June on the Palouse

Here are some photos of today's surprising weather in Pullman, WA. Keep in mind that it is June 10.





Northwest Public Radio was playing "White Christmas" on my way to work this morning, which is a better commentary on this weather than any I could make.

Side Project

You may (or may not) know that librarians engage in several projects besides answering reference questions, ordering books, evaluating collections, and trying to stay on top of the scholarly communication crisis (which really does feel like a crisis when you find yourself having to cancel journals for the second year in a row). My side projects include research on information anxiety and on library employees' attitudes toward technology. And, for the past few months, I've been working on a very special and exciting side project, due in the beginning of September. Here's a sneak preview:



Yep, it's a future bibliophile. Or perhaps a future demolitions expert. It's kind of hard to tell from the profile.

New Books in Women's Studies

Here is a list of the new books in Women's Studies that arrived in the WSU Libraries between January and May of 2008. If you are curious about a title, click on the link to see more details about the book.

• Agosín, Marjorie. Tapestries of Hope, Threads of Love The Arpillera Movement in Chile, 1974-1994. Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 1996.
• Bell, Rudolph M., and Virginia Yans-McLaughlin. Women on Their Own: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Being Single. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2008.
• Bender, Karen E., and Nina de Gramont. CHOICE: True Stories of Birth, Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood, & Abortion. San Francisco,CA: MacAdam/Cage, 2007.
• Bennett, James T. The Politics of American Feminism: Gender Conflict in Contemporary Society. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2007.
• Bernau, Anke. Virgins: A Cultural History. London: Granta, 2007.
• Bourke, Joanna. Rape: Sex, Violence, History. [Emeryville, CA]: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2007.
• Browne, Kingsley. Co-Ed Combat: The New Evidence That Women Shouldn't Fight the Nation's Wars. New York: Sentinel, 2007.
• Chambers, Clare. Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008.
• Cheu, Hoi F. Cinematic howling: women's films, women's film theories. Vancouver, Toronto: UBC Press, 2007.
• Chirwa, Vera Mlangazuwa. Fearless Fighter: An Autobiography. London: Zed Books, 2007.
• Clements, Jonathan. Wu: The Chinese Empress Who Schemed, Seduced and Murdered Her Way to Become a Living God. Stroud: Sutton, 2007.
• Davis, Kathy. The Making of Our Bodies, Ourselves: How Feminism Travels Across Borders. Next wave. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2007.
• Ettorre, Elizabeth. Revisioning Women and Drug Use: Gender, Power and the Body. Basingstoke [England]: Palgrave, 2007.
• Ferguson, Michaele L., and Lori Jo Marso. W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender. Durham: Duke University Press, 2007.
• Hyman, Paula, and Dalia Ofer. Jewish Women A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jerusalem: Shalvi Pub, 2006.
• Kremer, Monique. How Welfare States Care: Culture, Gender and Parenting in Europe. Changing welfare states. [Amsterdam]: Amsterdam University Press, 2007.
• Lewis, Patricia, and Ruth Simpson. Gendering Emotions in Organizations. Management, work and organisation. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
• Lloyd, Moya. Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics. Cambridge: Polity, 2007.
• Mamo, Laura. Queering Reproduction: Achieving Pregnancy in the Age of Technoscience. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2007.
• McCloskey, Joanne. Living Through the Generations: Continuity and Change in Navajo Women's Lives. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007.
• Moon, Seungsook. Militarized Modernity and Gendered Citizenship in South Korea. Politics, history, and culture. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005.
• Oliver, Kelly. Women As Weapons of War: Iraq, Sex, and the Media. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.
• Pillay, Venitha. Academic Mothers. Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, U.K.: Trentham Books, 2007.
• Pinker, Susan. The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap. New York: Scribner, 2008.
• Schöpp-Schilling, Hanna-Beate, and C. Flinterman. The Circle of Empowerment: Twenty-Five Years of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Mariam K. Chamberlain series on social and economic justice. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2007.
• Song, Sarah. Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism. Contemporary political theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
• Squires, Judith. The New Politics of Gender Equality. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
• Tasker, Yvonne, and Diane Negra. Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture. Console-ing passions. Durham, [N.C.]: Duke University Press, 2007.
• West, Robin. Marriage, Sexuality, and Gender. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2007.

New Books in Communication

Here is a list of new books in Communication that arrived at the WSU Libraries between March and May 2008. If you are interested in any particular title, clicking on the link will take you to further details about the book.

• Ardizzoni, Michela. North/South, East/West: Mapping Italianness on Television. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007.
• Auster, Albert, and Leonard Quart. Thirtysomething: Television, Women, Men, and Work. Critical studies in television. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008.
• Broderick, James F., and Darren W. Miller. Consider the Source: A Critical Guide to 100 Prominent News and Information Sites on the Web. Medford, N.J.: CyberAge Books/Information Today, 2007.
• Buonanno, Milly. The Age of Television: Experiences and Theories. Chicago, IL, USA: Intellect, 2007.
• Butsch, Richard. The Citizen Audience: Crowds, Publics, and Individuals. New York: Routledge, 2008.
• Carballo de Cilley, Marita, and Ulf Hjelmar. Public Opinion Polling in a Globalized World. Berlin: Springer, 2008.
• Churchill, Suzanne W., and Adam McKible. Little Magazines & Modernism: New Approaches. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Pub, 2007.
• Cortese, Anthony Joseph Paul. Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008.
• Demers, David. History and Future of Mass Media: An Integrated Perspective. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 2007.
• Fletcher, Martin. Breaking News: A Stunning and Memorable Account of Reporting from Some of the Most Dangerous Places in the World. New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press, 2008.
• Forgacs, David, and Stephen Gundle. Mass Culture and Italian Society from Fascism to the Cold War. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007.
• Graber, Doris A., Denis McQuail, and Pippa Norris. The Politics of News: The News of Politics. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008.
• Guerin, Frances, and Roger Hallas. The Image and the Witness: Trauma, Memory and Visual Culture. Nonfictions. New York: Wallflower Press, 2007.
• Hamilton, James Frederick. Democratic Communications: Formations, Projects, Possibilities. Critical media studies. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2008.
• Hammond, Phil. Media, War and Postmodernity. London: Routledge, 2007.
• Haran, Joan. Human Cloning in the Media: From Science Fiction to Science Practice. Genetics and society. London: Routledge, 2008.
• Hartley, John. Television Truths. Malden, MA: Blackwell, Pub, 2008.
• Hobson, Dorothy. Channel 4: The Early Years and the Jeremy Isaacs Legacy. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008.
• Holmes, Tim. Mapping the Magazine: Comparative Studies in Magazine Journalism. London: Routledge, 2008.
• Johnson, Fern L. Imaging in Advertising: Verbal and Visual Codes of Commerce. New York: Routledge, 2008.
• Johnson, Victoria E. Heartland TV: Prime Time Television and the Struggle for U.S. Identity. New York: New York University Press, 2008.
• Koontz, K. Dale. Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2008.
• Kosnick, Kira. Migrant Media: Turkish Broadcasting and Multicultural Politics in Berlin. New anthropologies of Europe. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007.
• McCabe, Janet, and Kim Akass. Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.
• McDowell, Stephen D., Philip E. Steinberg, and Tami K. Tomasello. Managing the Infosphere: Governance, Technology, and Cultural Practice in Motion. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008.
• Montgomery, Martin. The Discourse of Broadcast News: A Linguistic Approach. London: Routledge, 2007.
• Mulvey, Laura, and Jamie Sexton. Experimental British Television. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007.
• Parkinson, Michael G., and L. Marie Parkinson. Public Relations Law: A Supplemental Text. LEA's communication series. New York: Routledge, 2008.
• Parsons, Patrick. Blue Skies: A History of Cable Television. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2008.
• Pearce, W. Barnett. Making Social Worlds: A Communication Perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub, 2007.
• Poindexter, Paula Maurie, Sharon Meraz, and Amy Schmitz Weiss. Women, Men, and News: Divided and Disconnected in the News Media Landscape. LEA's communication series. New York: Routledge, 2008.
• Pollock, John Crothers. Tilted Mirrors: Media Alignment with Political and Social Change : a Community Structure Approach. The Hampton Press communication series. Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton Press, 2007.
• Reinehr, Robert C., and Jon David Swartz. Historical Dictionary of Old-Time Radio. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2008.
• Rice, Ronald E. Media Ownership: Research and Regulation. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2008.
• Sakr, Naomi. Arab Television Today. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.
• Samuels, David. Only Love Can Break Your Heart. New York: New Press, 2008.
• Sen, Krishna, and Terence Lee. Political Regimes and the Media in Asia. London: Routledge, 2008.
• Streitmatter, Rodger. Mightier Than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2008.
• Talbot, Mary. Media Discourse: Representation and Interaction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007.
• Tannen, Deborah. Talking Voices: Repetition, Dialogue, and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Studies in interactional sociolinguistics, 6. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
• Tellis, Gerard J., and Tim Ambler. The Sage Handbook of Advertising. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, 2007.
• Tizzano, Carol. PicturePerfect. Boston, Mass: Fanlight Productions, 2007.
• White, Rosie. Violent Femmes: Women As Spies in Popular Culture. London: Routledge, 2007.
• Wyver, John. Vision on: Film, Television and the Arts in Britain. London: Wallflower, 2007.
• Zhang, Xiantao. The Origins of the Modern Chinese Press: The Influence of the Protestant Missionary Press in Late Qing China. London: Routledge, 2007.

New Books in Anthropology and Archaeology

Here is a list of the new books in Anthropology and Archaeology that arrived in the WSU Libraries between March and May of 2008. If you are curious about a title, click on the link to see more details about the book.

• Antell, R., & Eck, D. L. (2005). Acting on faith women's new religious activism in America. [Cambridge, Mass.?]: The Pluralism Project.
• Atkinson, P., Delamont, S., & Housley, W. (2008). Contours of culture: complex ethnography and the ethnography of complexity. Walnut Creek, [CA]: AltaMira Press.
• Campbell, B. (2008). Painting for the gods: art and aesthetics of Yoruba religious murals. Trenton NJ: Africa World Press.
• Candelario, G. E. B. (2007). Black behind the ears: Dominican racial identity from museums to beauty shops. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Carsten, J. (2007). Ghosts of memory: essays on remembrance and relatedness. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.
• Edgecomb, D., Ahmed, M. M. A., & Özel, C. (2007). A fire in my heart: Kurdish tales. World folklore series. Westport CT: Libraries Unlimited.
• Emberley, J. (2007). Defamiliarizing the aboriginal: cultural practices and decolonization in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Fabian, J. (2007). Memory against culture: arguments and reminders. Durham: Duke University Press.
• Fagan, B. M. (2007). Discovery!: unearthing the new treasures of archaeology. New York: Thames & Hudson.
• Gardner, A. (2007). An archaeology of identity: soldiers and society in late Roman Britain. Publications of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Walnut Creek, Calif: Left Coast Press.
• Haase, D. (2008). The Greenwood encyclopedia of folktales and fairy tales. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.
• Hayase, S. (2007). Mindanao ethnohistory beyond nations: Maguindanao, Sangir, and Bagobo societies in east maritime Southeast Asia. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
• Hewlett, B. S., & Hewlett, B. L. (2007). Ebola, culture, and politics: the anthropology of an emerging disease. Case studies on contemporary social issues. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education.
• Hurcombe, L. (2007). Archaeological artefacts as material culture. London: Routledge.
• Ikeuchi, K., & Miyazaki, D. (2008). Digitally archiving cultural objects. New York: Springer.
• Kirch, P. V., Rallu, J.-L., & Mieth, A. (2007). The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies: Archaeological and Demographic Perspectives. The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 116 (4), 466.
• MacGonagle, E. (2007). Crafting identity in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora, v. 30. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
• Meyers, E. M., Edwards, D. R., & McCollough, C. T. (2007). The archaeology of difference: gender, ethnicity, class and the "other" in antiquity : studies in honor of Eric M. Meyers. The annual of the American schools of oriental research, v. 60/61. Boston, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research.
• Molloy, M. (2008). On creating a usable culture: Margaret Mead and the emergence of American cosmopolitanism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
• Pearsall, D. M. (2008). Encyclopedia of archaeology. San Diego, Calif: Elsevier/Academic Press.
• Price, S. (2007). Paris primitive: Jacques Chirac's museum on the Quai Branly. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Rabinow, P. (2008). Marking time: on the anthropology of the contemporary. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Reitz, E. J., Newsom, L. A., & Scudder, S. J. (1996). Case studies in environmental archaeology. Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology. New York: Plenum Press.
• Rivière, P. (2007). A history of Oxford anthropology. Methodology and history in anthropology, v. 15. New York: Berghahn Books.
• Rothstein, F. (2007). Globalization in rural Mexico: three decades of change. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Saidel, B. A., & Steen, E. J. v. d. (2007). On the fringe of society: archaeological and ethnoarchaeological perspectives on pastoral and agricultural societies. BAR international series, 1657. Oxford, England: Archaeopress.
• Salter, F. K. (2008). Emotions in command: biology, bureaucracy, and cultural evolution. New Brunswick: Transaction.
• Shukla, P. (2008). The grace of four moons: dress, adornment, and the art of the body in modern India. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Stewart, P. J., & Strathern, A. (2008). Exchange and sacrifice. Carolina Academic Press ritual studies monographs. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press.
• Tattersall, I. (2008). The world from beginnings to 4000 BCE. The new Oxford world history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Thornton, T. F. (2008). Being and place among the Tlingit. Culture, place, and nature. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
• Trawick, M. (2007). Enemy lines: childhood, warfare, and play in Batticaloa. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Wilkinson, R. H. (2008). Egyptology today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Winland, D. N. (2007). We are now a nation: Croats between 'home' and 'homeland'. Anthropological horizons. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
• Wiseman, B. (2007). Lévi-Strauss, anthropology and aesthetics. Ideas in context, 85. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Woodworth, P. (2008). The Basque country: a cultural history. Landscapes of the imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

There goes that theory

Over the last few years I've harbored the sneaking suspicion that Canadian librarians are cooler than most of us in the U. S. Stephen Abram, no doubt, is at least partially to blame.

It's nice to be proven wrong:



Thanks to students of the University of Alberta School of Library and Info Studies, who are very brave.

Hurray for Librarians

I like being a librarian, I especially like being one when I read stories like this - Health Database Blocked Searches on 'Abortion' - and see that librarians have improved information access for researchers using the database POPLINE, a database of reproductive health literature from around the world.

For reasons that remain somewhat unclear to me, though it looks like someone was scared, the medical database POPLINE made the decision to set 'abortion' as a stop word sometime in February. A stop word is a term, like 'the,' 'of,' or 'a' that a search engine can be asked to ignore in order (usually) to increase the efficiency of a database search. Librarians took notice of the situation when searching the database and finding that searches on abortion topics brought up few or no results. After finding out about the move to make 'abortion' a stop word, they rallied fellow librarians and the media, and POPLINE subsequently made the decision to reinstate 'abortion' as a search term.

And shouldn't all of this mean that now, more than ever, Grey's Anatomy needs a medical librarian?