Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Research Workshops: Fall 2009 schedule

The S.C. Williams Library will offer several workshops this semester to help you improve your research skills and knowledge. Please join us for these useful and informative workshops!

The following workshops are offered:

  • Graduate & Ph.D. Research Workshop: Tuesday, October 6, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
    For students interested in improving their knowledge of the scholarly & professional research resources & databases available through the library. All students are welcome.
  • SciFinder Database Workshop: Wednesday, October 21, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
    SciFinder covers chemistry, biomedical sciences, materials science, engineering, and more. This workshop will cover basic & advanced searching, in addition to structure searching.
  • Ebsco Database Workshop: Tuesday, October 27, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
    Learn how to maximize your search results in the Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, and PsycInfo databases.
  • Preparing Your Dissertation or Thesis Workshop: Thursday, November 5, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
    Important workshop for anyone working on a dissertation, thesis, or senior report. Topics covered will be formatting, specifications, LaTeX questions, and requirements.

If you have any questions, please contact a Reference & Research Services Librarian

All workshops will meet in Library Research Training Room 204, located on the second floor of the Library.
Directions:
Walk up one flight of stairs, pass the boat hulls on your left as you cross the bridge, turn left at the presidents' portraits, walk straight past the restrooms & exhibits towards room 204.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Scopus database downtime

The Scopus database will be unavailable for approximately 13 hours due to scheduled maintenance, starting on Saturday, 19 September at 8:00 AM EDT.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Take the Knovel Challenge

Answer three questions from the Knovel database and be eligible to win a Wii, iPod, Kindle, or iTunes gift cards! The Knovel University Challenge is a contest that runs every year at universities all over the world. Knovel is a library database with electronic reference books specializing in engineering and science.

If at least 100 students from Stevens answer the questions correctly, we are guaranteed to have a Stevens student win an iPod Nano!

Friday, September 11, 2009

ILL Department Looking For Graduate Student Worker

The SC Williams Library is looking for one graduate student worker for the Interlibrary Loan department. The student must be reliable and detail oriented.
Students that will graduate in December 2010 or later are preferred. Also, students must be available to work during the summer.

We are accepting applications until September 18thth and the position will start on or around September 28th.

Applications are available at the library circulation desk and you may attach a resume to the application. On your application, make a note that this is for the ILL position so that the application is given to ILL. Students MUST fill out an application to be considered for the position. Please do not email resumes to the ILL department.

PLEASE NOTE: Only those selected will be contacted for interviews. We will not be contacting everyone.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security Announces Third Annual Essay Competition


The Center for Homeland Defense and Security (www.chds.us) is seeking entries for its Third Annual Essay Competition. The competition carries a $1,500 prize for the winning entry and the writer will be invited to the Center’s campus for its annual Forum. This competition strives to stimulate original thought and analysis on issues in Homeland Security and Homeland Defense. The competition is open to anyone with an interest in homeland security issues. The criteria for the essay and its submission are:

Statement of Purpose: According to the National Strategy for Homeland Security, the objectives of homeland security are to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. The purpose of this competition is to promote innovative thinking that addresses these objectives.

Essay question: How can, or should, the United States make homeland security a more layered, networked, and resilient endeavor involving all citizens?

Responses may be general or may focus on a specific aspect (organizational, policy, strategy, practice, technological innovation, social impact, etc.) or discipline/field, such as emergency management, public health, law enforcement, critical infrastructure or intelligence. The essay may also be written from any perspective — e.g. government, private sector, cultural, local community or citizen.

Who may enter: Anyone interested in homeland security issues. Individuals associated with CHDS past and present are not eligible.

Competition Guidelines: The essay should be no more than five pages, single spaced, 12-point type and in Word or PDF format. Do not include author’s name on the essay. Entries will be submitted via webpage instructions. Deadline for submission: January 31, 2010.

Notification: The winner and finalists will be announced no later than May 31, 2010.

Criteria:
Essays are judged according to the relevance of the response to the question, innovation of ideas, strength of the argument and quality of the writing.

Award: The winner will receive a $1,500 cash award and will be invited to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, located at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., where he or she will be recognized at the CHDS Forum.

Last year’s winning entry was titled “Emergency Response, Public Health and Poison Control: Logical Linkages for Successful Risk Communication and Improved Disaster and Mass Incident Response” and authored by Valerie Yeager, research assistant and writer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham South Central Center for Public Health Preparedness. The essay was the top essay out of 147 entries.

The winning essay for the first year of the contest was titled “Reducing the Risk” by Matthew Allen, a staff scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. This essay was chosen out of 80 entries.

For contest information and to enter, visit www.chds.us/?essay/overview.

About CHDS: Established in 2002 on the campus of the 100-year-old Naval Postgraduate School, the Center seeks to educate homeland security leaders in strategic thinking and leadership from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The Center’s master’s degree program graduates 90 senior officials every year and is noted for offering the nation’s first master’s degree in homeland security. The Mobile Education Team (MET) travels around the country and has conducted more than 100 seminars for governors, mayors and their homeland security teams. More than 3,000 senior officials have participated in the MET program since its inception. The Center’s Executive Leaders Program draws leaders from government and private industry to provide an educational forum to enhance senior leaders’ capacity to identify and resolve homeland security problems. For information, visit www.chds.us.

About NPS: The mission of the Naval Postgraduate School is to provide unique advanced education and research programs in order to increase the combat effectiveness of the U.S. and Allied armed forces as well as enhance the security of the United States. For information, see www.nps.edu.

For more information, contact:

Heather Issvoran
Director, Strategic Communications
(831) 402-4672
Email: hissvora@nps.edu

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Safari books upgrade + contest

The library now subscribes to the entire collection of Safari Books Online. The collection contains over 8,000 computer science and technical books, with new publications added continually.

The Safari online database has a limit of 5 concurrent users, so if you can't access a book, please try again after a few minutes.

Safari is currently running a Dynamite Coding Skills contest, where you can win a personal 3 month Safari subscription and an invitation to join Tim O'Reilly at an event next year. More information is available here: http://safaribooksonline.com/Corporate/DynamiteCodingSkills/.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

H1N1 virus protocol update

Stevens is carefully monitoring and preparing for the cold & flu season, and a message has been posted on the Stevens website to help students, faculty, and staff understand the advised protocols for dealing with possible H1N1 virus occurrences at http://www.stevens.edu/sit/h1n1.cfm

Health authorities recommend that you

* Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use an alcohol-based gel
* Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze
* Avoid close contact with those with flu symptoms
* Eat nutritionally, drink plenty of water, and get adequate rest

Read more on the Stevens website to get helpful contact info and advice about how you can prepare for the cold & flu season -- and how you can help reduce the transmission of the flu virus.