July 2010 Archives

************************ UPDATE 8-25-10The SciFinder Scholar desktop client software will be available until June 30, 2011. We now have 20 SciFinder Scholar seats available to us. Those seats are split between the client (13) and web versions (7) for now. Highlighted changes for the SciFinder web version:

• Find articles using DOIs with Document Identifier
• Sort substance answer sets by MW or MF.
• Set preferences to automatically get rid of MEDLINE results.
• Search Markush structures, generic hypotheticals found in patents, with Explore Substances. It is limited to compounds only found in patents and not well-characterized enough to be included in the Registry.

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SciFInder users: Access to SciFinder via the desktop client software will be phased out around the end of this year and only web access will be available. I will let you know when we have a firm date from CAS when this goes into effect.

• Use SciFinder now
• Contact me to learn what this database can do

Also, a new site.prf file will be distributed for off-campus access to the client software for security reasons related to recent unauthorized access to U of M user accounts. Within the next couple of days, when you open SciFinder off campus, you will see a message (http://sciweb.lib.umn.edu/chem/SFSCredentialsMsg.jpg) with instructions on getting the new file. An automated system issues the new file, and you should receive it immediately after emailing the address in the message.

Here are the latest Geology books in Walter Library. You can view the entire list on our New Books Website.

The University of Minnesota Libraries are in the process of a website redesign project and would like to share a sneak peek with you.

Review the beta site here: www.lib.umn.edu/redesign

To provide feedback, please complete our brief survey before Monday, August 2.

Please note our beta site is still under active development, so you may encounter broken links or other similar issues with the content. Thank you in advance for your help, which will inform our work to launch the site in mid-August.

There is now a "easy" button that makes the article or paid resource you want to read on the web...act as if you went through the library web site. (if we purchased it). This will work the same as if you went though the library web site to access it.

Just drag the bookmarklet below to your browser toolbar. When you're on a publisher's webpage, click the UMN Access button. The code will update links on the page to use the University Libraries's proxy and you'll be able to download full text just as if you were on campus, 

UMN Access

The idea and code for this bookmarklet came from Daniel Feldman, a graduate student in Software Engineering. Thanks, Daniel! And Thanks Jan, our Engineering Librarian for discovering!

The Journal of Micropalaeontology (JM) is now available on the Geological Society of London's Lyell Collection: http://jm.lyellcollection.org. 

From GeolSoc press release: Published since 1982, the Journal of Micropalaeontology is a well-established international publication covering all aspects of microfossils and their use in both applied studies and basic research. Owned by The Micropalaeontological Society and published by the Geological Society of London, the scope of the journal is broad, demonstrating the application of microfossils to solving geological problems, with an emphasis on taxonomy.

 

Library Course Pages (LCPs) are dynamically created for each course at the UMN-TC campus and bring together resources tailored to specific subjects. Content is selected and organized by librarians linking students to popular resources useful in their course discipline. Plus, in collaboration with faculty and instructors, your librarian can create a custom list of resources for an individual class assignment: such as video tutorials, ethical guidelines, and hard to find library tools that you won't find using Google. LCPs are meant to work as a hub for library resources and can be linked to other online course technologies such as websites, Moodle, WebVista or class blogs or accessed from the Libraries' Website (www.lib.umn.edu).

Getting Started is Easy!
1.    Find the Page for your course at http://www.lib.umn.edu/course
2.    Link to the page in your syllabus or class websites such as Moodle/Web Vista
3.    Customize the Page (optional) :

1.    Ask your librarian (http://www.lib.umn.edu/about/selectors) to add custom library resources to your page. Send your class syllabus to your Librarian.

2.    Put books and articles on reserve so they automatically appear in the Library Course Page (Directions are on the "reserves" tab)

Library Course Pages give students easy access to:
•    Library Research tools such as article databases in your discipline.
•    Reserve readings your instructor has put online or on Reserve in one of the campus libraries.
•    Chat with a Librarian with Ask Us!
•    Contact information for your subject librarian.
•    Tips and techniques for library and academic research.

Learn more about the new pages by visiting http://www.lib.umn.edu/course/about.php.  If you have questions or would like to learn more about customizing a page or putting resources on reserve, please feel free to be in touch.