Tuesday, February 28, 2006

You've probably heard the term "think tank" before, but have you ever considered using the information that comes out of one? Most think tanks have a definite perspective, so you should seek to balance whatever information you find with its opposing view. Here are some journals and think tanks to try on for starters:

Journals
American Prospect
Atlantic Monthly
Dissent
Mother Jones
The Nation
New Republic
The Progressive
Washington Monthly

Foundations
Center for Policy Alternatives
Center for National Policy
Economic Policy Institute
Institute for Policy Studies
Open Society Institute
People for the American Way

Journals
American Spectator
Human Events
National Interest
National Review
New American
New Criterion
Public Interest
Weekly Standard

Foundations

American Enterprise Institute
The Cato Institute
Heritage Foundation
Hoover Institution
Hudson Institute
Manhattan Institute

See also the University of Michigan Library's Political Science Think Tanks listing.

Monday, February 27, 2006

FYI: The Library has three Group Study Rooms that can be reserved in 2-hour increments. Please make reservations at the Help Desk on the 2nd floor.

The guidelines are:

A "group" consists of 2 or more people.
No drinks or food in the room.
Be on time or, after 10 minutes, the room can be reserved by another group.
All members of the groups need to be present to be let into the room.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

To (almost) end the week on a light-hearted note, try this web site for a musical trip down memory lane. You can find out what the #1 song was on any given day -- your birthday? Wedding? Birth of first child?

Monday, February 20, 2006

You've probably heard a scattering of news stories about it, but concern is growing about bird flu. Here is a web site that will provide up-to-date information about this looming crisis.

Scidev.net is a web site to bookmark and look at from time to time. It specializes in "...the provision of reliable and authoritative information on science- and technology-related issues that impact on the economic and social development of developing countries." See especially their guides or "dossiers" on Agri-Biotech or Climate Change.

Looking for a great research paper or essay topic? Try this one on: "How diversity and climate change interact." Additional references on this topic are available here.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Guess what had a birthday today?

ANSWER: The Kyoto Protocol

Today is the one year anniversary of the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. The United States and Australia are two major developed countries who have refused to ratify the agreement.

For more information about the Kyoto Protocol and global warming in general, go here.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Were you aware that the library has "bestsellers" - both fiction and non-fiction? Called the McNaughton collection, these are books that make it on to the New York Times Bestseller list and can give you a fun break from study and your textbooks. Some recent additions are:

Sue Grafton's "S is for Silence"

Tom Friedman's "The world is flat : a brief history of the twenty-first century"


Howard Bryant's "Juicing the game : drugs, power, and the fight for the soul of Major League Baseball"
-- and our current favorite --

Zadie Smith's "On Beauty".

You can find a list of McNaughtons on the library catalog. Just click on the far right tab of the catalog screen.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Can't get into reading whole books online? We don't blame you. But here is a really beautiful interface that some imaginative folks at the Open Library have come up with - just go to http://www.openlibrary.org/ and click on any of the books pictured there. Try The Moccasin Ranch - even the tissue page looks realistic! Turning the pages of this virtual book is almost a pleasure...You can read about the history of this project by clicking on the Table of Contents in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.