WVU Libraries

Norma Whitaker possesses the most important attribute for book collecting, according to Jack Walsdorf, antiquarian book collector and appraiser. She loves books.

She joined a crowd of more than 60 people standing in line at the Charles C. Wise Library to have their books appraised by Walsdorf, who returned to Morgantown on Sunday with his Book Lovers’ Road Show.

Whitaker enjoyed the afternoon, even though Walsdorf failed to assess either of her books as unearthed treasures.

“I just thought it would be interesting to see what really constitutes the value of a book and what detracts from making one valuable,” Whitaker said. “Maybe I can get some knowledge in case I want to try my hand at it.”

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Students and faculty will start using new user names and passwords to sign on to computers at the WVU Libraries on Friday, July 1. This change comes as the University makes the switch to the new Mountaineer card.

For students, the user name is the first portion of their MIX account address. For example: If an address is jjones4@mix.wvu.edu, the user name is jjones4.

The password is a person’s birthday plus the last four digits of his WVU ID number. For example: If someone’s birthday is July 4 and WVU ID number is 700-12-3456, his password would be 043456.

Students needing help finding their WVU ID number can ask for assistance at the reference desk or access services desk in the library.

For faculty and staff, the user name is their WVU employee number. The number can be found at the Human Resources web site. As with students, they will use a combination of birthday and the last four digits of their WVU ID number for a password.

To prepare for the change, the Downtown Campus, Evansdale and Health Sciences libraries will open at 9 a.m. July 1.

Forget the old adage. Jack Walsdorf regularly judges books by their cover, and the practice often brings broad smiles to those listening to his judgments.

He’s quick to point out if The Old Man and the Sea is a little weathered and dog-eared or if Huck Finn is dirty and looks like he’s taken a few knocks. Such flaws could be costly, Walsdorf is sure to comment. But he is just as quick to declare when The Great Gatsby appears clean and well-kept. The result could mean a fortune.

Walsdorf will share his opinions on books this summer when he returns the WVU Libraries with his Book Lovers’ Road Show. The WVU Libraries will host the book appraiser and collector at 2 p.m. July 31 in the Robinson Reading Room of Wise Library.

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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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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.

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.

Research may be a few steps faster and net greater results for many WVU Libraries users. Mountainlynx, the libraries’ online catalog, now includes electronic journals in its listings.

Until now, someone searching for a mix of resources to research a topic had to check Mountainlynx to find books, films and microfilm, then look elsewhere on the Libraries’ Web site to find available electronic journals.

It’s now one-stop shopping.

“If students and faculty know to go to Mountainlynx, then they can find the electronic journals they need,” said Linda Blake, electronic journals coordinator and science librarian.

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WVU Health Sciences Library is preparing for the construction of the new Health Sciences Library and Center for Learning.

During Phase I, book collections (including reference, new books and oversized) are being moved to prepare for the renovation. Journals published before 1980 are being sent to the WVU Libraries Book Depository http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/depository/index.htm).

Scanned versions of the articles from these journals will be made available upon request from the Web page at http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/systems/callslip.

For more information on the library construction project visit http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/library/construction.htm or
call 293-6810.

While in the library, please inquire about new locations for library materials at the HSL Circulation and Reference
desks. The library staff thanks patrons for their patience.

Mountaineer Spirit

BY MONTE MAXWELL

The WVU Libraries are seeking input from students, faculty and staff on the services they currently provide and what they should provide.

In a few days, about 4,000 randomly selected individuals will each receive an email requesting they participate in LibQUAL+, an online library service quality survey that takes place during the first two weeks of April.

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CONTACT: Monte Maxwell, WVU Libraries, 304-293-4040, ext. 4004

It makes an interesting story in itself: health care professional by day, mystery writer by night.

Arthur Conan Doyle penned his Sherlock Holmes series while serving patients through his medical practice. The ophthalmologist’s story is not that unique.

Library and bookstore shelves are lined with mysteries authored by physicians, dentists, biochemists, medical records administrators, emergency medical technicians, pharmacist assistants and nurses.

Such works are the focus of an exhibit at the Health Sciences Library throughout February. The exhibit, located in the display case outside the entrance of the library, contains a selection of books, pictures of authors and Web sites. There are also a few of the villain’s tools of the trade – poisons, on loan from the University’s Pharmacy Museum.

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