Monday, March 30, 2009

Plant Variety intellectual property seminar: 4/24

"Plant Variety Protection Boot Camp"
Graduate School Seminar Series

Friday, April 24, 2009
1:30 – 3:30 PM
Biotechnology Center Auditorium
425 Henry Mall, Madison, WI

This seminar will provide useful information for plant researchers regarding the "ins and outs" of the plant variety protection act. Specifically, this seminar will examine the steps involved in filing a plant variety protection act application, including suggestions for collecting the information required for filing a plant variety protection act application and enforcement of plant variety protection certificates, including a discussion of "essentially derived varieties." Presented by Lisa Mueller, Attorney, Dykema Gossett PLLC.

Graduate School Seminar Series sessions are open to all members of the campus community.

Registration is required, through the Office of Human Resource Development website. To register, you must know the titles of both the series and the session.

UW impact ranking in agricultural sciences



Thomson Reuters, vendors of ISI Web of Science, have released "Institution Rankings in Agricultural Sciences, 1998-2008" based on citations per paper among institutions with 5,000 or more citations.


The University of Wisconsin is ranked #5 with 1,428 indexed papers garnering 14,326 citations, averaging 10.03 citations per paper.


Institutions ranked highly include:


#1 Tufts University - 18.08 citations per paper

#4 Cornell University - 10.98

#5 University of Wisconsin - 10.03

#6 University of California - Davis - 9.96

#10 Oregon State University - 9.63

#14 Rutgers State University - 9.3
#15 University of Massachusetts - 9.05

#16 Penn State University - 8.87

#17 University of Nebraska - 8.86

#18 Michigan State University - 8.82

#19 University of Illinois - 8.8

Related links:

UW professor to lead Entomology Society of America



Professor David B. Hogg of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Entomology has been elected the next president of the Entomological Society of America.

Steenbock Library subscribes to the following ESA publications:
The following books, proceedings and more published by ESA can be found at Steenbock or Plant Pathology library:

Native Plant Sale: 5/9



The Friends of the UW Arboretum sponsor an annual
Native Plant Sale, which will take place on May 9th from 9:00am-2:00pm, next to the Arboretum Visitor Center, Madison, Wisconsin.

More than a hundred species of native plants will be available. Information about soil and light conditions, bloom dates, plant height and color are provided for selection decisions.

Possible shrubs, vines & trees include:

  • Blueberry
  • Cranberry
  • Dogwood
  • Elderberry
  • Hazelnut
  • Hickory
  • Ninebark
  • Plum
  • Viburnum
Possible ferns include:
  • Cinnamon fern
  • Interrupted fern
  • Lady fern
  • Maidenhair fern
  • Royal fern
  • Sensitive fern
  • Wood fern
Possible woodland plants include:
  • Anemone
  • Baneberry
  • Blue cohosh
  • Dutchman's breeches
  • Ginger, Wild
  • Grass, Bottlebrsh
  • Greendragon
  • Jack-in-the-pulpit
  • Jacob's Ladder
  • Leek, Wild
  • Mayapple
  • Mitrewort
  • Phlox, Wild Blue
  • Sedge, Pennsylvania
  • Solomon's Seal
  • Trillium
  • Trout lily
  • Violet, Yellow Forest
Possible prairie plants include:
  • Alumroot
  • Baptisia
  • Bergamot
  • Blue-eyes grass
  • Boneset
  • Butterfly weed
  • Cardinal flower
  • Compass plant
  • Coneflower
  • Culver's Root
  • Cup plant
  • False dragonhead
  • Gentians
  • Grass, Side-oats Grama
  • Harebell
  • Hyssop, Lavender
  • Iris, Wild
  • Ironweed
  • Joe-pye weed
  • Leadplant
  • Liatris
  • Lupine
  • Petunia, Wild
  • Prairie Smoke
  • Prickly Pear Cactus
  • Rattlesnake Master
  • Shooting Star
  • Spiderwort
  • St. John's Wort
  • Strawberry, Wild
  • Thimbleweed

Top 100 Plant Science Questions


"How can plant scientists change the world?"

Initiated by researchers in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, "100 Plant Science Questions" invites submissions of pressing plant-related research issues facing the world today. Deadline: March 31st, 2009.

A panel drawn from academia, the public services sector and the corporate world will screen submissions.

From the website:

"Plant science is helping to address many of the big issues facing society today, such as food security, biofuels, and the effects of climate change, but what are the key questions that you think the next generation of plant scientists should be addressing?

Anyone is welcome to contribute their question, including members of the general public; agriculture, horticulture and forestry industries; ecologists; charities; policy makers; food, fibre, fuel and pharmaceutical industries; funding bodies; and researchers."

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Horticulture scholarship


The Madison District of the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation invites applications through 4/15 for a $500 scholarship to a student planning to pursue a degree in a horticulture-related field of study (including landscape architecture, botany, conservation, forestry or environmental studies).

Eligible applicants must attend high school in a city in which a district club is located: Madison, Verona, Sun Prairie or Mount Horeb.

The WGCF, founded in 1928 to stimulate gardening knowledge, promote civic beauty and protect natural resources, is the largest volunteer gardening organization in the state.

Information on the scholarship is available in the administration offices of schools in the affected communities or by contacting Judith Niederberger, Madison District scholarship chair, at 608-845-7057.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

New: American National Biography online



American National Biography by Oxford University Press offers biographies of more than 17,400 people whose lives have shaped the nation. Originally published in 24 volumes in 1999, the online version is updated with hundreds of new entries and revisions each year to enhance accuracy and currency.

Occupations represented include:

  • Agriculturists
  • Apiarists
  • Biologists
  • Botanists
  • Ecologists
  • Entomologists
  • Farmers
  • Foresters
  • Horticulturists
  • Insect Pathologists
  • Landscape architects
  • Mycologists
  • Naturalists
  • Plant collectors
  • Plant geneticists
  • Plant pathologists
  • Plant physiologists
  • Science educators
  • Scientific illustrators
  • Scientific organization administrators
  • Secretaries of Agriculture
  • Seedsmen
  • Soil scientists

The ANB Online also includes 900 articles from The Oxford Companion to United States History, including:

  • Agricultural Education and Extension
  • Agricultural Experiment Stations
  • Agriculture
  • Bioethics
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biotechnology Industry
  • Dust Bowl
  • Environmentalism
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Evolution, Theory of
  • Farmers' Alliance Movement
  • Food and Diet
  • Landscape Design
  • Parks, Urban
  • Science
  • Subsidies, Agricultural

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Widgets, toolbars & add-ons, oh my!



Library tools
UW-Madison's Ebling Library has created a variety of tools for free download, including:
  • Ebling Library toolbar - search MadCat, Google Scholar, PubMed, etc.
  • iGoogle gadgets - Library Express, Find It, Refworks, MadCat, health science resources
  • Browser extensions - Firefox addons and Greasemonkey scripts
Journal, newspaper & e-book databases
  • Knovel e-books: biochemistry, biotechnology, food science, toxicology, engineering - widget, toolbar and search plugin
  • Lexis-Nexis news & legal resources - browser toolbar
  • JSTOR journal database - Facebook app
  • WorldCat global library catalog - Facebook app
Health sciences
UW-Madison's Ebling Library
has collected a variety of tools, including:
  • National Library of Medicine toolbar - PubMed, Medline, Entrez, NLM/NIH resources
  • HONcode toolbar - "health information you can trust"
Research citation management

Monday, March 16, 2009

Corn / Maize bioinformatics



Panzea is an online bioinformatics database on the molecular and functional diversity of corn (maize, Zea mays).

Access genotype, phenotype and polymorphism data on this diverse crop species.


Related books...
Dissertations...
Documents...
Videos...
Articles...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Rice database wins award



The Rice Bibliography Database of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Library is the winner of the 2009 Oberly Award by the Association of College and Research Libraries.

This online search engine of the world’s scientific and technical rice literature has its roots in "The International Bibliography of Rice Research," first published in 1961 and then supplemented annually. Since 1996, the database has been online, and updated daily.

All publications represented by the database's 267,000+ entries are available in print or electronic format, and made available upon request.

More:

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Citrus fruit pathogen genome sequenced



"Citrus greening" (also known as Huanglongbing, HLB, or yellow dragon disease) is a tree disease, caused by
the bacteria Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and Candidatus Liberibacter africanus. The bacterium is transmitted by psyllid insects.

Ca
. Liberibacter asiaticus' genetic sequence has been saved to GenBank, an open access database sponsored by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a division of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Also of interest:
[Image by Steve Webel. Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic. http://www.flickr.com/photos/webel/76665500]

Saturday, March 7, 2009

WI Film Festival: "Farming and the Land" series



Wisconsin Film Festival
April 2-5, 2009

Madison, WI


Sub-series:
"The Cream and the Crop: Farming and the Land on Film"
  • Cheese Wars (24 min. + Q&A)
  • Earth Days (100 min. + Q&A)
  • The Farmhouse (8 min.)
  • Food Inc. (93 min.)
  • The Greening of Southie (73 min. + Q&A)
  • Tractors! International Harvester-sponsored films of the WI Historical Society (56 min.)
  • Ladies of the Land (29 min. + Q&A)
  • Lie of the Land (75 min.)
  • Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist? (45 min. + Q&A)
  • Milk in the Land: Ballad of an American Drink (75 min.)
  • Rare Chicken Rescue (26 min. + Q&A)

Friday, March 6, 2009

ScienceDirect outage: 3/7-8



ScienceDirect and 2collab will be unavailable 5:00 p.m. Saturday, March 7th - 6:30 a.m. Sunday, March 8th, due to scheduled maintenance.

Affected journals include:
  • Acta Agronomica Sinica
  • Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
  • Agricultural Systems
  • Agricultural Water Management
  • Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
  • Animal Feed Science and Technology
  • Applied Soil Ecology
  • Aquatic Botany
  • Biological Control
  • Cell
  • Computers and Electronics in Agriculture
  • Crop Protection
  • Current Opinion in Plant Biology
  • Ecological Informatics
  • Environmental and Experimental Botany
  • European Journal of Agronomy
  • European Journal of Soil Biology
  • Field Crops Research
  • Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants
  • Forest Ecology and Management
  • Fungal Biology Reviews
  • Fungal Ecology
  • Fungal Genetics and Biology
  • Gene
  • Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics
  • Industrial Crops and Products
  • Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • Journal of Cereal Science
  • Journal of Informetrics
  • Journal of Insect Physiology
  • Journal of Plant Physiology
  • Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics
  • Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology
  • Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology
  • Phytochemistry
  • Plant Physiology and Biochemistry
  • Plant Science
  • Postharvest Biology and Technology
  • Rice Science
  • Science of The Total Environment
  • Scientia Horticulturae
  • Soil Biology and Biochemistry
  • Soil and Tillage Research
  • South African Journal of Botany
  • Trends in Plant Science
  • Urban Forestry & Urban Greening
  • Virology

Butterflies on stage & in the garden


Butterfly: The Story of a Life Cycle
Sunday, March 22, 1:00-2:00
p.m.
Overture Center, Capitol Theater
Tickets: $10-$18


"Science takes center stage in this microscopic look at the insect world. Hudson Vagabond Puppets, known for larger-than-life puppetry and masks, examines the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, following the amazing metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to adult butterfly, culminating in an incredible 1,500-mile round trip journey to Mexico. Each stage of the journey is brought to life by giant puppets, song and dance. You’ll meet a bunch of other creatures along the way, from the lowly earthworm to the majestic dragonfly, and learn about the monarch’s symbiotic relationship with the milkweed plant. Beautiful scrolling scenery helps make this scientific foray enjoyable for kids and adults alike."


Olbrich's Blooming Butterflies
July 15th - August 9th 10:00-4:00 daily
Tickets: $5 adults, $3 children 3-12 yrs, Free: 2 yrs and under
Free: Olbrich Botanical Society members

"Experience the magnificence of free-flying butterflies while strolling through the tropical Bolz Conservatory. Live butterflies emerge from chrysalises daily in the Conservatory, including low-flyers like the playful yellow and black striped zebras and bright orange julias. More than a dozen species of butterflies, native to both Wisconsin and the more tropical areas of the southern United States can be seen at various times during the exhibit."

At the UW Libraries:

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Gardening mini-courses



Wisconsin Union Mini-Courses are open to all students, staff, faculty, and the public.

Gardening 101 - Tuesday, April 21th and Tuesday, April 28th
"This class will cover basic gardening information for common vegetables and flowers. We will focus on the differences between annuals and perennials; sun, soil, fertilizer and watering requirements; propagation methods, such as seeds versus plants; planting and maintenance requirements for specific plants; green gardening practices and will customize a garden plan for each student. 2 Meetings. INSTRUCTORS: Marvin and Kathryn Schiedermayer, owners of Garden Spirit Co. tend their two-acre prairie along with their herb, vegetable and potager gardens in New Glarus."

Gardening by the Moon - Tuesday, March 24th
"The moon and all of its magic is closely connected with gardening and herbs. Explore the lunar connection of specific herbs and the best times to plant and harvest the herbs based on the phases of the moon. Explore interesting uses for the herbs. Uncover the lore and legend of both the moon and the herbs. A once in blue moon opportunity to learn more about the moon and the various herbs and plants, gardening techniques, rituals, goddesses and activities that are associated with the moon's cycles. Unravel an outer space mystery and garden with the moon! 1 Meeting. INSTRUCTOR: Kathryn Schiedermayer, an herbal and gardening educator for many years and owner of The Garden Spirit Co."

3/5 emergency E-Resource Gateway outage





Due to severe problems with today's E-Resource Gateway / Find It reindexing job, the UW-Madison A-Z list of online journal article databases, etc. is in a failed state.


Per the vendor's recommendation, we need to restore the index from Tuesday night's backup.

This work will be done at noon today (Thursday, March 5th) and will require a complete outage of the E-Resource Gateway / Find It.

We are not absolutely sure about the timing, but expect the outage to be less than one hour.


For those who have done work within the E-Resource Gateway, anything data updated since Tuesday night will be lost.


We apologize for the inconvenience!

Library computer print system maintenance


Staff will be upgrading the memory on the GoPrint transaction server tonight at midnight in an effort to alleviate some previously reported problems. Sites can expect a brief outage (less than 1/2 hour). We recommend a reboot of the print release station computer around 12:30.


If you ever notice a print station with a blank screen or with all the buttons grayed out, first try refreshing the screen with the mouse/keyboard. If that doesn't work, wait 5 minutes and then reboot that print station's computer.


The vendor has been notified and we hope for a timely resolution to this issue. Please contact the Library Technology Group Helpdesk if you have any questions.

Also of interest:

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Plant + insect movie archive



The Internet Archive is a non-profit organization that preserves public access to websites, out-of-copyright book texts, audio (including live music), and video in digital format.
Over 158,000 movies can be watched online, or downloaded as files, including:
  • Andy Leigh: Terrestrial Plant Ecophysiology (2008) - "Biologist Andrea Leigh speaks to Shannon Jones about her research into how leaves deal with heat." University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

  • Gardening (1940) - "Follows a boy and a girl through a garden-raising project from the selection of seeds to the harvesting of the crops. Includes radishes, carrots, tomatoes and potatoes. Emphasizes aspects of soils, growth, role of the sun, insect pests and the various parts of plants used for food--leaves, stems, buds and roots."

  • Goodbye, Mr. Roach (ca.1959) - "Detailed film about cockroaches, their habits and methods of extermination, with a harrowing sequence of roach nymphs hatching." Clemson College Extension Service.

  • Goodbye, Mrs. Ant (1959) - "The life cycle and habits of the ant, and how to control and exterminate them with insecticides. Begins with a wonderful sequence in which we hear ants screaming "We're hungry! We're hungry!"" University of Georgia, Agricultural Extension Service.

  • Hemp for Victory (1942) - "U.S. government propaganda film made during WWII touting the virtues of hemp. The film was aimed at farmers at a time when the miltary was facing a shortage of hemp, it shows how hemp is grown and processed into rope and other products."

  • The Plow that Broke the Plains (1936) - "Classic drama which details the Great Plains during the Depression. With Cinematography by Leo Hurwitz, Ralph Steiner, Paul Ivano and Paul Strand. Selected for the 1999 National Film Registry of "artistically, culturally, and socially significant" films."

  • The Southerner (1945) - "Jean Renoir's classic tale of a cotton picker (Zachary Scott) who moves his wife (Betty Field) and children to a run down farm in hopes that they can grow their own cotton and make for a better future."

  • Weed Ecology: Competition (2008) - "[Powerpoint] lecture about crop/weed competition for resources." Andrew Kniss, University of Wyoming.

  • Who Shall Reap? (1969) - "Insects or humans? Weeds, diseases, and other pestilence that confound farmers and threaten the worlds food supply."

  • Zaagkii Wings & Seeds Project: Northern Michigan teens and KBIC tribal youth protecting pollinators (2008) - "Northern Michigan teens are on a mission to protect pollinators by helping butterflies and restoring native plants to areas of the Upper Peninsula."

Bergey's manual of bacteriology


Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology
  • Use this to determine which species a bacterium is, based on its physical characteristics
  • Google Books - selected pages of current edition
  • Steenbock Library (QR81 A5) - current edition in Reference (non-circulating), current & older editions on 3-hour Reserve, and older editions on 1st floor circulate
  • Ebling Library (QW15 B4962m) - current edition in Reference, and older editions circulate
  • Plant Pathology Library (QR81 A5) - current edition in Reference, and older editions circulate
Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology
Volume 1: The archaea and the deeply branching and phototrophic bacteria
Volume 2: The proteobacteria
Volume 3: The firmicutes (new edition coming soon)
Volume 4: The bacteroidetes, planctomycetes, chlamydiae, spirochaetes, fibrobacteres, fusobacteria, acidobacteria, verrucomicrobia, dictyoglomi and gemmatimonadetes (new edition coming soon)
Volume 5: The
actinobacteria (new edition coming soon)
  • Use this if you already know genus and species
  • Current vol. 2 = Online e-book
  • Steenbock Library (QR81 B46) - current edition in Reference, current & older editions on 3-hour Reserve, and older editions on 1st floor circulate
  • Ebling Library (QW4 B496m) - older editions circulate
  • Plant Pathology Library (QR81 B46) - older editions in Reference
  • Primate Center Library (QW4 B496) - older editions circulate
Also of interest: