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!
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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
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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

November 26, 2008

New Web of Science tool -- Scientific WebPlus

Thomson Scientific's Web Citation Index has morphed into Scientific WebPlus. A component of ISI Web of Knowledge (WOK) (inc. Science Citation Index), Scientific WebPlus now includes in its results data from 716 institutional repositories (theses, technical reports, dissertations, manuscripts, and more), including our own IDEALS, Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship repository.

You may search Scientific WebPlus directly via links to it on the Select a Database or Additional Resources pages. Results are filtered by domain (.com, .org, .edu, .gov, .au, and other). Links for Repository Results, News Results, and Blog Results are provided along with search results. For example, searching the term "Drosophila mauritiana" reveals 11 repository results from 7 institutions, including results from IDEALS.

Most links go directly to the deposits full text. If you know the name of the institutional repository you can also search the repository name and find a link directly to its Web site. For instance, searching the term "Ideals" finds IDEALS @ UIUC, the IDEALS homepage.

Additionally Scientific WebPlus results are integrated into every WOK search. Besides the general results list, you can locate Scientific WebPlus results from each results page next on the right page side in the same "Results" heading line via "Scientific WebPlus View Web Results" link.

Scientific WebPlus provides access to Web content that has been "fully vetted, adhering to high standards for scientific integrity, accuracy, timeliness, and readability" (Thomson Reuters, Your Access to Institutional Repository Data is About to Change, 2008). This will make your search for relevant Web sources a whole lot faster and productive.

Check out the IDEALS site for information on how you can deposit your research and scholarship into our repository, which then can be found by Web of Science and Scientific WebPlus searchers!


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 1:38 PM

July 8, 2008

PubMed Update

PubMed has announced two new updates. One is new functionality of its Automatic Term Mapping feature, and the other is a new Citation Sensor feature. Additionally, there is a new Advanced Search feature currently in beta mode that is being tested. Brief descriptions follow.

Automatic Term Mapping. The old Automatic Term Mapping was designed to recognize author names, journal titles, and MeSH terms when searched without field tags. This worked fine when an author or journal name was not the same as a MeSH term, but when that happened the search term was mapped to a MeSH heading and “Text Word” fields, not the author or journal fields – so the citation was missed. The new ATM has been modified to include author and journal field searches. Another ATM update relates to MeSH and journals translations. The new ATM now broadens these searches by searching individual words and multiple words in the “All Fields” field; multiple words are ‘ANDed’ together. Although ATM’s new design expands searches, it may provide less relevant results. Using field tags in the regular PubMed search box or doing field searches in the new (Beta) Advanced Search mode can focus strategies – and results. more

Citation Sensor. Citation Sensor displays results for searches using untagged terms that are characteristic of citation searching, e.g., author names, journal titles, and publication dates (e.g., woese c 1972). Citation(s) results are highlighted in a yellow area above the search results. more

NCBI Beta Version of Advanced Search. The Advanced Search is designed to provide more ease and flexibility to create your search strategy. It can be accessed from the main PubMed search page by a link next to the search box. The PubMed Search History, Search boxes with field options (including links to indexes when available), all PubMed Limits, and the Index of Fields / Field Values for Preview / Index search are all accessible and usable on the same page – a big and welcome change! Send your comments at the bottom of the search page via “Write to the Help Desk.” more

Online Clinic. There is a thirty minute NLM and the National Training Center and Clearinghouse (NTCC) online clinic on Thursday, July 17, 2008 (2:00 pm ET) to go over PubMed changes. It is limited to the first 300 that sign in that day, but will be recorded for viewing from the same page. more

Please let me know if I can help you with any questions about these updates.


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 10:14 AM

February 6, 2008

For Maximum Retrievals in the Agricultural / Biological / Medical Sciences...Search Web of Knowledge

For Maximum Retrievals in the Agricultural / Biological / Medical Sciences, Search Web of Knowledge.

Recently the Web of Knowledge search platform was revamped, so that now, when you search "all databases", the records are automatically de-duplicated. If the record of interest is in multiple databases (as they frequently are), the default will be to show the Web of Science record for it if it is in Web of Science. In the case of a record that is present in multiple databases, there will be links to other versions of the record from the Web of Science record, in case you prefer to see the record as presented in another database.

Searching Web of Knowledge in the "all databases" searches the following resources, simultaneously:

Take a look at the results of several searches run in each database individually, vs run in the Web of Knowledge All Databases mode. From the results, you can see that you will get more search retrievals from searching the whole Web of Knowledge database, than from searching any of the individual databases.

Recommendation: Search Web of Knowledge in the "All Databases" mode UNLESS you need to:

Note: Many ag / bio / medical resources are NOT included in the Web of Knowledge platform, and, for now, you will need to continue to search them individually. For example:

with thanks to Katie Newman's Biotechnology Information Center Blog

Posted by mmalliso at 2:26 PM

November 16, 2007

Firefox Plugin for PubMed Users at the U of Illinois

If you're a bio researcher who uses the Firefox browser and PubMed, you'll want to read this!

Leslie McNeil, the NCSA researcher who manages the National Microbial Pathogen Data Resource (NMPDR), has created a Firefox plugin for U of I researchers who frequently search PubMed!

About Firefox Plugins:
Are you used to searching Google by typing in queries in the top right-hand side of the Firefox toolbar? Did you know that you can add additional search options so you can choose to search Wikipedia, Google Scholar, the U of I domain, or many other search sites, instead? All you need to do is add additional FireFox plugins.

You'll find many additional Firefox plugins from the following sources:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:4
http://mycroft.mozdev.org/
http://www.searchplugins.net/pluginlist.aspx

To load them into Firefox, all you have to do is click on the plugin's link .

About the Firefox PubMed plugin for U of I Researchers:
Leslie McNeil has created a customized a PubMed FireFox plugin for the U of Illinois researchers. Install it from this site by clicking on the "I":
http://www.searchplugins.net/pluginlist.aspx?q=PubMed+for+University+of+Illinois&mode=exactAfter installing the plugin, click on the Firefox drop down box where you normally would type in a Google search. Choose to search PubMed instead of Google and type in your PubMed search. You'll be brought to the PubMed site with all the usual University of Illinois subscriptions and options** intact -- that is, you'll see which articles we have direct e-access to, and you'll see the UI Discover button that lets you discover other options for obtaining the articles. Leslie has also embedded the proxy URL into the plugin, so you can load it on your home computers and still be able to access the full text journals from PubMed citations.

Give it a try! I think you'll agree it's handy!

**That is, you'll go to the same PubMed search as if you started with this URL:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=406312

----
Note: this message has been archived on the Biotech Info Center blog:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/blog/bicnews/

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

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

Posted by mmalliso at 11:16 AM

September 21, 2007

New Design -- BioMed Central's Article Web Pages

BioMed Central's article Web pages have been redesigned with significant new functionality (example article) [ Excerpt -- See complete post by Matthew Cockeril at BioMed Central Blog ].


• Summary of improvements:
• Improved support for MathML
• Access to archival copies of linked web pages, via WebCite
• Download link for original figure files
• Posting of articles to social networking sites -- post articles to sites including Cite-U-Like, Connotea, and Facebook, using links from the new navigation box.
• Better integration with Google Scholar
• Downloadable article XML
• More compact and efficient HTML articles 25% more compact

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

Posted by mmalliso at 2:40 PM

Announcing New University Library Gateway Site

The re-designed University Library Gateway Web site is now up. Highlights include:


* new Easy Search search engine that provides powerful one-stop searching across dozens of digital and print resources to locate journals, books, and other media directly from the University Gateway
* resources and services links accessible from Library Gateway and organized by University affiliation / interest (undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, alumni, visitors, users with disabilities)
* new and updated information, guides, and tutorials about using the library for research (“How to Use the Library”)
* subject guides from various departmental libraries can be accessed directly from the Library Gateway (“Subject Resource Guides” ) as well as from their source library site
* departmental libraries organized by libraries ("Find a Library") and by College major ("Libraries by College/Major")
* more

Content will continue to be added, updated, and enhanced. Your feedback is welcomed by the Library Web Content Group and Gateway SWAT team. Send you comments to the "Gateway conversion team" link at the bottom of any new page or directly by e-mail gateway_conversion@library.uiuc.edu. I will keep you posted as to redesign of pages deeper into the University Library site (departmental libraries' pages) when changes move beyond upper level site pages.


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

Posted by mmalliso at 2:03 PM

August 22, 2007

Biology Library Fall 2006 News

New University Library Gateway coming soon ! Feedback welcome !

The University Library is evaluating a new design for its home page, which offers enhanced features and functionality. To access the test site, click http://www.library.uiuc.edu/new/ . Among the new features is a link to the search engine UIUC Library Search Assistant which performs searches across multiple Library and other electronic resources. Also departmental libraries can now be accessed by college and major via “LIBRARIES BY COLLEGE/MAJOR” as well as by departmental library name via “Find a Library”. Undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and other user groups can easily find resources and services useful to their particular needs under the “Resources For” section. Faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to view the test version to explore the new look and features. Feedback can be provided by clicking on 'Gateway conversion team' at the bottom of the page. Changes in the Biology Library Web page will be made once the new University Library Gateway development is completed.

Do you know where your students are ……

…. getting their information?? According to a report by the OCLC Online Computer Library Center, a cooperative of more than 54,000 libraries, browser search engines were the first choice for information by 72% of college students in the study (Part 1-26). Are you certain that your students are using the best sources of information for their course work and research? Are you confident that they know how to use information resources effectively? We can help make sure that your students are using the best resources for their course and research information needs by:


• Providing sessions on library use and services (Online Library Catalog, how to locate library materials, borrowing, interlibrary loan, etc.)
• Presenting workshops on how to use particular databases, how to set up current awareness services to keep up-to-date on the literature, etc.
• Providing sessions on the use of library resources for reading research papers
• Formulating course, project, or research related library instruction sessions
• Assisting with research assignment development
• Creating handouts, guides, Web pages, Web tutorials, and other library research or subject related information tools
• Compiling source selections for class assignments and curriculum
• Providing sessions on information sources that are useful to laboratory classes
• Designing customized print and Web resources for a specific class, project, or subject area
• Presenting new faculty workshops
• Presenting new graduate student workshops

Schedule an information resources instruction session today by filling out the Instruction Request Form , or contacting Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.

Biology Library Guides

We have several Library orientation, database, subject, and other guides that will help you make the most of out resources. There is a wealth of information in these tools to help you make the most efficient and effective use of the Library’s great variety of information and research resources and services. The only way to get more details is through an information instruction session (see previous item)!

Our orientation guides provide basic information about the Biology Library and its resources and services. Guide to Campus Resources for New SOLS Faculty and Guide to Campus Resources for Students deliver information about the Biology Library and its resources and services; BioBlog; University Library; departmental libraries; the I-Go Library Toolbar; RefWorks; campus academic information; and general information useful for new (and not-so-new! ) faculty, students, and employees.

There are database guides for major life sciences bibliographic databases (Biological Abstracts, Current Contents, PubMed, Science Citation Index, and Zoological Record) with links to vendor guides and tutorials for further enlightenment. The Electronic Resources at the Biology Library guide gives a brief introduction to two dozen bibliographic databases which may be of interest to life sciences researchers.

There are general guides on several topics such as how to locate materials in the Biology Library; how to locate books, journals, and series; and how to locate dissertations and conference proceedings, along with links to information about RefWorks and the Library Discover tool. Our Web site Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page provides detailed information on finding journals and journal articles, finding books and other materials, using and creating course reserves, and Biology Library services.

Subject guides provide titles of core reference titles, including indexes & abstracts, protocols & methods, and journal titles, for various topic areas.

Two other guides that are useful for any one doing research are the Journal Resources and Research Resources pages. The Journal Resources page links you to information about the Online Research Resources database, journal abbreviations and acronym tools, serials lists for major bibliographic databases, citation format resources, RefWorks and Endnote, and other information related to journal use. The Research Resources page links you to UIUC and other sources of information about academic integrity, intellectual freedom, copyright, ethics, plagiarism, research process, etc.

As our access to electronic resources grows, so do challenges in accessing them. This is true for our growing collection of e-books. Two new guides will help you in this endeavor. Electronic Book Resources at the Biology Library will inform you about various e-book collections our patrons have access to as well as several reference e-books of interest in the life sciences. Retrieving Articles at University Library will help you understand the ways that journal articles may be found using our various resources.


“Librarian Office Calls” for SOLS 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 get 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?

The Biology Library is piloting a new service for SOLS faculty called “Librarian Office Calls.” You can schedule a librarian to come to provide personalized instruction about library resources to enhance your course and research activities in the convenience of your own campus office (Burrill Hall or Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory). Schedule a “Librarian Office Call” today by filling out the Instruction Request Form , or contacting Melody Allison, Assistant Biology Librarian, at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.

Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS)

The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS) is a set of collections and related services that together constitute the campus institutional repository. IDEALS preserves and provides persistent and reliable access to the digital scholarship of faculty, staff, and students and aims to provide the greatest dissemination and recognition to these works as possible. Offered through the University Library and CITES under sponsorship of the Office of the Provost, IDEALS is now open for deposit! For more information, contact Sarah Shreeves, IDEALS Coordinator, at sshreeve@uiuc.edu.

UI Now has University Library News

Get the latest News from the University Library via UI Now, the place to get the news and feature stories on campus activities. You may subscribe to the Library news via a RSS feed (requires a reader) and get the news as soon as it is available. Learn more about RSS feeds at the Scholarly Communication blog and RSS on Wikipedia.

New ISI Web of Knowledge Interface Coming Soon

Thomson Scientific’s ISI Web of Knowledge interface is changing, and will formally be released sometime this fall. Until then, access to Science Citation Index (Web of Science), Biological Abstracts, Journal Citation Reports, and other databases we get through Thomson Scientific will remain with the current platform. You may access the new version in the current version through a link in the title bar.
Among the changes is the replacement of the “CrossSearch” by the “All Databases” search, which allows you to:


• Search across all ISI Web of Knowledge databases our institution subscribes to

• Retrieve up to 100,000 results, automatically sorted by the journal cover publication date

• Easily refine and analyze your search results

You will also see is a change in how your search terms are entered. The new version has three “Search for” boxes with search field options that can be combined with Boolean operators. Additional “Search for” boxes can be added with a simple click.
See http://isiwebofknowledge.com/currentuser_wokhome/cu_new/newface/ for more information about the new interface. For a short tutorial click see http://www.brainshark.com/thomsonscientific/newwokintro .

Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology trial in progress

Trial access for Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology (CPSC) will continue through 12/31/07. CPSC covers protocols and methods for embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells as swell as genetic manipulation of stem cells. CPSC is published in affiliation with the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Please email comments or questions using the form at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/mailform/mail.php?emailcode=ersupport.
For a short tutorial click see http://www.brainshark.com/thomsonscientific/newwokintro .



Chicago Manual of Style Online

Good news from the spring is worth repeating. The Chicago Manual of Style is available electronically. We look forward to electronic versions of other format style manuals as they become available. Will keep you posted.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions at mmalliso@uiuc.edu.

Have great Fall semester.

--


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





Posted by mmalliso at 4:31 PM

November 1, 2006

Electronic Reference Books for the Life Sciences now links to Darwins complete works

The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online courtesy of the University of Cambridge is now available, and has been added to Electronic Reference Books for the Life Sciences Web page which is maintained by the Library Life Sciences Division (LSD). The LSD Web page includes a list of frequently used life sciences titles provided by the University Library electronic books collection, and are so marked. But there are also titles on the list that are freely available on the Internet and not accessible through either the Library's Online Library Catalog or Online Research Resources (ORR) database. Included in the list are dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, manuals, indexes, methods and protocols, textbooks, collections of works, and guides to works. This Web page puts these titles easily at your fingertips and is worth a bookmark. Please let us know if you have recommendations for additional content.

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

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
-- James Madison


Posted by mmalliso at 2:30 PM

May 12, 2006

IndexCat: digital vesion of the Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office

The National Library of Medicine's History of Medicine Division sponsors a digital version of the five series of the printed Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office (1880-1961) which is called IndexCat http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/indexcat/ichome.html.

IndexCat was completed in 2004. The NLM catalog LocatorPlus can also be searched in IndexCat. The Advanced Search allows you to search keyword, author, subject, date, ID#, and Title/Journal Title search. New database features allows you to save, print, and download records. For more information, see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/indexcat/aboutic.html. For a project description, see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/indexcat/abouticproject.html

Excerpt about subject headings in IndexCat from the Technical Bulletin announcement, May 28, 2004
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/mj04/mj04_cat.html :

An IndexCat Browse mimics the printed page and displays in dictionary order in a single alphabet, interfiling Subject Headings with Author and Title main headings. The exception is Series V which is published in a divided format with two alphabets. Volume 1 includes authors in one alphabet. Volumes 2 and 3 include Subject Headings in another alphabet. The content of Series V is also limited in scope to monographs and dissertations; journal articles were cited in Index Medicus.

Subject Headings are not MeSH. They are Index-Catalogue headings that may differ both in format and content among series. For example:

Series 1: Cholera, Asiatic (History and statistics of), by localities
Series 2: Cholera (History and statistics of), by localities
Series 3: Cholera (History and statistics of) by countries [or continents]
Series 4: Cholera [Asiatic] Epidemiology-by countries
Series 5: Cholera epidemiology

Because of these differences, the subject headings index is a keyword index. Use 'all of these' or 'as a phrase' indicators to simulate exact heading searches, when desired. IIn a follow-up project, NLM intends to map headings to MeSH.

I have had this title entered into the Library Online Research Resources (ORR) database at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/ , which is a database we try to provide access to all of our electronic indexes and abstracts, journals, and such. To search the ORR for this title, be sure to click either the Reference Tools tab or All
Resources tab, and then enter IndexCat in the search box. There is no link to the electronic version from the Online Library Catalog record for the print version at this time, but should be in the future. Further details about this title will be added to the ORR record in the future as well.

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

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
-- James Madison


Posted by mmalliso at 3:11 PM

May 9, 2006

Library Toolbar Now Available for Mozilla Firefox

I-Go, the Library Toolbar, is now available for Mozilla FireFox as well as for Internet Explorer users. The Toolbar provides quick access to several often used electronic Library and campus resources right at your fingertips whenever you are using your MF or IE browsers. 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 locate. The Toolbar takes you to all of the following:

• department library Web sites

• the Online Library Catalog

• the 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

• and more


For more information, including download, see http://www.library.uiuc.edu/toolbar

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

Posted by mmalliso at 11:02 AM

February 3, 2006

New Library Toolbar

A new Library Toolbar is available to download for Internet Explorer users (sorry, not available for other browsers at this time. A Firefox version is in the works and when available, will alert SOLS list). The Toolbar provides quick access to department library Web sites, the Online Library Catalog, the Online Research Resources Web site, campus phone book, Google searching, course researves, interlibrary loan, My Account, Online Reference Collection, RefWorks, UIUC Express Mail, NetFiles, Illinois Compass, and more – right at your fingertips whenever you are using your Internet Explorer browser. 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 locate. For more information, including download,
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/toolbar

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

Posted by mmalliso at 5:12 PM