WVU Libraries

“Women’s Studies Research in the Information Age” is being offered in Summer 1. The course addresses the interlocking topics of women and information. It is designed to help you be an active member of the information society.

You will learn theory and develop applications to solve your information needs. You will acquire knowledge about the scope of the information environment by and about women and its components including: proprietary databases, libraries and their contents, people resources, the Internet, the invisible web, and how to harness your own curiosity.

Upon completion of this course (which will include a mixture of active learning assignments, readings, lectures, oral presentations, class discussions, and guided hands on activities) you will find yourself equipped to make decisions about the selection and application of information now and in the future.

Registration Information:

Register: WMST SPTS 493G, CRN 50955; or MDS 493P 51005

Time: M,T,W,Th 3-4:15pm Summer 1, 2005

Instructor: Carroll Wetzel Wilkinson, Women’s Studies Bibliographer
and Access Services Librarian at the Downtown Campus Library

Where: Room 136, Downtown Campus Library (Instruction Classroom) near
Media Services, lower level

-Carroll Wilkinson

The WVU Libraries continually add new titles to the electronic journals delivered to your desk top. Just this year, we added 141 new titles to the existing collection of over 15,000 e-journals. Some examples of titles added include: American Journal of Sports, Behavior Modification, Comparative Political Studies, Economic Development Quarterly, Gender and Society, International Journal of Music Education, Journal of Composite Materials, Semiotica, and Written Communication.

The journals come from a variety of sources. For example, journals published by Sage Publications were purchased in electronic format for 2005, and all ACM and IEEE journals be added to the electronic journals list in 2004. The Health Sciences Library is making good progress on an ambitious plan to convert all of its journal titles to electronic format, either as collections or on a title by title basis.

Researchers can access all WVU Libraries electronic journals through the Full Text Electronic Journals List .

-Linda Blake

The Morgantown WVU Health Sciences Library is pleased to announcement the implementation of the LinkOut feature of PubMed. PubMed is a database of citations and abstracts to health sciences journal articles developed by the National Library of Medicine.

LinkOut provides direct access from article descriptions in PubMed to full-text articles owned by WVU Libraries Morgantown. LinkOut also shows which articles are available in print journals at the WVU Health Sciences Library in the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. To utilize the LinkOut feature, connect to PubMed through the the Health Sciences Library, SOLE, or WVU Libraries websites.

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STUDENTS – NEED A COURSE THIS SUMMER?

Sign up for MDS 103 (Introduction To Library Research); it’s entirely online!
Read Lecture Notes at the Pool!
Do Assignments in a Hammock!
Take a Quiz at the Beach!

What you need to know to register:
Course: MDS 103
Name: Introduction to Library Research
Session: Summer I (Begins May 23rd and lasts 3 weeks)
Section: 7D1
CRN: 51044
Credit Hours: 1

Also available in Summer II!
What you need to know to register:
Course: MDS 103
Name: Introduction to Library Research
Session: Summer II (Begins July 5th and lasts 6 weeks)
Section: WEB 001
CRN: 71330
Credit Hours: 1
Instructor: M. Yancey

-Kelly Diamond

The WVU Libraries are participating again in a national research project that measures student and faculty perceptions of library service. LibQual is a survey tool developed by the Association of Research Libraries to measure how satisfied users are with library resources and services.

Almost 5,000 students and faculty selected at random from MIX and GroupWise e-mail accounts will receive an e-mail inviting their participation in the online survey.

“The goal of LibQual is to help us understand how our users see our services. The feedback we received from the 2003 LibQual survey was extremely useful,” Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said.

O’Brien encourages everyone who receives the e-mail invitation to complete the survey. This year, two people who complete the survey will be chosen in a random drawing to receive an iPod.

The online survey consists of 45 questions, and includes a section for comments. Participants are asked about their desired, perceived, and minimum expectations of service from the WVU Libraries.

Two years ago nearly 4,700 students and faculty participated in the campus’s first LibQual survey. The feedback guided the WVU Libraries in enhancements to their electronic journal web pages and other services. More information about LibQual will be available this week in the Downtown, Evansdale, and Health Sciences Libraries. Promotional materials for WVU LibQual were designed by Eryck Webb, a graphic design student.

The survey closes April 29.

To celebrate National Library Week, take advantage of one of the many services and collections available through your campus libraries. We’re not just for studying! The Libraries offer millions of books and journal articles to support research, but many other treasures await you@your library.

Here are some things you may want to try:

1. Leisure reading collections – latest suspense, science fiction, and more…
2. Music to go – blues, jazz, classical – check out a CD from the Evansdale Library
3. Surf the Web – on library computers or your own – wireless or ethernet
4. Expert assistance from reference librarians – for all your research questions
5. Study late – till 2 AM in the Downtown Campus Library
6. Free DVD loans – from our extensive collection of international and classic films
7. Quiet study nooks, desks, comfy chairs, or group study rooms
8. Online help – with email and chat reference services – we’re virtual!
9. Digital senders – scan journal articles and send them by email – it’s free!
10. Term paper help – a clinic for those last minute term paper woes
11. Win $1,500 – imagine the future and win the contest!

The April edition of National Geographic Traveler magazine includes a folded map of Appalachia displaying 356 locations of cultural and historic significance narrowed from a field of 1000 sites nominated by state and local partners.

An interactive map, entitled “Discovering Appalachia,” contains pop-up windows with descriptions and links to Web pages with more information: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/appalachia/. Printed maps are available by calling 1-800-CALLWVA.

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A landmark study released today reveals that approximately 60 percent of the ecosystem services that support life on Earth – such as fresh water, capture fisheries, air and water regulation, and the regulation of regional climate, natural hazards and pests – are being degraded or used unsustainably. Scientists warn that the harmful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly worse in the next 50 years.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Synthesis Report is the first in a series of seven synthesis and summary reports and four technical volumes that assess the state of global ecosystems and their impact on human well-being.

Link to report

Library records included in Patriot Act provisions; librarians respond with systematic purging

Civil liberties have become an issue of much debate and concern in recent years due to the passing of the USA Patriot Act in 2001. Library records are an important topic in that debate.

Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act reads, “The director for the FBI, or a designee of the director, may make an application for an order requiring the production of any tangible things (such as books, records, papers, documents and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities.”

Frances O’Brien, dean of West Virginia University Libraries, said libraries should be a place where students can come and find information on any subject they want and not be questioned about it.

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WVU Libraries are among 31 institutions across the nation participating in a pilot program to provide virtual reference services to people seeking government information.

The Government Information Online service allows researchers to go online and ask questions or seek information about state and federal government. Patrons access the service through a link on the WVU Libraries webpage http://www.libraries.wvu.edu or directly at http://govtinfo.org. From this site, users can e-mail a question or engage in a real-time chat session with a librarian.

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New spell checking feature has been added to PubMed to suggest alternative spellings for PubMed search terms that include misspellings. Terms entered with a search tag (e.g., [mh]; [majr]; [tw]) will not generate alternative spellings.
For more information see the article from the NLM Technical Bulletin.