Writing Outreach - in the Library Today

Today at 3:30 I will be doing a "Writing Outreach" presentation in the Library Auditorium on finding articles for your papers and projects. Bring your topics and I can show you subscription databases, open-access journals, Google Scholar and a few tricks for using them that will make your research, not easy, but easier.

http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/sauer/outreacharticles.html

Sticker Shock 2

Our youngest students, raised using Google, are often shocked when I say that the difference between library information and Google's is loot, greenbacks, benjamins, cash, scrilla, jack, bread, dead presidents, moolah, chedda, bling, bucks, dough, filthy lucre.

In 2002 Cornell's Engineering Library put together a website called "Sticker Shock" graphically documenting the incredible cost of engineering periodical subscriptions, for example a one-year subscription to The Journal of Applied Polymer Science cost $12, 495.00 -- as much as a Toyota Corolla in that year.

They have revised this site with current prices. Check out Sticker Shock 2 -- and be very glad you are associated with a university library.

Tax Forms

The ever-vigilant Reference and Documents Librarians have noted our needs and put a link on the homepage to the IRS Tax Forms and Publications webpage. Bite the chocolate bunny ears while you bite the bullet.

Peeps Shows (for Easter)

From the Washington Post Contest:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032002753.html?hpid=artslot

Spring Break is So Much Hype!

From today's online Chronicle of Higher Education comes this article which should help you get over your Spring Break envy.

"Where the Folks Are"

By THOMAS BARTLETT

"Spring break is all about beer bongs, wet-T-shirt contests, and regrettable intimate encounters, right?

Maybe not. A new survey found that only 33 percent of college students whoop it up at the beach, while 70 percent stay at home with their parents (3 percent, presumably, take their parents to the beach). The survey was sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. . . .

The survey, conducted online in February, found that 68 percent of students who did party during their vacation set limits on how much alcohol they consumed. . . .

Among students who chose to drink, 84 percent said they consumed alcoholic beverages in moderation. . . .

Over all, according to a news release, the survey's results are proof that college students are behaving responsibly during spring break, and that all this talk about debauchery is so much hype. . . .

Everyday Sociology Blog

The weekly Scout Report just came through my email. It always introduces interesting websites. This one grabbed me, probably because I've lately been thinking about how most of our "common-sense" assumptions so often turn out to be wrong (e.g. Eliot Spitzer, Geraldine Ferraro, etc). I particularly liked the one [March 7th] about how students decide where to sit in a classroom. js

Everyday Sociology
http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/
When some people think about sociology, they might think about Max Weber, …mile[sic] Durkheim, and Manuel Castells. The witty, irreverent, and very insightful sociologists at Everyday Sociology consider those esteemed scholars, but they also examine social dynamics on airplanes, Asian American voters, and the world of celebrity. The Everyday Sociology weblog is edited by sociologist Karen Sternheimer, and her contributors include a wide range of practicing sociologists. Visitors to the site can scroll through recent entries and also browse several categories, which include crime and deviance, sex and gender, social psychology, and popular culture and consumption. Also, users may wish to look through the archives, which date back to June 2007. Along with being eminently readable, the site also includes teaching activities and video interviews. [KMG]

Watch Your Language -- Interactive Quizzes

I'm weird. I happen to think that learning can be great fun even if you fail, especially when no one is grading you. Here's a webpage of quizzes: grammar(I mostly failed these), mechanics, punctuation, vocabulary, spelling and others. It comes from the Capital Community College Foundation in Hartford Connecticut.

Daylight Savings Time from Paula Webb

Hot Docs Sunday at 2:00 A.M. jump to 3:00 A.M. and lose an hour of sleep along with most of the rest of the country.

New Hot Docs from Paula Webb

http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/govdocs/hotdocs.htm
Super Delegates and the Electoral College--things you need to know this year.