceeds support Wisconsin Public Television.

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, floriculture and pest management, among other related topics. Consult with your library staff for assistance locating these collections.

ticTOCS

Stay timely with the research literature by using ticTOCs. ticTOCS is a journal tables of contents (TOCs) service, developed by a consortium of university libraries and publishers, made freely-available online. Search for journals by title, subject, or publisher. The service brings together, as RSS feeds, the Tables of Contents to scholarly journals from more than 300 publishers.

By registering with the service, you can save a set of selected journals (MyTOCS) to view upon logging in. While you may browse these TOCS at the site, you can also export selected journal RSS feeds to a preferred feed reader (Bloglines or Google Reader) or particular article citations to RefWorks (by clicking on the RefWorks icon). Clicking on the article title will initiate a search for full-text as library (institutional) and personal subscriptions or Open Access publishers can accommodate.

As need be, do consult with campus librarians or use the Find It form to confirm subscription access to journals.

Google Scholar Preferences

Set your Google Scholar Preferences to include a link to Find It at UW-Madison and a link to export your records to a preferred Bibliography/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-down 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).

Darwin Day (February 7)

“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

2009 marks the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the sesquicentennial of the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species. Come celebrate this life and hallmark in our scientific understanding of how life on Earth evolves with a day of thought-provoking lectures and stations for interactive exploration.

Darwin Day events, which begin at 9:00 AM and are free and open to the public, will be hosted in the Microbial Sciences building (directly across from Steenbock Library). The UW-Madison Darwin Day web site supplies the schedule of events, speakers and themes, and a list of recommended reading. Speak with your librarian to find available copies from campus and public libraries.

Of related interest, visit the Darwin Today and Darwin 200 sites.

Cast Your Vote for White House Farmer

“The United States has a White House chef…and now is the time for a White House Farmer.”

A movement is afoot to promote local, sustainable and healthy food options and production with a presence at the White House. The White House farmer will be charged with transforming five acres of White House lawn to an organic fruit and vegetable garden—capable of supplying fresh produce to the White House and to area food banks.

Exciting in this development is the nomination of Claire Strader from Madison’s own Troy Community Farm/Gardens. Visit the White House Farmer site, read about the project and the nominees, then cast your vote, today, and until January 31 for the farmer(s) of your choice.