Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Still Going Green
In April, the LTL Blog informed readers about six new electronic books from the Sage Reference Series on Green Society (see post for 4/18/11). These titles were:
Green Business: An A-Z Guide
Green Cities: An A-Z Guide
Green Consumerism: An A-Z Guide
Green Energy: An A-Z Guide
Green Food: An A-Z Guide
Green Politics: An A-Z Guide
Today the Blog announces the addition of six more electronic titles in this series:
Green Culture: An A-Z Guide
Green Education: An A-Z Guide
Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-Z Guide
Green Health: An A-Z Guide
Green Issues and Debates: An A-Z Guide
Green Technology: An A-Z Guide
The Green Society series attempts to explore all aspects of environmentalism, and the fact that these resources are available 24/7 is a real plus to student and faculty researchers. Each title contains approximately 150 articles, photographs, numerous cross references to entries both within a specific volume and across the volumes in the series, and many lists of additional references.
For other resources related to environmentalism, be sure to check out the following LibGuides:
Environmental Science
Green Guide
Global Warming and Climate Change
Oil Spills
Energy and Alternative Energy
PO
Green Business: An A-Z Guide
Green Cities: An A-Z Guide
Green Consumerism: An A-Z Guide
Green Energy: An A-Z Guide
Green Food: An A-Z Guide
Green Politics: An A-Z Guide
Today the Blog announces the addition of six more electronic titles in this series:
Green Culture: An A-Z Guide
Green Education: An A-Z Guide
Green Ethics and Philosophy: An A-Z Guide
Green Health: An A-Z Guide
Green Issues and Debates: An A-Z Guide
Green Technology: An A-Z Guide
The Green Society series attempts to explore all aspects of environmentalism, and the fact that these resources are available 24/7 is a real plus to student and faculty researchers. Each title contains approximately 150 articles, photographs, numerous cross references to entries both within a specific volume and across the volumes in the series, and many lists of additional references.
For other resources related to environmentalism, be sure to check out the following LibGuides:
Environmental Science
Green Guide
Global Warming and Climate Change
Oil Spills
Energy and Alternative Energy
PO
Monday, June 6, 2011
All Things Presidential
The May 27 issue of the Friday Facts, an electronic newsletter published by the Indiana State Library included an interesting piece on The American Presidency Project, an online clearinghouse of information related to U.S. presidents. The site was begun in 1999 by John Woolley and Gerhard Peters, professors at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and it contains over 90,000 documents, including radio addresses, media clips, executive orders, and State of the Union Addresses. One of the website’s most interesting features is the presidential Data Archive page which has sections on such topics as Relations with Congress, Popularity, and Public Appearances. It’s good to know that this important site is included in several of Rice Library’s LibGuides, including the American Presidency, Civil Rights, and JFK.
Students of the American presidency may find a number of other useful resources available to them on the Internet as well as within Rice Library’s collections. The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States dating back to 1991 are available online, and will be an important resource for the serious researcher. Among the periodical resources available in Rice Library are such publications as Congress & the Presidency, Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, Presidency (Washington, D.C.), and Presidential Address. In the library’s Reference Collection, students will find several useful items, including Facts About the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information [REF E176.1 .K3 2009], Vital Statistics on the Presidency: George Washington to George W. Bush [REF JK518 .R34 2009], Presidential Scandals [REF E176.1 .S353 2000], and How to Research the Presidency [REF JK516 .M365 1996], to name just a few. Lastly, let me mention that a search for the subject terms “presidents” AND “united states” AND “sources” uncovers a number of interesting items, including Inside the Oval Office: The White House Tapes from FDR to Clinton [E176.1 .D73 1999], Nixon Presidential Press Conferences [E855 .N4747], The Papers of Andrew Johnson [E415.6 .J66 1967] and The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant [E660 .G74].
If you need assistance locating or using any of the resources listed above or other materials related to the American presidency, please don’t hesitate to stop by the Rice Library reference desk or contact us by telephone or e-mail (812/464-1907, toll free 800/246-6173, libref@usi.edu).
PO
Friday, May 13, 2011
Yale University Makes Digital Images of Its Art and Artifacts Available to All
On Tuesday, May 10, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Yale University had announced “that it is making digital images of objects in its many collections freely available online.” The university’s official announcement stated, “In a departure from established convention, no license will be required for the transmission of the images, and no limitations will be imposed on their use. The result is that scholars, artists, students, and citizens the world over will be able to use these collections for study, publication, teaching, and inspiration.” Currently more than 250,000 images are available, with thousands more to be made accessible in the future. All of the items are searchable through an online catalog with basic, advanced, and faceted search modes. The digital images are drawn from the following institutions: Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University Library, Yale University on iTunes U. Among the images being made available are the war bonnet of Sioux chief Red Cloud, a Mozart sonata in the composer’s own hand, an 1810 map based on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, John Turnbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a fossil of an extinct trilobite Cambropallas telesto from Morocco. Click here for a slideshow of some highlights.
P.O.
Labels:
Digital images,
Public domain,
Yale Univefrsity
Friday, April 29, 2011
Patent Searching: Necessity is the Mother of Invention, or Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force
If your research involves looking for patents, there are both subscription and free sources that you might find useful. One of the subscription sources available through Rice Library is LexisNexis® Academic (LNA). To complete a patent search in LNA, from the database’s main page open the “US Legal” section located along the left sidebar menu and click on the link labeled “Patents.” The “Patents” search screen allows you to search by keywords and phrases anywhere in the patent or limit your search to patent number, applicant name, application number, assignee, inventor, or patent title. Users may also limit the search to specific dates or date ranges and to specific patent sources, including both foreign and domestic patents.
One of the free sources which many patent hunters find useful is Google™ Patents. For those serious researchers using this source, the “Advanced Patent Search” mode is recommended. Here you are able to search by patent number, title, inventor, assignee, U.S. or international classification, document status, patent type, and issue or filing dates.
Perhaps one of the best free patent search engines is FreePatentsOnline. Users of this site are encouraged to create their own free account to make use of its full functionality and to avoid much of the advertising that clutters the result lists if the user is not logged in. The site provides multiple search methods, including both Quick and Expert modes for patent searches as well as a Chemical Search. There are also a number of value-added features, including a University Patent search, a section on Design Patents, and lists of Most Popular Patenting Companies and Most Popular Patent Topics. One of my favorite features is Patent Maps which shows graphically the patents that were awarded within specific geographic areas within the U.S. Another is Crazy Patents which does indeed include a patent for an “Apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child by centrifugal force” along with several others including “Subliminal Glasses” and “Dog Nose Art.” The site continues to add new features and functionality. Most recently it has added the full text of thousands of articles drawn from over 150 research journals. Those seeking a brief introduction to FreePatentsOnline might benefit from a tutorial developed by the MIT Libraries. This tutorial along with three others related to patents are available here.There are, of course, other useful sources for searching patent literature, including the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. For an excellent summary comparison of the features available in four of the most popular of these sources, visit the MIT Libraries’ Patents LibGuide.
For assistance with these or other Rice Library resources or service, please contact the library’s Reference Desk at 812/464-1907.
P.O.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Green From A-Z!

The library has just acquired a series of online, reference books perfect for an environment enthusiast. These guides from SAGE offer a user-friendly method for researching a wide variety of green topics.
In Green Food discover the differences among Locavores, Vegans, and Vegetarians.
What does NIMBY stand for? Find out in Green Politics.
Look into Green Cities to see which locations in the country and around the world are taking the largest initiatives to be eco-friendly.
Users can browse by subject or use a simple search box to look up topics.
There are currently 6 Green Guides in Rice Library’s collection with 6 more to come this summer. Try them out!
Green business: An A-to-Z guide
Green consumerism: An A-to-Z guide
Thursday, April 14, 2011
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:
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
- 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 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.
“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.
Friday, April 8, 2011
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.
Monday, March 14, 2011
ARTstor Mobile is Here!
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| 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!
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
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