Encore, a new way to search the catalog
Encore offers a single search box for retrieving results from the library catalog. Search results can be refined using a faceted display. Results are redrawn on the page so that users see in real-time how their results can be refined by selecting a single facet option or multiple facets. Results can be limited by title, subject, material format, sub-collection, date, and language.
A tag cloud is generated for each search based on subject headings for titles in the results set. Search results can also be refined by selecting any keyword or phrase in the tag cloud. The results display uses font size to highlight possible search options and helps to distinquish similar search terms.
Community tags allow the user to create their own search terms for an item, and can be used in describing works on a professor’s reading list.
Encore also highlights recently added materials based on the keyword search entered.
Learning Commons OPEN for Business!
We are pleased to announce that the UH Libraries’ Learning Commons has officially opened! The Learning Commons is a new space in the M.D. Anderson Library with equipment and resources to help you create multimedia projects or analyze data.
The LC has 17 high-end PCs and 5 iMacs, all equipped with the latest in digital media creation software (think Adobe Creative Suite) and the best in statistical analysis software (MATLAB, SPSS, SAS and Mathematica). In addition, the LC has five digital cameras, five digital video cameras and five “pen-scanners” available for checkout.
Additional services include color and black/white printing (with wide-format poster printing available Spring 2009) and a presentation “practice room” for you to put the final polish on your class presentation.
The Learning Commons will be open anytime the M.D. Anderson Library is open and staff will be on duty to assist you.
For more information, stop in for a quick tour of the LC or contact Mr. Nathan McKee (npmckee@uh.edu) for more information. We look forward to seeing you soon!
New Interdisciplinary Research Resources
These new databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
Book Review Index Plus: This is an online guide to book reviews that includes more than five million review citations from thousands of publications and direct access to more than 630,000 full-text reviews.
CQ Global Researcher: This database provides definitive, in-depth coverage of global affairs from a number of international viewpoints. Each single-themed, 12,000-word CQ Global Researcher report is researched and written by an experienced observer of the given issue. Reports include an introductory overview; background and assessment of the current situation; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; chronology on the topic, followed by short features for extensive context; a sampling of related international perspectives; maps and graphs; bibliographies of key sources; next steps for additional reading; and author profiles.
Dissertations & Theses Full Text: This database indexes over 2.4 million dissertations and theses included from around the world. Nearly one million are available in full text, and the full text coverage dates back to mid 1990’s. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master’s theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637, and more than 65,000 new citations are added to the database every year.
If you have any questions about JSTOR, feel free to contact your subject librarians.
New Research Resources for Business, Education, and Social Sciences
These new databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
CQ Voting and Elections Collection: It integrates data, authoritative analyses, concise explanations, and historical material to provide a research and reference tool on voting and elections in America. From the American voter, to major and minor political parties, to actual races for Congress, the presidency, and governorships, the collection provides context-driven intelligence on the state of elections in America. Election data can be downloaded.
Educational Administration Abstracts: It provides bibliographic records covering essential areas related to educational administration, including education research, higher education administration theory, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI): It provides bibliographic information about behavioral measurement instruments. Information in the database is abstracted from hundreds of leading journals covering health sciences and psychosocial sciences. Additionally, instruments from Industrial/Organizational Behavior and Education are included.
Small Business Resource Center: This database provides relevant, authoritative, and easy-to-understand information about small business. Magazine and newspaper contents are updated daily; reference content and directory contents are updated annually.
If you have any questions about JSTOR, feel free to contact your subject librarians.
New Interdisciplinary Research Resources
These new databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
Book Review Index Plus: This is an online guide to book reviews that includes more than five million review citations from thousands of publications and direct access to more than 630,000 full-text reviews.
CQ Global Researcher: This database provides definitive, in-depth coverage of global affairs from a number of international viewpoints. Each single-themed, 12,000-word CQ Global Researcher report is researched and written by an experienced observer of the given issue. Reports include an introductory overview; background and assessment of the current situation; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; chronology on the topic, followed by short features for extensive context; a sampling of related international perspectives; maps and graphs; bibliographies of key sources; next steps for additional reading; and author profiles.
Dissertations & Theses Full Text: This database indexes over 2.4 million dissertations and theses included from around the world. Nearly one million are available in full text, and the full text coverage dates back to mid 1990’s. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master’s theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637, and more than 65,000 new citations are added to the database every year.
If you have any questions about JSTOR, feel free to contact your subject librarians.
New JSTOR Interface
JSTOR will launch a new interface on Friday, April 4th. Here are some online resources that help users learn about the new interface:
Key improvements
http://sandbox.jstor.org/newfeatures.doc
Recorded Webinar
http://sandbox.jstor.org/support/JSTORNewFeatures2008-03-03.wmv
Using the JSTOR Interface
http://sandbox.jstor.org/support/Using_the_JSTOR_Interface_March_2008.ppt
If you have any questions about JSTOR, feel free to contact your subject librarians.
New Databases for History and Gerontology
Two new databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
Abstracts in Social Gerontology: This is an online index that covers essential areas related to social gerontology, such as the psychology of aging, elder abuse, society and the elderly, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. The coverage starts from 1990.
The South Carolina Gazette: This newspaper collection offers a wealth of information on Colonial/Early American History and Genealogy, and provides an accurate glimpse of life in South Carolina and America during the early days of this country. Its coverage is 1732 to 1741.
If you have any questions about these databases, feel free to contact your subject librarian.
New Interdisciplinary Research Resources Available
Two new interdisciplinary research resources are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
Aluka
It is an online digital library of scholarly resources from and about Africa. The site includes scholarly materials from Aluka’s partner institutions including archival documents, periodicals, books, reports, manuscripts, reference works, three-dimensional models, maps, oral histories, plant specimens, photographs, and slides.
OpinionArchives
This full-text database contains electronic archives for journals of opinion, including The Nation, Commentary, The New Republic, Commonweal, NACLA, American Spectator, National Review, Harper’s Magazine, and The New York Review of Books. The OpinionArchives metasearch tool enables users to cross-search all archives.
If you have any questions about these new resources, feel free to contact your subject librarian.
New Databases for Different Subjects
These five new databases are now available from the University of Houston Libraries:
Family Studies Abstracts
It includes bibliographic citations that cover marriage, divorce, family therapy, and other areas of key relevance to family studies.
Index of Christian Art
Based on the printed work of the same title begun at Princeton University in 1917, the Index of Christian Art is a thematic and iconographic index of early Christian and medieval art objects from early apostolic times to approximately 1400 A.D. While coverage is predominantly of Christian iconography, Jewish, Islamic, and non-ecclesiastical subjects are also covered. The database contains a portion of the index’s backfiles as well as all works cataloged since 1991. Entries include descriptive information, provenance, location and ownership information, bibliographical references, and, when available, a photographic reproduction of the work of art.
Peace Research Abstracts
It includes bibliographic citations that cover conflict resolution, international affairs, peace psychology, and other areas of key relevance to peace research.
Public Administration Abstracts
It includes bibliographic citations that cover public administration research, public administration theory, and other related topics.
Urban Studies Abstracts
It includes bibliographic citations that cover urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other related topics.
If you have any questions about these databases, feel free to contact your subject librarian.
New Web of Science Interface
Web of Science and MEDLINE (ISI Web of Knowledge) will have a new interface starting Feb. 3, 2008. Recorded training of using the new interface is available online.
