Posts Tagged 'oxford'

New Additions and Changes: Research Databases from Henderson Library

As we recently announced, year-end funding from President Bruce Grube has enabled the addition of significant new electronic collections in the near future.  This followed a database review by the library faculty in which we had to identify several databases to cancel, due to a budget shortfall.  The previous cancellation announcement is here.  As an update, we are pleased to let you know that, while a few GALILEO databases have been removed from the menu (Books @ Ovid for nursing has expired; and Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Abstracts has been absorbed into Biotechnology and Bioengineering Abstracts); the CSA Databases (Cambridge Scientific) will remain, with funding by GALILEO.

Following is a list of top-priority resources we have been able to add, followed by a list of other new resources provided by GALILEO.  Due to the budget reductions mandated by the State of Georgia, and to rapidly rising costs (inflation, increases in licensing costs based upon our growing student FTE), we do not anticipate being able to add any other new subscriptions in this school year.  New subscriptions might be possible if the requesting department assists us in identifying existing subscriptions that could be cut in lieu of the requested title, but the suggested cuts will have to be reviewed by other departments to ensure the titles are not essential to those departments.

We plan to make automatic book purchases under our approval plan in Fall 2008.  If funding allows, we will

a)      continue the approval plan as far into Spring 2009 as possible, and

b)     order faculty-selected, top-priority books in Spring 2009.

As explained below, our new resources include a significant number of electronic books.

Information on giving opportunities for Henderson Library are at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/support/.  Please consider donating funds for new library resources, so that we can continue to meet the scholarly needs of Georgia Southern University.

NEW RESOURCES PROVIDED BY HENDERSON LIBRARY

ebrary History & Political Science Collection

Over 5900 electronic books, in addition to the ebrary Education Collection we already provide.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Online access to the following electronic reference books:

African American Almanac, 10th ed.

Psychologists and Their Theories for Students

Encyclopedia of Social Theory

Encyclopedia of Public Health (Springer; coming soon)

Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd ed.

Encyclopedia of Education, 2nd ed.

Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior (coming soon)

Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change

Encyclopedia of Education Law (coming soon)

International Directory of Company Histories (ongoing; coming soon)

JSTOR Arts & Sciences II

124 electronic journals in such areas as economics, history, archaeology, classics, and Asian, African, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Slavic studies; in addition to the JSTOR journal packages we already provide.  Title list available here.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center

A virtual library of resources designed to aid students in the study of today’s hottest social issues.  Based upon Greenhaven’s Opposing Viewpoints books and including additional resources organized by issue topic, this will be an essential resource for persuasive essays, especially in first-year composition classes.

American National Biography

Offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women; updated semi-annually, with hundreds of new entries each year and revisions of previously published entries to enhance their accuracy and currency. Oxford’s ANB Online features thousands of illustrations, more than 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and powerful search capabilities.

NEW RESOURCES PROVIDED BY GALILEO

GALILEO, Georgia’s virtual library, is providing the following new resources with support from Henderson Library.  With the exceptions of GeorgiaInfo and Oxford Art Online, the following are collections included within the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), which is supported by the National Science Foundation.

All About Birds (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Includes information about watching birds, learning their nesting behaviors, attracting birds, indentifying them, recording observations, and getting involved in bird conservation. The site includes guides, images, maps, sounds, videos, and much more. There is also a link to the Macaulay Library, an archive of animal sounds and videos.


American Museum of Natural History Resources for Learning

A collection of activities, curriculum materials, articles, scientific evidence, exhibitions, and reference lists developed by the American Museum of Natural History for students, educators, parents, and anyone interesting in exploring science. Topics include anthropology, astronomy, biology, earth science, and paleontology.


Biology: The eSkeletons Project

A website with digitized images and animations of human and primate skeletons for the study of comparative anatomy. Students can view regions of skeletons from any orientation as well as muscle and joint information. Browser plugins may be required for optimal viewing.


Career Resources Education Network (The Fun Works)

A website with career information for students. The information about each career includes “cool facts,” examples of people in that career, related internet resources, and activities and education to prepare students for that career. There is a Teachers and Instructors section of the site, with lesson plans, activities, and other career counseling resources, which requires a free registration.


Chemistry:  ChemEd Digital Library

Also known as the JCE Digital Library.  Includes Internet resources in the area of chemistry education at the high school and college levels.

A few of the resources available in the ChemEd Digital Library include:

GeorgiaInfo

An extensive online resource about Georgia. Its development was motivated by the conviction that such information, which can now be readily accessed by Georgians in every county, could help citizens and public officials of the state become better informed, in order to identify new resources and make decisions to improve the quality of life in their communities.


Math Forum:  Student Center

A collection of activities, puzzles, games, weekly challenges, and other resources for mathematics students from preschool through graduate school. The Student Center also includes the the “Ask Dr. Math” question and answer service and The Math Library.


Math Forum:  Teacher’s Place

A collection of resources for teaching mathematics from preschool through graduate school. The Teacher’s Place also includes the Math Forum Community and the Teacher Exchange to discuss and share materials, as well as the “Ask Dr. Math” question and answer service and The Math Library.


NSDL Concept Map Tool (AAAS Benchmarks)

Provides a way for teachers and students to connect NSDL resources with science and math concepts. The science literacy maps demonstrate connections between concepts and how concepts build upon each other as students progress through grade levels.

Oxford Art Online (including Grove Art Online)

Provides access to Grove Art Online, a collection of art encyclopedias and image collections. Users can also choose to view biographies, subject entries, or images when searching or browsing. Content includes more than 23,000 subject entries, 21,000 biographies, 500,000 bibliographic citations, 40,000 image links and 5,000 images contained within Grove Art Online. Thematic timelines and learning resources also provide users with tools for navigating the content.

Additional content includes the following:

  • The Oxford Companion to Western Art
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms
  • The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics

Periodic Table Live! (ChemEd Digital Library)

Allows students to explore information about the elements, their reactions, their properties, their structures, and their histories. This resource is part of the ChemEd Digital Library.


PRISMS

Stands for “Phenomena and Representations for the Instruction of Science in Middle Schools,” and is a project of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA). Resources include pictures, video clips, graphs, simulations, and more for middle school teachers and students in the areas of biology, astronomy, ecology, and earth science.


Statistics:  CAUSEWeb

A website with educator resources from the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education. Resources include lesson modules, student activities, assignments, datasets, and videos. The site also offers links to research and professional development opportunities.


Virtual Chemistry Lab

Also known as the Chemistry Collective, or ChemCollective.  Provides scenario-based learning activities for in-class or homework assignments for students. Educators can find activities for their courses, provide feedback on them, create and share activities with others, and discuss issues related to chemistry education.


WGBH Teachers’ Domain (NSDL Multimedia Pathway)

Provides multimedia resources that incorporate sound educational practices. Resources are classroom-ready and include images, video clips, and student activities. Resources are aligned to state standards. Free registration is required.

E-Journals: Behind the scenes

Here’s a little background on our recent e-journals announcement.  In case you’re wondering how we were able to add 389 electronic journals to our collection in the midst of Henderson Library’s ongoing budget crisis, this might be of interest to you.  (Many thanks to Iris Durden, Serials Librarian, for providing both the work and the information on this achievement!)

Because faculty and students are increasingly expecting resources to be available online, Henderson Library has been constantly evaluating current periodical print subscriptions to determine the best format for delivery of information for the present learning environment as well as for future needs.  The Library provides access to periodicals online through various full-text databases and through individual subscriptions with online access (both free and for reasonable upcharge fees).   The continuing analysis of subscription options for journals and databases is necessitated by ongoing library budget shortfalls, as well as rapidly rising subscription costs and frequent shifts in publishing strategies.

The journal publishing market has changed drastically during the past few years.  Many journal publishers are restructuring their subscription options and charges in a variety of ways.  For example, many publishers no longer offer “free online” with a print subscription, instead charging an additional fee (5-10%) for online access with the print subscription, or offering reduced pricing (compared to print only subscription) for online only access.  If “free online” is offered with a print subscription, access might be for only one person at a time (username/ password required), rather than unlimited simultaneous use (“site license”/IP authentication).

A number of prominent journal publishers have begun pulling their current journal content from aggregated full-text databases and are now offering their periodical titles in their own full-text packages and/or portals.  Examples:  Duke University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, etc.

The economics of the publishing world continue to evolve at a rapid pace.  The recent Harvard decision to adopt an open-access policy for providing free online access to their faculty publications is being widely discussed in academia and beyond.

For further information, please see Journal Pricing from SPARC, the Open Access FAQ from the Public Library of Science, and news on scholarly communication and publishing from SPARC.

New Electronic Journals

We are pleased to let you know that Henderson Library has now added 389 electronic journals to our collection. Included are 12 titles in Project Muse, 18 titles from Duke University Press (plus current subscriptions to 11 additional titles for which we already had online back issues), 177 titles from Cambridge University Press, and 182 titles from Oxford University Press. These, along with all of our e-journals, are now available via our Electronic Journals A-Z list, where you can search by journal title, publisher, or ISSN, or browse by subject.

You can access our e-journals and databases from anywhere with your GALILEO password (only needed when off-campus).  We’re in the process of putting this new information in the library catalog as well. We had previously subscribed to some of these journals in print. For those which have been changed from print to electronic format, we have placed a sign in each journal’s former location in the Current Periodicals shelving area on the 3rd floor of the Library.


Zach’s News

Welcome to Zach's News! This blog serves as the newsletter for the Zach S. Henderson Library of Georgia Southern University. Please visit our library website at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu The earlier version of our newsletter, Current Issues Only, is available at http://library.georgiasouthern.edu/cio/cio.html