ScienceDirect: it's not just "hard" science!

The "science" in ScienceDirect is pretty broadly defined actually. There are quite a few articles in it for example from the social sciences, on economics and psychology etc. Put on your mad scientist suit and have a look sometime ;-)

Before the Kindle, there was...

The paperback! Yes, the paperback was the book industry phenomenon long before there were Kindles and other e-readers. The Times of London has an interesting article on the history of the paperback here, focusing particularly on the famous Penguin line. (Pictured here is one of the original 1935 covers.)

Background info? Word definitions? Maps? Stats?

You can find answers to these sorts of needs and much more in our various "reference" resources - atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias etc. Quite a lot of this sort of material is online now - visit our Reference research guide to learn more! Pictured here, Spanish explorer Balboa, who first sighted the Pacific this day in 1513, from the Encyclopedia Britannica's "This Day in History" feature.

Specific books? Employment? Changing NetID password?

The above were some questions that came up today, and since they may be of interest to others, let me answer them here.

• Finding specific books - use the advanced search in the catalog - type your author name in that space, or title in the title space..
• Employment - we do employ students in the library, although most positions are filled - for now, there will certainly be some openings in the spring semester. Click here to learn more.
• To change your NetID password, click here. It has to be done by 10/14.

Have it your way!

With your very own Ebsco! Ebsco is the company we get all those great article databases from, like Academic Search, Business Source, SportsDiscus etc. MyEbsco is a part of the Ebsco service that allows you to set a folder in which you can store articles and search results, as well as set up alerts that tell you when articles on your research have come out. Learn about this suite of services at our Personalizing Databases guide.

Looking for one of our databases?

There is quite a lineup, something for everyone really, from Academic Search to Lexis to Project Muse and more. There are links to them in different spots on our web pages, but you can always see the full list here!

Change your NetID password soon!

For computer security reasons everyone, staff and students, need to change their NetID passwords by 10/14/09. You can change it at the NetID Lookup and Password Change page.

RSS feeds

Lots of our databases, like the Oxford English Dictionary, have RSS feeds. If you have an igoogle page, google reader, myYahoo, something like that, you can have information sent from these sites to your page. It's a fun, convenient way to stay informed! We have a library guide to RSS feeds, see it for more information.

Other databases

While most people are familiar with Academic Search Complete, we have many other databases too. For instance, if you are an earth science researcher, one major resource is GeoRef, which indexes articles going back to the late 1700s! So, for example, you could find references in there to articles by Amos Eaton, a pioneering New York geologist.

Library Help

Questions about where things are, like the copiers, microfilms etc.? Looking for a certain kind of book, say middle school social studies textbooks? Wondering what resources we have for history, or earth science, or other studies? Other questions?

Don't be shy, ask us about it! Our research guides can be very helpful too.

Today's library quote: "A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life," Henry Ward Beecher (pictured here.)

Labor Day

Our contribution to Labor Day will be to observe that we have many resources available to research in labor and business questions. Business Source Complete is an excellent database for articles for example, and our Business and Company Resource Center is great for more detail on company and industry information. But, as they say on the TV ads, "Wait, there's more," heh heh. See our Business Research Guide for details.

Welcome Back!!!

Welome back for the Fall 2009 semester! A lot has been happening in the library over the summer. One big change is that we have a new online catalog, AquaBrowser. Another is that our database lineup is greatly expanded. Another exciting addition to our line is Films for Humanities and Sciences, an online site where you can choose from over 5,000 documentaries to view online. The topics range from business to earth science to sociology and much more.

The library building is seeing some change too, with all new windows being installed. The workers are still finishing that project up, so some parts of the library may be temporarily blocked off. Best wishes for a successful fall semester, and ask us if you have any questions about anything at all!