Get Ivy League course materials...for free!

Yale, MIT, and other universities have started offering free and open access to online courses taught by faculty members.  Open Yale courses and MIT Open Courseware both try to expand the reach of educational materials by reducing barriers to quality information.  Although the course information is accessible through these websites, the material is also accessible through iTunes U, another platform for gaining access to quality educational materials.

There's no denying that we have access to great minds and great course here at Virginia Tech; however, the open courses at Yale and MIT offer a broad range of courses (from art history to technology in healthcare) that may include some we don't have here at VT.  Check them out for some fun weekend learning!

Around the Web: Nutrition in the News

On my Google homepage, I have an RSS widget that delivers information from all of the blogs I follow and a News widget that delivers updated CNN headlines.  Over the past several days, I've noticed that nutrition-related topics seem to be dominating these feeds.  Food and eating are clearly topics that resonate with most of us, but the stories below are ones that I found particularly interesting, if not particularly scholarly.  You've probably around seen them, but if you haven't--enjoy!

• NPR Cookbooks & Recipes
• Twinkie Diet Helps Nutrition Professor Lose 27 Pounds
• Your Healthiest Fast Food Choices
• Dieting Gets You Nowhere
• Healthy Weight or Healthy Mind?
• The Weigh In
• Mushrooms:  Delicious or Deadly?
• Chefs' Tips for the Thanksgiving Meal
• Marilyn Monroe's Stuffing Recipe

Defining Plagiarism

There was an interesting article in the Virginia Tech News this morning that discussed VBI's investigation into "text duplication" in scientific research.  Essentially, researchers at  VBI used a computer program, eTBLAST, to scan through 72,011 free full-text articles in PubMed Central and compare text.  Overall, they found that introductions and review articles tended to repeat text from previous, related articles.  The hope is that, with this research, researchers will bring an awareness to articles that will result in more innovative, original work.  Additionally, a representative from VBI mentioned that he hoped this work would help establish guidelines about what may or may not be acceptable text duplication:  "Before crossing the line between acceptable and unacceptable writing, it is important to know the location of the line.” You can read the entirety of the researchers' article, published in PLoS One, here.


As a librarian, I am well aware that this line is difficult to grasp, and difficult to explain.  Avoiding plagiarism, though, isn't so difficult.  Attributing sources and paraphrasing are two techniques that can help younger researchers avoid the problem altogether.  At University Libraries, we have an entire guide devoted to nearly all of the citation styles available:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/citation/ 


Overall, it is very interesting to note that plagiarism is a problem that plagues all levels of scientific research.  Learning good writing habits early on, though, is a sure way to help stop plagiarism's spread.  

New books from October 2010!

University Libraries has, once again, released its new materials list for October 2010!  Below, you will find a few items that could be considered highlights of our new additions.  As always, any reviews posted below are through University Libraries subscription databases, so if you're off campus, you may need to sign in (via Off Campus Sign In) to read the reviews.  Enjoy! 

Adventures in Good Cooking:  The Art of Carving in the Home*
*This special, newly acquired item from 1953 can be found in Special Collections--take a trip down there (1st Floor, Newman Library) to check it out!

Barbecue:  The History of an American Institution


Read the Booklist Review

Sensory analysis for food and beverage quality control


Read the publisher summary

The New Agritourism:  Hosting Community & Tourists on Your Farm

Read the publisher summary

 

The Wonder Bread Cookbook:  An Inventive and Unexpected Recipe Collection

Read a few publisher summaries

FARQ: Recalled Books (& Office Hours update)

I am going to make a last minute decision about office hours this afternoon (Thursday, November 4):  after reading all of the information about tonight's evening game, I have decided to cancel office hours in Wallace 342-A from 3-5 p.m.  If you'd like to talk with me, I invite you to make an appointment; I can come to you or you can come to me, here in Newman Library.  I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.


Next, it's time for another installment of Frequently Asked Reference Questions!  

We've gotten to the point in the semester where certain books are in high demand.  Some of these books are textbooks (like An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis, which currently has 4 patrons waiting for it) and some are pleasure-reading books (like Eat, Pray, Love with 6 patrons waiting for it).  Regardless of the type of book, everyone wants to know:


If I request a book (place a hold on it), how long will it take before I actually receive it?

There are actually a wide variety of answers to this question.  Most of all, it just depends on various factors.  Eat, Pray, Love, for example, won't be available for some time, for that sixth person on the list, simply because all five people before the sixth person must get their allotted 21 days, which is the minimum amount of time anyone gets to keep a book he/she has checked out.  Generally, though, the basic rules are as follows:

The patron who currently has the booked checked out gets to keep it for a minimum of 21 days. A patron who recently checked out the book will have the due date changed to 21 days from the initial check out date. A patron who checked out a book more than 21 days ago has their due date changed immediately.

In either case, the patron has a few grace days to return the book. This allows time for the recall notice to go out and for books checked out to distance education patrons time to be mailed back.

After this grace period, the patron is fines $1/day for each day the item is not returned. Patrons have been known to accept these fines and keep the book well over the new due date; we have no ability beyond fines and notices to the patron to return the book in question.

As soon as the item is returned and checked in, you will receive an email noting the book is now ready for you to check out. If you login to My Library Account, you will see the status of all your requests. Look for a status of ON HOLDSHELF; that indicates a book is waiting at the Circulation Desk to be checked out. If there are no further HOLDS indicated; it should be waiting for you.

If additional holds are indicated, you may need to wait your turn before checking out this book as other people have also requested it ahead of you. Questions?  As always, just let me know!

Interesting article in yesterday's RT

Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Among all of the election excitement, an article about local food in Roanoke appeared in yesterday's Roanoke Times.  Field to Fork, a Roanoke-area networking event that puts food producers and food buyers in contact, seemed to bring up quite a few significant topics related to local food.  Christy Gabbard of VT Earthworks was interviewed for the article, which can be found here.  And, even though I've shared this on this blog before, you can view a copy of the VT Earthworks local food guide here.

The Research Paper Scheduler--It does (nearly) all the work for you

It's that time of year again...pumpkins are are starting to mold, and retail establishments want to make us all think that the holidays are right around the corner.  For many of us, though, something more ominous is looming right around the corner--research papers!  During the next month, VT students and faculty members will be working hard to write and grade these papers.

Fortunately, University Libraries offers The Research Paper Scheduler, a tool that will allow you to plug in the current date, a project's desired date of completion, and the topic of the paper.  With this information, the Scheduler will generate a loose timeline that will give you a good idea of how you should set up your workflow and complete tasks related to your Big Research Paper.  Try it!