Beyond the Reference Desk

In the Kitchen: Spaghetti Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:42:00 +0000

A month or two ago, my love sent me an email with nothing but the subject heading "spaghetti bread" and a link. The link went to this recipe:

Rhodes' Braided Spaghetti Bread

http://rhodesbread.com/recipes/view/2067

I took this as a subtle hint that he wanted us to try this recipe soon.

So, this weekend we finally gave it a shot.

The verdict? A keeper!

The ingredients were readily available at the grocery store and although the process was a little time consuming, it wasn't too bad. Although, we prefer homemade sauce in our house, I cheated and used jar. (This is actually becoming a habit since we both work long days.)

The part that I found most difficult in the recipe, was when I had to slice the dough and braid it. My slices were a bit too short and thin, so I need to work on that for next time.

Otherwise, the recipe was pretty easy and we both enjoyed it very much. I served it with a side of sauce and plan to add some ground beef or sausage to it next time.

Overall, though, spaghetti bread was a winner on our dinner table and we'll probably be seeing it again in the future!

Vintage Valentines

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Source: riptheskull on Flickr, CC BY-NO 2.0

One of my favorite things to do during the month of February is to read the history of St. Valentine's Day and browse the Web for vintage valentines. I just love the designs and sayings on the historic love notes. I wish they still made them as humorous and special as they were in the past.

Are you interested in browsing vintage valentine collections? Here are two of my favorite places to go:

WVU Libraries Vintage Valentines (Digital Collection):

http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/exhibits/valentine/

Flickr Vintage Valentine Group:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/57139674@N00/

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

In the Kitchen: My Battle With Royal Icing

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:51:00 +0000

As promised, here are some pictures of the Superbowl cookies I worked on this weekend.

To be honest, I'm not very pleased with how they turned out. I baked the cut-outs Saturday morning and made the frosting in the afternoon. I made a batch of royal icing and decided that I would first frost all of the referee shirts white. After I was finished, I would move on to frosting the footballs brown and then finish off with the black icing lines on the shirts and white on the footballs.

Ugh.

This was not a good idea.

I ended up having 62 cookies to frost and by the time I finished the white on the shirts my hand was killing me. Also, I noticed that the brown and black icings were drying up since it was taking me forever to frost 62 white shirts. So, in the end, the brown on the footballs went on when it was not the correct consistency (notice how not smooth they are in the picture above?). The black frosting was also drying up and kept clogging up the tip as I was trying to pipe it out.

It was a very messy, not-so-happy situation.

Oh, and when I got to the point where I had to add the whites to the footballs? Yeah, I totally ran out of frosting. So, for the first time ever, I ran to Michael's and purchased a container of Wilton Cookie Icing. I'm a bit ashamed of doing this, but my hand was so sore and I was so cranky, that I just wasn't in the mood to make anymore frosting, fill any more piping bags, or deal with any more decorating.

So, that was my weekend baking experience.

On the plus side, the cookies did taste good. I just need to stop being such a perfectionist when it comes to my decorating. I've only just begun using royal icing and I need to remember that I still haven't jumped that learning curve. Can someone keep reminding me that? Because I tend to forget it after I spent an entire day playing "I want to be a cookie decorator when I grow up." ;)

Superbowl Baking!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:19:00 +0000

I picked up some new cookie cutters last weekend in anticipation of making some fun football related cookies for the Superbowl this weekend.

I just mixed a batch of cookie dough to refrigerate overnight.

In the morning I'll be making little footballs and referee shirts for the big game on Sunday!

I sketched some ideas out on paper earlier this week and have my designs and frosting colors planned out. I'm looking forward to a few hours of decorating tomorrow afternoon. I'll post pictures of the final cookies sometime next week!

In the Kitchen: Fresh Fast Food Weeknight Meals

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:10:00 +0000

For Christmas this year, my brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law gifted me with a copy of Cooking Light's Fresh Fast Food Weeknight Meals cookbook. I've had this book on my wishlist for quite awhile due to the fact that it was full of quick and easy meals made with fresh ingredients. (It's difficult to come up with healthy meals to make on weeknights.)

In the past month, I've cooked three recipes from the book and each one was a hit at dinner! So far we've tried: Cowboy Flank Steak, Barbeque Chicken, and Southern Camp Stew -- which I've featured below. If you're looking for a book of recipes that use 5 or less ingredients and cook in less than 15 minutes, then this is a book that you should check out. I am looking forward to trying many more of the dishes published as the year goes on!

Southern Camp Stew from "Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals"

Free full-length movies on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:02:00 +0000

I don't know how I missed this memo, but I thought I'd share in case some of you are just as out of the loop as I am. Apparently, YouTube features full-length movies -- for FREE. You can find comedies, dramas, documentaries, sci-fi, and more. I was perusing the offerings and there are some pretty good films listed. (Groundhog Day is available; how awesome is that?!)

To access the free movies, go to Youtube.com and click on MOVIES:

Next, click on the ALL CATEGORIES drop-down menu and select FREE MOVIES:

Enjoy!

Antidotes for the Publish or Perish Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:50:00 +0000

As you may guess, all things tenure-track have been on my mind lately (actually for awhile, but even more so lately). I was grateful for the Faculty Focus post this morning written by Mark J. Cooper, PhD. "Antidotes for the Publish or Perish Syndrome" has some great words of advice and I recommend it to any of you who are tenure-track. Some of my favorite quotes from the post:

"The faculty member who fails to teach outside the four walls of a university classroom closes too many teachable doors. Teaching and scholarly production are inseparable."

"It is the dispositions of the scholar that make or break the scholarship. Most faculty members hired have the knowledge and skills to successfully publish. Fewer have the dispositions to publish. In other words, talent is necessary but not sufficient. There must also be passion, initiative, persistence, perseverance, focus, determination, tenacity and the list goes on and on."

Read the post in its entirety at:
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/antidotes-for-the-publish-or-perish-syndrome/

Welcome back, booknerd!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 +0000

One of my very good friends, b, is back to blogging at booknerd.

She started the blog in January 2007 and frequently updated it with her witty, snarky book reviews. Her reviews are heart-felt, honest and if necessary, full of adult-like vocabulary. (I don't swear on the Internets, so I live vicariously through her!) As she brings her blog back to life this month, she's incorporating some additional types of content, such as her new endeavor of writing a novel.

I'd highly recommend that you stop by and dig into the archives as well as indulge in one of her recent posts, The Importance of Writing Space, where she shares an awesome web site that lets you peak into the writing spaces of a variety of authors. (It's an incredible site and you discover people writing in the tiniest and most interesting places!)

Enjoy, friends! And welcome back, b! Your fans have missed you!

Electronics Recycling Day at the Buffalo Zoo this Saturday!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:08:00 +0000

The Buffalo Zoo (my most favorite place in the entire city!) is hosting an electronics recycling program this Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 9am-2pm. Bring your old laptops, televisions, toaster ovens, etc. and if you recycle an item, you receive $1.00 off your admission to the zoo (valid the day of). The weather should be nice on Saturday, so why not take the time to start your spring cleaning and enjoy a walk around the zoo grounds!

For more details about the program, visit the news release at:

http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle-5432-Buffalo_Zoo_is_Part_of_the_Electronics_Recycling_Day_on_Saturday,_January_7,_2012

Happy recycling and giraffe feeding, friends!

Do Students Really Want eTextbooks?

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:28:00 +0000

The following article was forwarded to me this morning by a colleague. (Thanks, MW!)

Pumping the E-Brakes was published by Insider Ed late last month. The article discusses a study out of Daytona State College which shares insights from students on the use of e-textbooks. Here's a snippet from the article:

The findings of the study, in which college officials collected data through surveys and focus groups over four semesters, suggest that making the transition to electronic content could pose challenges — especially if the college tried to force the transition by giving students and faculty no choice, as some for-profit institutions have done.

“Avoid top-down mandates,” the study’s authors wrote as their top recommendation. “Institutions that require all instructors to simultaneously go e-text might be courting disaster.”

The majority of the students in the study who used exclusively e-texts came away dissatisfied. While they appreciated that there was no possibility of losing or forgetting their textbooks when they could be simply summoned to a device, the students told officials that they found it fatiguing to read off a computer screen (the students used netbooks, rather than e-readers, due to the unavailability, at the time, of certain key texts on the Amazon Kindle).

It's an interesting article. Since I began taking an active part in collection development, e-books are constantly on my mind. I am looking forward to reading future studies and continuing to learning about the needs of users as we move in the direction of adding more e-books/e-textbooks to library collections.

Christmas Cookies 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:24:00 +0000

I did a little baking last weekend. Okay, a LOT of baking. :) Anyways, I've had a lot of people ask for my recipes for the cutouts and frosting that I made.

Neither are family secrets, both are actually ones that I found online. (Thanks, Interwebs!) If you're looking for an excellent cutout recipe, see the links below.

For the dough, I recommend refrigerating it overnight. It's much easier to work with!

For the frosting, you have to keep adding water until it gets to the right consistency. You don't want the frosting to drip off of the cookies, but at the same time, you want it thin enough that it goes on nice and smooth. (For me, this was an additional 2 tablespoons of water, plus another 1/4 cup -- I'd do the math, but I haven't had my coffee yet! ;)

Happy baking and happy holidays!

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies from allrecipes.com:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/

Royal Icing from wilton.com:

http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Royal-Icing

Louvre to replace audio tours with Nintendo 3DS

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 20:21:00 +0000

This afternoon Mashable posted about the Nintendo/Louvre partnership that will bring a fresh new look to museum tours. Nintendo is creating a series of tours on the 3DS system in various languages and for multiple age levels to use as a tour guide for visitors at the Louvre. I'll be interested to read follow-up reports of this after it has been implemented.

As for implementing such a tour in an academic library, I would imagine lines of students checking out the 3DS just to run off and play video games during a study break. Which, is not bad, but totally not the point of the loan. :)

Video from Mashable.com:

The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:35:00 +0000

Trinity College Library aka The Long Room, Dublin, Ireland (via)

Flavorwire has posted images of various reading rooms in college libraries worldwide.
View "The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries in the World" at:
http://flavorwire.com/240819/the-25-most-beautiful-college-libraries-in-the-world

Aren't these just gorgeous? I had the pleasure of visiting the Trinity College Library in Dublin last year and it really is beautiful. I'd love to go on a trip around the world to see some of these other gorgeous libraries.

What are some of your favorite libraries that didn't make the list? Please share in the comments below!

Hey girl. I like the library too.

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:07:00 +0000

Have you seen http://librarianheygirl.tumblr.com/? It was shared on the Twitterverse today and made me laugh, so I had to share it with you, too.

Some of the images actually had me thinking that they could be used to promote services and resources with our students. For example:

Image source: http://librarianheygirl.tumblr.com/

Wouldn't this be a fun way to promote a leisure reading collection? It could say something like this:

"Hey girl. Did you know my film 'The Notebook' was based on a book? You can find it with other awesome popular fiction books in the leisure reading collection on the College Library 3rd floor."

If it was an image of a superhero, it might be a fun way to promote a graphic novel collection. Of course, there would probably be copyright issues to deal with to use an image of a celebrity or superhero, but it would be eye-catching, especially for our undergraduates. Random thought. :)

Okay, gotta get back to my to-do list. Have a great day, friends!

Get More Out of Google: Tips and Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:41:00 +0000

The folks at Hack College recently posted an interesting infographic. “Get More Out of Google” provides a number of tips and tricks to get the most relevant results when searching Google. I shared this on our library's social media sites and thought some of you might find it worth sharing (or learning from), too. They scored bonus points with me for adding the part at the bottom about using your library's resources for scholarly information. Those Hack College folks are pretty smart! :) Enjoy!

Created by: HackCollege

Mobile Tech in Libraries

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:11:00 +0000

While perusing my feeds this morning, I came across Elyssa Kroski's most recent presentation, "Mobile Tech in Libraries." In the presentation she shares a lot of great ideas for implementation of mobile apps, QR codes, OPACS and more in libraries and library instruction. It's a great presentation to view to get your creative thought process going!

Mobile Tech in Libraries

View more presentations from Ellyssa Kroski

The ripple effect in library instruction

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:12:00 +0000

It's been a very good teaching semester. Why? The ripple effect has taken place. The ripple effect is one of my favorite things about being an instruction librarian. When it happens, I end up with a smile on my face for weeks and I am reminded of why this career path was the perfect choice for me.

What is the ripple effect?

For instruction librarians, it goes something like this:

Monday, 8am, library instruction classroom:

Me [librarian]: "Before we begin this session, I need you to understand that this is part one. It's an introduction to the library resources. Part two is the most important. Part two is a one-on-one meeting with me. We will sit down together and work on your research. I'll teach you tips and tricks that you didn't learn in this session, plus I guarantee that you'll go home with resources for your paper."

2 days later, 6pm, my inbox:

Student [from class mentioned above]: "I would like to schedule an appointment with you for help with my research paper."

The day after the student inquires about part two, we meet for 60 minutes. We talk about his research paper, the types of questions he would like to answer, and the steps he has taken so far to find resources. He's finding some resources, but not enough. We discover that his keywords aren't producing the best results, so we sit at a table (yes, away from a computer) and begin brainstorming synonyms together - on paper. We return to the databases with new search strategies and end up finding a lot of great material. I ask the student if there is anything else that we need to cover and also suggest reviewing how to cite sources properly. (The students really struggle with this, so I find it best to offer to help them even though they rarely ask.) We end up spending a few moments looking at examples of citations and identifying the parts (e.g.: journal name, article title, database used to access, etc.). Then, we take an article that we found during our session and the student works on writing the correct citation. We wrap up the session by heading to the stacks to learn how to read call numbers. When the student is comfortable locating books on his own, I remind him to contact me if he has additional questions, needs a quick refresher, etc.

I then return to my office - with a smile. Before we parted ways, the student told me that he had no idea that we would accomplish so much. Armed with a number of new search strategies, he now felt more confident navigating the databases on his own. He also left my office with enough sources to work on his homework (2 sources, annotated were due the following morning). He planned to spend his entire evening working on his homework, but now it wouldn't take as long and he could go out with friends. (Perhaps we should start marketing ourselves as "Ask a librarian now, more time to party/watch Glee/play PS3 later?")

The student/librarian meeting described above was the start of what soon would be a full-on library instruction ripple effect. The student found the one-on-one attention beneficial and mentioned it to other students/friends in his class. Within a few days, I had three additional students, from the same class, contact me for help. Two of whom mentioned that they heard that I was "helpful", so they thought they would try setting up a meeting, too. I've met with each of those students since and received similar comments about less anxiety, grateful for taking the time to work with them, etc.

The ripple effect can go a long way in libraries. It starts with the librarian making a connection. Once the connection is made, students make the ripple effect happen. Many times it's a challenge to get going. Sometimes it won't happen for the entire academic year. But when it does, it makes you smile from ear to ear.

Now, if only I could figure out how to get every student to take advantage of a librarian consultation without having to wait for a ripple effect to occur! :)

Image Source: HappyHorizons on Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

In the Kitchen: Chicken Pot Pie Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Do you want to enjoy the tastiness of chicken pot pie, but with fewer calories? Then, this recipe is just for you! Chicken Pot Pie Soup is another delicious creation over at skinnytaste.com. It's boyfriend-approved and hearty enough that you only need a cup to fill you up rather than a full bowl. So, so good!

Hallowe'en cards of the past

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Upon sending my niece an Elmo-themed Hallowe'en card, I thought I might peruse the Web to see what types of cards may have been sent or received by my ancestors. While searching "The Commons" on Flickr, I stumbled upon a lovely collection of vintage haunted postcards digitized by the New York Public Library.

Apparently, cards showing females looking into mirrors to seek their future love (or fortune) was a popular Hallowe'en trick...or treat.

This is one of my favorites:

Happy Hallowe'en to those of you who celebrate!

In the Kitchen: Barbacoa Beef w/ Cilantro Lime Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Chipotle at home?

Yes, please!

I recently whipped up these dishes to create a yummy Sunday football time meal. It was boyfriend approved, as he even ate a second helping! (Chipotle fans will approve, too!) The barbacoa beef and cilantro lime rice dishes are both recipes from Skinnytaste.com. Yum!

Updated edition of 'Etiquette' is coming soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:54:00 +0000

For those of you whom don't know, I have an obsession with etiquette books. I love to read them and they have a special place in my heart - and on my bookshelf. Which, brings me to the best news ever -- a new edition of Emily Post's Etiquette will become available later this month! (October 18 to be exact.) I am very much looking forward to adding this book to my collection.

A bit about the book, from the Emily Post Institute:

"Introducing Emily Post's Etiquette, 18th Edition! It’s been seven years since the last edition of EmilyPost’s ETIQUETTE, and the world has changed. Seven years ago the term “social networking” didn’t exist ,everyone had a land-line, cell phones didn’t allow email access, and there was no such thing as an e-reader, iPad or Skype. These inventions have drastically altered the way people relate to each other. That’s where ETIQUETTE comes into play, as an essential tool in navigating 21st century communication."

I love seeing how etiquette changes over time. With the latest advances in technology, in particular, social networking, I'm interested to see what the great-great grandchildren of Ms. Post have to say about denying friend requests on Facebook, tweeting in public venues, and more. It's sure to be a great read!

In the Kitchen: Butter Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:13:00 +0000

I recently shared my adventure to find ingredients for a butter chicken recipe that I wanted to try in the newest addition to my cookbook collection. I thought some of you might be interested in how it turned out, so here's a little photographic evidence of my first Indian cooking adventure!

Due to copyright, I cannot share the recipe online. However, if you wish to try it, you'll find it in Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking. A spicy, delicious dish! Be sure to serve with naan bread to complete the meal :)

Keeping up with recent Facebook changes

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:20:00 +0000

I don't know about you, but it sure has been difficult for me to find some time to read about all of the new changes that Facebook announced last week at F8*. It was a busy week for me already and I really didn't have time to sit down and play around with the new interface, read articles, etc. With no time to play, I found myself frustrated by the changes and tried to avoid logging-on as much as I could. (I do monitor a page for work, so I had to log-on, make updates, check stats, etc., but as soon as I did those things I immediately signed off.)

Finally this morning, I had a few hours set aside to dedicate to reading about all of the new changes that have been implemented and also those that are coming, such as the new Timeline (currently a personal profile page). To get a good grasp on what is being done (and why), I found the following two articles very helpful:

"Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need to Know" by Chris Taylor of Mashable

"Exclusive: Inside Facebook's Bid to Reinvent Music, News and Everything" by Steven Levy of WIRED

Many of you have already read about the changes, but for those of you who haven't, I encourage you to read the two articles above. They really will help catch you up so that you can join in (if desired) on the conversation that has been blowing up many news feeds these past few days.

If you have found other helpful articles on the topic, please share in the comments below. :)

*Facebook developers conference

Fenugreek and the power of the Twitterverse

noreply@blogger.com (Bridget) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:32:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon, after the Buffalo Bills crushed the Kansas City Chiefs, I had to run out for a few quick groceries. You see, my brand new Indian cookbook arrived this weekend and I was planning to prepare my love's favorite butter chicken for dinner Monday night. I purchased this Indian cookbook over others because so many reviews noted that most of the ingredients could be found in a local grocery store. My first stop was Tops Markets. They carried all of my ingredients except for one: dried fenugreek leaves. I then went to Wegmans, since they have a large international food selection and I figured if anything, they'd have my final missing ingredient. But no, no they did not.* Lastly, I hit up an Indian grocery store near Wegmans. Nope, no fenugreek leaves there either.

After my failed search, I returned home, fenugreek-less and sad. However, I was not going to give up! So, I turned to the Twitterverse. I wrote the following:

And then I called my brother, because he's one of the smartest people I know and he knows everything about Buffalo. He immediately was in contact with an Indian friend. Within about 10 minutes my brother gave me the name of another Indian grocery store in my neighborhood and I headed out. (They had the fenugreek leaves!)

In the meantime though, the Twitterverse got a hold of my question as well. And as you know, Buffalo is the city of good neighbors, so of course I had loads of responses! Replies were coming at me left and right with suggestions! I quickly learned that fenugreek leaves are found at a variety of places, some I never even heard of! Although my brother helped me solve my problem, the Twitterverse was there for me, too. And, it came in handy that I reached out to both because when I got home from the grocery that had the leaves, I realized that the package expired ...in 2009. *sigh* So, thanks to the Twitterverse, when I go return those leaves tonight, I have three other stores to stop at - and my love will soon enjoy my first homemade Indian dish: butter chicken.

Thanks to all of the Buffalonians who chimed in with suggestions this weekend. You all rock the heezy. :)

xoxo,
Bridget

*Random note: Did you know that most grocery stores have multiple spice locations? Yes, yes, they do. And they are totally not all marked on the store directory. Sure, you go to aisle 14 for spices, but then you stroll past the healthy choice foods and find MORE spices and then go to grab some soy milk and voila! ANOTHER section of spices. Why is this necessary? Can't one type of food all be in the same place? It drives me crazy when I shop for taco shells, too. The Mexican aisle has some brands, while the rest are either on an endcap near the meat department or over in the freezer section. I end up spending more time than necessary when I find something, bump into the item cheaper in another section, and then walk all the way back 8 aisles to return the first found item. Drives me crazy.