Literature
Resource Center(Gale/InfoTrac)
vs
Literary
Reference Center (EBSCO)
|
| Jerry
Wright
Humanities Reference Librarian
 The
Literature Resource Center (GaleNet from Thomson Gale) describes
itself as a “complete literature reference database designed
for both the undergraduate and graduate student as well as the
sophisticated casual user.” At its core are reference works
I have had occasion to use and respect over the years: the Scribner
Writers series, the voluminous and continuing Dictionary of Literary
Biography, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Twentieth Century
Literary Criticism, and many other Thomson Gale products that
I have used repeatedly. Journal articles once presented in print
form only and in excerpts are now available in full text.
 The
new Literary Reference Center (EBSCO) boasts having the texts
of “over 1000 books and monographs” as well as “hundreds
of literary journals.” Reference works include Merriam Webster’s
Encyclopedia of Literature, the Bloom’s Major Novelist series
and Masterplots. Among the elements are the Magill reference works
of Salem Press, including Masterplots. As a reference librarian
I have not used these works as much or appreciated them as I have
the Thomson Gale products. The search engines are comparable.
A nice feature of the Literary Reference Center is that search
results can be limited to just journal articles or just reference
works or other types of reference materials can be singled out.
The Literary Reference Center professes its utility to high school
students and public libraries as well as to college students.
We
are fortunate that our USA patrons have access to both of these
tools through "Articles, Indexes, Databases" on the
Library homepage. |
New
Art Exhibit |
The University Library will exhibit the works of the members
of Cathedral Square Gallery (CSG) from September 1, 2006 through
the end of October. The CSG, an art cooperative of about 50
members, is located in downtown Mobile at 260 Dauphin Street.
The name of the exhibit is “West of Cathedral Square Gallery”
and will feature water colors, oils, acrylics, sculptures, and
jewelry made by the members. The opening reception will be on
Friday, September 15, 2006 from 5:00 P.M. to 6:30 P.M.
|
|
Notable
Government Documents
|
| Vicki
Tate, Head of Documents/Serials
For over the
past twenty years, Library Journal has published a list
of “Notable Government Documents” from Federal, State
and International publications, as determined by the Notable Documents
Panel from the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the
American Libraries Association (ALA).
The purpose
is to recognize excellence in government publications and to identify
government documents of distinction. For a publication to be considered
it must be prepared by or for an official governmental agency,
from the local to international level. Documents may be in any
language or format, such as print, CD-ROM, video or web publication.
Judging is based on criteria such as: the extent to which the
document “contributes to the expansion of knowledge”,
or “contributes to enhancing the quality of life or provides
information that helps the reader make informed decisions on important
issues”, as well as physical appearance, browsability, or
whether it is written in a lucid style.
The current
winners for 2005, include: “Populations Trends Along the
Coastal United States: 1980-2008” (C 55.402:C 63/3);
“Selma
to Montgomery: National Historic Trail, Alabama” (I 29.88/3:SE
4), “Dietary Guideline for Americans, 2005” (A 1.77:232/2005)
and “The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of
the U.S. Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction” (PREX 1.19:IN
8/W 37).
All of this
year’s winners for Federal publications are available for
viewing in the Government Documents Department. For more information,
see the article for the most recent winners in LIBRARY JOURNAL,
May 15, 2006, v. 131, no. 9, pg. 52-58 (available in the USA Library’s
Current Periodical area or on the web through EBSCO database). |
Notes
from Collection Management |
|
Collection
Management recently began ordering partially pre-processed books
from Baker & Taylor. Eliminating a major portion of end processing
procedures speeds the delivery of new books to the shelves. The
books arrive with targets, date due slips and the paperbacks are
laminated (a major time saver). When available, they have call
number labels already applied. We still have to stamp the books
and barcode them. There were a few wrinkles at the beginning but
there are a lot fewer problems now. We are completely caught up
with cataloging at this moment!
Collection
Management has a recently subscribed to Classification Web which
gives web access to Library of Congress classification schedules
and subject headings. This will eliminate the need for printed
LC subject heading books and classification schedules. Online
access will provide more timely and up-to-date information and
allow easier and more varied searches. Our contract allows for
1-4 concurrent users.
The search
for the Coordinator of Collection Management position continues. |
|
New
Faculty Orientation
|
|
On August
15 and 16, the Library hosted the New Faculty Orientation once
again. Fifty-three faculty members from the cohort of one hundred
and twenty-one new faculty employees attended orientation sessions
with top administrators, coordinators of the programs, and faculty
senators.
The new faculty
were briefed on the PAWS system and Student Support services,
Risk Management, Sponsored Programs and the Honors program. They
went through an overview of the Computer Support services and
Sexual Harassment training. The second and third days of the Orientation
were devoted to the instructional support services and faculty
professional development. Dr. Bill Young introduced the new faculty
to the Writing Across the Curriculum program. Dr. Alla Zakharova
got them acquainted with the Program for the Enhancement of Teaching
and Learning (PETAL) and engaged them with the discussion of such
vital issues as course syllabi, learning outcomes and objectives,
student attendance, academic integrity and assessment. Our Reference
Librarians took the new faculty on the tour around the Library
and informed them of the available resources in their respective
fields. By tradition, Dr. Brenda Litchfield wrapped up the Orientation
with a four-hour interactive teaching skills seminar at the Terrace
on the third day of the event. We welcome new faculty to the University
of South Alabama and hope they will enjoy a fulfilling career
here. |
PETAL's
Fall Schedule |
Faculty
Seminars
- reviews of teaching tools and best classroom practices in
higher education.
Roundtables
- discussions provide a pedagogical forum for professional issues
in teaching and learning.
Workshops
- designed to assist faculty in the development of their multimedia
skills and creation of novel instructional materials.
|
|
Science/Technology
Shorts
|
|
SciFinder
Scholar (End-User Searching of Chem Abstracts) for Mac Users.
Thanks to the Mac expertise of Jan Sauer and the electronic
resources expertise of Kathy Wheeler, instructions are now available
for downloading and using the SciFinder Scholar software on a Mac
OS X operating system. From SOUTHcat Plus go to the “Articles,
Indexes, Databases” page and scroll down the list of Indexes/Databases
Listed by Title until you get to SciFinder. There are instructions
available for PC as well as for OS X. Remember that SciFinder can
only be used on campus.
 ScienceDirect
Update. ScienceDirect has redesigned its website and made
several improvements. The Browse feature for journals is now on
the front page for easier access. The Quick Search feature has been
improved to allow more sophisticated searching, including by author
and journal/book title. If you are a registered user with ScienceDirect
(registration is free) and logged in, a Recent Actions section will
show recent searches run, fulltext retrieved, and journal or book
homepages viewed. There is a Quick Link feature for saved searches
and any alerts you have set up within ScienceDirect and also for
links out to the Web. To use ScienceDirect and try these and other
updated features, from homepage
choose “Articles, Indexes, Databases,” then look under
Frequently Used Index Collections.
BioOne Searching.
BioOne includes the fulltext for 72 bioscience research journals
and 1 book. In addition to the basic searching available within
BioOne itself, there is also a CSA database available, called BioOne
Abstracts and Indexes, which links to the fulltext in BioOne. To
use BioOne Abstracts and Indexes, from SOUTHcat Plus choose “Articles,
Indexes, Databases,” then scroll down the list of Indexes/Databases
listed by title. The database will allow searching in the author,
title, descriptors, and abstract fields, among others, as well as
by keywords. Search terms may be combined using Boolean operators
for more precise searching and it is possible to limit by date,
look at your search history, and set up alerts to be e-mailed to
you. All results found link directly to the fulltext in BioOne.
AccessScience:
Unfortunately, as of October 1st, we will no longer have the online
reference source AccessScience. It included the complete McGraw-Hill
Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, but is being dropped
by the Alabama Virtual Library for lack of use.
If you have questions or comments about the databases mentioned
above, or any science or technology related databases, please email
or call me (460-7025) |
|
Business
Reference -- Print to Electronic
|
| Mary
Engebretson
Head of Reference & Coordinator of Public Services
Business Reference Libarian
Over the past
years, the University Library has been converting many of our basic
business reference sources from print to electronic. There are several
advantages to electronic resources. Databases available on the web
are available to our faculty and students anywhere on and off campus.
Search capabilities are usually more powerful and frequently more
comprehensive. Also, the library saves both shelf space and the
staff time required to check-in, file, and shelve the print issues.
In addition
to LexisNexis Academic, Ebsco’s Business Source Premier, Gale/InfoTrac’s
General Business File ASAP and Business & Company Resource Center,
the library has subscribed to:
The web version of all those Moody’s manuals and handbooks.
This database provides historical information and financial data
on publicly-owned companies—U.S. and international.
The online version of the United States Tax Reporter, which consisted
of 32 loose-leaf binders, occupied 6 shelves, and took 2 to 4 hours
a week to file.
The web version of BNA’s Labor Relations Reporter. The print
version occupied more than 40 shelves and consisted of 560+ bound
volumes (going back to 1939) and 20 loose-leaf binders. The weekly
updates took at least 2 hours a week to file.
We also now have web access to Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage.
This database includes electronic versions of their print stock
reports, bond reports, industry surveys, and weekly “Outlook”
as well as a new company profiles database.
These databases
are all available through "Articles, Indexes, Databases"
on the Library homepage. |
|
Enhanced
Course Reserve
|
|
Dennis
Guion
Head of Circulation/Reserve/IMC
This Fall the University Library has improved our Course Reserve
service with the implementation of DocuTek electronic reserve software.
We are now able to provide valuable statistical information to USA
instructors.
The
University Library began offering electronic course reserve soon
after we migrated to Voyager library systems in 2000. By 2003 USA
patrons had access to 74 full text articles. This number increased
to 85 the next year. By the end of the 2004-2005 academic year,
461 items were retrievable full text from SOUTHcat, our online library
catalog. This year by the end of August we have surpassed that number
– a seven fold increase.
The
articles
and chapters the Library receive from instructors are digitized
or linked to existing online sources. Copyright compliance is carefully
followed. Books, print materials, and electronic files are placed
on reserve for the current semester then removed. Only currently
enrolled students have access to electronic reserve. Students need
to click on the link on the Library's
homepage to get to the electronic reserve collection.
Reserve materials (both print and electronic) are processed as they
are received. In general five working days are required for circulation
staff to process items. Instructors are encouraged to include a
syllabus for each class with materials on reserve. Course reserve
is a dynamic procedure. Instructors may bring in material at any
point during the semester. A detailed electronic course reserve
handout is available at the University Library Circulation Desk.
Stop by the Circ Desk for a demo any time. Contact Dennis Guion
or Mary Ann Graham for details. 251-460-7028 |
Nelda
Thornburg Retires |
Nelda Thornburg
retired on June 30th. She had worked for the library since 1967,
one of the longest-employed individuals ever to work at the University.
She remembers helping move the books into what we now call the "old"
side of the building. She plans to volunteer her time doing work
for her church, as well as keeping up with the grandkids. |
LIBLOG-The
Library's Blog |
Jan
Sauer
Instructional Services & Editor
If
you want to keep up with the changes in the Library as they happen,
click on the Blog
link on the Library's homepage. The librarians will let you know
about new resources and new services when they occur. And when
there is nothing new, we will offer you an assortment of websites
we find interesting, amusing or just plain weird. js
|
|
|
Kathy
Wheeler
Electronic Services & Mathematics Statistics Librarian
Scopus
is an indexing and abstracting database for the life sciences, health
sciences, physical sciences and social sciences. It provides citations
and abstracts for approximately 15, 0000 titles, including journal articles
and patent records. Scopus uses TDNet's link resolver to take users directly
to articles from databases to which the Libraries subscribe. Scopus also
gives the user the ability to set up alerts and create profiles.
The most
interesting feature for faculty in Scopus may be the citation tracker.
Using this, a user can choose articles and find out how many
times those articles have been cited and by whom in which articles.
Scopus
results can be exported to citation managers using the Ouput button
which allows the user to choose RefWorks direct export (USA does not subscribe
to RefWorks), RIS Format (for Procite, EndNote and Reference Manager)
and Comma Separated file (for use in a spreadsheet.) A nice feature included
in Scopus is the ability to make quick bibliographies from the Output
screen; choosing Bibliography allows the user to choose to format the
citations using one of nine bibliographic formats, including MLA
and APA. |
