Oberlin College Science Library

Just a few parting shots from the Science Library. 

Above, a portion of a book display for Black History Month, “Celebrating Black achievement in science, and highlighting the need to continue to diversify STEM education and disciplines.”

Below, new journal issues continue to be received in print - not as many as were received just a year ago, for sure, as we rely on online access.  But plenty of good reading here!

Books on the popular science reading shelves, seen below, beckon!  Winter Term is a fine time to read beyond the syllabus and explore new ideas.

Look for future posts from the Science Library on the various social media channels of Oberlin College Libraries:  Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and the Libraries news feed.

Don’t hesitate to ask us to scan a chapter or two from a book or send a pdf of a journal article.  Request items using the Interlibrary Loan option described in the image above or email the science library.  slibrary at oberlin.edu

Freely available in PDF or HTML formats.  "Climate change negotiations have failed the world. Despite more than thirty years of high-level, global talks on climate change, we are still seeing carbon emissions rise dramatically. This edited volume, comprising leading and emerging scholars and climate activists from around the world, takes a critical look at what has gone wrong and what is to be done to create more decisive action.” (publisher’s statement)

Apollo 11 Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, sometimes referred to as “the forgotten astronaut” of that historic moon mission, died this week after a battle with cancer. Listen to the NPR remembrance on All Things Considered, April 28, 2021.

The photo above of Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong (left) with pilots Michael Collins (center) and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (right) is from Moon Missions: Mankind’s first voyages to another world. Read about the Apollo space missions in this or one of the books pictured below: 

All Things Considered (ATC) included this wonderful quote from Collins, on his recollections of the Apollo 11 mission: "The thing I remember most is the view of planet Earth from a great distance...Tiny. Very shiny. Blue and white. Bright. Beautiful. Serene and fragile."  See the ATC story for more photos and memories.

Books pictured above: 

Apollo: The epic journey to the moon.

Apollo: The definitive sourcebook. also an ebook.

Pictured here are just four ebooks among the hundreds of sustainable-related titles online (including at least one major encyclopedia, shown above) accessible through OBIS.  This is part of our “access without borders” approach, provided with library subscriptions and our consortium agreements (hurray for OhioLINK!).  A gift to the OC Libraries today, during All in for Oberlin, will help us continue to serve up sustainable literature, sustainably.  It’s a great way to celebrate Earth Day!

Pictured above: 

Encyclopedia of food security and sustainability.

Renewable energy: international perspectives on sustainability.

Sustainable development goals and institutions of higher education.

It’s a tiny fraction of what we used to get, but print subscriptions keep arriving; one way we are sustainably All in for Oberlin! Dutifully recorded and displayed, with the firm conviction that more people will - post-pandemic - arrive and safely browse the collection.

Why do we do this?  Because scientific knowledge and public awareness of science are both enhanced when we read reputable reports of research from trusted, unbiased sources -- from sources that are understandable, clearly written, and accurately cite other reputable sources.  

Looking beyond your typical boundaries, being open to new and unasked questions, is fertile ground for scientific exploration.  Give yourself a few minutes of leafing through a journal, in print, in the quiet comfort of the science library, and there’s no telling what light bulbs might go off.  Come on in.

Looking westward on the path around the Morgan Street reservoir, just as the sun breaks through clouds.  Hmm, might have to crawl under that low limb.

All of the trees with fresh spring foliage sag under the weight of mid-April snow. The ducks were unfazed.

April often brings a last blast of winter.  This blast has the path around the old Oberlin reservoir completely blocked by sagging tree limbs.

What does all of this have to do with the library, you ask?  Not much!  Just enjoying a bit of nature observation.  Did you know “snow” is a Library of Congress subject heading? True. Try it in OBIS.  My favorite result of this search: 

Neuroscience Seminar: Dr. Ghazaleh Sadri-Vakili, Mass General Institute for Neurodegeneration Disease

Friday, April 16, 2021

12pm via Zoom: tinyurl.com/NSCIseminar

“Targeting tau mitigates mitochondrial fragmentation and oxidative stress in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)”

from The Global Vaccine Poem 

Heard on WKSU this morning.  Well worth a moment to listen!

Image: a portion of the community poem, beginning “Dear Vaccine”

From the WKSU website: “Kent State's Wick Poetry Center has joined with the University of Arizona's Poetry Center to offer a collaborative poem that encourages people around the world to share their feelings of the pandemic and the opportunity to finally get vaccinated through verse. The 'Global Vaccine Poem' was inspired by a decade-old Wick Poetry Center activity that allows community members to respond to one another in stanzas to create one collective poem, Director David Hassler said.”

Two Biology Seminars This Week! Both at 12:20pm:

Wed., March 24. Samantha St. Clair. “Passing gas in the mammalian respiratory system”

Fri., March 26. Kevin Scriber. “The function of mitosis versus meiosis, the structure and role of chromosomes, and the significance of data they carry”

Here is a quick introduction to the respiratory system, from JoVE (video, access through OBIS).

Just in case you need a refresher on mitosis and meiosis, JoVe offers these introductory videos, accessible through OBIS: Cell Division and What is Meiosis?

For more in-depth consideration of topics related to these seminars, try these scholarly ebooks: 

Respiratory biology of animals: evolutionary and functional morphology / Steven F. Perry, Markus Lambertz, Anke Schmitz. Oxford University Press, 2019

Biology Lecture: Maggie Amsler on Antarctica

“Antarctica’s Marine Web of Life Spanning the Subtidal to the Deep Sea,” presentation by Maggie Amsler, researcher in the department of biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

Join the lecture on Zoom, open to all: oberlin.zoom.us/j/81355441498

4:40 pm Thursday, March 11, 2021

By way of a bit of background reading, check out:  Lost Antarctica : adventures in a disappearing land / James McClintock

Antarctic ecosystems : environmental contamination, climate change, and human impact / R. Bargagli  also online

The last ocean : Antarctica's Ross Sea project : saving the most pristine ecosystem on earth / John Weller