New IPAC Arriving in 2002

Once the next Horizon upgrade is in place, the new IPAC will be unveiled, and it will support basic as well as advanced levels of searching. If it develops as planned, it will enable students to quickly retrieve records displaying the citation and call number, and to accumulate lists they can later format for their bibliographies.

The new catalog will be a single version for use both in the Library and on the Web. We will finally be able to teach the catalog in the IT labs! Users will be able to compile book lists, and sort them by author, title, publication date, and relevancy (# of term matches). Searches can be limited to campus location and more specifically, to a collection, such as C.W. Post Reference, or Reserve books.

Meanwhile, our current "in house" catalog system, PAC for Windows, lets users compile and format a bibliography in either MLA or Chicago style.

Formatting Instructions:

1. Select and set your search settings (i.e., restrictions, limits, and sorts).

2. Execute your search.

3. Review your search results and BookList the items that you would like to include in your bibliography.

4. Once your list is complete, click on the BookList menu and choose Save To Disk.

5. You will then be prompted to choose either Chicago, MLA, or PlainText style. Your list will be saved to a disk in the format you've selected.

6. To print your bibliography, open your file in a word processing program. Call #s are not included.

Remember that a new version of Horizon is on the horizon and may not allow for such formatting. So hurry and take advantage of this feature now.

Latest links for Virtual Reference Collection

The VR Collection features links to websites of interest arranged by subject at: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/ref/virtual.htm. Some new additions to this continually evolving collection include:

Google Image Search locates more than 330 million web images at: http://images.google.com. (In VR under Arts & Humanities)

Scope is a comprehensive guide to LI school districts at: http://www.li-scope.org/index.htm (In VR under Education)

ANSER Institute for Homeland Security covers policy and national security at: http://www.homelandsecurity.org/ (In VR under Government)

General Code includes local laws and legislation across the nation at: http://www.generalcode.com/ (In VR under Legal and Long Island)

On the Shelf

We've recently added some interesting print titles to the Reference Collection. Below is a small sampling:

Dressler. J. (2002). Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice. 2nd ed. NY: Macmillan Reference USA. Ref. HV6017.E52 2002

Grendler, P. F. (Ed.-in-Chief) (1999). Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. CB361.E52 1999 (5 Vol.)

Izenberg, N. (2000). Human Diseases and Conditions. NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. RC81.A2H75 2000 (3 Vol.)

Mitchell, S. (1998). American Attitudes. Ithaca, NY: New Strategist Pub. HN90.P8M58 1998

Ness, I. and Ciment, J. (2000). Third Parties in America. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Inc. JK2261.E474 2000 (3 Vol.)

Russell, C. (2001). The Baby Boom: Americans Aged 35-54. Ithaca, NY : New Strategist Pub. HN60.R868 2001bx

FYI on BI

Classes this term covered disciplines such as nursing, education, psychology, art, and speech, using print and electronic sources. Louis Pisha ran a session on Chaucer, the Middle Ages, and Middle English literature. Jackie Elsas teamed with Conrad Schoeffling for an art class featuring the Book of Kells and also taught adult students in the Return to Learning Program.

In order to assist those who are teaching in the information literacy initiative we have updated and expanded our online list of subject encyclopedias. We've also revised most of our bookmarks and other instructional publications. We invite you to stop by and pick up copies of these useful instructional guides.

Electronic Eye-Openers: Recent Additions to our Electronic Collection

Database Coordinator Wendy Roberts has announced the addition of six new database subscriptions. A complete subject list of our databases is available at: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/database.htm

Gale's History Resource Center - U.S. provides integrated access to over 1,000 historical (primary) documents, more than 30,000 reference articles, and over 65 full-text journals. It covers themes, events, individuals, and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. It also incorporates Arts and Humanities Citation Index with over 180 additional history journals.

Gale's Literature Resource Center offers biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every period and literary genre. Combining Gale Group's core literary databases in a single online service, the Literature Resource Center covers more than 120,000 novelists, poets, journalists, essayists, and other writers, providing in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most widely studied authors.

Gale's InfoTrac OneFile is a one-stop source for newspaper and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, current events, education, environmental issues, health care, literature, the arts, politics, science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. It includes millions of full-text articles, many with images. Best of all it is updated daily!

EBSCOHost's MagillOnLiterature is touted as the definitive online source for editorially reviewed critical analyses and plot summaries of widely studied works in the history of literature. This database covers the contents of 31 sets of reference books: nearly 20 Masterplots and Masterplots II titles, the Cyclopedia of World Authors, the Cyclopedia of Literary Characters, 10 years of Magill's Literary Annual, and Magill Book Reviews.

WebSPIRS' Books in Print (with reviews) lists over 1.2 million books of all kinds: adult, juvenile, popular, scholarly, and reprints. It also contains 300,000 full- text book reviews evaluating the most recent releases as well as titles dating from 1985.

WebSPIRS' International Index to Film Periodicals has almost 50,000 references and incorporates several titles: International Index to Film Periodicals, International Index to Television Periodicals, List of Periodicals Indexed, Treasures from the Film Archives, Bibliography of FIAF Members Publications, and International Directory of Film and TV Documentation Collections. The main database, International Index to Film Periodicals, contains almost 230,000 article citations from more than 300 periodicals.

Tech Tip: Full Text and Nothing But Full Text ...

Most researchers want and expect to obtain full text material online. Several databases require codes to retrieve only full text documents. Below are examples of codes used in WebSPIRS databases offering full text:

• In Education Full Text, use TXI=Y

• In CINAHL, use XFLD=TX

• In ERIC, use DTC=O73 for full text ERIC Digests

• In Books in Print (R), to obtain full text reviews use RVI=Yes

Tech Tip: Screen Shots

Using Screen Shots is a simple way to print an error message or capture an application screen. It's easy to do, and goes a long way towards illustrating a concept or point. To "shoot" or "capture" a screen, follow these instructions.

1. Set up your screen so that it displays whatever you're looking to capture.

2. On your keyboard hit the Print Screen button.

3. Open up Word Pad or any other word processing application.

4. Hit CTRL+V to paste in your captured screen.

5. Voila! You've done it...

Just Testing ... Trial Databases

We are currently evaluating several databases for possible purchase. Please use these "test" or "trial" periods to explore and assess them, and offer suggestions for future electronic purchases. For questions or comments concerning these trials please contact Wendy Roberts, Database Coordinator. Trials can be accessed at: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/ref/trial.htm

AMICO (Art Museum Image Consortium)
The AMICO Library is a growing online collection of high-quality, digital documentation of works of art from around the world, contributed by Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) members. Works from major European, American, and Canadian artists in the collections of member museums are included. Images, text, and multimedia represent a creative output from prehistoric to contemporary times.

Early English Books Online (EEBO)
Among the thousands of titles featured in EEBO are works by Malory, Bacon, More, Erasmus, Newton, and Galileo. It also includes prayer books, pamphlets, and proclamations as well as almanacs, calendars, and other primary sources. This vast body of material can be searched quickly and efficiently by a broad range of users, from undergraduates to seasoned searchers. Searchable fields include Author, Title, Printer, Publication date, Type of illustration, and Library of Congress subject heading. Records are linked to the corresponding page images and are downloadable in Adobe PDF format.

First Search - Essay and General Literature Index
A unique indexing source, it cites essays and articles contained in collections published in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. It covers the humanities and social sciences from 1985 to the present.

Lexis-Nexis Current Issues Universe
This database contains abstracts and full text of more than 8,000 reports, articles, and opinion pieces on topics of current interest. It has more than 2,000 specific research questions to help you select a topic for your paper, speech, or class discussion. This database trial is password protected - access is restricted to library use only.

Literature Online
A full-text resource for more than 330,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, this database includes biographies, bibliographies criticism and other literary references.

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians II Online
This encyclopedia of music and musicians encompasses the full text of the 29 volume print edition. It has the added benefit of sophisticated search capabilities. One-click cross-referencing, and an ever increasing network of web-links to musical sites from around the world.

Project MUSE: Scholarly Journals Online
Launched in 1995, this database offers the full text of Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) scholarly journals within the humanities, social sciences and mathematics.

No Barcode Necessary

It's worth a trip to the AskERIC site at Syracuse University for more than its database interface. The colorful site at ericir.syr.edu should be a "bookmark" or "favorite" for all educators. The home page lists educational areas, taking you from broader to narrower headings, and linking you to websites covering educational topics, issues, and organizations. You can also retrieve lesson plans by topic, and age or grade level at the AskERIC site.

The ERIC database itself can be searched using a single search box, with a check box option limiting the results to journal articles or full-text ERIC digests. An advanced search allows up to five separate terms to be combined from indexed fields such as title, descriptor, and journal name. Both the simple and advanced searches let you specify a range of years and check off the journal article or full-text digest limitations. If all else fails, the AskERIC service maintains prepared bibliographies on many "hot topics", and will even provide citation lists to those emailing requests for hard-to-find search questions.

Quirky Queries

You know the ones - those reference questions that give us pause, that keep us up at night, that add interesting tidbits to our little stores of knowledge...

Using the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, as well as the RILM database, we helped a student researching the use of the Bandoneon (an accordionlike instrument) in tango music.

We investigated a report cited in the Boston Globe and other newspapers that Mohamed Atta, one of the key terrorists in the September 11th World Trade Center attack, had been responsible for a bus bombing in Israel in 1986 and had been subsequently released. Using Facts on File and Lexis-Nexis Universe we found that it was another man with a similar name, Mahmoud Atta, who had been charged in that earlier attack and had been extradited from the U.S. to Israel.

Using the Martindale-Hubbell law Directory through Lexis-Nexis Universe, we provided a list of local lawyers specializing in Elder Law to a faculty member.

T-Time: Hot off the Wires

The Reference Department's T-time held on November 6th, 2001, was attended by faculty and staff throughout the library and the campus. Since we are one of the first college campuses on Long Island with wireless connectivity, we thought this would be a timely topic for T-time. Emily Walshe restyled our former Teatime sessions into T-time (for technology), designed and distributed the publicity materials, and handled the follow-up correspondence. She invited Ali Atieh, C.W. Post's Chief Information Officer, to speak to us on the "Wherewithal of Wireless." His presentation on the freedom and portability of wireless and the exciting prospects for teaching in traditionally unwired locations (such as the Great Lawn) captivated the attendees. He assured us that the Office of Information Technology is addressing security issues surrounding this new technology.

In our next T-time, tentatively scheduled for January, we hope to demonstrate the new version of our library catalog, if available, and would like to include our other LIU colleagues by setting it up as a teleconference.

New Design

You'll notice that the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library Reference Department newsletter has a new look. Mary Kate Boyd-Byrnes, our department webmaster and newsletter co-editor redesigned it and added a host of new features.

We welcome your comments and hope you find its contents to be helpful and informative.