Recently in current issues Category

Tanning beds have been taking a little heat (ahem) in the press lately because their use may increase the risk of skin cancer, UV radiation, and bad burns. Local governments have even discussed banning children from indoor tanning and the federal government has added a 10% sales tax on tanning.  The World Health Organization has even likened it to cigarettes and arsenic. But the risks may have gotten a little bit higher--according to a recent study, indoor tanning might actually be akin to substance abuse.  This Medical Minute by Penn State faculty also lists some other dangers of this practice

So far, it sounds like indoor tanning doesn't have a lot going for it. Could there possibly be some upsides, such as increasing Vitamin D levels (in a population who is typically deficient), increasing your mood, or giving your body image a boost?

Or maybe the government and researchers are just hyping the risks. Perhaps the sunscreen industry just wants to sell more products by instilling fear in consumers. Some even suppose that drug companies don't want you to feel the mood elevating affects of tanning so that you continue to take the medications they produce.

No doubt, there are lots of issues surrounding what once considered a healthy habit by many people.

keywords: tanning booths, indoor tanning, tanning salons, vitamin d, sunscreen, skin cancer

Gordon De Jong, professor of sociology and demography and senior scientist in Penn State's Population Research Institute explains in this Research|Penn State article: http://www.rps.psu.edu/probing/census.html

To learn more about using Census data for your research, visit the Social Science Library's Census of the United States research guide. Or, do some exploring using the U.S. Census Bureau's American FactFinder website to discover more about your state or town. Here you'll find general, social, economic, and housing characteristics, such as:

• population
• race
• age
• educational attainment
• marital status
• ancestry
• median income
• families living below the poverty line
• median value of homes in your area
• most popular type of heating fuel

The 2010 U.S. Census is being conducted right now! All students, including international students, should complete and return the census form you receive in the mail or in person.

Considering tackling the debate over health care in the U.S. for your research project? Whether you're looking for a little bit of information or a lot, start your research by taking a look at the Social Science Library's health care reform research guide. Links will guide you to both library resources (PSU users only) and freely available government, think tank, and organization websites.

For research assistance, ask your Penn State Altoona librarians or a Penn State librarian.

The winners of the Webby Awards were announced yesterday and I noticed a few blog.li.og.ra.phy favorites in the winner columns!

Notably, TED in the category of Best Use of Video or Moving Image and FactCheck as the people's choice for best website in Politics. The Huffington Post was the Webby winner in the Politics category. The Guardian (UK) was the winner in the Newspaper and Podcasts categories, with the New York Times was selected as the People's Voice winner in the Newspaper category and Webby winner for Best Copy/Writing, among others.

Even better, looking through the list of Webby Award winners and nominees I discovered some cool new websites!

Exporatorium (The Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception)
Evidence: How Do We Know What We Know? A Case Study in Human Origins -
Science and Education nominees
I can't say it any better than they do: "This project uses case studies to examine how scientists construct a functional understanding of the world by gathering, assessing, and making use of scientific evidence."

SmARThistory - Education Webby winner
"[A]a free multi-media web-book designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional art history textbook." Fun and educational!

Wired Science blog - Science People's Voice winner
Even though I love Wired magazine (People's Voice winner in the Best Copy/Writing category), I don't regularly read the science blog. Some very cool stuff here, even for a non-scientist like me. It also makes good use of photos and video, which gets a thumbs up in my book. (If it wasn't so time consuming, I would do it here more often!)

The Atlantic - Magazine Webby winner
I'm a fan of the magazine, but never spent any time on their website. A great place to look for research ideas or get your research project started!

Less research-related, but still highly recommended is...

NPR Music - Webby and People's Voice winner
NPR is also Best Radio Webby winner and Best Podcast People's Voice winner

This is the 13th year the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences has honored excellence on the Internet with their Webby Awards. So much good information, so little time!

Maybe you're not familiar with this Jackie DeShannon song, but during finals week on a college campus I think sleep is something we could all use a little bit more of.

Since sleep is an issue that has plagued me for my entire life, it's a subject I am always interested in. So, now seems like the perfect time to write about a series of guest columns about sleep and our natural circadian rhythms by Leon Kreitzman on the New York Times' Wild Side blog.

The first, "Larks, Owls and Hummingbirds" (April 21, 2009), explains that 70-80% of us are 'hummingbirds' and are easily able to reset their internal clocks, but the remaining early-rising 'larks' and late-to-bed 'owls' have difficulty doing so. This article could make an excellent starting point for your research, as it includes references to numerous studies on the subject, as well as recommended books and articles.

The second article, "Let's Hear It For the Bees" (April 28, 2009), discusses honey bees' sophisticated circadian "clockwork" that allows them to keep track of the time of the day different flowers open, but also the time of the season each flower blooms. You can read more about the honey bee elsewhere on this blog.

Find recommended reading and other items in Penn State Libraries by using our "Citation Linker." If you need help deciphering a citation or locating an item, just ASK! at Altoona or ASK! at alll PSU Libriaries.
 

Yesterday The Guardian, a London-based newspaper, ran an article called, "Native Americans find their voice: The Comanche and Arapaho are just two of the tribes fighting to ensure their languages are passed down to future generations." In related news, Research Penn State recently published the article, "What is lost when a language dies?"
According to the Research Penn State article, "roughly half of the world's 6,000 languages will vanish within 100 years." But, according to John Sanchez, assoc. professor of communications, most of the 570 Native American tribes are attempting to preserve more than 300 native languages still taught and spoken through grassroots educational initiatives and academic scholarship. In one example provided by the Guardian article, the author suggests that there may be "fewer than 100 native Comanche speakers are still alive and none is under 60."

Even if a Native American language class is not offered near you, you can help save dying Native American languages through study and sharing. So, what is lost when a language dies? See the article to find out!

For more, explore the Native American History collections at the Library of Congress' American Memory Project to see and hear rare audio and video recordings, as well as photographs, documenting Native American language, music, and dance. Find more recordings via "Save Our Sounds" at the American Folklife Center.

Find more in the Penn State University Libraries' collection by checking out the Smithsonian Global Sound database [PSU only] for song recordings. Or, check out books and recordings on Native American language from the Libraries' physical collections. (Hint: You will probably get better search results in The CAT if you search for the phrase 'Indians of North America' instead of Native Americans and the term languages or language$ (truncated, search both variations) instead of language. You could also search for items on a particular tribe.)

Indeed, Native American words are often a part of our everyday life (see also, Tracks That Speak: The Legacy of Native American Words in North American Culture). Others may be interested in studying the Navajo and other "code talkers" in World Wars I and II. Or, for a general overview, check out The Praeger Handbook on Contemporary Issues in Native America (E98.S67J65 2007 v.1-2).

A true reference classic, The World Almanac and Book of Facts has been published for well over 100 years, 140 to be exact.

Each annual issue has a recap of major events from the previous year, as well as statistics and facts about:

• Economy, Business, & Energy
• Crime
• Military Affairs
• Health & Vital Statistics
• Personalities, Arts & Media
• Science & Technology
• Consumer Information
• U.S. Government
• U.S. Facts, History & Elections
• U.S. Cities, States & Population
• World History & Culture
• Sports

Some interesting facts and figures I discovered while glancing through...

• Penn State University Libraries have the 33rd largest library collection in the U.S.!  (p. 404)
  
• Total fat consumption in the U.S. has risen from 37.7 lbs per capita in 1910 to 85.5 lbs in 2005   (p. 87)
• Women and children make up 70-80% of the estimated 24.5 million internally displaced persons worldwide  (p. 850)
• The winning word in the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee was "serrefine"  (p. 722)
• The most popular names given to babies born in the U.S. in 2006 was Jacob for boys and Emily for girls  (p. 726)
• In 2006 the U.S. produced 71.03 quadrillion Btu of energy, but consumed 99.87 quadrillion Btu of energy, 85% in the form of fossil fuels and only 6.8% in the form of renewable energy sources (figures are preliminary, see the Annual Energy Review for more details)  (p. 104)

In an introductory essay entitled, "The Almanac in the Internet Age," C. Alan Joyce and the Editors of the Almanac write:

"So how does a book like The World Almanac survive, in a world where terabytes of information are a mouse-click away, where reference books can be tagged as suspicious and dangerous tools, and where people rely more on "gut feelings" than rational, informed discussion? By doing much the same thing is has done for the past 140 years: by filtering through massive quantities of data to bring its readers only the most essential statistics, in readable format; by delivering authoritative, reliable facts and practical information; and by avoiding, as much as humanly possible, the modern urge to editorialize and manipulate data to support a particular point of view.

"In compiling each new edition, we stumble across countless surprises and unexpected revelations about the world; a casual flip through the pages of this volume should let you follow the same journey of surprise and discovery."  (p. 7)

I think this says it all. In fact, the way they feel about their almanac is the way I feel about reference books and libraries in general, and I don't think I'm alone. A decline in use of our print reference collection cannot change how I feel about these books. Though the format may not always be practical in the "Internet Age," some books are just easier to use in print--at least until searching, viewing, and browsing options improve. I'm not sure anything will ever quite replace the "journey of surprise and discovery" that comes with flipping open a book to a page at random or thumbing through its pages until something catches your eye.

Whether "hidden" inside a book stored on the shelves in the library's reference collection or "hidden" behind a link to the library's subscription to the e-book, the content of these books is still highly valuable and relevant. This is what keeps me motivated to continue the "Reference Special" feature, to encourage a student demand for quality by raising awareness of "hidden" information sources. Stay tuned.

What's causing the massive bee die-offs that are threatening American agriculture? Penn State researchers are working tirelessly to find answers.

An in-depth article about "Colonies in Collapse" recently appeared on the Research Penn State website. Honey bees are a "keystone" species upon which many other species depend (including humans), and they are depended upon to pollinate over one hundred different fruit and vegetable crops estimated at more than $14 billion. Currently, Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has been identified in 27 U.S. states and Canada, as well as countries across Europe.

Penn State has emerged as a leader in CCD research, with nineteen faculty and graduate students in various agriculture and science departments currently doing research on bee health. See the complete "Colonies in Collapse" article for more details.

I originally wrote about the vanishing honey bees in September 2007.

Today I'm in a rush, I have a lot to do! It probably took me longer to select a reference book to write about today than it will take for me to write this. So, this got me thinking about hurrying... what helps when you're in a hurry? I have a lot of ideas about this, but I settled on something that will help you say a lot in a short amount of time (and space).

Recently I was talking with a class about how a picture can say 1,000 words. Along those same lines, starting out with a short, pithy quote can really set the tone for what you're trying to say.

I distinctly remember being introduced to quotation dictionaries in junior high. (Oddly, this is not the first time today that a memory of junior high was triggered!) It was one of the few times I ever went into the school's library after elementary school--a class trip, probably for English class. My memory is foggy, but it goes something like, "Wow! Abraham Lincoln said that?!"

Some of you may already be familiar with Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, but I grabbed a more modern volume--The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations (Ref. PN6081.A623 2006, Eiche Library Reference Collection).

They way they work is you look up the idea, place, person, or quality you're interested in and the book will give you a selection of famous and/or meaningful quotes to choose from. What's unique about this particular title is that (from the "Introduction," p. vii), "It is a collection, organized along historical lines, of nearly six thousand memorable quotations on more than five hundred some aspects of American life and culture."

So, under the entry for "love," you can read what Benjamin Franklin had to say about love in 1755 ("If you would be loved, love and be lovable.") -- what Emily Dickinson had to say about love in the 19th century -- and what 20th century icons like Robert Frost have to say ("Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired."). Humorously reflecting what may be a 20th century attitude toward love, comedian Lily Tomlin said "If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question?"

The words of Golda Meir speak to me: "I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."

Didn't find what you were looking for? The book also has a keyword index in the back, either for quick scanning or to find "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" (Whig campaign slogan, 1840) under the heading "political slogans" (see p. 514 to learn what that means). In the author index you can find direction to all those thoughtful Lincoln quotes. Maybe one will trigger more memories of 8th grade for me!

I could write a year's worth of entries about the wonders of titles in the language section of our reference collection, so stay tuned.