Ohrstrom Blog » General Works

New Research Guide: L.A. Riots

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:00:26 +0000

A new research guide for the Humanities IV L.A. Riots project is available on the library’s website. Use this guide to identify and review: reference materials, library catalog (printed books & eBooks), newspaper collections, NBC newsreels, and Noodlebib citation tutorials.

Please feel free to contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu) for a research consultation and/or to discuss any of the items in this guide.

New Reference Book: Lend Me Your Ears: Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:36 +0000

Lend Me Your Ears: Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations edited by Anthony Jay, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 2010.

Find it in Ohrstrom at: REF 808.88 Ox2P

A compendium of politically-related quotes.

Examples:

Joan Baez – “The only thing that’s been a worse flop than the organization of non-violence has been the organization of violence.”
Saul Bellow – “Sitting tight is power.”
Michael Heseltine – “The market has no morality.”
Jean-Pierre Raffarin – “We have a country which loves ideology, and we need pragmatism.”
Grover A. Whalen – “There’s a lot of law at the end of a nightstick.”

Helpful for: Political Studies, Humanities, History, Global Studies

Magazine Archive within Google Books

Lura Sanborn — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:24 +0000

Google Books contains a collection of magazines embedded within its larger Google Books tool. Titles range from American Woodworker, Current Organic Chemistry to Texas Monthly with many title in between. Date range varies widely by title.

This brief video describes how to extract and search Life from within Google Books. The same technique can be applied to any magazine within this Google collection.

Helpful for: Humanities, History, Science, Art, Popular Culture

The Library in Your Lap

Lura Sanborn — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:16 +0000

This phrase, coined by current senior, RG ’12, is such a great way of expressing the always available digital content purchased/subscribed to by Ohrstrom library.

When you are off the SPS grounds, such as during the upcoming Winter Break, simply visit vpn.sps.edu and log in with your SPS credentials. All of the library’s digital holdings will now become available, including:

Analog hungry? Stop by the library before the break to pick up a physical book(s). We will be happy to provide an extended due date.

Image courtesy of rogdorf under this Creative Common license.

eBooks in Project Muse Beta Site

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:00:39 +0000

We already love Project Muse for recent journal content, but very soon we will also have the opportunity to fall in love with Project Muse all over again – this time with eBooks! Earlier this year Project Muse announced it would be adding an eBook component to its database. Expected to launch in early 2012, the eBook content is projected to exceed 12,000 unique eBook titles, all searchable simultaneously within the existing journal content.

Project Muse has a beta site, currently containing 300 scholarly eBooks, available now at: http://beta.muse.jhu.edu/

Look for an announcement in 2012 regarding access to Project Muse eBook collections via Ohrstrom Library.

If you have questions about accessing Ohrstrom Library’s eBook or digital journal collections, please contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu).

eReference @ Ohrstrom

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:00:31 +0000

Teacher says no Wikipedia allowed? Concerned about author credibility? Try searching Ohrstrom Library’s digital reference collections, available from the library’s eReference page.

These eReference collections will quickly provide essential background information, written by known experts and backed by an academic publishing house.

The Credo Reference product provides access to 500+ digital reference titles, all searchable simultaneously.

The Gale Reference product is being built title-by-title, and includes such classics as The Encyclopedia of Religion.

Please feel free to contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu) to discuss or review the library’s eReference products.

New Database: NBC Learn

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:00:33 +0000

Ohrstrom Library is pleased to share its most recent digital purchase: NBC Learn.

This database provides over 10,000 news videos dating back the early 20th century. The database is updated every weekday with current event news.

Each video includes an accompanying transcript. Videos can be embedded into online coursework, including Blackboard.

Please feel free to contact Ms. Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu) with any questions about or to arrange for a personal tour of this product.

Accessing eBooks at Ohrstrom

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:00:12 +0000

Ohrstrom Library provides access to an ever-growing collection of eBooks. The library currently has 86,000+ eBooks available, all with unlimited simultaneous user access.

There are two methods of locating eBooks: using the online catalog or by visiting any of the library’s individual eBook collections available on the library’s eBook page.

Library eBook collections are viewable on most versions of the following: PCs, tablets and hand-held devices.

This short video tutorial describes accessing the libraries eBooks and demonstrates two of the library’s current collections:

As always, when accessing the library’s digital collections when off the grounds, please log in with your SPS user credentials to: vpn.sps.edu

Please feel free to contact Lura Sanborn (lsanborn at sps dot edu) with your question(s) about the library’s eBook collections.

ebrary offers open access to 9/11 ebooks through September

Lura Sanborn — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:00:54 +0000

Throughout the month of September, ebrary, an eBook vendor that Ohrstrom Library currently contracts with, is offering free access to its collection related to 9/11. Fifteen searchable, full-text ebooks are available as part of this collection.

In support of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, ebrary is offering open access to a collection of relevant e-books through September. We hope that this collection provides a valuable resource to anyone seeking to learn or understand more about this tragic event, or reflect on its world impact.

Thank you ebrary.

eBook Collection Highlight: Study Guides & College Admissions

Lura Sanborn — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:00:37 +0000

Read Ohrstrom’s eBook collections while away for the summer! Simply visit vpn.sps.edu & log in using your SPS user name and password.

Next, click on the library link and search the library catalog.

To retrieve only eBooks, use the advanced search feature to limit by item type ‘eBook.’

Preparing for college admission? Consider a subject search for “Universities and Colleges, Admission.”

Studying for entrance exams? Consider a subject search for “SAT, Study Guides.”

All of Ohrstrom’s eBooks can be read on a personal computer. No special e-reader is required. Happy e-reading!