Research Blog : databases, Online resources

Expanded coverage in Literary Reference Center

googler@evpl — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:37:00 GMT

We recently expanded our online literary resources when EBSCO upgraded Literary Reference Center to Literary Reference Center Plus. This new database offers additional reference works, literary journals, new contemporary literature titles, full-text literary study guides, audio content, and videos. This additional content, blended with the specialized and easy-to-use, browsable interface, creates an authoritative literary tool for users.

Literary Reference Center Plus includes all of the content currently in Literary Reference Center as well as more than 1,100 full-text literary reference books and works focusing on plays, drama, poetry, and religious, children’s and Hispanic literature. LRC Plus also presents a focus on multicultural studies, folklore, mythology, Latin American literature and historical literature by offering more than 125 literary magazines and journals in these areas. Thirty-five extensive
volumes of new reference content on contemporary literature from Salem Press also contribute to this new resource relating to fantasy/science fiction, contemporary literature, world philosophy, and biographies of Nobel Literature Prize winners.

Users of Literary Reference Center Plus will also have access to 40 full-text literary study guides to help explore novels and plays in American and English literature and to better understand the characteristics of different forms of literature. The database also contains 74 literary videos pertaining to classic literary works and authors.

Like other browsable/GUI databases in the EBSCO family, this interface uses tabs. Your result list defaults to "all results," but note the tab for "literary criticism," which is what many students will be after. (I'm a little disappointed that although media has been added to the database, there isn't a tab for audio/video. Use advanced search to limit to "multimedia/study guides.") Also, keep an eye on the "full text" notation of your results. As with other EBSCO databaes, some results are available in full-text in the database, but some are citation/abstract only -- these may or may not be in EVPL's collection (but if not, they can be requested via interlibrary loan).

The databases can be accessed by cardholders via our database page, in the "Literature" category. As always, please call your branch library or Central Library Reference (428-8218) if you have any questions about using this or any database.

Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Engines

wag.mado@evpl — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:18:00 GMT

Central Library’s Lobby Display starting next week will be featuring circulating materials about car racing and automobiles. With the Indianapolis 500 being this weekend, and NASCAR racing in full swing, it seems a good time to pull those items off the shelf.

If you like fiction, we have plenty of books and movies about the world of automobile racing.

There are biographies about race car drivers too.

We not only have car racing resources, but also materials regarding the history of automobiles, customizing, and maintenance/repair manuals on almost every make and model for the past 20+ years. If you cannot find the right manual, you can access our Auto Repair Reference Center database from your home computer and search for repair/maintenance instructions and diagrams for your specific auto.

Maybe you're not in “love” with your car like most Americans, but just want to know how to be a more responsible owner. In that case, we have books with information on saving gas, living greener, cutting back on the use of your car, and much more.

Visit your favorite library branch to take a look - and don't forget to buckle up!

Explore Issues of Global Importance with New Database

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:56:00 GMT

Need up-to-the-minute information on child labor? Want to have an idea about current world opinion regarding the US military's use of torture? Are you concerned about nuclear weapons in failed states falling into the hands of international terrorist organizations? Are you confused by the proliferation of different and conflicting information about global climate change and sea-level rise?

Information on all of these issues and much more is available through a new database called Global Issues in Context. Available through the EVPL database page, this resource offers global news and perspectives on issues and events of international importance, like the ones outlined above, and provides background information on them, placing them in the proper sociopolitical, religious, and cultural context.

Searching Global Issues in Context can take place in a variety of ways, starting with simple keyword searching in a single search box. There is also a clickable world map, where choosing a particular country then links to issue portals where that country is mentioned.

Global Issues in Context has a great deal of multimedia components, including extensive audio and video clips from such places as NPR, PBS, CBC, and NBC news; interactive maps, and links to world newspapers.

TEACHERS AND EDUCATORS: Global Issues in Context's conten is aligned to state and national social studies and science standards and is up to date. Thus it can be used across the curriculum. It also encourages and develops critical-thinking skills by providing students a variety of pertinent global perspectives on the issues.

Check out this resource; it will broaden and deepen your understanding of current events and issues affecting countries and people around the world.

Two New Databases Emphasize U.S. & World History

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:47:00 GMT

History buffs now have two new resources at their disposal 24 hours a day through the databases page at the EVPL web site. The History Resource Center: World and History Resource Center: U.S. are easy to navigate, rich resources.

History Resource Center: U.S. was named a "Best Reference" by the New York Public Library, and provides a easily searchable interface to a unique combination of primary and secondary sources. The most extensive online collection of historical information available today, History Research Center U.S. delivers:

- comprehensive coverage of the most-studied topics in U.S. history, including the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, and the post-Cold War era
- a "roll-over" chronology that features a graphical, annotated timeline of significant events spanning pre-Columbian prehistory to today's headlines
- more than 5,000 primary source documents, including more than 9,000 commentaries
- over 350,000 periodical articles
- over 130 reference books
- thousands of downloadable images, maps, charts, and flags

Whether you're a student in high school, college, or a life-long learner, History Resource Center: U.S. delivers unmatched pinpoint results and reliable sources, allowing you to establish the context within the content.

History Resource Center: World was named a "Best Reference" by Library Journal, and offers students and researchers access to more than 5,000 years of world history, including 15,000 pages of primary source material, more than 50 encyclopedias and compendiums, more than 150 academic journals, more than 1,600 maps, atlases and other images, hours of video content, and daily podcasts from NPR, CBC, and other reputable sources, and annotated Web links to history-specific academic and news information sites.

Featuring extensive coverage of the 20th century, this resources also features coverage of teh Ancient Mediterranean, Ancient Near East and Asia as well as the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the modern Middle East and Latin America. Other highlights:

- Asian history recounts the events from Bronze Age China to modern India
- African, Indian, and Latin American history includes the end of colonization in Africa and India as well as the social and political movements in Latin America
- the same kind of "roll-over" timeline as the one featured in History Resource Center: U.S.

Both of these resources feature a very simple search tool, which allows you to search either one - or both - resource centers with one search by clicking the appropriate radio button. An example of the search box can be seen below. You can also search by a person or by a subject, and there is an advanced search option that allows you to limit by document type, historical date ranges, date of publication of the resource, and to use Boolean operators.

New Database Brings the World to your Desktop

Bufkinite@evpl — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:26:00 GMT

A new database called Global Road Warrior brings you comprehensive information on 175 countries around the world. And when I say "comprehensive" that is exactly what I mean. There is information in over 100 specific areas for each country listed.

There is basic information like geography (including flags and maps for each country), govenment, and climate; information about the society and culture, like standard greetings and courtesies, food peculiar to the area (including recipes), holidays, religions, and sports; information about how business is conducted, with special attention given to women in business; information about the currency used there, including a currency converter; and infrastructure information including electricity, telephones, Internet connectivity and ISPs, telegram, fax, and postal services.

In addition, there is a "security briefing" for every country taken directly from the CIA's World Factbook, health and medical information, and contact information - addresses, email, and telephone numbers - for all foreign embassies and consulates within each country.

Below left is a screen shot of the home page for Mongolia. The menu on the left is standard for each country, and includes the information outlined above and much more. Below right is a close-up of the standard menu, with an example of the sub-menu choices for "Society and Culture," to give you an idea of the richness of this resource.

Teachers will especially enjoy global road warrior! The maps listed for each country include a simple outline map as well as an outline map that includes outlines of states & provinces. There is also a list of "essential terms" for each country: how to say "hello," "goodbye," "yes," "no," and the other essential words and phrases you'll need to get around.

The search interface is very easy to use, and allows you to search within a particular country, or search for a particular term across all countries. Try it today and see what you think about EVPL's newest database offering.

New support for your charitable cause

banksoftheohio@evpl — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:37:00 GMT

SO... you have a great idea for making Evansville a better place to live but no clue of how to get a grassroots effort started...

The Foundation Center now offers free training webinars for nonprofit organizations through its website, http://foundationcenter.org. Click on a topic that interests you to learn more about the course and to see the scheduled instruction times. Some of these sessions are being offered in Spanish, which should be of interest to our growing Spanish speaking community. The webinars will change periodically, so check back occasionally. If a group is interested in a participating in one of these webinars in the Central Library Tech Center, let's talk about it at AskEVPL.

When you're ready to begin looking for project funding, come to Central Library to log into the Foundation Directory Online. You'll have access to searchable information on over 92,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities, including those that are located right here in the Tri-State area. Because EVPL is a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection, use of this database won't cost a thing.

Browning Genealogy Database now available on VINE

seeker@evpl — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:56:00 GMT

Digital records from EVPL's Browning Genealogy Database can now be seen in the State Library's VINE database (http://vine.in.gov). Vital Information Exchange, (VINE), is a collaborative state wide database that searches databases on Indiana local history and vital records from Indiana libraries, historical societies, genealogy societies, etc. Right now, it only searches names, but eventually it will be searchable by county or event. Mike Abaray tells me that we are sending copies of our new entries in the Local History Database to them, so these will eventually be available as well.

To see how it works, go to the Indiana State Library site at http://www.in.gov/library and click on The VINE (Vital Information Exchange) under Online Services in the upper right corner.

Type in the last name Bosse and choose obituary as your record type from the list: anniversary, biography, birth, cemetery, census, church records, death, divorce, marriage, military, mortality, naturalization, obituaries, school/yearbooks.

There are 22 obituaries for the Bosse family all over the state. The first record from us is Benjamin H. Bosse, nephew of Mayor Bosse. Oddly enough, the address for the Browning Obituary Database appears under "Survivors" as a source for additional information, but the link is not live. EVPL's name, address and logo appear on the record, but not our link.

The Browning Genealogy Database is one of our most popular databases with genealogists from all over the US, but the exposure from VINE should increase our hits. I think VINE is a useful tool for genealogy searchers right now, and will be a good resource in the future for Indiana local history.

New Electronic Books available via the Databases site

Bufkinite@evpl — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:28:00 GMT

Twenty new electronic books have been added to the EVPL catalog that are available through the Credo Reference database. Some of the titles include:

Concise Encyclopedia of Sociolinguistics / edited by Rajend Mesthrie ; consulting editor, R.E. Asher
Encyclopedia of Urban Legends / Jan Harold Brunvand ; artwork by Randy Hickman
Guns in American Society: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, Culture, and the Law / edited by Gregg Lee Carter
Martial Arts of the World: an Encyclopedia / edited by Thomas A. Green
Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History / Don M. Coerver, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Robert M. Buffington
Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present / Nicholas J. Cull, David Culbert, David Welch
Public Opinion and Polling Around the World: A Historical Encyclopedia / John G. Geer, editor

Credo Reference is a database of fully searchable digital reference books, where search results are relevancy-ranked and displayed alongside related entries from other works in their collection. Search results include images and audio and can optionally be displayed as a concept map. Credo Reference is available on the Databases page of our Research tab.