Browsing Area Book of the Week, January 30, 2012.

Horoscopes for the Dead: poems  by Billy Collins.

Library Call Number: PS3553.O47478H67 2011.

The 2001-03  United States Poet Laureate, Collins writes seemingly simple verse, that somehow remains enigmatic.  The Publisher’s Weekly Review states:  

 Collins's gently ironic, gently elegiac work…has slowly constructed a pitch-perfect purgatory, and this death-themed ninth collection seems to want to make it as literal as possible: it opens as the speaker stands "before the joined grave of my parents" and asks, "What do you think of my new glasses?" In a poem titled "Hell," the speaker has "a feeling that is much worse/ than shopping for a mattress in a mall,/ of greater duration without question,/ and there is no random pitchforking here,/ no licking flames to fear,/ only this cavernous store with its maze of bedding." …despite the prosaic settings and everyday language, Collins is after the big questions: of life, death, and how to live. But the world is not of his making, and his is a temperament oddly suited to a world where "the correct answer" to questions like why the stars appear as they do, strike "not like a bolt of lightning/ but more like a heavy bolt of cloth.”

Library Video of the Week, January 30, 2012.

Over the Hedge, A DreamWorks animation directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick.  With the voices of: Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Wanda Sykes, Nick Nolte, Allison Janney and Steve Carrell, among others. 2006.

Library call number: PN1995.5.A5O93 2006.
          A clever, very funny movie from the creators of Shrek.  When a crew of forest animals awaken from hibernation, they not only find a new subdivision right next to their forest, they discover RJ, the raccoon, waiting for them.  He’s anxious to show them the huge amount of food humans throw away that’s sitting in trash cans just across the hedge.  The sometime leader of the animal crew, Verne the tortoise, wants nothing to do with the humans, after a bad experience with two boys, but RJ tempts the rest into bad behavior. What they don’t know is, RJ ate a bear’s entire stock of food and only has two weeks to replace it—or become a bear lunch himself.  Throw in a manic guard dog and a crazy animal control officer and it’s obvious the animals are in way over their heads.

Thesis Writing Workshop

Jana Reeg-Steidinger will conduct a Thesis Writing Workshop from 5:00-6:00 p.m., Monday, February 6^th in room 111 of the University Library, located in the Robert S. Swanson Learning Center.

The hands-on workshop covers (1) APA — American Psychological Association — style/6^th edition for UW-Stout theses; (2) a research paper template based on APA style/6^th edition, (3) RefWorks — a bibliographic management tool; (4) information related to the Institutional Review Board and human subjects; (5) and most importantly, there will be time for individual questions.

Reservations are not necessary. With questions, contact JanaReeg-Steidinger via e-mail or at 715/232/1553.

Library Video of the Week, January 23, 2012

Kingdom of War, parts 1 and 2, starring Sarunyu Wongkrachang and Sorapong Chatree, directed by Chatreechalerm Yukol. 2006. (Thai with English subtitles.)  Library Call Number: PN1995.9.F67K56 2011.                                            

     One of the few movies out of Thailand to make a splash, Kingdom of War is a grand epic biopic about King Naresuan, who won Siamese independence from Burma in the 16^th century.  With vivid color, breathtaking cityscapes and large battle re-enactments, Kingdom of War requires some patience in Part 1, as it provides background on the intricate and devious politics of the times. With the region divided into dozens of small kingdoms, each ruler is trying to topple their Burmese conqueror and establish their own empire.  When King Bayinnaung overcomes the Siamese kingdom of Ayudtthaya, he takes the nine year-old Prince Naresuan as hostage, insuring his father’s kingdom remains loyal. The King sends the boy to live and study with a Buddhist monk, where the Prince learns martial arts and politics in equal measure.  Naresuan befriends two orphans living with the monk, who eventually become his Princess and his general, while making an enemy of the King’s sons.  Part 2 begins with the death of Bayinnaung, the succession of his son, who hasn’t forgotten or forgiven Naresuan and sends him to enforce the Burmese sovereignty over a mountain kingdom in revolt, while laying an ambush.  When Naresuan escapes, he prepares his first epic battle with the Burmese.

Browsing Area Book of the Week, January 23, 2012



Pacific Air: how fearless flyboys, peerless aircraft and fast flattops conquered the skies in the war with Japan by David Sears.

 Library Call Number: D773.S43 2011.

        David Sears brings to life the air war in the Pacific, through the stories not only of the combat pilots, but of the engineers in America responsible for designing the wartime aircraft at Grumman. Alternating his narration of how F4F Wildcats fared against the Mitsubishi Zero with the evolution of Grumman designs on the home front that led to the F6F Hellcat, Sears provides the reader with an understanding of how designs improve during war.  From the Battle of the Coral Sea to the Battle of the Marianas, Grumman planes were in the forefront of the fighting and the memories of the pilots provide a great deal of drama and insight into the vast theater of the Pacific War.

WilsonWeb Databases Merge with EBSCO Databases

Looking for the WilsonWeb database link and can't find it?  Use the EBSCO link!  As of January, EBSCO will have transitioned all Wilson databases onto the EBSCOhost platform.

What this means for you is:

• One easy access point for most databases through the EBSCO link
• Ability to select multiple databases from both vendors simultaneously
• One search engine and results for ease of use
• In some databases, expanded coverage and more full text

Also note that after selecting EBSCO from the Library Home Page, there is a NEW link to predetermined sets of databases by subject:

Try it out at EBSCO or look for the EBSCO link on the Articles/Databases tab on the Library Home Page.

RefWorks 2.0

The University Library announces a new Web 2.0 interface for RefWorks, a web-based bibliography and database manager which allows creation of a customized personal database by importing references from online databases and text files. It includes APA and MLA styles as well as 100 other citation styles. The references can be formatted into a bibliography and also inserted as in-text citations within a document.

For more details, contact Jana Reeg-Steidinger, Reference/Distance Learning Librarian, via email or at 715/232/1553

Library Video of the Week, December 19, 2011

Beyond Babyland, a documentary by David Appleby and Craig Leake. University of Memphis; Distributed by Cinema Guild. Library Call Number: RJ60.U52T3 2010.

From the Container insert: "Of the thirty most industrialized nations, the U.S. has the worst record of infant mortality, with African American babies dying at three times the rate of whites. In some places, that rate equals those of many third world countries. When [the] filmmakers…discovered that their hometown of Memphis had the highest infant mortality rate in the country, they decided to follow those individuals who were working to reverse the statistics. Soon they began meeting some of the young pregnant mothers most at risk, and decided to concentrate much of their efforts on learning more about their particular circumstances. The film takes us from the neonatal intensive care unit where doctors and nurses fight for the lives of pre-term babies, to a county cemetery that buries so many infants the residents of the poorest neighborhoods call it ‘Babyland.’

          We observe doctors, nurses, church volunteers and social workers as they try to navigate their way through dwindling resources, and we meet three teenage girls whose stories give us a glimpse into the stressful realities of the inner city—conditions that contribute significantly to the high mortality rate."

     This video can be found in the 3rd floor collection.

Browsing Area Book of the Week, December 19, 2011

Girls to the Front: the true story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus. Library Call Number: ML3534.3.M37 2010.

A Brooklyn-based journalist gives a brash, gutsy chronicle of the empowering music and feminist movement of the early 1990s led by young women rock groups like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile. Politicized by such national events as the backlash against feminism in the press, the first Iraq War, and the Supreme Court's gearing up to review Roe v. Wade, young women were incensed. Kathleen Hanna, a college student from Olympia, Wash., was spurred to action after interviewing writer Kathy Acker and working for a domestic violence shelter, and she decided to start a band. Hanna, along with Tobi Vail, a fanzine writer (Jigsaw) and former punk rocker who was dating Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, were on a mission to spread female rebellion via their band, Bikini Kill. Meanwhile, Allison Wolfe and Molly Neuman, who had met at the University of Oregon, were in Washington, D.C., cobbling together their own band, Bratmobile.

Thus, writes Marcus in this compelling account, the Grrrl Revolution was sparked. Marcus enthusiastically tracks the "scattered cartographies of rebellion" and captures the combustible excitement of this significant if short-lived moment. –(Publisher’s Weekly Review)

Need Help with the New Library Homepage?

"Library" is on the top navigation bar.

Have questions? Contact us:

• Via email: Ask a Librarian
• 715/232-1215 (Circulation)
• 715/232-1353 (Reference)

Please note Library hours this weekend:
Sat. Dec 10 -- 11am-8pm
Sun. Dec 11 -- noon-1am

Reference Hours (Ask a Librarian):
Sat. Dec 10 -- Closed
Sun. Dec 11 -- 1pm-4pm and 5pm-8pm

We hope the new website makes locating information easier and encourage feedback to further enhance your library research! Send comments to library@uwstout.edu

Browsing Area Book of the Week, December 12, 2011.

Bad Dog (a love story) by Martin Kihn.  Library Call Number: SF426.2.K49 2011.

          Martin Kihn, a former television writer, was working as a management consultant, when alcoholism got the best of him.  On the verge of losing his job, family and home, he was also burdened by his pet, a huge 5-year old, untrained Bernese Mountain Dog, who knocked down visitors, chased buses, drug dealers and fried chicken boxes and frightened his entire family.

          Can an older dog be trained to behave?  Both Martin—and Hola—would find out the answer to that question, as Kihn took his dog back to obedience school (where it had flunked out twice before), hoping that he could remain sober, and Hola could discover some manners.  Both would need some discipline in their lives, but maybe, just maybe, he could get his life back together and Hola could win an American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen award.

          Kihn’s story follows both protagonists in their journeys, the two of them linked in a bond that eventually becomes clear.

Library Video of the Week, December 12, 2011.

Out of the Past, starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas and Virginia Huston. Directed by Jacques Tourneur. 1947.

          Chosen for the National Film registry in 1991, (along with King Kong, Chinatown and others) this noir classic features Mitchum as Jeff Bailey, a private detective hiding from his past in a small California town, running a gas station and in love with a nice girl named Ann.  But his past catches up to him when a man shows up at his station and directs him back to gambler/gangster Whit Sterling, his last client. Sterling feels Bailey owes him a debt, and forces the former detective to do one more job for him, but Bailey can see it’s a frame-up.  Douglas plays superbly against type as the gambler Sterling, but it’s Jane Greer, as Sterling’s femme fatale girlfriend, who becomes the movie’s focus. She’s ruthless, amoral, enticing and dangerous.  Jacques Torneur, who directed the moody, 40’s icon, The Cat People, brings a pitch perfect eye to this incredible film.

Library Video of the Week, December 5, 2011

Kings of Pastry, a film by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker.  2009.

Library Call Number: TX773.K56 2011

Follow a Chicago pastry chef in his quest to win the most prestigious prize of his profession in this recent documentary.  The collar awarded to the winners of the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman in France) is more than the ultimate recognition for every pastry chef - it is a dream and an obsession. The 3-day competition includes everything from delicate chocolates to precarious six foot sugar sculptures and requires that the chefs have extraordinary skill, nerves of steel and luck. The film follows Jacquy Pfeiffer, founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago, as he returns to France to compete against 15 of France's leading pastry chefs. The filmmakers were given first time/exclusive access to this high-stakes drama of passion, sacrifice, disappointment and joy in the quest to have President Sarkozy declare them one of the best in France.

(This video is available in the 3rd floor collection.)

Browsing Area Book of the Week, December 5, 2011

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick Witt. Library Call Number: PS3604.E923S57 2011.

          Eli and Charlie Sisters are hired guns, instructed by their boss, the Commodore, to head down from Oregon City to San Francisco and there shoot an old prospector named Herman Kermit Warm.  It’s a long ride on horseback to San Francisco, though, and Eli, being the introspective type, has come to question their long association with killing, not to mention his brother’s shortcomings and his own choice of horses.  Eli’s narration of their journey is full of many striking characters, among them: a witch, an insane hermit, a forlorn lost boy, murderous hiders and dangerous saloon girls.

      A funny, sad, truly unique, genre-twisting Western, that portrays the boys as alternately bloodthirsty and bound by blood, horrifying and somehow sympathetic.