Database Updates!

With the new school year here, we wanted to give all Kohawks a brief introduction to some changes in our database list. Find these on our home page under "All Databases"


Check out Birds of North America whether you're an aspiring ornithologist or just simply interested in topics about birds. BNA has some great resources like videos, charts, audio clips, and images to help you get familiar with the friendly fowl around us. 

Find Birds of North America here or in our All Databases list

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We've got a handy resource from ProQuest that can assist you with starting assignments. It's called Research Companion, and it's compiled into a friendly interface that provides videos, tables, and blurbs about different topics, how to evaluate sources, citation, and more. 

Few videos are longer than a couple of minutes, so you'll be on your way to a great assignment in no time!



Find Research Companion here or in our All Databases list

New JSTOR Arts & Sciences Added to the Library

The Library has added JSTOR Arts & Sci­ence XIII and Arts & Sci­ence XIV to its col­lec­tions. At this time, 208 new titles have been added to the library catalog and are also accessible through Journal Titles on the library website. As with all of the JSTOR archive collections, these collections have an embargo (moving wall), which excludes the most recent (3-5) years of contents from the journals they contain.

JSTOR XIII expands its international set of journals in core humanities fields with emphases in Language & Literature, Philosophy, and Religion.  Represented subdisciplines include European church history and the literature of the American West. 

JSTOR XIV focuses on the study of culture and communication, specifically Archaeology and Anthropology, Language and Literature, Political Science, Asian Studies, Sociology, Education, and Communication Studies.

For a complete title list of these collections, please follow the links –

JSTOR XIII  http://about.jstor.org/content/arts-sciences-xiii#tab-title-list

JSTOR XIV  http://about.jstor.org/content/arts-sciences-xiv#tab-title-list

Library Database Trials

If you've visited the library's webpage in the last few weeks, you might have noticed a new link dead-center on the site.  Under the "Databases" tab on www.library.coe.edu, there is a new link to direct users to databases with which we currently have trial access.  Every once and a while, different publishers will allow the library and our users to test out new databases in order to evaluate them and decide if they might be a good addition to our collection.  At any given time, we might have 1-3 trials running, though sometimes we may have more; other times, no trials at all.  Here at the library, we wanted our patrons to be able to find and use these products (what kind of test can you have without users?) while at the same time making sure that they knew that these databases were not necessarily permanent additions.  It would be rough to get used to using a database only to have the access mysteriously disappear mid-semester.  To meet this need, we thought it most appropriate to create a new page that explicitly stated that these were trials.  We also describe the databases, along with the timeline for the trial.  We hope that people will be able to use these databases and the resources therein, and we also hope that users will give us feedback.  Find a database that you like a lot?  Email the library at khandler@coe.edu and let us know what you think.  If you want to be anonymous, you can always drop a note in the library's virtual suggestion box.

We can't promise that we always add new databases, as unfortunately we can't subscribe to everything that we want.  What we can promise is that we'll use your feedback to help us figure out how best to expand our collection, and in the mean time, you'll have access to some great new databases.  Give them a try today!

Notes from a Circ worker.....

I am a senior nursing student and Stewart Memorial Library has been my second home for the past couple years. Whether it is studying, researching, or working I am normally here in the library. Apart of the nursing program we are expected to learn and know how to find evidence based research, I often use the library web site to help guide me. Because we are expected to know evidence based research so well I have become very comfortable with the databases we have here at Coe. I prefer to use Pub Med or CINAHL. I can normally find good sources that pertain to my topic which helps to strengthen my papers. The staff in the Reference office have helped me many of times and are always willing to help if problems or issues ever occur. ~~Allie

Issue with JSTOR & PDFs while using Firefox

Hi folks.  The library staff was alerted to a problem that users were encountering when trying to open PDFs while using Firefox to search in the database JSTOR.  After looking into the technical aspects on the college's end, here's the update that was recently posted by JSTOR Technical Support that we wanted to share with the Coe community:

"With the release of Firefox 23 on August 16, users began to experience problems downloading JSTOR PDFs through the built-in PDF viewer in Firefox. The viewer does not display our PDFs optimally, which may result in slow loading times or download errors. Users report that downloading a PDF through the viewer results in an error message that the file is corrupted or damaged, which prevents users from opening or using the file.

We are aware of this issue and our technical team is currently investigating this problem. We intend to use this page to update users on this issue, and we appreciate your patience as we work to solve this problem as quickly as possible.

As a workaround, we recommend one of two options. You could try a different browser, such as Internet Explorer or Google Chrome. If this is not an option, open the PDF as you normally would. Then, right click anywhere on the page and select "Save Page As...". This will allow you to save the PDF to your computer and should allow for a faster, more successful download. You can then open the file with another PDF viewer (such as Adobe) and use the print controls to print the article.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this issue may cause. Any questions you may have can be directed to JSTOR Support."

So, in this case, it's not us, it's them.  If you are in JSTOR and experiencing problems, please to refer to the workarounds listed above while doing your research.  Apologies for the inconvenience, here's hoping that JSTOR gets things figured out soon!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

View from the Circ Desk

As a student at Coe there is a good chance thar you visit the library regularly, but do you really know what it has to offer you? I was recently given the privelege of working at the circulation desk, which gave me the opportunity to learn more about the library. I have learned that the people that work here are very willing to help you with anything that you may have a question on, but you have to be the one to take initiative. Right now I personally take full advantage of the AV department in using movies for class but also for pleasure. My most recent watch was A Beautiful Mind, which was for class but also a movie that I wanted to see but have never gotten the chance. I also am in the process of writing a research paper over Paris, and will most likely be asking the people who work at the reference desk to assist me in finding useful information over the topic. Also the library gives you many online options to use, one that I frequently use for my major is psYchARTICLES, which gives me a variety of scholarly articles to use for papers and projects. Overall we have many resources that you should take advantages of to help with your success in college.~Rachel

UPDATE: Off-campus Access Restored

Thanks for everyone's patience; access to the library's databases from off-campus has been restored.  Coe College users should now be able to log into My.Coe and access all databases previously accessed from off of campus via the Campus Life tab.  If you have problems which persist, please call Katelyn, Head of Reference, at ext. 8017.

Off-Campus database access

Currently off-campus access to library's databases is not available due to some issues with the proxy server that we use to authenticate our users.  If you need access to library's databases, it is recommended that you come to library to do so.  We'll let you know via a post here on the blog and on the library's Facebook page once things are up and running again.  Thanks for your patience everyone, we hope that you had a good Spring Break!

Problems with EBSCO

Yesterday the library received a heads up that some students were having trouble accessing EBSCO from off-campus.  Computing services has been doing some work updating the proxy server that the campus uses to authenticate off-campus users, and that might be causing the issue.  We're working on resolving the problem, but in the mean time, remember that users should be able to access ALL of the library databases via the library website as long as they are on campus (this includes the new apartments across the street.)  If you are on campus, you never have to go through My.Coe to access the databases, you need simply to go the library's webpage.  Also, if you ever do have issues accessing any of the databases from off-campus, please let the library staff know so we can take care of it!  Good luck with your finals!

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

Working from off-campus over the holiday break

With Thanksgiving and the break that accompanies it fast approaching, I wanted to remind everyone of a few things before they leave campus.

1) If you want to use the library's databases from home (or wherever you might be traveling),  make sure that you are first logging into My.Coe.  Once logged in to the site, you head to the "Campus Life" tab, from which you can access many of the college's most popular databases.  You cannot go to the library's website from home to access the databases; you have to be logged in and accessing through My.Coe so that the system can verify that you are a Coe student.  However, you can still browse the library's catalog from home if you are so inclined.

2) If you are currently in a class that using any database available through a campus trial at this time, be aware that these databases and their resources are only available from on-campus.

3) If you need research help, or have questions on ILL, remember that the reference department will be here and available on campus through the end of the day on Wednesday.  Feel free to call or email us with your questions.
Thanks, everyone, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Katelyn, Head of Reference

EBSCO, Trials, and Facebook Scams

A few notes from the library's reference department:

1) As several folks noticed yesterday, Coe's EBSCO databases were down most of the afternoon due to some maintenance by EBSCO.  Apparently they were doing work on the administrative module for EBSCO and inadvertently knocked out all EBSCO services.  Everything is back up and running, so here's hoping that everyone's research schedules were not too greatly effected. This does serve as a great lesson, though, as to why it's in your best interest to explore a variety of the college's databases offered by several different providers.  For EBSCO database that Coe has, we probably have 2 that are not, so take the time to explore some of those databases that you use less often.

2) Speaking of new database offerings, the library will be part of a few new database trials in the coming weeks.  We'll be emailing the faculty members that we think would get the most use out of the specific trials, but we will also try to post information on various trials as the information becomes available to us on the library blog as well.  Please feel free to offer any feedback that you have on these databases in the comments here, as it will help the staff get a feel for the college's impressions of the offerings.

3) Finally, with over 600,000,000 folks on Facebook, you are almost bound to see offers on it from time to time to good to be true.  Usually, if seems to good to be true (like a free IPad or a $100 gift card to Red Lobster, for example,) it is.  But, if you're interested in checking into whether something might be a scam,  Facecrooks is a great scam watch website.  It not only will give you the scoop on mysterious free offers, but it also investigates things like messages sent to you trying to get you to watch some crazy video you were supposedly in.  Remember, you should always be careful about what you click on or to whom you give personal information online.

-Katelyn, Head of Reference

 

New Collection Added: JSTOR Arts & Sciences X Collection

The library has added this new collection of journal titles to its JSTOR holdings. Currently 89 titles have been added to the library catalog and are also accessible through the Coe Journals link on the library website and catalog.

Arts & Sciences X Collection features broad coverage in Business and the Social Sciences. Sociology, Education, Public Policy & Administration, and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine are all represented in this collection. This collection also includes titles from new JSTOR disciplines, such as Transportation Studies and Development Studies.

Some notable titles include:

Social Research

Sociological Focus

Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice

Management International Review

American Secondary Education

Mathematics Teacher

For a complete list of titles of this collection, please follow the link –

http://www.jstor.org/action/showJournals?browseType=collectionInfoPage&selectCollection=asx

Library Common Hour, 2/24/2011

This Friday, several members of the library's staff will be presenting as part of Friday's Common Hour here at Coe from 3-4(ish) in Stuart Hall 205.  Speaking at the common hour:

• Laura Riskedahl, AV Librarian


• Hongbo Xie, Tech Services Librarian


• Harlene Hansen, Reference Assistant


• Katelyn Wazny, Head of Reference


• Jill Jack, Library Director

The presentation will consist of small segments covering tips and tricks for some of the college's many databases, along with taking the opportunity to highlight some new offerings from the library as well. A question and answer session, moderated by Jill, will then follow, giving members of the Coe community a chance to ask about any aspect of the library they have been wondering about as of late.  The library's staff would really love the chance to get some feedback from a variety of members of the campus, while also having the chance to teach folks how to research more effectively.  We also think we'll be showing off some ways to use the databases that people might not realize are possible.  Top that all off with the fact that refreshments will be served, and you've got a pretty good Friday afternoon ahead of you.  If you have time, please come on Friday, and the library staff will do our best impress you!

More than just "fill in the blank" database

When doing research, it's easy to fall into a bit of a rut.  More specifically, the kind of rut that involves you starting with same one or two databases every single time that you start working on a new research project.  If you have had success in the past with a database, you are more likely to return there when working on project.  Consequently you then become more familiar with the tricks and techniques that make searching that database "easier" to use, while other databases seem more complicated and time-consuming.  This can lead to some problems, as while you might be able to scrape by for a time using only one or two databases, odds are that eventually you will hit a wall in your searching.  Why is that?  Odds are there are few likely culprits:

• Although this may seem obvious, different databases contain different things. Different journals and resources are published by different organizations, and are in turned cataloged in different databases online.  For example, say you're doing a paper on effect of snack food on children.  The Journal of Awesome Science News recently published a ground-breaking paper on the effect of eating snack food on children's grades.  However, The Journal of Awesome Science News is only found in XYZ database.  If you use only ABCD database, you'll never find this article. While you may find other articles on snack food in ABCD, if you don't include this brand new, amazing article from The Journal of Awesome Science News your professor may have some questions for you as to why you left this article out.


• What you're searching for might not exist online.  It's tempting to think that anything (information-wise) can be found online, that is simply not the case.  If you need local news or old magazine articles (think pre-1980), it can be hard to find this information online as there is not always the financial means or incentive for the original owner to digitize the collection. This means that if the info is online at all, you might have to search some very specialized collections such as a university archive, the likes of which is rarely found online in a major database.  And if it's not online at all?  Prepare to get comfortable with a machine that many students find intimidating: a microfilm reader.


• The database might not be the best one suited for the work that you're doing.  If you want multi-media, or charts and graphs, or foreign-language content, there might be a database that specializes in that sort of material that you would totally miss if you stick to just one database.

So how do you avoid the trap of using the same database every time?  There are few good practices that would be helpful to follow while researching.

• First of all, get familiar with the library's subject pages (http://library.coe.edu/SubjectPages.html) and the A-Z database listings (http://library.coe.edu/AllDatabasesAlpha.html).  Simply go to the area of study that you're interested in, such as Art, and you'll find that the library staff has highlighted databases, websites, and other reference works that we think will be applicable to the work that you are doing.  Not familiar with a database that you see listed?  This is then a good time to look at the A-Z database listing to a read a description on the resource.


• Once you access an unfamiliar database,  look around the site for links to areas such as "Publications," "Subject Terms," and "Help."  These parts of the site can help you find out some of the different resources contained within a database, along with some of the language commonly used to describe articles which will ultimately help you be more successful in your searching.


• Ask your professor what their favorite databases are.  Odds are that they are always working on a research project (or five), so they can probably recommend databases that have lots information relevant to your discipline.


• When in doubt, swing by the reference department.  One of many responsibilities of that reference staff is to be very familiar with all of the databases that we subscribe to, in addition to other resources available for free online, so the odds are in your favor that the staff here can help you get the most out of different databases that you have access to.