March 26th, 2008
Watch the NewsHour tonight to hear Professor Stephen Schneider discuss what the loss of Antarctic sea ice may indicate about Earth’s warming. From NewsHour:
A major chunk of ice has fallen off the Antarctic peninsula, threatening the Wilkins ice shelf behind it. Scientists say the collapse shows how quickly changes can occur at the poles when a critical point is reached.
Listen to the report to hear Professor Schneider’s interview and for more information, come to the library and see our display dedicated to the research and history of the International Polar Year.
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March 4th, 2008
The key here is 1903. Many of our pre-1923 titles have been scanned by Google and can be found in their entirety through Google Books. This questioner was in luck; the desired volume, “Report on the Eruptions of the Soufriere, in St. Vincent, in 1902…” is available, along with incredible plates like this one of Soufriere’s crater.
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February 20th, 2008
You won’t find this on YouTube:

The Hidden Earth is one of many films made available by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.
The films presented were produced after the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58 by the National Academy of Sciences. They use footage taken during the IGY field research, and “each film focuses on one of the thirteen research themes of IGY.”
See the National Academy of Sciences’ site for more examples of their IGY-related educational outreach efforts.
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February 14th, 2008
Our Changing Planet is a public television series focusing on planet Earth. All episodes are written and produced by the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium (UMAP). The series features 90-second episodes “whose purpose is to enhance public understanding of the global environment and the changes it is undergoing.”
See the episode menu for details. Topics include atmospheric changes, earth effects, ecosystem impacts, human impact, land use, water and sea level.
via EOS, Vol. 98, No. 4, p. 30.
Posted in Recommended site, media | No Comments »
January 30th, 2008
Take a look at Google Experimental Search. They’re offering five experimental features to enhance your searching: alternate views for search results, keyword suggestions, keyboard shortcuts, left-hand search navigation, and right-hand contextual search navigation.
I tried two. First, the keyword suggestions:

For a librarian, this wasn’t a very interesting option.
Next I tried alternative views. This was nice:

Once again I searched for “gold rush,” and although it’s hard to see in the example above, with the timeline view, you have a visualization of the 19th century and its related gold rush activity. I think this will be a nice aid for the students in our California Gold Rush class.
What do you think?
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January 16th, 2008
LANL will be doing necessary upgrades and maintenance on their SearchPlus and FlashPoint systems. They will be unavailable beginning at 5pm on Thursday, January 17 with resumption of service on Tuesday, January 22nd.
If you need to access SciSearch you may do so through ISI’s Web of Science.
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January 9th, 2008
The AGU Digital Library is here!
Contents include:
Earth Interactions 1997–2003
Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 1999–2002
Geophysical Research Letters 1974–2002
Global Biogeochemical Cycles 1987–2002
International Journal of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy [in 2008] 1998–2002
Journal of Geophysical Research 1949–2002
Terrestrial Magnetism 1896–1898
Terrestrial Magnetism and Atmospheric Electricity 1899–1948
Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics 1994–present
Paleoceanography 1986–2002
Radio Science* 1969–2002
Reviews of Geophysics 1963–2002
Tectonics 1982–2002
Water Resources Research 1965–2002
Socrates records will be updated soon to reflect the new electronic content, but right now, the best way to access the articles is by clicking on individual journal titles from the AGU contents page. Full articles are available as pdfs. The AGU search engine covers 1988-present currently, but will allow you to search for content back to 1896 soon.
Let us know if you have any questions.
Posted in Electronic Resources, journals | No Comments »
December 14th, 2007
A round-up of news from the fall AGU meeting up in San Francisco:
Any more?
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December 4th, 2007
It’s time for the 2nd annual Bay Area Automated Mapping Association (BAAMA) Education award and mapping challenge. The competition is designed to support students in higher education using GIS both as a major field of study and in support of their own research fields. The top prize is $2,500 with a one-year membership in BAAMA, and a complementary entry to CalGIS in April, 2008 where you’ll present your work. Entries are due February 15, 2008. More information can be found at the BAAMA website. It would be great to have a Stanford student win this year!
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November 28th, 2007
In honor of the International Polar Year, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), created LIMA, the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica.
From the site: “As the first major scientific outcome of the IPY, LIMA truly fulfills the IPY goals. LIMA is an international effort, supports current scientific polar research, encourages new projects, and helps the general public visualize Antarctica and changes happening to this southernmost environment. Researchers and the general public can download LIMA and all of the component Landsat scenes at no charge.”
Take a look.
[via] Climate Feedback.
Posted in Maps | No Comments »