End of Semester Resources for Papers & Projects

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As we approach the end of Spring semester, many of your papers and research projects will be due soon.  Here are some resources that may help out:

LibGuides – The librarians have produced these guides for a wide variety of subjects and classes to point you to the best resources for doing research.  They may suggest specific books, databases, or Internet resources in your topic, or strategies for searching our research databases.

The Reference Desk – located just to the left as you enter Carlson Library, the reference librarians at the desk can demonstrate our catalog or databases, help you refine your search strategies, or suggest additional resources.  Our in-person, chat, or phone reference services are open Monday – Thursday 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., Friday 9 – 5, Saturday 12-5, and Sunday 12 – 8.  Our e-mail reference is available anytime.

Individual Appointments – For more in-depth help with a librarian, you can schedule an individual appointment for one-on-one assistance.  Call 419-530-4479 or e-mail to set up an appointment.

The Writing Center – located in Carlson Library’s main concourse, the Writing Center tutors meet with students in order to generate ideas, organize notes and thoughts, and receive feedback on drafts or completed papers.  Make an appointment in person or by phone.

Citation Resources – Check out our citation LibGuide for help on correctly citing your sources in APA or MLA citation styles for your research papers.  Other resources include copies of a variety of style guides on Reserve at the Circulation Desk, or the great resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue.

Digital Archives of Newspapers

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If you are doing historical or sociological research, archived copies of newspapers can be great sources… and are even more convenient when they have been digitized!

A recent tool for finding digitized historical newspapers is NewspaperCat from the university of Florida.   You can search by newspaper name or location, or browse by geographic location (States, Cities, etc.).  The record will link you to the digital archive, whether it is from a local library’s digital copy or from other sources such as Google News.  Use these links to search the actual content of the newspapers.

The University Libraries also subscribe to other historical newspapers that are not included in NewspaperCat because they are not freely available on the Web.   We have the New York Times from 1851-2003 (current articles available in LexisNexis Academic), and the Wall Street Journal from 1889-1993 (current articles available in Factiva).

More information about finding first-hand accounts (primary sources) is available.

QR Codes in the Libraries

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The University Libraries are starting to use QR (Quick Response) codes in the library to allow you to connect to more information while you are in our libraries.  QR codes are special two-dimensional ‘bar codes’ that will allow users with Internet-enabled phones, tablets, etc. to easily connect to a website, add a phone number to a contact list, download a music file, etc.  You must download a QR reader app for your device and then you can scan the code to be taken to the Internet content.

http://libraryexhibits.utad.utoledo.edu/PGVX/pages_cases/cases_all.html

QR Code for display cases

The QR code on this page, for example, will take you to more information about the objects in the display cases on the first floor of Carlson Library that display glass and masks donated by Dorothy Price and Peggy Grant.  This code is also posted on signs near the display cases, so if you are in the library and want to know more about the collection, it’s only a click away!

 

The library is planning to develop more uses for QR codes in the near future.  They may be placed near our bound journal volumes to direct you to electronic journals, or in our book shelves to connect you with subject guides or databases on the same topic.  We will be using them in virtual tours of the libraries.  If you think of other uses, please let us know in the comments!

New Database: Scopus

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The University of Toledo students, faculty, and staff now have access to a new database for scholarly literature (especially in the sciences).  Scopus is a databases of peer-reviewed journal articles  and conference papers from approximately 18,000 international publications, as well as additional content from patent records and scientific websites.

Additionally, Scopus has the capability of performing cited reference searching so that you can see which articles cite a particular article or author in their bibliographies.  Cited reference searching is a great way to expand your search and find new articles that did not come up from searching by keywords.  Scopus can therefore be a complementary database to Web of Science, which has the same capability.

Additional information about Scopus is available in the Scopus User Guide.

Researcher authors can use Scopus to track the impact of their own research in publications since 1996.  Authors can see who else is using their published articles in their research using Scopus’ citation analysis and visualization tools.  See our Citation Analysis LibGuide for more about this type of searching.

Scopus is provided to UT as part of OhioLINK for the next three years, and the database purchase will be re-evaluated in 2013.

Millions more articles available through ScienceDirect

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UT students and researchers will now have access to more than 3.4 million additional articles from Elsevier’s ScienceDirect database, a highly regarded publisher in the fields of science and engineering.  The journal titles available include The Lancet, Thin Solid Films, The Journal of Operations Management, and 2,700 more.

Though we’ve had access to Elsevier journals previously in the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center (EJC), this additional collection includes historic backfiles, with articles from 1995 back until the start of each journal.  The new articles are currently available on the ScienceDirect website, and the content will be added to the EJC in the coming year.  Look for the green key or green page icons to see what you have access to on the ScienceDirect site.

The addition of these files was made possible by funds from both the Ohio Board of Regents and contributions from all OhioLINK member institutions, including University of Toledo Libraries.

In Focus: SPIE Digital Library

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Go to SPIE Digital LibraryThe University of Toledo has access to the SPIE Digital Library, an interdisciplinary science database useful to many fields at UT that deal with light or optics in any configuration.  At this time, access is available for on-campus use only.  Update 3/28/2011: Off-campus access now available.

The Digital Library includes:

  • Over 275,000 articles from 1990 to the present
  • 6,000 volumes of SPIE Proceedings
  • The following SPIE Journals:
  • Journal of Applied Remote Sensing
  • Journal of Biomedical Optics
  • Journal of Electronic Imaging
  • Journal of Micro/Nanolithography, MEMS, and MOEMS (JM3)
  • Journal of Nanophotonics
  • Optical Engineering
  • SPIE Reviews (open access)
  • SPIE Letters Virtual Journal (open access)
  • Journal of Photonics for Energy (open access) 

For more information about the SPIE Digital Library, see this Quick Start Guide.

About SPIE

SPIE is a not-for-profit international optics and photonics scholarly society advancing light-based research.  SPIE acts as a catalyst for collaboration among technical disciplines for information exchange, continuing education, publishing opportunities, patent precedent, and career and professional growth.  SPIE focuses on:

  • Astronomy
  • Biomedical Optics
  • Communications
  • Defense and Security
  • Imaging
  • Lighting and Energy
  • Micro/Nanophotonics
  • Sensor Technologies

We intend to feature other electronic resources like this occasionally to alert our students, faculty, and researchers to what is available from your University Libraries.

New Year, New Collection on Chinese Culture!

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Happy Chinese New Year!  As we welcome the new year and good fortune into our lives, Carlson Library is welcoming a new collection donated by UT’s Confucius Institute.  We invite the UT family to check out these new books and videos on Chinese culture, including philosophy, history, literature, art, and much more.  Some books are in English, some in Chinese, and some in both languages!  These resources can be browsed on Carlson Library’s second floor or by searching the catalog using Confucius Institute Collection as a title.  Take home Confucius: A Philosopher for the Ages, Chinese 101 in Cartoons, Chinese Arts & Crafts, Journey to the West, or one of over 100 unique titles.  We have multiple copies of many of these titles, with over 800 items in the collection.

Health Science Campus Artists Showcase

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From January 20th until February 21st, the Mulford Library will be hosting an art show displaying the work of UT health sciences students, staff, faculty, and health professionals.

A reception celebrating the artists will be held on Friday, Jan. 28 at Mulford from 4pm-6pm.  The featured speaker will be Dr. Donna Woodson.  Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Jodi Jameson at 419-383-5152 or jodi.jameson@utoledo.edu.  Check out the art show website at http://libguides.utoledo.edu/hscart.

Heart of Lily - Larry Low

Heart of Lily - Larry Low

Using EndNote: Faculty/Staff Workshop

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Faculty & staff are invited to join us for the last of our Connection Sessions this semester: Using EndNote.   This 30 minute session will show you how to save yourself time and frustration by formatting your manuscripts with EndNote, a bibliographic management software program available to you as a free download via myUT. The session will be taught by faculty in the College of University Libraries and Academic Support.  Feel free to bring your lunch or a snack!

Using EndNote:

  • Wednesday, December 1, 2010– Carlson Library, room 1027, 12-12:30 p.m.
  • Thursday, December 2, 2010– Mulford Library, room 520, 12-12:30 p.m.

No reservation necessary, just stop in!

Wholly Toledo: The Business & Industry that Shaped the City

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You are invited to join us for the opening of the exhibit, “Wholly Toledo: The Business & Industry that Shaped the City” on Wednesday, November 17th at 2 p.m.  The exhibit will be displayed in the Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections on the fifth floor of Carlson Library.

Our opening lecturer will be given by Stuart W. Leslie, Professor of History of Science & Technology at Johns Hopkins University, and a reception will immediately follow the lecture.  We hope that you can join us!

Please respond by November 10 to 419-530-2200 or specialevents@utoledo.edu. Parking is available in Lot 13 and the West Parking Ramp.

This program was made possible in part through the support of the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.