Posts

Showing posts from April, 2014

Book of the Week (The Remedy by Thomas Goetz)

Image
The Remedy : Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis By Thomas Goetz Call Number:  RA644.T7 G58 2014 Review from the Wall Street Journa l Publisher's Description :  The riveting history of tuberculosis, the world’s most lethal disease, the two men whose lives it tragically intertwined, and the birth of medical science. In 1875, tuberculosis was the deadliest disease in the world, accountable for a third of all deaths. A diagnosis of TB—often called consumption—was a death sentence. Then, in a triumph of medical science, a German doctor named Robert Koch deployed an unprecedented scientific rigor to discover the bacteria that caused TB. Koch soon embarked on a remedy—a remedy that would be his undoing. When Koch announced his cure for consumption, Arthur Conan Doyle, then a small-town doctor in England and sometime writer, went to Berlin to cover the event. Touring the ward of reportedly cured patients, he was horrified. Koch’s “r

Book of the Week (The Sibley Guide to Birds, 2nd edition)

Image
The Sibley Guide to Birds (2nd Edition) Written and Illustrated by David Allen Sibley Call Number:  QL681 .S497 2014 Publisher's Description:  “Undoubtedly the finest guide to North American birds.”—Guy McCaskie, Birding   The publication of The Sibley Guide to Birds in 2000 quickly established David Allen Sibley as the author and illustrator of the nation’s supreme and most comprehensive guide to birds. Used by millions of birders from novices to the most expert, The Sibley Guide became the standard by which natural history guides are measured. The highly anticipated second edition builds on this foundation of excellence, offering massively expanded and updated information, new paintings, new and rare species, and a new, elegant design. The second edition offers a wealth of improvements and updates: All illustrations reproduced 15 to 20 percent larger for better detail. Includes nearly 7,000 paintings digitally remastered from original art for enhanced print q

Predatory Publishers with Jeffrey Beall

Image
Please join us on Friday, April 25, to hear Jeffrey Beall, Scholarly Communications Librarian at the University of Colorado's Denver Auraria Library, present on predatory publishers. The event is free, but registration is required For more information, contact Nerissa Nelson at 715-346-4204 or nnelson@uwsp.edu We hope to see you next week!

Book of the Week: The Laughing Librarian by Jeanette C. Smith

Image
Celebrate National Library Week - visit your UWSP Library! The Laughing Librarian: A History of American Library Humor By Jeanette C. Smith Call Number:  Z682.5 .S65 2012 Publisher's Description:   Despite the stodgy stereotypes, libraries and librarians themselves can be quite funny. The spectrum of library humor from sources inside and outside the profession ranges from the subtle wit of the New Yorker to the satire of Mad . This examination of American library humor over the past 200 years covers a wide range of topics and spans the continuum between light and dark, from parodies to portrayals of libraries and their staffs as objects of fear. It illuminates different types of librarians—the collector, the organization person, the keeper, the change agent—and explores stereotypes like the shushing little old lady with a bun, the male scholar-librarian, the library superhero, and the anti-stereotype of the sexy librarian. Profiles of the most prominent library humorists

Book of the Week: Seven Flowers and How They Shaped Our World By Jennifer Potter

Image
Seven Flowers and How They Shaped Our World By Jennifer Potter Call Number:  SB 404.5 .P68 2014 Publisher's Description:   The lotus. The lily. The sunflower. The opium poppy. The rose. The tulip. The orchid. Seven flowers, each with its own story full of surprises and secrets, each affecting the world around us in subtle but powerful ways. But what is the nature of their power and how did it develop? Why have these particular plants become the focus of gardens, literature, art—even billion dollar industries?  The answers to these questions and more are what drove journalist and author Jennifer Potter to write Seven Flowers . Drawing on sources both ancient and modern, and featuring lush full-color illustrations and gorgeous line art throughout, Potter examines our changing relationship with these potent plants and the effects they had on civilizations through the ages. The opium poppy, for example, returned to haunt its progenitors in the West, becoming the source of an e