September 2003, Issue 22
In This Issue:
@ Polk Library: Reliable Information
- Real Service - Right Now!
Murder in the Stacks: A Polk Library Murder Mystery
Polk Library Hours, Fall 2003
Polk Staff Win Campus Awards
Full-Text Dissertations in CINAHL
Live Online Reference Help From Wisconsin Librarians
Federal Government Creates Geospatial Portal
Introducing ILLiad!
While You Were Away…
Taste of Oshkosh Drawing Winners
Spotlight on Reference
@ Polk Library: Reliable Information - Real Service - Right Now!
Patrick Wilkinson
wilkinso@uwosh.edu
Twenty-five years ago, everyone knew what an academic library was. It was a building with books and journals. When you went to the library, the staff could help you find a fact or check out a book. Since the basic method to deliver scholarly information had been stable for a long time, library staff had little to share about new and different methods to find or deliver information.
Reality changes. What is an academic library in 2003? Is the library a building or something more? This summer Polk Library staff discussed the definition and characteristics of an academic library. The conclusion was: Polk Library is reliable information and real service that is available right now!
Reliable Information. In an era of Google and Yahoo, academic libraries provide reliable information and scholarly resources in print and digital form from respected publishers. Most of this information has gone through an editorial or peer review process. Some academics claim all information from the web is inherently unreliable. This is simply not true. There is a “surface web” and a “deep web”. Google and other search engines search the surface web, which provides some good and much bad information. The library gives you access to the “deep web” through its licensed databases and e-journals. These services provide access to both traditional and innovative research materials.
Real Service. The information world is vastly more complex than it was 25 years ago. Librarians provide real service in helping students and faculty navigate this complex world. For example, the library instruction program last year provided over 250 class sessions instructing almost 6,000 students on how to find the best resources for their assignments. Librarians provide real service in evaluating, selecting and organizing information and providing the building and technical platforms so these resources can be effectively used. Librarians provide real e-services to students and faculty. Much of the information that we currently collect and the services that we provide are available electronically from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.
Right Now! Polk Library is truly a “brick & click” institution. During the school year, the library is open 104 hours a week: nights, weekends, early mornings (until 2 am) and academic breaks. In addition, electronic collections and electronic services, such as e-reserve or universal borrowing, are available 24 x 7 x 365.
What does it mean that Polk Library is reliable information and real service that is available right now? It means that Polk Library is not only a place; it is a service without walls! The library effectively serves students and faculty who do not come into the building as well as those who do. It means that library collections and services are not static but change as methods of access to scholarly material improve and new services become available. It also means that academic libraries at comprehensive universities can offer some collections and services on a par with research libraries. The information world will continue to change, and Polk Library will continue to offer reliable information and real service that is available right now!
Murder in the Stacks: A Polk Library Murder Mystery
Renee Sengele
sengele@uwosh.edu
A scream echoed through Polk Library - Dr. Samuel Shireson, professor of Hobbit Studies, was found murdered in the lobby. Did Dr. Edward Mordor, head of the Hobbit Studies department, finally get fed up with Shireson parking in his reserved parking spot? Could Dr. Felicity Fanghorn, associate professor of Hobbit Studies, not fathom being dumped with the 8:00 section of Intro to Hobbit Studies one more semester, while Shireson took the 1:20 section again ("He knows I'm not a morning person!!")? Was Shireson the only one preventing Erin Muil, graduate student in the Hobbit Studies department, from advancing the free-range periodical movement and finally freeing the bound periodicals?
About thirty new UW Oshkosh students attended Polk Library's Murder Mystery on Friday, September 5. Their mission: to discover who had murdered Dr. Shireson. As students followed the clues throughout the building, they also learned a bit about the library, including where the books and videos are located, how to find a particular call number or eReserve article, and where to ask for help. A number of staff members, posing as murder suspects, were available throughout the library to offer assistance.
The first three teams to find all the clues and discover the identity of the murderer were awarded gift certificates for two large pizzas, donated by Papa John's and Mancino's, but all participants received candy and an official Polk Library pencil just for participating. In the end, justice prevailed, and university police arrested Gladys Gondor, department secretary for Hobbit Studies. Gondor was perennially annoyed by Shireson's insistence that she decipher his horrible handwriting and type up class handouts for him. But when Shireson didn't return the books she had checked out from the library for him and she received a fine of over $600, Gondor went over the edge. The moral of the story: don't check out books for anyone else on your own library card!
Polk Library Hours, Fall 2003
Monday - Thursday 7:45 AM - 2:00 AM*
Friday 7:45 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday Noon - 6:00 PM
Sunday Noon - 2:00 AM*
*From Midnight until 2 AM, only the 1st floor North section of the library will be open.
Polk Staff Win Campus Awards
Congratulations to Erin Czech and Joshua Ranger, who were both honored at the 2003 UW Oshkosh Opening Day Assembly.
Erin Czech, Interlibrary Loan, was awarded the Outstanding Performance Award, which recognizes the contributions of classified staff. Erin has provided excellent interlibrary loan service to the UW Oshkosh community for 26 years and recently worked with UW Libraries across the state to implement a new, system-wide interlibrary loan system, ILLiad (see story below).
Joshua Ranger, University Archivist, was awarded the Outstanding Service Award, which "recognizes excellence in providing student and professional support services" of non-teaching academic staff and faculty. As University Archivist and director of the local Area Research Center, Joshua has collaborated with students and faculty to integrate primary archival materials into class projects. He has created and contributed to numerous online archival collections and is active in collaborating and sharing his expertise with local libraries, museums, and genealogy groups.
Full-Text Dissertations in CINAHL
Cynthia Huebschen
huebschc@uwosh.edu
Polk Library has subscribed for many years to CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature), most recently through the vendor ProQuest. ProQuest is one part of a company that also includes UMI (formerly University Microfilms), which has unique access to a collection of dissertations. The company recently announced that they have added to the content in CINAHL with full image links to approximately 6,500 doctoral dissertations in the field of nursing.
A typical search in CINAHL will turn up references and articles from nursing- and health-related periodicals and also any relevant doctoral dissertations. The brief description will include the dissertation’s title, author, the date, and the institution to which the dissertation was submitted. If there is an icon beneath the reference reading “Digital Dissertation,” that dissertation is available in full text. Clicking on the "Digital Dissertation" link will open the full image of the dissertation as a PDF file in Adobe Acrobat. Because these are PDF files, users must print from within the Adobe Acrobat window; using your browser’s “print” option will print a blank page. It may also be useful to specify the range of pages to be printed, as some of the dissertations include nearly-blank pages at the beginning (copyright statements, individual title pages, dedications, etc.)
If you wish to search only for dissertations, choose “Advanced Search” at the top, then click on “More Search Options” (a gray button under the search boxes). When that list of options appears at the bottom of the screen, go to “Document Type,” click the right-hand arrow, and scroll down to “Doctoral dissertation.” Click that choice, and then go ahead and perform your search in the boxes above (by keyword, title, author, or subject). Your limit will stay in place if you do a new search, until you change it.
It appears that in most searches, the majority of dissertations found will be available in full image, but there currently isn’t an option offered to limit only to full text documents.
Live Online Reference Help From Wisconsin Librarians
Sarah Neises
neises@uwosh.edu
Polk Library is in the midst of participating in a pilot project that offers live chat reference service to users from all over the state and the world! A consortium of public, technical college, and university libraries in Wisconsin have joined forces to staff a “virtual reference desk” that can be accessed from the web this fall during these hours:
Mondays through Thursdays: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Fridays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sundays: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Each library in the consortium takes a turn staffing the virtual reference desk, fielding questions from UW Oshkosh users, library patrons at other Wisconsin libraries, and anyone else worldwide who accesses the chat link at a participating library website. Questions typically come from Wisconsin users and range from “Where could I find the National Health Education Standards for K-12?” to “I’m looking to find all Wisconsin schools that offer a Master of Art in education for licensure. Could you offer any help?" Both a public and an academic librarian are usually assigned to each time slot, and UW Oshkosh normally staffs this virtual reference desk for 4 hours per week.
You can find a link to this service on the library web page at: http://www.uwosh.edu/library/askalibrarian.html. When logging onto the service, remember that the librarian you are chatting with may be from another Wisconsin library and not UW Oshkosh. If a question is library-specific or requires more help than can be given in a chat environment, the librarian can continue the interaction via email and refer your question to another person if necessary.
Polk librarians have been enthusiastic to participate in this pilot project, and it has been exciting to see that different types of libraries are working together to make this service successful.
Federal Government Creates Geospatial Portal
Mike Watkins
watkins@uwosh.edu
The federal government has created a web portal for geospatial data called Geodata.gov, available at http://www.geodata.gov. This web portal is part of an ongoing effort to create a one-stop access point for geospatial information from federal, state, and local governments. The site provides users the option of either using embedded map viewer software or loading map images into their own GIS software. A search engine is included to search text, or searches can be done by zooming into a specific area or point on a digital map. Geodata.gov provides access to geographic information provided by government, commercial, and noncommercial organizations including map images, map services, geographic datasets, geographic activities, spatial solutions, clearinghouses, and land references. A subscription service is available that allows subscribers to keep track of geospatial information for a specific geographic area. The site is well organized and relatively easy to navigate. However, the information provided on the site requires that users have some experience and knowledge of GIS systems information to use the site effectively. It would prove difficult to use for the uninitiated. Polk Library will be establishing a link to Geodata.gov under the topical heading Maps, Geography and Weather on the Government Documents web site, which can be accessed from the Polk Library home page or directly at http://www.uwosh.edu/library/depts/docs/gov.html.
Introducing ILLiad!
Implemented this past summer across the UW System, ILLiad is Polk Library’s new online interlibrary loan system. It provides paperless access to the same interlibrary loan services as before, allowing you to request books, articles, and other materials that are not available at Polk Library.
ILLiad has many features that will improve interlibrary loan service to the UW Oshkosh community. You can now:
- Check the status of your requests online 24/7
- View the titles and due dates of your interlibrary loan items
- Request an item renewal online
- Receive interlibrary loan items faster
- Make multiple requests without typing in your contact information repeatedly
- Get notified by email when items arrive at Polk
In the future, ILLiad will also make it possible to receive electronic, pdf copies of interlibrary loan articles, speeding up the delivery of articles even more.
To access ILLiad, follow the link from the interlibrary loan web page: http://www.uwosh.edu/library/ill.html. You will need to have a TitanCard that is active in the library system to log in. If you have checked out any library materials in the recent past or are able to log on to “Your Record” in the library catalog, your card is active. If your TitanCard is not active, you will need to come to the Circulation Desk to have it activated. Be sure to let the circulation staff know that you wish to use ILLiad. After one business day or less, you’ll be ready to start using ILLiad.
If you have any questions about ILLiad or interlibrary loan service, please contact Erin Czech at 424-3348 or czeche@uwosh.edu.
While You Were Away…
Amanda Swaw
Student Coordinator, Browsing Room
The Browsing Room has acquired several new titles, spanning every imaginable genre. With so many to choose from, you are guaranteed to find something to suit your literary tastes. Here are just a few of the bestsellers that are now available for checkout:
- Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani
- Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
- The Footprints of God by Greg Iles
- The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
- Blindside by Catherine Coulter
- Kate Remembered by A. Scott Berg
- To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
Taste of Oshkosh Drawing Winners
Congratulations to the library's Taste of Oshkosh prize drawing winners:
Andrew Fisher
Ryan Johnson
Andrew won a $25 gift certificate to University Books and More, and Ryan won a Merriam-Webster's College Dictionary. Many thanks to University Books and More for donating the prizes!
Spotlight on Reference
Renee Sengele
sengele@uwosh.edu
American Literary Almanac Ref. PS 92 .A38 1988
Far from a dry list of facts, the American Literary Almanac is comprised of interesting anecdotes, historical photographs, and amusing excerpts from the writings of American authors throughout the history of the country. Sections of the almanac include:
- “Schooldays”, a section on the school and university experiences of various authors. Here one can learn that James Fenimore Cooper was expelled from Yale in his junior year for reportedly using gunpowder to “blast open the door to another student’s room” (p. 127).
- “Looking Backward”, a section identifying the sources of American literary works’ titles. For example, the title of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun comes from the poem “Harlem”, by Langston Hughes, and the title of Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls comes from John Donne’s “Meditation XVII” (p. 167).
- “Finales”, a section on the epitaphs and last words of American authors. According to the entry about him, the author Solomon Rabinowitz (pseudonym Sholom Aleichem) had a terrible phobia of the number 13 and never included a page 13 in any of his manuscripts. So although he died on the 13th of May in 1916, his date of death was inscribed on his tombstone as “May 12a, 1916” (p. 367).
World Music: The Rough Guide (v. 1 – Africa, Europe, and the Middle East) Ref. ML 3470 .W67 1999 v.1
World Music: The Rough Guide is the book for those who would like to foray into the music of another culture but don’t know where to start. This volume provides an introduction to the music of countries in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. For each country listed, contributors have written a short 3 to 10 page entry, highlighting some of the major genres, trends, and musicians in that country’s popular and folk music. The entry then concludes with a discography of recommended recordings. The editors also provide a directory at the end of the book, listing physical and online stores where many of the recordings may be purchased.
Polk Library News is a publication of Forrest R. Polk Library, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.
Renee Sengele, editor (sengele@uwosh.edu) 920-424-7331
Patrick Wilkinson, Director, Polk Library (wilkinso@uwosh.edu) 920-424-2147