Mildred F. Sawyer Library Blog

Downloading ebrary eBooks To Your Device

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:29:00 +0000

Our ebrary database is our best general collection of ebooks that would be considered "monographs." That is, regular books with chapters rather than reference books with entries. (For reference books, GVRL and Sage eRef erence are two better choices.) Most of these books are part of a subscription database of over 30,000 volumes called ebrary Ac ademic Complete. But many others we have either purchased for our own library collection, or have posted to ebrary from various vendors, NGOs, government agencies, or public domain free sources.

Ebrary has a nice readable interface, similar to a standard PDF. And it has plenty of tools (some of which require setting up an individual account) like doing word searches within the book, highlighting, saving materials to a personal bookshelf, and printing chapters (within certain limits). For more, generally, on how to fully utilize ebrary, see their Quick Start Guide.

But many people want to read ebooks on their tablet, ebook reader, or on their smartphone. They don't want to be tethered to a computer. Until recently, readers of ebrary ebooks had no options in this regard. Now you do. Ebrary has launched a download function, which they are continuing to refine.

The details of this are best detailed by Amy's detailed LibGuide on the subject, since how you do the downloads and whether you can download entire books or only chapter PDFs vary from device to device.

As illustrated on the top screenshot, you will now see a download icon above the contents of ebrary ebooks. You will need to set up an account to make full use of the download functionality. Once you do, you should be able to download chapter PDFs for all books. And for those books designated to accept multiple simultaneous users, you will even be able to download the entire ebook to your personal device. Options for download will look like this:

For those books that only permit a single viewer at a time to use them, you will not be able to do a full-book download. Instead, you will see this message:

Getting this set up for the first time on your device will likely take a little time and effort. And Kindle readers are especially problematic. But do look through the tabbed pages of our guide for much more on how to use this new functionality.

Notable E-Book: Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:31:00 +0000

Sometimes, when starting a paper or speech or debate on a hot-button social topic, students are wise to start with an encyclopedia entry that provides an overview of the subject they are interested in exploring. Then, afterwards, they move on to journal literature and other research databases and statistics.

For the types of "social problems" students often choose (from their own interests or from readings in texts like the Bedford Reader), one 8 volume encyclopedia--that the library owns in paper form--called Social Issues in America has gotten a lot of use for browsing and basic research in the last few years. This is still a good first step for many students. But since this multi-volume set was published in 2006, it is useful to update it with something newer. This we have just done with a 4 volume 2011 resource available on our handy Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) interface.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues, was just published by ABC-CLIO, and it covers many of the same subject areas, from abortion to zombie computers (mentioned in the Cybercrime entry), that the earlier Sharpe Reference set discussed.

The publisher indicates that the set contains "approximately 225 in-depth entries lay out the controversies debated in the media, on campuses, in government, in boardrooms, and in homes and neighborhoods across the United States." They also indicate that "the work of almost 200 expert contributors, the Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues comprises four volumes, each devoted to a particular subject area. Volume one covers business and the economy; volume two, criminal justice; volume three, family and society; and volume four, the environment, science, and technology."

GVRL access is easy. Although you can access this (and the rest of GVRL content) from the database as a whole, if you are interested just in this new encyclopedia, it's probably easiest to simply link directly to it from our catalog record.

When you enter the landing page for this set, you can either do a keyword search, just in this publication, from the yellow search box to the left. Or, you can browse the table of contents or index (with eLinks), as well. See screenshoot below.

Once you search or select an entry, you can read it in HTML, often with links to supplementary items in the bibliography at the end of the entry. Or, you can view the entry in PDF, which looks exactly like the original volume, and prints in a more handsome form. Other tools (like getting an MLA or APA citation!) are available to the right of each HTML entry.

The great thing about GVRL is that, unlike many ebook platforms, it allows unlimited access to all content. So, if an instructor assigns an article in this or any other GVRL resource, students don't have to worry about being locked out while another student is using the material.

I should warn you that, within the month, GVRL is planning to roll out a new (and supposedly improved) platform. So some of what is described in this blog entry might change. But the over-all functionality should remain, and be even better. (We hope!)

Explore this and other new ebooks for 24/7 access to good-quality content.

Databases Worth Exploring: Ready eReference

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:53:00 +0000

It's term paper season, so remember that besides our many databases that get you good quality journal literature, and our online catalog (OPAC) that identifies electronic and good, old-fashioned paper books, we also have many sources of eReference books.

Electronic reference books are easy to cross-search and are a great way to get familiar with a topic. You can get a basic overview and background on a person, place, thing or concept. Then, once you have that grounding in the subject, and have become familiar with the common vocabulary of the field, you can more readily move on to the journal databases and do more informed searches there. Our two best collections of electronic encyclopedias and handbooks includes Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), which is a very broad-based collection of reference books from a wide variety of publishers (not just Gale).

The basic search on the opening screen works well, just put in the concept you're interested in and you can read the reference entries in either HTML or in PDF form (just look for the Adobe icon).

Are you interested in topics in the social sciences or in social aspects other disciplines? If so, then Sage eReference is a great place to do some reading.

A search for social exchange theory, gets me lots of encyclopedia and handbook entries that would help me understand the theories and the theorists behind them. Sage entries usually suggest additional key readings at the end of their signed entries. (Remember, this is not anonymous, who-knows-who-wrote-it-or-when content like what you find in Wikipedia. These entries are written by scholars whose writing has undergone rigorous editorial review. And the kind of entries you find here are much more reliable as a starting place!)

For even more basic ready reference--quick definitions and such--consider Credo Reference

Credo has dozens (and dozens) of dictionaries and basic encyclopedias in just about every topic, as well as basic English and even bilingual dictionaries, available 24/7. (Just authenticate with your name and Suffolk ID number, if you are off-campus.)

And if you are struggling to find the right word or synonym while writing your paper, Credo even has two thesauri, the Bloomsbury Thesaurus and Roget's II New Thesaurus to help you polish up your writing.

The tools are here, whenever and wherever you need them. So take advantage of this great content. And if you have questions, stop by and see us!

Recurring Reference Question: How Do I Get Economist Articles Online?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:01:00 +0000

Here's another question we get a lot. Teachers, especially in the Globalization class (SIB 101) want students to read articles from the London-based news magazine, The Economist. This is easy to do through our databases, and here's how. (And this technique would work with any journal or periodical you choose.)

First, put the name of the journal, economist, into the eJournal Locator box to the right of our homepage, as illustrated below.

When you submit this search there will be multiple listing for "economist," but the top option, Economist (London) is the one you want.

You'll note that there are several options for accessing current ("to present") issues of the The Economist. Although Gale databases, like Academic OneFile (AOF) usually get the latest issue a couple of days sooner, many people prefer to use the Ebsco database options like Academic Search Complete (ASC) and Business Source Complete (BSC). Pick whatever option you like.

If you click on Academic OneFile, the landing page will look like this:

Note that you have a couple of approaches you can take. If you want to look at ALL of a current issue, pick that issue from the link list in the middle of the screen. However, if you know that the article you want has a particular keyword in the title, or an unusual author name, you could, instead, "Search within publication" using the search box to the left. If you click on an issue, all the articles in it will be listed with a link. In that case, you can also refine and limit your search/browsing using the options in the left frame.

If you click on an Ebsco database like ASC and BSC from the eJournal Locator results, the landing page will look like the below. Similar to AOF, you have the option of either clicking on a date and expanding a list to browse complete issues OR in the upper right is a link to "Search within this publication."

If you know that the article has an unusual word silvery in the title, you might pick the "search within" option. On the search page, the journal is supplied by the database. Simply use boolean operation (that is, the word and) and add the word you want. In this case, I would add and silvery to my Economist search. As below.
I you have an uncommon word or words to look for, you might have an easy time spotting the article you need. (You can change the sort from Relevance to Date in the dark blue border, if you need to.)

That's the basic approach. I you need help, talk to us at Reference!

Notable E-Book: Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:24:00 +0000

E-Reference is great, but many people still prefer paper for browsing and reading. So it's nice when both options are available. Such is the case with a new edition of an encyclopedia that provides basic overview essays on the science, policy and social issues related to the Environment: the Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues (Salem Press, 2011).

The paper version, available in a four-volume set in our Reference stacks, "assembles information from numerous fields of knowledge relevant to the study of environmental issues, including biology, geology, anthropology, demographics, genetics, and engineering, and explains the interrelationships of these issues in easily understood terms."

A total of 775 A-Z entries are included in this revised edition. (The Law Library owns the previous edition in print.) The publisher claims that "the original essays have been evaluated for their currency, and 123 of them have been either completely replaced or substantially revised to reflect the latest information available." All articles are signed by the academics and other experts who wrote them. They cover a wide variety of topics, including endangered animal species, air pollution, national parks, environmental legislation, oil spills, alternative energy sources, and global climate change. And it's not just the great outdoors that comes under scrutiny, either. In recognition of the fact that people spend an overwhelming proportion of their time in human-made environments, essays also cover such topics as sick building syndrome, noise pollution, smog, and urban planning.

As a reviewer (who recommended it) at Choice indicates, "The breadth of coverage is exemplified by three successive entries: genetically engineered pharmaceuticals, geothermal energy, and Euell Gibbons."

The online version comes on a unified Salem Science platform. Since we also own the Forensic Science encyclopedia, you'll want to select specifically the Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues from the drop down box near the top when you go to the online website.

After making that selection, the search box below will also change to Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues and you can simply enter search terms to see a list of suggested entries. When I search polar ice I get a variety of articles from Polar Bears to Glacial Melting to Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, that might be worth looking at. (And, remember, all of our online resources run through a proxy server for off-campus access. So if you are not at a Suffolk IP, you'll need to authenticate with your name and Suffolk ID number to access the online version.)

Salem Press provides basic reference. Their entries tend to be short and simple. This is not scholarly research, so if a professor says to use academic/scholarly materials, you are advised to use journal databases like Academic Search Complete or GreenFILE, instead. (For more, consult our Environmental Science Resource Guide.)

An encyclopedia can be a useful starting point, to gain an understanding of the issues and terminology of a topic. Besides this resource, remember that Sage eReference also has several excellent encyclopedias related to environmental matters, so consider checking there, as well, when you want some introductory overviews on topics related to the environment.

Recurring Reference Question: My Teacher Wants Me to Read the Wall Street Journal Daily...How Do I Do That Without Paying for a Subscription?

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 13:27:00 +0000

Many times students come up to the desk and ask if we have the Wall Street Journal, because their professor wants them to read it every day, but they really can't afford the extra expense of a subscription to either the paper or the online version.

The answer is, of course we do! Besides getting the paper delivered, we also have digital microfilm for backfile and a ProQuest database version (current to today's date) that we pay thousands of dollars for. We maintain that expensive subscription to help our students, so take advantage of it!

Still, you do NOT want to go to wsj.com to do this. You want to come to our database files, which not only allow for on-campus access, but also allow you to authenticate through our proxy server for online access, anywhere, 24/7. (All you need do for remote use is enter your name and Suffolk ID number when prompted.)

What's the process? Let's step through it. Start by going to our Databases by Subject/Business or A-Z Database list. Click on the Wall Street Journal, but make sure that you pick the current 1984+ version and not the deep digital archive. As below.

The database starts on an Advanced Search screen because most people want to look for a topic in the paper. If you do a search for a topic (keyword, company name, person, etc.) the results will appear with the most current first. But if you want to read or browse today's paper, you probably want to take a different approach.

First click "Publications" right under the banner name of the paper, as illustrated below.

For some reason (known only to ProQuest), two options are listed. For current issues, either will do, so I just pick the top option by clicking on Wall Street Journal 1984-present

When you get to the next screen, it will offer you search options again. Or you can click through the years and dates. But if you want today's paper, the best thing to do is look for the not-that-noticeable link next to "Publication information" that allows you to View most recent issue.

This will put you into today's newspaper, presented in a page-one onward page order. You can reverse this if you like.

It sounds more complicated than it is. And although it doesn't look like the paper, all the articles are here.

Here's another tip. On the same page as the "View the most recent issue" link (see the green circle in the screenshot, one back, above), there is also an option to "Set Up Alert." Although it takes a day to receive your first alert, you can sign up to have the latest day's contents delivered to your email box. HOWEVER, the database does NOT proxyize the links to the stories, so you will only be able to click-and-access the stories ON campus....so it may not be worth bothering with.)

As always, if you have questions about this, check in with us at the Reference Desk.

Notable E-Book: Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

We have just added a very useful new online encyclopedia to our Oxford Reference Online Premium (OROP) platform. It is the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, and it is designed to provide a "broad, comparative, and multidisciplinary approach in dealing with issues that span across a multitude of countries and centuries."

This encyclopedia "presents students, researchers, political analysts, journalists, and common readers with accurate, comprehensive, and balanced scholarship on all aspects of the world's fastest-growing religion and the areas it affects: society, politics, economics, everyday life, culture, and thought."

A six-volume work (first published in print in 2009 but recently released online) constitutes a major revision and massive expansion of the 1995 Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (which is also still available here on our Reference shelves). "In addition to covering Islamic societies in the modern world from the eighteenth century to the present, as the earlier four-volume set did, it will add a depth of historical background going back to the pre-Islamic era. The new reference also covers the full geographical extent of Islam by focusing not only on the countries in which Islam is dominant, but also on regions in which Muslims live as minorities, such as Europe and the Americas."

A bit of use advice: the search engine at OROP is a bit awkward, at best. So when you do a search, and click on a promising result, pay attention to the "See Also" suggestions in the left frame, which may well be more appropriate to your research.

Quirky search engine or not, this resource is well-respected, and covers more than you might expect. A Choice review, recommending it, said "Although the primary focus of this encyclopedia is not theological, the topic of sin receives more than passing notice, as does the literary phenomenon of the Hadith; the Qur'an and its interpretation deservedly receive their due. As for modern sociological phenomena, anti-Muslim prejudice is extensively discussed...."

And what about 9/11? Yes, there is an entry. But this encyclopedia goes far beyond events and issues of the last decade. It is a worthwhile starting point for many topics, when followed up with additional books and scholarly journal articles.

New Database: Art & Architecture Complete

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Here is another example of switching out one database for another that is better, easier to use, and which has more indexing and more full-text (and even images).

We have just replaced our Wilson Art Full Text with EBSCOhost's Art & Architecture Complete This change should provide more extensive research options for NESAD-SU, Humanities, and other Sawyer Library users interested in topics related to the visual arts.

The publisher notes that "this database provides full-text coverage of more than 380 periodicals and 220 books. In addition, Art & Architecture Complete offers cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 780 academic journals, magazines and trade publications, as well as over 230 books. The database also provides selective coverage for more than 70 additional publications,and an Image Collection of over 65,000 images provided by Picture Desk and others."

Our users are well-familiar with the EBSCOhost interface and with all the useful text-linking options available on the EBSCO platform. There will be many previously unavailable options for getting scholarly articles and trade magazine content from this useful file. And although there are lots of ways to limit and refine your search on the opening screen, if you are interested just in the images, you might want to click "More" in the border and open just an image search. As illustrated below.

However, keep in mind that if it is images you are interested in, ARTstor is a much more useful image-only database. (The only downside to that resource is it doesn't work well with our proxy server and really requires that interested users register for a personal account when they are on-campus.)

Art & Architecture Complete, on the other hand, should work well off-campus, for any current Suffolk CAS/SBS user--no individual accounts required! We hope you'll take advantage of this "Complete" database the next time you have "artistic" research needs.

[Find Art & Architecture Complete on our A-Z database list, or in our Subject Database List for Literature, Arts and Humanities.]

Staff Notes: The Passing of Kristin N. Djorup

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:10:00 +0000

The start of the fall semester is always a happy and active time. We nonetheless feel the need to record the passing (suddenly, on August 18, 2011) of our former colleague and friend, Kristin N. Djorup. Kristin was a Senior Reference Librarian here at Sawyer Library for several years, and during that time Kristin also completed an MBA here at Suffolk.

Some students, many faculty and staff, and ALL of her former colleagues will remember Kristin for her intelligence, her enthusiasm, her friendly and consistently polite manner with everyone--no matter what--and her ability to put a positive spin on everything. (This latter trait could be quite exasperating for us mere mortals who have a tendency to view this crazy world with a more jaundiced eye.) Kristin saw the best in all people and situations. I sometimes questioned her view, but I never failed to admire her ability to "keep on the sunny side."

Kristin brought this positive, can-do attitude not only to her job as Manager of Library Research & Instructional Services at Babson's Horn Library, but also to her gardening, her care of her father and many pets....And also to her final fight with throat cancer.

We were expecting (and fervently hoping) that Kristin would beat her cancer. We are devastated to just learn that she did not. Still, we celebrate the warm, wonderful woman that she was and send our sympathies to her family, friends, and Babson colleagues.

Fenway Library Consortium Notes: Simmons Changes Access Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:41:00 +0000

Our Director recently received an email from the Director of the Simmons College Library indicating that Simmons, one of our Fenway Library Consortium sister schools, was changing its access hours. Here is an excerpt from that email:

"Simmons College is changing hours for building access on our Academic Campus effective August 29, 2011. This new policy impacts FLC members’ access to Beatley Library. We will be updating our website with the new hours but I wanted to give you all a heads up.

Our current policy: Simmons ID required after 8:30 pm

New policy: Simmons ID required after 7 pm weekdays, after 5 pm on Saturday and all day Sunday."

Again, this policy is due to be implemented as of August 29th. If you wish to check Simmons hours, this is their relevant webpage: http://www.simmons.edu/library/about/hours/

So, Suffolk users who wish to check out books from Simmons, please be warned of this policy change, which we regret. Please plan your research trips to Simmons accordingly. And we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this change may cause you.

Database Changes: RefWorks Goes 2.0--Gets New LibGuide

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:05:00 +0000

RefWorks, "an online research management, writing and collaboration tool...designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies," is changing its platform in the next few months. (The new version is scheduled to become the "default" interface in late October, and the "Classic," older version is scheduled to be decommissioned at the end of this year.)

For many, RefWorks is a bit daunting, and more than they want to deal with when they just want to create a simple bibliography. But for those doing a large, ongoing research project, the stored citations and bibliographies and handy export/import features of RefWorks can be very useful, indeed!

Connie (who blogged about the change earlier) has done a super new LibGuide for RefWorks 2.0, with lots of tabbed pages of useful information on how to use the tool effectively.

We are also maintaining her guide on the Classic Version until it goes away.

If you just want to build a citation from scratch and store it in a folder, you might prefer using our other bibliography tool, NoodleTools (aka NoodleBib).

And did you know that we have lots of useful librarian-written guides related to the task of creating an accurate List of Works Cited and also in utilizing the information in a citation to actually find the material in question? Here are links to a few.

Need to understand the parts of a book or periodical citation and how to track that cite in the library? Take a look at Sonia's guide, Citations: Deciphering and Using Them. It provides a clear and concise introduction to the topic.

Sonia also did a guide on Citing Your Sources - MLA Style. And Ellen authored a similar one on the other most popular citation style, Citing Your Sources - APA Style. Need an introduction to those two scholarly bib styles? Take a look.

I've also done a few guides that might be worth consulting:

Citation, Style Manual, and Grammar Resource Guide links to RefWorks and NoodleTools but also details print and online guides related to bibliography-building and to useful materials on grammar and usage.

Citation Tools in Sawyer Library Databases describes the handy tools available in quite a few of our databases that actually create the citation for you! Although the computer-generated cites should always be checked against your particular style manual, these database tools can be incredible time-savers.

And Full-Text Journal Articles: How to Track Them From a Citation shows you how to move from a bibliographic reference to the full-text of an article found at the Library. So, the next time a teacher tells you to go find this or that article from the Harvard Business Review (or some other periodical), you'll know how to do it.

We create these resources for your benefit, so we hope you make use of them!

Staff Notes: Comings and Goings

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:01:00 +0000

Newbie Lindsey (Left) gets the Eve/Weekend scoop from retiring veteran, Barbara Mann.

Sorry, Shakespeare. There is nothing sweet about the sorrow of parting. It stinks. Period. The only glimmer of comfort in saying goodbye to a beloved colleague is that it might mean that you get to incorporate a new, fabulous colleague into your work team.

That's the situation the Reference Staff is facing at the moment. We are VERY sorry to announce the retirement of our friend, Barbara Mann (right, above) from her post as Evening/Weekend Senior Reference Librarian. But we are excited to announce that Lindsey Nichols has just joined the Reference Team in the same position.

What will the dedicated and unflappable Barbara NOT miss about working here on nights and weekends? She'll be happy to no longer have to "set an alarm clock." And having to eat at "odd" times was not a plus of the job, either. She will definitely not miss fixing staplers and printers. (You might ask why an information professional has to fix staplers and printers--but if you ask that question, you have never worked at a university library!) Having to trudge home at night in cold, snowy, icy conditions was also not on Barbara's list of favorite things to do.

Still, she will, she says, really miss her co-workers and the students and faculty she has worked with here since 2003.

On the bright side, I'd like to introduce you to our our new Evening and Weekend Librarian, Lindsey Nichols. Lindsey is experienced with the challenges (or should I say vagaries) of working nights and weekends alone at Reference, as she comes to us after juggling similar part-time jobs at both Emerson and Fisher here in Boston.

I asked her to identify five surprising things that we should know about her. Here is her list:

1. She is training to run a 31 mile (50k) race by mid-November; her longest training run to date covered 28 miles.

2. She once adopted a stray Jackahuahua from an animal shelter in El Paso. Thirteen years later, the dog is still chasing squirrels around the park.

3. She is an avid birder and can tell you interesting things about woodpecker's skulls, drunken cedar waxwings, and the extinct giant flightless moas of New Zealand.

4. She lived abroad - in the Middle East and Southeast Asia - until she was 17.

5. She once made a lovely batch of butter by pouring whipping cream into a cocktail shaker.

A fascinating young woman, indeed. We welcome her and wish her well with the printers and staplers. Stop in and say hello, when you get the chance!

To Barbara we say ¡vaya con dios! and enjoy throwing out your alarm and eating those regularly scheduled meals. May they all be delicious ones.

Notable E-Book: Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Photograph from the Entry on Tornadoes.
Near Hodges, Texas, in the early evening hours of 13 May 1989.

Tornadoes recently ripping through Alabama, Missouri...and last week, even central and western Massachusetts--That's just one example of the type of meteorological event (droughts, floods, etc.) that we see and read about in the news constantly.

Severe weather seems to be on the increase, and trying to get an understanding of basic concepts and their whys and wherefores can sometimes be difficult. It's useful to be able to consult a resource that provides a solid, clearly written overview of a topic, but which comes from a respected and reliable publisher. For matters related to climatic and weather subjects, we have just added a new eEncyclopedia that might prove useful. It is the second (2011) edition of Oxford University Press's Encyclopedia of Climate & Weather.

The encyclopedia claims to provide "a comprehensive history" of the topic with over 330 entries, many added, revised or updated since the original edition was published in 1996. Over 300 photographs, maps and charts help to illustrate concepts discussed. This online version is the equivalent of a three volume set. And the encyclopedia provides everything from discussions of scientific concepts to biographies of major contributors to the field. Even the politics and economics of climate are covered in entries like those on the Kyoto Protocol and tradable permits.

Skip the unreliable and poorly documented information in sources like Wikipedia. If you want some quick background on a topic, use one of our excellent and authoritative electronic encyclopedias. The Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather is just one example of what is in our Oxford Reference Online Premium (OROP) database. And OROP is just one of several platforms we provide for electronic reference. See others on our list of "E-Book Databases."

New Database: American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Illustration showing the Boston Massacre from Freeholder's Magazine, or, Monthly Chronicle of Liberty, May 1770.

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) is one of the most important archives of the American past--anywhere. They are "an independent research library founded in 1812 in Worcester, Massachusetts. The library's collections document the life of America's people from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction."

In an Annual Report a few years back, the Society noted that "through partnerships with leading publishing companies, the Society has embarked on an ambitious multi-year initiative to provide digital access to collections. Digitization is indeed transformational, as it allows one to “read” through millions of pages in search of particular words or phrases with just a few keystrokes and then to “see” the pages rendered on the computer screen in remarkable fidelity. Search and retrieval is further aided by the incorporation of excellent cataloging metadata and tools to browse collections quickly and to save or print selections for sharing, teaching, or future reference."

One of the AAS partners is Ebsco. And we have purchased the first two modules of a tremendous archive of historical periodical materials called the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection. This collection includes digitized images of American magazines and journals never before available outside the walls of the AAS, and these resources are not currently available in digital from from any other source.

AAS president Ellen Dunlap has commented that “existing indexes of historical periodicals are often somewhat ‘sketchy’ and usually only cover the ‘mainstream’ periodical titles, [but EBSCO's] full-text digitization [reveals] vast storehouses of information which have been completely hidden from researchers in the past, and that’s very exciting.”

The first module is AAS Historical Periodicals Collection: 1691-1820, which presents 550 titles dating from 1693 through 1820. Series 2 presents over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837. Subjects covered include everything from Arts to Industry to Government to Religion to Science....and of course these serials vividly provide contemporary accounts of the Colonial Period, the Revolutionary War and the Early Republic. There will be five series in all, closing out in 1877. We hope to be able to afford the other modules later.

Searching is fairly straight-forward. And although you sometimes have to re-orient or re-size the images, everything I looked at was remarkably clear, considering the age of the material.

We hope that you will enjoy delving into this amazing archive, with or without a specific assignment or research project.

[Find AAS Historical Periodicals Collection in the Online Catalog, our A-Z database list, or in our Subject Database Lists for the Social Sciences or Literature, Arts and Humanities.]

RefWorks 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Connie Sellers) — Wed, 11 May 2011 18:41:00 +0000

When signing on to RefWorks, there is now an option to select RefWorks 2.0. This is a new interface which will replace the current interface sometime this year, most likely this fall. The current interface, “Classic,” will continue to be available through the summer and possibly through the remainder of the year. Suffolk University students, faculty, and staff may currently switch to the new interface or use the “Classic” version.

Refworks 2.0 is more user-friendly and intuitive. The access screen now looks like this.

A Right Navigational Menu allows the user additional easy access to key features, plus the ability to access important resources such as tutorials and user-aids and release notices.

Icons located beside each citation offer easy and fast viewing and editing of each entry.

Try the new platform. For additional information, see the RefWorks 2.0 Fundamentals Tutorial.

Notable E-Book: Female Action Heroes

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:35:00 +0000

We recently added dozens of online volumes to our ABC-CLIO eBooks Collection database. I am featuring Female Action Heroes: A Guide to Women in Comics, Video Games, Film, and Television not because it is the most serious and scholarly of the books we added, but specifically because it is not. (Heck, it's the end of the semester and the regular academic year, so why no choose a book that celebrates popular culture and a sense of fun?)

Although the book features an introduction and timeline, the majority of its content consists of analytical profiles of a wide variety of pop cult hardboiled or heroic women. Characters covered include TV icons like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charlie's Angels and the divine Emma Peel; cinema tough gals like Ellen Ripley and Sarah Connor; and comic book heroes like Wonder Woman and Storm.

To see a descriptive sheet from the publisher, look here.

And for those who prefer slightly more academic-sounding reading, rest assured that we added a great many books in a great many topics of scholarly interest.

History-related titles include The Black Experience in the Civil War South, The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, The History of Bulgaria, and An Oral and Documentary History of the Darfur Genocide. Also included in the mix are Government and Public Policy titles like Campaign Craft: The Strategies, Tactics, and Art of Political Campaign Management and Arms Control and Global Security: A Document Guide.

But there is a little bit of everything from ABC-CLIO's various imprints, which also include titles published by Greenwood and Praeger. The new adds include everything from The American Criminal Justice System: How it Works, How it Doesn't, and How to Fix It to Voices of Shakespeare's England: Contemporary Accounts of Elizabethan Daily Life to Clothing through American History: The Civil War through the Gilded Age, 1861-1899 to Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design to Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects to The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media .

All of our eBooks should be in the online catalog. (You can do an Advanced Search and specify the Material Type of EBOOKS) just to search for keywords--or title, author or subject terms--in records for our electronic monographs. Or you can explore just the ABC-CLIO database, by going to our proxyized link to it. And you can always explore the very latest NEW eBooks by looking at our feed.

Notable E-Book: Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:56:00 +0000

Good quality reference books on the operational aspects of business organizations are surprisingly difficult to find. But we recently added one that we hope will prove very useful. The Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science (EORMS) is the first multi-volume encyclopedia devoted to advancing the areas of operations research and management science. We bought the online version to make it easier for distance users to make use of the content. And this resource, the equivalent of eight volumes, is available 24/7.

The publisher claims that their "unparalleled undertaking....has been designed for academic researchers and advanced students as well as professionals looking for timely and authoritative review-type information in this field. The encyclopedia features contributions from diverse and international contributors from academia, industry, business, government and the military."

The contributors truly are from a global community and wide-ranging expertise. And the way the information is presented is also diverse. There are Introductory Articles that provide a broad and moderately technical treatment of core topics. While Advanced Articles review key areas of research in a citation-rich format similar to that of leading review journals. Technical Articles provide more detailed discussions of key concepts addressed in related articles. And Case Studies/Historical Interludes present successful and/or interesting examples of operations research and management science methodology in practical or historical contexts.

Topics cover anything from Linear Programming (LP) and Nonlinear Programming (NLP) and Global Optimization (GO) to Decision and Risk Analysis and Game Theory to Data Mining and Forecasting. One section details specific applications and their histories. These include Retail and Service Applications, Supply Chain Management, Applications with Societal Impact (like Anti-Terrorism and Homeland Security) and Industrial Applications (like High-Tech Industries). All told, there are over 600 articles (on over 6400 pages) with contributions from over 1,000 authors from around the world.

The publisher's promotional page can be found here. And a quick overview of the table of contents can be found here. And here is a sample article on Operations Research to Improve Disaster Supply Chain Management. However, to explore the entire content of the Encyclopedia, you'll want to use our proxyized link, either through the online catalog (OPAC) or as provided here.

Once you click on the link to the set in the OPAC, there are two ways to easily explore the content. In the left frame, you can look "For Articles" by Title or by Topic. (See arrows above.) When you click one of those links, the display in the middle of the screen changes and you can browse and then select appropriate items. There is also a search box to the right. But DON'T just put keywords in the search box and hit enter unless you want to search the entire Wiley Online Library, which is mostly journals. Instead, as circled above, click on the link to "Search in This Book." When you click that link, search boxes just for this encyclopedia will open up mid-screen.

Take advantage of this very sophisticated encyclopedia when you are looking for basic background information on a wide variety of topics related to operations research and management science theory, methodology, and applications.

New Database Module: JSTOR Arts & Sciences IX

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:13:00 +0000

A lot of people believe that databases are static collections of information sources. Nothing could be further from the truth! Not only are databases always loading new issues of existing periodicals, but new editions of ebooks often replace older ones, too. On the downside, sometimes a database loses contracted access to a particular source, so occasionally things disappear when you don't want them to. (And an individual client library like ours has no real say in the matter.) But on the brighter side, many databases are modular. If a library can find the budget to add new segments, a particular database can get stronger and stronger.

JSTOR is just such a database. They usually add at least one new journal module a year, and as long as a client Library can afford the new initial and yearly renewal costs, the users of that Library will have access to the the swell "new stuff."

Here at Sawyer Library, we do feel that JSTOR (which stands for "journal storage" and which is the most varied academic journal database with the deepest backfile) is a very valuable resource. And we work hard to find the money to keep it as up-to-date as possible. Towards this end, we have just contracted to add Arts & Sciences IX--just as we added the previous A&S segments.

JSTOR operates in an unusual way. Although they promise 150 journals to be added by the end of next year, not even close to that amount of journals have yet been added. Here is the current title list. When you take a look, you see many subject areas and publishers and even multiple languages. That is the an important strength of this database.

A few things to remember about JSTOR:

1--Generally speaking, it is a retrospective database, with older issues, usually back to volume one, and sometimes going back to the 1700s. But most journals have an embargo of two to five years, so it is NOT the best source for new topics or coverage.

2--Because it is all about the stored images, it does not have the same kind of subject term indexing as you'll usually find in other databases like our EBSCOhost files. Therefore, getting precise searching can be tricky. Try clicking a few "Narrow by Discipline" categories below the search boxes. Or narrow to just "Articles" in another check box. The relevancy ranking of search algorithms in JSTOR work pretty well, but you can also experiment with looking for a key term in the title of the article and not just in the complete full-text. (Although looking in the abstract can be handy in many databases, many of the JSTOR journals are so old that they do not feature abstracts--the types of summaries at the start of almost all recent academic journals. So this technique is less useful here.)

Want to get more tips on searching in JSTOR? They have a video tutorial. (We always advise using the Advanced Search, which is why we start with the Advanced page.)

3--Although you CAN access JSTOR via the general web, you always want to hit the database through one of our proxyized links from our database lists or guides. That way you don't have to worry about blocked access to articles at every turn.

4--If you find an article you want, do not try to print from the first page of digital image. This will only get you a chopped up copy of the first page. Look for the PDF link, accept the license agreement, and then read or print or save the entire article.

Remember, although JSTOR doesn't have great currency, it has incredible depth and breadth, and is very oriented towards high-quality articles. So, if a teacher wants you to use "scholarly" journal articles, this database is usually a good one to consult.

[Find JSTOR in all of subject databases lists (except for eBooks), as well as in the A-Z list.]

New Database: Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:45:00 +0000

As the business pro says in the National Car Rental commercial, "I'm gettin' an upgrade!" Actually, we're all getting an upgrade as Sawyer Library has just subscribed to an enhanced version of Criminal Justice Abstracts (CJA) that includes unique, selected full-text journal, magazine, conference proceeding, research report and book content.

Those of you who regularly use CJA will have noticed that it (along with Communication Abstracts) switched to EBSCOhost from Sage via CSA last year. Because of Ebsco's solid linking capability and the synergy that exists between various EBSCOhost products, having a simple abstracting index--with no inherent full-text--like CJA go to Ebsco is a boon.

First of all, articles in related databases like Academic Search Complete and SocINDEX with Full Text will have "Linked Full Text" icons for easy connection to articles. And now, Ebsco has procured additional full-text materials just for this database. Of the more than 200 journals and other publications that have full-text loaded in the new CJA, 121 are unique to this index and not in ASC or SocINDEX.

And, as always, if there is no full-text directly linked to a record in your results list, don't forget to click the "Check Library Catalog" as well as the green button "360 Link to Full Text" options below the record to see if we own access to the item you want in one of our many other resources.

Ebsco says of this enhanced product: "The increasing globalization of criminology is reflected in this essential resource’s coverage of hundreds of journals from around the world. Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text offers comprehensive content and features covering all areas of criminal justice, including more than 300,000 records selected from the most important sources within the discipline (with over 500 titles presented with cover-to-cover coverage)."

So if you are researching a topic related to Criminology, Corrections and Prisons, Criminal Investigation, Forensic Sciences & Investigation, Substance Abuse & Addiction, Probation & Parole or any topic in related fields, do add Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text to your primary research tools.

Need more tips on Criminal Justice research? Don't forget to also consult Connie's excellent Library Guide on the subject!

Notable E-Book: Handbook of Bioentrepreneurship

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:12:00 +0000

Biotech is one of the linchpins of the Massachusetts economy. If you read the daily headlines from the Boston Business Journal (BBJ), which we also get as a research database, you will constantly read articles about product development, M&A activity, or other news related to "Life Science" companies like Genzyme, Biogen, Charles River Laboratories, and EMD Millipore. You might also hear about the latest biotechnology start-up. (Since Massachusetts has a large population of academic researchers doing cutting-edge research at places like MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital, we are one of the leading states for new companies, new drugs, and new technological breakthroughs.)

As a BBJ Survey has cited in this year's Book of Lists, "there are more than 450 biotechnology companies located in Massachusetts, 277 of those companies are researching and developing new therapeutic drugs."

It is a challenging and rapidly-changing field. How do you get a handle on the business creation dynamics of this particular industry? Holger Patzelt and Thomas Brenner led an international group of academic researchers in addressing just that challenge. And the resulting book was just recently added to our SpringerLink ebook collections. It is the Handbook of Bioentrepreneurship.

Sarah Cooper indicates in her review of this title in the International Small Business Journal, which we have through our Sage Online Journals: "In compiling this volume the editors have brought together 11 chapters from leading international researchers in the field which they have arranged around 4 key themes. The Handbook, thus, provides a good overview of the current state of research in bioentrepreneurship." The reviewer goes on to say: "Diversity within the biotechnology industry makes studying it something of a challenge; however, the chapters in this volume provide a good overview of the sector while also exploring critical themes, processes and debates."

Springer ebooks tend to be quite academic. They are not pop reading by any stretch of the imagination. But for those who wish to really delve into this important subject, here is a research handbook that should provide a solid grounding.

And for those who want the quick-fix news, the earlier cited BBJ or our Business Source Complete database might provide other easier reading options.

Technical Issues: Library System Downtime

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:41:00 +0000

The Library's infrastructure system, or ILS (integrated library system) will experience some downtime this coming Thursday, March 17th.

How does this affect our users? In several ways. For one thing, our Online Catalog (or OPAC) will be down. This will prevent you from looking up specific books and ebooks, and from accessing your personal circulation record to do things like renew books.

But here's the key issue: Our Proxy Server, the means of authenticating as a Suffolk user before being relayed into research databases, will also be down. THIS MEANS THAT OFF-CAMPUS ACCESS TO OUR LIBRARY DATABASES WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE DURING THIS SYSTEM WORK.

The library will be closed for Evacuation Day, which is also St. Patrick's Day, and in the middle of our Spring Break Week. We chose this day, specifically, as the one weekday that would be convenient for Innovative, our ILS company, but which would also create the least amount of disruption for our users.

If you happen to be ON campus, say, in a faculty office, you may still be able to access databases, by hitting them directly (and being authenticated through IP recognition, rather than Proxy Server authentication). To do this, our electronics librarian, Amy, has created a handy guide that lists database links without the proxy parts of the URLs.

This guide is http://suffolk.libguides.com/noproxy

But remember, this will only work from an ON-campus location where your IP can be detected (and recognized as being that of a Suffolk subscriber) by the database's server.

Here are the details on the downtime:

Date: Thursday, March 17, 2011
Time: At about 12:30 PM, EST--for approximately TWO HOURS

Please plan your research accordingly. And our apologies for any inconvenience!

U.S. Census Bureau Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Sonia Didriksson) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 20:39:00 +0000

Statistics...

Students and researchers often need statistics. Business students and entrepreneurs seek statistics that describe trends in a particular industry, or the ups and downs of the economy as a whole. Social science students often need statistics which may describe the educational and health status of the population, or the population's voting behavior, or other characteristics of the society.

The U.S. Federal government is the main collector and aggregator of these statistics, and it is the Census Bureau that does much of this work, although other agencies also collect and publish statistics. However, knowing how to locate the statistics you want, or even having an idea of what exists, is pretty daunting both for students, and for this writer. Here are links to three blogs from the Census Bureau and one newsletter from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which give users an idea of the types of statistics that are available, and which simultaneously illustrate how the data casts a spotlight on our society.

U.S. Census Bureau: Random Samplings Blog (http://blogs.census.gov/).
"The official blog of the U.S. Census Bureau," aims to describe the Bureau's objectives and the results of the surveys. Recent entries include one on the geographic mapping tools available in the Census Bureau's LED (Local Employment Dynamics)/state partnership program.

U.S. Census Bureau: Director's Blog
(http://blogs.census.gov/2010census/).
The Director of the Census Bureau, Dr. Robert M. Groves, writes a blog specifically about the 2010 Census and its interpretation, as well as the science of statistics.

U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division: Global Reach Blog
(http://blogs.census.gov/globalreach/).
"The official blog of the U.S. Census Bureau's Foreign Trade Division (FTD)." The FTD is the official source of U.S. import and export trade statistics. Blog entries relate to one of three categories: Trade Data, Foreign Trade Regulations, and information for exporters on electronic filing of shipments (Export Filing (AES). Note: some trade data may only be available through subscription.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Publication: Spotlight on Statistics
(http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/).
This small collection articles, heavily illustrated with charts and graphs, dates back to 2007. Recent topics include "Women at Work" and "Employment Situation of Veterans."

Notable E-Book:Encyclopedia of Quantitative Finance

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:33:00 +0000

Is quantitative finance and the people who perform it (often called, not necessarily with affection), "quants," to blame for our recent "Great Recession?" It's all according to who you ask. Still, many many articles, like this one from The Economist have clearly stated that "[t]his crisis stemmed from the obscure world of quantitative, or quant-based, finance." In the first months after the crisis started, quants (along with greedy and incompetent bankers) took a lot of heat. Now, with newly polished algorithms and tweaked computer models, we read in the general and business press that quantitative finance is making a "comeback" and a "rebound."

Rather than simply mutter "Heaven Help Us!," perhaps you'd like to learn more about this mystifying science. If so, a newly purchased encyclopedia from Wiley might help.

Termed "essential" by Choice, that ALA publication's review also said that "This four-volume encyclopedia is the first to provide comprehensive coverage of essential subjects in quantitative finance. It covers both theory and applications, along with the history of the field and the names associated with it. This valuable contribution to the field of mathematics and modeling techniques of modern financial markets features signed articles from 415 international academics and practitioners. Articles include formulas, charts, and/or graphs, along with references, recommendations for further reading, and, when applicable, cross-references to related articles elsewhere in the set. "

The publisher claims that this is a "multi-volume reference work aimed at quants, risk managers, graduate students, academic researchers and all those interested in quantitative modeling in finance. Published in 4 volumes of approximately 500 pages each," content ranges from biographies of ground-breaking quant theoreticians to "up-to-date surveys of the state of the art in computational finance: Monte Carlo simulation, partial differential equations (PDEs), Fourier transforms methods, model calibration" and the like.

Not exactly a fun read, but a useful one, we hope. At the Wiley landing page for the Encyclopedia, simply pick either the "Articles by Title" or the "Articles by Topic" option from the left frame, as shown below.

If you wish to do a keyword search instead, you may do so. Just don't put your search into the search box in the upper right, or you will search ALL of the Wiley Online Library, which is mostly journal articles. Instead, click the link below the search box to "Search in this book" (as highlighted below), and new search boxes will open in the middle of the page with various search options.

We hope anyone interested in this very important finance field will explore this "comprehensive" reference resource....and then to help protect the retirement accounts of us all!

Notable E-Book:Encyclopedia of Body Adornment

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:39:00 +0000

We recently added an infusion of new reference books into our Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) database. These include many sets and series published by third parties. Titles include quite a few new editions of the useful "Who's Buying"marketing demographics books. (Titles cover everything from Apparel to Restaurants and Carry-Out.) We also added the currently available volumes of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability (more will be published later), as well as other reference encyclopedias from a variety of publishers from ABC-Clio to CQ Press to Princeton University Press.

One of the more unusual titles is the Encyclopedia of Body Adornment from Greenwood Press, described by the publisher here. (And, yes, we have had reference questions in the last few years about the topics covered by this encyclopedia!)

Those topics include all those you would expect, and more besides. Tattoos, piercings, corsets (pictured above) and foot binding are just a few examples. Entries run from short to sizable, and often include a short bibliography listing "Further Reading."

GVRL has a nice clean interface. You can click a link in the online catalog (OPAC) to consult a particular volume and then browse the table of contents, or search within the publication from the left-hand golden search box. I did a search on Maori and pulled up several entries, including Moko, which is a "curvilinear facial tattoo worn by Maori men and women as a sign of status as well as affiliation." Initial results display in HTML, with links. But you can also view the entry in a PDF that looks just like the original book.

If you wish to explore the entire range of reference books in GVRL, you can also search everything as a database, or explore subject categories of titles that display below the search box.

New Database: GalleryWatch CRS Reports

noreply@blogger.com (Kathi Maio) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 19:33:00 +0000

Although many people aren't even aware of what the CRS is, Sawyer Library is very happy to have a new fulltext database containing their materials. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. One of their key charges is to produce research reports on " major policy issues." They approach their "complex topics from a variety of perspectives and examine all sides of an issue. Staff members analyze current policies and present the impact of proposed policy alternatives."

CRS reports are very valuable documents, but it has always been difficult to find their research brought together in one place. However, individual libraries, social action groups and corporate sites have always done part of the job. For example, the Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) has a nice searchable collection of CRS Reports on environmental and related topics. And the Law Library at the University of Maryland has attempted to organize CRS Reports related to Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law & Policy. But everything is here and there, throughout the web, with frustrating gaps aplenty!

That's why this database, on the familiar EbscoHost interface is potentially so useful. GalleryWatch CRS Reports contains the largest and most up-to-date collection of CRS Reports available online. The GalleryWatch CRS Reports database includes abstracts and PDF full text for more than 35,000 CRS reports and is updated daily, "enabling researchers to keep track of issues as they are presented and discussed in the ever-changing environment of Capitol Hill." Content spans 1993-present and covers a host of subject areas. Current and archived versions of each report are included, providing comprehensive coverage of edits and amendments.

Subjects covered by the reports include hot-button policy issues like immigration, health care financing and terrorism, but many other topics from taxation to medicine to environmental challenges are also covered. All records should include a searchable abstract as well as a PDF fulltext document. There aren't a lot of subject headings (controlled vocabulary) here, so you might want to keep your search broad (like hospitals) to start with, and also stay very flexible, searching your topic in multiple ways. If you know the name of a particular piece of legislation (like PATRIOT Act or TARP), you can search that. If you want to search for a bill number, just remember to use the periods in the title and put it in quotation marks (e.g., "H.R. 1424"). Otherwise, you will either get too many false drops....or nothing at all.

I hope that Ebsco is able to improve the indexing of this database as it moves forward. But even, as is, it will help people from many disciplines and departments find useful and supposedly "impartial" research related to American government and life.

[Find GalleryWatch CRS Reports on our Business, Social Sciences and Sciences database lists.]