Try "Forward"--a new library catalog interface

UW-System Libraries have employed the concept of One System, One Library in order to maintain and impove collections that advance teaching, learning and research. 

And now the libraries are developing a new interface, called Forward to access these collections and request materials between libraries.  Take a look, try a search, and/or view the introductory video at http://forward.library.wisconsin.edu/. 

Some features include: select to search only Stout, the entire UW System libraries and UW Digital Collections; a spellchecker (did you mean...) when typing searches, easier searching, and added tools for sharing items.

Browsing Area book of the Week, December 20, 2010.

Troublemaker: A personal history of school reform since Sputnik by Chester E. Finn, Jr.   Call Number: LA209.2.F54 2008.
          From the Google E-book description: “Few people have been more involved in shaping postwar U.S. education reforms--or dissented from some of them more effectively--than Chester Finn. Assistant secretary of education under Ronald Reagan, and an aide to politicians as different as Richard Nixon and Daniel Moynihan, Finn has also been a high school teacher, an education professor, a prolific and best-selling writer, a think-tank analyst, a nonprofit foundation president, and both a Democrat and Republican. In Troublemaker…Finn tells how his experiences have shaped his changing views of the three major strands of postwar school reform: standards-driven, choice-driven, and profession-driven. Of the three, Finn now believes that a combination of choice and standards has the greatest potential, but he favors this approach more on pragmatic than ideological grounds, arguing that parents should be given more options at the same time that schools are allowed more flexibility and held to higher performance norms.
          He also explains why education reforms of all kinds are so difficult to implement, and he draws valuable lessons from their frequent failure. Clear-eyed yet optimistic, Finn ultimately gives grounds for hope that the best of today's bold initiatives--from charter schools to technology to makeovers of school-system governance--are finally beginning to make a difference.”

Library Video of the Week, December 20, 2010.

The Good Fight: the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, written, produced and directed by Noel Buckner, Mary Dore, & Sam Sills. Call Number: DP269.47.A46 G66 2008.

          In 1936, after the election in Spain of a socialist government, a group of conservative generals led by Francisco Franco attempted to stage a coup, overthrow President Manuel Azaña’s Republican government and establish a dictatorship. The bloody 3-year civil war that ensued—which killed half a million people--was a prelude to the World War to come and saw the fascists of Italy and Germany supporting the generals, while Russia threw its support to the Republicans. In a historical moment of grim irony, the Western governments, terrified of Communism, were afraid to support the legally elected Spanish government. American, British and French corporations, however, weren’t hesitant to offer Franco’s insurgent army logistics support.
          Nevertheless, people from all over Europe and the United States volunteered to fight for the elected government of Spain; 2,000 volunteers from America became the Abraham Lincoln brigade and fought in most of the major battles of the war, in support of freedom. This film mixes the narrative of the War with interviews of eleven American volunteers.
          In another moment of supreme irony, when World War II broke out, the Lincoln Brigade members, who already had notable and extensive combat experience and could have made valuable officers and NCOs, were banned from serving in the US Armed Forces, as “premature anti-Fascists.” On the other side, many German and Italian pilots, soldiers and tank commanders learned their trade in Spain.

Library Video of the Week, December 13, 2010.

A Matter of Loaf and Death, Aardman Animations; written by Nick Park and Bob Baker; directed by Nick Park. Call Number: PN1995.9.C36 W35 2009.

          The latest claymation from Aardman brings back their duo for a new adventure fraught with suspense, comedy and replete with puns.
          (From the product description:) “Looking for a fast way to earn dough, Wallace decides to make it. Armed with a batch of ovens, an army of robotic kneading arms, and an old-fashioned windmill, Wallace and Gromit start 'Top Bun,' their new bread-baking business. However, their production is interrupted by the lovely Piella Bakewell, who immediately attracts Wallace. Gromit is alarmed, however, as he uncovers a link to the disappearances of several bakers caused by a “Cereal killer.” Gromit realizes that his master is in danger as he follows a twisting, turning trail of crumbs to solve a murder mystery.”

Browsing Area Book of the Week, December 13, 2010.

Cherry Bomb by J.A. Konrath. Call Number: PS3611.O587 C48 2009.

          From Publisher’s Weekly Review: “At the start of Konrath’s brisk and breezy sixth Jacqueline (Jack) Daniels mystery, the guilt-ridden Chicago cop, who’s attending the funeral of a loved one, takes a call from Alexandra Kork, the sadistic psychopath who did in the loved one at the end of 2008’s Fuzzy Navel (“I checked the Weather Channel.... It’s raining in Chicago. That’s appropriate, don’t you think? Funerals on sunny days seem so wrong”). Barred from the official hunt for Kork because she’s personally involved in the case, Daniels soon finds herself on the wrong side of the law with few of the usual resources to call on. Meanwhile, the wily Kork…strews bodies over a wide area as part of a scheme to lead Daniels to a slow and painful death. Konrath leavens the violence with offbeat humor..[and] the slam-bang ending is sure to satisfy series fans.”

Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! Photos

The pictures from Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! are now up on facebook, FlickR, and in the library lobby. Please feel free to check out the pictures and leave comments. Thanks to everyone who helped make Wisconsin Libraries Say Cheese! a success at UW-Stout's University Library.
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Library Video of the Week, December 6, 2010.

The Dhamma Brothers: East meets West in the Deep South, a documentary production of Freedom Behind Bars Productions, LLC in association with Northern Light Productions and the Lionheart Foundation ; directors, Jenny Phillips, Andrew Kukura, Anne Marie Stein. Library Call Number: HV9305.A2D43 2007.

          Think Alcatraz, Sing-Sing, Marion, Pelican Lake. Then put the prison in Alabama and you might have Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer.
          Take a look at one of America’s most violent prisons, and then watch as two teachers introduce a small group of inmates to a program of Indian—Vipassana—Buddhist meditation. For nine days, they are charged with a regimen of quiet living which includes no intoxicants, stealing, killing—or speaking.
          According to Grady Bankhead, an inmate serving life for murder, those nine days are tougher than Death Row, but the results are remarkable. Follow along as filmmakers document the surprising results of a controversial alternative program of correction and the conflicts of introducing a Buddhist technique into a fundamentally Christian setting. Inmates, guards and families all contribute to an uplifting story of finding a measure of freedom by learning to live within yourself.

Browsing Area Book of the Week, December 6, 2010.

Apostles of Beauty: Arts and crafts from Britain to Chicago, edited by Judith A Barter. Library Call  Number: NK1140.A64 2009.

          Apostles of Beauty is a lavish look at the international Arts and Crafts movement, in architecture, interior design and the decorative arts. Inspired by English writers William Morris and John Ruskin, the movement emphasized the truth of the material being worked and hearkened back to simple folk and medieval styles, reaching its apex around 1880 and the thirty years beyond. The design of interiors and homes this movement inspired great works all over the world, Glasgow style in Scotland and Craftsman in Canada. The movement inspired the striking architecture and interiors of Frank Lloyd Wright, the jewelry and silver work of the English C.R. Ashbee and the interiors and designs of Charles Voysey, among others.    

          Arts and Crafts remains one of the most striking and engaging art forms in existence.