Giant Australian cuttlefish found

Thanks, Sherry, for leading me to this:

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder!

The cuttlefish ranges in size from about 3 inches (8 centimeters) to
about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. Its oval body is commonly brown with
crossbands and purple spots. It is brilliantly metallic in the sunlight
and often changes color. The cuttlefish's body is surrounded with a
frilled fin.

Night is dangerous for giant Australian cuttlefish. They live in rock
reefs and are known to dive to the depths of the nearby sea grass to
avoid being eaten. For years scientists have studied the beautiful
colors that these animals (these cephalopods are kindred to the squid
and octopus) can turn. However, they have only studied them during
daytime.

Technology has improved enough to allow these scientists to study them
at night using a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) with a video camera
attached. What they are discovering is cuttlefish DO change color at
night too! The reason postulated is that their predators have good
night vision and can find them, and that the night vision and color
adaptation skills of the cuttlefish are good enough to keep themselves
hidden in plain sight.

Because visual predation in the world under the ocean at night has not
been studied, scientists are excited to be discovering information from
the other half of the daily cycle of life – at least in the Australian
cuttlefish.

The above definition along with a great picture is from the World book
Encyclopedia which you and your students can locate at the State Library
of Kansas site starting at http://kslc.org/ . You can also find articles in SIRS,
Thomson-Gale (InfoTrac) which includes the article by Roger Hanlon, et
al Adaptable Night Camouflage by Cuttlefish from The American Naturalist
vol. 169:4 (April 2007) that inspired this message, and from ProQuest.


~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
Sherry Hawkins Backhus, MLS
Information Professional
backhusz@emporia.edu
~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~
"Who dares to teach must
never cease to learn."
John Cotton Dana

Register for a temporary Kansas Library Card at:
http://www.kslc.org/index.jsp

Library Cat

From Shelf Awareness: Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade
Wed, April 4, 2007

...Incidentally for $1.25 million, Grand Central just bought the story of Dewey the cat, who lived in the public library of Spencer, Iowa, for 19 years, becoming "a town mascot who lifted the spirits of residents hit hard by the 1980s farming crisis," as today's New York Times described it. "In the process he attracted the attention of tourists, cat-calendar makers and filmmakers."

The book, tentatively titled Dewey: a Small Town, a Library and the World's Most Beloved Cat, will be written by Vicki Myron, head librarian at the Spencer library, and Bret Witter, former editorial director of Health Communications.

The Times story purrs the phrase Marley & Me several times.


...


Juli brought her cat to the library last week, to spend the day while she worked, and save her a trip home when she left for Oklahoma City that evening. I guess the cat is used to a quiet environment... whatever... she hid herself for the entire day. The next morning, Lonnie reports that she followed him around the library as he opened it for the day. I fugure that she must have been hungry by then.

Anyway, the next time she was spotted, Ronda yelled "Catch her!" and did, then put her in the listening lab for a friend of Juli's to take to her home.

That and the two kittens I from Judy that I kept here for one day 2 years ago before taking them home to join the family are the sum total of the experience we have with cats in the library. But there were a lot of students who were eager to visit with and pet all three. I guess the fish in the aquarium aren't so cuddly.

So if this book about Dewey takes off, he will be great PR for the whole idea of a cat in the library. Maybe then I can go ahead and get one here in the college library. The students who like cats will be happy. And really, does anyone who loves libraries not like cats?

--Micaela

Book of the Month -- e-book, that is.

Caesar in Gaul and Rome
War in Words
By Andrew M. Riggsby
University of Texas Press, 2006

Winner of the 2006 AAP/PSP Award for Excellence, Classics and Ancient History

Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with Latin knows "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres" ("All Gaul is divided into three parts"), the opening line of De Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar's famous commentary on his campaigns against the Gauls. But what did Caesar intend to accomplish by writing and publishing his commentaries, how did he go about it, and what potentially unforeseen consequences did his writing have?

These are the questions that author Andrew Riggsby pursues in the award-winning Caesar in Gaul and Rome. Named by the Association of American Publishers as the 2006 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division (PSP) award winner for Excellence in Classics and Ancient History, Caesar in Gaul and Rome uses contemporary literary methods to examine the historical impact De Bello Gallico had on the Roman reading public and offers a fresh interpretation of Julius Caesar's Gallic War that focuses on Caesar's construction of national identity and self-presentation.

Get this book by going to our catalog and finding it there:http://butlerlib.butlercc.edu:7195/webopac/main

You'll have to use your pipeline account to get into the book...

There was lots of discussion at ACRL in Baltimore on new technologies. I'm beginning to think that we are getting ahead of our customers. I hope this book is not hard to get to... please let me know if you find that a challenge.

Micaela

April Events

I'm just back from ACRL at Baltimore, and it was very good. I'll post a bit more on it, but am working through emails this afternoon. Just came across this one...

Several significant world events happened during the month of April:
The Titanic struck an iceberg, San Francisco sustained an earthquake
and resulting fire, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated a week
after the end of America's civil war and the modern Olympic games began
in 1896. Learn the details of those, and other events, in this summary
of April Highlights.
http://www.awesomestories.com/Newsletters/April%202007%20Highlights%20at%20AwesomeStories.htm

Group access to the site is free for all schools, libraries and
educators. Request group access with this form.
https://www.awesomestories.com/signup.php?ua=group_signup It is also
free, through May, for individual students, library patrons and members
of the general public. Select an individual password with this form.
https://www.awesomestories.com/signup.php?ua=individual_signup The
site's privacy policy
http://www.awesomestories.com/content/privacy.shtml is strictly
enforced.

Carole Bos
Dean's Advisory Board
Grand Valley State University
bosc@gvsu.edu

Eatonomics...

I enjoyed Freakonomics last year, and so picked up The Gospel of Food this week on my book order. I'm hoping for some interesting insights. So far, I've gotten:

1) Americans smoke less than 30 years ago, thus are fatter
2) It doesn't take more than a weight gain of a pound a year to push the average weight for Americans from overweight to obese
3) It doesn't seem to matter which food you eat: carbs, protein, or other... basically, it matters what genes you inherit

That's after about 5 minutes of skimming. I'll read it more carefully after the library gets a chance to catalog it and get it ready for check out.

Meanwhile, I'm off to Baltimore for the ACRL Conference. Crab cakes, here I come.

Micaela

National Digital Newspapers

WHAT: Release of "Chronicling America," the National Digital Newspaper
Program Web site of historical newspapers

WHEN: Wednesday, March 21, 6 p.m., during a reception of the National
Newspaper Association

WHERE: Library of Congress Madison Building, Montpelier Room, sixth
floor, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.

WHO: Librarian of Congress James H. Billington
National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman Bruce Cole Members of
Congress

The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
today announced that "Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers"
is being released, with more than 226,000 pages of public domain
newspapers from California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, Virginia
and the District of Columbia published between 1900 and 1910. The text
of the newspapers is fully searchable, and search terms can be limited
to a particular state, a specific newspaper, and year or years and even
months of publication. The new site is available at
www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/.

"Chronicling America" is produced by the National Digital Newspaper
Program, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) and the Library of Congress. This long-term effort is intended to
develop an Internet-based, searchable database of U.S. newspapers with
select digitization of historic pages as well as information about
newspapers from 1690 to the present. Supported by the NEH's "We the
People" program and Digital Humanities Initiative, this rich digital
resource will continue to be developed and maintained at the Library of
Congress.

Net Library Book of the Month

Ireland Adventure Guide
By Tina Neylon
Hunter Publishing, 2006

Ireland is steeped in history, tradition and culture, making it one of the most popular vacation destinations worldwide. Its story is told in centuries-old castles, stone circles strategically placed to shine in the winter solstice moon, and, of course, in its pubs, where local residents gladly share a pint and a tale.

Written by Irish native Tina Neylon, the March eBook of the Month will open your eyes to the astonishing treasures of this ancient Island, showing you how to experience Ireland directly and intensely: as a participant not just a spectator. You'll join in the pub life of Dublin, meet the people through theater and music groups, visit the lake where St. Patrick first landed in 442 AD and find some of the finest golf courses in the world. Packed with essential information for the adventure-minded traveler, this guide is a comprehensive introduction to the people, the places, and the culture of Ireland

Designed to increase awareness of online resources and highlight the value of your eBook collection, the March eBook of the Month is provided through the generous support of Hunter Publishing.

Visit the Butler website and link to e-books through our online Campus databases link or our At Home databases through pipeline.

--Micaela