Polk Library News
May 2007 - Issue 37

Lexis Nexis Redesign Renée Büker, bukerr@uwosh.edu

Been researching current controversial issues, world events, or legal rulings? Chances are you've been searching Lexis Nexis Academic, a multi-faceted database offered through the Polk Library website. Because of its wide selection of full-text news, business, and legal resources, Lexis Nexis is one of the most popular search tools at UW Oshkosh, based on number of searches per year.

If you're one of the many on campus who search Lexis Nexis, you'll want to check out the Beta version of their site redesign, scheduled for full implementation this summer. If you enter Lexis Nexis – from the library home page, you can select it from the “List of library search tools” – at the top of the standard Lexis Nexis search page, you'll see a link reading “Try the Beta release now”. This will let you preview and try out some of the new features that will be coming soon.

One of the biggest changes you'll notice in the redesign is you will be able to search multiple sources at once. Users in the past will recall that Lexis Nexis would only let you search one area at a time, such as “European News Sources” or “National Public Radio Transcripts”. If you wanted to search multiple sources, you would need to go back and redo the search in each source. In the redesign, however, you will be able to search multiple areas simultaneously.

The results list in the redesigned version also has some very nice features. A column on the left side of the screen allows you to limit your search quickly to a particular type of source, such as newspapers, magazines, or news transcripts. This “Result Groups” list on the left side of the screen can also be changed so that you can instead limit to a particular subject, language, or geographical location mentioned within the article. The results list itself also displays more information than the current version. Besides the title of the article and other source information, the redesigned version also displays snippets of the article text where your search terms appeared. This can often give you a better idea of whether the article will be useful, before you even look at the full text.

Take some time to check out the redesign – especially if you use Lexis Nexis regularly – and try out some of the new features. As this new version of Lexis Nexis is still in “Beta,” some of the features may not yet work one hundred percent of the time, and there may still be changes before the official roll-out this summer. If you have any questions or concerns about the new interface, do let Polk Library staff know – we'll be happy to communicate those to the Lexis Nexis staff as they continue to polish the redesigned site.

New Collection: Games in the Browsing Room Ron Hardy, hardyr@uwosh.edu

Polk Library has partnered with the Oshkosh Gaming Society, a campus student organization, to bring quality strategy "table top" games to UW Oshkosh students and staff. The games will be donated by the Oshkosh Gaming Society, and Polk Library will catalog and provide access to them. A small core collection of games has already been cataloged, and new ones will be added over the next 12 months. All games will be shelved in the Browsing Room on 2nd Floor North and have a 28-day checkout period.

1. Axis & Allies / a strategy game by Larry Harris
2. Carcassonne : a clever tile-laying game for 2-5 players aged 10 and up
3. Battle cry : Civil War battle field game.
4. Twilight Imperium : an epic board game of galactic conquest, politics and trade
5. Doom : the boardgame
6. GURPS basic set: characters
7. Guillotine.

Game on!

Coming again this fall -- the 5th annual Polk Library Murder Mystery will be held Friday, September 7, 2007! Whodunit? What clues will finally tip everyone off? What crazy storyline will Polk staff come up with this year? Can their acting get any cheesier? Come and find out! And more importantly, encourage your students to come. The library murder mystery is an annual event, held at the beginning of fall semester, that not only offers students the opportunity to meet new people, run around the library in the dark with flashlights, and win cool prizes, but it also ever-so-sneakily introduces students to library staff, library locations, and online resources they'll need to use (like eReserves and the library catalog). We'd especially like new freshmen to come and get to know Polk during this fun event. If you'd like to promote the mystery to your students in the fall, email Renée Büker (bukerr@uwosh.edu) or Marisa Finkey (finkey@uwosh.edu), and they'll keep you in the loop as details unfold.

You asked -- we listened.

Some library patrons inquired if calculators could checked out for use in the library. The Library purchased 4 calculators and they can be checked out for 3 hours at the Circulation desk with your Titancard.

Models: TI-30X IIS (2) and TI-83 Plus (2)

If you teach any classes with a math component, please feel free to pass along this information to your students!

Find Bond Ratings in Mergent BondViewer Mike Watkins, watkins@uwosh.edu

Polk Library has recently added the online searchable database Mergent BondViewer to its collection of online business resources. The database can be accessed from the library's home page at http://www.uwosh.edu/library/. It can be found using the “Find articles by subject” menu (under Business) or alphabetically under the “List of Library Search Tools” dropdown menu.

Mergent BondViewer provides information on over 1.7 million municipal securities and 179,000 taxable securities. Bond ratings and ratings history are provided by Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch.

Corporate issues can be looked up by several different categories including corporate name, ticker symbol, CUSIP, ISIN, and by twenty-six different business categories. Municipal issues can be searched by name or CUSIP which is further restricted to a specific state to avoid confusion between similarly named municipalities throughout the United States. In addition, municipal issues can be restricted by type of bond. Both the corporate and municipal section can be searched on a broader level by searching specific date ranges of issue -- on the corporate side by the business categories presented and on the municipal side by state.

The database also offers an advanced search feature which allows the user to search bonds according to specific data points -- bonds with a specific rating or issues less than, greater than, or equal to specific dollar numbers or with specific coupon characteristics. The user can create custom reports from the information retrieved. Reports can be generated in HTML, Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat PDF, and Microsoft Excel format. In addition, the user is given the option of setting up a portfolio of bonds that can be sent to a specific email address.

Mergent BondViewer is a very powerful tool for finance and investment specialists. The information provided lends itself well to presentation in a database format. Information provided on government issues can also be used by those interested in government to track the financial position of government entities throughout the United States.

New Mystery Novels in the Browsing Room Karen Reiter, reiter@uwosh.edu

Would you like to get comfy with a good mystery novel this spring? Below are some new additions to the Browsing Room located on 2nd floor North in Polk Library.

• The Alibi Man, by Tami Hoag
• Heart Shaped Box, by Joe Hill
• I Heard that Song Before, by Mary Higgins Clark
• Key Lime Pie Murder, by Joanne Fluke
• The Dead Room, by Heather Graham

Enjoy the read!

End of Semester and Interim Hours Jeanne Foley, foley@uwosh.edu

The last week of spring semester, May 6-11, Polk Library will be open 24 hours for late-night studiers. Due to the popularity of last semester's pilot, the library will again be offering free coffee at the circulation desk from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM. Stop by for a pick-me-up -- and feel free to bring your own covered coffee mug. Also, don't forget to return or renew your library books before you leave campus for the semester!

Spring Interim Hours, May 12 - June 1
(Polk Library will be closed Saturday, May 12; Sunday, May 13; Sunday, May 27; and Memorial Day, Monday, May 28)

Building Hours

Reference Service

Wisconsin Area Research Center and University Archives

Spotlight on Reference Jerry Carpenter, carpente@uwosh.edu

Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin
Ref. QL 684 .W6 A84 2006

Ever wonder how many different birds we have in Wisconsin?  Not those fly-by-nighters that are spotted only occasionally, but those that actually hang around here and raise a family.  This is the book for you!

At 602 pages, this work is no minor effort.  Six years of field study by over 1600 observers provided the data.  More than a half-million motor vehicle miles were logged in making the observations.

The first 76 pages lay the groundwork, discussing bird habitat, etc.  Next comes 456 pages of species accounts, the main section.  For each species there is a page of description followed by a page of data.  The use of color makes the maps meaningful and the use of color photographs makes the book beautiful as well.  Arrangement of the species accounts is taxonomic, by order and family, but there is an alphabetical index at the back which allows you to quickly spot "your bird."  We learn, for instance, that the Dark-eyed Junco is a confirmed breeder in only 9 Wisconsin counties, from Shawano Co. north.  Yet I've seen this little bird under my wife's feeder practically every day this winter.  On the other hand, the Red-eyed Vireo is a confirmed breeder in every county in Wisconsin. But how many of us have ever seen one?

This census of Wisconsin's breeding birds is a major achievement and should remain "the" source for years to come.  And, by the way, if you're still wondering how many different birds we have in Wisconsin -- 237 is the magic number.

Staff Highlights

• Patrick Wilkinson, Polk Library Director, was re-elected to the Online Computer Library Center's (OCLC) Members Council.  OCLC Members Council serves as a key link between 57,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories by facilitating communication between libraries and OCLC management and helping to shape the future directions of the organization.  Members Council has 66 members elected from different areas around the world.  Pat's term will end June 2010.
• Erin Czech, Interlibrary Loan, has been selected as Coordinator of the Fox River Valley Area Library Consortium (FRVALC) for the next year, until Spring 2008.  FRVALC is a group of libraries and institutions in the Fox River Valley area of Wisconsin that promotes the exchange of health science resources and information and promotes continuing education through consortium-sponsored educational programs.
• Michael Watkins, Government Documents, presented the program “Dataferret for the Dataweb: Virtual Processing of Government Data Files” at the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians Conference held at the Wintergreen Resort/Hotel in Wisconsin Dells on April 19.
• Ronald Hardy, Head of Information Resources, was awarded the "Advisor of the Year" by the Student Leadership and Involvement Center (SLIC) for his work as advisor for the student group Rainbow Alliance for H.O.P.E.
• The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh recently honored employees who have worked on campus for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40 years. Library honorees included Renée Büker, Outreach Services Librarian (5 years); Marisa Finkey, Library Instruction Coordinator (10 years); Erin Czech, Interlibrary Loan (30 years); Karen Reiter, Acquisitions (30 years); and Roberta Stuemke, Stacks Management (30 years).