Black History Month 

February is Black History Month, and although Black History can and should be celebrated all year long, this month we would like highlight a few of the invaluable achievements and contributions of African Americans in our profession and beyond.

Louise Butler Walker was the first African American graduate of the Information School at UW - Madison class of 1935. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Sigma Epsilon Sigma freshman honorary sorority. She worked as a young adult/children’s librarian in a public library in Wisconsin from 1954-1969 and she passed away in 2000. The Louise Elizabeth Butler Walker Memorial Diversity Fund was established by friends of the Information School in 2016 to attract a diverse workforce into the library profession.

Read about five more trail-blazing African-American librarian, and be sure to check out the list of Black History Month events happening on campus.

Make interlibrary loan (ILL) work for you

ILL for textbooks, how do I do it and when is it worth it?

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) offers free access to materials needed for coursework and scholarly research which are not currently available within the UW-Madison or UW System collections. ILL can be a wonderful option for students looking to get textbooks or supplementary texts for free that are either not available on campus or have been completely checked out.

The simplest way to use ILL is through the campus catalog. Look up the title you want in the catalog and select the item you want. Select the "See My Options" link in the Physical Availability box on the right side of the screen. Then select Request through Interlibrary Loan on the next screen. The information will auto-populate, so all you have to do is select your pick-up location. You can also access ILL at the top of the screen on the Libraries front page in case the item you're looking for is not in the catalog!

Questions such as who can use ILL and how long it takes for materials to arrive can be found on the Interlibrary Loan FAQ page.

TLAM at the iSchool: Innovation in Cultural Preservation Partnerships Panel

Join us Thursday, February 13, 2:00-3:30pm in the Bunge Room, 4207 Helen C. White Hall!

This panel discussion will focus on Ho-Chunk cultural preservation projects from the Hoocąk Waaziija Haci Language Division and the Ho-Chunk Nation Museum and Cultural Center, as well as the transformative partnerships with the Tribal Libraries, Archives, and Museum (TLAM) students in this work. The discussion will include the process of developing cultural humility in professional work.

Panelists include:

• Omar Poler, American Indian Curriculum Services Coordinator, School of Education
• George Greendeer, Project Specialist, Hoocąk Waaziija Haci Language Division
• Josie Lee, Director, Ho-Chunk Nation Museum and Cultural Center
• Kristen Maples and Amy Sampson, TLAM students

The panel will be moderated by TLAM Student Group Officers Kristen Whitson and Danielle Fulwiler. Refreshments will be provided. This event is sponsored by an Our Shared Future Heritage Marker Grant. For more information, visit https://oursharedfuture.wisc.edu.

Surviving winter in Wisconsin

Part 2: How to travel safely when the world is against you

We're back with part 2 with special contributions from readers like YOU!

• Hunker down. If you can avoid going out into potentially hazardous conditions, stay home. Even if the conditions are fine, consider staying home anyway. (That’s our motto!)
• Dress for the weather you have, not the weather you want. Always ask yourself, if you had to spend more time outside than anticipated, would you be safe?
• If you’re walking:
  • Consider investing in YakTrax. From what we hear, “they're less than $20 and can just be slipped on to the bottom of your shoes or boots, and massively improve your traction on ice or snow. Wear them walking around campus on mornings where the sidewalks haven't quite been sufficiently salted yet, and especially wear them if you're walking on a slope or shoveling a sidewalk or driveway.” We’re looking at you, Bascom Hill...
• If you're busing:
  • Plan your trip. Check Google Maps for significant bus delays.
  • Prepare to get cozy. Anticipate crowded buses on popular routes, but look at the bright side, everyone is warm!
• If you're driving:
  • Start your car often. Especially if you don’t drive it much, go out and start it once a week. Let it run for 10-20 minutes. This will prevent the cold from draining your battery. Car batteries and Wisconsin winters are not friends.
  • Keep your gas tank full or above half a tank. This is super important because your gas can and will freeze! 
  • Invest in winter tires if possible. We know, this is a pricey recommendation, but winter tires make a huge difference in your traction in cold, icey, and snowy conditions. As our contributor acknowledges, “yes, it'll cost a lot up front, and you'll have to keep switching [your tires] out every fall and spring, but it'll be a lot cheaper than fixing your car - or you! - after an accident.”
  • Things to keep in your car: 
    • Cell phone charger and emergency roadside assistance information. Because let's be real, we'd much rather call for help than possibly dig ourselves out of a literal ditch.
    • Ice scraper/brush. Unfortunately, you will not get very far if you can’t see through your icy windshield. Word on the street (get it?!) is that a credit card will work in a pinch.
    • Extra windshield wiper fluid. Keeping your windshield clear of salt and grime for more than 2 minutes is sometimes impossible in the winter. Never be stuck without extra. 
    • Small shovel and kitty litter or sand. You never know when you will need to dig yourself out or create your own traction.
    • Blanket/extra winter clothing. At some point you might get stuck in your car for a period of time. It is important to have other sources of heat. 
    • Flashlight. What if your phone dies and you slide off the road? You may need a source of light. (Also, extra batteries might be helpful.)
    • Jumper cables. Let’s not forget about the friendship between car batteries and Wisconsin winters. Be sure to check your owner's manual before trying to jump your car or someone else's!

Wherever you're going in whatever the weather, never leave home without snacks! Stay safe out there, friends.

Pets of the iSchool Library

Why do leap years exist?

Leap day occurs (almost) every four years on February 29th. This prevents our calendar from getting completely out of whack with the seasons. (Except where climate change has something to say about it...)

But did ya' know? By a trick of the Gregorian calendar, which marks the length of a solar year, during every century year divisible by 100 but NOT divisible by 400, we actually SKIP leap day. This allows us to make up the 11 minutes difference between 365.242216 days (the actual length of a solar year) and 365.25 days! This means in 2100, we won't add a February 29th.

Leap day carries with it all kinds of superstitions and interesting traditions. We recommend celebrating by watching the 2010 classic Amy Adams film, Leap Day, and reading up on leap day traditions and superstitions from around the world!

What the heck's happening in Library Land?

The LIS world has been in the news a lot lately, and by golly, who would we be if we weren't here to hook you up with some good old fashioned information? From local to national news, here's some news that might interest you.

• Our Shared Future - What it means to our campus (UW-Madison Libraries)
• Missouri could jail librarians for lending 'age-inappropriate' books (The Guardian)
• Local librarian takes stand against promoting controversial ‘American Dirt’ novel (The Monitor)
• The erasure of political history at the National Archives (The New Yorker)
• Americans went to the library more often than the movies in 2019 (Smithsonian Magazine)
• 4 million cards. 4,000 drawers. And a whole lot of paper cuts. A coalition of book lovers rushes to save U-Va.'s card catalogue (The Washington Post)

Upcoming Conferences & Events

• Innovation in Cultural Preservation Partnerships Panel, Thursday, February 13, 2:00-3:30pm in the Bunge Room, 4207 Helen C. White Hall

Other event info

• Check out upcoming events at the iSchool on the UW-Madison events calendar: http://today.wisc.edu/events/tag/ischool
• Information Today maintains an excellent conference calendar that includes many national, international, and online events: http://www.infotoday.com/calendar.asp