SciFinder Scholar installed on two public workstations

SciFinder Scholar, a unique database that allows you to explore chemical literature, substances, and reactions, is now available at two workstations at the library. These workstations have been designated as "priority workstations", so that users who want to search the SciFinder Scholar database can have priority. SciFinder serves the biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, materials science, and related disciplines.

If you'd like to use SciFinder Scholar from your own computer, you must first install the SciFinde software onto your computer. This is only done once and only takes a couple of minutes. You'll need a valid connection to the SciFinder database, either by being on campus or by setting up a VPN connection if you're located off-campus. Instructions for downloading the SciFinder scholar software are located here.

The library's site license only allows one simultaneous user at a time. Therefore, if you're unable to connect, try again later. Also, please remember to disconnect from SciFinder when you're done so that someone else can use it.

To find out what SciFinder has to offer you, check out the SciFinder product overview.

If you have any questions about SciFinder Scholar, please contact a Reference and Research Services Librarian.

Stevens dissertations available online

The text and images of nearly all doctoral dissertations produced at Stevens from 1987 to the present are now available for viewing online via the Proquest database. These dissertations are the first available in a project that will eventually provide online access to every dissertation produced at the institute, with the exception of dissertations with publication restrictions.

The library's online resources page has a link to the dissertations page under the heading Stevens Dissertations Online. Access to the full text is available only within the Stevens network (see here for connecting from 0ff-campus locations.)

For more information about the project, contact Scott Smith at scott.smith@stevens.edu or at 201-216-5419.

New Online ILL Document Request Form for Students

Attention all students: Getting articles & documents from outside of Stevens just got a lot easier. Interlibrary loan documents can now be requested online through the library’s website. Students can use their campus wide ID and log into our system. The fee for each document request will be taken from your student account. (Up until now, you had to fill out a paper form and bring it with your payment to the Circulation Services desk).

Before submitting your request, please make sure that the library does not already own the document you need. Requests will not be filled for items available at Stevens. You may check which journals we have available by using our Full Text Journal Finder and the iLink online catalog or you can use our Multisearch feature for finding specific articles you need.

We hope you will find that faster and easier document requests will help make your research time much more efficient – it’s the latest of many new, interactive tools on the new, streamlined library website.

Any questions can be directed to Mary Ellen Valverde , Head of Interlibrary Loan and Document Delivery Services.

New library website featured in The Stute

The Stute, Stevens Institute's weekly newspaper, has published a front page article about the new library website in their September 5th issue. The article, entitled Stevens' S.C. Williams Library Website Revamped and written by Jean Matusiak, gives a positive review of the fresh and interactive features of our streamlined new website. The article features librarian Valerie Forrestal's description of many of the new site's features, like the Meebo IM reference tool, the elegant and modern new design, and the recent publications (by Stevens' professors & researchers) feature, which is a tool powered by the Scopus database that helps to provide more visibility for the research papers published by the Stevens community.

As Valerie Forrestal is quoted in the article, the development of the new website can best be summarized as follows: "Essentially, we wanted to increase awareness of the Library's resources by making them more accessible and easier to use, and by providing better means for patrons to contact us with comments, needs and suggestions."

Check out the full article in The Stute here. And, as always, we welcome your feedback about our new site!

Alexander Calder, 1919 Stevens alum: Art exhibition at NYC's Whitney Museum

Ever wonder about the artist who created the mobile that hangs in the great hall of the S.C. Williams Library here at Stevens? Alexander Calder was a 1919 mechanical engineering graduate of Stevens who went on to become an internationally prominent and well-loved artist who is credited for inventing the mobile as an art form. The library also owns a stabile sculpture by Calder on the second floor.

From the Whitney Museum of American Art's website:

"Alexander Calder is one of the most beloved, important, and critically acclaimed artists of the twentieth century. A highly focused historical show with the spirit of a young artist’s first retrospective, Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926–1933 explores a time when, from the ages of 27 to 34, Calder created his first wire drawings in space, performed his Circus (made in Paris 1926–31 and part of the Whitney’s permanent collection), and invented his signature mobiles."

The exhibit is entitled Alexander Calder: The Paris Years, 1926-1933 and it runs from October 16, 2008 through February 15, 2009. More information can be found on the Whitney's list of upcoming exhibitions.

User feedback helps improve new website

We've been getting a lot of positive feedback about the new library website from students and faculty alike - and we really appreciate your taking the time to let us know what you think. This week, a library user suggested that we change the name of the Full Text Finder to a more accurate representation of what this search tool really does. So, we discussed it and we've changed the name to "Full-Text Journal Finder". This search tool helps users to find out whether or not the full text of a journal, magazine, or newspaper is available in any of the online resources to which the library subscribes.

For example, if you want to know if you can get the full text of the New York Times, just type this newspaper title into the Full-Text Journal Finder search box, and click "Search". The results will show you that you can get the full text of NY Times articles from 1980 to the present.

If you're not entirely certain of the exact title of a journal, select "Title contains all words" in the drop-down box to the left of the search box. Then, enter the words you think appear in the journal title for which you're looking. For example, if you are looking for all publications that contain the phrase "Academy of Management", type in that phrase, and click "Search". The results will show you that 14 publications available in full text contain the phrase "Academy of Management", including: Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, and Journal of the Academy of Management.

The Full-Text Journal Finder is just one of many new search tools on the library's new website that will help make your searching more efficient and more rewarding. Ask a Librarian if you have any questions.

Library resources survey results available online

If you haven't had a chance to review the results of the survey conducted by the library last semester, now is your chance! The report & results were distributed at the last faculty meeting, and now they are available on the library website.

As part of our role to provide support for the research activities carried out by the Institute, the library staff and the members of the Library Committee conducted an online resource survey in January 2008 designed to assess the research needs of the faculty and researchers.

Check out the results within the About the Library section in the Reports/Publications section.