Books & Bytes (August 2013)

Books & Bytes

• Embdedded Librarians • Williamson vs. Williamson

August 2013

• Because I said so • Not dead yet • Chocolate • Copyright

Image is by Barry Yanowitz from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

From the Cluttered Desk Hello, Bearkats! Welcome to August. It hasn’t been as humid or hot As a result of a change in administrative policy, effective August 1, as I expected, but then I am spend- 2013, all patrons picking up items in Interlibrary Services will be required to show University ID (Bearkat OneCard). ing my days in an air-conditioned library. Come visit us at the Newton Gresham Library during open hours.

Improving the State of Student Learning (and Papers!)

I hope you’ll read the newsletter and find something you enjoy! Feel free to share your opinions about You may not be always able to visit the library with your students or ensure that the newsletter directly with me. Is they do, but we can come to you! You can embed a librarian in online classes or classes that contain an online component where we can provide: there something you loved? Some • Virtual Instruction Sessions thing you want to see but didn’t?

• Virtual Office Hours With Real-Time Chat How can I best serve you? I want to

• Custom Online Research Guides make this entertaining as well as

• Online Tutorials to teach databases and research concepts informative, so if I can keep your Request an embedded librarian with our online request form. For more inforattention and make you smile or mation, contact the Instruction Librarian, Angela Colmenares at (936) 294think then I feel I’ve done my duty. 4782 or anc034@shsu.edu.

But this is for you--students, staff, faculty--and about you (and us, the Another reason to get in touch with Angela is if you need a library instruction Library). session for your English 1301 courses. She provides detailed instruction on the basics of library use and research that will help with their current assignment.

Michelle Martinez, Reference Librarian Newton Gresham Library Sam Houston State University A Member of the Texas State University System

Also available are other subject librarians who will be glad to provide instruction to your students, undergraduate or graduate level, to help with with shortor long-term projects. To find out more about library instruction or to schedule a session, contact the Reference Desk at (936) 294-1599 or ask@shsu.libanswers.com.

Are you at The Woodlands Center? We offer library instruction there, too! Contact Reference/Instruction Librarian Tyler Manolovitz at 936-202-5047 or tyler@ shsu.edu.

We offer a wide range of services for faculty and students!

Because I Said So: Take off the Band-Aid so your cut can air out

Erin Cassidy, Web Services Librarian, reviews the audiobook Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids. Read by Ken Jennings. Tantor Audio. Unabridged (approximately 5 hours).

That’s the dirty secret of parenting: it’s a big game of Telephone stretching back through the centuries and delivering garbled, well-intended medieval bromides to the present. (Jennings, Preface, XIV) “No swimming for an hour after eating.” “Double-dipping your chips spreads germs!” “Take off the BandAid so your cut can air out.” “Eat the crusts, they have all the vitamins.” Do you remember your parents or grandparents saying things like this when you were growing up? Because I Said So! is a very amusing journey through the strange, sometimes hilarious, and occasionally entirely true things that are so often passed on as the “advice” of our elders.

Author Jennings (well known as a champion on the TV game show Jeopardy!) has clearly done his homework here: he carefully cites scientific studies and evidence that help to prove or disprove the wisdom of the ages. He nevertheless manages to maintain a cheerful, comedic tone and never gets bogged down by dry science lectures. A few chapters, such as “Don’t eat your boogers,” border on the disgusting, but hilariously so.

Verdict: If you ever wondered about that watermelon seed or bubblegum blob that you swallowed as a child, check this book out. Your questions will be answered!

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Ken Jennings has also written Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks @ GA105.3 .J46 2011 and Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive World of Trivia Buffs @ GV1507 .Q5 J44 2006.

Both books are on the 4th floor.

If you enjoy learning about the strange and unique, trivia, or if you just enjoy learning in general, why not try one of these books: • The visual miscellaneum : a colorful guide to the world’s most consequential trivia @ AG195 .M33 2009 • • The genie in the bottle: 64 all new commentaries on the fascinating chemistry of everyday life @ QD37 .S372 2001 and online • • Don’t know much about history: everything you need to know about American history, but never learned @ LS973 .D294D • • What are the seven wonders of the world? and 100 other great cultural lists, fully explicated @ LS031 .D441w Image is by Planet_Telex from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

“...not dead yet” Highlighting the relevance of libraries and the defenders who support them By: Tyler Manolovitz

We’re still talking about libraries, right?

Think of all the things you can find at a library. And I mean physical things...I’m not trying to trick you by saying “information.” My guess is your list will look something like this: books, journals, magazines, computers, printers, maps, etc. How many of you included things like tennis rackets, fishing poles, tape measures, world flags, drums, heat guns, etc.? Well, this is what a number of libraries across the country are providing for their patrons. Some of you may be thinking something like, “But that’s not what libraries are for” [says who?]or “Wow, libraries are sure getting desperate” [they’re not]. As Carolyn Anthony, Director of the Skokie Public Library said, “This has been going on for a long time. It’s not like we’re suddenly threatened and have to do something about it.” I’ve been harping on the idea that libraries provide information, which is true, but as my colleague Erin Cassidy pointed out, libraries are also about creating knowledge. What better way to help share and create knowledge than to provide people with the tools, both literally and figuratively, to do it? Check out the full article for more awesome information: http://wapo.st/1aU6hFf

“The trend expands the traditional role of the library as a community resource for free knowledge.”

Flickr images by redjar, robin miller, salendron, homespot hq, Michael Fawcett, CORE-Materials, and Felipe Oliveira

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Husband and wife librarians review books, music, TV,

movies and more. A couple on a never-ending quest to find things they both like. ...Good luck with that!

Michelle Simms is a former ballerina and current Vegas showgirl who ends up in the small town of Paradise, California teaching a group of young ballet dancers alongside her mother-in-law.

Note: Bunheads was cancelled after the writing of this review.

Do yourself a favor and check out the first season. Be sad that we won’t get to see more from these characters but happy they were in our life for a brief but wonderful time.

Jimmy:

Felicia:

I have never watched Gilmore Girls so this was my introduction to the world of Amy Sherman-Palladino and she hooked me right away. I had only heard of the show through Linda Holmes of NPR’s Monkey See blog and Pop Culture Happy Hour and like Awkward (which we reviewed last month), I was little scared to try it, but I did. I agree with Mrs. Williamson that the show started off slowly in the beginning and it took me a while to grasp the fast dialogue but I just loved all the pop culture references that Michelle mumbles almost to herself (No one takes Khaleesi’s dragons!). Sutton Foster as Michelle Simms is great and almost designed to deliver Palladino’s vision. Lead bunhead Sasha (Julia Telles) is kind of a bore so luckily there are plenty of other bunheads and quirky character story lines to grab on to. Bunheads is light fair with heavy emphasis on comedy with only a little dramatic tension. Bunheads has a way to go to be must see television but there is something there.

For those of us who loved the Gilmore Girls this show is a return to gal-pal dramedy set in a quaint small town. The first half of the first season seemed to have a hard time finding its footing (pun intended) but by the second half of the first season this show got its groove back and it is full of heart and is worth your time. It is ideal viewing for a rainy day and has an upbeat tempo and encouraging message. Plus, it will encourage you to sit up straight, and I for one always need that reminder.

Jimmy says: Check it out

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Felicia says: Check it out

M say

Someone chocolate?

by Ann Jerabek

ention chocolate and a lively conversation will probably result. Serve chocolate and you’re liable to hear only oohs, aahs, and mmms. Chocolate has an appeal and even a mystique all its own.

Even the Library has a place (actually places) for chocolate—no, I’m not talking about some of the offerings at Starbucks ™. I’m talking about the shelves and the numerous books about chocolate available for browsing and checkout.

Let’s begin, as the saying goes, in the beginning with two books that explore the history of chocolate: The Chocolate Tree: a natural history of cacao, by Allen Young, located @ SB 268.C35 Y68. The author, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Trimbina Rainforest in Costa Rica, brings a unique perspective to his discussion of the “…production methods [and] archaeological evidence of the myriad uses of cacao.” He also deals with “…the environmental price of large-scale cultivation, as well as current rain forest reclamation efforts that can improve the nature ecology of the cacao tree.”

Chocolate: history, culture, and heritage, edited by Louis Evan Grivetti and Howard-Yana Shapiro. TX 767.C5 C46365. This

comprehensive work (over 900 pages) includes such intriguing topics as “Chocolate and the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1764,” “Pirates, prizes, and profits: cocoa and early American east coast trade,” and “Chocolate in France: evolution of a luxury product”.

For a look at the chocolate industry there is Bitter Chocolate: the dark side of the world’s most seductive sweet, by Carol Off. HD9200.A2 O34. This book, whose author is a prize-winning investigate journalist, covers not only the founding of such well-known companies as Hershey, Cadbury, and Mars, but also the effect the chocolate industry, with its ever-growing demand for cacao, has had--especially in West Africa—and the resulting corruption, violence and use of child labor.

If the culinary aspects of chocolate appeal to you, here are some cookbooks: Fantasy Chocolate Desserts, by Robert Lambert. TX 767.C5 L26. General “Equipment Notes,” Ingredients Notes,” and “Technique Notes” precede the recipe sections.

For each recipe ingredients and assembly directions are given, along with a list of necessary equipment and a note by the author. How does “Mexican Chocolate Custard Cake” sound?

Glorious Chocolate: the ultimate chocolate cookbook, by Mary Goodbody and the editors of Chocolatier magazine. TX767.

C5 G66. Recipes categories range from “Not-Just-For-Kids (Everday Chocolate)” to “Chocolate Drinks.” For those anxious to get to the actual eating part, there’s even a section titled “Chocolate in a Hurry!” “Fruit and Chocolate Club Sandwiches” anyone?

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Next we consider the medicinal/health aspects of chocolate. Yes, medicinal; read on. Chocolate and Health, edited by Rodolfo Paoletti et al. QP144.C46 C46. This book “…explores the different aspects of the relationship between chocolate and health…[and]…various health impacts of cocoa and chocolate are thoroughly evaluated…Psychological drivers of chocolate consumption and craving are also considered.”

Chocolate as Medicine: A quest over the centuries, by Philip K. Wilson and W. Jeffrey Hurst. QP144.C46 W54.

The authors detail the “…centuries-long quest to uncover chocolate’s potential health benefits…[and]…examine variations in the types of evidence supporting chocolate’s use as a medicine, as well as note the ongoing tension over categorizing chocolate as a food or medicine.

You’ll find fictional works that are “chocolate treats” as well. A prime example: the best-seller Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Also indulge in Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; aimed for younger readers but delightful for adults as well. This is the book that sparked the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Those are just some of the chocolate goodies located in the Library. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear a chocolate chip cookie calling.

Image on previous page is by Moyan_Brenn and the image on current page is by Mr. van Meelen and the image on the next page is by Naf:4D from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

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Being a pirate is fun for a Halloween costume. Don’t violate copyright.

Need help understanding copyright? Visit the Library guide for more information.

The Copyright Infringement Policy for Sam Houston State University.

Per this policy, if you have been notified of copyright infringement, complete this tutorial and print your score certificate, then make an appointment with the University’s Copyright Officer, the Director of Library Services, 936-2941613.

Here are some cheap or free places to LEGALLY find the latest movies, TV shows, and music: • Redbox (6 locations in Huntsville) • Hulu • Netflix (1 month free trial) • Crackle • Vudu • Amazon Instant Video • Free Music Archive • NoiseTrade • Last.fm • Amazon MP3 7

AM TE AA FJ

The people who made this newsletter possible:

nn Holder, Director lib_ahh@shsu.edu ichelle Martinez, Editor-in-Chief & Librarian mmartinez@shsu.edu

yler Manolovitz, Editor & Librarian @ SHSU-The Woodlands Center tyler@shsu.edu rin Cassidy, Editor & Web Services Librarian ecassidy@shsu.edu nn Jerabek, Head of Interlibrary Services lib_jaj@shsu.edu ngela Colmenares, Instruction Librarian anc034@shsu.edu

elicia Williamson, Head of Special Collections fxt004@shsu.edu ames Williamson, Digital Resources Librarian jwilliamson@shsu.edu

The Texas State University System Board of Regents 2013 Donna N. Williams, Chairman, Arlington Ron Mitchell, Vice Chair, Horseshoe Bay Charlie Amato, San Antonio Dr. Jaime R. Garza, San Antonio Kevin J. Lilly, Houston David Montagne, Beaumont Vernon Reaser III, Bellaire Rossanna Salazar, Austin William F. Scott, Nederland Matthew Russell, Student Regent, San Marcos Chancellor Brian McCall, Austin