Library News: Archive

The Feb. 10 workshop on open access publishing will not be held. The next "Open Access Scholarly Publishing for Faculty" will be held March 23 at 3 p.m. at James Branch Cabell Library, room 319.

The workshop will be conducted by Dan Ream, VCU librarian and past president of the VCU Faculty Senate.

As journal subscription costs have increased dramatically, fewer and fewer libraries can afford every journal that is needed, including some that are considered prestigious and essential. Faculty worldwide, especially in the sciences, but also increasingly in the social sciences and humanities, have responded by creating and publishing their research in open access, peer-reviewed journals that charge no fee to their readers. Faculty senates from Harvard to Berkeley to the University of Virginia have endorsed open access publishing for their faculty.

This one-hour session will introduce faculty to this revolution in publishing of open access, peer-reviewed journals and demonstrate how to locate them in almost any discipline, as well as discuss the potential benefits of worldwide free access to faculty research. Options for faculty retention of copyright will also be discussed.

This workshop will be held in library classroom/lab 319 on the third floor of Cabell Library. No advance registration is necessary. Address questions to Dan Ream, or call 828-6545 for more information.

 

Is your scholarly research only for those wealthy enough to afford the journal you publish in?  How many in your local community can access your research published in expensive online journals? How many in your professional community without well-funded library access can read your work? How about your school's alumni?  Would you rather have your work freely accessible to all without charge, while still published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal?

On two Fridays--Feb 10 and March 23 from 3 to 4 p.m.--VCU Libraries will present a workshop for faculty (but open to all) entitled "Open Access Scholarly Publishing for Faculty."

The workshop will be conducted by Dan Ream, VCU librarian and past president of the VCU Faculty Senate.

As journal subscription costs have increased dramatically, fewer and fewer libraries can afford every journal that is needed, including some that are considered prestigious and essential. Faculty worldwide, especially in the sciences, but also increasingly in the social sciences and humanities, have responded by creating and publishing their research in open access, peer-reviewed journals that charge no fee to their readers.

Faculty senates from Harvard to Berkeley to the University of Virginia have endorsed open access publishing for their faculty.

This one-hour session will introduce faculty to this revolution in publishing of open access, peer-reviewed journals and demonstrate how to locate them in almost any discipline, as well as discuss the potential benefits of worldwide free access to faculty research. Options for faculty retention of copyright will also be discussed.

This workshop will be held in library classroom/lab 319 on the third floor of Cabell Library. No advance registration is necessary. Address questions to Dan Ream, or call 828-6545 for more information.

VCU will conduct a full test of the emergency communications system on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m.

The full test of the system will include 10 sirens on both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses along with text messages, digital signs, website information and social media that are part of a multichannel system for communicating emergency information to VCU students, employees, parents and neighbors. The test also will include emergency notification "Alertus" devices in classrooms and in residence halls. And VCU will take down its regular website, www.vcu.edu, and bring up an emergency site for the duration of the test.

The sirens will sound a fast, up-and-down wail for three minutes, and after a two-minute pause, sound a steady wail for one minute to signal "all clear" to end the test.

The Alertus devices in VCU Libraries buildings and in classrooms set off an alarm, strobe light warning and large text digital display with emergency messages.

More from VCU leadership:

"In a real emergency, sirens will be used when it is imperative to get the attention of everyone outside of VCU buildings because an immediate, life-threatening emergency has occurred or is imminent. People outside but on campus should go to the nearest university building and seek additional information about what is happening.

The Alertus devices and other emergency communications, such as text messaging, digital signage, emails and Web communications will notify people in campus buildings. In general, when an alert is sounded, everyone should remain where they are and seek additional information about what is happening and instructions on how to respond. People off-campus should not come to campus but should seek additional information.

Text messaging is the only channel available that can provide personal communication to you wherever you have cell phone service. Text messages will be used for notifications about emergencies, but will also be used to announce closings and delays for inclement weather. There is no cost for enrolling. If you haven't done so already, I urge you to sign up for text messaging now at www.vcu.edu/alert/notify.

Emergency information also is available on the VCU Alert website at www.vcu.edu/alert (also accessible off the VCU homepage at www.vcu.edu), on digital screens in major academic buildings and all residence halls on both campuses, through emails to everyone with a VCU e-mail account, and social media - Twitter and Facebook.

Our efforts to notify you in the case of an emergency are effective only if you sign up for text messaging and refer to the VCU Alert website, Alertus devices, digital signs and other emergency communications channels. In an emergency, we also ask you to share pertinent information with those around you who might not have received an alert.

Following the test, we welcome your comments or feedback by emailing vcualert@vcu.edu.

Full tests of the VCU Emergency Communications system are conducted near the beginning of each semester. Monthly checks of the siren system, consisting of a one-minute steady wail that also recharge the siren batteries, are conducted at noon on the first Wednesday of each month.

We appreciate your participation and assistance in doing all we can do to keep VCU's campuses safe and secure."

Sincerely,

David Hanson
Vice President for Finance and Administration

EBSCO--one of VCU Libraries' main database providers--will be moving all databases now available through WilsonWeb to a new platform. This change, planned earlier for December, will take place in January.

Direct access to the individual databases via VCU Libraries' Databases A-Z list will change Jan. 13. Users who took advantage of the My WilsonWeb personalization feature will need to rerun searches in the EBSCO version of the databases. Those searches may be be saved using the My EBSCO feature.

The databases effected are: Applied Science & Tech Index; Art Full Text; Art Retrospective; Biological & Agricultural Index Plus; Book Review Digest Plus; Essay & General Literature; General Science Full Text;  Humanities Index; Library Literature & Information Science; Play Index; Short Story Index; and Social Sciences Index.

For assistance in connecting to the WilsonWeb databases in January: Ask a Librarian.

Are you a first-time novelist? It's not too late to be considered for the 2011 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Books must be published during 2011 and novels published July through December, 2011 may be submitted no later than Jan. 15, 2012. Details about eligibility and the selection process


 

Special Collections and Archives at James Branch Cabell Library presents "Interactive Book Art," an event featuring interactive pieces from the VCU Book Art Collection, including flip-books, board games, 3D images and audio recordings.

The event includes two sessions. The first, from 6 to 6:30 p.m., will offer an overview of the VCU Book Art Collection by Gay Acompanado, archival assistant for the arts. The second session, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., will allow attendees to see, touch, play with and listen to pieces of book art.

"Interactive Book Art" is co-sponsored by the Cabell Library Undergraduate Advisory Committee (CLUAC) and the VCU Friends of the Library. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to register online.

Also called artists' books, book art is a contemporary art form in which the artist uses the structure or elements of the book to communicate a message or concept. Artists' books can be one-of-a-kind objects, or they can be published in limited editions. Their content can be textual, visual, tactile, auditory, or a mixture of these. Formally, artists' books may closely resemble traditional books or appear more sculptural. VCU's  Book Art Collection includes nearly 4,000 items. The collection is international in scope and is strongest in publications from the 1960s to the present. It encompasses all aspects of contemporary book art publications ranging from photo-narratives to three-dimensional works.

Web site for the event

In December, EBSCO--one of VCU Libraries' main database providers--will be moving all databases now available through WilsonWeb to a new platform.

"My Wilson Web" accounts will be eliminated on Dec. 22 and it will be up to each user to save their own materials.

The databases effected are: Applied Science & Tech Index; Art Full Text; Art Retrospective; Biological & Agricultural Index Plus; Book Review Digest Plus; Essay & General Literature; General Science Full Text;  Humanities Index; Library Literature & Information Science; Play Index; Short Story Index; and Social Sciences Index.

Patrons who have set up My Wilson Web accounts to save searches and records should save the contents of those accounts elsewhere no later than Dec. 22 in order to have continued access to them. 

Searches may be recreated in the EBSCO version of the databases and saved to a My EBSCOhost account. Select the EBSCOhost link on the Databases A-Z list and choose. Scroll down the list to see if the WilsonWeb database you were using is on the list. If it is, you may want to create a My EBSCOhost account and re-create your previous searches. Instructions for creating a My EBSCOhost account 

Need help? Ask a Librarian.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Beverly J. Warren sent this notice to all members of the VCU community this morning:

"Today, November 11, 2011, our nation celebrates Veterans Day. To commemorate this important holiday, Gov. Bob McDonnell, through the issuance of a proclamation, has asked all Virginians to observe a moment of silence today at 11 a.m.

I hope that you will join me in taking this opportunity to reflect on the service and sacrifices of all veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. To read the governor's proclamation.

One of the leaders in the Civil Rights movement, Wyatt Tee Walker, will discuss his work in social justice and his purpose-filled life in an open forum Thursday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Rev. Dr. Walker served as Martin Luther King's chief of staff and he is best known as the architect of Project C, the series of marches, sit-ins and boycotts in Birmingham, Ala. in 1963. Those pivotal days in Birmingham helped change public opinion that set the stage for passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965.

Walker, born in Massachusetts in 1929 and raised in New Jersey, moved to Virginia in 1950 to study at Virginia Union University. As a pastor and activist in Petersburg, he staged marches and demonstrations. He later became a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and served as Martin Luther King's chief of staff. He also helped organize the March on Washington. Walker earned a doctorate in ministry and served as the influential pastor at Harlem's Canaan Baptist Church of Christ for nearly 40 years. He has devoted his life to social justice, including the abolition of apartheid in South Africa.

The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Commons
Commonwealth Ballrooms, 907 Floyd Ave. For further information:  (804) 828-1384.
 
PHOTO CREDITS:
Above right: May 10, 1963: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., left, and the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker announce a compromise with Birmingham businesses that allowed blacks to work as cashiers. Photo by Tom Self, Birmingham News. Above left: The photograph of Walker was taken in 1995 during a visit to Richmond. Photo by Alexa Welch, Richmond Times-Dispatch.