June 4, 2009

New Exhibit in Biology Library

The Biology Library has a new exhibit, "Medicinal Plants and Indigenous Medicinal
Plant Knowledge." Displayed are selected titles received thanks due to a 2009 collection development grant from the Consortium of Academic & Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI).

Four libraries participated in the collection theme “Impact of the Environment in Health & Wellness:” Chicago State University Library, Columbia College Library, Northern Illinois U. Founders Memorial Library, and University of Illinois Biology Library.

Enjoy!

Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654

Posted by mmalliso at 4:34 PM

March 31, 2009

Biology Library closure meeting/input

There will be an open meeting this Friday, April 3, at 8:00-9:00AM in the
Grainger Engineering Library Commons (room 235), to discuss changes in the
science libraries, which includes closing the Biology Library. Despite the
late notice and early hour, I encourage you to attend and/or send your
comments to Scott Walter, swalter@illinois.edu, or Paula Kaufman,
ptk@illinois.edu. Please copy me as well, if you send in comments.

As you may remember, back in January the University Library was asked by
Provost Katehi to accelerate its movement towards departmental library
consolidations as part of the “New Services Models” program. In late
January I sent out a message to the department chairs and school heads
informing them of the proposal included in the Provost’s letter to close
the Biology Library and merge its collections and services into the Funk
ACES Library. After lengthy discussions between the librarians who serve
other life sciences libraries we agreed that if the Biology Library was to
be closed, then consolidating it with the Funk ACES library and creating a
life sciences library containing all or parts of the collections and
services pertaining to the Applied Health Sciences, ACES, and Biology
libraries, as well as Veterinary Medicine at a later date, was the best
solution. Under this model, the Biology Library collection would need to
shrink to no more than half its current size. As you will see in the
attached proposal from the University Library administration, this
proposal was not accepted. Instead, they propose that the Biology Library
materials and services would be split between the Chemistry Library, the
Funk ACES Library, and perhaps the Library of the Health Sciences.

I do not support the proposal to split the Biology Library collections and
services. There is no bright line between the collections and services
used by the two schools, but in this proposed split it would roughly be
MCB going to the Chemistry and Health Sciences libraries and IB going to
the ACES library. The Chemistry Library has room for only about 6,000
volumes, which amounts to half of the Biology Library books that have
circulated recently and only a very few journal volumes.

As a separate but related issue, Melody Allison, the Assistant Biology
Librarian, will be moving this summer to the ACES library as Assistant
ACES Librarian due to staffing cuts at the ACES Library. This will leave
only one librarian serving SIB and SMCB.

A final report will be sent to the Provost at the end of April. I
encourage you to provide your input on the proposed library mergers and
consolidations before then.

Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian


Posted by mmalliso at 1:15 PM

February 12, 2009

Digitized Hymenoptera books

The latest entry in the University Library's Digitized Book of the Week
blog at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/digitizedbotw/ highlights a grant
that I received to digitize books on bees, wasps, and ants from UIUC and
the Field Museum. Please check it out! It's particularly nice that these
materials will be included in the Biodiversity Heritage Library
(http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/).

Only about half of the 175 volumes covered by the grant have been
digitized up to now, so stay tuned for many more strange and wonderful
materials. Also, if the money holds out we may be able to digitize a few
more hymenoptera-related titles. Let me know if you have any suggestions
for out-of-copyright books that I might have missed.

Diane Schmidt
Biology Librarian

Posted by mmalliso at 5:08 PM

January 23, 2009

Biology Library Notes: Spring 2009 update

The Biology Librarhttp://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/mt-static/images/formatting-icons/email.gify hopes your Winter Break was safe and warm, despite the frigid Arctic blast. We have a number of new resources and resource updates that will make your spring semester warmer despite what the weather brings us outside!
____________________________________________________________________________
VuFind (beta version)
VuFind is a ‘next generation’ catalog interface being beta tested for our University of Illinois online library catalog and the I-Share catalog for Illinois academic libraries. Links are provided both from the University Library Gateway and the Biology Library hompage. VuFind has a number of features not currently available in these current catalogs. VuFind is not taking the place of current catalogs, but providing another search option allowing use of advanced features such as facet searching (subject, title, topic, language, format, and more), automatic search history creation where previous searches can be repeated easily by clicking on search query link, one-time entering of Library ID# and other details for requests once your personal “MyAccount” is created, user-added comments and tagging, and much more. Caveats: The current beta version does not search course, reserves, allow call number searching, have departmental library limits, or have direct export to RefWorks. The University Library’s Next Generation Catalog Working Group is interested in your feedback. Click Tell us what you think about VuFind at the top of the VuFind page just under the header to let them know what you like, what you don’t like, and what you would like to see. [Note: the Feedback link at the bottom of the page sends your comments to the state library consortium, CARLI , so please use the afore-mentioned link to our Library working group -- or send comments to both! ] For more information, see VuFind Catalog Interface and VuFind Frequently Asked Questions.

Biology Library Resources Module
The “Biology Library Resources Module” is a portal created for quick access to Library resources and services students and faculty need for their research and scholarly work. This portal can be used for courses. It can be linked to from course homepages and Illinois Compass courseware. The module can be adapted to specific course and other needs. Just contact Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, who will be happy to work with you, including provision of librarian assistance to students in Compass courseware (mmalliso@illinois.edu or 333-7461). (See also entry Biology Library Guides)

Electronic Books for Life Sciences
There are a growing number of electronic books (e-books) available to UIUC Library patrons. The LigGuide “Electronic Books for Life Sciences” presents electronic books in life sciences areas that are available through the University Library. This guide explains how to find Library electronic books and provides access to selected titles and packages with life sciences titles.

Biology Library Guides
Biology Library has number of guides available to support your curricular and research needs. Whether you need help using our major life sciences article databases, finding library resources, or identifying major reference and other materials in various life sciences subject areas, we have a wide assortment of guides to meet your needs. These guides can be linked to from course pages or I-Compass pages. A number of our guides have been updated to digital LibGuide versions making them even easier to access and use, and more are being planned. The following are examples of just a few of the ones available to help you get the most out of our Library resources:

• Guide to the Campus Resources for New SOLS Faculty and Guide to Campus Resources for Students are good ways for the new student or faculty member to get acquainted with library resources and services as well as for the established students and faculty to see what currently is happening in our ever-changing environment.
• Resources for Biologists guide contains links to selected career and work resources useful for the new and the experienced biologist. Find here information about presentations and teaching, research, writing and publishing, school rankings, grants and funding, safety, ethics and standards, math and statistics used in life sciences, social networks for researchers and academics, biology games, and more!
• Journal Resources page links you to information about Library print and electronic journals, journal abbreviations tools, journals lists and thesauri for the major life sciences databases, citation format resources, citation management tools, journal email alerts, and other information.
• Research Resources page links you to UIUC and other sources related to research responsibilities, such as academic integrity, copyright, ethics, plagiarism, research process, and the tools and resources to accomplish them, such as resources for citation format styles, citation management tools, the NIH Funded Research Policy, and Writing Labs.
• Tips for Searching Article Databases shows how to construct effective search strategies.
(See also previous entries "Electronic Books for Life Sciences" and "Biology Library Resources Module").

Instructional Services
A wealth of library resources are available for student and faculty curricular and research needs. Keeping up with new resources as well as changes in established resources features and functions can be a formidable challenge. Let us help you save time and effort in this endeavor with our many and varied instructional services. We can help make sure that your students are using the best resources for their course and research information. We can also help keep you up-to-date with new resources and new features of established resources. We can provide 1:1 consultations or office calls for faculty and class sessions and 1:1 consultations for your students. For more details, see Biology Library Instructional Services.

Librarian "Office Calls" for Faculty
Are there occasions when you would like to learn more about your favorite database, but just haven’t had the time to grapple with all the new nuances? Or maybe you would like to move out of your comfort zone and get acquainted with a bibliographic database that you are not familiar with? Or perhaps you want to begin to use a research tool, like RefWorks, that is new to you? Just contact Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, at mmalliso@illinois.edu or 333-7461.

Illinois LibX Toolbar
THE Library has updated to a new tool bar product, called LibX Toolbar. LibX Toolbar has all the features of the previous I-GO toolbar plus much more. Available for both Internet Explorer and Mozilla FireFox browsers, it provides quick access to several often used electronic Library and campus resources right at your fingertips. No more typing in URLs, treading through bookmark directories and content, or trying to locate that ‘convenient’ place you put URLs which made sense at the time you placed them there but now cannot be located. The Toolbar takes you to all of the following:
• Department library Web sites
• Online Library Catalog
• Online Research Resources Web site
• Campus phone book
• Google searching
• Course reserves
• Interlibrary loan
• My Library Account
• Online Reference Collection
• RefWorks
• UIUC Express Mail
• NetFiles
• Illinois Compass
• Automatic linking -- inserts I-Mark link for our Online Library catalog from sites suchs as Amazon and Google
• Drag and drop searching of highlighted terms from Web documents into LibX Toolbar 'Search'
• Drag and drop citations onto LibX Toolbar 'Scholar' button to find citations in GoogleScholar
• and more !!
For more information, including download, see http://www.library.uiuc.edu/toolbar
____________________________________________________________________________

Please let us know if you have any questions about these updates, or suggestions for our guides or Web site.


Melody Allison
Assistant Biology Librarian and Associate Professor of Library Administration
Biology Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
101 Burrill Hall, 407 South Goodwin
Urbana, IL 61801
mmalliso@illinois.edu
(217) 333-7461; 3654

Posted by mmalliso at 2:33 PM

September 11, 2008

Springer Protocols trial

Hi everybody --

Until October 31st, the University will have TRIAL access to a relatively new resource, Springer Protocols.

The publisher, Springer, recently acquired Humana Press, so this resource includes protocols from Humana’s book series Methods in Molecular Biology, Methods in Molecular Medicine, Methods in Biotechnology, Methods in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Neuromethods. It also includes protocols from a number of Laboratory Handbooks, such as The Biomethods Handbook, The Proteomics Handbook, and the Springer Laboratory Manuals .

Please give this product a spin, and let me (or your departmental librarian) know what you think of it's usefulness.
Search by discipline:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/results.php?titlesearch=springer*+protocols*&tstype=K&types =
or
Search the whole set:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=946001

You might want to compare Springer Protocols with several other "Protocols" that we currently have:
Wiley's Current Protocols in.. series.
Nature Protocols
Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Thanks!

~ Katie
--<- @ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@
Prof. Katie Newman
Biotechnology Librarian,
and U of Illinois Library Scholarly Communication Officer

Office: 2130 IGB (Inst. for Genomic Biology)
Email: florador@illinois.edu
Phone: (217) 265-5386
FAX: (217)-244-1800

Biotechnology Information Center (BIC) website:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/biotech/
BIC News: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/bicnews/

Scholarly Communication (SC) website:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/scholcomm/index.htm
SC News: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/scholcomm/

Posted by mmalliso at 9:09 AM

April 8, 2008

The University of Illinois is Now a Member of BioMed Central

The University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana is now a Supporting Member of the open access publisher, BioMed Central.

What this means is that when you submit a journal article for publication in one of nearly 200 BMC titles, you will receive a 15% discount off the article processing charge!

Here's a list of the BMC titles:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/browse/journals/.
This discount also applies to articles submitted to Chemistry Central
http://www.chemistrycentral.com/ and to PhysMath Central http://www.physmathcentral.com/.

Here's a list of the article processing charges for the various BMC journals (before discount):
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/authors/apcfaq
For most of the journals, the fee is $1690, but may be as high as $2685 or as low as $500. A few are even free.

Many of the BMC journals have already earned quite respectable Impact Factors. See:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/faq?name=impactfactor
e.g., Genome Biology (7.17); BMC Bioinformatics (3.62); BMC Biology (4.43); BMC Evolutionary Biology (4.46)

Why should you consider publishing in a BMC journal?
First of all, know that all research submitted will receive rigorous and rapid peer review. If the article is accepted:

Papers published by our colleagues:
The University of Illinois' "homepage" lists papers that were published in BMC jouranls by U of I authors in the last year -- at this point 30 research articles, software, protocols, etc:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/inst/11700
For your interest, here's the U of I-Chicago's home page:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/inst/48900

Submitting a paper:
If you are on campus within our recognized IP range when submitting a manuscript you will be identified as belonging to a member institution and automatically granted a 15% discount on article processing charges If you are at home or at an external terminal when submitting your paper, you can still claim this discount by stating that you are a affiliated with the U of I. Papers may be submitted either via a journal home page or via http://www.biomedcentral.com/manuscript/.

Posted by florador at 4:05 PM

December 20, 2006

Library: Chronicle of Higher Education Online Access!

A little gift for the holidays!

We have just been able to establish campus-wide online access to The Chronicle for Higher Education ! This has come about as a result of our membership in CARLI, a state-wide academic library consortium.

Access is via IP recognition, so if you're on campus, you can just go to: http://chronicle.com . If you're accessing it from off-campus, you'll need to access via the link in the Online Research Resources (the ORR), that is, via: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=275135 so that you can be authenticated as a UIUC affiliate.

With our subscription to The Chronicle you will be able to read all the content on the site. You may also subscribe to the weekly Wired Campus newsletter email alerts, daily or weekly job alerts or daily RSS feeds for content. The only limitation of our site license vs an individual subscription is that you will not be allowed to subscribe to the daily e-mail alerts. See:
http://chronicle.com/services/email.htm

Note: there is a way to get weekly updates on the content in The Chronicle, or getting content focused on a particular topic. Contact me if you're interested: Katie Newman, florador@uiuc.edu!

bye now,

Katie
--<-@ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@
Prof. Katie Newman
Biotechnology Librarian, Biotechnology Information Center (BIC),
Acting Biology Librarian, and
UIUC Scholarly Communication Officer

Office: 123A Burrill Hall, MC-112
Email: florador@uiuc.edu
Phone: (217) 265-5386
Fax: (217) 333-3662

Biotech Info Center (BIC) website:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/biotech/
BIC News: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/bicnews/

Biology Library website:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/bix/
BioBlog: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/bioblog/

Scholarly Communication (SC) website:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/scholcomm/index.htm
SC News: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/scholcomm/
--<-@ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@ --<-@

Posted by mmalliso at 4:05 PM

February 28, 2006

New Reference Sources

Recently we’ve received new editions of four major reference books. None of them are available electronically right now, but stay tuned.

They are:

Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science (formerly called Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology)
Ref. 571.157 C738

Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, Vol. 2 in 3 parts (Proteobacteria)
Ref. Q. 589.95 So13be 2001

Wilson and Reeder’s Mammal Species of the World, 3rd ed.
Ref. 599.0012 M311 2005

Knobil and Neil’s Physiology of Reproduction, 3rd edition
Ref. 599.016 P5695 2006

Two out of the four sets were purchased from Biology Library endowment or gift funds. Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science was purchased using one of our long-established endowment funds. And we requested funds for Vol. 2 of Bergey’s Manual from the Library Friends’ “The Library is Looking For…” column in their newsletter last fall. Two people were interested in donating money for it! With the second donor’s agreement, we used his money to purchase three books published by the American Society for Microbiology. It was encouraging to see this level of interest in our library.

Posted by at 10:51 AM