Book Shelf

Book Review

Have you read an informative and interesting book or article about nature, the environment, or sustainability? Let us know the title, author, and provide a brief description. The following books are recommended by members of your campus community.

Cradle to Cradle:  Remaking the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.  North Point Press.  2002.  This book questions the "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that creates waste and pollution, and explains how "products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new."

Turning the Tide:  Saving the Chesapeake Bay, by Tom Horton, Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  Island Press.  2003.  "In 1991, Island Press published Turning the Tide, a unique and accessible examination of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.  This new edition of Turning the Tide makes a vital contribution to the effort to restore the Bay.  It addresses new developments of the past decade and examines the factors that will have the most significant effects of the health of the Bay in the coming years."

Diet for a New America:  How Your Food Choices Affect your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth, by John Robbins.  H.J.Kramer.  1987.  This book focuses on how our eating habits impact our health and the environment and suggests that one of the most important things we can do for the environment is to reconsider our food choices.  The book is highly recommended by many campus employees.

Greening the College Curriculum: A Guide to Environmental Teaching in the Liberal Arts; edited by Jonathan Collett and Stephen Karakashian. Island Press. 1996. This book is a collection of chapters presented by different authors that looks at ways to include environmental literacy across the curriculum.  Chapters on Economics, Philosophy, Geography, History, and more, provide perspectives on how to "mainstream" environmental education.

Farewell to Fossil Fuels: Reviewing America's Energy Policy, by Sidney Borowitz. Plenum Publishing Corporation. 1999. This book does an excellent job of teaching about energy in a very interesting way. There are chapters on the fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, and oil) and on the sustainable energy alternatives (wind, solar, biomass, fuel cells) along with an examination of existing energy policies.

Ecodemia: Campus Environmental Stewardship at the Turn of the 21st Century, By Julian Keniry.  National Wildlife Federation. 1995. This book provides stories and examples of how colleges and universities across the United States have altered their campus operations in response to growing environmental awareness.  

Earth Odyssey: Around the World in Search of Our Environmental Future, by Mark Hertsgaard. This compelling book takes the reader on a thought-provoking tour around the world with this local author. Read his insights as he experiences first hand the environmental impacts of technology, agriculture, politics around the world.  

Librarian Recommendations

The following is a list of environmentally-related web sites and library resources recommended by campus librarians. Contact a research librarian at the campus library for more information.

Architecture and Community
http://csf.colorado.edu/sustainability/community.html
A bibliography of sustainable architecture resources in communities throughout the United States. Many of the sites show how sustainable practices are enforced and the results.

Blanchard, J.R. & L. Farrell, eds. Guides to Sources for Agricultural and Biological Research. U.S. National Agricultural Library. University of California Press. 1981-.
An annotated bibliography of resources in 9 subject areas subdivided. "Areas covered are agriculture and biology, plant sciences, crop protection, animal sciences, physical science, social sciences, food and nutrition, environmental science and computerized database for research." Indexed by author, subject and title. Appendix includes acronyms and abbreviations, information network and depositories.

Centre for Economic and Social Studies on the Environment.
http://www.ulb.ac.be/ceese/
An online bibliography of data and web sites about the environment. The focus is qualitative and quantitative evaluation and measurement of environmental issues. The fields of study are energy and air pollution, sustainable development, economic instruments and environmental management.
This site is in two languages, English and French.

Ecological Enterprise Inc. The EnvironmentalSustainability.info Source . Wisconsin, 1999.
http://www.environmentalsustainability.info/
This site provides "over 3000 links to full text searches of Internet content, and news."
Topics covered are sustainability, ocean, air, land, water and regions. There is an overwhelming amount of information. It would take a long time to get through it all. It is best to search by keyword rather than links.

Effland, Anne B. & Mry Gold. Women in Agriculture and Rural Life: An International Bibliography. U.S.D.A., 1998.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/wia/women.htm
A bibliography of women in agriculture. The arrangement is by country or profession. The resources are print, electronic, web based and multimedia.

Environlink.org The Online Environmental Community.
http://www.envirolink.org/
Environlink offers current information and news on environmental issues. It is a non-profit organization that promotes a sustainable society and gathers resources to inform groups and individuals. The site is divided into links for topics, regions (using an atlas), categories and keyword or zip code and city searching and a forum. There is a newsletter that can be subscribed to. The site is well organized; articles are short showing contributors names and references (often). The site has a lot of depth.

Environmental RouteNet. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts.
http://www.csa.com/routenet/newaccess.html
Environmental databases and information sources are available from this Internet source.
Environment related information is found in news articles, electronic and web based journals, abstract databases, newsletters and web sites.
Access in available through a paid subscription.

Indiana University Bloomington Libraries. International Information Resources on the Environment: Agenda 21 and Earth Summits.
http://www.indiana.edu/~libgpd/envir/agenda.html
The university library has put together a bibliography of online resources of the International summits on environmental issues. The information dates back to 1992. The "comments section" gives an annotation of the resource.

Weiskel, Timothy. "Topics in Environmental Ethics." 1998.
http://ecoethics.net/bib/1998/eeca-002.htm
A bibliography focused on resources on ethics and resource management. All sources are print. A source for reviews of ethics. This source provides access to important information for students.

World Foundation for Environment and Development. Bibliography: Biodiversity Access and Benefit Sharing. 2001.
http://www.wfed.org/resources/bibs/
This bibliography was created to "improve access to literature concerning biodiversity access and benefit sharing." The citations cover a wide range of subjects in ecology.
All sources are print.

National Wildlife Federation. Conservation Directory 2002. 47th edition. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2002.
www.nwf.org
Descriptive listing of U.S. and state government agencies, non-government organizations, non-profit organizations, international government agencies, regional organizations, commissions and educational institutions (with programs). The book is divided into sections beginning with Congressional Committees.
The extent of information varies consisting of the organization name, address, phone number, membership, scope, contacts and date of establishment. There is a special section for "federally protected areas". The various indexes, i.e. organization, keyword, staff name, geographic permit information to be readily found. This publication would be of benefit to any library or patron.

Collett, Jonathan & Stephen Karakashian. Greening the College Curriculum: A Guide to Environmental Teaching in Liberal Arts. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
Twelve chapters of ideas on educating the college community. Useful resources, course plans and ways to incorporate environmental programs, films, and organizations. There is a lack of indexing. A practical source to use in introductory environmental courses.

Lampkin, Nicholas. Organic Farming.
This British agricultural economist explains the "scientific principles and techniques in organic farming." The following areas are covered livestock husbandry, weed control and the economic and physical effects of organic farming.
This 750 page book is divided into chapters by category.

Mirovitskaya, Natalia & William Ascher, ed. Guide to Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2001.
This work provides information on the subjects of environmental laws, issues and debates. Terminology is defined, issues are addressed and agendas and conferences are highlighted. A global view of the topic is taken. "The subjects are arranged in broad topics making it necessary to have a working knowledge in the field. The is a comprehensive index, cross references and an extensive bibliography."

Student Conservation Association. The Guide to Graduate Environmental Programs. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
An overview of 150 American graduate schools and 400 programs. "The profiles give brief descriptions of schools, program information, faculty and admissions contacts, program facts and areas of specialization. The coverage is limited but the information is very detailed." Informative reference tool for students in the field.

Brown, Deni. New Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2001.
Brief descriptions of the history, continental cultivation, design of gardens and use of herbs. Plants and variants are described in terms of flavor, size, color, habit and cropping. It contains a glossary and an index by subject and common names; a list of herb gardens (that can be visited) and a bibliography. This is a hands-on users guide with vivid photographs.

Calow, Peter, ed. Blackwell's Concise Encyclopedia of Ecology. Massachusetts: Blackwell Science, 1999.
"The concentrated subjects in this source are ecology, population and community ecology, behavioral ecology, soil, climate and water. This comprehensive encyclopedia has over 2000 terms defined, fully, cross referenced and a minimal amount of technical language."

Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change. England: John Wiley Sons, 2002.
"A comprehensive reference source covering the multi-disciplinary fields of environmental science (ecology, agriculture, etc.)." A "thematic approach" that includes applications, theory and interrelationships. The content includes biographies of environmental scientist, definitions and descriptions of international terms. This is a five volume set.