Three new databases available

Through St. Josephs participation in the MARVEL consortia of libraries, three new databases are abailable for your use. Go to the MARVEL link under databases titles and try out these possibilities:

1. World Data Analyst offers detailed statistical comparisons of countries around the world, using both the most recent statistics and historical figures. One create tables, charts, export the information to a spreadsheet for printing and data crunching, and also link to country articles in Encyclopedia Britannica.

2. Enciclopedia Universal en Español Online : Enciclopedia Universal en  Español contains over 47,000 articles, 8,300 photos and images, as well as over 390 maps and  500 tables, making it the most detailed and comprehensive online encyclopedia in the  Spanish language. Enciclopedia Universal en Español is perfect for native Spanish speakers,  bi-lingual students and students learning Spanish. Enciclopedia Juvenil, linked from the  page for the Enciclopedia Universal en Español, includes a Spanish elementary encyclopedia,  images, Spanish-language videos, and Spanish learning materials…3. Merriam-Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Includes definitions for  over 470,000 words and 140,000 word etymologies.Search options allow users to search for definitions, spellings, rhymes, rhymes, homophones, and authors quoted. 

 

Welcome to Wellehan Words!

Welcome to the sequel to “Illuminating the Saint Joseph’s Research Manuscript.”  

The goal of this blog remains the same–” The Wellehan Library at Saint Joseph’s provides research access to a plethora of resources to assist the campus community in their intellectual endeavors.”  This blog will provide timely information on new (and old) materials and activities available here.

U.S. Reading habits

CNN.com, 8/22/07, has posted an article entitled “Where do you fall in poll of U.S. reading habits? ”       

 Story Highlights        One in four Americans read no books last year     More women are avid readers than men       Southerners read more than rest of country

       Democrats, liberals read slightly more books than GOP, conservatives

A document from the NEA issued in 2002, “Reading at risk,” is cited– http://www.nea.gov/pub/ReadingAtRisk.pdf

  

Film Literature Index

Who knows for how long, but at the moment there is free access to the Film Literature Index (FLI) online for the years 1976-2001.  The FLI Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.

Go to: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp

Click on search or advanced search and enter your terms. This is NOT full-text. Once a citation is found, you will need to check Minerva, the online catalog, to determine if Wellehan has the book reviewed or journal; or, check E-Journals, to see if the full-text of a journal is available. If neither of those proves successful, request the article via Interlibrary loan using the link on the  library homepage.

The library has received the bound volumes of the earlier years of Flim Literature Index for searching as well. There is a handout available to help those seeking film reviews in general. Send an email (snorman@sjcme) and you will be sent the information.

Library History Time-line

Ever wonder where and when the first library came to be? What are the roles libraries have played over time and what changes has technology wrought?

Check out the time-line below:

http://www.acadia.org/competition-98/sites/integrus.com/html/library/time.html

Bridge Safety Information sites

After the bridge collapse in Minnesota last week, there have been several web sites announced for additional bridge information: 

Condition of U.S. Highway Bridges: http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation)statistics/html/table_01_27.html

Condition of U.S. Highway Bridges, 1905-2005: http://www.bts.goc/publications/transportation_statistics_annual_report/2006/html/chapter_02/table_1_09.html_

2006  Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges, and transit:

 http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2006cpr/index.htm

Pedagogical Journals in the disciplines

  The Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Research and Scholarship Committee has published and updated list of pedagogical journals outside the field of Library Science…provides here a selected list of pedagogical journals from non-library academic fields that focus on instructional strategies within higher education disciplines, organized by broad category. Criteria for inclusion of journals in this list are:

English-language

peer-reviewed

higher-education focused

pedagogically focused

published in the United States

This list will be updated every three years (next update 2010)…”

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/is/iscommittees/webpages/research/pedagogicaljournals.cfm

Higher Education: General

Academic Exchange Quarterly
College Teaching
Journal on Excellence in College Teaching
Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
The Journal of Student Centered Learning
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Arts and Humanities

College Composition & Communication
Communication Education
Computers and Composition
Journal of Teaching Writing
Journalism and Mass Communication Educator
Kairos
Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Culture and Composition
Teaching Philosophy

Sciences and Mathematics

American Biology Teacher
American Journal of Health Education
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education
Chemical Engineering Education
College Mathematics Journal
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education
Journal of Agricultural Education
Journal of Chemical Education
Journal of College Science Teaching
Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching (JCMST)
Journal of Engineering Education
Journal of Environmental Education
Journal of Geoscience Education
Journal of Nursing Education
Journal of Statistics Education
Mathematics and Computer Education
NACTA (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture) Journal
The Physics Teacher

Social Sciences

The History Teacher
Journal of Accounting Education
Journal of Economic Education
Journal of Education for Business
Journal of Geography in Higher Education
Journal of Management Education
Journal of Marketing Education
Journal of Social Work Education
Journal of Teaching in Physical Education
Journal of Teaching in Social Work
Teaching of Psychology
Teaching Sociology

European Library website now available!

[ http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/index.html ]

What is The European Library? The European Library is a non-commercial organisation. It provides the services of a physical library and the opportunity to benefit from a virtual environment in 20 languages.

This website allows to search through the resources of 30 of the 47 national libraries involved in The European Library. Resources can be both digital or bibliographical (books, posters, maps, sound recordings, videos, etc.).

Currently The European Library gives access to 150 million entries across Europe. The amount of referenced digital collections is constantly increasing. Quality and reliability are guaranteed by the 47 collaborating national libraries of Europe.

Webliographies in the Classroom

Many faculty assign annotated bibliographies to students, requiring the students do the research, analysis,  and synthesis, but not the actual writing. A varaiation on this assignmentincorporating the Internet and using all the critical thinking skills a student can muster is called a “webliography.”

 Here is a URL for a site providing a definition and guidelines:

http://www.spot.pcc.edu/it/ff/webliography_guidelines.htm

and another URL that provides a sample assignment and description:

http://factoryschool.org/handbook/research/ann_web.html

Here is another example for VCU, Virginia Commonwealth University:

 http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG-ejc/fall65200/stylesheet.htm

Our students are “digital natives,” meaning they have grown up with the technology while we are “digital immigrants,” learning to accept and adopt the technology into our lives.

An assignment, integrating the traditional annotated bibliography assignment with the technology, will allow the students to “wow” us with their technological skills and learn about the value of annotations (and the difficulty in writing them) as well.

Encyclopedia of Life

The Home page for this new electronic effort states “Imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Eart available everywhere…”

 Check out: http://www.eol.org

“…Comprehensive, collaborative, ever-growing, and personalized, the Encyclopedia of Life is an ecosystem of websites that makes all key information about life on Earth accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our goal is to create a constantly evolving encyclopedia that lives on the Internet, with contributions from scientists and amateurs alike. To transform the science of biology, and inspire a new generation of scientists, by aggregating all known data about every living species. And ultimately, to increase our collective understanding of life on Earth, and safeguard the richest possible spectrum of biodiversity.

Ultimately, the Encyclopedia will serve as an online reference source and database for every one of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described. Encyclopedia of Life will be used as both a teaching and a learning tool, helping scientists, educators, students, and the community at large gain a better understanding of this planet and all who inhabit it…”