University Library Reference

All,
The IMC will be painted and new workstations installed.
We will begin to dismantle some workstations after Reading day.
There will be no scanning available, no Datastream or video digitizing available until after Jan 9th. Most other applications are available in the Information Commons.
NOTE: one scanner, located outside of the IMC will be available to scan PDF files only during this period.

We will post notices in the lab and on the web..

details will follow later.

Regina Conboy
Coordinator, Interactive Media Center
LI b58
518-442-3608
fax: 518-442-3088

Posted by Jane Kessler at 04:24 PM | Permalink
Posted to Bldg info

Hi everyone,
I got a Choice review card for this Web site and thought it would be very useful to students, but I’m not sure where to list it on the reference pages. As you know, we don’t have a great collection of foreign language cds, most of what we have is old and on cassettes. This site is from the Foreign Service Institute and is free. Here’s the review (emphasis is mine). Let me know if you have any ideas where we could link it. I suppose we could put a record in Minerva. Jane

FSI Language Courses
http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/
This site provides easy access to language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute. Created by the US government, these materials are in the public domain and thus freely available. At present users may select from 34 languages, but new materials are added frequently. The work of adding materials to he site appears to be done by volunteers. No advertising appears on the pages. For each language, users may access either printed textbooks or digitized audiotapes online, and in many cases, both. Often once can select from various dialects (e.g., users wanting to study Arabic may choose Classical, Levantine, or Urban Hijazi Arabic). Disciplined students will find these materials very helpful. In fact, this site is a wonderful free tool for language learners wanting extra practice or exposure to a new language. In addition to the audiotapes, links to podcasts of authentic conversations in various languages are available. Users may also participate in open forums that discuss the study of specific languages. Libraries could spend thousands of dollars to obtain foreign language materials of this quality. This site adds a significant amount of material for a large number of languages that are not represented in the collections of many libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries that provide foreign language materials to users; lower-level undergraduates through professionals, and general readers. C. Pracht, Southeast Missouri State University.

Posted by Jane Kessler at 03:22 PM | Permalink
Posted to electronic resources

Hi all,

There is an anthro assignment. Professor Robinscraft apparently asked students to compare child growth standards with US and other countries. The student who came is looking specifically for Russia but there may be others...

Chris found the category "Child Growth Standards" on the WHO site under Global health indicators.

You can also search the NCHS Natnional Center for Health Statistics site (click on ALL CDC documents) and locate comparative info on their site.

US standards are on the National Center for Health Statistics (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhanes/growthcharts/datafiles.htm

WHO (World Health Organization)
http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/who_standards.htm

Chime in if you know of other sources?

Thank you,

Deborah

Posted by Jane Kessler at 12:41 PM | Permalink
Posted to Assignments

Hi everyone,

There’s a new assignment out from Africana Studies 520 (African Economics) for which the students may need to use the UN Demographic Yearbook , UN Statistical Yearbook, etc. They are looking for literacy rates, GDP rates, etc. Traditionally we have set aside long runs of each title at reference if we expect we will get a lot of traffic for them, as well as other relevant titles and we should consider doing the same. One patron said there are about 20 students in the class, but since I didn’t see the assignment itself I have no idea of what the scope is. The professor is Kwandwo Sarfoh and the class meets Tuesdays from 2:45-5:45.

Some info that will help students in this class:

UN Demographic Yearbook (now online!): http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm

UN Statistical Yearbook: Over * HA 12.5 U63 (1990-1998), Ref HA 12.5 U63 (1999-2005)

UNESCO Statistical Yearbook: AZ 361 U45 (1963-1999)

There are also some great statistical sources described on Deborah’s page Guide to Resources for the Study of Africa

Good luck!

Daryl

Posted by Jane Kessler at 03:08 PM | Permalink
Posted to Assignments

Hi everyone,

A professor in art history is sending students to find an article, but has given them incomplete citation information. What they are really looking for is:

Lilley, K. D. (1999). Modern visions of the medieval city: Competing conceptions of urbanism in European civic design. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 26(3), 427 – 446.

The students may or may not be aware that this is a journal article (I had one who thought it was a book), so as a heads up, you have the correct info above. We own the journal in print (Per NA 2005 E58), but the article is freely available as a pdf file through the Web at: http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=b260427

I'm not sure how long the assignment will go.

Hope that helps!

Daryl

Posted by Jean McLaughlin at 01:11 PM | Permalink
Posted to Assignments

If this situation occurs, here is help I got from Meebo Support -- it sounds like a technique that might help with other problems.

My problem
You can log in and are noted as being logged in.
Your widget says you are offline.
IMs don't get through or get through in batches without being able to respond.

Meebo support -- reasonable response time from them to fix problem
Hi Jean,

If you are still having issues, try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the meebo page to see if it helps. Here is a link on how to do so: http://wiki.meebo.com/doku.php?id=clear-cache-cookies. To refresh the meebo page, go to www.meebo.com and hold down the ctrl-key and hit the F5 key.

Posted by Jean McLaughlin at 12:51 PM | Permalink
Posted to Meebo

Please see J.McLaughlin for more information

Posted by Jean McLaughlin at 12:10 PM | Permalink
Posted to Assignments