Contents
- From Kim Kelley
Online Databases- What's New!
Hot Sites
For Your Information...
Faculty Corner
- ILS Hours and Locations
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From Kim Kelley
Associate
Provost, Information and Library Services
Summer has arrived and with it a new look for the ILS
Web page! The improved Web site was created based on a
usability study with UMUC students, faculty, and staff. Changes
include fewer, but clearer, links on the home page, user-friendly
language, and more visually-oriented user guides. In short,
the new Web site provides you with a quicker way to get started
with your research, use and find information resources, or
learn more about plagiarism and citation techniques. View the
updated multimedia virtual library tour, Navigating
UMUC's Virtual Library, to help orient yourself to the
new site.
Along with the Web page, ILS is introducing a new document delivery
service, DocumentExpress, that will streamline the process to
deliver articles and book chapters. Read UMUC's
DocumentExpress Policy for
more information on how to use this service and ILS policies
that govern it.
This issue of the newsletter covers database
enhancements, "hot" government
Web sites, changes we made to
the library Web page and new guides we
created, a new VAIL academic integrity
Web site, a new faculty training course co-facilitated
by ILS and Center for Intellectual Property (CIP) staff, and
revisions to
the required research skills classes for undergraduate and
graduate students.
We remain dedicated to providing the best services possible,
and we value your comments about our new Web page or any of our
services and resources. If you find something you would like
to see improved, please do not hesitate to contact
us.
Online Databases
Database Additions and Enhancements
- New Sage Database
Sage Full-Text Collections: Psychology is a significant addition
to UMUC's resources in journals. The Sage collection of 30 e-journals
focuses on psychology but is also a good source for research on the
psychological aspects of business, management, and education. Many
of the ILS databases link to the collection so that articles from
Sage psychology journals will be accessible in full text when searching
the databases.
- More Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT)
Analyses and Market Research Reports in Business Source Premier
As reported in earlier newsletter
issues, Business Source Premier includes company, industry, and
country reports. Many of its company reports contain SWOT analyses
of the company's strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.
Now there are more than 2,000 SWOT analyses available, and in the
coming months Business Source Premier will add several dozen more.
To find the company reports, click on the Company Profiles tab at
the top of the EBSCOHOST screen and enter the company name in the
browse box.
Another recent enhancement is the addition of
Gartner Market Research Reports. At this time there
are recent reports on the health care, manufacturing,
media research, retail, travel, automotive, financial
services, and cross-industry markets with plans
to add more reports. To access these reports, follow
the directions below.
- Coming Attractions
Later this summer look for a new criminology database,
SAGE Criminology Full Text Collection, D&B Key Business
Ratios, a new business database with a year of financial
ratios, SocIndex with Full Text, a database that will replace
Sociological Abstracts and considerably increase access
to full text articles in sociology, and additional e-journals
in Berkeley Electronic Press.
- E-Books
ILS added almost 900 books to its netLibrary collection
bringing the total to more than 8,000 netLibrary e-books
in most of the disciplines UMUC offers. When this total
is added to the ebrary collection in Books in Print.com
Professional, UMUC students, faculty, and staff have access
to nearly 20,000 electronic books. Later this summer ILS
will introduce an off-line reader for netLibrary that will
allow you to download and netLibrary books off-line and
PsycBooks, a new e-book collection from the American Psychological
Association. This new collection should significantly enhance
access to research in psychology.
As part of the Web page revision, we have created a new
and improved guide to using netLibrary. In a user-friendly
manner, this guide provides information on how to get started
using netLibrary and how to find and use e-books. We have
also created a similar guide for ebrary. Click on E-books on
the ILS Web page to access the guides and the e-book collections.
Hot Sites... Finding Government Information
When you're doing research, don't overlook government information.
The United States government is the largest publisher of information
in the world. You can usually rely on government information
to be authoritative, accurate and current. The information is
often available electronically and is in the public domain (you
can use it freely without violating copyright law). Most agencies
and departments provide access to free publications, research
studies, and statistics. Listed here are a few places to get
started.
- FirstGov
From the United States Government's official information portal you
can access material by subject or agency or even across agencies
(see the sidebar on the left hand side of the page). Under the
Information by Topic section you can access different types of
information by broad category, such as Consumer Protection or Money
and Taxes.
- GPOAccess
The Government Printing Office(GPO) Web site offers access
to most of the government information that is produced. You
can access material here by subject or agency. In the A-Z resource
list under the letter "C" you can access the GPO
Catalog with llinks to publications on the Internet.
- Thomas
If you're looking for legislative information: bills, resolutions,
House and Senate committee reports, and public law text from the
93rd Congress (1973-1974) to the present, this is the place to
begin your search. You can also view both the House and Senate
schedules and directories.
- The Census Bureau
When you need statistical information to support your research, this
is the place to start. In addition to the decennial population
census, other statistical information, such as business data from
the economic census and historical data from statistical abstracts,
can be found here.
For
Your Information...
Web Page Changes
Where Are the Library Databases and the Library Catalog?
The names have changed, but the links to the library databases
and library catalog are still the first links you'll see on
the ILS Web page. Check under the Find Articles, Books, and
More...section. The first link, Articles & More, will take you to the list
of databases and journal finder, which will help you locate in
which database you'll find full-text of a journal. You can search
by subject from the Articles & More link or directly from
the ILS Web page under Search
by Subject.
In the Find Articles, Books, and More...section, click on
Books & Media to link to the library catalog.
Tutorials to help you use databases and the catalog more effectively
are available in the Learn How
To... section of the new Web page.
What Happened to Resources for Research?
Library staff moved the links to these guides into the Learn
How To... section of the ILS Web page. In many cases staff
reorganized pages and added screenshots and other visual aids
to provide guides that are easier to use. Look
under Learn How To... for the following guides:
- Find Articles:
Using Library Databases
Using informative images and concise language, this guide provides
users with easy step-by-step instructions for how to get started
using a library database, and how to effectively find relevant
materials.
- Identify and
Locate Scholarly Journals
If you're confused about the difference between scholarly,
popular, and trade journals and how to find scholarly
journals in the library databases, consult this guide
that has been revised to include screenshots of how to
limit your searches to scholarly journals and how to
use Ulrich's Periodical Directory to identify
scholarly journals.
Where are Document Delivery and Interlibrary Loan?
- Get It Delivered
If you can't find the materials you need in the library databases
or the library catalog, this section of the Web page summarizes
in tabular form the different options you have for obtaining full-text
articles, book chapters, and books.
Academic Integrity at UMUC
Is information in an encyclopedia a well-known fact that I
can use in my paper without citing it? Is it all right to use
an image from the Web in my presentation for class? Students
and faculty have to answer these questions each day as they make
decisions and try to avoid plagiarism or violations of copyright
law. Here at UMUC three units: Information and Library Services,
the Center for Intellectual Property, and the Effective Writing
Center, answer these questions and provide resources to help
students and faculty navigate the often perplexing issues of
academic integrity. The Virtual Academic Integrity Laboratory
has compiled all these resources into a new Web page, Academic
Integrity at the University of Maryland University College.
Visit this page for links to information about the services each
of the three units provide, tutorials and tools, student guides,
UMUC academic integrity policies, courses, and faculty guides.
There is also a printer-friendly version if you'd like to print
out the materials for off-line reference when you need it.
Creating Microsoft Excel Files in Mergent Online
Mergent Online is an excellent database for research on company and
industry information. In it you will find data about United States
and international companies. You'll also retrieve Edgar filings dating
back to 1993 and updated daily as well as industry reports on selected
industries.
One useful feature is the ability to download financial information
for companies and create comparison reports of companies by industry
into Microsoft Excel files. For assistance in creating these
reports, please view the tutorial, Creating
Microsoft Excel files in Mergent Online. You will find the
link to this guide on the Library
Databases and E-Journals page at the Search Tips link under
the database title.
Faculty Corner
Beyond Library Basics
Register
for a new faculty course: Beyond Library Basics; Choosing,
Using, but Not Abusing Information Resources, being offered
online through the Center for Teaching and Learning, Monday,
August 15 through Friday, August 26. Enlivened by scenarios
and multimedia learning objects, this workshop focuses on easily
finding and effectively and legally using information resources.
It will be co-taught by Information and Library Services and
Center for Intellectual Property staff. The course includes
tips and tricks for advanced database searching in your discipline
and easier ways to select resources to create more successful
assignments. You will discuss methods to better combat student
plagiarism while learning how to avoid violating copyright
law inadvertently yourself and will grapple with the challenge
of getting your students to evaluate resources and cite them
properly.
LIBS 150 Gets a New Look and Content!
LIBS 150, the undergraduate information literacy and research
methods
general education requirement, is being revised for the fall semester.
The enhanced course will include an expanded module on the evaluation
of
sources for academic research, and students will be able to select
from a
larger pool of research questions for their research log project. New
programming capabilities in WebTycho will help streamline the
submission and grading of learning activities. The skills emphasized
in
the course are: understanding the research process; selecting
appropriate print and electronic sources to answer research questions;
effectively using Web search engines and UMUC Information and Library
Services' electronic resources to find information; and evaluating,
organizing, and correctly citing the information found.
New Research Skills Class for Graduate Students!
UCSP 611, a faculty-mediated library research skills course
for graduate students, will be launched this fall. Replacing
the online tutorial, UCSP 610, the new course will guide graduate
students through different stages of the research process from
formulating a research question and a search strategy to composing
an annotated reference list in correct APA format. Emphasis will
be on evaluating sources and using critical thinking skills to
select the most relevant and authoritative sources for graduate
level research.
New Acquisitions
View a list of some of our recent acquisitions in
distance education, adult education, assessment, instruction,
instructional design, and academic integrity. If you are
in Adelphi, visit ILS in SFSC 2255 and browse through our collection.
If you would like to borrow any of the books from the ILS collection,
you can request them in the library
catalog. Books can be picked up at one of the libraries of
the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions,
if you live in Maryland, or delivered by mail if you live outside
Maryland within the continental United States. If you live abroad,
send us an e-mail for
information about borrowing these titles.
ILS Hours and Locations
 Need to find us? Please visit Locations
and Hours for more information.
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