National Library Week is a time to recognize what libraries and the people who work in them do for communities, even in the online age. It’s also a perfect time to identify the difference between information that is available only through expensive library subscriptions and that which is available free via the Internet.
These days, isn’t all information just a click away, one might ask? The correct answer is actually both yes and no. While the Internet offers an unbelievable wealth of free information, there still are lots of valuable copyrighted resources that must be purchased or subscribed to in order to access. Libraries do that subscribing and collecting for you. Just as librarians in Alexandria did many years ago, librarians today still are charged with the critical evaluation of materials and the budgeting for, purchasing and organizing of those materials.
For example, two or three hundred years from now researchers might need to obtain a list of those who paid property taxes in our community way back in 2008. Another future researcher may need to learn the bandwidth of Internet delivery typical in 2008. We cannot leave the archiving and organization of human knowledge to ever-changing "web pages" but must entrust these tasks to those trained in selecting, organizing, and retaining library and information materials, that is, to librarians and their dedicated support staff.
The Elton S. Karrmann Library exists to support the curricula and the teaching and research needs of our students, faculty and staff. Every day the Karrmann Library joins a consortium of UW System libraries to lend and borrow materials and to provide access to online and printed copyrighted journal articles and books — covering centuries of human knowledge and copyright dates.
Your library also offers you the assistance of a trained professional at the Reference Desk on the main floor to help with your research, including access to more than 130 subscription databases for full text articles, books and more!
Tests in Print is now available online through the library’s subscription. Widely recognized as a premier resource, this title has been offered by the library since 1961.
Produced by the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements at the University of Nebraska, Tests in Print (TIP) is a comprehensive list of commercially available tests that are currently in print in English. For each test the following information is given: purpose, publisher, price, intended population, administration time, date, and authors. A score index identifies what is being measured by the test, and TIP leads users to professional reviews of tests published in the companion resource, Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY), which is also available online through the EBSCOhost vendor. Tests in Print and MMY are considered indispensable references for professionals interested in the critical issues of tests and testing, especially in the fields of education, psychology, and business.
Access TIP and MMY through the library’s web page. Click "Journal Indexes, full text and more..."
Please remind your students that the library offers extended hours before and during exam time. That means the library is open even more than the nearly 100 hours each week it is typically open!
How to Retire Successfully from the Wisconsin Retirement System
Shelved on the library’s Main Floor with the call number: Ref HQ1062 .H6
Reviewed by Kay Young
Not just for those close to retirement age but also for those just beginning their careers, this book is a helpful planning guide for anyone employed by the State of Wisconsin. The book is loaded with practical suggestions and statistics, and the Karrmann Library offers the latest edition available.
While it is a general guide and cannot address all individual circumstances, this title is meant to help an employee determine what questions to ask as retirement time draws near. By making the reader more educated about the issues, this book may reduce the number of hours a person needs to pay experts like certified financial planners, investment brokers, attorneys, or other professionals.
Author Dorie Geniesse notes, "My personal opinion about retirement planning is that you should plan for your earliest retirement date possible. Then, if you can afford to retire but choose to work because you love your work, you can."
Addressed are: personal assumptions, life expectancy, expenses, health and life insurance, taxes, psychological aspects of retirement, sources of income, estates and wills, and a checklist of what to do on a time line.
Kay Young, Editor
608.342.1134
young@uwplatt.edu