April 2010 Archives

VCU Libraries now subscribes to Natural Standard, a database of high quality, evidence-based information on complementary and alternative medicine. The database consists of comprehensive monographs on thousands of herbs, supplements, foods and treatment regimens. Monographs are developed from published scientific data and undergo blinded editorial and peer review by research experts. Validated rating scales accompany each monograph and reflect the quality of available evidence. References include links to PubMed abstracts where available. Comparative efficacy charts indicate which therapies have scientific support for treating or preventing specific medical conditions.

Monographs are available in different reading levels for healthcare professionals and consumers. Special features include an interactions checker, medical calculators, podcasts and a news blog. To learn more about Natural Standard, consult the User's Guide or view the demo.

VCU Libraries has added General Science Full Text to its collection of databases.

General Science Full Text is a bibliographic database that indexes and abstracts articles from about 300 English language periodicals dating back to 1984. Subjects covered include biology, physics, genetics, medicine, health, mathematics, oceanography, astronomy, botany, zoology, and nutrition.The database also features the full text of 100 selected periodicals from 1995. The full text is generously illustrated with graphs, charts, diagrams, and photos that convey an abundance of scientific information.The plain language subject headings and subject thesaurus give non-specialists access to the latest scientific and technical developments. Students and the entire VCU community will find this easy-to-use database very valuable.

Please direct all questions and comments to Ibironke Lawal (804-828-8739).

Contents from the recently removed A.D. Williams cornerstone box are now on display in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room at the Tompkins-McCaw Library. The cornerstone box was removed last week as part of the demolition of the A.D. Williams Clinic building. The materials, including newspaper clippings, college publications, photographs, and a figurine of three ivory elephants, weathered their 74-year confinement well and showed few signs of their age.

To learn more about the cornerstone box and view a video of its removal see "Time Capsule from 1936..."

A revived Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA). Like the earlier version in 2009, the bill would require peer-reviewed articles resulting from federal research dollars to be made available free online within six months of their publication.

The mandate would apply to research from all federal agencies with extramural research budgets over $100 million. Agencies that fall into this category include the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, and others.

The National Institutes of Health has had a similar policy for the last two years that requires deposit of final manuscripts into PubMed Central within one year of publication.

For more information and updates on FRPAA, visit the Alliance for Taxpayer Access. The full text of the bill, along with a summary of actions and status, can be viewed through the THOMAS legislative information system.

Library Lite All Nite
24/5 Hours
April 24 - May 14, 2010
James Branch Cabell Library

The James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus will be open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week during exams. This expanded service is called Library Lite All Nite.

From April 24 through May 14, Cabell doors will open at 11:00 a.m. each Sunday and remain open until our regular Friday evening closing time at 6:00 p.m. Saturday hours will remain unchanged during Library Lite All Nite -- 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

This service will provide 24/5 access to the library building and offer circulation services, individual study on the third and fourth floors, group study on the first and second floors, and computerized resources, including the library catalog, databases, Internet access, and Microsoft Office applications. The B-8 Computer Lab will also be open during the 24/5 hours.

Sunday through Thursday nights, all patrons entering James Branch Cabell Library after 10 p.m. are required to show VCUCards to gain admittance. A complete listing of operational hours for Cabell Library and Tompkins-McCaw Library is available online.

For more information and a complete listing of available services, please visit the Library Lite All Nite Web site.

VCU Libraries has added Zoological Record to its collections. This database covers all aspects of modern animal research and is the world's leading taxonomic reference and the unofficial registry of animal names. Full record display include complete bibliographic details and author abstracts. Each record gives taxonomic information from kingdom to species of the animal in question. In addition, controlled terms from the Zoological Record thesaurus add value to the database and aid in retrieval.

Sources for the records in the database include over 5,000 serials published in over 100 countries, monographs (including reports), books, newsletters, and conference papers and abstracts.

Coverage is from 1985-present.

Please direct all questions and comments to Ibironke Lawal (804-828-8739).

The 2010 VCU Technology Fair, cosponsored by the VCU Libraries and VCU Technology Services, brings the latest in technology developments for the classroom and research to VCU. Thinking about purchasing an Apple iPad, a smartphone, or a netbook? Want to learn how others are using emerging technologies to streamline their research, workflow, patient interactions, and educational experience? Then join us for the 2010 VCU Technology Fair to investigate solutions and try hands-on demonstrations of helpful new products.

Wednesday, April 14
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
University Student Commons, Richmond Salons
Monroe Park Campus

Thursday, April 15
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Tompkins-McCaw Library
Medical College of Virginia Campus

Find more information on the Web.

The Black Studies Center (from ProQuest) -- providing a wealth of primary and secondary sources for the study of the Black experience in the United States, Africa, and around the world -- is now available from the VCU Libraries. This resource not only provides the vital foundation for in-depth research, but also reflects Black contributions in virtually every discipline, from medicine to education to economics. The lived experience of individuals across diverse times and places is placed in the larger contexts of political, economic, religious, and social movements and upheavals throughout history, from the ancient to the modern world. The struggles of individuals against the forces of history are shown in full detail.

At the heart of the Black Studies Center are four comprehensive resources:

• Schomburg Studies on the Black experience (from records in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, part of the New York Public Library), which includes topical overviews by leading scholars in Black Studies, as well as dissertations, articles, book chapters, reference materials, bibliographies, and a multimedia library that is fully searchable.
• The Chicago Defender, 1910-1975 (the most influential African-American newspaper of its time in the U.S.), reporting on such transformative events as the "Great Migration," in which 1.5 million African-Americans left the segregated South for the industrial North, arguing vigorously for anti-lynching legislation, and publishing noted Black intellectuals and writers, including Langston Hughes, Walter White, and early work by Gwendolyn Brooks.
• The International Index to Black Periodicals - Full Text (with new documents added regularly) provides multidisciplinary coverage of cultural, economic, historical, religious, social, and political issues that have shaped Black history across the world.
• The Black Literature Index (with over 70,000 citations), allowing users to locate records of fiction, poetry, and literary reviews published in 100 black periodicals and newspapers between 1827 and 1940.
  

With multimedia, historical timelines, glossary of terms, and extensive contextual materials, Black Studies Center makes rare and unique primary sources available to researchers who can find connections and trace the influences that illuminate the past, present, and future of the Black experience.

SpringerImages, a growing collection of scientific images that spans the scientific, technical and medical fields, is now available from the VCU Libraries. In addition to images from Springer-owned content, the database includes images in life sciences from the Biology Image Library and high-quality clinical images from images.MD. The continually updated collection - currently over two million images - gathers photos, graphs, histograms, figures, and tables into a searchable online database. Users can search through captions, keywords, context, and more, even jumping from the image to the source article. Users can also create personalized image "sets," and can easily export images for use in their own presentations or lectures.

Try out SpringerImages now by typing a term in the box below.

	Search

VCU Libraries presents this year's second Cabell Life Forum on Thursday, April 15, at 5:00 p.m. in the John Mapp Graduate Study and Reading Room at Cabell Library. Library staff will discuss plans for new study spaces and upgrades in technology, preserving core services during tight budget times, access to e-books, and more. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Mary Ellen Spencer.

The VCU Libraries announces its latest addition to the VCU Libraries Digital Collections: Confederate Military Hospitals in Richmond. This 40-page directory by Robert W. Waitt, Jr. was originally published in 1964 by the Richmond Civil War Centennial Committee. It gives alphabetical listings of the general hospitals in Richmond during the Civil War, as well as private residences, commercial buildings, churches, and parks temporarily used as hospitals. Several of the pages are illustrated with photographs and maps.

View this and other online publications at the VCU Libraries Digital Collections site.

April is "Celebrate Diversity Month" and visitors to James Branch Cabell Library can view items celebrating the diversity within the LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Intersex) community. The month-long display features two components, one focused on current resources and groups at VCU and in the community, and another featuring the history of VCU's Gay Alliance of Students.

Current resource participants include VCU's Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA), VCU's Safe Zone, Richmond Triangle Players, and ROSMY. OMSA, Richmond Triangle Players and ROSMY have also provided statements describing what diversity means to their communities. Brochures are available on a variety of LGBTQI topics.

Organized in 1974, the Gay Alliance of Students was denied registration as a campus organization by the Board of Visitors at Virginia Commonwealth University. The Board argued that the existence of the group would, among other things "increase the opportunity for homosexual contacts." The students brought a suit against VCU. In October 1976, the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, ordered VCU to give the group full recognition as an official student organization. That ruling entitled other gay and lesbian student organizations across the south to be recognized by state universities. Today, there are two student gay organizations at VCU - the Sexual Minority Student Alliance and Queer Action.

The materials for this part of the exhibit were donated in 2007 to VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives by Walter Foery, one of the founding members of the Gay Alliance of Students.

Learn more by visiting VCU's Diversity page or VCU Libraries Diversity Resource Guide. For suggestions on future diversity displays or events, contact the co-chairs of VCU Libraries Diversity Work Group.