Ohio University Libraries News and Events

The Libraries currently have access to a database called Environmental Issues & Policy Index on a trial basis. This database provides citations and abstracts, often with links to full-text, from more than 1,000 titles in the area of environmental policy and studies. Coverage begins with 1984.

To try this database, use this URL: http://trial.epnet.com. When prompted, enter the User ID s8447892 and the password trial.

We are interested in feedback from the University community about this database. Please send your comments to Kent Mulliner at mulliner@ohio.edu.

The world of web search engines keeps changing!

As of March 2004, two major search engines, Alltheweb and AltaVista, no longer have their own database of websites. The two sites still exist, but their data now comes from the database of their new owner, Yahoo. Also, many of the advanced searching features that Alltheweb and AltaVista used to have are now gone.You can read more about these changes to Alltheweb and AltaVista from Greg Notess; Search Engine Showdown website.

As you use Yahoo’s newly-improved search engine, you should be aware of Yahoo’s Advanced Search. While not offering the searching power that AltaVista and Alltheweb used to have, it does offer a number of useful search limiting features that can help make your search results more meaningful.

OhioLINK users can now receive RSS feeds on the contents of journals in the Electronic Journal Center.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” (among other things) and is a way to track news and Web site updates. In the Electronic Journal Center, you can receive tables of contents from individual journals whenever new issues are added. Visit http://journals.ohiolink.edu/rsshelp.html to learn how to syndicate journal titles.

For additional information about RSS, please see this page. Should you want to learn more about RSS, or are simply curious about this new technology, the library will be having a workshop on the topic Tuesday, April 27, 10:10-12 noon. This workshop will be an introduction to RSS and will include hands-on experience. Please visit this page to register.

The Libraries currently have access to Factiva.com on a trial basis. Factiva combines the Dow Jones Interactive� and Reuters Business Briefing databases, offering users the latest news from these leading business resources. Coverage is from 1989 to the present. Quoting from the information sheet on this database, “Patrons gain access to a wide range of information from newspapers, newswires, industry publications, websites, company reports, and more, available from 118 countries in 22 languages including Chinese, Japanese, and Turkish.”

To try this database out, use this URL: http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=606616 . On the page that comes up, enter the word welcome and then click on the Login button.

We are interested in feedback from the University community about this database. Please send your comments to Bob Politylo at politylo@ohio.edu or Kent Mulliner at mulliner@ohio.edu.

Our trial of this database ends on May 11.

Alden Library has just posted the list of free workshops for the University community for Spring Quarter. The titles of the sessions are:

• Introduction to the Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
• What the heck is RSS???
• You know what you want!! Let Alden help you get it!!
• Instruments for Education and Behavioral Science Research
• Introduction to Web Search Tools
• Introduction to Genealogy on the Web
• Fundamentals of Endnote
• The Library and Your Blackboard Course

This series of workshops begins on April 21 and runs through May 25. To get more information about each workshop and to sign up, just follow the link above. Please note that enrollment to these workshops is limited.

The Friends of the Libraries of Ohio University are sponsoring two events during National Library Week, April 18-24.

The first is a panel program, “READING IS FUNdamental,” set for Tuesday, April 20, beginning at 7 p.m. The program is intended to be a discussion of approaches to reading instruction, which is a lively topic among early childhood educators currently. The panelists are Prof. William E. Smith (moderator) and Joette Weber, College of Education, Prof. Jackie Glasgow, English Department, Jan Slattery and Janet Idleman, The Plains Elementary School, and Marsha Burchby, Amesville Elementary School. There will be light refreshments.

The second event is the 14th annual Ohio University Faculty and Staff Authors & Performers reception, to be held from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21. The event recognizes book authors and major performances from across the university. The group being recognized this year includes approximately 40 members of the faculty and staff. Provost Stephen Kopp will make remarks, there will be music and refreshments, and most of the the books and other items (e.g., CDs) will be on display. The event is supported by a donation from the Ohio University Credit Union and is open to the public.

Both events will be in the Friends of the Library Room (Alden 319).

Proposals are currently being sought by the Ohio University Libraries for the Faculty Librarian Information Competency (FLIC) grants. The grant program, established in 2001, is aimed at enriching university courses to develop students’ information literacy skills.

Grants are awarded to partnerships comprised of a faculty member and a librarian. Working collaboratively in a variety of ways, the teams redesign course content to increase students’ familiarity with information resources and research publications and to engage students in thinking more critically about information. Each team member receives a $1000.00 award for the time spent upgrading the course. The deadline for applications is April 23, 2004 and submission guidelines can be found on the Library’s website.

“Typically, information competency skills have been included as an afterthought, often in a single session where the librarian meets with the class to cover basic skills and resources. The goal of the FLIC program is to build information competency into the class, using the skills and knowledge of the librarian throughout the quarter,” said Andrew Stuart, one of the librarian consultants for the program. “With a FLIC course, students gain the information seeking skills to be self-sufficient researchers and active learners. They can carry the skills and concepts to other courses in their studies.”

A total of twelve grants have been awarded since 2001.

On Thursday, April 15 a Red Cross Blood Drive will take place between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. in a Bloodmobile on Park Place near Alden Library.

To set up an appointment, call Cathy Sitko at 593-2701. If you previously donated on or before February 19th, you are eligible to donate.

The Ohio University Libraries’ Robert E. and Jean R. Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections has added a new page to its Ohio University Historical Factbook. The new page is a list of “Distinguished Visitors to Ohio University”. The list notes and then adds to those visitors for whom plaques have been mounted on the West Porticio of the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on the College Green.

The Ohio University Libraries’ Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections is collaborating with two community groups this spring. First off, it is cooperating with the university’s Department of African American Studies and the Multicultural Genealogical Center of Chesterhill on a project to commemorate the Berry Hotel run by African American entrepreneurs Edward and Mattie Berry. This will culminate with a public event to place a historical plaque at the Berry Hotel site on North Court Street, Athens on Sunday morning, May 23 during the Black Alumni Reunion.

The Mahn Center is also cooperating with the Coonskin Library Association in nearby Amesville to commemorate the bicentennial of the famed Western Library Association, known popularly as the Coonskin Library because pelts were used in part to acquire the frontier library’s first books. The Nelsonville Public Library is organizing a public program to be held at the Coonskin Library Museum in Amesville on Friday, April 23 (1:45 p.m.) as a National Library Week event. Scheduled speakers will include Senator Joy Padgett, Representative Jimmy Stewart and State Librarian Mike Lucas. The Mahn Center has loaned copies of books from the successor library in Trimble Township for the program and for the museum’s summer season. For more information on the event contact Lauren Miller lmiller@athenscounty.lib.oh.us at the Nelsonville Public Library.

Alden Library’s second floor will be undergoing a transformation over the next five months. In advance of this major renovation project, many library services have been relocated to the fourth floor temporarily. These include: Library Reserves, Current Periodicals, and the Interlibrary Loan / Document Delivery.

The Writing Center’s tutoring table has also re-located and can now be found on the first floor of the Library.

On the second floor, the Computer Lab is open and will remain in operation for Spring Quarter. Instructional Media Services (IMTS), which loans videos and DVDs, also offers normal hours of service. The Snack area has been closed, with only two vending machines and a small eating area available until the project is completed.

“There will be many inconveniences for the spring and summer quarters related to building the Learning Commons,” acknowledges Nancy Rue, Associate Dean for Public Services. “We are hoping that new learning space, the improved facilities and services, to be offered in the Learning Commons next fall will make all the temporary changes, closures and curtailed services, worth enduring for the short term.”

A newly created online slide show (created in PowerPoint) outlines the services and facilities that will be found next fall in the Learning Commons. To view the show, click here.