Talking in the Library

New looks for old friends

Some of your favorite databases are getting great new looks this summer! We think you'll like the changes, both cosmetic and functional. All databases currently on the ProQuest platform, and some other databases moving to the platform, will receive the new interface over the course of Monday and Tuesday, June 25 & 26. Here's a complete list of all affected databases, and URLs to try out the new look.

The ProQuest database package includes some of the most popular research databases at K-State, including the ProQuest Research Library, AGRICOLA, ERIC, and the MLA International Bibliography.  The new interface will allow you to search all ProQuest databases at once, or individually.

Further, you'll be able to select specific resource types, some of which you probably didn't know existed (hello, ephemeral works) and document types (useful when you need something specialized, like business plans or recipes or reviews). 

Finally, you'll be able to cover that all-important instructor requirement for either scholarly resources or peer-reviewed sources with a handy checkbox. We think you're really going to like the new interface and functions.

What's the word from RefWorks?

While we've been moving one million volumes here in Hale Library, RefWorks, my favorite citation management system, has been housecleaning and renovating. And they still have a few projects in the pipeline.

Shifting away from GroupCodes. Remember how you needed to enter that code for RefWorks or Write-n-Cite if you were off-campus? Not for much longer! Instead, RefWorks is using our account information to match us to our universities.

As part of this change, some of us at K-State received an email this morning saying that an account's username had been changed to our email address. If you are like me, you may have had a tiny little stress attack because you have more than one account. It's ok, you still do! The accounts that get this message haven't been used in more than 18 months. When I read the email more closely, the original account name is provided, so I vaguely remembered which one they were talking about. You should still be able to log into your other active accounts as you always have.

Wondering just how many RefWorks accounts you have floating out there? On the RefWorks login page, you can click on "Forgot Your Login Information." Enter your email address and you will shortly receive an email that lists all of the RefWorks usernames and passwords associated with that account. Please note, if you have a shared account (like with other researchers on a team), you may not see that one listed if someone else's email was used to create it.

Write-N-Cite 4--Yes, version 4! For once, Mac has leap-frogged ahead of Windows with Write-N-Cite, so you can update your Write-N-Cite if you are a Mac user, but have to wait a few more weeks if you have a Windows machine. I have WNC4 on my Mac at home and already love it. Remember the funky placeholders? Gone. Now you see the formatted citation right away. It also handles footnotes much better. Also, WNC4 is now a toolbar (Mac) or ribbon (Windows) in Word and once you've connected, it stores your account information, including citations, in Word. You can log out if you want, like if you share yoru computer.

Unfortunately, WNC4 wasn't released until after the updates to the computer labs at the beginning of the semester. This means that if you are in the InfoCommons, you will still use WNCIII on the Windows machines and WNC v.2.5 on the Macs this spring semester.

RefWorks 2.0 -- if you haven't played with RefWorks in the past 12-18 months, the whole interface is sparkling new. And orange, very orange. Still you can see your folders and references faster and even create subfolders. Plus, clicking on a link to a reference doesn't take you away from your workspace, it just opens a smaller window. Learn more by watching this demo of RefWorks 2.0.

With all of these changes, we're working on a new RefWorks help center. It's not ready for primetime, yet. Hopefully we'll be able to make it live in the next few weeks.

Get It: old friend gets new look

The Get It menu's look is a little tired. After all, it hasn't changed a lot since 2008 - not quite Totally Dated but not yet Vintage. On Monday, you'll see a fix for that. A refreshed Get It menu will go into production on 10/31; you can get a sneak peek today. All the Get It services you rely on will be available in the refreshed menu.

To coordinate with the menu's new look, we're releasing a new Get It button:

While you'll start seeing the new button on Monday, for technical reasons it won't immediately replace the old button everywhere it lives. Consider it normal to see both versions of the button out in the wild for the next few weeks.

Preview the New Directory of Databases

Starting today, August 1, you can get a preview of the new directory of databases you'll start using when the Fall 2011 semester begins. Just look for the New Databases Directory link on the Libraries’ home page. You can also get to it by following this link.

Right away, you'll see some new features that make it easier to find the right databases for the research you’re doing. In the new directory, you can:

• Search for one or more databases by name or an important word.
• Use an improved list of subjects to see what we recommend for your area of study.
• Check out tags our librarians have created to help you find resources for grants, statistical data, and more. New tags are being added all the time.

Got an idea for a new tag, see something we missed, or just want to speak your mind about the new directory? Use the Submit Feedback or Contact Us links at the bottom of the new directory to let us know what you think.

Miss the classic directory of databases? It’s still available. For a few weeks you’ll be able to use the Databases link at the top of every Libraries web page to get to it. Once classes start you’ll need to go through the new directory to get to the classic version. The classic directory won’t stay around for forever but we’ll give you plenty of warning before it retires.

Researching Fun-Karts, hydraulic cement, or detection of deception? Get your favorite ASTM standard online now!

Whether you are searching in our catalog, or going directly to the ASTM Standards and Digital Engineering Database, you have access to the complete set of ASTM standards, as soon as they are in effect. According to Alice Trussell, our engineering librarian, "We have access to historic standards, journals, manuals, data series, symposia papers and selected technical papers."

I think a few people just changed what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving!

New Leisure Reading books

We have a big ol' bunch of books to keep you entertained as you start your studies this semester. The Leisure Reading collection is located on the east end of the 2nd floor of Hale Library. Books can be checked out for a month, and renewed once. 

Short Cuts: The MLA International Bibliography: Easy to Use and Expansive in Nature

The MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) is an excellent database. Although the MLAIB is most often identified with the study of literature, there are a wide variety of topics covered in the database. For instance, I recently did a simple search for “Kahlo, Frida” (a twentieth century Mexican painter) and pulled up 62 citations for a mix of books, articles, and dissertations. 

Although MLAIB does not include much full-text, it is easy to access the full text with the help of the GET IT button. By clicking on the GET IT button, you can search other databases for the full-text of the article, search the catalog for books (here in the library) that are cited in MLAIB, and/or we’ll try to get it for you, links you to the Interlibrary Services web site and lets you request items that we try to borrow for you from other libraries. (And, no, you don’t need to know what other libraries might have the article or book, just ask us and we’ll try to find it for you.)

To find the MLAIB, click on the Databases link on the Libraries’ homepage. Then, from the alphabetical menu, click on “M” and scroll down until you find the MLA International Bibliography.  Students will sometimes mistakenly select the MLA Directory of Periodicals, which is listed first. However, that database is only good for finding information about the journals indexed in the MLAIB. It is not possible to search topics in it. Instead, skip down one to MLAIB.

If your topic has cultural, literary, cinematic, and/or philosophical elements I recommend searching in the MLAIB.

~E. Pankl

Konnichiwa! Manhattan Public Library and Mango help you learn languages

It's no secret that I'm a big fan-girl of Manhattan Public Library. So I hold no grudge that they didn't have the language database, Mango, until after I returned from my winter break trip to Japan. If they had subscribed to it earlier, I'm sure I wouldn't have greeted staff at my hotel with "Ohayoo" ("Good morning") at 10:00 p.m.

Fortunately for your classes and future travel plans, Manhattan Public Library has Mango now. All you need to access it is a) the Internet and b) a Manhattan Public Library card. Getting a card is crazy easy. Just go to the library (located on the corner of Poyntz and Juliette downtown) with a photo id and something with your name and current street address on it, such as a bill, your driver's license, or postmarked mail. Then you can access many of their databases like you access our databases.

Mango offers basic language instruction for 22 languages (including Korean, Pashto, and Hindi), and complete courses for 6 languages (including Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Russian.) You can even create an account that tracks your progression so you don't have to start at the beginning every time you log in. Oh, and be sure your computer has speakers or you have headphones. Ganbatte!

RefWorks unavailable on January 2, 2010

Due to maintenance, RefWorks will be unavailable on January 2, 2010. They are updating their servers and getting a new IP address (that means something to somebody, I'm sure).

Right now, we're anticipating that this will go smoothly. 

However, if you'd rather be safe than sorry, you may wish to backup your RefWorks account. Here's a tutorial showing you how to do so.

Please let us know if you have problems connecting to RefWorks after the 2nd--if you don't tell us, it's likely we won't know it needs fixing. Ask a Librarian will be the best way to let us know as Sara K. Kearns, K-State's RefWorks Guru, will be out of the office (the folks at RefWorks did not clear this with her schedule.)

Remember, if you have any questions about using RefWorks, a good starting point for answers is our RefWorks Help Center.

Due to maintenance, RefWorks will be unavailable on January 2, 2010. They are updating their servers and getting a new IP address (that means something to somebody, I'm sure).

Right now, we're anticipating that this will go smoothly. 

However, if you'd rather be safe than sorry, you may wish to backup your RefWorks account. Here's a tutorial showing you how to do so.

Please let us know if you have problems connecting to RefWorks after the 2nd--if you don't tell us, it's likely we won't know it needs fixing. Ask a Librarian will be the best way to let us know as Sara K. Kearns, K-State's RefWorks Guru, will be out of the office (the folks at RefWorks did not clear this with her schedule.)

Remember, if you have any questions about using RefWorks, a good starting point for answers is our RefWorks Help Center.

Mind the Gap: What is a primary source?

Primary sources are lovely. Tim Watts, our history librarian, defines primary sources as, "Anything that has been created by a person who witnessed or experienced an event as a contemporary would be a primary source. Examples of primary sources would include letters, diaries, autobiographies, and contemporary documents such as newspaper articles, government documents, and oral histories."

My most engrossing experiences in library school involved days when I delved into the primary source documents of the Japanese-American internment and resettlement files in the National Archives. I read testimony of people who had been interned, studied photographs, and read government edicts like Executive Order 9066, the order that directed the internment of Americans of Japanese heritage.

Unfortunately, as Mary W. George discusses in her blog post: FUNQs: Won't Ask, Won't Tell, there may not be enough conversation between faculty and students about what constitutes a primary source, or how to locate them. And if students are unclear about what a primary source is, the odds of them finding these sources drop to well, just about nil.

Since K-State Libraries is rockin', we have many, many, many primary sources. For those related to K-State, you can check out our University Archives. Students in many classes across campus have already, including Dr. Bonnie Lynn-Sherow's senior history research seminar. You may also uncover primary sources in our Rare Books collections, like the swatch books in the Historic Costume and Textile Collection.

Our microforms collection houses documents like the Papers of Frederick Douglass, the Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Notes,1881-1975, and Albert Einstein's Collected Writings, 1901-1956. 

We've also been adding digitized primary source materials online, through our databases. They're easy to find, just go to the Libraries home page, click on Databases, and then choose "Primary Source" as your subject. 

My current favorite? Well, it's a tie. I'm having fun with the Historical New York Times, especially after working with a patron who recently rediscovered his wife's engagement photo from the 1960s!  But American History in Video has cool features like the ability to watch films like Ken Burn's The Civil War and then to make clips from the video to use in classes, like this one that always gives me chills, the letter from Sullivan Ballou to his wife, Sarah. (Please note, the link will only work for K-Staters.)

If you are introducing primary sources to a class, but aren't sure what resources we have available, please ask your librarian.  Students, if you're searching for primary sources, we're here for you, too! Don't waste fruitless hours, Ask a Librarian! ask your librarian, ask your professor.

Photo Credit: Two Children of the Mochida Family, with Their Parents, Awaiting Evacuation Bus, Dorothea Lange.http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/ / CC BY 2.0