Monday, March 14, 2011

ARTstor Mobile is Here!

http://help.artstor.org/wiki/index.php/ARTstor_Mobile
All 1,000,000+ images from the ARTstor Digital Library are now accessible through iPad, iPhone, and the iPod Touch to registered ARTstor users.

ARTstor Mobile provides read-only features such as searching, browsing, zooming, and viewing saved image groups.  Also try the new Flashcard View, which allows you to test your knowledge by viewing the image without textual information, and then flipping the image to reveal the image record.

There's no need to dowload special software, just go to ARTstor from your mobile device.  ARTstor Mobile is only available through the Safari browser; for more details visit ARTstor's Help page.

PO

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Statistical Abstract--something for everyone!

Perusing the 2011 Statistical Abstract

(copied from the Feb. 28, 2011 posting to GovernmentBookTalk http://govbooktalk.gpo.gov/)

Can a blog about Government books not talk about Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract? I don’t think so. The 2011 edition is now available and, as usual, it’s filled with all kinds of data that tell us who and what we are as a nation and a people. Of course, many of its tables have appeared in edition after edition, but I like to focus on those that seem most in tune with current concerns and interests. After all, the Abstract’s ability to remain relevant accounts for its longevity (since 1878!)

Take, for example, Table 191, Insufficient Rest or Sleep by Number of Days and Selected Characteristics: 2008. I’m writing this on a Monday morning and feeling as if I haven’t had sufficient sleep since the late 1980s. You can’t get any more relevant than that! Data that seems ripped from the headlines is in Table 336, Financial Crimes: 2003 to 2009. Corporate fraud, securities and commodities fraud, mass marketing fraud…you get the picture.

There’s a lot of more upbeat information, too. Table 295 tells us that more and more Americans are receiving degrees every year, while Table 1237 indicates how many of us are turning out for the arts – something personally cheering for me is that 7.8 million people went to a jazz concert in 2008.

Family debt, manufacturing, national security, international statistics – there doesn’t seem to be anything that the Statistical Abstract doesn’t cover. At more than 1,000 pages, it’s an America watcher’s dream. You can lose yourself in its pages here, get a personal copy here, or peruse it in a library. Meanwhile, let me see if I can find anything on book blogs…

MM

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Oh, The Research You Can Do With EBSCOhost!

You probably have a favorite EBSCOhost database where you go day-in and day-out for your research needs, but you may not know about all the great features provided in that database.

Rice Library’s latest LibGuide, EBSCOhost Databases, unveils all the ways to take advantage of EBSCOhost’s resources though a series of online tutorials and an in-depth factsheet. Some of the features discussed in this LibGuide include:

Personal Accounts: Create your own account to save searches and results, create customized folders, and share resources with other account users.

Controlled Vocabulary: Discover the search terms unique to each database for subject searching.

Limiters/Expanders: Learn about all the many methods to narrow or broaden searches.

Cited References: Find out just how much influence an author or article has had in their field.

Alerts: Produce reminders for the latest issues of your favorite journals and rerun searches for long-term research.
Once you learn about all these features, you’ll never know how you did research without them!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Journal Articles...for...Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

OK, cheesy reference to the movie "Bedtime Stories" aside, Rice Library Reference Team has published a new LibGuide called Open Access Resources.  It was created to aid Rice Library patrons in locating free, open source journals and other resources for all disciplines, plus pages dedicated to specific resources including: institutional repositories, theses/dissertations, books, manuscripts, popular magazines, and more.

Open access resources are documents and links freely accessible through the World Wide Web.  Many authors and scholars consent to free, unrestricted access and dissemination of their scholarly works.  Many of these works are published in open access journals such as those listed in our Open Access Resources LibGuide.

We hope you find the resources found in this LibGuide useful to your research, and welcome you to use all of our other 200+ LibGuides as well.  They, like the Open Access Resources, are also...for... Freeeeeeeeeeeeee!

BR

Monday, January 17, 2011

New Biographies in Literature Online Database

The latest release of Literature Online sees the addition of 36 new or revised biographies, including biographies for Gillian Beer, Robert Bridges, Bernard Cornwell, Harper Lee, Michael Palin, Frank Spicer, Frank Topping and William Hale White.  Literature Online now contains over 4,500 biographies.  Author biograhies are specially commissioned for Literature Online,and give an authoritative and accessible overview of the author's life, work, and critical reception.  These biographies can be found by following links from Author Pages, by using Search: Criciticism & Reference, or simply by entering an author's name in Quick Search.

Literature Online now contains over 19,000 author records.  Each of our author records contains at least one of the following:  an authoritative and accessible biography, full-text of the author's works, a comprehensive bibliogrpahy of primary works or a list of full-text critical and reference materials relating to the author.  Author records can be accessed by searching in the Search: Authors or Search: Texts pages or from the Quick Search feature from any page.

Did you know that free training for Literature Online is available at www.proquest.com/training?

P.O.

Monday, January 10, 2011

SAGE Advice for Researchers

As part of our ongoing commitment to meet the needs of students and faculty around the clock, the library has recently added online encyclopedia titles in a variety of disciplines from SAGE publications. Accessible through the catalog 24/7, these scholarly sources will help researchers of all levels start or supplement their work. Each title’s opening page includes links to information about the editorial board and contributors, as well as to a lengthy introduction to topic coverage and treatment. Users can browse by broad topic or do an advanced search. Which title will work for YOU? (You might find more than one!)

Encyclopedia of social movement media  features 250 essays on the varied experiences of social movement media globally in the 20th and 21st centuries. Thematic essays address selected issues such as human rights media, indigenous peoples' media, and environmentalist media, and on key concepts widely used in the field such as alternative media, citizens' media, and community media. The encyclopedia engages with all communication media: broadcasting, print, cinema, the Internet, popular song, street theatre, graffiti, and dance.

Encyclopedia of identity seeks to explore myriad ways in which we define ourselves in our daily lives. Comprising 300 entries, it offers readers an opportunity to understand identity as a socially constructed phenomenon - a dynamic process both public and private, shaped by past experiences and present circumstances, and evolving over time. Offering a broad, comprehensive overview of the definitions, politics, manifestations, concepts, and ideas related to identity, the entries include short biographies of major thinkers and leaders, as well as discussions of events, personalities, and concepts. This title is designed for readers to grasp the nature and breadth of identity as a psychological, social, anthropological, and popular idea.

Encyclopedia of research design At its heart, research might be described as a formalized approach toward problem solving, thinking, and acquiring knowledge—the success of which depends upon clearly defined objectives and appropriate choice of statistical tools, tests, and analysis to meet a project’s objectives. With more than 500 entries, this encyclopedia explains how to make decisions about research design, undertake research projects in an ethical manner, interpret and draw valid inferences from data, and evaluate experiment design strategies and results. Two additional features carry this encyclopedia far above other works in the field: bibliographic entries devoted to significant articles in the history of research design and reviews of contemporary tools, such as software and statistical procedures, used to analyze results.

Encyclopedia of law and higher education is a compendium of information that tells the story of law and higher education from a variety of perspectives. As many of the entries in this encyclopedia reflect, the editor and contributors have sought to place legal issues in perspective so that students of higher education and the law can inform policy makers and practitioners about the meaning and status of the law and also raise questions for future research as they seek to improve the quality of learning for all.

Encyclopedia of health services research Health services research is a highly multidisciplinary field, including such areas as health administration, health economics, medical sociology, medicine, political science, public health, and public policy. This is the first single reference source to capture the diversity and complexity of the field. More than 400 entries investigate the relationship between the factors of cost, quality, and access to healthcare and their impact upon medical outcomes such as death, disability, disease, discomfort, and dissatisfaction with care.

JRA

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Study Break


As students (and faculty) move further into the thick of semester finals, the need for study breaks is greater than ever. You have worked extra hard this entire semester, especially these last few weeks. Take some time to relax, recharge, and to celebrate a job well done with a well-deserved study break!
Be sure to visit the Rice Library information wall, located just around the corner from the Checkout desk. Here you will find an assortment of reader’s guides and DVD lists to help you find that perfect “brain needs rest” escape.

The reader’s guide lists include:

• Adventure and Humor Fiction

• History and Biography Fiction

• Mystery and Suspense Fiction

• Science Fiction and Horror Fiction

• Autobiographies and Memoirs

• Recommended Titles from Rice Library Staff

• Diversity Fiction

• Religious and Cross-Cultural

• Audio Books

If it is a DVD you desire, check out our guides for:

• Weekend Entertainment

• AFI Top 100 Movies

• Movies “Based on the Book”

• Movies and music CD’s already set out for the quick “grab and go.”

Once you find a title to your liking, find all of the audio books, DVD’s, CD’s, and paperbacks on the first floor of Rice Library. Most fiction books will be located on the fourth floor; the reader’s guides will provide the call number for each item.

The Rice Library Information Wall also includes all of the following; Please feel free to help yourself:

• library/campus maps and information

• research guides and how-to’s

• citation “cheat sheets” for APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian

• career guides and resource lists.

The Rice Library Reference Team would like to wish all of our students our sincerest best wishes as you wrap up the fall semester, and a very Happy Holiday to all Rice Library patrons!

BR


Monday, November 15, 2010

24/7 Assistance With Lexis-Nexis Database

Welcome news for faculty users: LexisNexis has extended its 24 X 7 telephone support service to faculty. The service has been available to librarians for many years. Far more than a tech support center, the LexisNexis Customer Support team includes subject area specialists who can answer questions about content and help with search strategies. To use the service, you simply need to identify yourself as a faculty member from the University of Southern Indiana.

We hope that you will take advantage of this service and encourage your colleagues to use it for advanced content or search strategy questions.

The Customer Support number is 1-800-897-3419 and it operates around the clock.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Local History On Demand

Did you know you can listen and watch interviews with Eleanor Roosevelt?

Or watch Robert F. Kennedy give a speech in Muncie, Indiana?

Looking for artifacts or letters from important figures in American history such as Abraham Lincoln, Eugene Debs, Gus Grissom, or Amelia Earhart?

How about historical research? Are you interested in reading letters, land grants, or telegraphs logs from the Civil War?

You might say, “Well, of course, the world wide web has infinite materials.” But did you know all these things can be found in local libraries, archives and historical societies across the state?

There are more wonderful collections being made available today in ways that were not possible until now. Even just a few short years ago the most researchers, or enthusiasts, could hope was a finding aid or catalog record online. Thanks to technological advances in image software programs not only are these tools available but in many cases images of the primary sources can be uploaded. These are formatted to give an experience similar to seeing the actual item or reading the text in person.

So warm up the finger tips, grab your favorite beverage, drinks are allowed on this library trip, and take a little virtual tour that will give a glimpse of some of the larger, or more unique collections available around the corner and throughout the state.

Local History On Demand

Monday, November 1, 2010

Don't Let DOIs Leave You DOA

With the publication of the sixth edition of the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual, authors are required, if possible, to include a DOI with each journal article citation in their lists of references.  This chanage has prompted a series of questions with many Rice Library users:
1.  What's a DOI?  DOI stands for digital object identifier and is a permanent, unique alpha-numeric string assigned by the publisher and used to locate a document online.
2.  Where can DOIs be found?  Users may sometimes find DOIs included in the information given in a database's citation/abstract for the article.  At other times DOIs may be located either at the top or bottom on the first page of a journal article (print or online).  Sometimes the DOI is preceded by the letters DOI; at other times it is not.
3.  How are journal articles cited if there is no DOI?  According to the Publication Manual, if no DOI can be found, the author should cite the journal's web page, preceded by the phrase "Retrieved from".

A journal article that includes a DOI might look like this (with double-spacing and hanging indention, of course):

Borman, W. C. (2005).  Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor performance.  Journal of Applied Pschology, 78, 443-449.  doi:  10.1037/0021-9010.78.3.443

Whereas, one without a DOI might look like this (also with double-spacing and hanging indention):

Hamilton, C.  (1992).  A way of seeing:  Culture as political expression in the works of C.L.R. James.  Journal of Black Studies, 22, 429-443.  Retrieved from http://jbs.sagepub.com/

Students wanting to investigate the use of DOIs more thoroughly may find this tutorial available on the Database Tutorials / PsycINFO LibGuide helpful:  DOIs and How To Find Them in a Record.

For additional help in citing sources according to the APA Publication Manual, see the How To Cite Your Sources LibGuide.

PO