New Reference Book:

Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Hari Singh Nalwa, ed
Stevenson Ranch, Calif. : American Scientific Publishers, 2004.
10 Volumes
Call# Ref QC176.8 .N35 E53 2004

From American Scientific Publishers:

“Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology® is the World’s first encyclopedia ever published in the field of nanotechnology. The 10-volume Encyclopedia is an unprecedented single reference source that provides ideal introduction and overview of most recent advances and emerging new aspects of nanotechnology spanning from science to engineering to medicine. Although there are many books/handbook and journals focused on nanotechnology, no encyclopedic reference work has been published covering all aspects of nanoscale science and technology dealing with materials synthesis, processing, fabrication, probes, spectroscopy, physical properties, electronics, optics, mechanics, biotechnology, devices, etc. The Encyclopedia fills this gap to provide basic information on all fundamental and applied aspects of nanotechnology by drawing on two decades of pioneering research. It is the only scientific work of its kind since the beginning of the field of nanotechnology bringing together core knowledge and the very latest advances. It is written for all levels audience that allows non-scientists to understand the nanotechnology while providing up-to-date latest information to active scientists to experts in the field. This outstanding encyclopedia is an indispensable source for research professionals, technology investors and developers seeking the most up-to-date information on the nanotechnology among a wide range of disciplines from science to engineering to medicine.”

New Reference Book:

Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering, 5th ed.
James R. Pfafflin and Edward N. Ziegler, eds.
Boca Raton : CRC, 20062 Volumes
Call# Ref TD9 .E5 2006

From Taylor & Francis:

“Completely revised and updated, Encyclopedia of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fifth Edition spans the entire spectrum of environmental science and engineering. Still the most comprehensive, authoritative reference available in this field, the monumental two-volume encyclopedia has expanded to include 87 articles on topics ranging from acid rain, air pollution, and community health, to environmental law, instrumentation, modeling, alternative energy, toxicology, radioactive waste, and water treatment. The articles have been extensively revised and updated, new ones have been added to cover the latest developments related to today’s environmental problems. The result is a reference work that provides the information necessary to understand, manage, and respond to threats to the human environment.”

Scifinder Scholar is our premier chemical database. It offers electronic access to Chemical Abstracts, as well as a comprehensive database of chemical literature. Scifinder Scholar is a program that must be installed on the computer before it can be used. It is available on the reference computers in Middleton Library, the computer labs in Middelton, Coates, and Williams, and is also available for download onto faculty computers through PAWS.

Having trouble finding reliable information on the internet? The Librarians’ Index to the Internet is a collection of websites on numerous topics including many in the sciences that have been analyzed and reviewed by librarians as verifiable and authoritative. The index includes many excellent sites. Check it out!

Chemical consequences : environmental mutagens, scientist activism, and the rise of genetic toxicology
Scott Frickel
New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004
Call# RA1224.3 .F75 2004

From Rutgers University Press:

“Here is the first historical and sociological account of the formation of an interdisciplinary science known as genetic toxicology, and of the scientists’ social movement that created it.

After research geneticists discovered that synthetic chemicals were capable of changing the genetic structure of living organisms, scientists began to explore how these chemicals affected gene structure and function. In the late 1960s, a small group of biologists became concerned that chemical mutagens represented a serious and possibly global environmental threat.

Genetic toxicology is nurtured as much by public culture as by professional practices, reflecting the interplay of genetics research and environmental politics. Drawing on a wealth of resources, Scott Frickel examines the creation of this field through the lens of social movement theory. He reveals how a committed group of scientist-activists transformed chemical mutagens into environmental problems, mobilized existing research networks, recruited scientists and politicians, secured financial resources, and developed new ways of acquiring knowledge. The result is a book that vividly illustrates how science and activism were interwoven to create a discipline that remains a defining feature of environmental health science.”

Book Review from The Journal of Clinical Investigation

New Government Document:

Stream-sediment geochemistry in mining-impacted streams : sediment mobilized by floods in the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River system, Idaho and Washington
Stephen E. Box
Reston, Va. : U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, 2005
Call# I 19.42/4-4:2005-5011

From USGS:

“Environmental problems associated with the dispersion of metal-enriched sediment into the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River system downstream from the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in northern Idaho have been a cause of litigation since 1903, 18 years after the initiation of mining for lead, zinc, and silver. Although direct dumping of waste materials into the river by active mining operations stopped in 1968, metal-enriched sediment continues to be mobilized during times of high runoff and deposited on valley flood plains and in Coeur d’Alene Lake (Horowitz and others, 1993). To gauge the geographic and temporal variations in the metal contents of flood sediment and to provide constraints on the sources and processes responsible for those variations, we collected samples of suspended sediment and overbank deposits during and after four high-flow events in 1995, 1996, and 1997 in the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane River system with estimated recurrence intervals ranging from 2 to 100 years. Suspended sediment enriched in lead, zinc, silver, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, and copper was detected over a distance of more than 130 mi (the downstream extent of sampling) downstream of the mining district. Strong correlations of all these elements in suspended sediment with each other and with iron and manganese are apparent when samples are grouped by reach (tributaries to the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, the main stem of the Coeur d’Alene River, and the Spokane River). Elemental correlations with iron and manganese, along with observations by scanning electron microscopy, indicate that most of the trace metals are associated with Fe and Mn oxyhydroxide compounds. Changes in elemental correlations by reach suggest that the sources of metal-enriched sediment change along the length of the drainage. Metal contents of suspended sediment generally increase through the mining district along the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, decrease below the confluence of the North and South Forks, and then increase again downstream of the gradient flattening below Cataldo. Metal contents of suspended sediment in the Spokane River below Coeur d’Alene Lake were comparable to those of suspended sediment in the main stem of the Coeur d’Alene River above the lake during the 1997 spring runoff, but with somewhat higher Zn contents. Daily suspended-sediment loads were about 100 times larger in the 1996 flood (50-100-year recurrence interval) than in the smaller 1997 floods (2-5-year recurrence intervals). Significant differences in metal ratios and contents are also apparent between the two flood types. The predominant source of suspended sediment in the larger 1996 flood was previously deposited, metal-enriched flood-plain sediment, identified by its Zn/Pb ratio less than 1. Suspended sediment in the smaller 1997 floods had metal ratios distinct from those of the flood-plain deposits and was primarily derived from metal-enriched sediment stored within the stream channel, identified by a Zn/Pb ratio greater than 1. Sediment deposited during overbank flooding on the immediate streambank or natural levee of the river typically consists of sandy material with metal ratios and contents similar to those of the sandy streambed sediment in the adjacent river reach. Samples of overbank deposits in backlevee marshes collected after the 1996 flood have metal ratios similar to those of peak-flow suspended sediment in the same river reach, but generally lower metal contents.”

Biological Effects of Surfactants
Sergei Andreevich Ostroumov
Boca Raton : CRC/Taylor & Francis, 2006
Call# QH541.5 .W3 O82 2006

From CRC Press:

“Understanding the role of aquatic biota and the impact of pollution and chemical substances that enter aquatic ecosystems is crucial to the assessment, prevention, and remediation of damaged environments. Biological Effects of Surfactants synthesizes the most important findings from hundreds of articles and the author’s current experiments on the biological effects of synthetic surfactants and detergents on individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems. This book offers a new perspective of the hazards of pollution.

The book draws upon concepts in hydrobiology, biogeochemical cycling, and the assimilative capacity of water-beyond the self-purification capabilities of bacteria and nutrient cycling-to examine the effects of anionic, non-ionic, and cationic surfactants as well as detergent mixtures on a wide range of organisms including bacteria, cyanobacteria, flagellates, algae, higher plants, and invertebrates. The author, a distinguished member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, establishes new quantitative characteristics of the effects and presents study results reflecting newly discovered phenomena. While proposing and substantiating new priorities and approaches for testing, assessing, and characterizing the biological activities and hazards of substances, he illustrates how the data obtained can be used to develop effective environmental remediation and protection measures to improve water quality.

Biological Effects of Surfactants lays an excellent foundation for scientists to explore how hazardous wastes are absorbed in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, determine what is required for remediation and restoring water quality, and design the best approach to counteract the toxic effects of manmade surfactants using biological methods, including phytoremediation.”

This week’s Resource Spotlight is on a brand new resource now offered by the library: WebFeat.

Webfeat allows you to search over 100 separate databases at once. You can select which databases to search, or search them all. You can limit your search to full text only, or to a publication date range. WebFeat allows upto three terms combinable by AND, OR, or NOT. You can search by keyword, author, title, abstract, or subject. You can also limit your search to General Reference, Arts & Humanities, Biological Sciences, Business, Government, Sciences & Technology, or Social Sciences, as well as to subcategories of each. In addition, you can search the catalogs of the entire Louisiana Academic Library Information Network Consortium of academic libraries across the state.

The results page shows the number of citations found in each database searched, with a description of the database coverage and a link. Clicking on the link takes you to the list of citations, with a link to full text if available. Clicking on “View” takes you into the database searched, with access to each of that database’s unique features.

WebFeat is an exciting new resource that promises to streamline the searching process and provide more complete results to a query. As always, feedback on this resource is greatly appreciated.