Talking in the Library

Creating anti-gravity illusion

Michael Jackson was a patent filing man, yes, yes he was.  Turns out that freaky lean in his Smooth Criminal dance had a little crafty assistance via a Method and Means for Creating Anti-Gravity Illusion.

Have a brilliant idea or just curious how something works? You can search U.S. patents a couple of ways. The United States Patent and Trademark office permits you to search for patents filed in the U.S. back to 1790. Google (of course) has a pretty effective patent search, too.  As a big fan of our moving shelves, I found this patent for a Book Shelf Moving Apparatus filed in 1989 intriguing.  And here's a patent for an Article Transporting Robot (I think it's based on the Jetson's maid, Rosie.)

Searching for patents requires some patience and creativity.  I think there must be some law that requires a patent to be written in the most circular language possible.   I personally found the Google Patent search most useful, and really liked the "Referenced by" feature that links to later patents that cite the patent in question. 

Epizootic influenza of swine...huh?

Tara "Talked in the Library" previously about recent published information regarding the swine flu, once also known as hog influenza. You may be wondering how I discovered the older term. Well, while searching for information on swine flu in some authentic federal government documents, I discovered historical information about hog influenza.

In the 1877 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture, I read that hog cholera was a real concern of most farmers. However, the term cholera at this time was used in discussion of various hog diseases, and Professor James Law of Cornell believed there should be another term used to separate one specific hog disease from cholera. He used the term epizootic influenza of swine (page 386). I gathered from his report that he coined this phrase right then and there! However, many of you at K-State (and I do mean very many!) know more about animal diseases than I do. Am I correct? Or did the phrase come out before 1877?

When did this hog flu begin to spread to humans? In my research I found that the National Swine Flu Immunization Program was discussed at great length in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976. Oh my goodness so much to learn! However, maybe for now I will leave the research on the human aspect of this disease to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

If you want to read further about Dr. Law and epizootic influenza of swine, then I suggest searching for the report via Lexis Nexis Congressional, available through K-State Libraries database page. Or, if you are like many of our researchers and prefer your 500 plus pages of agricultural information in book format, we have it shelved on the 3rd floor in Hale Library under the SuDoc call number of A1.1:1877. And as always, our library staff will be glad to help you find it if you want. That’s our job! And we love it.

H.R. 1 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Trying to follow the news from Capitol Hill?  Or, better yet, following the news, but now you want to dig through the bill(s) yourself?  You can, thanks to Thomas.  Named for Thomas Jefferson, the Library of Congress hosts all congressional bills--going back to 1990.  So, via Thomas, you can read the bill, first introduced in the House or Representatives and now under consideration in the Senate, H.R. 1 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

By the way, if you're puzzling through this whole process (like why a bill in the Senate retains the House bill designation) try reading about the legislative process thanks to Indiana University's Center on Congress. 

NBAF Draft Environmental Impact Statement now available

In case you've forgotten, K-State is one location in the running as the new home for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).  The draft Environmental Impact Statement is now available for comments.  According to the Department of Homeland Security :

"The comment period is June 27 through August 25, 2008. All comments, both oral and written, received during this period will be given equal consideration when finalizing the NBAF EIS. Comments may be submitted at the meetings or by:

U.S. Mail:  U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Science and Technology Directorate; James V. Johnson; Mail Stop #2100; 245 Murray Lane, SW; Building 410; Washington, DC 20528

Toll-Free Fax:  1-866-508-NBAF (6223)

Toll-Free Voice Mail:  1-866-501-NBAF (6223)

Online:  e-mail nbafprogrammanager@dhs.gov "

Public meetings will be held in Manhattan:

Thursday, July 31, 2008

• 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. and 6 - 10 p.m.
• Kansas State University, K-State Student Union, Manhattan, KS 66506 - Forum Hall
• 785-532-6591

K-State Libraries, as the official "NBAF Reading Room" site for Manhattan/K-State does have a paper copy of the report's executive summary available in our display in the Government Documents/Maps department on Hale's 3rd floor.

Resources about Chinese Earthquake and Cyclone in Burma/Myanmar

The disasters in China and Burma/Myanmar occurred a week and two weeks ago, respectively.  The devastation and recovery continue.  Below are links to news and other resources that serve as good starting points to understand.

The Guardian: Natural Disasters

Burma/Myanmar
News:
BBC
New York Times

Information about contributing to disaster relief: New York Times

Images:
Flickr: Myanmar

CIA Factbook: Burma
Human Rights Watch:Burma

China
News:
BBC
New York Times
NPR
Singapore Straits Times

Information about contributing to disaster relief: New York Times

Images:
Flicker: Sichuan

CIA Factbook: China

New resources RSS feeds

In the right sidebar, one will find the output of some experimental new resource RSS feeds under development. These show new materials that have been cataloged and are headed for the shelves, whether those of steel or the virtual kind. Stay tuned for more information as this project matures ...