December 2009 Archives

Individuals, institutions and organizations are being asked for input to help develop policy on open access to archived publications from research funded by federal science agencies. You can comment online through the Public Access Policy blog before January 7, 2010. For more details and access to the blog, visit the Alliance for Taxpayer Access web site.

Tompkins-McCaw Library is hosting two full-day PubMed classes in January offered by the National Training Center and Clearinghouse (NTCC). These classes are designed to teach students how to use PubMed, including MEDLINE citations and an overview of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

Both classes will be offered in room 2-012 of the Tompkins-McCaw Library. For more information and to register, visit:

• January 28, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
• January 29, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m..

VCU Libraries will conduct a series of surveys over the next year to learn how our faculty, students, and staff use library resources and services. Your feedback is extremely valuable and will help to improve VCU Libraries resources and services. The survey has been designed in concert with consultants, and responses will be confidential.

Surveys will be administered once a month at each library for a two hour time period. The dates and times have been randomly selected and will vary each month. The next survey will take place at Cabell Library on Tuesday, December 8, 2009.

During the survey period, you will be given a short survey form to complete during your visit. The online survey will apear when you select library resources from the VCU Libraries Web site.

If you have questions or comments about the survey, please contact Mary Ellen Spencer at the James Branch Cabell Library.

World Development Indicators (WDI) is the statistical benchmark that helps measure the progress of development. The WDI provides a comprehensive overview of development drawing on data from the World Bank and more than 30 partners.

WDI is the World Bank's premiere annual compilation of data about development and includes more than 900 indicators in 91 tables organized into 6 sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links. Data are shown for 153 economies with populations of more than 1 million, as well as selected indicators for 56 other economies with populations between 30,000 and 1 million and even smaller economies, if they are members of the World Bank. The dates of coverage are 1960 to the present.

Learn more about data and statistics resources available from VCU Libraries. For assistance, call the Cabell Library reference desk at 828-1101.