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/.

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.

Faculty reception/author celebration

On Wednesday, October 7 from 4 to 6 p.m., the library will host its inaugural fall reception to welcome faculty to the library and celebrate Stevens authors. Books by Stevens authors as well as 900 journal papers from the last few years will be highlighted.

Wine and cheese will be served and it will be a great opportunity for faculty to socialize with colleagues and the library staff.

For planning purposes, faculty members & department heads are encouraged to let us know they're planning to attend by September 25. RSVP here if you would like to attend.

We look forward to seeing the faculty here at the library on Wednesday, October 7!

ILL Department's New Direct Publisher Option for Document Requests

The Interlibrary Loan Department has introduced a new feature for document requests - the Publisher Direct Option.

We now offer the option to request a copy of your journal article directly from a publisher. This option would be ideal for patrons needing the clearest available images in his/her articles. Examples of such pictures would be molecules, cells, etc. - anything that might need a very clear image for research.

For the time being the fee for this service is $5 - this is on top of the $1 (regular) or $10 (rush) processing fee.

This option is listed in online Deposit Accounts, online Student Account Forms as well as the pdf of the paper Document Request Form (which can be found on the ILL webpage or at the library circulation desk).

Please note that the fee could be higher if the article costs significantly more than the $25 the library subsidizes. Also, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to always be able to get a publisher’s copy. If either of these circumstances occurs, we would contact you to decide how to proceed.

For more information on the Publisher Direct Option, please contact Mary Ellen Valverde or the Interlibrary Loan Department.

Homeland Security Digital Library now available to Stevens researchers

Stevens now has access to the Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL), containing over 65,000 important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources from universities, organizations and local and state agencies.

You can access this resource directly through their website (https://www.hsdl.org), or through the Library's Online Resources page. However, access is restricted to the Stevens community, and users must either be on the Stevens network (on campus), or signed into the Stevens virtual private network (VPN). For more information on establishing a VPN connection, see here: http://www.stevens.edu/library/about/connect.html

More information on the HSDL, from their website:

The Homeland Security Digital Library is the nation's premier collection of documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management. The HSDL is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Directorate, FEMA and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

The Homeland Security Digital Library is composed of homeland security related documents collected from a wide variety of sources. These include federal, state, tribal, and local government agencies, professional organizations, think tanks, academic institutions, and international governing bodies. Resources are carefully selected and evaluated by a team of librarians and subject-matter specialists.

DON'T PANIC

Because we know there's a lot of information (and mis-information) making the rounds out there, we thought we'd provide some links to quality, reliable resources on the H1N1 (swine flu) virus.

First off, two quick posts which provide some clarification about the virus and the current situation:

• What is Swine Flu? How Does an Animal Disease Spread to a Human Host? (via Geeks are Sexy)
• Swine Flu Q & A (via BoingBoing)

For official and scholarly information on the topic, check out:

• The Center for Disease Control's H1N1 Flu page: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/
• Medline Plus's Swine Flu page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/swineflu.html
• DynaMed's Swine Flu topic collection: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/swineflu/

For even more information, try Dalhousie University's public health subject guide (or you can look at a list of subject guides on this topic here.)

Hope that helps! Be safe, and just remember, wash your hands and stay home when you're sick and we'll be OK.

April Research Workshops

Are you writing a paper or working on a final project? Do you need to find journal articles and books to support your research topic?

Come to a Research Workshop at the Library!

Choose from 3 convenient workshop dates:

1. Wednesday, April 8th @ 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
2. Monday, April 13th @ 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
3. Tuesday, April 21st @ 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

You will improve the quality of your paper/project by learning:
- How to quickly find the full text of top-quality research sources (journal articles, books, e-books, conference papers, newspaper & magazine articles)
- How to cite your sources correctly in your paper and your bibliography
- How to find & use the best research resources for your papers and projects
- How to go beyond the free Internet and start using the innovative, scholarly, & professional research databases available through the Library website

All members of the Stevens community are welcome. All Undergraduate students, Graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend.

Questions? Contact Linda Beninghove, Head of Reference and Research Services, at linda.beninghove@stevens.edu or 201-216-5412.

Location: Workshops will meet in Library Research Training Room 204 on the second floor of the Library.
We look forward to seeing you there.