While working on a research guide for the 2015-2016 freshman text (Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves), I discovered that OneSearch does a much better job of finding book reviews than the database that is supposedly specialized for this task: Book Review Digest Plus. OneSearch found the same 8 reviews that Book Review Digest has but also located dozens more, including one from a scholarly journal. From now on, OneSearch is going to be my starting point for locating book reviews.
Writing Center at Reference Desk Is Closed Today
The Writing Center outpost at the reference desk is closed today. A sign on the desk indicates that the ref desk location of the Writing Center will be open tomorrow (Tuesday).
LexisNexis Is Very Eager for Our Feedback on the “New” Platform
Yesterday, Harry and I met briefly with the LexisNexis rep who got us set up on the beta version of the new platform. The rep was very eager to have us give him feedback on the platform, which is really the corporate version of “Nexis.” There are some notable things to be aware of with this platform:
- The platform is branded “Nexis.” It’s not clear if that is what the company will go with in the. If we feel that the name should remain “LexisNexis Academic” or at least “LexisNexis,” this is our moment to let the company know.
- There is some content and features on that are only temporarily there: the public records content and the “my documents” feature. These aren’t intended to be a part of the final version of this platform.
Please email me or Mike Waldman with any feedback you have (or post comments here).
OneSearch Problem Is Now Fixed
The problem with OneSearch reported earlier today has been fixed.
Beta Testing the Forthcoming LexisNexis Academic Platform
LexisNexis is asking us for feedback on the new platform that we’ll be moving to later this year. I’ve added a second LexisNexis Academic link to the A-Z databases page. The link to the beta version is clearly labeled as such:
There is also a link to this beta version on the Trials tab of the databases page.
I’m planning to send news of this beta version to the journalism department faculty for feedback. Any comments I get will get passed on to LexisNexis. Feel free to forward your comments or comments you’ve gotten from faculty you work with to Mike Waldman or me.
Problem with OneSearch on Library Home Page
UPDATE 13 May 2015 5:00 pm: This problem is now fixed.
If you run a search in OneSearch using the yellow search bar on the library website, you’ll get an error on the search results page that says “An unexpected error has occured” and looks like this:
If you re-run the search within the OneSearch interface, it’ll be fine. The CUNY Office of Library Service is looking into this problem with search widgets embedded in library web pages.
Open Access (OA) Research Guide
I’ve put together a new research guide on Open Access resources. It is located under the Information Studies subject link on the LibGuide homepage. It includes general OA information, OA resources by discipline, and a number of Open Education Resources. Please let me know about any open access resources that I may have failed to include or may not be aware. Hopefully, the guide will grow to include a large number of open resources. You can access the guide here: http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/openaccess
New Database: IEEE Xplore
Thanks to a central purchase from CUNY OLS, we now have access to IEEE Xplore. Here’s how they describe this database:
The IEEE Xplore digital library is a powerful resource for discovery and access to scientific and technical content published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and its publishing partners.
IEEE Xplore provides Web access to more than 3-million full-text documents from some of the world’s most highly cited publications in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics.
The content in IEEE Xplore comprises over 160 journals, over 1,200 conference proceedings, more than 3,800 technical standards, over 1,000 eBooks and over 300 educational courses. Approximately 25,000 new documents are added to IEEE Xplore each month.
Links to it have been added to the main A-Z databases page and to the following database-by-subject lists:
Reference Services Schedule For The Week Of June 8, 2015
This schedule is now confirmed and posted to the Reference Desk LibGuide.
New Database: S&P Capital IQ
There is now a link on the library databases page for S&P Capital IQ. If you click the link, it takes you to a special page that details access, which is limited to Baruch faculty and students as follows:
- available on selected computers (12 total) on the 2nd floor to the left of the staircase (the side of the library by the elevators and self-checkout machine)
- available in the Subotnick Financial Services Center
- available to Baruch faculty and Baruch doctoral students on their personal computers (instructions we can give them about how to do this can be found in the Library Services Wiki)
Please look for a blog post here in the near future that talks about what content and functionality are unique to S&P Capital IQ.