Library News

Making The Library Work For You

(This may Develop into a series depending on how daring I am.)

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’m just your friendly neighborhood Journalism major who works in one of the Library’s many offices. So, I find myself sitting here, clicking through the Library looking for something to write about; like many students I have the typical Generation-Y aversion to libraries. But, then I stumbled on something that made me realize I was wrong.

While there is a wealth of information available to us on the internet (I mean it’s even destroying my job prospects as I write this) there is some stuff you just can’t get. My first thought goes to older newspaper articles or back issues of magazines. And, while it is necessary to learn by doing, it is also pertinent to see what some of the greats have done to earn their stripes. Sadly, that is becoming more difficult.

The Library can actually be of tremendous help in that regard. The Library here at Northeastern maintains subscriptions to various databases that have newspapers dating back to 1690 and they have all the Papers of Record dating back until at least 1991(NYTimes, Boston Globe).  Added Bonus: It’s free for students!

So, not only can I meld my love of a good newspaper article with my love of the versatility of the internet, but I can also rid myself of a previously held, and somewhat misguided, notion that libraries are outdated.

As an added bonus, I’m going to read Distinguished Professor Walter V. Robinson’s article which brought the Catholic Church scandal into the limelight in 2002….See if you can find THAT on Boston.com.

The Green Car Challenge

electriccar If you have any interest in all-electric cars you might want to check out Jay Leno’s new show on NBC this week.  Electric cars now have not only Ed Begley but another celebrity ally, so tune into his new weekly segment called the Green Car Challenge . Every week he will be having celebrity guests race in a special protype of the all-electric Ford Focus. Drew Barrymore will be the first celeb at the wheel. I wonder how she will do. Of course the Focus BEV(battery-electric vehicle) won’t be on the market till 2011, but if your interested in it check out HybridCars.com for some specs on it. It has a single-speed transmission and can run for 100 miles before needing to have its battery plugged in for a recharge. Maybe the only downside is that  recharging the battery could take from 6-12 hours. Major car companies are jumping on board with all-electric vehicles: Nissan Leaf and Dodge Circuit are two examples that should be on the market in the next few years.

The Green Guide Network goes National

Womanwithlaptop The Green Guide Network (http://www.greenguidenetwork.com/) has gone national. This wonderful site provides listings of ALL THINGS GREEN. So all you Green-thinking folks come and check it out, many new cities have been added such as New York, Denver, Chicago, Portland, Seattle and even good old Boston. So if you are traveling to Seattle and want to check out what is green there, such as local farmers’ markets, green events or green tips on the city, this network has it all. They have also launched a job board for those looking for a position with eco-friendly companies around the nation.

iTwin

I just read about this rather nifty piece of hardware over at Cnet.com. Its called the iTwin and here is what Cnet has to say about it:
“iTwin is a two-piece bit of USB hardware that acts as a “cableless cable” allowing two computers to connect and share files as long as they have an Internet connection. There’s nothing to set up, since both halves of the device are paired together and stay constantly connected. Users just plug it in, and can begin dropping files large and small into a shared folder.
The product will be available beginning early next year for $99, and comes with two paired sides that interlock when not in use. If users lose one of the two sides, they can lock down their account with an SMS message, or by disconnecting the other piece. They can also purchase an additional side, which can be re-paired.”
Seems like a good idea to me but the price tag is a bit on the high side. As with all things of this nature we have to see if it ever makes it to market.

Try something new: Islam, investment, architecture, health sciences, and more trials

We’re always looking for exciting new content that may be useful to researchers here at NU. The NU Libraries will often subscribe to a web site for a trial period…if the site is appealing to YOU, and funding is available, we’ll purchase access for the university. A lot of trials are going on right now! One offer for students of African Americans: the Black Studies Center and Historical Black newspapers. If you’re interested in art and architecture, Ebsco’s Art and Architecture Complete would complement the well-known Avery Index database by offering more full-text access. And as always, the health sciences are well-represented with the AMA Manual to help you publish, the Henry Stewart Talks which are audiovisual lectures, Ageline, with health information about those who are over 50, and CINAHL plus with full text, a kind of “CINAHL on steroids” with more full text than our existing CINAHL, plus books, continuing ed modules, quick lessons, and one-million-plus citations. There’s a trial of BuildingGreen for students of sustainable building, Asia Studies Full Text which includes working papers and other grey literature in addition to articles, Index Islamicus listing scholarly articles for students of Islam, and the well-known Morningstar Investment Research, which would fill a current library gap in fund analysis information. If you’re a user of BIOSIS, you may prefer ISI BIOSIS, where it can be searched alongside Web of Science. Please feel free to try these out, and help us make recommendations by evaluating them with us!