Science magazine is making its special Katrina issue free to everyone online at http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/katrina/.

CQ Researcher is a unique resource in that it presents material in a very different way from most databases. CQ Researcher profiles a single “issue” every week. While many of these issues are political in nature, quite a few are relevant to the sciences, including Global Warming, Stem Cell Research, Fishing Rights, Environmental Policy, Evolution vs. Creationism, and others.

For each issue profiled, CQ Researcher provides a historical overview of the topic, essays defending all sides of the issue written by experts in the field, an explanation of the current status of the issue in the US and worldwide, and links to related topics. Most profiles include useful information such as a chronology of events relating to the issue, maps (where appropriate), and statistical data in the form of charts or graphs.

But by far the most useful aspect of CQ Researcher is the footnotes and bibliography sections. For each issue profiled, a glance at the footnotes and bibliography attached will provide the researcher with plethora of sources from which to begin investigating the issue more deeply. CQ Researcher is particularly ideal as a starting point for lower-level students writing term papers.

Great Lakes Coastal Plants
Ellen Elliot Weatherbee
Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2006.
Call# QK130 .W43 2006

From University of Michigan Press:

“The coastal beaches of the Great Lakes are some of the most outstanding features of this vast chain of freshwater lakes. Many plants of this region grow nowhere else, and a number of protected species are found along the shoreline.

In Guide to Great Lakes Coastal Plants Ellen Elliott Weatherbee provides simple yet authoritative descriptions of sixty-seven of the most interesting plants found on the United States and Canadian shores. Each plant is illustrated with color photographs and line drawings for ease in identification. Wildlife and ethnobotanical uses add fascinating information about the plants, and distribution maps are included for easy reference.

This is a must-have field guide for anyone who enjoys the natural beauty of wildflowers.”

Science, culture and society : understanding science in the twenty-first century
Mark Erikson
Cambridge, UK : Polity, 2005.
Call# Q175.5 .E75 2005

From Polity Online:

“What is science? Science, Culture and Society tackles this difficult question. We used to be quite certain about science, and science used to be quite certain about the world: it was the form of knowledge and set of practical activities that would allow us to unravel the ‘mysteries of creation’ and the ‘laws of nature’. Yet despite the important contribution made by science to today’s knowledge economies and knowledge societies, it is considered by many to be remote, and even dangerous. As science becomes more important, we have less understanding of what science actually is.

Science, Culture and Society attempts to redress this knowledge gap and to provide an alternative framework for making sense of science. The book addresses key questions of what science is and how it is carried out, what the relationship between science and society is, how science is represented in contemporary culture, and how scientific institutions are structured. Drawing on methods from cultural studies and sociology the book locates science in a social and cultural perspective and provides a wide-ranging introduction to the social and cultural dimensions of science.

Designed as a primary text for undergraduates at all levels it will be key reading on courses in the sociology of science, cultural studies of science and technology, philosophy of science, and science and technology studies.”

Atlas of Woody Plant Stems: evolution, sturcture, and environmental modifications
Fritz Hans Schweingruber
Berlin: Springer, 2006
Call# QK646 .S44 2006

From Springer.com:

“This atlas gives a unique assemblage of microscopic slides of wood anatomy and of the respective species in nature and demonstrates the reaction of stem anatomy to environments in which plants form woody stems. It provides insight into the evolution of wood, to the variation of wood anatomy in response to climate and disturbances, and it gives an introduction to the methodology used to study wood. Special attention has been given to the unique feature of secondary growth. In color throughout and with more than 700 both beautiful and instructive illustrations, the wide-ranging scientific content of this book makes it both attractive and unique.”

Biotechnological Applications of Photosynthetic Proteins: Biochips, Biosensors, and Biodevices
Maria Teresa Giardi
Georgetown, TX: Landes Bioscience/Eurekah.com, 2006
Call# TP248.65 .P76 B56 2006

From Amazon.com:

“Biotechnological Applications of Photosynthetic Proteins: Biochips, Biosensors and Biodevices provides an overview of the recent photosystem II research and the systems available for the bioassay of pollutants using biosensors that are based on the photochemical activity. The data presented in this book serves as a basis for the development of a commercial biosensor for use in rapid pre-screening analyses of photosystem II pollutants, minimising costly and time-consuming laboratory analyses.”

Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests
William F. Laurance
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006
Call# SD247 .E44 2006

From University of Chicago Press:

“Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests reveals the remarkably diverse panoply of perils to tropical forests and their biota, with particular emphasis on recent dangers. William F. Laurance and Carlos A. Peres identify four categories of emerging threats: those that have only recently appeared, such as the virulent chytrid fungus that is decimating rainforest amphibians throughout the tropical world; those that are growing rapidly in importance, like destructive surface fires; those that are poorly understood, namely global warming and other climatic and atmospheric changes; and environmental synergisms, whereby two or more simultaneous threats—such as habitat fragmentation and wildfires, or logging and hunting—can dramatically increase local extinction of tropical species. In addition to documenting the vulnerability of tropical rainforests, the volume focuses on strategies for mitigating and combating emerging threats. A timely and compelling book intended for researchers, students, and conservation practitioners, Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests will interest anyone concerned about the fate of the world’s most threatened tropical ecosystems.”

The LSU Libraries announces the launch of Tiger TAIL (Tutorial About Information Literacy). Based on the University of Texas at Austin’s TILT (Texas Information Literacy Tutorial), Tiger TAIL is an interactive tutorial, designed to instruct students in the forms and functions of information.

Through a series of modules, students will learn to search for and be critical of information found on the Internet and in library sources. It is a brief, yet comprehensive, introduction to essential research skills, which takes about two hours to complete. Students are tested at the end of each module and, test results can be emailed automatically to the course instructor.

Consider assigning Tiger TAIL to your classes that are doing research projects, either as part of their course grade or as extra credit.

The link to Tiger TAIL is on the library’s tutorial page at http://www.lib.lsu.edu/instruction/tutorials.html.

If you have any questions about Tiger TAIL, please write or call Mike Russo at mrusso1@lsu.edu or 578-6823.

The LSU Libraries recently joined the Plant Management Network (please see the description below). In order to access this resource, visit the LSU Libraries home page, click on “Indexes and Databases” (listed under “Research Tools”), select “P” (listed under databases by title), and scroll down to the “Plant Management Network”.

The Plant Management Network offers an online suite of applied science information, including four fully citable peer-reviewed journals, field trials, and databases, which contain an ever-growing collection of more than 5,000 applied plant and agricultural science documents and 2,800 images. A not-for-profit online resource supported by partners and subscribers, PMN provides an ideal medium for anyone interested in applied agricultural information.

Resources include access to: Crop Management Journal, Plant Health Progress Journal, Forage and Grazing Lands Journal, Applied Turfgrass Science Journal, PMN Image Collections, PMN Plant Science Database, PMN Education and Training Center, Fungacide and Nematicide, Arthropod Management Tests, and Biological and Cultural Tests for Control of Plant Diseases. Additional benefits include: Page Charge-Free Publication in PMN Peer-Reviewed Journals, Complimentary Personal Subscriptions for All Institutional Faculty, Students, and Staff, Inclusion of Institutional Web-Based Documents in PMN Searchable Database, and Representation through the PMN Advisory Council.