Science-Health Science Library Blog, Ball State U.

Arsenic, apple juice, and Oz

2011-09-16T13:14:00.002-04:00

Dr. Oz, the television celebrity doctor, reported the other day that he had discovered toxic levels of arsenic in apple juice. This created a backlash led by the FDA and represents a classic example of misunderstanding science and science procedures.

A week before the show aired, the FDA sent the Dr. Oz show a letter explaining arsenic testing in fruit juices and how it worked. The show apparently ignored this information and aired the segment anyway.

Simply put, Dr. Oz was conflating two different tests for arsenic and misunderstanding them both. The level of arsenic he was reporting was total arsenic level rather than distinguishing between the organic and inorganic arsenic. Only inorganic arsenic is harmful and that has been found to be at safe levels in all FDA-approved fruit juices.

For more information:
FDA laboratory methods for arsenic testing in fruit juices
FDA Q&A: Apple juice and arsenic
BBC Health: Arsenic poisoning
Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR): ToxFAQs for Arsenic

UPDATE: New Print Limits in University Libraries

2010-05-19T11:23:00.006-04:00

Effective Monday, May 17, 2010

The following BSU groups will have a free print allocation of 500 exposures each semester:
• Undergraduate students
• Faculty and staff
• Doctoral and graduate students
• Indiana Academy students

Campus Organizations are not included in the free print allocation, and will be charged 5¢ per exposure via the Bursar’s Office.

An exposure is 1 side of 1 sheet of paper.

When the semester’s quota is reached, you will be charged 5¢ per exposure via the Bursar’s Office, billed at the end of the semester.

Check your print balance at any time via the link on the Libraries’ home page.

Users with guest accounts may print no more than 20 pages per day.

Questions? Ask at any service counter.

http://www.bsu.edu/library/svl/

(UPDATED from previous post)

Daylight Saving Time: Fall 2009

2009-10-26T13:09:00.002-04:00

So, when exactly do we reset our clocks? And is it forward or backward one hour?

Daylight Saving Time can be very confusing. Read below to help end your confusion! [The chart on the left plots the times of sunrise and sunset (with DST adjustment as separate lines) in Greenwich, GB for 2007. -from WikiMedia Commons]

Short answer: On Sunday, 1 November, 2009 at 2:00am, you should set your clock backward one hour to 1:00am. (Remember "spring forward, fall back...").

Easy answer: Most people who go to bed earlier than the wee hours of the morning simply set their clocks back one hour before they go to bed on Saturday, October 31st.

Detailed answer: Go HERE.

For more information...
Daylight Saving Time from WebExhibits

World Clock for Indianapolis DST

National Geographic on DST

US Naval Observatory on DST

Figure out what time it is in the United States at Time.gov

H1N1 update

2009-09-16T10:31:00.027-04:00

Ball State:
Pandemic Flu Information (BSU Administration)

Number of reported cases (Daily News, 11 Sep. 09)

Three flu cases found at Ball State (The Star Press, 10 Sep. 09)

Swine flu vaccines to be available in October (Daily News, 14 Sep. 09)

Indiana, United States, & World:

Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (World Health Organization)

CDC 2009 H1N1 Flu (US Centers for Disease Control)

H1N1 Influenza Center (New England Journal of Medicine)

2009 H1N1 Influenza A (Indiana.gov)

H1N1 vaccine information (US Dept. of Health & Human Services)

Vaccine development & testing (CDC National Vaccine Program Office)

How are vaccines made? (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)

Hand-washing is no defense against H1N1 (Newsweek)

For more information on the H1N1 or "swine flu" virus, read the previous SHSL blog entry .

Printing charges at University Libraries

2009-08-24T14:15:00.005-04:00

Effective Monday, August 24, 2009

The following BSU groups will have a free print quota of 1,000 exposures each semester:
• Undergraduate students
• Faculty and staff
• Doctoral and graduate students
• Indiana Academy students

An exposure is 1 side of 1 sheet of paper.

When the semester’s quota is reached, you will be charged 5¢ per exposure via the Bursar’s Office, billed at the end of the semester. Check your print balance at any time via the link on the Libraries’ home page.

Users with guest accounts may print no more than 20 pages per day.

Questions? Ask at any service counter.

One small step 40 years ago

2009-07-20T08:30:00.013-04:00

Today marks 40 years since humankind first set foot on Earth's moon.

NASA plans to return humans to the moon in the near future. Read more at "Why the moon?"

Find out more by following the links below:

SHSL blog: 38 years ago today...

Transcript of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface (says famous line at 109:24:48)

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) views Apollo landings site seen from lunar orbit

Watch a live news conference from NASA headquarters on the Apollo 40th anniversary at NASA TV at 9:30am today

40th Anniversary NASA Events List

Laptop printing updated

2009-07-01T09:24:00.002-04:00

Print from your laptop (or any computer) to certain print release stations in the University Libraries.

You can print from anywhere that you have an internet connection. In other words, you can print to one of the Libraries printers from you wireless laptop on- or off-campus and from you desktop computer at home. If you can access the Libraries website, you can print to the University Libraries.

Here's how:

Go to http://libprinteron.bsu.edu/cps/
Enter your BSU email address to login
Select a print release station
Click on Browse to select the file you want to print. Click on Submit.
Select page setup options. Click Continue.
Wait while your job is processed. When the green bar appears, your print job is ready to be printed at the release station you indicated.

For more information read the Wireless Printing FAQ.

NOTE:

You do not have to be in one of the Libraries (or even on campus) to print.
Print jobs time-out after 90 minutes.

Swine flu (H1N1 influenza virus)

2009-04-28T09:15:00.029-04:00

Swine flu cases are in the news right now and seem to be increasing in number. As of 9am Sunday (26 April 2009), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 20 cases in California, Kansas, New York City, Ohio and Texas. There are no confirmed cases in Indiana at this time. Today, more cases have been reported across the globe, including one confirmed case in Israel. Depending on which reports you read, this puts the confirmed cases between 50 and 150 with some deaths in Mexico potentially resulting from this illness.

The photo to the left is an electron micrograph of the swine influenza virus. Below to the right is a schematic of an influenza virus.

---
How serious is this?
Is there reason to worry?

Find out more information from the links below:

National Library of Medicine: Swine Flu information page with links to the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO)

Health News Blog resources: A comprehensive resource for finding out everything you need about the H1N1 influenze virus (aka the swine flu)

Swine flu news

Overviews from ScienceBlogs Aetiology and Effect Measure

"The Sky is Falling: An Analysis of the Swine Flu Affair of 1976"

"1976: Fear of a great plague"

"History Says Avoid Virus Hysteria"

Influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 from the US Dept. of Health & Human Services

Newsweek article: Hand-washing is no defense against H1N1

Christy Woods wildflower walks

2009-04-14T15:30:00.012-04:00

A brief guide to spring blossoms on Ball State campus…

FSEEC Wildflower walks in Christy Woods
Learn about wildflowers with John Taylor Saturdays throughout April. You can purchase a Field Guide to Christy Woods from the Field Station and Environmental Education Center's (FSEEC). View an online map of available parking. For more information, contact the FSEEC at (765) 285-2641.

Map of cherry blossoms on Ball State campus
This map (.jpg) was created by Graduate Assistant Sang-Seuk “Jack” Yun from the Geospatial Center and Map Collection in 2004. View page 7 of the April 2004 issue of the Library Insider for more information.

Wildflower books at University Libraries
Here's a useful list of books (.rtf) that can be found in the University Libraries about wildflowers obtained by searching CardCat with keywords such as “wildflowers,” “flowers,” “flora,” etc.

Daylight saving time: Spring 2009

2009-03-03T09:57:00.005-05:00

So, when exactly do we reset our clocks? And is it forward or backward one hour?

Daylight Saving Time can be very confusing. Read below to help end your confusion! [The chart on the left plots the times of sunrise and sunset (with DST adjustment as separate lines) in Greenwich, GB for 2007. -from WikiMedia Commons]

Short answer: On Sunday, 8 March, 2008 at 2:00am, you should set your clock forward one hour to 3:00am. (Remember "spring forward, fall back...").

Easy answer: Most people who go to bed earlier than the wee hours of the morning simply set their clocks back one hour before they go to bed on Saturday, March 7th.

Detailed answer: Go HERE.

For more information...
Daylight Saving Time from WebExhibits

World Clock for Indianapolis DST

National Geographic on DST

US Naval Observatory on DST

Figure out what time it is in the United States at Time.gov

Darwin Day & 200th Anniversary of his birthday

2009-01-28T15:08:00.013-05:00

Charles Robert Darwin: b. 12 Feb, 1809 – d. 19 Apr, 1882

February 12th is Darwin Day. A day of celebration initiated by Darwin Day.org, a science education group, advocating the celebration of science- "our most reliable knowledge system."

Darwin Day 2009 also marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birthday.

Want to know more?
Click here (PDF) for a selection of articles, books, videos, and online resources about Darwin, natural selection, and evolution.

OR follow these links:

Full SHSL blog entry on Charles Darwin
Blog for Darwin
Darwin Correspondence Project
U of California, Berkeley Museum of Paleontology- evolutionary biology and Darwin

Wind Chill Facts

2009-01-15T09:02:00.037-05:00

Temperatures have plummeted in the US to the lowest point in several years and, as always, television meteorologists warn of extreme wind chill.

But what is wind chill? Does it really get colder when the wind blows? Will wind chill freeze water? The answer to all of these questions is no.

We might feel colder when the wind blows because of heat loss due to evaporation and heat transfer from our skin to the air but wind chill is a subjective feeling or sensation of cold not an actual drop in air temperature. If you keep your exposed skin to a minimum and wear wind-blocking clothing then you should stay warm. It is this subjective feeling that wind chill attempts to approximate.

However, wind chill pronouncements by weather forecasters often are read with a finality they do not have. Wind chill depends not only on air temperature but wind speed and that can vary quite a bit. Saying the wind chill today is -17F is misleading because the wind and air temperature will vary throughout the day. What they are usually quoting is an average air temperature and wind speed. In other words, an approximate middle point for reference only rather than an absolute value.

So, when the weather person on the local TV news warns about negative wind chill it does not mean that the air temperature is that cold. It means that they want to, as Daniel Engber said, “put an exclamation point on the banality of winter.”

More Information & References

General information

Bartleby's wind chill definition
"The truth about wind chill" by Daniel Engber.
“Wind chills won’t freeze water”
"When cold feels even colder" Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News, January 14, 2008.
"Wind chill factor gets new formula" from CNN, August 21, 2001.
Exploratorium's Weather Station "What is wind chill?"
"Wind chill temperatures and charts" from the Internet Accuracy Project
National Weather Service's wind chill index
BSU weather station

Research articles, etc.

Eagan, C. (1964). Review of research on military problems in cold regions. C. Kolb and F. Holstrom eds. TDR-64-28. Arctic Aeromed. Lab. p 147–156.
Osczevski, R. Wind chill: Whole body vs. facial cooling. DCIEM TR 2000-089, Nov. 2000
Osczevski, Randall and Maurice Bluestein. The New Wind Chill Equivalent Temperature Chart. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Oct. 2005, p. 1453–1458.
Siple, Paul, quoted in: Cold Injury, 1958, Steven Horvath editor, Josiah Macy Foundation, p 216.
Woodson, Wesley E. (1981). Human Factors Design Handbook, page 815. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-071765-6
Tikuisis, P., and R. J. Osczevski (2002) Facial Cooling During Cold Air Exposure. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. July 2003, p. 927–934
"Thermal environment" from the NASA archives

Winter Break hours, 2008

2008-12-10T15:21:00.002-05:00

Winter Break: 20 December 2008 - 4 January 2009

The SHSL will be open the following:

General-

Weekdays: 7:30am - 6:00pm
Weekends & Holidays: CLOSED

Detailed Breakdown-
Saturday - Sunday, 20-21 Dec.: CLOSED

Monday - Tuesday, 22-23 Dec.: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Wednesday, 24 Dec.: 7:30am - 3:00pm

Thursday- Sunday, 25-28 Dec.: CLOSED

Monday- Tuesday, 29-30 Dec.: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Wednesday, 31 Dec.: 7:30am - 3:00pm

Thursday, 1 Jan. 09: CLOSED

Friday, 2 Jan. 09: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday - Sunday, 3-4 Jan. 09: CLOSED

Monday - Friday, 5-9 Jan. 09: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday - Sunday, 10-11 Jan. 09: CLOSED

Monday, 12 Jan. 09: Regular hours, Spring Semester begins

National Geography Week & GIS Day

2008-11-18T08:00:00.005-05:00

17-21 November is National Geography Week and Wednesday, 19 November is GIS Day.

Make sure to visit the Geospatial Resources & Map Collection (GRMC) in Bracken Library for an open house on Wednesday from 9:00am to 3:00pm and the USC Graphics Lab in Cooper Science Building, CL469.

More information...
National Geography Week & GIS Day
GRMC blog entry
BSU Department of Geography

From the archives: Tryptophan & Turkey

2008-11-10T10:09:00.003-05:00

Does turkey really make you sleepy?

Read my previous post about Tryptophan & Turkey and find out.

Thanksgiving Break Hours, 2008

2008-11-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

The hours for the Science-Health Science Library 24-28 November:

Wed., 26 Nov.: 7:30a - 6:00p
Thurs., 27 Nov. - Sat., 29 Nov.: CLOSED
Sun., 30 Nov.: 1:00-9:00p

(Image from Download-Free-Pictures.com)

Election Methodologies

2008-11-03T15:41:00.012-05:00

Tomorrow, November 4th, is election day in the US. A new president will be chosen.

Is the US voting system statistically the fairest? We use what’s called the “plurality” method which means that each person can vote for exactly one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins.

What about other methods like Borda, Condorcet, or IRV? How well do they work?

Find out more...

Page of links from the Open Directory Project to information on voting systems

The Impossibility Theorem of Nobel Laureate Kenneth Arrow

Critiques of Arrow's Theorem

"May the best man lose," by Dana McKenzie, Discover, 01 November 2000.

CardCat searches

Basic Search- keywords: voting mathematical models
Advanced Search- keywords: election methods

Daylight Saving Time: Fall 2008

2008-10-20T07:56:00.002-04:00

So, when exactly do we reset our clocks? And is it forward or backward one hour?

Daylight Saving Time can be very confusing. Read below to help end your confusion! [The chart on the left plots the times of sunrise and sunset (with DST adjustment as separate lines) in Greenwich, GB for 2007. -from WikiMedia Commons]

Short answer: On Sunday, 2 November, 2008 at 2:00am, you should set your clock back one hour to 1:00am. (Remember "spring forward, fall back...").

Easy answer: Most people who go to bed earlier than the wee hours of the morning simply set their clocks back one hour before they go to bed on Saturday, November 1st.

Detailed answer: Go HERE.

For more information...
Daylight Saving Time from WebExhibits

National Geographic on DST

US Naval Observatory on DST

Figure out what time it is in the United States at Time.gov

Autumn Colors & Tree Walks

2008-10-02T15:47:00.011-04:00

With autumn comes color changes in the trees, harvest moons, colder weather, and shorter days. It's mostly due to those shorter days that trees begin their annual process of conserving energy by shutting down sugar production in the leaf factories. As these processes stop, the leaves "die," green chlorophyll breaks down, and the other chemicals are revealed.

>>UPDATE, 30oct07: "Sunscreen for trees" new study reveals that there is more to the color change than previously thought<<

You can experience these changes up close and learn more about them during October. The Ball State Department of Biology is hosting Fall Tree Walks at Christy Woods and invites "you to enjoy fall colors and environmental education as part of the Field Station & Environmental Education Center’s quarterly programming."

These walks take place each Saturday at 1pm throughout October. The walks begin outside the Wheeler Orchid Collection Greenhouse with FSEEC Land Manager John Taylor leading the guided tour of approximately 45 minutes. The walks are free and open to the public. Parking is available in lot G13, south of the Wheeler Orchid Collection Greenhouse (OGH) (See BROCHURE with map)."

Further Reading
-- websites
The Chemistry of Autumn Colors

North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service

Chemistry of Autumn Leaf Color

-- books & other library materials
Find books in the University Libraries by doing a keyword/words or phrase CardCat search using keywords "chlorophyll," "dendrology," "botany," "vascular plants," or "trees."

Or you can click HERE for a list of selected titles.

Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

2008-09-09T14:28:00.018-04:00

The LHC powers up tomorrow (10 September 2008) near Geneva, Switzerland. {UPDATE: the LHC successfully powered up and conducted its first test} The super-collider is the largest one ever built. It will send opposing proton beams speeding around the 27km ring at 99.999999% the speed of light only to smash into one another to recreate conditions similar to the Big Bang. Many hope that it will make possible the finding of the Higgs Boson and maybe even shed some light on dark matter and energy.

More information on the LHC

LHC homepage
A guide from the BBC
QuickTime VR of a component of the LHC
Blurb about the LHC from the Institute of Physics (IoP)
Scientific American on LHC
Brian Cox at TED (video)
Brian Cox’s The Big Bang Machine (in 5 parts) (video)
Stephen Hawking on the LHC
ScienceDaily about the LHC
Can the LHC really destroy Earth? Discover August 2008

More information on the Higgs boson

CERN's explanation
Scientific American on the Higgs Boson
The God particle : if the universe is the answer, what is the question? QC793.5.B62 L43 1993, Ball State University Libraries
The Higgs puzzle-- what can we learn from LEP2, LHC, NLC, and FMC? : proceedings of the Ringberg Workshop : Ringberg Castle, Germany, 8-13 December, 1996 QC793.5.B62 R56 1996, Ball State University Libraries

The Standard Model

Symmetry's explanation
Fermi Labs
SLAC
An introduction to the standard model of particle physics QC794.6.S75 C68 2007, Ball State University Libraries
The ideas of particle physics : an introduction for scientists QC793.2 .C68 2006, Ball State University

Just for fun...

LHC webcam
"Top secret pics from inside CERN"

UPDATE! how to access electronic reserves

2008-08-21T10:27:00.004-04:00

Accessing electronic reserves has changed a bit this semester. You must now login to CardCat to view any course reserves.

Also, searching for the title of a specific reserve item in CardCat without being logged in will result in finding the title on a list but the link provided will lead to a message saying the record is unavailable. Simply login to see the record.

For more details, read "How to access electronic reserves" and "Course reserves how to."

Total solar eclipse, 01 August 2008

2008-08-01T09:55:00.012-04:00

The first total solar eclipse in over 2 years is happening right now. At the time of this writing- 9:56am (EST)- the shadow of the moon is just entering China. Unfortunately, it is not visible at all in the US.

The next total eclipse visible in the US will occur on 21 August 2017. The site of longest totality will be just northwest of Hopkinsville, Kentucky at 6:25pm and it will last for approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds. People are already making plans for celebrations on that day.

Find out more...
...about today's eclipse:

NASA's Total Solar Eclipse, China 2008
BBC's story on the eclipse (with video!)
US Naval Observatory's Solar Eclipse Calculator
Photo gallery from Yahoo! News
Photo gallery of eclipse as seen from the UK (by BBC)
August 1st's Eastern Solar Eclipse from Sky & Telescope
Viewers' Guide: Aug. 1 Solar Eclipse from Space.com

...about the 2017 and future eclipses:

Eclipse2017.org
Map of future total eclipses in the US

Found pearls...

2008-07-21T14:08:00.006-04:00

Moon transits Earth
A series of stills made into an animation that shows the moon passing in front of ("transiting") the Earth. Captured by NASA's "Deep Impact" spacecraft (now called EPOXI).

Perd Table of Videos
A series of short videos that show the various properties of the elements.

Underwater astonishments by David Gallo
Watch this video from the TED Talks and be amazed...

Dissection of giant squid
from Australia's Museum Victoria

20 July 1969, Apollo 11
- from Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy Blog at Discover Magazine
- from the SHSL Blog archive

Secret lives of magnetic fields or "Magnetic Movie"
Incredible animation and explanation of magnetic fields filmed at NASA's Space Sciences Laboratory by Semiconductor Films.

SHSL FAQ

2008-07-17T08:30:00.026-04:00

Do you have a copy machine?

Yes, our copy machine is located in the corner near the entrance.

How much are copies?

$0.10 per 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper copied when using cash; $0.06 per copy when using a copy card.

Where can I get change?

The copy machine vend unit accepts $1 and $5 bills as well as coins. If you have a larger bill, the Bursar’s Office is located in Lucina Hall. The SHSL cannot give change- we have no means to keep money on hand. The vending machines upstairs will render change. On rare occasions, department offices will give change.

Is there a stapler/hole punch/tape dispenser I can use?

Yes. A stapler, tape despenser, and three-hole punch are located next to the printer release station. If you need a larger stapler, ask at the counter. A large paper cutter, rulers, scissors, a calculator, and headphones are also available for in-library use.

Do you have a pencil sharpener?

Yes. It is mounted on the north wall near the end of the circulating collection of books.

Why do I have to have my ID/check this out- i’m just going to make a few copies?

We track usage (ie how many and when people use which items) and monitor access so that we can better meet the needs of our users and keep materials available for as many people as possible. In addition, most of the items on reserve are privately owned by course instructors who provide very specific instructions on how their materials are to be used.

Can I use your phone?

The SHSL phone is restricted to University business. This includes: facilities workers needing to call their co-workers or supervisors, faculty needing assistance getting in a room to teach, etc. This does not include: calling your professor upstairs to ask a question or set up an appointment, calling someone about a job interview, arranging for a ride home, etc. People with disabilities may use the phone to arrange for transportation.

Can I return/renew this here?

The SHSL is a full-service circulation point: we can return and renew any BSU Libraries materials from any location. We can return ILL books but not renew them.

Can I use my guest account pass here?

Unfortunately, no. The University limits guest account pass usage in the Libraries to Bracken Library. You may also obtain a guest account pass at Bracken Library. However, wireless access via the bsuguest network does not require a username and password but your available resources will be limited (eg bsuguest network does not allow laptop printing).

You have DVDs here. Can I book them?

Yes, we do allow booking of our videos. The request is taken and entered here but processed in Educational Resources due to their expanded access to software modules that allow booking.

Do you have textbooks?

Due to the extreme rate of turnover and variability of instructors, courses offered, and textbook editions from semester to semester, the Libraries do not as a matter of course purchase current textbooks. Textbooks may be donated or placed on reserve.

How do I access electronic reserves?

See the SHSL blog entry HERE.

Can you give me permission to take out this course reserve that is supposed to remain in here (ie is on “closed” reserve)?

Most of the materials on reserve are personal property of course instructors or are library-owned materials that have been placed on reserve to ensure fair and equal access to those materials by all of their students. Only the instructor may give permission to disregard their own reserve rules. Only the instructor may give express consent to remove a “closed” reserve item from the library. Library personnel have no authority to do so.

Do you have a FAX machine?

More information…

Do you have a color printer?

The nearest color printer resides in the UCS graphics lab in CL469. Print jobs may also be sent to two color printers in Bracken for $0.25 per page. Large-format color printing can be found in the GRMC area located on the 2nd floor of Bracken Library.

I can do double-sided printing?

Yes. The printer in the SHSL allows double-sided printing.

How can i print from my laptop?

For information on how to print from your laptop click HERE.

Where is CN 67 and other rooms in Cooper Science Complex?

See the floorplans/maps of Cooper (PDF).

How do I print this PowerPoint lecture from BlackBoard?

When you click on a link to a file in Blackboard (especially when using Internet Explorer), that file opens within the browser. This severely limits the control you have over manipulating the document. The best thing to do is to download the PPT file to the desktop, open in PowerPoint, and then print rather than trying to print from the browser.

1) right click on the link for the file in questions and select “save target as…”

2) save it to the Desktop by clicking the large button on the left side of the window NOT the desktop folder that automatically opens during a download,

3) open the PPT by double-clicking on it,

4) go to FILE then PRINT,

5) select print output options on the left hand side of the screen

Why do libraries not want people reshelving books?

First and foremost, we want to make sure we know when people use our collections. When books are checked out, we know about it. When they are used in the stacks away from the counter, we do not know. This can affect what we keep and what we get rid of as well as letting us know that people are using the library at all.

Second, we want to make sure that books are returned to their proper place. Library staff are trained to make sure materials are in order so that people can find the book they are looking for. A misshelved book is a lost book. If something is not in call number order, there is no way to find it except by a book to book search of all the shelves- a vastly impractical and nearly insurmountable task!

Have other questions? Contact the Science Librarian at 285-1118 or shsl@bsu.edu.
Or see the Libraries main FAQ: http://bsu.edu/library/faq

Vernal equinox 2008

2008-03-12T14:10:00.004-04:00

At 1:48am Eastern Daylight Saving Time, 20 March 2008, Spring will begin. This date and time mark the vernal equinox- equal hours of daylight and darkness that occur twice a year in spring and fall.

For more information on this in Ball State's University Libraries and online:

Do keyword searches in CardCat for "vernal," "spring," "autumnal," or "fall" "equinox," or "soltices." You can also type in terms such as "astronomy" or "seasons" for more general information.

You can also find books on this subject and astronomy in general on the shelves under call numbers beginning with Q14 (encyclopedia, dictionaries, glossaries, etc.) or QB63-65 (field guides, star charts, manuals, etc.).

External Links--

"The Egg and the Equinox" from Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy

"The Equinox" from Wolfram Research

SkyTonight Almanac from Sky & Telescope

Earth's Seasons: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion from the US Naval Observatory

From the archives: Daylight saving time, Spring 2008

2008-03-03T09:35:00.012-05:00

It's that time of year again- we have to reset our clocks to fool ourselves into thinking we've more daylight than we have.

When exactly should we reset our clocks?
2:00am, Sunday, March 9th, 2008. Most people simply reset their clocks before they go to bed on Saturday night.

How do we reset them?
Forward 1 hour. At 1:59am you will set your clock forward to 3:00am. Through sleight of clock, the 2:00am hour will disappear forever...

For more information: View this previous post.

Charles Darwin

2008-02-12T14:02:00.000-05:00

Charles Robert Darwin: b. 12 Feb, 1809 – d. 19 Apr, 1882

One of the great names in history on par with that of Einstein or Copernicus, his ideas changed our worldview at a fundamental level challenging us to think about ourselves and the universe we live in very differently.

On February 12th, 1809 C.E., Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. In 1831, he took his famous 5-year voyage aboard the HMS Beagle where he observed the dramatic variation of species in the Galapagos Islands- particularly the finches.

He did not invent the theory of evolution. The idea that species evolved (or "transmuted") from one for to another had been around for some time before Darwin. What he did was to document evidence for it better than anyone previously and work out a theory for how it functioned: the theory of natural selection.

At the same time, Alfred Russel Wallace came up with the same mechanism for evolution and nearly beat Darwin to the publishing house. Wallace graciously stepped aside to let Darwin take the lead in putting forth this theory to the world.

February 12th is Darwin Day. A day of celebration initiated by Darwin Day.org, a science education group, advocating the celebration of science- "our most reliable knowledge system."

Want to know more?
Click here (PDF) for a selection of articles, books, videos, and online resources about Darwin, natural selection, and evolution.

Laptop wireless printing: Notes in PowerPoint 2007

2008-02-06T11:02:00.001-05:00

When printing a PowerPoint presentation, most people want to modify the printout from the slideshow format to one which they can use to take notes. Usually, this is done by reconfiguring the print options when you attempt to print the file. However, this does not work with our laptop wireless printing service.

To modify your PPT printout through this service, you must change the options of your PPT file before you print. Here's how:

In Office 2003

Go to the Tools menu
Scroll down to Options...
Open the Print tab
Under the "Default print settings for this document" heading select the radio button that says "Use the following print settings"
Save file
Print file via laptop wireless printing service

In Office 2007

Go to the main menu (click on the "bubble" with the Microsoft logo in the upper lefthand corner - see image to right)
Click on the button at the extreme bottom of this window labeled "PowerPoint Options..."
Follow steps 3-6 from above

For more information read a previous SHSL blog entry on Wireless Laptop Printing.

Course reserves how to

2008-01-16T15:27:00.000-05:00

It's the beginning of the semester again and instructors are bringing down course reserves.

For students: Want to know how to check to see if your professor has stuff on reserve in the Science-Health Science Library? Click here.

For faculty: Want to know how to put items on course reserve? Try using the new online Course Reserves Request System (CRRS).

For students and faculty: Need to know how to access electronic reserves? Click here.

Remember that...

most course reserves are CLOSED which means they cannot leave the library.
Those that can leave are often on a very short loan period- from 2 hours to 7 days.
You need to have your BSU ID ready because they must be checked out like a regular book or video.
Reserves also have a no-nonsense fine policy associated with them-- fines build at a rate of $0.25 per hour overdue to a maximum of $24 (that's 4 days). So, bring them back on time!

SHSL hours: Winter Break 2007-08

2007-12-07T08:02:00.001-05:00

Winter/Semester Break: 15 Dec. 07 - 6 Jan. 08

General-
Weekdays: 7:30am - 6:00pm
Weekends & Holidays: CLOSED

Detailed Breakdown-
Saturday - Sunday, 15-16 Dec.:CLOSED
Monday - Thursday, 17-20 Dec.:7:30am - 6:00pm
Friday, 21 Dec.:7:30am - 3:00pm
Saturday - Tuesday, 22-25 Dec.:CLOSED
Wednesday - Friday, 26-28 Dec.:7:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday - Sunday, 29-30 Dec.:CLOSED
Monday, 31 Dec.:7:30am - 3:00pm
Tuesday, 1 Jan. 08:CLOSED
Wednesday - Friday, 2-4 Jan. 08:7:30am - 6:00pm
Saturday - Sunday, 5-6 Jan. 08:CLOSED
Monday, 7 Jan. 08: Regular hours, Spring Semester begins

Tryptophan & turkey

2007-11-16T08:10:00.002-05:00

Eating turkey on Thanksgiving makes you sleepy because of the high levels of the amino acid tryptophan in the meat, right?? Most likely not.
(Image source: Wikipedia)

While the conclusive verdict is still out, a little critical thinking and knowledge of food chemistry, physiology, and psychology reveals that the carbohydrates and relaxation of usual restraints during the holiday have more to do with the drowsiness than the turkey. In fact, cheese has more tryptophan in it than turkey and other meats like beef and chicken have about the same amount.

Read a more detailed discussion of this at Blog Around the Clock on Science Blogs.

More Information

"Turkey talk: Two American Chemical Society videos digest Thanksgiving myth and fact," American Chemical Society
HowStuffWorks
LiveScience.com
PhysOrg.com
RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Netherlands): interesting study on putting chocolate in cigarettes (PDF) as a method for tryptophan delivery
Snopes
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference: Latest Release

Thanksgiving Break hours 2007

2007-11-16T07:53:00.001-05:00

The hours for the Science-Health Science Library next week, 21-25 November:

Wed., 21 Nov.: 7:30a - 6:00p
Thurs., 22 Nov. - Sat., 24 Nov.: CLOSED
Sun., 25 Nov.: 1:00-9:00p

(Image from Download-Free-Pictures.com)

"When do I change my clock?" Daylight saving time

2007-10-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

So, when exactly do we reset our clocks? And is it forward or backward one hour?

Daylight Saving Time can be very confusing. Read below to help end your confusion! [The chart on the left plots the times of sunrise and sunset (with DST adjustment as separate lines) in Greenwich, GB for 2007. -from WikiMedia Commons]

Short answer: On November 4th, 2007 at 2:00am, you should set your clock back one hour to 1:00am. (Remember "spring forward, fall back...").

Easy answer: Most people who go to bed earlier than the wee hours of the morning simply set their clocks back one hour before they go to bed on November 3rd.

Detailed answer: Go HERE.

For more information...
Daylight Saving Time from WebExhibits

National Geographic on DST

US Naval Observatory on DST

Figure out what time it is in the United States at Time.gov

Bioinformatics

2007-10-25T11:56:00.001-04:00

What is bioinformatics? Closely related with computational biology and systems biology, the NIH Biomedical Information Science defines bioinformatics (PDF) as "research, development, or application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral or health data, including those to acquire, store, organize, archive, or visualize such data."

That's a mouthful but, in a nutshell, it means anything that involves more accurate or more usable communication or modeling of life sciences research falls under bioinformatics. For instance, the Human Genome Project could not have happened without the use of bioinformatics of several kinds. Scientists used computers, various laboratory instruments, models, and methodologies to accomplish this project.

>>To learn more about bioinformatics, join the BSU Genetics Club and Department of Biology on November 16 & 17, for a free two-day bioinformatics web-based workshop from the National Institutes of Health/National Center for Biotechnology Information (NIH/NCBI).<<

BSU Resources

Ball State University Department of Biology
Biotechnology program

University Library Resources
Books
Introduction to bioinformatics algorithms
QH324.2 .J66 2004

Current protocols in bioinformatics
QH441.2 .C86

Bioinformatics and functional genomics
QH441.2 .P48 2003

Fundamental concepts of bioinformatics
QH324.2 .K72 2003

Statistical methods in bioinformatics: an introduction
R858 .E986 2001

Bioinformatics: a practical guide to the analysis of genes and proteins
QH324.2 .B565 2001

Bioinformatics methods and protocols
(online book)

Bioinformatics: databases and systems
(online book)

Bioinformatics: machine learning approach
(online book)

Periodicals
EURASIP Journal on bioinformatics and systems biology

Evolutionary bioinformatics online

IEEE/ACM transactions on computational biology and bioinformatics

Journal of bioinformatics and computational biology

Briefings in bioinformatics

Online Resources & Organizations
NIH/NCBI

Bioinformatics.org

Autumn colors

2007-10-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

With autumn comes color changes in the trees, harvest moons, colder weather, and shorter days. It's mostly due to those shorter days that trees begin their annual process of conserving energy by shutting down sugar production in the leaf factories. As these processes stop, the leaves "die," green chlorophyll breaks down, and the other chemicals are revealed.

>>UPDATE, 30oct07: "Sunscreen for trees" new study reveals that there is more to the color change than previously thought<<

You can experience these changes up close and learn more about them during October. The Ball State Department of Biology is hosting Fall Tree Walks at Christy Woods and invites "you to enjoy fall colors and environmental education as part of the Field Station & Environmental Education Center’s quarterly programming."

These walks take place each Saturday at 1pm throughout October. The walks begin outside the Wheeler Orchid Collection Greenhouse with FSEEC Land Manager John Taylor leading the guided tour of approximately 45 minutes. The walks are free and open to the public. Parking is available in lot G13, south of the Wheeler Orchid Collection Greenhouse (OGH) (See MAP)."

Further Reading
-- websites
The Chemistry of Autumn Colors

Sputnik 50th anniversary

2007-10-04T10:07:00.002-04:00

50 years ago to today, October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched a small, beachball-sized sphere into orbit named Sputnik I.

This event inaugurated not only the "space age" but the "communications and information age" as well because Sputnik did more than just placidly orbit the Earth- it sent back information (listen to a .wav file of the telemetry) about its journey.

Sputnik I stayed in orbit for three months until January 4, 1958 when its orbit decayed and it burned up upon re-entry.

It's impact cannot go unnoticed in today's world of cell phones, satellite television, the internet, et al. Take a moment to learn more about it and the world it helped create.

News & Overviews
BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7027199.stm

NASA
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/

Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2007/10/04/october-4-1957/

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/sputnik.html

Further reading at BSU Libraries-
a selection of books about Sputnik and its effects
(click on the title to view the CardCat record)
Astronomy from space : Sputnik to space telescope
QB136 .A79 1983

Blazing the trail : the early history of spacecraft and rocketry
TL781 .G78 2004

Countdown : a history of space flight
TL789.8.U5 H49 1997

History of the Internet : a chronology, 1843 to the present
TK5105.875.I57 H58 1999

The origins of satellite communications, 1945-1965
TK5104 .W48 2002

Spaceflight revolution : NASA Langley Research Center from Sputnik to Apollo
Available online: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS69854
NAS 1.21:4308

We interrupt this broadcast : relive the events that stopped our lives-- from the Hindenburg to the death of Princess Diana
COMPACT DISC 6058
PN4784.T4 G36 1998

Bats!

2007-09-24T14:14:00.000-04:00

In 2006, Timothy Carter, an Assistant Professor of Biology in the Ball State Department of Biology, was honored by the Wildlife Habitat Council for his work with the endangered Indiana bat population.

{Image from Wikimedia Commons}

On Tuesday, 2 October at the E.B. and Bertha Ball Center at 6:30 p.m. he will give a talk: "Indiana Bats: Creatures of the Night." The event announcement reads: "Learn about Indiana's bats and what you can do to promote bats in your neighborhood while keeping them out of your house! At the end of the talk, we will go outside to watch and listen to bats as they feed around the Ball Center. Bring a flashlight!" There is no charge for this event but reservations are required (call 285-8975).

Selected resources at Ball State Libraries:
--Books
America's neighborhood bats
QL737 .C5 T88 2005

Bat biology and conservation
QL737 .C5 B367 1998

Bat ecology
QL737 .C5 B3594 2003

Echolocation in bats and dolphins
QL737 .C5 E28 2004

Mammals of North America
QL715 .H15 1981

National Audubon Society field guide to North American mammals
QL715 .W49 1996

Walker's bats of the world
QL737 .C5 N69 1994

--Government Documents
Information resources on bats
(electronic document)
A 17.27/3:17

Monitoring trends in bat population of the United States and territories: problems and prospects
(electronic document- PDF)
I 19.210:2003-0003

--Video
Strange creatures of the night
VIDEO VHS-SP 4642

More information...
Bat conservation international

Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Bat Facts

Organization for bat conservation

US Fish and Wildlife Services: Endangered Species- Bats

Autumnal Equinox

2007-09-24T09:34:00.001-04:00

The Autumnal Equinox occurred yesterday, Sunday 23 September.

Read these previous blog entries for more details:

Vernal Equinox

Summer Solstice

From the archives: Wireless printing at University Libraries

2007-09-19T14:52:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder of a service now offered by the University Libraries that I announced in a previous entry: You can print from your laptop to select printers in the University Libraries- such as the Science-Health Science Library.

This means that you can sit in the "rotunda" on the first floor of Cooper and print downstairs to the Science-Health Science Library or by the Frog Baby Fountain and print to the Architecture Library.

How do you do this? Read the previous SHSL Blog post.

Secondhand smoke/Environmental tobacco smoke

2007-09-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

Researchers from Stanford published a study in the May 2007 issue of Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association which measured outdoor tobacco smoke (OTS). They concluded that “it is possible for OTS to present a nuisance or hazard under certain conditions of wind and smoker proximity”(Klepeis, 522). If upwind from an active cigarette source or at least 2 meters away, OTS levels measured nearly zero. While OTS concentration levels can rival those of indoor levels when measured within 0.5 meters of an active OTS source, “unlike indoor SHS [secondhand smoke] levels, which decay slowly over a period of hours, OTS levels drop abruptly to zero when smoking ends” (Klepeis, 533).

[Update, 20nov07: Orac at Respectful Insolence, has posted an interesting entry about a Dr. Siegel who tries to look at the exaggerations of the war on smoking and SHS]

Facts, Reports, and News

BBC News: "Should smoking be banned?"

Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/smokefree/pubs/strsfs.html

MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine) Links page for “secondhand smoke”

National Cancer Institute: Environmental Tobacco Smoke Factsheet

National Library of Medicine secondhand smoke fact page

Respectful Insolence (a science blog by an oncologist): Blowing over secondhand smoke

TobaccoSmoke.org

US Dept. of Health and Human Services:
“The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, June 27, 2006”

Studies
Bartecchi, C. 2006. Reduction in the incidence of acute myocardial infarction associated with a citywide smoking ordinance. Circulation, (Oct.), 114(14): 1490-6. Database: Medline.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2007. Reduced secondhand smoke exposure after implementation of a comprehensive statewide smoking ban--New York, June 26, 2003-June 30, 2004. MMWR. Morbidity And Mortality Weekly Report, (Jul.), 56(28): 705-8. Database: Medline.

Hill, S.E. 2007. Mortality among lifelong nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home: cohort data and sensitivity analyses. American Journal of Epidemiology (Mar.), 165(5): 530-40. Database: Medline.

Klepeis, N.E., Ott, W.R., Switzer, P. 2007. Real-time measurement of outdoor tobacco smoke particles.Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association (May), 57(5): 522-534. Available in the Science-Health Science Library.

Ott, W. R., Siegmann, H. C. 2006. Using multiple continuous fine particle monitors to characterize tobacco, incense, candle, cooking, wood burning, and vehicular sources in indoor, outdoor, and in-transit settings. Atmospheric Environment, (Feb.), 40(5): 821-843. Database: Medline.

Repace, J. 2000. Banning outdoor smoking is scientifically justifiable. Tobacco Control, (Mar.), 9(1): 98. Database: Medline.

Zellers, L. 2007. Legal risks to employers who allow smoking in the workplace. American Journal of Public Health, (Aug.), 97(8): 1376-82. Database: Medline.

About Calculating Risk Factor: Relative and Absolute

Relative Risk (RR) of cancer from secondhand smoke approximate average = 1.3

(ie RR = risk of cancer for smokers/risk of cancer for non-smokers)

PubMed (National Library of Medicine): "Statistics Review 11"

Family Health Outcomes Project (PDF): University of California, San Fancisco

Turner-White Communications (PDF)

Children’s Mercy Hospital: "Steve's attempt to teach statistics"

Lunar eclipse Tuesday

2007-08-27T08:42:00.001-04:00

A total eclipse of the moon will peak tomorrow morning, Tuesday, 28 August 2007, at 6:37 am.

For details read the more-than-adequate explanations posted through Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy blog. Calculate upcoming or past eclipses at the US Naval Obvervatory Lunar Eclipse Computer.

Google Sky

2007-08-22T09:17:00.001-04:00

The New York Times and the BBC, among others, have reported that Google is set to launch a new application called Google Sky (take a look at the demo here (warning: video plays immediately)).

Unlike Google Mars and Google Moon (both based on Google Maps- zoom in on Google Moon to find out what the moon is really made of...), Google Sky will not be a separate application from Google Earth: users will need to download Google Earth. It will allow users to locate and zoom in on actual photographs taken of the night sky.

Google Sky should make a robust addition to the other sky-watching software out there.

For more information about resources for stargazing see this previous blog entry .

Renovation of the SHSL

2007-08-21T11:26:00.003-04:00

Visit the newly renovated SHSL- see what's changed.

Space has always topped the list of concerns in the SHSL. Finding a balance between resources (eg books, journals, computers, etc.) and open space for study and collaboration represents a major challenge.

This summer, the SHSL received a facelift. The old counter was removed and a new one built in a new location to more efficiently use the limited area of the SHSL (see a panoramic QuickTime VR shot of the old counter and entrance-- here's one of the new one). The walls also received a coat of paint to create a more study-friendly environment.

We also intend to install several new computers to increase the number of public stations available. This part of the plan should be completed within a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Compare photos of the old layout to photos of the new layout
Old

New

100 Years of CAS

2007-07-30T12:41:00.001-04:00

CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) is 100 this year. Learn more about its century of service.

BSU Libraries Holdings
BSU Libraries have the print edition of Chemical Abstracts back to its inception in 1907. You can find all editions from 1907-2002 in Bracken Library's 4th floor West near the theses.

In 2002, we stopped the print edition to go with CAS's new online database: SciFinder Scholar. SciFinder can be accessed only from the SHSL and only by one user at a time. Just this year, we have added the SSM (Substructure Searching Module) to our SciFinder subscription which allows researchers to find references and substance information for substances based on constituent components rather than relying on the whole molecular structure.

More Info...
C&EN 85:24, 11 June 2007

CAS 100th Anniversary

SciFinder Scholar General Information

Chemical Abstracts General Information & User Guides

38 Years Ago Today...

2007-07-20T15:54:00.000-04:00

July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon.

Take a look at NASA's official site.

Look at incredible panoramas of the lunar surface and Apollo missions at Panoramas.dk.

Was the moon landing a hoax...? Find out at:
Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy links

Moon Base Clavius

More on Apollo 11 and Space Exploration:
Select Books and Videos at BSU Libraries
(click on the link to view the CardCat record)
10:56:20 PM EDT, 7/20/69 : the historic conquest of the moon as reported to the American people / by CBS News over the CBS Television network.
TL789.8.U6 A527 1970 (ARCHIVES)

Apollo 11 / by U.S. G.P.O.
NAS 1.45:5 (GOV-PUBS)

Apollo [videorecording] : missions to the moon / by Dastar Corp.
VIDEO VHS 12533-12539 (ED-RES)

Team Moon : how 400,000 people landed Apollo 11 on the moon / by Catherine Thimmesh.
629.45 T443TE (ED-RES)

Buzz Aldrin : the pilot of the first moon landing / by Amy Sterling Casil.
92 A3655CA (ED-RES)

Moon rocks and minerals; scientific results of the study of the Apollo 11 lunar samples with preliminary data on Apollo 12 samples / by Alfred A. Levinson and S. Ross Taylor.
QB592 .L48 1971 (GEN-COLL)

Appointment on the moon; the full story of Americans in space from Explorer 1 to the lunar landing and beyond / by Richard S. Lewis.
TL789.8.U5 L46 1969 (GEN-COLL)

First on the moon. A voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins [and] Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., / by Neil Armstrong, Gene Farmer, Dora Jane Hamblin.
TL789.8.U6 A516 (GEN-COLL)

Return to the Moon : exploration, enterprise, and energy in the human settlement of space / by Harrison Schmitt
TL799.M6 S36 2006 (GEN-COLL)

Interim Hours, 21 July - 19 August 2007

2007-07-16T09:21:00.000-04:00

Summer Interim: 21 July - 19 August
Monday - Friday
7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday and Sunday
CLOSED

Regular hours resume Monday, 20 August (Fall Semester begins).

Other Calendars and Hours

Collection Highlight: New books

2007-07-11T12:13:00.001-04:00

Click on the titles for more information about these books newly arrived in the SHSL.

Astronomy
Astronomical tables of the sun, moon, and planets
QB12 .M44 1995

Planetary and lunar coordinates 2001-2020 (w/CD-ROM)
QB603 .E6 P583 2001

Night sky observer's guide
QB64 .K46 1998 v.1-2

Messier marathon
QB64 .P46 1997

"Current Protocols in..." (all in Sci Oversize)
Bioinformatics
QH441.2 .C86 2003 v.1-2

Cell biology
QH583.2 .C87 1998

Cytometry
QH585 .C87 1997 v.1-2

Human genetics
QH440.5 .C87 1994 v.1-4

Immunology
QR183 .C87 1991 v.1-5

Microbiology
QR63 .C87 2007

Molecular biology
QH506 .C87 1987

Protein science
QP551 .C86 1996 v.1

Reference
Wolf-Heidegger's atlas of human anatomy, 6th ed.
QM25 .W633 2005 v.1-2

McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of science and technology, 10th ed.
Q121 .M3 2007

Summer Solstice

2007-06-21T11:37:00.001-04:00

2:06 pm Eastern Daylight Saving Time, 21 June 2007 marks the summer solstice- the longest day of the year {image from WikiCommons}.

This means that the sun appears furthest north in the sky and the time between sunrise and sunset is the greatest providing the most daylight hours for the whole year. For example, sunrise was 6:12 am this morning and sunset will be 9:14 pm. On 21 September, three months from now, sunrise will be 7:28 am and sunset will be 7:41 pm (do your own calculations at the US Naval Observatory)- almost 3 hours more daylight (2 hours, 49 minutes, to be exact).

For more information on this in Ball State's University Libraries and online:

Do keyword searches in CardCat for "vernal," "spring," "autumnal," or "fall" "equinox," or "soltices." You can also type in terms such as "astronomy" or "seasons" for more general information.

You can also find books on this subject and astronomy in general on the shelves under call numbers beginning with Q14 (encyclopedia, dictionaries, glossaries, etc.) or QB63-65 (field guides, star charts, manuals, etc.).

External Links--

"The Egg and the Equinox" and "The Longest Day" from Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy

"Summer Solstice" from Wolfram Research

SkyTonight Almanac from Sky & Telescope

Earth's Seasons: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion from the US Naval Observatory

Login to CardCat

2007-06-18T13:20:00.001-04:00

Logging in to CardCat means that you can now directly renew, recall/hold, and review items in your account without a PIN (Personal Identification Number). Ball State students, faculty, and staff can login using their OutLook usernames and passwords. Resident/affiliates, including alumni, must register for a resident/affiliate card (see below for more information).

Holds and Recalls

Look for the “Place a hold” link on the lefthand side of the screen when viewing an item you want (see image below). Just click on it, fill out the simple form, and you will then be notified when the item is available for you to pick up at the location you specified. Review the status of your hold/recall requests by going into "My Library Account."

Remember that some items like videos and course reserves may not have holds or recalls placed on them. If you need a video at a certain time, you can use the booking form. Course reserve loan periods are designed to be short enough that you will not have to wait very long before it is again available for circulation.

My Library Account

This feature lets you see what you have checked out, what you have on hold, and the status of those requests. You can also renew one or more of your items at once- if you have renewed an item online once already then you will need to bring it physically back in to a circulation point for further renewals.

Resident/Affiliate Users

Simply type in your card number and PIN to log in. This refers to anyone that is not currently a student, faculty, or staff at Ball State University. This includes BSU alumni and Indiana State residents (see the Guide for Residents for more information).

Which journals are in the SHSL?

2007-06-05T11:22:00.000-04:00

There is an imperfect dynamic webpage linked to the SHSL's main page: Journals in the SHSL. It seeks to compile a comprehensive list of all the journal titles physically located within the bounds of the SHSL's brick and mortar. However, it does this insufficiently because it also pulls in serial monographs like dictionaries and handbooks due to lack of differentiation of item type categories in the database.

Aside from using the above-mentioned dynamic page, you can do your own search in CardCat.

Go to CardCat
Click on Advanced Search
Leave the search fields empty
From the Library and Location dropdown menus select "Science-Health Science Library"
From the Format dropdown menu, select "Periodicals"
Click the Search button

This search should yield all the titles currently located within the SHSL including all of the titles that have been canceled (ie titles we no longer subscribe to) but have not yet been moved to Bracken or have been move to online-only access.

Interim & Summer Hours, 2007

2007-04-30T13:19:00.000-04:00

Interim: 14-18 May

Monday - Friday
7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday and Sunday
CLOSED

Summer Semester: 21 May - 20 July

Monday-Thursday
7:30am - 9:00pm

Friday
7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday
9:00am - 1:00pm

Sunday
1:00-9:00pm

The SHSL will be CLOSED on...

Memorial Day
Monday, 28 May

Independence Day
Wednesday, 4 July

Other Calendars and Hours

Wireless Printing at University Libraries

2007-04-23T11:58:00.001-04:00

[Updated: 01 July 09]
Print from your laptop (or any computer) to certain print release stations in the University Libraries.

You can print from anywhere that you have an internet connection. In other words, you can print to one of the Libraries printers from you wireless laptop on- or off-campus and from you desktop computer at home. If you can access the Libraries website, you can print to the University Libraries.

Here's how:

Go to http://libprinteron.bsu.edu/cps/
Enter your BSU email address to login
Select a print release station
Click on Browse to select the file you want to print. Click on Submit.
Select page setup options. Click Continue.
Wait while your job is processed. When the green bar appears, your print job is ready to be printed at the release station you indicated.

For more information read the Wireless Printing FAQ.

NOTE:

You do not have to be in one of the Libraries (or even on campus) to print.
Print jobs time-out after 90 minutes.

Stargazing: indoors and outdoors

2007-04-10T11:54:00.001-04:00

It's quickly becoming warm enough to venture outside to look at the stars without fear of frostbite. Take a look at a selection of resources and programs below that you can use to wander the universe in your back yard, at your computer, or in the BSU Planetarium.

The image above of two galaxies colliding (NGC 2207 & IC 2163) was taken by the Hubble space telescope and can be found at the HubbleSite website listed below.

BSU Planetarium
The BSU Planetarium is offering the Visitor's Guide to the Universe during April. For more information, contact Dr. Ronald Kaitchuck.

Manuals, handbooks, and field guides
Available in the Science-Health Science Library or in Bracken
You will find most within the call number range QB63-65

Click on the title to view the CardCat record:

Summer stargazer by Robert Clairborne
QB64 .C57 1981

Deep sky observing by Steven Coe
QB64 .C597 2000

Backyard astronomer’s guide by Terence Dickinson & Alan Dyer
QB64 .D53 2001

Universe from your backyard by David Eicher
QB64 .E53 1988

Field guide to the deep sky objects by Mike Inglis
Sci QB64 .I54 2001

Peterson’s Field guide to the stars and planets by Jay Pasachoff
Sci QB64 .P37 2000

3-D atlas of stars and galaxies by Richard Monkhouse & John Cox
Sci QB65 .M586 2000

SkyAtlas 2000.0 by Wil Tirion & Roger Sinnott
Sci QB65 .T54 1998 (Oversize)

Online Interactive Charts & Images

HubbleSite
images from & information about the Hubble space telescope

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Sky-Map.Org or WikiSky
an interactive sky chart

Sky & Telescope’s interactive sky chart

Telescopes, Videos, and Other Library Stuff

BSU Media Finder Blog: Astronomy Day (21 April)
Wonderful stuff you can check out from the BSU Libraries to help you explore the cosmos.

April flowers

2007-04-03T14:20:00.000-04:00

A brief guide to spring blossoms on Ball State campus…

FSEEC Wildflower walks in Christy Woods
Learn about wildflowers with John Taylor every Saturday at 1p in April. Check out the Field Station and Environmental Education Center's (FSEEC) online wildflower guide. View an online map of available parking.

Map of cherry blossoms on Ball State campus
This map was created by Graduate Assistant Sang-Seuk “Jack” Yun from the Geospatial Center and Map Collection in 2004. View page 7 of the April 2004 issue of the Library Insider for more information.

Wildflower books at University Libraries
Here's a useful list of books that can be found in the University Libraries about wildflowers obtained by searching CardCat with keywords such as “wildflowers,” “flowers,” “flora,” etc.

New Software: Nursing and Anatomy Software

2007-03-22T12:37:00.000-04:00

The Science-Health Science Library now has the following software available on all computer stations:

--Anatomy software:

The Inside Story, ’97 edition

Study human anatomy virtually.

--Nursing software:

An online reference set for nurses that combines information from Perry & Potter, Clinical Nursing Skills & Techniques, 6e, Proehl, Emergency Nursing Procedures, 3e, and AACN, Procedure Manual for Critical Care, 5e as well as other information.

PDS Nursing Scenarios

Professional Development Software Nursing Scenarios are case study presentations within which instruction is provided and nursing knowledge and decision-making skills are challenged. Extensive graphic images and photos throughout illustrate and augment content.

To find ADAM, look for the fig leaf icon on the desktop. The nursing software is located in a file folder on the desktop labeled “Nursing Software.” (see the images below)

--More information

These applications are also available in the Educational Resources Center in the Lower Level of Bracken Library.

For a complete list of software available by location in the University Libraries, click HERE.

Vernal equinox

2007-03-20T08:12:00.000-04:00

At 8:07pm Eastern Daylight Saving Time, 20 March 2007, Spring began. This date and time mark the vernal equinox- equal hours of daylight and darkness that occur twice a year in spring and fall.

For more information on this in Ball State's University Libraries and online:

Do keyword searches in CardCat for "vernal," "spring," "autumnal," or "fall" "equinox," or "soltices." You can also type in terms such as "astronomy" or "seasons" for more general information.

You can also find books on this subject and astronomy in general on the shelves under call numbers beginning with Q14 (encyclopedia, dictionaries, glossaries, etc.) or QB63-65 (field guides, star charts, manuals, etc.).

External Links--

"The Egg and the Equinox" from Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy

"The Equinox" from Wolfram Research

SkyTonight Almanac from Sky & Telescope

Earth's Seasons: Equinoxes, Solstices, Perihelion, and Aphelion from the US Naval Observatory

Spring Break Hours, 11-17 March 2007

2007-03-09T14:25:00.000-05:00

Sunday, March 11th
CLOSED

Monday - Thursday, March 12th-16th
7:30am - 6:00pm

Satuday, March 17th
CLOSED

*All items due on dates the SHSL is closed will be due the end of the next full business day.*

SciFinder Scholar

2007-02-15T14:43:00.000-05:00

An online research tool accessible at Ball State University only in the Science-Health Science Library.

As it says below, SciFinder Scholar concentrates on chemistry literature but also connects with Medline and is SFX-enabled which means researchers from biology, physiology, and other areas can benefit from its robust system- here are a few examples :

Physiologists here at Ball State have used it in researching renal ischemia in rats and gill imaging in water fleas.

A nutrionist has used it to research tannins and their effects on stress.

PhD students in the Human Performance Laboratory area have used it to research diabetes.

SciFinder Scholar - Chemistry Plus More

A user-friendly online tool for accessing more than 22 million indexed and summarized articles (many full-text) from more than 40,000 scientific journals, patents from around the world, conference proceedings, reviews, books, and other documents from chemistry, physiology, medicine, agriculture, and other fields.

The producer of SciFinder Scholar, Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), has indexed chemistry articles since 1907 along with other information about substances, authors, companies, topics, etc. In addition, library users can now search by chemical structure with SciFinder’s draw component and receive notification of full-text versions of articles referenced therein. SciFinder Scholar accesses six online databases: CAplus, MedLine, REGISTRY, CASREACT, CHEMCATS, & CHEMLIST.

More Information

Find more information about CAS and SciFinder Scholar at the

CAS website

and from the

University Libraries Databases page.

Tips for using SciFinder Scholar.

Ball State does not subscribe to every journal found through SciFinder.
Search CardCat to see if the University Libraries owns a title·

Not all articles referenced have full-text availability- in fact, many do not. Some that signify full-text availability may require an additional fee or password to access·

Bring a storage device (a USB flash memory device or blank CD)- SciFinder searches can generate large amounts of data.

Collection Highlight: DVDs

2007-01-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

The SHSL has a small collection of DVDs. They focus on science education and are generally used by faculty in the classroom but can be checked out by students as well.

DVD Titles Currently in the SHSL

Click on the link to view the CardCat records.

Cutting and splicing DNA
(DVD Video 2245)

Evolution, the evidence for modern ideas on evolution
(DVD Video 2233-2243)

Sequencing life
(DVD Video 2283)

SkyScan DVDs,
(specifically for use by the Planetarium)
(DVD Video 32, 35-38, 1439-1441)

Video Encyclopedia of Physics Demonstrations
(DVD Video 1492, v1-26)

Circulation & Booking

The DVDs in the SHSL circulate for 4 hours but can be renewed. Special loan periods can be arranged for faculty.

Booking allows faculty to reserve a video or videos for use at a specific time on a specific day. DVDs in the SHSL can be booked the same as videos in EdRes- through the online form or by calling EdRes (5-5334) or the SHSL (5-5079). But, if you’re in the building, you can just pop in the SHSL and check out the video you need for 4 hours and renew it if you need to. For more information, read EdRes’s Video Booking page. If you would like to access the videos or portions of them online, contact Jerry Cole in the University Teleplex’s Video Information Systems (VIS) office (5-2979) and ask about a service called “Video On Demand.”

CardCat Call No. Search

Because the collection grows and changes, you may want to check CardCat to get a list of all the DVDs currently available in the SHSL by doing a call number search. Follow the steps below.

Go to CardCat and click on Call No. Search (the default is a Basic Search).
Enter “DVD Video 32” in the Call Number field.
Select “Science-Health Science Library” from the Library drop-down menu.
Select “Accession Call Number” from the Call Number Type menu.
Select “Science-Health Science Library” from the Location menu.
Select “DVD videos” from the Format menu.
Click Search.

Media Finders

You can also use the Libraries Media Finders to locate specific video titles, their locations, and their availability. Click here to find the finders. You can also access the Media Finders from either the University Libraries main page or the Student Virtual Library. Look for the link "Music, Movies, Software" under the "Find..." menu.

In order to find DVDs that might be in the SHSL, make sure to use the media finder called “videorecordings (all)” – the one titled “movies and tv programs” searches for fiction only.

Winter Break Hours, 2006

2006-12-12T15:52:00.000-05:00

The SHSL's Winter Break hours:

General-

Weekdays: 7:30am - 6:00pm
Weekends & Holidays: CLOSED

Detailed Breakdown-
Sunday, 24 Dec.: CLOSED

Monday - Thursday, 18-21 Dec.: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Friday, 22 Dec.: 7:30am - 3:00pm

Saturday - Tuesday, 23-26 Dec.: CLOSED

Wednesday - Thursday, 27-28 Dec.: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Friday, 29 Dec.: 7:30am - 3:00pm

Saturday - Monday, 30 Dec. 06 - 1 Jan. 07: CLOSED

Tuesday - Friday, 2-5 Jan. 07: 7:30am - 6:00pm

Saturday - Sunday, 6-7 Jan. 07: CLOSED

Monday, 8 Jan. 07: Regular hours, Spring Semester begins

Web of Science

2006-11-30T10:01:00.000-05:00

Beginning in October, the University Libraries began subscribing to the Web of Science. You can find the Web of Science on the databases page of the University Libraries website.

In case you do not know, the Web of Science is an online index encompassing the Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Not only do these indexes provide access to citations of scholarly articles from thousands of journals but they also allow you to look at citation histories. In other words, the Web of Science can tell you who has been citing which articles and how frequently. Very useful for faculty working on career planning and for researchers in general who want to find the main researchers in a certain area or see what subsequent work has been done.

The Web of Science allows us access to the indexes back to 1992 at present with hopes of extending our subscription in the future to earlier volumes. Five users can simultaneously access the index and access it from any location, on or off campus, through the proxy server (ie you will be asked to enter your BSU/OutLook username and password).

Make sure that before you begin your search you go to the top of the screen and select Web of Science from the drop down menu then click GO (see image below). While the default page offers the CrossSearch function which searches multiple products, it does not allow as much refinement in filtering results as the Web of Science does.

Find out more about the Web of Science at the Thomson Scientific website or try the online tutorial for more practical information.

Collection Highlight: Anatomy Models & DMR Images

2006-11-22T14:50:00.000-05:00

The Models
Many students from academic programs based in Cooper Science Building such as pre-med, nursing, biology, science education, anatomy/physiology, health science, and even medical students from Ball Memorial Hospital study anatomy. Each semester, an average of 200 students enroll in the entry-level anatomy course (ANAT 201) alone.

The SHSL has 11 human anatomical models. The Department of Physiology and Health Science makes available a wide variety of models in the Anatomy Study Room. However, the Study Room can only accommodate so many students simultaneously and is open only a limited number of hours each week. We also frequently have a selection of models from the Anatomy Study Room on reserve to supplement our own collection. By making even a small number of models available in the Science-Health Science Library, University Libraries can support the Study Room’s efforts and help students of anatomy achieve academic success.

You will need a valid BSU ID in order to check out any of the models. The loan period for all models is 2 hours and they must remain in the Library. The models can be renewed.

Online Images
In case you cannot make it to the SHSL, images (and coming soon: keys to the models) of the models can be accessed through the Digital Media Repository (DMR). Additionally, there is an Anatomy Study Page on the SHSL website that contains thumbnails of most of the models, links to their CardCat records, and a few links to some online anatomy resources.

Click on the call numbers to see the CardCat record

UDC 4057
"Tall Paul" Torso

UDC 4058
Digestive System

UDC 4059
Disarticulated half skeleton with skull

UDC 4060
Male Pelvis

UDC 4061
Kidney

UDC 4062
Female Pelvis

UDC 4066
Respiratory System (Lungs & Larynx)

UDC 4067
Head and Brain

UDC 4085
Giant Five-Part Eyeball

UDC 4086
Muscled Arm

UDC 4129
Heart, 2-part [model]

Thanksgiving Break hours

2006-11-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Hours for the SHSL:

Wednesday, 22 Nov.: 7:30 am – 6:00 pm

Thursday, 23 Nov. – Saturday, 25 Nov.: CLOSED

Sunday, 26 Nov.: 1:00 – 9:00 pm

How to access electronic reserves

2006-11-14T12:44:00.006-05:00

Make sure the computer you are using has a PDF reader as all electronic reserves are in PDF format. All computers in the University Libraries have Adobe Acrobat already installed. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free download available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.

Access University Libraries home page.

Click on CardCat. NOTE: you must login to CardCat using your BSU username and password to access course reserves.

Click on the Course Reserves link in the blue bar at the top of CardCat page.

Enter search criteria in text box (recommend using Instructor's name)

Click on hyperlink that matches search criteria (Instructor)

Locate desired reserve from displayed list and Click on the Details button on the left. Reserve information including the URL will be displayed.

Click on the URL

Enter your BSU username and password if prompted.

Click OK.

Adobe Acrobat Reader will launch and display the document

More information specific to Electronic Reserves can be located on the Course Reserves page titled “Search for Items on Reserve.”

OR view a tutorial in either PDF or PowerPoint format.

Prepare for the lady bugs

2006-11-14T12:43:00.000-05:00

Sitting in my living room I hear “tink... tink...” above me. In the ceiling lamp is a small spot bumping and crawling around inside the globe. I quickly discern it to be a lady bug- or, more properly, a lady beetle. As I look closer I can see that it is not alone- one or two others are crawling and bumping around attempting to fly out of their prison and still others have succumbed, no longer moving in the bottom of the globe.

In fact, these insects are Asian lady beetles (harmonia axyridis) and they have taken center stage for scenes like this every fall for the past several years. Introduced by USDA Agricultural Research scientists in the late 1970's and early 1980's as a biological control agent for pear psylla and other soft bodied insects, the Asian lady beetles have become a common sight in the US. In their native habitat, they often overwinter in cliffs so the next best thing here in the US is often houses or buildings where they can find cracks and crevices. Here on the Ball State campus, one of the most prominent places they swarm is on the southwest corner doors of the Teachers College building- beginning in mid to late November they can be seen in great numbers carpeting the side of the entrance there.

They can pinch if they become trapped in your clothing and can emit a foul odor. The odor is caused by the beetles exuding a yellow colored liquid (that is actually their blood) and it can stain and even cause allergic reactions in some. What they do not do is chew wood, bore into walls, or lay eggs in houses.

How do you tell if you have found an Asian or a common lady beetle? Asian lady beetles, often called multicolored, range in color from yellow to pumpkin orange to red (but never quite as bright as the common lady beetle). Asian beetles also have a black mark on their middle thorax between their head and the big shell shaped like an M. That area on common lady beetles tends to be all black or more of a stylized figure 8 or black with 2 white splotches similar to eye-spots. (Asian lady beetles on the left; common lady beetle on the right)

Find out more at the SHSL and on the internet:

Resources in the SHSL (click on the hyperlink to view the CardCat record)

American Beetles, (2 vols.)
Sci QL581 .A43 2001

American Insects
Sci QL474 .A76 2000

Encyclopedia of Entomology
Sci Ref QL462.3 .E47 2004

Encyclopedia of Insects
Sci Ref 462.3 .E485 2003

General Information

http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/expert/Ladybugs.html

http://www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/multc_asian_ladybeetle.htm

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/br/lbeetle/

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/chickasaw/news/ladybugs.htm

http://www.carolina.com/tips/99pdfs/August%2099%20Tips.pdf

Identification and More Information

http://www.bug-guy.com/Lady_Bugs.htm

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hse-fact/1030.html (Asian lady beetle)

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2002.html (common lady beetle)

Fall Semester in sight

2006-07-14T11:25:00.000-04:00

Next Friday (21 July) marks the end of the Summer Semester here at Ball State which means it's time to begin thinking about Interim and Fall Semester.

The SHSL's hours during Interim (22 July - 20 August) will be:

Mon.-Fri. 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. CLOSED
Regular hours will resume Monday, 21 August.

Summer course reserves will be removed and returned to faculty. You might want to begin planning what you would like to have on course reserve for Fall Semester if you haven't already.

Also, remember that I can provide in-class instruction on topics concerning research, information resources, and information evaluation. Classes are welcome to come down to the Science-Health Science Library for such instruction as well.

I have also begun a program to create online course-specific resources accessible from the SHSL webpage. Please let me know if you are interested in participating. These pages can be linked to from either your BlackBoard pages or personal pages. Please take a look at the preliminary work I have done so far at the Course-Specific Resources page on the SHSL webpage. Any feedback/suggestions you might have would be much appreciated.

And so it begins...

2006-05-25T08:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome!
This blog is for anyone interested in the goings-on at the Science-Health Science Library at Ball State University. Specifically, I will be posting items that might interest the science faculty at Ball State but that others might find informative as well.

About the SHSL
The SHSL is located in the lower level (ie the basement) of Cooper Science Complex in Room CN 16 (go to the middle stairwell near the vending machines on the first floor and go down- you should see the library entrance on your right in the middle of the hallway).

As of today's date, the SHSL has about 3,000 books, 250 scholarly journals, 7 computer stations, a public scanner, a public copy machine, and room for about 30 people to study quietly or in groups.

We provide all kinds of services including course reserves (paper and electronic), research consultation, basic assistance with software found on the libraries computers, general or course-specific instruction on library resources and research techniques, and a full-service circulation counter where you can renew or return any BSU Libraries item from any location.

Want more information?
If you want to find out more about the SHSL and what happens here, visit our website: http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/shsl/. Or contact me, Kevin Brooks, via email (kbrooks2@bsu.edu) or phone (765-285-1118).

Regards!