Polk Library News
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As part of last semester's review of the periodicals collection, Polk Library upgraded from the Academic Search Elite article database (provided by state funds through BadgerLink) to the larger Academic Search Premier. Access to this database began over the summer, as the link to this database replaced the previous link on our home page under “Don't really know where to start looking?” Both databases offer multidisciplinary subject coverage, where students can expect to find some articles from academic journals on nearly any topic. This year's upgrade to Academic Search Premier was funded by the university's Student Technology Fee. Academic Search Elite indexed 3,489 periodicals, including 2,676 peer-reviewed journals, and offered 2,010 full-text periodicals. “Premier” indexes 8,224 periodicals, including 7,132 peer-reviewed journals, with 4,486 full-text titles. Some of the full-text titles have a one-year embargo period, meaning the journal's publisher does not include the most current year's issues for full-text availability. Among the journals offered full-text in Academic Search Premier are over 275 titles with no embargo period or an embargo of less than one year, for which Polk Library did not previously have current electronic access. These tend to be concentrated in particular subjects, especially the sciences. For instance, in medical sciences, Premier provides access to Clinical Medicine and Research [published by the Marshfield Clinic]; Biomedical Safety and Standards; Annals of Medical Sciences; Gynecological Endocrinology; Internet Journal of Infectious Diseases; Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine; Journal of Palliative Medicine; and Vascular Medicine. In the area of Biology, we now have access to journals such as Applied Vegetation Science; Critical Reviews in Biotechnology; Cytogenetic and Genome Research; Plant Molecular Biology Reporter; and Journal of Cell and Molecular Biology. In areas such as Chemistry and Physics, new titles include Communications Series B: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Critical Reviews in Solid State and Materials Science; Spectroscopy; South African Journal of Chemistry; and Semiconductor Physics, Quantum Electronics and Optoelectronics. Titles related to Mathematics include Communications Series A1: Mathematics and Statistics; Electronic Journal of Differential Equations; Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science; and Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics. Outside of the sciences, Religious Studies staff and students might find some titles of interest, including Christian Studies Journal; Ecotheology: Journal of Religion, Nature, and the Environment; Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus; Review of Biblical Literature; Theological Review; and Feminist Theology: The Journal of the Britain and Ireland School of Feminist Theology. There are also numerous journals of possible interest to Psychology, such as Behavior and Philosophy; Individual Differences Research; International Journal of Reality Therapy; Internet Journal of Mental Health; Journal of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies; Journal of Individual Psychology; Modern Psychoanalysis; Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences; and Social Cognition. These are just a few examples of some of the many new, full-text titles offered through Academic Search Premier. You can browse through the full list of journals and magazines included in Academic Search Premier, or try a search in the database today to discover some of the titles in your field that are included.
UW Oshkosh is a leader in sustainable practices and renewable energy use. Governor Doyle recently pointed out several strengths of UW Oshkosh, including:
Polk Library, in an effort to strengthen our collection in the areas of eco-municipalities, sustainable communities and sustainable development, renewable energy and “green” building tools, recently added a number of books distributed by New Society Publishers. This Canadian company “…publish(es) books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment.” Following is a list of recent books available at Polk Library by New Society (descriptions from publisher-provided annotations): Design for water : rainwater harvesting, stormwater catchment, and alternate water reuse (2007) - Main Collection, TD353 K55 2007 How green is your city? (2007) - Main Collection, HT243 U6 K37 2007 The New village green : Living light, living local, living large (2007) - Main Collection, TD170.3 N49 2007 The great neighborhood book : A do-it-yourself guide to placemaking (2007) - Main Collection, HT166 W234 2007 The Economics of happiness : building genuine wealth (2007) - Main Collection, HC79 E5 A54 2007 Slow is beautiful : new visions of community, leisure and joie de vivre (2006) - Main Collection, BJ1581.2 A535 2006 Toward sustainable communities : resources for citizens and their governments (2005) - Maind Collection, HT166 R66 2005 The Natural step for communities : how cities and towns can change to sustainable practices (2004) - Main Collection, HT241 J34 2004 Other books include:
If there is a book that you think Polk Library should add to our collection, please send the information to Ron Hardy (hardyr@uwosh.edu, Polk 110).
This summer, Lexis Nexis Academic, a comprehensive database to which the University of Wisconsin System libraries subscribe, redesigned its user interface. Lexis Nexis Academic, which is made available through Polk Library's web page, provides access to news articles, business information and legal information. A highly regarded resource in the news article offerings is the “News Transcripts” section, which provides transcripts for television news programs throughout the world and includes transcripts of United States government hearings through the Federal News Service. In the new version of the database, Lexis Nexis Academic has expanded its coverage of business information. The database, which includes company reports, now provides the ability to create comparison statistical reports among industries or between individual companies. Another new feature in the business offerings are country reports which provide a synopsis or summary of information related to doing business in foreign countries. Lexis Nexis Academic is probably most well known for the legal information to which it provides access. The database provides coverage of case law from all jurisdictions within the United States. The database has expanded its coverage to include case law from Canada, the Commonwealth Nations, European Union and other foreign countries. The new interface allows users to shepardize all of the case law from the United States. In the past, this feature was only available for United States Supreme Court Cases. Shepard's Citations allows the user to find out the current status of a court opinion--whether the opinion is still being followed or has been scrapped, changed or altered since it was originally released. The process for shephardizing a case is fairly simple. On the library's home page, click on the drop-down menu “List of Library Search Tools”, scroll down, and select “Lexis Nexis Academic”. On the upper left-hand side of the search screen, click on the “Search” tab and select the tab below that says “Legal.” Then on the right-hand side of the screen under “legal cases” click on to “Shepard's Citations”. On the next screen, enter the citation in the search box. For instance, the citation for a U.S. Supreme Court case that emanated from our University - Board of Regents v. Roth - is 408 U.S. 564. After entering the citation click on the red box to the right of the search box that says “Check”. The results of the search will have a synopsis of the citations and a chronological listing of all those cases that cited the Roth case. All of the case citations are “live” links which conveniently allow the user to go to a particular case directly from the Shepard's page. To return to the list of Shepard's citations, click on the temporary link at the top left hand side of the page that says Shepard's. The changes with the release of the new “Lexis Nexis Academic” interface are welcome enhancements to a comprehensive information source. Increasing the functionality of Shepard's Citations in the database has made for a powerful online legal research tool.
Who is bringing cake and candles? The online request and 2-4 business day delivery process of the UW libraries' holdings, also known as ‘Universal Borrowing' or simply UB, will soon be completing its sixth year of operation. UW Oshkosh staff and students requested and received over 3500 library items via UB in the fiscal year July '06 June '07. During the same time period, there were nearly 3900 UB requests for Oshkosh items made by other UW System students and staff. Polk Library is just one of over 26 UW system library locations. Collectively, in the same 06-07 fiscal year, nearly 49,000 library item requests were received and filled. Not sure how to make use of this service to request books or videos from other UW libraries? Check out our online, step-by-step UB instructions. Despite some various ups and downs while going through these six years of growing pains, the service has become imbedded within the institution called “the library.” While we have enjoyed success, please let us know if there are ways we can improve the process.
Students and faculty in the College of Education -- check out the blog on the EMC website: http://emcnews.blogspot.com/. The blog is intended to keep you apprised of resources in the Educational Media Collection or online that could be useful to you, particularly for assignments in children's literature classes. Recent posts include information about wordless picture books, easy readers, and children's books about cats. There will be more to come!
Winter is almost here, and the Browsing Room is all set with some new books that should help you get ready to snuggle in with a good book all through the holidays and during Winter Break.
Enjoy the read!
As part of Polk Library's 2007 periodicals review project, the library was able to add a subscription to a group of 452 electronic journals in a collection called Sage Premier. These are published by Sage Publications or its affiliates. Access is for the current issues plus, in most cases, a few years of backfiles. This group of titles includes 389 journals for which Polk Library had no print subscription; most of these also were not available from our general full-text databases. Some of the disciplines addressed by these journals include Anthropology, Business Administration, Biology, Communications, Criminal Justice, Education, History, Nursing, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration, and Sociology. The journals can be found in our alphabetical list on the library's home page, under “Know the name of a specific journal and want to know if we get it?”; or in the lists of journals offered under each academic subject in our “Find Articles by Subject” section. They are also included in the “Find It” links which appear in most of our journal databases. Following is a sample of some of the titles which previously were not readily accessible to UW Oshkosh faculty and students, roughly grouped by discipline. In the fields of Business: Accounting History; Global Business Review; Marketing Theory; Journal of South Asian Development; Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research; and Journal of Industrial Relations. Some Education-related journals include Assessment; Journal of Adolescent Research; Child Maltreatment; Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice; Education and Urban Society; Journal of Early Childhood Research; Review of Research in Education; and Improving Schools. In Psychology: Journal of Applied Gerontology; Games and Culture; Culture and Psychology; Journal of Attention Disorders; The Family Journal; Trauma, Violence, and Abuse; Psychology of Music; History of Psychiatry; Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment; Cooperation and Conflict; Applied Psychological Measurement; Sexualities; Group Processes and Intergroup Relations; and Transcultural Psychiatry. Some Communications-related journals include: Global Media and Communication; New Media and Society; Crime, Media, and Culture; Television and New Media; Media, Culture, and Society; and Visual Communication. In History: Journal of Urban History; Studies in History; Medieval History Journal. The collection includes a number of journals related to Criminal Justice; titles newly added include: Criminal Justice Policy Review; Homicide Studies; Police Quarterly; Feminist Criminology; Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice; Youth Justice; and Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice. Biology journals include: Journal of Biomolecular Screening; Journal of Biological Rhythms; and The Neuroscientist. Nursing and Medical Technology may be served by the following journals: Journal of Intensive Care Medicine; American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine; American Journal of Medical Quality; Journal of Pharmacy Practice; American Journal of Men's Health; Chronic Respiratory Disease; Medical Decision Making; Journal of Human Lactation; Journal of Research in Nursing; Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice; Biological Research for Nursing; Journal of Child Health Care; Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography; and Health Education Journal. Political Science journals include: Politics and Society; European Journal of Political Theory; East European Politics and Societies; Politics, Philosophy, Economics; and Party Politics. New titles available in Public Administration are: Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly; International Review of Administrative Sciences; Public Policy and Administration; Public Works Management and Policy; and Review of Public Personnel Administration. Sociology and Social Work journals include: Cultural Sociology; Journal of Sociology; Sociological Methods and Research; Men and Masculinities; Ethnicities; International Sociology; Science, Technology, and Society; Body and Society; Journal of Classical Sociology; Journal of Sport and Social Issues; Journal of Family Issues; Work, Employment, and Society; and Journal of Consumer Culture. Other newly-available journals include Anthropological Theory; Journal of Human Values; French Cultural Studies; Journal of Visual Culture; Environment and Urbanization; Indian Journal of Gender Studies; and Space and Culture.
Reminder for the end of the semester: Polk Library materials can be renewed in two ways. You can bring them to the Circulation Desk in the library, or you can renew them online. To renew online, see the instructions below. Some restrictions may apply. If you have any questions, please contact Jeanne Foley at x7315.
Good luck with the remainder of the semester.
The first floor of Polk Library will again be open 24 hours during the last week of classes, starting Sunday, Dec. 9th at 11 am and ending Friday, Dec. 14 at 6 pm. Back by popular demand, we will also be brewing free coffee each night that week from 10 pm to 7 am. Stop by for a late-night studying pick-me-up, and save landfill space by bringing your own covered coffee mug.
Holiday Hours, December 15, 2007 - January 6, 2008 Building Hours Reference Service Wisconsin Area Research Center and University Archives
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife This new addition to the Polk Library reference collection provides a fascinating look at the folklore of countries and people groups around the world. Each volume of this four-volume set covers a different area of the world: volume one contains folklore of Africa, Australia, and Oceania; volume two covers folklore of Asia; volume three presents folklore of Europe; and volume four contains folklore of North and South America. Each entry on a country or people group covers a range of topics, including historical and religious influences within the area, calendar customs and holidays, myths and folktales, folk music, rites of passage, effects of globalization on folk customs, and details about the study of folklore in that area. The bibliographies at the end of each entry are often quite extensive and can provide avenues for further study in both English and the group's native language.
Staff Highlights
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Read current issue of Polk Library News
Read past issues of Polk Library News
December 2007 issue, printer-friendly version (pdf)
Articles in this issue:
~"Elite" Upgraded to "Premier": The New Academic Search
~New Titles from New Society Publishers
~New Features in Lexis Nexis Academic
~UB Fortifies Library Resources