The phrase "carbon footprint" seems to turn up a lot lately. I heard it again this morning on NPR as they were talking about travel- which form of transportation creates the smallest carbon footprint.
On the web site Time for Changethe they define a carbon footprint as "The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)".
A Definition of Carbon Footprint offers a slightly different definition : "The carbon footprint is a measure of the exclusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product."
In GALILEO the Oxford English Dictionary notes "carbon footprint n. the impact on the environment of carbon dioxide emitted as a result of human activity, esp. consumption of fossil fuels; a measure of this for a particular individual, organization, or community; cf. FOOTPRINT n. ". The OED gives useage from 1999 - which is what I was really looking for- how long has the phrase been in use.
Oh, trains create the smallest carbon footprint for long distance travel.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Crunch
Do you know a second language? I'm not talking French or Spanish but the language of your business? Each profession has buzz words to define their tasks. When your automobile needs work - do you play charades and make funny noises to illustrate what is happening under the hood?
Check out Automobile Repair Reference Center in GALILEO.
There is a tab at the far right for Troubleshooting that outlines what could be wrong with a car. The language they use is almost novice friendly but they do refer to an engine "turning over" when talking about having trouble starting the motor. For those of us who have no idea how a car works that might create pictures of a B-B-Que spit and the motor slowly rotating.
Check out the ARRC and see what they have to offer.
You can get the current password to access GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.
Check out Automobile Repair Reference Center in GALILEO.
There is a tab at the far right for Troubleshooting that outlines what could be wrong with a car. The language they use is almost novice friendly but they do refer to an engine "turning over" when talking about having trouble starting the motor. For those of us who have no idea how a car works that might create pictures of a B-B-Que spit and the motor slowly rotating.
Check out the ARRC and see what they have to offer.
You can get the current password to access GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.
Monday, October 08, 2007
What did you read?
Last week ALA (and librarians around the country) celebrated the Freedom to Read. Did you go find a challenged book to see what all the fuss was about?
I used to show students Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (PZ7 .S8177 SY 1980) by William Steig as an example of a challenged book. One does need to be aware of the cultural sensitivities when a book was published to begin to understand why someone would challenge it. Sylvester was originally published in 1969. Mr. Steig used animals as the characters. The family were donkeys. Neighbors were pigs, cats, and dogs. The police were pigs - friendly looking but still in the animal form of pigs. And yes, the late sixties, portraying the police as pigs was inflammatory to some. I personally doubt Mr. Steig had that in mind.
We are truly blessed in the access we have to information in multiple formats (print and electronic) and multiple places that we can go to get the information (internet, libraries, and bookstores).
Read often- for fun and for enlightenment!
I used to show students Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (PZ7 .S8177 SY 1980) by William Steig as an example of a challenged book. One does need to be aware of the cultural sensitivities when a book was published to begin to understand why someone would challenge it. Sylvester was originally published in 1969. Mr. Steig used animals as the characters. The family were donkeys. Neighbors were pigs, cats, and dogs. The police were pigs - friendly looking but still in the animal form of pigs. And yes, the late sixties, portraying the police as pigs was inflammatory to some. I personally doubt Mr. Steig had that in mind.
We are truly blessed in the access we have to information in multiple formats (print and electronic) and multiple places that we can go to get the information (internet, libraries, and bookstores).
Read often- for fun and for enlightenment!
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