Library News - Top News Archives

Early American Imprints & the U.S. Congressional Serial Set

Monday, November 16, 2009
Noon - 1:00 p.m.
Cabell Library Instruction Classroom, Room 319
Monroe Park Campus

Early American Imprints covers early American literature, printing, and history. The U.S. Congressional Serial Set covers the history of American government from 1817 to 1973. This workshop will teach you the basics of using these resources, which share a common interface, to find primary sources in the areas they cover. For more information, please contact John Glover.

What do you want in a new library building? Attend the Cabell Life Forum and talk directly with consultants who are identifying needs for a new library building on the Monroe Park Campus.  When does the library meet your needs and when do you go elsewhere because it doesn't?  The Libraries needs to hear from students. Hear library updates and voice concerns.

When: Thursday, November 12, 5 p.m.

Where: Cabell Library 4th Floor Conference Room, adjacent to the elevators.

Free Food!

Join us as Virginia Commonwealth University commemorates the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, which took place Nov. 20, 1909, at 919 W. Franklin Street, now VCU's Crenshaw House. The ESL became the League of Women Voters of Virginia in 1920, shortly after the 19th Amendment was ratified granting women the right to vote.

Nov. 16, 2009 7 p.m.
University Student Commons Theater
907 Floyd Ave.
"Iron Jawed Angels," a 2004 HBO production.
Much of it filmed in Richmond, Virginia. Stars Hilary Swank and Anjelica
Huston, and tells the story of the struggle of several suffragists who
fought for the passage of the 19th amendment.

Nov. 19, 2009 7 p.m.
University Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballroom
907 Floyd Ave.
Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway, Ph.D. will present "A Lady's
Place is in the House [of Delegates]: Virginia Women in Politics,
1909-2009."

Nov. 20, 2009 Noon
Suffrage march and official renaming of the Crenshaw House
Participants will gather on the Shafer Court side of Ginter House, 901
W. Franklin St., and march to the Crenshaw House, 919 W. Franklin St.

All events are free and open to the public.  Parking is available for a fee in the West Main Street, West Cary Street and West Broad Street parking decks.  If special accommodations are needed, please e-mail krsepar@vcu.edu or call 804-827-1163.

Story on WCVE-FM
Listen to an interview with VCU Libraries' Ray Bonis about the women's suffrage movement in Richmond (audio courtesy of WCVE).

This event is sponsored by the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, VCU Libraries and the League of Women Voters.  You can learn more about the founding of the Equal
Suffrage League online or in Special Collections and Archives, 4th floor, James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Avenue.

Using Google Scholar
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
11:30 a.m. - Noon
Cabell Library Instruction Classroom, Room 319
Monroe Park Campus

Google Scholar uses a search engine-style interface to find scholarly literature. Researching with it, however, is not the same as searching the Web! This class will cover basic and some advanced aspects of using Google Scholar, getting Google Scholar to work with VCU resources, and give you a little bit more information about what Google Scholar is and how it works.

Tompkins-McCaw Library will be hosting the Medical Library Association Webcast, "Cut the Cord: Connecting to Our Mobile Users," on Wednesday, November 18th, in the Distance Education Room, 2-010. The goal of this Webcast is to familiarize information professionals with current and emerging mobile technologies, innovative initiatives using mobile devices, useful mobile software applications, and funding options for projects using mobile devices.

The Webcast will run from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., with an optional wrap around discussion taking place from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Register online, or visit the official Website for more information.

Have you noticed PubMed's new appearance, but need some help navigating the new layout? Attend one of Tompkins-McCaw Library's P"ubMed Redesign: Are You Ready for the New Look?" workshops on Wednesday, November 4 from 12 to 1 pm or Tuesday, November 10 from 10 to 11 am.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has redesigned most PubMed search screens. To start with, the PubMed homepage has been streamlined, and includes an NCBI Header, Search Bar, and Footer that are common to all PubMed pages. There have been changes to display pages, location of Limits, History, and other tabs, Clipboard and output options. This class will go over these changes and provide a quick review of how best to search PubMed and send your results to RefWorks.

To register for the Wednesday, November 4 class, visit http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7257.
To register for the Tuesday, November 10 class, visit http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7258.

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, October 27, 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.

This fall, Cabell Library is offering a new service - Walk-In Research Clinics. These three-hour clinics are designed for students with research questions that may require more in-depth assistance than what library staff can provide at the "Ask Us" research assistance desk. A librarian will work with students one-on-one to help them find books, journal articles and other useful library resources. We're targeting these hands on clinics to students in ENGL 200 and UNIV 112, but they're open to anyone with a research paper. Attending these open, hands-on clinics can help students save time and stress!

Walk-In Research Clinics
James Branch Cabell Library
Library Instruction Classroom, Room 319

• Monday, October 26, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 27, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 28, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Thursday, October 29, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Monday, November. 2, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 3, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Monday, November 9, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 10, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 11, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 17, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Thursday, November 19, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Monday, November 30, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 1, 4 - 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 2, 4 - 7 p.m.

Researchers are encouraged to stop by anytime the clinics are open. For a list of library instruction classes and events on both campuses, visit the VCU Libraries Events page.
 

Tompkins-McCaw Library will be offering the following online workshops during the remainder of the fall semester:

Evidence-Based Medicine
Wednesday, October 28
6 - 7 p.m.
Need evidence to support clinical decision making? This class will cover the definition and theory behind EBM and will showcase VCU Libraries resources for medical evidence in the literature. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7239

Finding Complementary & Alternative Medicine
Friday, November 6
1:30 - 2 p.m.
Need reliable information on complementary and alternative medicine? Confused by contradictory claims and evidence about dietary supplements? Explore databases and websites for both health professionals and patients during this online workshop. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7240

PubMed
Tuesday, November 10
6 - 7 p.m.
During this online workshop, learn to search MEDLINE via PubMed, including basic features and search techniques such as limits, display options, and print formats. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7241

Keeping Current with Your Research
Thursday, November 12
6 - 7 p.m.
During this online workshop you will learn tips to help make your research efforts more effective and efficient. Attendees will be shown how to customize library services, store searches and find the most current research using PubMed, Web of Science (WOS), and NCHS data sources. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7242

RefWorks
Wednesday, December 2
6 - 7 p.m.
Do you want to save time and energy in managing your citations and creating a bibliography? This class will discuss topics including importing citations from databases, organizing the citations, and correctly formatting citations for a manuscript. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/training/course_detail.asp?ID=7243

Dissertations and Theses Full Text (ProQuest), the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses, is now available from VCU Libraries. The database of record for graduate research, Dissertations and Theses Full Text includes 2.4 million searchable citations to dissertations and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present. It also includes one million full text dissertations available for download in PDF format. 

Dissertations and Theses Full Text offers full text for most dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. More than 60,000 new full text dissertations and theses are added to the database each year through dissertations publishing partnerships with 700 leading academic institutions worldwide. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts. Simple bibliographic citations are available for dissertations dating from 1637. Where available, Dissertations and Theses Full Text provides 24-page previews of dissertations and theses.

Anatomy.TV is an interactive 3D model of human anatomy online. This unique database provides detailed views of anatomy at various levels from bone to surface structure. Models can be rotated and layers can be peeled away to view medically accurate representations of anatomical structures. Interactive quizzes and multiple-choice questions help test student knowledge.

Learn how to use Anatomy.TV at either of Tompkins-McCaw Library's workshops on Thursday, October 22 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. in room 2-012, or on Thursday, November 5 from 12:00 to 12:30 in room 2-012. We will demonstrate how to use this database for studying as well as for classroom use, presentations, and lectures, and how to incorporate the database into Blackboard courses.

• Register for the October 22 class.
• Register for the November 5.

Tompkins-McCaw Library and University Student Commons and Activities Programs will be screening three films for the MCVC Fall Documentary Film Series.

The first film, A Brilliant Madness, will be shown Tuesday, October 13 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Hunton Student Center's Learning Center. A Brilliant Madness is the story of a mathematical genius whose career was cut short by a descent into madness. At the age of 30, John Nash, a stunningly original and famously eccentric MIT mathematician, suddenly began claiming that aliens were communicating with him and that he was a special messenger. The program features interviews with John Nash, his wife Alicia, his friends and colleagues, and experts in game theory and mental illness. Register online to attend the film.

The second film, Babyland, will be shown Tuesday, November 17 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Hunton Student Center's Learning Center. The broadcast follows an unusual relationship between a black teenage mother-to-be and a white volunteer from a suburban church whose goal is to ensure that the baby is born healthy. The surprising bond between the inner city mother and her suburban mentor becomes the emotional center of the documentary. Their journey together through pregnancy and birth and the twists and turns that follow is an intense story that cuts through issues of race and class. The women learn about each other and themselves. Register online to attend the film.

The third film, Secrets of the Mind, will be shown Friday, December 4 from noon to 1 p.m. in Hunton Student Center's Learning Center. The film follows neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran as he investigates four mysterious psychological cases involving blindness and sight, phantom limbs and pain, and delusional thinking; and delivers his astounding conclusions. Register online to attend the film.

The library's Web team has been hard at work on a redesign of the VCU Libraries homepage, but we need your help before we go live. Please take a moment to review the redesigned site by clicking on the image in our redesign blog, then answer a few short questions for us.

Learn about the variety of resources and services available to you from the VCU Libraries. In these one hour sessions, we'll show you the most effective ways to find books, journals, and other information for research. We will provide an orientation to the Tompkins-McCaw Library and its services, as well as offer a tour of the facility for employees and students. Tours will begin at the Service Desk, first floor, Tompkins-McCaw Library, 509 N. 12th St.

Click on the following dates for more information and to register:

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 from 9:00 - 10:00 am
Thursday, October 1, 2009 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 12:00 - 1:00 pm
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 from 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Friday, November 6, 2009 from 9:00 - 1-:00 am
Monday, November 16, 2009 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm
Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm