In the Bag

I haven't met a Librarian who isn't a bibliophile. In the interest of bibliophilia and sustainability, rebound-designs makes bags formed from old books.

You will find bags with book titles such as: Botany, Popular Science 10, Management: Theory and Practice, Carpenter's Geographical Reader: Africa ... and many more.

Other sustainable bag ideas include:
Messenger bags made of old vinya billboards from Vy & Elle
Handbags woven out of candy wrappers from Ecoist
Plastic-bag purses from EcoChicInc
Duct-tape totes from MiMi Marie
... and solar handbags that can recharge your cell phone from Solarjo

Do Elephants Run?

Veterinarian Confirms Elephants Do Run...Kind Of
[by Sara Goudarzi, LiveScience / Fox News (8.22.06)]

When John Hutchinson, now at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London, was in graduate school, it was still an open question whether an elephant moving at high speeds could be considered to be running.

Hutchinson's new study finds that, although they're no greyhounds or cheetahs, fast-moving elephants have a springy step that qualifies them as runners within the animal world.

"No one knew," Hutchinson said. "But as the largest land animals, elephants were a study group that we needed to know more about, in order to interpret how dinosaurs might have moved, and uncover the basic rules about how giant land animals move."

Click here for entirety of article.

This research appears in the current issue of BBSRC Business, a magazine published by Britain's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

"Elephant Speed and Gait: The Locomotor Mechanics of the Largest Living Land Animal" by J.R. Hutchinson, Royal Veterinary College.

Photo credit: Young elephant steps out at Whipsnade Wild Animal Park while cameras record the movement on the disc shaped markers on its legs and back. John Hutchinson, Royal Veterinary College

Bat Rabies

Bat Rabies Threat Rises with Summer Temperatures
[Ben Harder, National Geographic News]

The so-called dog days of summer—a muggy stretch from early July to early September—might also be called the season's bat days in the United States.

This is the period when the flitting critters most frequently turn up in attics, bedrooms, and camp cabins across the country, sometimes carrying rabies.

A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, says that 46 percent of U.S. rabies cases in humans are caused by bites or scratches from infected bats—more than the 31 percent attributed to dogs.

Five of every six infections from bats occur between July and September, and the frequency peaks in August.

While the threat of rabies provokes fear, transmission from bats is actually rare, according to the Austin, Texas-based nonprofit Bat Conservation International. Only 48 confirmed cases of rabies from bats have occurred in the United States in the past 55 years, the group reports.

But recent bat activity at a Girl Scouts camp in Virginia's Loudoun County caused health authorities to offer rabies shots to nearly a thousand campers—and brought the bat-rabies connection strongly to the public eye.

More than two dozen campers will reportedly receive the preventive treatment, a series of six to nine shots given over a month. Such shots are often administered even when people have not been conclusively bitten, says biologist Barbara French of the bat conservation group. Doctors and health officials tend to err on the side of caution, because the rabies virus becomes incurable once a victim displays symptoms and can kill in as little as ten days after that.

August's Bat Days
Bats disappear from much of the U.S. during colder months, either hibernating or migrating south for the winter.

It's the summer months that provide plenty of good reasons for bats to be out and about, experts say.

"The majority of the bats in the U.S. are insect eating," French said. "Their food supply is most abundant in the late spring and early summer."

Pregnant females give birth around that time. By July or August most of the babies finish nursing and begin to leave the roost. But the young fliers aren't yet skilled at navigating. "They're much more likely than other bats to end up in the wrong place"—like someone's bedroom—"this time of year," French said.

Furthermore, people's summertime behavior, such as leaving windows open at night to cool their homes, can invite unintentional encounters.

"An ill bat could find its way into a house that would otherwise be shut," said Charles E. Rupprecht, who heads the rabies program at CDC. Some kids and other vacationers spend the summer in rustic cabins that have structural holes large enough for bats to squeeze through, he adds.

"Camps are ideal roosts," Rupprecht noted. In effect, "people are inviting themselves into the bats' house. You're invading the bats' domain." He urges people to exercise common sense and, for instance, not pick up a sick or wounded bat. "Some people make the mistake of wanting to take care of it," he said.

But simply seeing a bat in one's home isn't usually cause for alarm.
"People sometimes mistakenly believe you couldn't feel a bat bite," French said.
"I've had lots of bat bites, and they hurt. They feel like sharp needle jabs. Any conscious adult is going to know if they're bitten."

Bat bites don't always leave a mark on the skin, so experts worry about possible rabies transmission when a person awakens to find a bat in his or her room.

Unattended children, mentally disabled people, or intoxicated adults might also not notice or properly report a bat bite.

Heat Waves and Hot Zones
Although some people have speculated that intense heat drives more bats indoors, there's probably no link between the recent incident in Virginia and this summer's heat wave, experts say.

But if summers continue to become consistently warmer, it could conceivably increase the frequency of human contact with bats.

That's in part because vampire bats, which now occupy tropical parts of Mexico, might move north under the right conditions, the CDC's Rupprecht says.

"You have to have the right kind of habitat—rain forest-type habitat," French, of Bat Conservation International, noted. "[But] there are just too many factors to say if that could happen." If blood-feeding bats were to spread north, French's hometown of Austin might be among the places they'd end up.

"This is the place, of course, where we have 1.5 million bats right in the heart of the city," she said. "We have the biggest urban bat colony in the world." And, she added, "we've never had a rabies case here."

For more information:
Bat Conservation International
Brookfield Zoo Library SWAN catalogue [QL 737.C5]

Image: Hoary Bat forBat Conservation International by Merlin D. Tuttle

Avian Flu - Public Forum @ Brookfield Zoo

The Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, is partnering with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), and Cook County Department of Public Health to host a lecture regarding the latest information about avian influenza. The free public forum will be held at Brookfield Zoo’s Discovery Center on Thursday, August 10, at 7:00 p.m.

Presenters during the evening are John Herrmann, DVM, MPH, of the UIUC’s College of Veterinary Medicine; Joanna Shisler, PhD, of UIUC’s College of Medicine, Department of Microbiology; Catherine Counard, MD, MPH, assistant medical director of Communicable Disease Control for the Cook County Department of Public Health; and Tom Meehan, DVM, director of veterinary services for the Chicago Zoological Society.

This informative lecture will feature an overview of the avian flu virus, how animals contract it, what it would take for humans to become infected, what can be done to prevent its spread, and the precautions in place should an outbreak occur. Following the presentation, there will be a question and answer session.

Registration is not required. Those attending the lecture should enter the zoo via the south gate entrance, which is located off First Avenue near Riverside-Brookfield High School. For further information about the public forum, call Brookfield Zoo at (708) 485-0263, ext. 351.

The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS) has been a leader in working with public and private partners to study wildlife disease ecology. More than a decade ago, CZS developed support for a program in which the University of Illinois veterinary pathologists study wildlife disease in Cook County. In 1999 the Society joined the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine to form the Conservation Medicine Center of Chicago (CMCC). This collaboration was established to study the relationship among animal health, human health, and our changing global environment.

The mission of the Chicago Zoological Society is to inspire conservation leadership by connecting people with wildlife and nature. Open every day of the year, the zoo is located off First Avenue between the Stevenson (I-55) and Eisenhower (I-290) expressways and is also accessible via the Tri-State Tollway (I-294), Metra commuter line, CTA, and PACE bus service. Brookfield Zoo is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer M/F/D/V. For more information about Brookfield Zoo, visit www.BrookfieldZoo.org.

WorldCat.org

WorldCat is the world's largest library network!

WorldCat libraries are dedicated to providing access to their free resources on the Web, where most people start their search for information.

At the heart of WorldCat is a database of information about the things libraries own that is constantly updated by information professionals. Whether you're searching for something yourself or a librarian is working on your behalf, WorldCat makes it easier to find and obtain reliable, validated information.

WorldCat's coverage is both deep and wide. You can search for popular books, music CDs and videos—all of the physical items you're used to getting from libraries. You can also link to many new kinds of digital content, such as downloadable audiobooks you can listen to on many portable MP3 players. You may additionally find authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; abstracts and full-text articles; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public. Because WorldCat libraries serve diverse communities in dozens of countries, resources are available in many languages.

This Web site lets you find an item of interest and then locate a library near you that owns it. WorldCat search results usually link you directly to the item record on the library's Web site, and often point to the library's other online services, including "Ask a Librarian." The library's Web site may allow you to join a waiting list, reserve an item, check it out and even have it shipped or delivered. These services will vary from one library to another, and a login associated with an active library membership is commonly required to use them.

Click on WorldCat to discover the worldwide network of libraries!

Sustainable Tourism Database

The Sustainable Tourism Resource Database
Source: North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation

"The North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation's Sustainable Tourism Resource Database is a searchable online database containing information on tourism services and facilities in North America that link tourism activities with the conservation of natural areas." Depending upon where you look, you can find all sorts of statistics about ecotourism and its share of the overall tourism market worldwide.

The whole topic is not without its share of controversy. Long story short: While ecotourism can bring in badly needed income to developing countries that have few other resources, it may result in undesirable environmental and cultural impacts. Also, ecotourism, nature-based travel and sustainable tourism are not all the same.

According to a Sustainable Tourism Info-Sheet found via the WWW Virtual Library on Urban and Environmental Management: Ecotourism is "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people." Sometimes it is defined as a sub-category of sustainable tourism or a segment of the larger nature tourism market.

While nature-based tourism is just travel to natural places, ecotourism provides local benefits - environmentally, culturally and economically. A nature-based tourist may just go bird watching; an ecotourist goes bird watching with a local guide, stays in a locally operated ecolodge and contributes to the local economy.

Sustainable Tourism embraces all segments of the industry with guidelines and criteria that seek to reduce environmental impacts, particularly the use of non-renewable resources, using measurable benchmarks, and to improve tourism's contribution to sustainable development and environmental conservation.

The Sustainable Tourism Database "includes over 50 certification schemes, guidelines, codes of conduct or charters that are relevant to the sustainable tourism market in North America." In the left navigation frame, you'll see the various topics; click the small plus signs to expand the topics until you find what you want. Note that these are divided into four main categories:

1. "Activity-specific codes of conduct which comprise principles for either the tourist engaged in a specific activity or for the tour operator who is involved in showcasing the activity."

Example: American Birding Association Code of Birding Ethics

2. "Certification programs or lodging associations, that list the criteria for third party certification programs and/or 'green' lodging associations."

Example: Sample Guidelines and Ideas for Guestrooms from the Green Hotels Association

3. "Global/general codes of conduct, principles and charters that are either developed at a global scale or general scope that can be applied to any destination worldwide."

Example: Dos and Don'ts for Environmentally Conscious Eco-Tourists from the World Resources Institute

4. "Region specific codes of conduct and guidelines that relate to a specific geographic area location or geologic setting."

Example: 8 Ecotourism Guidelines from the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association

Related Resources:
Conservation International: Ecotourism
The International Ecotourism Society Online Library
National Geographic Society Center for Sustainable Destinations
Nature Conservancy: Nature Ecotourism and Conservation Sustainable
Tourism (WWW Virtual Library) United Nations Environmental Programme
Sustainable Tourism Home Page
World Tourism Organization: Sustainable Development of Tourism

Shirl Kennedy, ResourceShelf

Mammal Species of the World

Mammal Species of the World (MSW) is the online version of the important Wilson and Reeder text published in 1993 plus subsequent updates. Compiled by a team of international experts under the auspices of the American Society of Mammalogists, MSW is considered an authoritative checklist of all recognized mammal species.

MSW is a database of mammalian taxonomy and can be used as a convenient on-line reference for identifying or verifying recognized scientific names and for taxonomic research. The names are organized in a hierarchy that includes Order, Family, Subfamily, Genus and Species. Records include the following fields:

• Scientific name
• Author's name and year described
• Original publication citation
• Original name
• Common name
• Type Species
• Type Locality
• Distribution
• Comments
• Status

Species recognized in this database are limited to existing or recently extinct species (possibly alive during the preceding 500 years); in instances where the persistence of a species is doubtful, the comment field so indicates. Scientific names applied to domesticated mammals, and to the natural ancestors of domesticated forms, are the earliest valid names as called for by the Code of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1985).

An updated Third Edition of Mammal Species of the World was published late in 2005:

Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (eds). 2005. Mammal Species of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp. (Available from Johns Hopkins University Press, 1-800-537-5487 or (410) 516-6900 http://www.press.jhu.edu/.)