Ohrstrom Blog » Earth Day

New Reference Book: The Business of Sustainability

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:00:18 +0000

The Business of Sustainability edited by Chris Laszlo, et al. Berkshire, 2010.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 363.7 B455S

Volume 2 of a larger, projected, 10 volume set titled Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability. This volume, numbered 2 in the set, focuses on concepts, subjects and people related to the “interface between industry and society” (intro, xxii). Examples include:

Cradle to Cradle
Energy Industries – Geothermal
Greenwashing
Health Care Industry
Transparency
Zero Waste

Helpful for: Ecology, Global Studies, Eco-Action, Environmental Literature and Ethics, Earth Day, Humanities, Economics

New Reference Book: Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy

Lura Sanborn — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:00:34 +0000

Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy edited by J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman, Gale, 2009.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 363.7 C13E

A 2-volume set focused on concepts, subjects and people related to environmental ethics and philosophy. Examples include:

Caves
Economic Discounting
Evolutionary Psychology
Habitat Loss
Tragedy of the Commons
Wilderness

Helpful for: Ecology, Global Studies, Eco-Action, Environmental Literature and Ethics, Humanities

Earth Day Banners at Ohrstrom Library

Lisa Laughy — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:12:44 +0000

Kevin Barry – Library Director

Earth Day activities moved indoors due to rainy conditions, but that didn’t interfere with plans to make banners for Ohrstrom Library. Students who signed up for the “Great Books” project were given the challenge of choosing environmentally themed books from Ohrstrom’s collection and then designing a large-scale painted canvas banner to express that book’s message. The results of this combined effort are the four magnificent 10’ x 3’ Earth Day bookmark/banners now hanging proudly from the second floor balcony down into the Baker Reading Room in Ohrstrom Library. These works are nothing short of dazzling.

On your next walk across school grounds stop by Ohrstrom and marvel at what the “Great Books” team created in just a few short hours during the Earth Day celebration at SPS. Here are some pictures of the finished banners hanging in the library. Please come by and see them in person – You won’t believe your eyes!

Very special thanks to the following students for their enthusiasm for the “Great Books” project:

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. By Michael Pollan.
Students: Adele Xu, Stephanie O’Connell, Michelle Lee, Billy Kim, Emily Laackman

The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World. By Jacques Cousteau and Susan Schiefelbein.
Students: Claire Branch, Olivia Moore, Lucy Bass

Walden. By Henry David Thoreau.
Students: Ga Hye (Caroline) Kim, Elsa M. Henderson, Sarah Brockett

The Lorax. By Dr. Seuss.
Students: Caroline Yost, Claire Stanton, Katherine Robinson

Special Note of Thanks to Adult Participants: Ms. Laughy, Mrs. Reider and Mrs. Wardrop.

New Reference Books: Earth Day Edition

Deb Baker — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:00:13 +0000

Here are two new reference books in Ohrstrom Library’s collection with special significance for Earth Day:

Human Development Report 2007/2008 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), director and lead author Kevin Watkins, 2007.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: Ref. 303.44 Un3 2007/2008

UNDP’s annual report measures the health, welfare, economic and physical security and well being of people in 175 UN member nations plus Hong Kong and the Palestinian Territories, as well as the status of international treaties on human rights, the environment, and labor. Each year, the report opens with an extensive analysis of a key international development issue, and this year’s focus is climate change and the responses, projected outcomes, and potential impact on human development around the world. Both cautionary and hopeful, this is a useful and fascinating read.

HELPFUL FOR: Leadership for Social Justice, Topics in Global Events

FUN FOR: global citizens, Eco-Action members, debaters, future pundits and policy wonks, tree huggers, activists, voters

Deb Baker – Interim Reference Librarian

The Facts on File Dictionary of Environmental Science by Bruce C. Wyman and L. Harold Stevenson, Facts On File, 3rd ed., 2007.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF REF 363.7 W98

Over 4,000 terms are defined, including: nuclear winter, silviculture, and ethanol.

Several appendixes conclude the volume, including: environmental acronyms, plastic recycling codes & earth, atmosphere and water statistics.

Helpful for: Ecology, Eco-Action, Earth Day.

Lura Sanborn- Reference Librarian

Periodical Picks: Earth Day 2009

Lisa Laughy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:16:02 +0000

Patti Lynn - Library Assistant, Periodicals

In honor of the upcoming Earth Day Celebration Ohrstrom Library would like to highlight two environmental magazines in the periodicals collection. First up is The Ecologist, a magazine that proclaims itself to be “The world’s leading environmental magazine”. The Ecologist is published in London, but it features articles that are universally relevant. In the April issue, “Sick as a pig” focuses on the rise in antibiotic resistance that is being transferred from farm animals to humans. Another article, “Possum or polar bear” cautions that polar bears are not the only species facing threats from global warming. In fact, there are many tropical species suffering from rising global temperatures. The Ecologist is published ten times a year, and an online version is available at www.theecologist.org.

Wildlife Conservation published by the Wildlife Conservation Society is another interesting environmental magazine available in the Library. Published six times a year, it features articles detailing on-going research and conservation efforts worldwide. Articles from the most recent issue include “The Great Barranquero City of El Condor” which details efforts to save the nesting area of the world’s largest parrot colony along the South Atlantic shore in Argentina. In “The secret family life of cougars” you can read about scientists who are using GPS technology and DNA analysis to track the movements of cougar “families”.

Take a moment and browse the back issues of these two journals. Both are filled with thought provoking articles and stunning photography.