UST Libraries News

Databases seem always to be changing and getting better ... making it an opportune time, when there are upgrades, to revise the online video tutorials we have already produced for learning the basics in database searching.

For this sequel to our original ATLA Religion Database movie, the new tutorial is designed to apply to the five the database indexes in our field that now use the EBSCO interface, that is, the main religion index ATLA Religion Database (ATLA), Catholic Periodical & Literature Index (CPLI), Old Testament and New Testament Abstracts, and also the Philosopher’s Index.

Here is an early edit of the new tutorial, fresh from the cutting room floor. A “few” changes will be needed, of course, but the attempt to make one video to cover all five resources is looking like a workable approach (and a time saver for the filmmaker, too!)

Let me know if you have any suggestions for this preview..... Jan.Malcheski@stthomas.edu

THEOLOGY, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY INDEXES: VIDEO TUTORIAL PREVIEW
Video Tutorial
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Posted by Jan Malcheski at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An annual list of the best federal, state, and international government documents, compiled by a committee of the American Libraries Association, and posted online @ Library Journal. The list is always good, and contains many titles of interest for business research.

Posted by John Heintz at 02:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I first heard about Wolfram Alpha I wondered if it would be the next generation engine that would give Google a run for its money. But looking at now I believe that it does not exactly do what a 'regular' search engine like Google does. Wolfram Alpha (the name just rolls naturally off your tongue, doesn't it?) provides calculations based on data that the user enters - i.e. socioeconomic data by state, weather patterns, probability and even simple mathematics equations.

I have not seen a whole lot of stories about its launch this week, but then again I don't believe it is not the type of engine that people would normally go to for daily use. For an informed overview of this product and a slightly gloomy prediction for its success I recommend this article from the Silicon Alley Insider.

Posted by Andrea Hudson at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

St Paul Seminary School of Divinity MAT students:
Language proficiency practice texts http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/ireland/Readings.html

Selections from French, German, Latin, and Spanish theologians, for use by MAT students in preparing for the language proficiency examination, are now on the Ireland Library web site.

You will need your UST username (NetId) and personal password to access the modern texts (the Latin texts are directly linked)

According to MAT program director, Dr John Martens, it is possible that extra practice readings could be added to this list. If working on a particular theologian, ancient or modern, or a particular ancient language, such as Greek or Hebrew, the examination can be tailored to specific areas of concentration or research, say von Balthasar in German, or the New Testament in Greek, etc.

Note too that it is possible to be tested in another language of significant importance in your studies, such as Italian, or Russian.

Ireland Library has not been supplied with the English translations of these texts and posts only the original language versions (German, French, Spanish and Latin). Of course, it is not difficult to find translations of these well known works. You can also contact Dr Martens for English translations.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kud0s to Susan for her great Health and Garden Noon talk on Wednesday, May 13th. Steve Trost’s presentation was great as well with lots of Spring garden tips.
Earl Belisle

Posted by Diane Knights at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is a story I plan to follow because if there is one thing I like more then business stories, it is business stories that relate to the music industry and how new models are being studied to revive this faltering industry. According to The Register a new report about P2P networks will be released tomorrow which will recommend amongst other things that copyright holders recognize P2P networks as a broadcast medium, one which can be tapped with more reasonable fees for music downloading.

The other 'whoa' moment for me in this article was the mention of a study that debunks the Long Tail business model as overly optimistic and does not necessarily pan out as predicted by Chris Anderson in 2004. I don't know if I am quite ready to give up on that fairy tale yet, but the articles are wonderful food for thought.

P2P study: Music crackdown is bad for business via The Register

Posted by Andrea Hudson at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library has two new group-study rooms on Level 1 in Rooms 109 and 110, bringing the number of group-study rooms in this library to 10. All UST libraries have meeting rooms or group-study spaces available to users. Some spaces can be reserved in advance.

Here are some guidelines and details about the study rooms in the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library.

Computers are available for your use in study rooms LL20, LL21 and 312B. These computers have the same Microsoft software as the computers in the InfoCommons and other computing labs (Word, Excel, etc.); however, you are not able to print from them.

These rooms are intended to be used by groups of three or more people.

Groups can sign up to use a room for a maximum of two hours. Any group-study room can be reserved in advance by signing up on the reserve sheets posted on the doors.

Unscheduled groups using the space need to vacate the room when a scheduled group arrives. Groups lose their right to the room if they do not claim it within 10 minutes of their scheduled time.

Although individuals do not sign up to reserve these rooms, a person studying alone is welcome to use a group-study room if open, but will need to vacate it if the room is needed by a group.

The group study rooms are not to be used for regularly scheduled meetings.

LL21 is a "quiet computer study room." There are several computers in this room available for computer work in a quiet environment.

We wish you well and good luck in your studies as you come close to completing your year. Good luck on your finals.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please heed this warning when searching library theology, religion, philosophy databases: ATLA, CPLI, Philosopher's Index, as well as Old and New Testament Abstracts.

Warning to researchers:

The Find It feature in this database index gives reliable availability information ONLY for journal articles.

Find It does NOT trace availability of Essays published as part of a book in a collection. Do not trust the notice in red: Not Available at UST. It is often misleading.

Due to technical limitations, this information is not reliable. For any record labelled Essay, you must select the CLICnet search for reliable availability information.

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 09:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UST Libraries now has access to a database of online videos called Films on Demand. An initial group of 20 films are available via an on-demand video stream from the Media Resources Collection's Web site, the CLICnet library catalog, the Libraries' Databases and Indexes page, or directly.

Videos from this pilot project are available for classroom or individual viewing via a Web browser and are accessible from on or off campus (off-campus users will need to log in with UST username and password) using broadband high speed (i.e., cable modem or DSL) Internet connections.

This pilot project will test whether streaming videos can better meet curricular needs of faculty wishing to assign in-class or asynchronous viewing and determine whether this mode of video delivery is feasible without excessive consumption of computer network bandwidth resources.

See the Web site for usage tips, including minimum computer, browser and media-player software requirements. If you have questions on how to access the videos or comments, how well this streaming video content meets your needs, and whether you think this effort should expand beyond a pilot project, contact Cindy Badilla-Melendez, UST media resources librarian, (651) 962-5464.

Posted by John Heintz at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday around noon a Circ student worker gave a patron great service. He was shelving or retrieving books in the stacks and encountered a student looking for the New England Journal of Medicine. When they didn’t find the journal there, he found his way to my office to help her out. I pointed out that the year needed was available only on microfiche and he and the patron headed off to the micro room. He came back to follow up on her behalf regarding the equipment and I went to help her further. In any case, I wanted to say he did a great job.

Dani

Posted by Diane Knights at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recent releases from the Census Bureau:

-Security and Commodity Exchange Revenue Nearly $9 Billion in 2007: Securities and commodities exchanges employed 8,852 people with nearly $1.4 billion in annual payroll and more than $8.9 billion in revenue in 2007, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of the 2007 Economic Census Industry Series

-Residential Vancancies and Homeownership: National vacancy rates in the first quarter 2009 were 10.1 (+ 0.4) percent for rental housing and 2.7 (+ 0.1) percent for homeowner housing, the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau announced

-Census Bureau Releases Data Showing Relationship Between Education and Earnings: workers with a bachelor’s degree earned about $26,000 more on average than workers with a high school diploma, according to new figures that outline 2008 educational trends and achievement levels. Educational Attainment in the United States: 2008 is a series of tables containing data by characteristics such as age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, occupation, industry, nativity, citizenship status and period of entry. The tabulations also include historical data on mean earnings by educational attainment, sex, race and Hispanic origin.

Posted by John Heintz at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We are using the service LibraryThing to create a new books list of theology/religion titles (2008 and 2009) added by both OSF and Ireland Libraries during April. Our plan is that this will become a regular monthly feature of our pages.

When viewing the list, users can readily reformat the titles in various ways according to interest, arrange them by author, title, call number (that is, basic subjects) as well as add their own comments, tags, etc. according to preference.

Take a look at the April titles: New Theology Books in April

Posted by Jan Malcheski at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kudos for Susan’s organizing the Senior Citizen’s Open House.
Earl Belisle

Posted by Diane Knights at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello Students - Do you have a deadline approaching for a project or paper? Don’t know where to start your research? Stop by the O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center reference desk anytime between noon to 1 p.m. any Tuesday or Thursday for "just-in-time" training. Librarians will provide informal five-minute sessions on how to find books, e-books, articles, DVDs and more. Make your research life easier!

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...for figuring out how to get our personal folders back in Outlook, and communicating this!
Marianne Hagemann

Posted by Diane Knights at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Susan Price, UST reference librarian and author, and Steve Trost, UST Biology Department and master gardener, will talk about gardening tips and answer your gardening questions at noon Wednesday, May 13, in the O'Shaughnessy Room, Room 108, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center. Bring your lunch if you wish, beverages and light dessert will be provided. If you have any questions please call Julie at 651-962-5014.

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you missed this year's Poetry on the Patio you can watch it here whenever you wish!

Posted by Julie Kimlinger at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)