Want to Organize Your Research? You Can “Account” on Us!

Rice Library databases and the Online Catalog do more than just search indexed articles and catalogued books. For instance, did you know:

• that with EBSCOHost, ProQuest, and JStor, you can set up accounts to save your articles and searches?
• you can manage your Rice Library Catalog account anytime, anywhere online?
• that articles, books, and other items held at libraries from all over Indiana and the United States are just a few clicks from being on their way to you?

If you are able to answer “yes” to all of the questions above, well done! You should hereby consider yourself an honorary librarian!

If your answer was “no” to any or all of the questions above, read on! (Read on anyway!) : )

Each of the above-mentioned database vendors provide their users with account-creating capabilities. Creating an account with each is free and takes just a few moments. Typically, the accounts ask for you to create a username, password, and provide some contact information. Once you have created an account, you can create research folders and/or save articles. Each database vendor offers their account capabilities a little differently, but all allow users to save articles.

Of course, if a user prefers not to create an account but still wants to take action on a number of articles found in a single session, they may do so by selecting each article according to the database procedure, then clicking on the print, email, or save icons from the saved “folder view” or “my research” link.  For additional information on ways to utilize EbscoHost for your research, please see the posting below entitled, “Oh, The Research You Can Do With EBSCOhost!”  You may also want to visit the EBSCOHost LibGuide.

If, like many of us, you have ever forgotten your due date for your library books and want to check what it is, or if you want to renew your items from home, you can do both. Here is how:

1. In the top-right corner of the Rice Library online catalog, click on “Login to your Library Account.”

2. Your ID is the 14 digits on the back of your Eagle Access Card, beginning with the numbers 292.

3. Type in your last name.

4. Click on the “My Account” tab.

5. From this page, you can review all the items you have checked out with Rice Library, plus renew any items not already overdue, modify your profile information and arrange any searching preferences you might have.

6. Like the databases above, users can, without logging in, print, export, and/or email selected titles searched in any given session.

Finally, we encourage you to sign up for an Interlibrary Loan account.  You may do so by locating the "Interlibrary Loan" drop-down menu on the Rice Library home page.  From the drop-down menu, click on "ILLiad Logon;" you use your MyUSI username and password.  Once you fill out a profile page, you are eligible to request articles not available in full text from our databases, and books not in the Rice Library collection.  This opens up literally every library in Indiana, and collections from all across the United States.  To learn more about Interlibrary Loan, please visit the Interlibrary Loan LibGuide and watch the brief tutorial.

Be sure to write your account user/password information down somewhere safe and handy, then visit your saved information anytime, anywhere, at your convenience. To learn more about these and other valuable resources, please visit our Research 101 LibGuide, or ask a Rice Library Reference Librarian.

BR

New Titles Added to CREDO Reference Collection

The CREDO Reference collection continues to gain popularity among USI’s students and faculty as a good first stop for starting many research projects.  This collection also continues to grow by adding several new titles every few weeks.  Most recently the collection added five new works, including Encyclopedia of American Studies, Encyclopedia of Cremation, New Encyclopedia of the American West, and the OECD Factbook 2010:  Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics. The fifth reference book was Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece and was the database’s featured title of the month.  Here’s a description of its contents.

“Ancient Greece was the cradle of philosophy in the Western tradition.  Meet the Philosophers of Ancient Greece brings the thoughts and lives of the pioneers of Western philosophy down from their sometimes remote heights and introduces them to a modern audience.  Comprising essays written by internationally distinguished scholars in a lively and accessible style, this book presents the values, ideas, wisdom and arguments of the most significant thinkers from the world of ancient Greece.

“Commencing with Thales of Miletus and continuing to the end of the Ancient Period of philosophy by way of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Epictetus this book explores the major contributions of each philosopher as well as looking at archaeological and historical sites where they lived, worked and thought.  This book is an outstanding introduction to the world of the philosophers of Ancient Greece.”

P.O.

Doing Research at a Distance

Academic research has certainly been dramatically affected by online access to databases and digitized collections.  Even so, sometimes it becomes necessary for the serious researcher to travel geographically to a location where specialized or a larger quantity of resources are available.  For USI researchers this is much easier with the Academic Libraries of Indiana’s (ALI) Reciprocal Borrowing Program.  The program was established to promote, enhance, and facilitate research, teaching, and learning in Indiana academic institutions.  Academic libraries participating in the program agree to extend in-person borrowing privileges to faculty, staff, and students of member institutions.  To participate, the borrower needs a signed ALI Borrowers Card form the home institution library, campus identification, and a photo ID with a current address.  The ALI Borrowers Card may be acquired from Rice Library’s Checkout Counter.  There are certain limitations to the program, and the borrower is subject to the rules and regulations of the lending library.  For a complete description of the program along with a link to a printable application form, click here.  Materials borrowed from participating Indiana academic libraries may be dropped off at Rice Library’s Checkout Counter for return to the lending library.  For questions concerning the program, please contact Rice Library’s Checkout Counter at 812/464-1913.

P.O.

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

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

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!

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

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.

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

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