A Staple for the Perfect Paper

You've researched the topic, synthesized massive amounts of information, written a thing of beauty, and grappled with citation formats.  Just one last thing to do, now that you've cranked out that awesome paper and are looking forward to an "A":

 

Finding this a little hard to read?  No problem.  Click on the picture to make it bigger.  Or we have super-sized it and put it on the wall above the staplers to facilitate your stapling experience.

Umpqua Foodways

So what are "foodways"?

Here's a definition from Wikipedia: In social science foodways are the cultural, social and economic practices relating to the production and consumption of food.

In Douglas County we have the weather and the land to support a rich variety of foodways. And the region has a long history of agriculture and ranching. The most recent and obvious development is the boom in wine grape production.

"Think local" and you'll find an abundance of good food and drink in our region and state:

“In New Food Culture, a Young Generation of Farmers Emerges” features a Corvallis, Oregon farm. New York Times, March 5, 2011.

Here are two local farms that could have been in this article:

Big Lick Farm is a family farm and CSA committed to providing high quality, naturally grown food.

OMyGato Farm is also a local CSA farm.

If anyone is on top of the local food movement, it has to be Jennifer Coalwell, who blogs regularly about local farms, foods, markets, and eateries. "Flavors of the Umpqua: Notes from a Local Kitchen" is an excellent resource. Includes recipes!

Think Local Umpqua supports and encourages all local businesses. Pick up one of the "Think Local Umpqua" directories on the new book shelf just inside the front door of the library. Their web site includes an event calendar that lists local farmers markets and the Think Local Umpqua Business Directory may be the most comprehensive guide to local food and farms. Be sure to choose "Business Type": Food/Farming/Wine and search "All".

Pick Your Own is a handy directory to several (but not all) you-pick farms in Douglas County. Complete with driving directions and produce details.

Great information about Emerald Hills Beef and Umpqua Valley Lamb comes from the Portland natural foods chain of New Seasons Markets. Locally, their beef and lamb are available at Kruse Farms.

Of course, Kruse Farms Market, Bakery, and Gift Shop offers all kinds of local produce and bakery treats, including bread from the Lighthouse Center Bakery, Cafe, and Country Store.

You can check out the growing list of wineries in "Oregon's Oldest Fine Wine Region" at the informative and comprehensive Umpqua Valley Wineries web site.


And finally, you can learn more about food, agriculture, eating, and cooking at your local library by picking up a book like Kitchen Literacy: How We lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back by Ann Vileisis.

FALL 2011 CONTEST

The FALL 2011 CONTEST is over.  20 students identified their pictures and picked up a gift certificate.  Thanks to everyone who participated!

There are about 43 recognizable faces below in this post.  The first twenty to find themselves and report to the front "Circulation" desk at the library, will win a $25 gift certificate good for anything at the UCC Bookstore.  Gift certificates are limited to the first 20!  This is our way of saying Thank You to the students who end up in our photos because they use the library (and are so photogenic!)


These pictures were mostly taken randomly on October 5, 2011, when there were over 170 people in the building. A couple of others were taken during the French Invasion last Spring and a few were shots taken recently that may have ended up on our home page. 

Take a look!  Are you there?

 

 

 

What We're Reading

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them
by Donovan Hohn (551.462 H)

Let’s say you go to the beach, and for the heck of it throw a rubber duck into the ocean. Or thousands, why not? What happens next? Where does the current take them? Could you track them? These are the questions Hohn set out to answer, and his travels take him from a beautiful remote Alaskan peninsula to the heart of a Chinese toy factory, back and forth across the Pacific. A recommended read for fans of Bill Bryson, or anyone who loves wide-ranging social histories.

My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: 40 new fairy tales
edited by Kate Bernheimer (813.54 MY)

Featuring authors like Joyce Carol Oates, Shelley Jackson, Neil Gaiman, and more, dip into this book of “new” fairy tales (most were inspired / influenced by the themes of traditional tales) to give you something to take the edge off that Harry Potter craving. Be warned, though-- these stories feature adult themes, and are quite a bit darker than your average Disneyesque adaptation.

The Mind’s Eye
Oliver Sacks (616.855 S)

What is it like, to be able to write, to play music, to comprehend individual letters...yet be unable to read? Or to be unable to recognize faces, no matter how familiar? Or to walk down a sidewalk outside one’s home, knowing a wrong turn means being impossibly lost...even after living at the same address for years? Oliver Sacks writes about people with each of these conditions with humor and insight. On being face-blind: “To me, she says, “Don’t just say no-- that’s rude and will upset people. Say, ‘I’m sorry, I am awful about recognizing people. I wouldn’t recognize my own mother.’” This is an exaggeration-- I had no trouble recognizing my parents, though I was less adept with my huge extended family.”

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: popularity, quirk theory, and why outsiders thrive after high school
Alexandra Robbins (303.324 R)

This is one of those books that everyone is talking about. Robbins’ basic theme is that many teens who feel excluded, lonely, and isolated in late middle school and high school are, paradoxically, the ones most likely to be successful later in life. In addition, she follows up the details of her study by following six teens-- given “themed” titles like “The Band Geek”-- through a year of high school, showing through interviews and stories how the traits that we would identify as “interesting” and “likable” in adults actually lead to alienation in the extremely cliquish social environment of grades 7 -12. This title is being billed as “invaluable” for teachers, schools administrators, and anyone else who works or lives with someone in this teenage Twilight Zone.

All of these titles are available at the UCC Library for your reading pleasure!

Something Fishy in the Library

Some visitors to the library just look like a fish out of water.


This one swam all the way across the library looking for a friendly face, mistaking the library director's office for a fishbowl.















Before we could reel it in offer it help it started surfing the reference books.

Lucky for us, Dr. Moore, the Vice President of Student Development and Lavera from Admissions arrived on the scene to informally grill interview the creature to find out if it was trying to become a meal student in the Culinary Arts Program or what.






























That's when it floated over to Amy who thoughtfully offered it a Reserve book, "Becoming a Master Student", and it happily took the bait book and swam off to study.


We assume it wants to transfer to our school.

Summer Grill & Wine

Would you like some cheese with that wine? How about some barbecue? Something about the summer months invites us to spend more time outside taking advantage of the great weather, tasty fresh ingredients, and longer days-- all things wine tasting and grilling are made for!

Maybe you're a grilling neophyte or a certified wine-tasting expert-- there's something for every pallet in the UCC Library's cookbook collection.

A little bit of wine, a little bit of food, and some light conversation

What to Drink with What You Eat
This helpful volume will help you decide everything from the best beverage to go with truffles to the perfect food to serve with the soda at your summer barbecue. Also great for sparking conversations: "Wine with pizza? Really?!"


The Vintner's Kitchen: celebrating the wines of Oregon
Have you ever noticed the Avocado Crostini in the photos for Rustle-Prayer Rock Vineyard while waiting for a movie to start at the cinema? Thought it looked good? Now you can learn how to make it-- and which wine goes best with it. Fruit salads, entrees, wine punches, pasta and barbecue-- this cookbook has a little of everything, and many of the recipes are from the Umpqua area.


Serious Barbecue: smoke, char, baste, & brush your way to great outdoor cooking
Adam Perry Lang studied under several culinary internships before deciding what he really wanted to do was cook things with fire-- and here he is to help you do it, too.


Perfect Pairings: a master sommelier's practical advice for partnering wine with food
Evan Goldstein provides details on the major types of wine as well as menus and recipes for food to accompany each variety. Specific labels are suggested after each recipe, and the index in the back lets you look up both "food by wine type" and "wines by food being served."


Quirky Histories

Cooking with Shakespeare
If you're heading out to the theater or down to Ashland, you're bound to work up an appetite. This historical cookbook covers what food was like in Shakespeare's time, including original recipes with modern adaptations, each with a difficulty scale.


The Texas Cowboy Cookbook
Combine grilling with history-- and savor some of the Old West in your own kitchen or backyard with this collection of cowboy meals from the 1800s through the present. Hint: it helps if you like beans.


What I Eat: around the world in 80 diets

This isn't a cookbook, exactly, but if your travel budget is stretched thin and you'd like to experience the world through food, this might be just the ticket. Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio photograph and document a typical day's worth of food for individuals around the world, from a Bangladeshi child working as a train station porter to the manager of a high-rise eatery in Canada to a sustainable farmer in Virginia. Even more interesting-- calorie counts and meal lists are provided, as well as a brief snapshot of each person's "daily routine."

Documentaries to Check Out

The next time that you are wondering what do to with some of your free time, you may want to consider checking out a documentary from the library collection. Documentaries are a wonderful way to learn about other cultures and different ways of life. They also offer the possibility of stimulating discussions. The UCC library has a wide selection of documentaries on various topics, so you are sure to find something that interests you.

If the darker side of sports is something that you would like to learn more about, then check out Blood Equity. Produced by Roman Phifer, former Denver Broncos coach, this film explores the lives of professional football players after retirement. Football enthusiasts will enjoy interviews from players like Willie Wood, Donnie Green, Daryl "Moose" Johnston, and Mike Ditka. Even those who don't follow football closely will be interested in the irony of the struggles that former NFL players face against the NFL Player's Union.

The struggles that same-sex couples face in the United States is documented in Pursuit of Equality. This culturally relevant documentary may appeal to you. The film centers around same-sex marriages that took place in San Francisco in 2004. You don't want to miss this controversial, award winning film that deals with current issues that our country faces.

If global issues are more appealing to you, then Burma VJ may be an appropriate selection. Featuring partially reconstructed and smuggled film, this documentary takes you to restricted areas to follows the uprisings against the Burmese military that took place in September of 2007.

These are just a few of the documentaries that are available at the UCC library. So try to find one that engrosses you, and you may be able to learn a few things without even leaving your sofa!