Global Road Warrior

Have you tried the Blume Library’s new database, Global Road Warrior? Whether you’re an adventuresome traveler, preparing for a Study Abroad program, or curious about different cultures, this "ultimate guide to the world" promises a worldwide experience!

Just in time for International Education Week at St. Mary’s, Global Warrior offers a wealth of information about 175 countries. Learn about the climate or demographics for locales that your friends discussed in the Student Showcase. Find out more about the business culture for countries represented in the Fair Trade Sale. Before watching the film, Rough Cut, equip yourself with facts about security and medical issues.

Global Road Warrior is especially valuable for preparing yourself to visit a foreign country. Jot down sightseeing stops recommended by insiders, gain practical insight about essentials to pack in your suitcase, and memorize a few common terms in the native language. Familiarize yourself with the country’s electrical plugs and voltage standards, and check out a list of nearby Internet cafes, to stay connected during your travels. You can also find answers to specific concerns, including tipping practices, emergency numbers, transportation options, and advice geared towards businesswomen.

Link to Global Warrior at the top of the Blume library’s website, and tour the possibilities! [photo courtesy of http://www.thewashingtonnote.com]

Sustainability Resources: Live and Online

Interested in learning more about sustainability issues and how you can get involved? You're in luck!

This Saturday, November 15, stop by the Texas Recycles Day festivities at Woodlawn Lake Park, less than 3 miles from St. Mary’s campus (map). Start the day off by learning how to compost, then soak in the music, entertainment, and food. Pick up a few tips from the on-site exhibits, including purses made from recycled books and hand/chair massages. Drop off your used ink cartridges, plastic grocery bags, wire hangers, and even old sneakers, to de-clutter your dorm room and recycle at the same time!

Before you go, check out these online resources:

• LivingGreenSA.com supplies local news, blogs, and an events calendar, as well as links to other city and state-wide resources.
• The Green Wikia community generates content written from a green point of view and focused on ways people can adapt to more sustainable living, with topics from hybrid cars to natural pest control.
• Grist sheds light on environmental news, with a splash of humor, to prove that “news about green issues and sustainable living doesn’t have to be predictable, demoralizing, or dull.” Learn handy tricks for everyday eco-living, read about the political side of green issues, and load up on enviro-friendly kitchen wisdom with weekly recipes.
• Along a similar wavelength, TreeHugger delivers sustainability news through an enthusiastic, upbeat lens. A reliable media outlet for blogs, newsletters, videos, and even a weekly radio show related to sustainability, TreeHugger brilliantly fuses green themes with modern fashion and lifestyle trends.
• One of the oldest and most thorough sources of sustainability news, Envirolink connects you with a range of resources, especially helpful for non-profits.
• For media websites dedicated to sustainability audio and video, visit: GreenTV, emPivot, Do The Green Thing, Go Green Tube, and ViroPOP.
  [Photo courtesy of http://www.ga.wa.gov]

Sustainability Resources in the Spotlight

Heard the new buzz word on campus? Last week, The President’s Peace Commission hosted a program dedicated to the issue of sustainability. On November 18, the Lin Great Speakers Series will return to environmental concerns, with renowned speaker David Orr’s lecture, “The Changing Climate of U.S. Politics.” International Education Week, scheduled for the same week (November 16-21), focuses on a similar theme, “We Have Only One Earth: An Environmental Challenge,” with related exhibits and presentations.

Swing by the Blume Library to dig deeper into the issues! Our new sustainability display gives you a taste of the resources available on campus. From films to government documents, newly-released books on the hottest topics in the field and even e-books that you can access from your own laptop at home, you’re guaranteed to pick up a few interesting facts. Maybe even find a topic for that research paper on your “to-do” list…

The display also includes some tips for how you can take action toward a sustainable future and online resources to guide your plan. Check out the Carbon Footprint site to calculate how much carbon dioxide your everyday activities account for, and then learn how you can reduce your carbon footprint with simple changes, like defrosting your refrigerator or turning off your DVD player.

Among state resources, Texas Campaign for the Environment offers voting records and environmental reports, quirky videos, and contact information for similar organizations. At the local level, Build San Antonio Green connects you with green builders and designers, provides a “green map” of San Antonio, and keeps you updated with an events calendar. [photo courtesy of http://www.solarsanantonio.org/]

Digital Texas Resources of Note

The Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative (THDI) is a statewide cooperative effort to digitize historical Texas documents and images, which are placed on their web site Texas Heritage Online. Included in this collection is Orville Dewey's 1844 document Discourse on Slavery and the Annexation of Texas, an oral history of George Orzuna, Jr. with both a transcript and the audio available, and a picture of Colonel Castro with Corranzisla's forces at Ojinaga.

The University of North Texas has been digitizing its collection of historic artifacts and placing them in their Portal of Texas History. They have also begun receiving grants to help other institutions digitize collections. UNT is a key player in the THDI.

The Library of Congress’s Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers project is working with the Portal of Texas History to digitize newspapers from Texas. Currently The Daily Herald from Brownsville has been scanned and uploaded to the Library of Congress’s site. The Library of Congress's site includes digitized newspapers from across the country.

Voter Prep 201

Voter Prep 101 presents some great resources to get more information about candidates at the top of the election ballot. But what about those races further down the ballot? Who are all those justices and judges we’re voting for? Where do we find more information about the people running for county offices? And what about the candidates for school board and water district elections?

It is often difficult to find in-depth unbiased information about the candidates for local elections. There usually isn’t the media coverage for local races that there is for national and statewide races. And candidates for local elections often don’t have the financial resources that state and national candidates have.

Here are a few suggested resources for gleaning more information, however. A page with links to candidates’ campaign websites, or at least contact information where available, is located at Voter Information 2008: Bexar County, Texas.

The LexisNexis Academic database (available to the St. Mary’s University community) provides access to an archive of full-text articles from newspapers and newswire stories, including articles from the San Antonio Express-News, the Associated Press and Business Wire.

Of course one can search for individual candidates via the Google search engine. Results will sometimes turn up entries from local blogs, such as the WalkerReport, as well as scattered articles from local online news sources. A list of area media with a web presence is included in the San Antonio Media Sources Guide, including newspapers and magazines.

Voter Prep 101

With the end of the presidential debates and Nov. 4 just around the corner, are you ready to vote?

If you’re planning to vote in San Antonio, be sure to check out the Bexar county election site, where you can verify that you’re registered, see a list of early voting locations, and preview a sample ballot. Voting outside of San Antonio? Navigate through the Texas Secretary of State’s election site and USA.gov.

Still undecided about which presidential candidate to support? Start with the issues that matter most to you, and try TPR’s “Select a Candidate” quiz. By selecting your view on a series of topics, the survey helps to determine the candidate whose positions are most compatible with your leanings. Perhaps even more useful, the results page outlines each candidate’s position on specific issues, including Iraq and Afghanistan, immigration, and education.

Puzzled by a candidate’s claims during the debate or skeptical about a media pundit’s commentary? Factcheck.org, a non-partisan, nonprofit consumer advocate for voters, aims to decrease confusion and deception in US politics by educating readers on the issues.

A similar nonpartisan guide, OpenSecrets.org, focuses on the role of money in U.S. elections and public policy.

Check out Politico.com, a nonpartisan Internet journal that covers a wide array of political subjects and features a “Campus” page specifically geared toward students.

If you’re interested in tracking daily trends in the campaign, along with bipartisan analysis, browse the latest developments at Pollster.com.

Links to more Open Access data

Looking for more information on Open Access? Try these great resources!

The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) is one of the leading bodies in Open Access.

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is, in my humble opinion, the premier site to use when trying to locate an Open Access journal in a specific discipline or on a specific topic.

Are you a student and want to connect with other open-minded people? Try Students for Free Culture.

The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is another amazing site similar to DOAJ, but focusing on scientific and medical literature.

Tuesday, October 14 is the first annual Open Access Day

Feeling politically motivated? You may wish to contact your Congressional representatives and encourage them to OPPOSE HR6845, which is intended to prevent Open Access distribution of federally-funded research. We’ve already paid for the research with our tax dollars, why should we pay again just to read the results?
Open Access Day’s blog has more information as does The Alliance for Taxpayer Access.

The Open Access Directory has a bunch of great links with much more information.

SPARC has some relatively brief brochures explaining Open Access.

Peter Suber of SPARC has written this brief, one-page explanation of Open Access.