FARQ: Off Campus Problems

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It's time for another installment of Frequently Asked Reference Questions!


Since it's the beginning of the semester, the reference desk has been abuzz with problems related to accessing library resources from off campus.  So, today's FARQ is

Why can't I access [enter resource here] from off campus?


Well, many of the library's databases, electronic journals, electronic books, and other resources are restricted to staff, faculty, and students of Virginia Tech.  This restriction is facilitated by the VT network, meaning that all of the restricted resources use IP addresses to determine whether or not you are affiliated with Virginia Tech.  When you're on campus, you will (usually) automatically receive access to VT resources.  However, when you're off campus--away from the IP ranges--you need another way to identify yourself as a VT affiliate.  This is where "Off Campus Sign In" comes in.

When you use the "Off Campus Sign In" option (which should be available on all library web pages), you are authenticating yourself with EZProxy, which essentially makes your computer think that it's on the VT network, even when it's not.  This will allow you to access the "restricted" resources.  When you click the "Off Campus Sign In" button, you will be prompted for your PID and password:

If you do this, and still cannot access what you need, then you may need to clear your browser's history/cache/cookies, and start over.  Usually, this will clear up any issues with off campus sign in.  If you continue to experience problems from off campus, do not hesitate to contact me, or any other library staff members.  You can even IM us through our Ask a Librarian service for immediate help:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/ask.html

Happy off-campus researching!

The Librarian Is In!

Original image from Peanuts, by Charles Schulz.
Slight changes made by Rebecca Miller.

I'm excited to announce that I will be holding regular office hours in Wallace Hall this fall.  Starting today (8/26), I will be in 342-A (the conference room) in Wallace Hall every Thursday from 3-5 p.m.   Please drop in to discuss your research, instruction, comments/suggestions for the library, or anything else!

Oh, and the research help isn't really $0.05--one-on-one (or group) consultations with me are totally free :)  What a bargain!

Expert Research Tip: Use Your Librarian

Confession:  as an undergraduate, I never once talked to a university librarian or asked for help at the reference desk.  Instead, I tentatively typed search phrases into the library catalog, and then browsed library shelves for any books related to my research topic.  I never once used an online database, and was always confused when a professor alluded to "JSTOR" or any other confusing-sounding resource of some type...oh, if I had only known:

Using your librarian makes your life so much easier, and your work so much better.

What makes this entire confession worse is that I worked in the circulation department of my college library, and knew most of the reference librarians by sight, if not by name.  Why, then, didn't I tap into the incredible wealth of knowledge and resources that I had at my fingertips?  Many students, and I think I was one of them, feel that they should be able to tackle research on their own.  While this sort of independent thinking can be a good thing, I know that I missed out on a lot of very helpful resources, tips, and relationships because of it.  

Librarian Carol Dallman sits at the 4th floor SciTech Desk, waiting to help a researcher

Librarians go through rigorous academic and professional training.  It was only after two years of coursework, comprehensive exams, and a master's paper that I earned the privilege to be called a "librarian."  The students and faculty of HNFE have their own research, their own goals, and their own professional programs.  The librarian exists to supplement these with what they know best:  research methods and the organization of research materials.  Some of the specific ways that we do this may include:

• Helping you brainstorm and select a topic for research
• Helping you find journal articles and other resources related to your research
• Making sure you are using information ethically and legally
• Helping you get the most of the library and its plethora of information resources
• Giving you professional and moral support as you navigate the intricacies of a research project
• Ordering you materials and new resources that can help you with your research project
• Meeting with you, a group, or a class to do any of the above

Here at Virginia Tech, we utilize the College Librarian model, which ensures that librarians with expertise in particular subjects work with students, faculty, and researchers that will be able to benefit from the librarian's subject expertise, in addition to that librarian's professional training.  I, of course, am the College Librarian for HNFE.  A full list of the College Librarians and their contact information can be found here:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/instruct/clprg.html

What are you waiting for?  Set up an appointment to talk with me today!  

Journal Clubs & Tradition

Image from Deborah J. Good, Ph.D.

Journal clubs have been used for well over 100 years to help bridge the gap between research and practice.  Students, clinicians, and researchers have participated in journal clubs to supplement continuing education, help learn/teach critical research skills, and generate discussions related to timely issues.  By getting involved with the HNFE Undergraduate Journal Club, you are embracing a tradition that has served a long history of medical and science professionals.

Mark Linzer, in his 1987 article "The journal club and medical history:  over one hundred years of unrecorded  history," traces the history of journal clubs as far back as 1835, when medical students at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London decided to meet in a small room over a baker's shop because the library did not have a suitable reading room (p. 476).  Fortunately, in 2010 at Virginia Tech, you have access to suitable space here in Newman Library.  Additionally, you have access to the main journals related to your field, which was the impetus for an 1875 journal club that formed in Montreal because its founder needed access to periodicals "which he could ill afford to subscribe to" (Linzer, p. 475).

The HNFE Undergraduate Journal Club promises to help students discuss current literature and understand critical research techniques in a casual setting.  Questions about the Journal Club can be directed toward Deborah Good or Christina McIntyre.  PubMed Central offers free access to biomedical and life sciences journal articles, including the one discussed in this blog post.  Visit it to access full-text journal articles related to your research, the history of journal clubs, and many other topics!

References
Linzer M.  The journal club and medical history:  over one hundred years of medical history.  Postgrad Med J.  June 1987;63,475-478.  Available via PubMed Central:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2428317/

Check out the "cited by" feature that is now available in PubMed Central to see articles that build upon Linzer's research!

Welcome back! Or, what you missed over the summer...

The first day of school is always exciting.  Whether you're a student or a faculty member, there's just something exhilarating about starting a new school year.  As a VT librarian, I can give you several reasons why starting this semester is especially exciting.  During the summer months, we here at University Libraries have been busy improving our services and developing new ones.  A few of these that you may be interested in include:

• More outlets on the 4th floor!  
• The development of a library courier service for delivery of materials between library branches
• The arrival of Endnote X4 (for Windows; X3 is still available for Mac)
• Accessibility of 2009 data from Journal Citation Reports
• A new location for the pickup of Interlibrary Loan materials:  the 2nd floor Circulation Desk!
• Addison (the library catalog) upgrades that include My Lists and Reading History--two new ways to manage and organize your research
• The arrival of four new Rosetta Stone languages in the Language Resource Center (Arabic, Mandarin, Italian, and Russian--in addition to the French, German, and Spanish material already there)

In addition to this blog, which is also a new resource introduced over the summer, Newman Library introduces its own Facebook page, which posts all kinds of updates and news from Newman Library.  The Science & Technology Reference Desk (located on the 4th floor) also has its own Facebook page; clicking on the badge on the right-hand side of this blog will take you to the SciTech Facebook page, where you can "like" the SciTech Team and gain access to instant updates about research, resources, and other highly relevant items.  

My office is located on the 5th floor of Newman Library--Room 5004.  Please drop by and say hello!  I'm usually in the library during regular business hours, and am available for one-on-one consultations, research collaboration, and friendly chats.  I hope to see you soon!  

Faculty Week, Fall 2010

Today, August 16, marks the beginning of what we here at Newman Library like to call "Faculty Week."  Basically, we like to take this week--the week right before classes--and make sure that faculty and students are aware of the services and resources that we have to offer.  One of these is course reserves.

Course reserves are a "means to set aside materials for a class in the library branch of your choice."  Putting in-demand materials on reserve ensures that all students have the opportunity to view material that may be significant for a particular course.  Materials on reserve will have limited loan periods (2 hours, 2 days, 2 weeks) so that everyone (theoretically) will have a chance to use them.  Shorter materials (articles and chapters) can be digitized; all other material will reside in the chosen library branch.

The reserve request form is available online (http://www.lib.vt.edu/forms/reserve_request_form.pdf), and should be filled out by faculty members interested in placing something on reserve.  Faculty members can place personal copies or library copies on reserve; if the library does not own a book that you'd like to place on reserve, then you can simply email me and ask me to purchase it for you!

More information about course reserves at VT can be found here:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/libnews/2010/2010-08-16.html

As always, just let me know if you have any questions!

Expert Research Tip: Truncate

The word "truncation" always makes me think of elephants, although in the context of research and database searching, this doesn't really make sense...although, it kind of does, now that I think about it, since it will (possibly) enlarge the relevant results that you receive!

Truncation allows you to capture the various permutations of a word, so that you can grab a topic from various contexts found within the literature.


Let's say that you're interested in researching factors that motivate children to increase fruit and vegetable intake. The search that you put together might look something like:  (children or child) and (motivate or motivation or motivating) and (fruit or vegetable).  Wouldn't it be great if you could capture "children or child" and "motivate or motivation or motivating" in a simpler way?  Well, that's exactly what truncation does.

In most databases, the truncation symbol is an asterisk--*.  There are some databases that use other characters (perhaps a $ or a !), but for most of the databases you will search in (PubMed and Addison, specifically), you will use the asterisk.  Basically, you'll just cut off the word where the different endings occur and add the asterisk.  This allows you to receive all versions of a word, as it is found within the literature, in your results.  Using truncation, the search above will look like:  child* and motivat* and (fruit or vegetable). Pretty cool!

Using truncation can clean up your search, and possibly retrieve results that you didn't think to search for.  Try it and see how it works for you!

Example of truncation in Addison

On the run? Try Addison Mobile!

Image from mobiletracker.net

You can now search the University Libraries' catalog while walking, running, biking, or even driving (not recommended).  While Addison Mobile has been available since the spring semester, it now has upgraded features that make it even more handy.


From our website:

Addison Mobile provides a lightweight view of Addison customized for users of wireless PDA's, such as the Palm or Blackberry handheld devices, and Internet-enabled cell phones. The Addison Mobile server will attempt to detect the type of PDA you are using and deliver displays formatted for that device, without extra graphics, JavaScript, or cookies that can confuse some PDA's. Addison Mobile may also be useful for users of screen readers or special software designed to aid visual handicaps.

Addison Mobile allows you to search Addison from any location with wireless access. You may search the catalog from the classroom, while browsing the stacks, or from an Internet cafe. You may place requests for books, renew books, cancel holds, and view pending requests on library materials.

Visit the mobile site today:  http://m.addison.vt.edu/  

Questions about using Addison Mobile?  Just let me know!  

FARQ: Special Delivery?

Another regular feature of this blog will be the Frequently Asked Reference Question (FARQ)--all of your burning library questions answered, systematically.  The first question that I am answering here is part reference question, because it deals with accessing library materials, and part library "service" question.

If an article is only in print at Newman Library, can I get it mailed or emailed to me, saving a trip to the library?  


The answer is, it depends:  if you live in Blacksburg, and take classes at the Blacksburg campus, then the answer is no--you must come into the library to access your articles.

However, if you take distance classes, or reside outside of the New River Valley, then you can request any item from the library, and it will be mailed or emailed to your home address.  The following statement is from the University Libraries website:

The "extended campus user" policy

If you're interested in finding out more information about this and other services for "extended campus users," check out the page (available here:  http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/extended/), and just let me know how I can help!

New Books: July 2010

An item that has recently arrived in Newman Library

The new resources listed for July 2010 has been posted on the VT Libraries website:  http://dsp.lib.vt.edu/newbooks/newbooks.php.  We post these lists every month, and you can even receive the updates via RSS or through Addison Search Alerts.

Although you can view new books from all disciplines, you may find the Medicine and Science lists the most interesting.  Each month I'll deliver these lists directly to this blog--happy reading!

Tutorial: Using Library Links with Google Scholar

In 90 seconds, you'll know how to use Google Scholar to access material from VT Libraries!  

Like Google Scholar but hate that it doesn't always (er...hardly ever?) give you the full-text of what you find? You have access to millions of full-text journal articles through VT's University Libraries, and we can instantly connect what you find in Google Scholar to your full-text access through the Library (if you're off campus, make sure to sign in). The full explanation can be found here, but watch the tutorial below for a full demonstration, including examples that I've created just for you all.

Hint:  for best viewing, enlarge the tutorial to full screen.  On the far right of the toolbar (which pops up after you've hit "play"), there is a square icon that will make the tutorial full screen.  Hitting "Esc" will minimize the tutorial after you've finished watching it.



A disclaimer:  Google Scholar is a great resource, but little is known about exactly what it indexes, or how it indexes that information.  We know that its breadth is wide, but there's no precision in the search. That said, Google Scholar should be used as a research tool alongside the other useful tools that you are no doubt already using.