Posts by: libraryhacks

We’ve started a new category on Library Hacks where we’ll highlight the innovative and creative ways Duke faculty are using library resources and librarian expertise in the classroom. We will continue to add new case studies to this section on a regular basis to highlight each project.

Case Study:

Assignment #1: Obesity and Health. Dr. [...]

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Sourced from The National Archives, Kew – the UK government’s official archive, Foreign Office Files for China, 1949-1980 provides primary source materials in English language for researchers at all levels.

Published in three sections covering the periods 1949-1956; 1957-1966; and 1967-1980; this database addresses a crucial period in Chinese history, from the foundation of the [...]

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National index to Chinese newspapers and periodicals, 1833-1949 全国报刊索引 is an  index database is from Shanghai library and covers about 18,000 Chinese newspapers and periodicals published  1833-1949. There are approximately 400,000 entries in NICNP (1833-1910) and [...]

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iPad in the Library

On April 16, 2010 By

Courtesy of the CIT blog, here is an article from the Duke Chronicle on the future of the Apple iPad at Duke University and its libraries:

http://dukechronicle.com/article/duke-taps-ipad-fall-2010

Written by Zeke Graves

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Librarians Want to Know

On March 12, 2010 By

We hope you know that librarians are here for you – we are in the business of supporting research at all levels, assisting students, faculty, and everyone in the Duke community. In an effort to improve the services we provide, we are trying to better understand the research habits and needs of different [...]

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Screencasting technology allows you to record what is happening on your computer screen with accompanying audio commentary and then share it with others. It enables remote collaboration and learning and provides an effective medium for educating users in the best use of databases and online resources.

It is a handy and useful tool for students, [...]

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Growing Your Knowledge Base

On February 12, 2010 By

Need new research material? No matter what it is — book, DVD, CD, database, etc. — our library offers services to obtain it.

You May:

Suggest a purchase:

http://library.duke.edu/services/forms/suggestpurchase.html

Request it through ILL:

Be sure to Search TRLN first in case the book is closer than you think.

Loans from libraries [...]

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During the month of January, Reference librarians at Perkins Library answered a total of 1,795 questions, excluding questions sent in by chat.

Here is a sampling of the questions asked last month -

* Need help tracking down the volume in which a 1883 botanical illustration appeared?

* game theoretic applications to executive compensation?

* [...]

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Quiet study spots
Looking for a quiet place to study in Perkins/Bostock? No need to limit yourself to the designated quiet rooms in Bostock – the International and Area Studies Reading Room on the 2nd floor and the Carpenter Reading Room on the 3rd floor. Check out some of the lesser known places.

Group [...]

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http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Prepare-Your-College/49455/

Written by Elizabeth Dunn

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Previous posts have focused mainly on text- and image-based resources. This installment will highlight audio, specifically free resources available on the Internet.  Here are a few:

The British Library’s public collections include field recordings of natural and urban soundscapes, music from around the world, a survey of English dialects, early spoken word [...]

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Fonts

On November 9, 2009 By

Even if you think you have no interest in printing, I urge you to listen to this very interesting podcast of To the Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio.

Interviewees include the designers of Gotham (the Obama campaign font) and Verdana (the Internet font) [...]

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Come hear a talk by photographer Jennette Williams, whose exhibit of platinum prints of women in baths in Budapest and Istanbul is on display in the Perkins photography gallery through 13 December.

Written by Elizabeth Dunn

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LSC Unveiled

On October 22, 2009 By

The catalog says the location for the item you want is “Library Service Center.” Where’s that? and what is it? The Library Service Center, or LSC, is a high-density shelving facility in East Durham that holds the library’s books and other materials for which there is no room in the campus libraries. With 30 ft. [...]

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For people who are interested in colonial Taiwan(1895-1945), there’s some good news. Libraries inside and outside Taiwan are digitizing their special collections including photographs and art images and make them free available to interested researchers and general public. The following are four selected collections:

Three photpgraph collections from Lafayette college’s digital collection. All the photos [...]

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Duke’s ePrint distributed printing system now allows you to print a job again without running back to your computer.

With ePrint, you send a job to the system and then swipe your card at any print station and select the job from your print queue. With ePrint rePrint, the job goes back into the print [...]

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Do you find yourself waiting longingly for the next post of Library Hacks?  Is there just nothing that will satisfy your thirst for research, technology and library related news??  If so, LibWorm is the tool for you!  LibWorm, a search engine that searches over 1500 library related or librarian maintained blogs, can help [...]

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Name ambiguity is a recurring issue that impacts research accuracy and quality, career advancement and tenure, global collaboration among researchers, and identification and attribution of funding for institutions and individual authors alike.

ResearcherID.com by Thomson Reuters (the creators of ISI’s Journal Citation Reports) allows researchers to:

Generate a [...]

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Attention: Faculty and Teaching Assistants

Do you teach classes in non-English languages?

Does your class need library resources?

Subject specialists, with language skills across the curriculum, are available to create online guides that showcase the wonderful range of non-English resources the library has on offer. These guides can be easily integrated [...]

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2collab is a collaboration platform designed specifically for researchers in the science, technical and medical communities.

Produced by Elsevier and intended for use by professional researchers in academic, government and corporate institutions, 2collab provides a great solution for the following challenges:

1. I need [...]

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Are you up-to-date?

On May 28, 2009 By

For many faculty and graduate students who remain on-campus, the summer is the time to catch up with all those things that got left behind in the end-of-semester rush.

With the deluge of articles and books in your field, it’s sometimes a challenge to keep up-to-date.

Not any more.

If you use [...]

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iTunes for Your Papers

On April 28, 2009 By

Wouldn’t it be nice to have all your research (your papers, articles, etc.) in one place? Papers (for Mac, iPhone & iTouch) allows you to download, browse and organize all of your research from within its attractive and intuitive interface (2007 winner of Apple’s Design Award).

Papers allows [...]

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The Left Index™

On April 20, 2009 By

The Left Index™ is a complete guide to the diverse literature of the Left, with an emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia.

Topics covered include the labor movement, ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, art & aesthetics, philosophy, [...]

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The Struggles for Freedom in Southern Africa collection consists of more than 180,000 pages of documents and images, including periodicals, nationalist publications, records of colonial government commissions, local newspaper reports, personal papers, correspondence, UN documents, books, oral testimonies, life histories, and speeches.

Materials in the Struggles for Freedom [...]

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Timesaver=Lifesaver

On March 30, 2009 By

It’s the one little line in your assignment that can lead to hours of work:

Format your paper in APA (or MLA, or Chicago, or Turabian…)

Inserting correct citations and a properly formatted bibliography used to involve complicated manuals, memorization of arcane facts about space placement after a period, and a lot of [...]

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Got a pile of PDFs on your computer? Turn your research documents into your own personal digital library with Mendeley–a new tool for organizing and sharing research.

Mendeley has a downloadable (free!) desktop software component, as well as a web-based component (Mendeley Web). Mendeley Web allows you to sync your library of PDFs, [...]

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Are you all-a-twitter about Twitter? So are we!

If you have questions, you can go to the reference desk or IM, email and text librarians. But what if you just want some general updates on library happenings? What if you’re curious about some of the fascinating questions we [...]

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Google Scholar Tips

On February 23, 2009 By

Google Scholar is an excellent tool for searching across a set of scholarly journals and books, but how do you get your hands on the articles or books that you find? When you’re using Google Scholar off campus, you’ll need to set your Scholar Preferences to recognize Duke University Libraries.

Select the link for Scholar [...]

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Cambridge Histories Online

On February 9, 2009 By

Writing a history paper? Need background information on your topic? Cambridge History Online provides online access to over 250 Cambridge history volumes. These volumes cover a wide range of subjects including American history, British history, economic history, general history, history of science, history of the book, and the history of [...]

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Audiobooks

On January 29, 2009 By

Image by Jeff Daly

Want a good book for a long car ride? Like to listen to fiction while doing your laundry?
Check out these tips for finding free audiobooks on the web and in local libraries.

Audiobooks available in the library:
Audiobooks (on cd and cassette) in Lilly
These [...]

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SimplyMap

On January 26, 2009 By

SimplyMap lets users create professional quality maps for use in presentations, research reports, business plans, or Websites. Data variables can be viewed at the State, County, ZIP Code, Tract and Block Group levels.

Want to know the top 10 wealthiest ZIP codes in your state? How about the top 25 counties with [...]

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India, Raj and Empire

On January 12, 2009 By

India, Raj and Empire provides documents pertaining to the History of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.

The database includes original manuscript material, comprising diaries and journals, official and private papers, [...]

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Latinobarómetro

On December 3, 2008 By

The Latinobarómetro is an annual study of public opinion in eighteen Latin American countries.

Latinobarómetro has the goal of providing a representative survey of Latin American public opinion over time and provides annual measures of attitudes toward democracy, civic culture, economic issues, gender [...]

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Reference Desk, 1958

On November 19, 2008 By

What kinds of questions did Duke students ponder 50 years ago?
Here’s a glimpse at some of the questions recorded by Duke Reference librarians in 1958:

Have we (the U.S.) ever been out of debt?

I have to write a paper on the origin of the earth.

I want material [...]

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China Data Online

On November 17, 2008 By

China Data Online includes two parts: economic statistics and census data. It includes the economic statistics of China, arranged by regions and categories; monthly and yearly reports on China’s macroeconomic development; statistical databases about China’s population and economy at the county and city level; and financial indicators of more than [...]

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Russian Resources

On November 4, 2008 By

The Universal Databases provides a unified search engine for several Russian language databases: Russian Central Newspapers (UDB-COM), Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press (UDB-CD), Social Sciences & Humanities (UDB-EDU), Voprosy istorii: Complete Collection (UDB-VI), and Voprosy literatury: Complete Collection (UDB-VL).

The multilingual interface offers transliteration and Russian/English search capabilities.

Click [...]

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PrimateLit

On October 27, 2008 By

PrimateLit provides access to the scientific literature on nonhuman primates for the research and educational communities.

Coverage of the database spans 1940 to present and includes all publication categories (articles, books, abstracts, technical reports, dissertations, book chapters, etc.) and many subject areas (behavior, colony management, ecology, reproduction, field studies, disease [...]

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Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s…it’s…a subject librarian!

I know that some of you think your professors have sent you out into the world of research and writing with no allies and no weapons. I’m here to tell you that you are [...]

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Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

On October 20, 2008 By

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database has information on almost 35,000 slave voyages to the Americas between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

This database allows users to search for specific voyages of slaving expeditions. Users can also create listings, tables, charts, and maps using information from [...]

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The Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean. dLOC provides access to digitized versions of Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.

Collections include newspapers, photographs, archives of [...]

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Blue Devil Press

On October 6, 2008 By

The library has recently obtained access to Duke University Press Scholarly Books.

Duke University Press Scholarly Books provides easy access to the Library’s electronic Duke University Press titles.

The Collection includes online access to around 100 new scholarly books published by Duke University Press in the [...]

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UNdata pools major UN databases and those of several international organizations into a single entry point for easy access. Users can easily browse, search and download data from a large number of statistical databases.

Data categories include: agriculture, education, employment, energy, environment, health, human development, industry, information and [...]

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The Wayback Machine

On September 25, 2008 By

Do you ever come across the following error message while doing research on the Internet?

————————————————————————————–

Not Found

The requested URL /was not found on this server.

————————————————————————————–

There may be a solution! The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine allows you to browse through 85 billion [...]

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In the competitive world of Ultimate Citing, two kingpins rule the ring…RefWorks and EndNote, the academic world’s leading bibliographic management tools. Lucky for you, Duke has a subscription to both, so the choice is yours!

RefWorks EndNote Registration Register for your free account here Download for free here
Access Web-based (Any computer [...]

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Declassified Documents

On September 15, 2008 By

The Library has recently obtained access to Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS), a collection of declassified documents from various government agencies such as the White House, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and others.

DDRS makes possible both broad-based and highly targeted [...]

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Where are all the books?

On September 10, 2008 By

The “Find Books” link on the library homepage gives the call numbers and locations for print items in Perkins/Bostock.

Here are the most common call numbers with their corresponding location:

Call number Location A – JK Perkins Lower Floor 2 ( map ) JL – PZ Perkins 4 ( [...]

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Evernote

On August 22, 2008 By

Wish you had a photographic memory? Me too, but since that’s not an option, I use Evernote. Never heard of it? Let me fill you in.

In a nutshell: Evernote is an application that allows you to collect information as you encounter it. What do I mean?

[...]

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In further Facebook takes over the universe (at least the parts not already claimed by Google) news, there’s a new application in Facebook called CiteMe. You enter the title of the book you want to cite, click go, and the app spits out a formatted citation in one of five styles (APA, Chicago, Harvard. [...]

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Most of Duke’s e-books are provided by a service called NetLibrary. The 24,000+ e-books can be viewed at the site but not downloaded, and printing is cumbersome.

You can go directly to NetLibrary and search for e-books, or find them in our catalog and click on the link into NetLibrary. Once at [...]

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I’m late to the party on this, but I recently learned that the winning film in Duke’s 2008 Froshlife first-year movie festival, Wilson’s Making the Grade, features both Lilly and Perkins Libraries. Lilly and its opinionated e-printer make an appearance at about 2:10, and Perkins and the Gothic Reading Room show up at [...]

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A lot of the technoscenti have become coverts to Twitter in the last six months. Twitter is a microblogging platform that allows you to post 140-character snippets (via text message, web or other media) and have them read at the site, fed into your Facebook status page, or delivered in a variety of [...]

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Duke libraries recently moved from Dewey-Decimal to the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. “In process-LC” generally means that an item has gotten stuck in the reclassification process, and won’t be found in the regular stacks.

Since the item might be located in a number of places, the easiest thing to do is request its [...]

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This summer, the second, third and fourth floors of Perkins are re-opening as public spaces, with book stacks, carrels, group study rooms, and more. Perkins 2 is already open, now housing the Public Documents and Maps collection. The just-vacated shelves on Bostock 3 are being filled with books from Bostock 4 and the Vesic [...]

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Yes. You can use the catalog “Request” link in order to have a checked out book returned and held for you.

Here’s how it works:

If the item has been checked out for at least two weeks, it will automatically be recalled for you (each borrower is guaranteed two weeks) Once an item has been [...]

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What is the LSC?

On May 22, 2008 By

The Library Service Center (LSC) is an off-site storage facility where materials are kept at optimal environment levels to help ensure their longevity. An item located at the LSC can be retrieved when requested, but there are slightly different procedures for Duke patrons and guests:

Duke community:

Click on the “Request” link in the [...]

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You are referring to a system called BARD (Book/Article Delivery) which is available to Duke faculty and Duke graduate students. It allows you to request books and articles for delivery and pick-up from one Duke library to another Duke library location.

A great page with screen shots and instructions is linked above, or you [...]

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We have already highlighted a couple of features of the Search TRLN Catalog, which allows users to search the combined library catalogs of Duke, UNC, NCCU and NCSU. If you missed them, see our posts on spelling correction and quotes.

Probably Search TRLN’s most innovative and powerful feature is that is it [...]

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Library hours can sometimes vary on weekends, holidays and summer.

Perkins/Bostock and other Duke libraries hours are linked from the homepage banner (just below the website search bar).

Hope to see you soon!

Written by Kathi Matsura

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Another great new feature of the Search TRLN interface for searching across the Duke, NCCU, NCSU and UNC libraries is that you can use quotation marks in the search box.

Quotes are a great tool when you know the item you want and are trying to find it. Sometimes a Keyword or Title [...]

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Before heading home for the summer, you may want to check whether you have any books out on loan… and when they’re due. Here’s how to find out:

Click on “My Account” on the library homepage searchbox Enter your Net ID/password The number next to “Loans” will indicate the number of items you have out. [...]

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Unfortunately, not all databases or online searches will lead to full-text articles, but there is always a chance that we have a print copy of the journal. In order to check whether the library has copies of the journal, check the online catalog:

You can either search by “Journal title keywords” or “Title begins with…” [...]

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This year’s annual Instructional Technology Showcase, on April 24 in the Bryan Center, features a number of presentations about using technology tools in teaching. Come hear about:

Duke Digital Initiative 2008-2009
Tips and Tricks for Incorporating Web 2.0 in Your Class
Duke’s New Teaching and Learning Spaces
Second Life in [...]

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Yes… I guess it’s happened to all of us. You make a trip all the way to the library, and then realize that the book you want is nowhere to be found.

Before leaving in frustration, try one of these steps:

Look around the surrounding shelves a bit. It’s possible that the book was inadvertently [...]

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We’ve heard of several faculty and library staff members who are converts to iGoogle, which is sort of a customizable universal home page. If you use iGoogle and the Duke Libraries, you should certainly add our Google Gadget, which lets you put the tabbed search box from the library home page right into [...]

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Find an Open Computer

On April 4, 2008 By

As the semester gets endy and the library gets FULL, remember we have a handy online system that allows you to see where there are unused computers in Perkins, Bostock, Vesic, Music, and Lilly.

Another school (Georgia Tech) set up a system like this, and a student cartoonist [...]

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Search TRLN (introduced here) has some great features that make the search experience more like familiar online searches (cough*google*cough) than like more traditional library catalogs.

Search TRLN will try to suggest corrections for your spelling errors or typos. I did an Author search on “milosAvic”, deliberately, but plausibly, spelling this name wrong. Search [...]

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Did you know that these local universities have cooperative agreements between their libraries ? Duke students, faculty and staff can use their Duke ID cards to check out books at UNC, NC State, or NCCU, and vice versa, for example.

Now TRLN (the Triangle Research Libraries Network) has launched a new [...]

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To get to databases or e-journals from off-campus, be sure to go through the library website in order to be recognized as a Duke user. Going directly to a bookmarked e-resource will not work.

Try logging in using any one of these methods:

Start at the database or e-journal interface, [...]

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Watch Your Laptop

On March 18, 2008 By

Yesterday there were two laptop thefts reported in Perkins-Bostock in the course of the morning. The police officer who responded walked around the building and noted that he could have taken three more laptops that he saw unattended. Please do not leave your laptop alone, even if you just plan to run to the Perk [...]

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How do I cite sources?

On March 14, 2008 By

There is a citation help guide available through the library website.

The section on the left explains how to cite sources within your paper. The section on the right explains how to compile a list of references at the end of your paper. Styles covered in this guide include: MLA, APA, Turabian, Chicago, and [...]

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Hang out in Facebook a lot? Do you think you might want to search the Duke library catalog and other library databases directly from there some times? You can now using the Duke Libraries Facebook application.

To install it, go to http://apps.facebook.com/dukelibraries/ and follow the usual method [...]

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Literature Librarian Sara Seten Berghausen says:

Need some spring break reading? Browse the Perkins New & Noteworthy Collection or check the Current Literature shelves at Lilly Library. These web sites offer ideas for a good read.

Click here to search in the catalog for books [...]

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For those of you who are working hard instead of (or in addition to) playing hard this spring break, here are some tips for using the library remotely:

You have automatic access to all the library’s article databases and other resources while you are home (or in Myrtle Beach.) Use the “database search” box on [...]

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Check whether a footstool or any other object (sleeping student?) is obstructing one of the aisles Press the reset button If that doesn’t help, either IM a Librarian or call the Circulation desk at (919) 660-5870 to let us know which shelf is stuck (we’ll need the call number area). A phone is located [...]

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In response to student requests, we are adding temporary tables and chairs to provide more seating for study on the first floors of Perkins and Bostock. As midterms are upon us and spring semester starts to rush to its end, we know that demand is at its greatest.

Can’t find a seat in the Carpenter [...]

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Documentary films can be a great resource for academic work, and Duke is a great place to find documentaries. The Center for Documentary Studies offers undergraduate classes, workshops, and public programs and events; Lilly Library has an excellent film collection including many documentaries; and Durham is home to the world-famous Full Frame [...]

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Where are the books?

On February 22, 2008 By

I guess you have the Call Number and Title, but now you’re wondering where to go? Given the ongoing construction at Perkins, this is a very common question – and fortunately easy to answer!

* For Perkins/Bostock Libraries:

Most books are located either on Perkins Lower Level 2 or Bostock 4 Some [...]

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The Citing Sources pages are some of the most popular on the library web site (Google “citing sources” and you’ll know why!).

If you’re addicted to citing sources, or wondering about the deeper relationships between MLA style and scholarly discourse, come to two lectures featuring David Kellogg, the Director of Advanced Writing in the [...]

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It may sound like a lot of questions rolled into one, but the process for locating resources in various formats is fairly consistent.

* Basic Search:

From the library homepage, type the title into the search box under the catalog tab. Choose “Title begins with” from the drop down menu, and click “Go”. This [...]

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Introducing Zotero (part 2)

On February 13, 2008 By

(Since my first post introducing the research tool Zotero, its development continues apace. Several new features have been added, and over 60 institutions, according to the Zotero blog, now recommend Zotero, including MIT and Rice University–both having published their own tutorials on using it.)

In my initial post [...]

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There are a number of ways to approach a subject search, and I’d recommend exploring all of these options:

Subject guides: These guides can be found through the library website, and introduce multiple resources which are particularly useful for specific subject areas. They have been created by our own subject librarians, and can provide [...]

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Web of Science is probably the most important database for the sciences, and it’s very powerful for humanities and social sciences as well. Yesterday it debuted a new user interface, so don’t be startled when you see its new GREEN look!

A newer Web of Science feature you should try is the Author Finder, [...]

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We recently wrote about some all-encompassing online encyclopedias. But there are also some very useful encyclopedias on specific scholarly topics. Increasingly the standard print reference works in any given field are becoming available in keyword-searchable full text online. Here are some great ones:

Oxford Reference Online
has excellent encyclopedias and [...]

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Not a problem… we get asked this question a lot!

If you already have the citation (author, title, journal name, etc.) , you can look up the journal title in the E-Journal Finder.

If we have no online full text, click the link to search the catalog for print or microfilm. Need help figuring [...]

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Plagiarism Prevention Tips

On January 22, 2008 By

Plagiarism is in the news again, most recently when a romance novel writer was found to have copied from an article on (no kidding) endangered black-footed ferrets. Here’s Paul Tolme, the freelance wildlife journalist, on being plagiarized:

In the Internet age, every freelance writer fears that his or her words will be appropriated without [...]

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If you spend all your time in Facebook, branch out from Scrabulous and movie trivia quizzes to take a look at some applications related to the library and books.

So far we’ve found:


WorldCat, the closest thing there is to a universal library catalog (for US users, anyway), now [...]

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Innovate, Journal of Online Education, is hosting a webcast that looks like a good introduction to Zotero, the free online citation management system that Allen raved about here. It’s Thursday Jan. 10 at 2:00 pm EST. [edited to correct date: Thanks, Brandi!]

It looks like you have to register for the [...]

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Why an encyclopedia?

Fast overview of a topic
Historical timeline & basic facts
Find out the right keywords for article searches
Find out the main issues in the field
Check for a list of suggested readings to start your real research

Which Encyclopedia?

Wikipedia has quickly become a go-to internet [...]

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Cell Phones for Citation

On December 20, 2007 By

A colleague in the library recently observed a student using a cell phone camera to make a quick “note” of the title page of a book, and the call number label. What a great idea! Very useful for people who are in a big hurry, but want to make sure they capture the full bibliographic [...]

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Most of the Duke Libraries’ web pages are now licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License. What that means in non-lawyer speak is that everyone is welcome to use, share or remix the pages so licensed, under certain conditions.

Look for the logo below the footer on every relevant page. A few [...]

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In response to student interest, the library has installed a Pepsi machine in Bostock, on the Lower Level across from the elevators. Now you can get a caffeinated beverage without leaving the building after The Perk at the Pavilion by Saladelia closes!

The new machine sells Pepsi products in 20 ounce bottles for $1.25. Right [...]

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It’s that time of year when we find people asleep at the computers (some with head back and snoring loudly). Here are some tips for taking care of yourself and fellow Dukies in the library as the semester comes to a close:

1. Take care of your computer & files. Back up often. Don’t walk [...]

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Thanksgiving falls at a busy time in the semester, and many students take papers or research projects home with them to work on over the break.

You can take the library’s resources home, too. Almost all of our databases are accessible remotely with your NetID and password. For more details see our [...]

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Most of the campus libraries provide staplers, hole punches, and other basic office tools for students to use. We also regularly have to replace these items because of theft – accidental due to absentmindedness, or intentional – and breakage.

So, think of the poor librarian (that would be me) who spends all her time buying [...]

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The Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive is a remarkable database that contains full-length digital videos of Holocaust survivors and witnesses. This resource that Duke Libraries just recently purchased contains over 50,000 video testimonies.

To get to this database, just click on the database tab on the Duke Library homepage and [...]

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As we at iPod – I mean, Duke – University know, podcasts have proliferated in the past 5 years. They aren’t just for fun, however – major radio news sources and government agencies are making podcasts available that can be used in research or academic presentations. Radio podcasts can provide in-depth interviews with politicians, medical [...]

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The United States Census Bureau now allows you to receive updates via RSS, with subscriptions available for web site changes, tip sheets, population estimates (PopClocks!) and even daily podcasts, among others.

Most useful for researchers may be the set of RSS feeds for news releases on a wide variety of topics, including Aging [...]

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Web Browser Search Plug-Ins

On October 22, 2007 By

One of the comments on the LibX toolbar post asked about ways we could customize that toolbar to allow searches of specific databases, like JStor.

There is a way to search a database right from your web browser toolbar, using a customized search plugin. Most browsers come with options for searching Google, Yahoo or [...]

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The new articles and databases Resource Finder has one functional change from the old: now, you can bookmark your favorite databases or searches as a way to save them. Look for “Save this Search”:

Click on “Save this Search” to see the full explanation:

What’s this Connotea we’re talking [...]

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Zotero describes itself as a Firefox extension that helps you “collect, manage, and cite your research sources.” Since I’m as technologically trail-weary as the next person, I’ll try to make clear what it is about Zotero that should rouse you out of bed and why I’ve been an enthusiastic user for the last [...]

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