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From Kim Kelley
Associate
Provost, Information and Library Services
As we start the fall semester, let me welcome
you back and wish you a successful learning experience. Each
year we try to add new services that will make using the library
more convenient and accessible. This year is no exception.
Reference service hours have been extended to 24/7! We
are excited by this new opportunity to help you anytime, anywhere.
I would also mention that we are are offering
some new, free workshops to serve you and help you do research
more efficiently. I encourage you to take advantage of these
free opportunities. See below for more details!
24-Hour Reference Service Goes Live!
In early August Information and Library Services (ILS) launched
round-the-clock e-mail and interactive chat reference service. Now
you can receive reference assistance any time, day or night. ILS
librarians will provide assistance during regularly scheduled hours,
and when they are not available, ILS has contracted with Tutor.com
to respond to your questions. To get timely help when you need it,
send an e-mail to library@umuc.edu
or click on "Chat with a Librarian" on the ILS home page, www.umuc.edu/library.
If you sign into chat, you will notice a more interactive
interface with co-browsing features the previous chat interface
lacked. Staff now have the capability to show you how to navigate
and find the different resources ILS provides on its home
page. They will also be able to take you step-by-step through
a database search.
Citation Tutorial
Are you uncertain about when and how to use APA citation?
Information and Library Services has created a "Citation Explained"
tutorial in both HTML and Flash versions to guide you through
the intricacies of APA citation. In practical terms, it explains
why to cite, how to create in-text citations, and how to create
citations for the reference list at the end of a paper. Both
versions have interactive exercises to enliven and reinforce
the main concepts; however, the Flash version goes further
in allowing you to practice creating citations by dragging
and dropping elements from database records, articles, and
Web pages into citation templates and seeing the elements
transformed into correct APA style.
Online Databases
Database Changes
FIS Online Becomes Mergent
FIS Online has changed
its name to Mergent
Online and launched
a more user-friendly
search interface.
Mergent Online provides
current,
detailed, accurate,
and comprehensive
information on United
States and international
companies. When you
want to research
the history
of a company's financial
information or create
individual and comparative
company reports
that you can export
into software applications
such
as Word and Excel,
Mergent Online is
the database to choose.
Mergent Online also
provides access to
EDGAR (Securities
and Exchange Commission)
filings for 10,000
US public
companies. If you
are researching profitability
ratios, you can
create a report by
quarter or by year
for one company or
compare
several companies
in an industry and
export the results
into a spreadsheet.
You can also retrieve
country profiles
with statistical
data and
a map. To access
Mergent Online go
to the Library
Database and E-Journals page
and click on M under
Resources by Title.
The Social Sciences Citation Index is Available for Research!
One important way to establish the authority of an author
is to verify how often that author has been cited in other
scholarly articles. The Social Sciences Citation Index allows
you to conduct a search for cited references to a work in
other later works in a wide variety of disciplines,including
business and management, psychology, public health, history,
sociology, anthropology, and women's studies.When you do a
search, you will retrieve a list of articles that meet your
search criteria. You can click on a title to obtain the full
record that will include:
- the article's cited references
- records of articles that cite the displayed article
- records of related articles
- in some cases, full text of the article through SFX
Social Sciences Citation Index indexes 3,300 major journals.
Hot Sites...Stock
Resources on the Web
Need to research a stock's performance or learn more about
investment options? Here are a few sites to get you started!
- Guide to Stock Research Resources
Information and Library Services' guide to databases (e.g.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) Net Advantage Industry Surveys
and Investment Reviews, Predicast's PROMT, Mergent Online),
free Web sites, and electronic and print books to help you
with stock research.
- The Motley Fool.com
The Motley Fool site provides easy access to market perfomance
data with a consumer friendly approach to financial information.
Setting up a free account provides access to additional
analysis and the FoolWatch Weekly Digest.
Note: This Web site works best with IE 5.5 or higher
or Netscape 6 or higher.
- Social Investment Forum
Interested in socially responsible investing? This site,
affiliated with Co-op
America, offers information and resources on socially
responsible investing, including an introduction to socially
responsible investing (SRI) and a directory of investment
services that focus on socially responsible investments.
- Yahoo! Finance
Quickly look up a stock's perfomance and set up a free account
to track stocks and set up alerts for price changes. The
Web site provides an up to the minute daily market update
and a Research Center
to research company earnings and performance.
For Your Information...
Student Workshop on Database Searching
Are you confused about which database to use for your research?
Or how to write a good search strategy? Information and Library
Services invites students to a workshop, Using the Library
Databases Effectively and Efficiently, on September 25, 2003
from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 2255 of the Student and Faculty
Services Center in Adelphi, Maryland. Space is limited, so
send an e-mail to library@umuc.edu
or call 301-985-7209 to register.
Wireless Access in the Library!
Need a place to access the Internet using your laptop or PDA?
Information and Library Services (ILS) now offers free wireless
network service in Room 2255 of the Student
and Faculty Services Center to users with wireless devices.
All you need is a card that is compliant with the IEEE
802.11b standard. ILS provides general set-up instructions. However,
since set-up procedures vary depending on which laptop or PDA
you use, please be familiar with your equipment set-up instructions
(initially, you may want to bring them with you).
Citation Linker
If you know the title of a journal and want to locate full
text of it in a library database, try the Citation Linker.
Enter as much information as you know about what you are looking
for in the appropriate boxes and then click the SFX button.
If full text of the journal is in one of UMUC's subscription
databases, you will retrieve a link to that database. If UMUC does
not subscribe to the electronic version of that journal, there
will be a link to the interlibrary loan form that you can
fill out and submit to obtain a specific article from the
journal.
Using Lexis-Nexis Current Issues to Select or Narrow Your Research
Topic
Sometimes the most difficult part of an assignment is selecting
a topic. Even after you select a topic you might find it is
too broad to effectively search for resources. For example,
you may be interested in researching an environmental issue.
If you just search with environment as your keyword, you will
have to wade through a large number of results, and you may
get frustrated long before you find an interesting topic.
If you are trying to select a topic or you need help narrowing
a topic, you may want to try LexisNexis Current Issues. The
database presents pros and cons on contemporary issues, such
as crime and justice, the economy, education, the environment,
government, health, international relations, population, science
and technology, and society and culture. It allows you to
start with one of these broad topics and work your way toward
focused research questions. Try this activity to see how it works.
Faculty Corner
Information Literacy Frequently Asked Questions
UMUC expects all students to use libraries and other information
resources to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.
To achieve this goal, both the School of Undergraduate Studies and
the Graduate School have established information literacy objectives.
For information on these requirements, how to integrate information
literacy skills into your courses, and answers to questions you
may have about information literacy, see the UMUC Information Literacy
FAQ for Faculty on the ILS Web page under Faculty/Resources for Teaching.
E-Reserves Dos and Don'ts
As the fall semester
starts,we encourage
you to use our e-reserves
services to post
Reserved Readings
in your Web Tycho
and Web Tycho enhanced
classes. To make
it easier for you
to understand and
use e-reserves, the
ILS e-reserves team
has created an E-Reserves
Dos and Don'ts that
provides guidelines
for the use of this
service.
New Acquisitions
View a list of some of our recent
acquisitions in distance education, higher education,
instructional design and adult learning. If you're in
Adelphi, come in to ILS at SFSC 2255 and browse through our
collection. Or send us an e-mail if you're interested in borrowing
one of them.
ILS Hours and
Locations
 Need to find us? Please visit Locations and Hours for more information.
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