Welcome back! Or, what you missed over the summer...

The first day of school is always exciting.  Whether you're a student or a faculty member, there's just something exhilarating about starting a new school year.  As a VT librarian, I can give you several reasons why starting this semester is especially exciting.  During the summer months, we here at University Libraries have been busy improving our services and developing new ones.  A few of these that you may be interested in include:

• More outlets on the 4th floor!  
• The development of a library courier service for delivery of materials between library branches
• The arrival of Endnote X4 (for Windows; X3 is still available for Mac)
• Accessibility of 2009 data from Journal Citation Reports
• A new location for the pickup of Interlibrary Loan materials:  the 2nd floor Circulation Desk!
• Addison (the library catalog) upgrades that include My Lists and Reading History--two new ways to manage and organize your research
• The arrival of four new Rosetta Stone languages in the Language Resource Center (Arabic, Mandarin, Italian, and Russian--in addition to the French, German, and Spanish material already there)

In addition to this blog, which is also a new resource introduced over the summer, Newman Library introduces its own Facebook page, which posts all kinds of updates and news from Newman Library.  The Science & Technology Reference Desk (located on the 4th floor) also has its own Facebook page; clicking on the badge on the right-hand side of this blog will take you to the SciTech Facebook page, where you can "like" the SciTech Team and gain access to instant updates about research, resources, and other highly relevant items.  

My office is located on the 5th floor of Newman Library--Room 5004.  Please drop by and say hello!  I'm usually in the library during regular business hours, and am available for one-on-one consultations, research collaboration, and friendly chats.  I hope to see you soon!  

Faculty Week, Fall 2010

Today, August 16, marks the beginning of what we here at Newman Library like to call "Faculty Week."  Basically, we like to take this week--the week right before classes--and make sure that faculty and students are aware of the services and resources that we have to offer.  One of these is course reserves.

Course reserves are a "means to set aside materials for a class in the library branch of your choice."  Putting in-demand materials on reserve ensures that all students have the opportunity to view material that may be significant for a particular course.  Materials on reserve will have limited loan periods (2 hours, 2 days, 2 weeks) so that everyone (theoretically) will have a chance to use them.  Shorter materials (articles and chapters) can be digitized; all other material will reside in the chosen library branch.

The reserve request form is available online (http://www.lib.vt.edu/forms/reserve_request_form.pdf), and should be filled out by faculty members interested in placing something on reserve.  Faculty members can place personal copies or library copies on reserve; if the library does not own a book that you'd like to place on reserve, then you can simply email me and ask me to purchase it for you!

More information about course reserves at VT can be found here:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/libnews/2010/2010-08-16.html

As always, just let me know if you have any questions!

Expert Research Tip: Truncate

The word "truncation" always makes me think of elephants, although in the context of research and database searching, this doesn't really make sense...although, it kind of does, now that I think about it, since it will (possibly) enlarge the relevant results that you receive!

Truncation allows you to capture the various permutations of a word, so that you can grab a topic from various contexts found within the literature.


Let's say that you're interested in researching factors that motivate children to increase fruit and vegetable intake. The search that you put together might look something like:  (children or child) and (motivate or motivation or motivating) and (fruit or vegetable).  Wouldn't it be great if you could capture "children or child" and "motivate or motivation or motivating" in a simpler way?  Well, that's exactly what truncation does.

In most databases, the truncation symbol is an asterisk--*.  There are some databases that use other characters (perhaps a $ or a !), but for most of the databases you will search in (PubMed and Addison, specifically), you will use the asterisk.  Basically, you'll just cut off the word where the different endings occur and add the asterisk.  This allows you to receive all versions of a word, as it is found within the literature, in your results.  Using truncation, the search above will look like:  child* and motivat* and (fruit or vegetable). Pretty cool!

Using truncation can clean up your search, and possibly retrieve results that you didn't think to search for.  Try it and see how it works for you!

Example of truncation in Addison

On the run? Try Addison Mobile!

Image from mobiletracker.net

You can now search the University Libraries' catalog while walking, running, biking, or even driving (not recommended).  While Addison Mobile has been available since the spring semester, it now has upgraded features that make it even more handy.


From our website:

Addison Mobile provides a lightweight view of Addison customized for users of wireless PDA's, such as the Palm or Blackberry handheld devices, and Internet-enabled cell phones. The Addison Mobile server will attempt to detect the type of PDA you are using and deliver displays formatted for that device, without extra graphics, JavaScript, or cookies that can confuse some PDA's. Addison Mobile may also be useful for users of screen readers or special software designed to aid visual handicaps.

Addison Mobile allows you to search Addison from any location with wireless access. You may search the catalog from the classroom, while browsing the stacks, or from an Internet cafe. You may place requests for books, renew books, cancel holds, and view pending requests on library materials.

Visit the mobile site today:  http://m.addison.vt.edu/  

Questions about using Addison Mobile?  Just let me know!  

FARQ: Special Delivery?

Another regular feature of this blog will be the Frequently Asked Reference Question (FARQ)--all of your burning library questions answered, systematically.  The first question that I am answering here is part reference question, because it deals with accessing library materials, and part library "service" question.

If an article is only in print at Newman Library, can I get it mailed or emailed to me, saving a trip to the library?  


The answer is, it depends:  if you live in Blacksburg, and take classes at the Blacksburg campus, then the answer is no--you must come into the library to access your articles.

However, if you take distance classes, or reside outside of the New River Valley, then you can request any item from the library, and it will be mailed or emailed to your home address.  The following statement is from the University Libraries website:

The "extended campus user" policy

If you're interested in finding out more information about this and other services for "extended campus users," check out the page (available here:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/extended/), and just let me know how I can help!

New Books: July 2010

An item that has recently arrived in Newman Library

The new resources listed for July 2010 has been posted on the VT Libraries website:  http://dsp.lib.vt.edu/newbooks/newbooks.php.  We post these lists every month, and you can even receive the updates via RSS or through Addison Search Alerts.

Although you can view new books from all disciplines, you may find the Medicine and Science lists the most interesting.  Each month I'll deliver these lists directly to this blog--happy reading!

Tutorial: Using Library Links with Google Scholar

In 90 seconds, you'll know how to use Google Scholar to access material from VT Libraries!  

Like Google Scholar but hate that it doesn't always (er...hardly ever?) give you the full-text of what you find? You have access to millions of full-text journal articles through VT's University Libraries, and we can instantly connect what you find in Google Scholar to your full-text access through the Library (if you're off campus, make sure to sign in). The full explanation can be found here, but watch the tutorial below for a full demonstration, including examples that I've created just for you all.

Hint:  for best viewing, enlarge the tutorial to full screen.  On the far right of the toolbar (which pops up after you've hit "play"), there is a square icon that will make the tutorial full screen.  Hitting "Esc" will minimize the tutorial after you've finished watching it.



A disclaimer:  Google Scholar is a great resource, but little is known about exactly what it indexes, or how it indexes that information.  We know that its breadth is wide, but there's no precision in the search. That said, Google Scholar should be used as a research tool alongside the other useful tools that you are no doubt already using.