Edgar Alan Poe Bicentenary

Charles Darwin Bicentenary 12th February 2009

The following website is the worlds largest on-line resource on Charles Darwin, containing his complete publications, manuscripts and private papers.

  

The January edition of the BBC History Magazine contains an article exploring the truth in the belief that Darwin caused a clash between church and science. The February edition of Focus Magazine contains a centenary 12 page special, including articles by Richard Dawkins and Carl Zimmer. Both issues are available in the library.

Plagiarism – A Cut & Paste Generation

Citizendium: A New Wiki Encyclopedia

Citizendium is a new wiki encyclopedia project created by Larry Sanger, American Philosopher and co-founder of Wikipedia, with the aim of creating an online user generated wikipedia that is focused on reliability and quality. Its free to use and requires that contributors give their real names to ensure accountability and uses expert editors and peer reviewed articles, but, an interesting article in the Times Higher Education has highlighted a series of concerns about the site.

History of Tattoos

It has been noted that the top search on Liberace is tattoos, so for those of you who may be interested, here is a link to the brief history of tattoos.

The image is of a Maori, sketched during Captain Cooks second voyage to New Zealand.

Britannica 2.0

Will it be worth the cost?

Britannica 2.0 shows Wikipedia how it’s done

NASA Climate Time Machine

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab have created a climate time machine that makes it easier to chart the changes in climate without all the graphs and charts. The Time Machine covers four climate indices: temperature, CO2 emissions, polar ice and sea level.

You  can drag the timeline to show the  changes in the Artic sea ice minimum from 1979 – 2007 or how the Earths temperature has varied between 1885 and 2007. The Climate Time Machine is part of the Global Climate Change website, which is full of excellent information.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/22/antarctic-warming-part-2-a-letter-from-a-meteorologist-on-the-ground-in-antarctica/

Never Judge a Book by it’s Cover

..or so the saying goes. But sometimes are books not also objects of beauty? The New York Times Blog holds a book design review each year http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/judging-book-covers/ .

 

Of course there are also antique book covers which are extremely collectable and more recent books specifically covered in such a way and with such materials that the intrinsic value may not be the writing inside. Abebooks, an excellent source for secondhand books, recently promoted a selection of books with unusual bindings http://www.abebooks.com/books/unusual-bindings.shtml?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=nl&cm_pla=cme_bookbindings&cm_ite=feature

 

A 2007 article in the Times Online suggested that book covers can actually put people off reading a book http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article2507850.ece

so surely the opposite might be true. This cover instantly caught my eye . Perhaps on a library website I shouldn’t be advocating choosing a book because of the way it looks but just maybe, some of the designs could infuence your decision to open a book you would not have considered reading otherwise.

Food for Thought

Worried about seeing ghosts and elementals after drinking your usual seven cups of coffee a day, then take a look at at Andrew Wedge’s blog, chief scientist at the Food Standards Agency. He writes about dangerous ingredients within the food we eat and adds a healthy voice of reason after all the tabloid sensationalism.

Public Service Library Resources

Coleg Llandrillo library subscribes to a few journals that are are relevant to the Public Service course:

Fire is the leading magazine of the British fire service since 1908 and contains up to date news articles, legal issues and product and technology guides amongst other special reports. Back issues of this journal are available in the library, just ask at the counter. Click on the icon to access the Fire website from where you can view some old articles. 

Jane’s Police Review is an essential journal for students studying Public Services or the Foundation Degree in Police Studies. It covers all aspects of the police force, including , careers advice, interview tips, exams, law and e-learning along with a host of other resources. Back issues are available to take out on loan.

Climb covers all aspects of climbing – safety, routes, equipment, beginners corner and advice from the professionals. Back issues are available for loan.

Trail contains lots of interesting articles for those into exploring the great outdoors; lots of routes from all over Britain that cover different levels of strenuousness, navigation and technicality.The Trail contributors review and try out all the latest equipment, clothing and rate them. Lots of stuff on diet and exercise for the hills and mountains.

Old copies of Fire and Jane’s Police review can be accessed online through Athens . You will need to fill in a form at the library counter to gain access to athens from home. It can also be accessed through the college application launcher under Multimedia & Reference/Online Reference and Online Newspapers and InfoTrac onfile. Any problems, just ask at the counter.