
Author Archive

Database Trials for “60 Minutes” and “Meet the Press”

From today through August 8, 2015, all students, faculty, and staff may access the following Alexander Street Press video collections:

60 Minutes: 1997-2014
Meet the Press

If you have any feedback on these products, please contact Communication & Development Librarian Joyce Garczynski at jgarczynski@towson.edu.

July 10, 2015 at 12:22 pm Leave a comment

Kanopy: A New Patron Driven Access Video Database

KanopyThe library has access to a new patron driven access (PDA) database for streaming video called Kanopy.

Description: Kanopy is a film streaming service, offering over 25,000 streaming films from over 800 producers, with new films added daily. This database includes films from the Criterion Collection, PBS, BBC, Psychotherapy.net, New Day Films, and many others.

How it works: With this film database, TU will have full access to the 25,000 + Kanopy films; after 4 accesses to a film, the library automatically purchases a streaming license for that film for a year, although this purchase will be imperceptible to the user.  The films are available site-wide, on and off-campus, with unlimited users, so they may be linked through Blackboard or E-Reserves and shown in class via the web.

Where to get it: Kanopy is listed on the Research Databases list and we are working on getting the films into Cook OneSearch by the fall semester.

July 10, 2015 at 11:58 am Leave a comment

Maryland Library Consortium Provides TU with 2 New Databases

NewDatabasesThanks to the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium, Cook Library is now able to provide access to 2 new databases: ProQuest Dissertations and Theses and EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete.

Dissertations and Theses provides multidisciplinary coverage to over 3.8 million indexed and abstracted graduate works.  The full text content to approximately 1.7 million dissertations and theses is available to library users.  Additional information about this e-resource may be found at http://www.proquest.com/products-services/pqdtglobal.html.

Academic Search Complete from EBSCO provides multidisciplinary full text coverage to approximately 9,000 academic journals.  This e-resource is an upgrade to the Academic Search Premier database currently shared by all consortium and provides an additional 4,672 full text publications to USMAI libraries.  Additional information about this e-resource may be found at https://www.ebscohost.com/academic/academic-search-complete.

Both e-resources are available through the library’s database list. They are both centrally-funded by the consortium (every library contributes money to the consortium central fund) and are additions the USMAI Core Shared E-Resources Collection.

 

July 8, 2015 at 3:59 pm Leave a comment

FY15 and FY16 Database Cancellations

Given the current budget situation and the necessity to reduce expenditures, Albert S. Cook Library regrets to announce the following database cancellations for FY15 and FY16.  While the majority of these cancellations will take effect July 1, some, such as the Nature package, were effective in the spring, 2015.

Target:  approximately $100,000 reductions total across FY15 and FY16

Criteria and process for determining cancellations:

This past spring, a librarian task group reviewed the library’s database subscriptions, focusing especially on the cost per use (CPU) for each database.  Each year the library collects usage statistics for subscribed databases and calculates the CPU, determined by dividing the number of searches for the fiscal year into the cost of the database.  For example, a database that cost $15,000 and had only 500 searches would have a CPU of $30 per search, which is too high a cost for the collection budget to sustain.  In contrast, we have databases that are so heavily used that the CPU is only .02 or .03 cents per search. Additional criteria includes evaluating the database against other like databases to prevent paying for duplicate content.

The library spends over $800,000 a year on subscriptions to databases.  Like journals, however, database costs continue to increase each year.   Combined with a flat budget or, as in the current economic climate, a reduced collection budget, database cancellations are inevitable.  The library regrets the necessity to cancel these titles, and will certainly help with ILL to provide content for your research needs.

Please contact Mary Gilbert, Assistant University Librarian for Content Management, with any questions.

June 22, 2015 at 1:25 pm 1 comment

Cook Library Receives “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” Grant

TU’s Albert S. Cook Library is one of 55 U.S. libraries selected to receive a $10,000 “Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA).

The cash grant will enable Cook Library to offer public programming about Latino history and culture over the course of the 2015-2016 academic year.

The library also will receive the six-part, NEH-supported documentary film, “Latino Americans,” created for PBS in 2013 by WETA-TV. The award-winning series chronicles the history of Latinos in the United States from the 16th century to the present.

In addition to film screenings, Cook Library plans to offer a photo exhibit on the recent wave of unaccompanied minors to the United States, a Latino student-organized rally, a New York Times talk, book discussion, and lectures on a variety of Latino-themed topics.

Librarian Joyce Garczynski says the multidisciplinary project is designed to promote awareness and encourage dialogue about the country’s largest minority group. “So many members of the campus community are excited and energized about bringing this material to campus,” she says. “It’s very timely, considering the dramatic growth of our region’s Latino population and the continuing debate about immigration.

“Our job here at Cook Library is to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome on campus,” Garczynski adds. “Programs like this can help us accomplish that.”

“Latino Americans: 500 Years of History” is part of an NEH initiative, The Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square.

June 12, 2015 at 2:53 pm Leave a comment

Check out a Scientific Calculator!

CalculatorsTowson’s Student Government Association asked for the library to make scientific calculators available for students and we listened!

Cook Library is now lending five TI-85 calculators for TU student, faculty, and staff use.

The calculators are available for a 4-hour loan period and may only be used in the library.

Customers with a TU OneCard (students, faculty, and staff) can check out the equipment from the Circulation Desk on the main floor of the library.

There will be a $0.50 per hour late fee if equipment is returned late.

The calculators will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis and no reservations will be taken.

June 3, 2015 at 1:41 pm Leave a comment

Summer 2015 Library Hours

Summer 2015
Summer Session Hours
May 26 – August 3

Regular Hours

Monday – Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Friday 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday CLOSED
July 3-4 (Friday-Saturday) CLOSED

Intersession Hours
August 4 – August 25

Monday – Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturdays & Sundays CLOSED

May 26, 2015 at 10:43 am Leave a comment

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