Hot New Resources

New Library Procedure

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:12:00 +0000

From Wednesday, July 1st all requests for interlibrary loans (i.e. for articles and books not held by the DERM libraries)will be handled centrally in the main library in Mineral House.

From this date all the interlibrary loans should be forwarded to the following email address

ills@derm.qld.gov.au

If you have any queries about the interlibrary loans please contact Antonia Antoniou on 322 47337

Any other requests for help or for literature searches will still be handled by the staff here on level 15 in 160 Ann Street. The email address is still

library@epa.qld.gov.au

Internet security Article

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:10:00 +0000

World’s Most Dangerous Search Terms

This paper from Mcafee examines a new phenomenon — the use of search engines as a conduit for profit-driven hackers—by analyzing the risk of searching for more than 2,000 of the most popular words and phrases (“keywords”) used in search engines in 2008. The article does an excellent job breaking out the risk by category and country.

Inhabit

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:06:00 +0000

A Weblog which is devoted to the future of designing and tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future - website

Useful guides to Case law

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:03:00 +0000

OZCase

“The OzCase Project is an initiative of the Queensland University of Technology Law Library Manager. Based on the successful Case Project in the United Kingdom, permission was given by Case to utilise their ideas and formats to develop a similar Collection Collaboration within the Universities, Government Departments and Private Legal firms within South East Queensland.
The OzCase Project aims to evaluate and document the feasibility of improving library and information support for law researchers in the South East Queensland region.”

Case Law & Courts Australia

This part of the Walter Harrison Law Library guides to legal resources. It provides a comprehensive listing of Australian Commonwealth and State eResources

Courts & Case Law

This site is maintained by the State Library of Queensland and provides links to International, Canadian, UK and USA case law as well as Australian.

Lead Free Wheels

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:01:00 +0000

Background on this program that promotes alternatives to lead wheel weights, which "are used worldwide to balance vehicle tires." It notes that many of the wheel weights fall off and abrade into lead dust, "and increase the risk that lead will contaminate surface, groundwater, and drinking water supplies." Provides information about alternatives (such as zinc), listing of U.S. distributors of lead-free wheel weights, and a wheel-balancing fact sheet. From the Ecology Center.
URL: http://www.leadfreewheels.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28380

SBDS Prototype

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:59:00 +0000

SBDS, a new initiative of the National Library of Australia, will be a new discovery service focused on Australia, Australians, and items found in Australian collecting institutions. It will provide a single point of access to resources currently discoverable via the Library's multiple discovery services, and to digitised material freely available online anywhere in the world.

The primary purpose of this first prototype version is to develop the technical framework to support this new discovery service, and as far as possible ensure that the technologies we are using will provide acceptable performance, especially for record updates. The design so far is based primarily on decisions made within the project team to allow rapid development of the prototype. What is there now will form the basis for feedback, ideas for improvement, and input into the design of new features from a wide range of people.

The system is a work in progress, and we have made it available for you to follow our development as we build and improve it. The prototype will be constantly updated as it evolves into a system planned for release into production in the third quarter of this year. -- NLA

Coming to JSTOR

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:58:00 +0000

JSTOR will introduce a new "faceted search" feature in early July. The faceted search will offer a number of different options to expand and refine search results. Faceted searching and search results will allow you to easily visualize how the returned articles are distributed among categories, or “facets." For instance, with faceted search you can see how many of your results are in each discipline, how many are book reviews or full-length articles, and how many articles contain images, among other options. You'll be able to modify your search results by choosing specific facets, and all search results pages will now incorporate the facets sidebar to make modifications easier.

Websites about Colour

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 04:35:00 +0000

This is especially for those of you who missed out on the book of colour offered on the Giveaway list no 16. Here are three websites I found listed on Librarian’s Internet Index which might interest you and make up for the fact you missed out on the book.

Color Matters

"It's all about the world of color" and its physiological and psychological effects. "This site explores how color affects appetite, vision, sexuality, energy conservation, and its relationship to architecture and interior design." A passion for color and its unique characteristics led the site's author to search for answers to some puzzling questions: Does pink make strong men weak? Can colors create accidents? What colors are predominant in different cultures? Do marketers use color to influence our decisions? Browse Resources and Interact for additional questions and issues on how color really matters. Searchable.”

Causes of Color

“Explores the "fifteen causes of color derived from a variety of physical and chemical mechanisms." Features information on vibrations and simple excitations, ligand-field-effect colors, molecular orbitals, energy bands, geometrical and physical optics, colorblindness, how the eye and brain process color, early theories of color, and what animals see. Searchable”

Pantone Color Think Tank

Pantone "is known worldwide as the standard language for accurate color communication, from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer, across a variety of industries." Its "Color Think Tank" plans and chooses color palettes for businesses. Of interest to the general public are pages on color fundamentals such as how we see color, other ways to define color, how color is reproduced, and psychology of color. Also includes links to some color trend material.

JSTOR

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Staff now have access to the full-text of many journals via JStor.

You can access this resource from link in the library page devoted to eJournals.

For a full list of all the titles currently availble just click on the Browse button on the JStor home-page.

Keeping Up with the News

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 31 May 2009 22:56:00 +0000

NewsCred is free news service where you may sign up to get the latest news from a wide range of sources including The Australian and The Australian Financial Review

Access to New Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:01:00 +0000

As a result of the merger with Dept. of Natural Resources and Water, we can now offer you access to two new Informit Databases:

APA-FT (Australian Public Affairs: Full Text)

AIATSIS (Indigenous Studies Bibliography)

Australian Public Affairs - Full Text (APA-FT), is an indexing and full text database that provides Internet access to the scanned images of journal articles from published material on the social sciences and humanities. The database indexes 515 journal titles, with 223+ being comprehensively indexed. The scanned images of journal articles in Australian Public Affairs - Full Text are sourced mostly from these comprehensively indexed journals. Images are provided in PDF format.

Some of the titles which are available fulltext and may be of interest include:

Aboriginal history
Australian Aboriginal studies
Australian archaeology
Australian historical studies
Australasian j. of environmental management
Australian j. of public administration
Australian zoologist
Griffith review
J. of the Royal Historical Society of Qld
Policy
Quadrant
Queensland archaeological research

The Organic Center

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:58:00 +0000

The Organic Center is a great website that focuses on the science behind organic agricultural production. Their mission is "to generate credible, peer reviewed scientific information and communicate the verifiable benefits of organic farming and products to society." Under the "State of Science" tab at the top of the page visitors should check out the "Hot Science" section. The articles listed here will give the visitor an idea of all the aspects of organic production there are, and why they are important. For instance, articles such as "Common Insecticide Causes Neurological Deficits in Children", "Soil Quality from Long-term Organic Management Nearly Doubles Flavonoids in Organic Tomatoes" and "Hormone Growth Promoters Feed to Beef Cattle Linked to Adverse Impacts on Male Sexual Development". The "Organic Resources" tab at the top of the homepage has links to "Consumer Resources" and "Science Resources", which are loaded with links to websites regarding all aspects of organic agriculture. The "Leaders in Organics" link, also under the "Organic Resources" tab, has articles by a food scientist and by the chief marketing executive of an organic food company. Visitors interested in receiving the Organic Center's monthly e-newsletter, The Scoop, can sign up by clicking on the "News & Media" tab, and then clicking on the "Newsletter Archive" link. After signing up, visitors should browse the archives of the newsletter, which go back to the beginning of 2007. – Scout report. Volume 15, Number 15, April 17, 2009

Periodic Tables of Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:55:00 +0000

This site from the University of Nottingham is a periodic table with added interest as each description of an element is accompanied by an informative and interesting video clip such as the one on P (Lead) where we learn something about the camouflage of submarines in WWII.

Internet security

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:59:00 +0000

This week I have gathered up a couple of sites which deal with internet security

Australian Internet Security Initiative
With the rise of threats to our computers via the internet, security breaches and the continuing problems of Spam and phishing, the Australian Government has set up this initiative to help combat the problems facing all computer owners and users.

For a complete listing of Australian government site dealing with internet security
http://www.australia.gov.au/topics/it-and-communications/internet

Protecting your online Identity

With the advent of social networking there is an increasing interest in, and concerns about the identity we present on the Web. The article, “Will the real Emily please stand up” provides food for thought on this topic. It also mentions “ClaimID”, tool to help you take control of your public web face.This site contains a useful section outlining "Best practices in managing your online identity"

Simply Delicious

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 17 May 2009 22:53:00 +0000

Book now for the next Library Session

When: Friday 29th May from 10:30 to 11:30

Where: The Group Room on Level 14, 16o Ann Street

What: In this session we look at the features of Delicious with a particular focus on the Library@DERM internet subject links.

The session also covers how to set up an account of your own, to convert your current Favourites into and organised and tagged list which you can access from any computer.

There are only 8 place available so Contact the library to book a place for this session

Using Web 2.0 for Research

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:59:00 +0000

If you are looking for hard to find information particularly on recent topics then this excellent presentation from Lissa Lord at the University of Kansas provides ideas for non-print sources to retrieve relevant and up-to-date information

Environmental History Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 May 2009 23:53:00 +0000

This site is maintained by Dr Jan Oosthoek at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

It was set up to provide resources and information for students, scholars and anyone interested in all aspects of environmental history.

Introducing Environment Complete

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:30:00 +0000

When: Friday May 15 from 10:30 to 11:30

Where: Group Room, Level 14, 160 Ann Street

Places are limited.
Contact the library to book a place for this session

• Environment Complete indexes the journal literature in environmentally relevant areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.

• Environment Complete contains more than 1,957,000 records from more than journal titles going back to the 1940s as well as more than 120 monographs.

• Environment Complete also contains full text for more than 680 journals, including many of the most used journals in the discipline, such as Environment (back to 1975), Ecologist, Conservation Biology, etc. Additionally, Environment Complete provides full text for 120 monographs, such as Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (3 volumes), Advances in Water Treatment & Environmental Management, etc.

• This session is designed introduce the user to all the features of this database and to demonstrate how to set up a personal profile, select, save, and export or printout references and articles.

The Aldo Leopold Archives

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:25:00 +0000

"Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Leopold's legacy spans the disciplines of forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, restoration ecology, private land management, environmental history, literature, education, esthetics, and ethics. He is most widely known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, one of the most beloved and respected books about the environment ever published. The Leopold Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948.

Leopold was a meticulous and disciplined generator and retainer of important correspondence, memorandum, reports, and related materials. He published more than 500 articles, essays and reports and his papers contain at least 500 more unpublished essays, reports, and memorandum of significance. He also kept detailed diaries and journals of his Forest Service activity, his travels, hunting and field experience, and observations and activities at his Sand County farm. He maintained active correspondence (both outgoing and incoming) with more than a hundred professional and conservation organizations, with his many graduate students, and with hundreds of leaders in a range of scholarly disciplines, professional fields, government agencies, and conservation organizations. His papers reflect the most advanced thinking and most innovative practice across virtually the entire spectrum of natural resource conservation, policy and management in the first half of the twentieth century.

The collection has been augmented by correspondence and related materials carefully retained over the years by his mother, his wife, and other family members and professional associates; these span his entire life, but are most rich and voluminous for his early years. It also includes student notebooks and course materials from his studies in Burlington, Lawrenceville and Yale, and copies of his inspection reports on many national forests in the Southwest as well as hundreds of family photographs and photographs taken by Leopold to illustrate aspects of wildlife ecology and land management". - Information taken from the site maintained by the University of Wisconsin as part of the University's Digital Collections.

eResearch Archive

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:18:00 +0000

eRa is the gateway to to the Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries
archive of scientific and research publications

For the first time, the research output of QPIF is available to the wider online community. This output includes journal articles, book chapters, conference papers and theses. Where permission has been granted (or subscriptions permit), users viewing the eResearch Archive will be able to link directly to full text content online or download a copy free of charge.

eResearch Archive ensures the widest possible dissemination of QPIF staff research and contributes to the growing body of research literature that is now freely available online.

Publications have been submitted from a broad cross section of QPIF staff, covering areas such as Animal Science, Emerging Technologies, Fisheries, Plant Science, Horticulture and Forestry Science, Biosecurity and Industry Development.

Users can conduct a basic or advanced search or browse by subject

An Introduction to Google’s Search Engine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:35:00 +0000

This article on About.com covers all you need to know to make the most of your Google search, so if you can’t get along to the Library session have a look at this.

Nature precedings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:33:00 +0000

This is a free online resource where researchers in the life sciences can openly share preliminary findings and solicit community feedback.

Researchers can post preprint manuscripts, white papers, technical reports, posters and presentations.

Green Library

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:29:00 +0000

This is an article about the "Green" library, Cardiff's new Central Library.

The library which opened in March features "a Sedum grass roof which insulates the building in winter and prevents heat gain in the summer and also assists in the removal of CO2 and other pollutants from the air in the city centre and it is patrolled by two fearsome-looking hawks who stop birds from eating the grass seeds."

First Fleet Artwork Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:25:00 +0000

On 13 May 1787 eleven ships, now commonly referred to as The First Fleet, set sail from Portsmouth to establish a colony in New South Wales, Australia. They reached their destination on 18 January 1788, 18 years after Captain James Cook had first landed on the east coast of Australia at Botany Bay. One of the unplanned but long-lasting outcomes of this event was the large number of outstanding drawings of aboriginal people, the environment and wildlife found on arrival as well as of the early foundation of the colony.

The drawings have been arranged under 4 themes – Natural history, Ethnography, Topography and History.

Google Tips and Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Presented by DERM Library

Where: Group Room Level 14

When? 10.30 am - Friday May 1st

What: We will be looking at some tricks to make the most of your Google Searches.
Bookings are essential

Contact the library to book a place for this session
by 4.30 pm Thursday April 30