Library News - History Dept.August 2003Contents:Library instruction for History Dept. classes |
For more information, contact: Kendra Van Cleave |
Now is the time to think about scheduling a library instruction session for your courses. While undergraduate students are required to complete OASIS (the online information competence tutorial), most students need additional reinforcement and development of research skills. Depending on your needs, library instruction sessions can focus on specific resources, such as specialized searching tools for history research (e.g. America: History & Life / Historical Abstracts), and/or skills, such as evaluating scholarly information or locating primary sources.
Please send me an email if you'd like to schedule a session!
The library has recently implemented two new tools that will make locating full-text journal articles increasingly efficient!
Electronic Journal List: The Electronic Journal List is an index on the library's webpage that allows you to determine whether a particular journal appears in full-text in one of our online databases. The page, which is linked from the library home page under "Databases - Find Articles & More," allows you to browse alphabetically for journal titles. Listed along with each journal title is information about full-text availability, including which database contains full-text for this journal and what date range is available. Once you have determined the database that contains the appropriate issue you are searching for, simply click on the database name link and search for the article title or author. Note: if a particular journal title is not included in the Electronic Journal List, then the library does not have online access to full-text articles for that journal.
SFX: SFX is a technology that makes a direct link between the library's online resources. If you find a citation in a database that is using the SFX technology, a gold button that reads "Check for Full Text" will appear beneath the citation. Clicking on this button will open a new browser window that will provide information on where that article is available online in full-text. If the library does not have access to the full article electronically, users will be directed to search the library catalog (InvestiGator) or to make a document delivery (DDS) request. Two of the first databases in which we have implemented SFX technology are America: History & Life and Historical Abstracts.
Please note: Both of these tools are works in progress, which means that you may experience some errors or inconsistencies. We hope to have these sorted out over the next few months, but please let me know if you have any major problems!
The JPLL, through a cooperative agreement with the CSU, has recently subscribed to the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) History E-Book Project. This is an expanding library of previously published (print) titles along with new works to be published only in electronic format. The collection currently includes about 750 works, with plans to add about 300 titles per year. The project's goals include encouraging historians to write and publish e-books, streamlining publishing and reducing costs, expanding the concept of fair use in the digital environment, and advocating for the viability of e-books for retention and tenure. Individual titles can be read page-by-page online, browsed by table of contents, or searched for keyword within the full text. You may access History E-Book Project titles a number of ways: by searching for individual titles or for the words "History e-book project" in InvestiGator, or by searching or browsing from the History E-Book Project's webpage. Read more about the project by accessing the project webpage and clicking on "About the Project."
American Women: A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States: The Library of Congress has recently announced the creation of an online gateway to its resources on the history and culture of American women. This guide, a development of the print publication American Women: A Library of Congress Guide for the Study of Women's History and Culture in the United States (available in the JPLL Main collection at Z164.U5 A47 2001, and in the Government Publications Stacks at LC2.8:W84), includes an overview of relevant collections at the Library of Congress, and digitized versions available online.
September 11 Digital Archive: Hosted by George Mason University and the City University of New York, this site aims to create a permanent record of the events of September 11th. Digital resources include audio memorials, images and video, and documents including flyers, reports, and oral history interviews. For more resources related to September 11th, check the JPLL's September 11th resource guide.
This page last updated August 26, 2003.