Living in the Great White North

One good thing about living in the frozen tundra is you can spend lots of quality indoor time reading, meditating, and exploring the Library web site without feeling one stitch of guilt for not running around outside. Indoor, sedentary living is positively encouraged in the Arctic Circle where we seem to be living right now so we are including only one news item that pertains to getting outside and socializing a bit…(see below for info about our focus groups which are taking place next week (free pizza)! Other than that, explore away while nestled deep in your igloo…

1) Library News

Podcast: Library Web Site Treasures!

Check out this week’s BRAINcast where you can hear about the wealth of hidden gems and the vast resource riches available on TheBRAIN, the Library @ Mohawk’s website. Set sail for an adventure on the web, and we’ll share with you the tips and tricks you need to make your quest for knowledge both easy and fruitful. Ahoy Mateys!

We want your opinion!

The Library @ Mohawk wants to hear from students! The week of February 12^th, the Library will again be conducting focus groups …get the details here! Tell your students! Tell your friends! Get free pizza…and fabulous parting gifts!

The Joy of Proper Citing

We’ve just added a great new citation tool to TheBRAIN: KnightCite comes from Calvin College’s Hekman Library. Cite a resource in MLA, APA or Chicago style easily by filling in the online form with the required information. Choose the type of resource you are citing such as book, periodical, web site, etc. and whether the item is print or electronic. The tool also has a nice, little Help window (click “show info” to display it). Brings the fun back to creating a bibliography!

The new titles are here, the new titles are here!

More new titles have been added to the Library @ Mohawk collections! Check out the New Titles list to get the full scoop!

Meet the new databases

Continuing in our Meet the new databases series, this week I’d like you to meet Computer Database from Thomson Gale. It’s crammed full of computer science magazines and journals – it doesn’t get any more exciting, does it? Check out some of these titles: Byte.com, PC Magazine, CAD/Cam Update, International Journal of Computational Intelligence and more! Like the other new databases, a handy list of subjects appears down the left side of your results – this is helpful if the results didn’t turn out the way you’d hoped and you need some guidance. A search box also appears in this sidebar in case you want to start over. Give Computer Database a whirl by heading over to the Library’s list of Magazine Databases.

Lurking Librarians Redux

A reader asked last week for more info on our Ask-A-Librarian link within the EBSCOhost databases. Thank you for the question! This handy features comes with our EBSCOhost database products, built right in! (Just need to flick the switch inside the EBSCOhost Admin… for the techie readers!) I’ve included here a screenshot for folks wondering just what I’m nattering on about. Just click the Ask-A-Librarian link (at the top of any EBSCOhost page) and an email will be sent to us so we can help you out! Not as speedy as instant messaging of course….so if you’d like a super quick response, just IM braintogo! By the way, keep those comments coming! Just click the Comment link below any posting to say what’s on your mind!

2) E-learning news…

If you only read one article this month…

The best article I have read in a long time that gives an excellent overview of key trends in Internet culture and how they relate to education is: “Web 2.0 and the Evolution of Instructional Design” written by Jay Cross and located at the Learning Circuits web site.

Read some nice, clean overviews of concepts that you’ve heard bandied about such as the cluetrain manifesto, the long tail, the new economy, etc and then see them all tied together into some fascinating points to ponder for instructional design and the future of education in general. This is a good, meaty article with lots of solid info – if it was a burger it would be a half pounder loaded with cheese.

If you read two articles this month…

If your diet of interesting articles includes two articles, then take a gander at Predictions for 2007 compiled by Lisa Neal, Editor-in-Chief, eLearn Magazine The article is a collection of interesting quotes from leaders in the elearning and instructional design field regarding what they think are the trends to watch for this year. See what Stephen Downes, Curt Bonk, Jay Cross and other luminaries think the future holds for us! My favourite: “The world has become unpredictable; only a fool plans far in advance these days.” Well said, Jay Cross! This article is definitely the fries to go with the above burger.

Great little newsletter

Vendor newsletters are usually all about self-promo for the company. The Techsmith newsletter however has some really nice little treats that aren’t just about them and their great products (even though their products are pretty impressive.) For example check out the Techsmith in Education site and access some great articles on RSS and education, best practices for integrating animations into presentations, and more. A refreshing little newsletter! The pop to go with the burger and fries.

3) Web world news…

Wikipedia for research?

A big problem with Wikipedia is that because anyone can contribute you might not always get the best information. The Citizendium is a wikipedia written by experts and the founder hopes it will improve upon Wikipedia while still taking advantage of the participatory nature of the resource. From the web site, “the project, started by a founder of Wikipedia, aims to improve on the Wikipedia model by adding “gentle expert oversight” and requiring contributors to use their real names.” The Citizendium began as a pilot project in November 2006 and since then 150 expert editors and 350 authors have joined in. Unfortunately it is not open to be browsed just yet – but you can see content if you register (for free). More info here.

Videos for research?

Last week, the video search engine Searchforvideo.com added a neat, new feature that lets you search for video by provider (for example, Discover, Forbes, HBO, etc.) This is a great help in wading through the glut of videos available on the web, especially the huge morass of user-generated content (which is great fun but not so great for research). And if you’re looking for even more precision when searching for videos on the web, try Blinkx. Blinkx uses patented search technologies to index video content.

Gmail for the Masses

Not really related to research but…couldn’t contain the excitement! If you’re looking for a web-based email program (perhaps to separate your work mail from your non-work mail), Google’s mail client, Gmail today opened up to the masses (used to be by invitation only). Gmail is different from other mail programs mainly because it doesn’t use folders; instead you can label your messages (like tagging in other social software programs). And the other bonus is the huge inbox size (2.8GB). If you’re just deciding on which free, web-based mail program to use, check out this handy comparison from Resourceshelf.

Hibernation Mode

If you’re anything like me (and most bears) you agree that this is the best time of year for hibernating. Well, why not check out some fab new library resources and web research tools while you’re tucked away in hibernation mode? We feature a few such tools this week. From the Library we have: 1) a new podcast on E-Journal Portal, 2) help while in EBSCOhost, 3) Library forum and suggestion box, 4) new content in facultyspace and 5) more in our “meet the new databases” series. And from the web: 1) a meta book search engine, 2) emigration records now online, 3) wikipedia search tool, 4) music recommender tool and 5) a revolutionary health web site.

News from the Library @ Mohawk

1) New Podcast: E-Journal Portal: should that be Easy Journal Portal?

Well, the “e” actually doesn’t stand for “easy” but it should! Listen in to this week’s podcast and learn just how easy it is to find an online magazine or journal on the Library’s web site. In case you haven’t heard, the E-Journal portal is a tool that makes it easy for you to find out if a particular magazine or journal title is available in the Library’s online collections! Learn all the nitty gritty in this week’s podcast.

2) Librarians lurk inside EBSCOhost – just waiting to help!

Now if you get stuck doing research in the online magazine and journal database EBSCOhost, help is just a click a way! When you’re searching in the database, take a gander at the top right corner to see the Ask-A-Librarian link. Then, if you get stuck with your research, just click on the link! You can also include your search history if you’d like us to help you refine or broaden your search.

3) Got a suggestion?

Got a burning library-related issue that you need to get out there? Want to start a conversation about your favourite library service? Who doesn’t? Well, now you can! Head on over to the Library’s Suggestion Box and User Forum and tell the world what you think about the Library, make a suggestion or ask a question. The Library Forum can also be accessed from the left navigation bar on the Library home page – just look for the Library Forum link!

4) New resources in facultyspace!

Fab online resources are continually being added to the facultyspace. This month we’ve added a handful of sites on podcasting…learn what it is, how to do it and what educational institutions are doing with this new technology. Also, check out some great assessment resources! To access, go to the facultyspace and enter podcasting or assessment (or any other topic that tickles your fancy) into the keyword search box.

5) Meet the new databases!

As I mentioned last issue, I’ll be introducing you to some of our brand new online databases in each blog posting. This week, I’d like you to meet InfoTrac Onefile…this is Thomson Gale’s largest, most comprehensive database. (Thomson Gale is the name of the vendor of the database in case you’re wondering). This feast for the brain covers almost 11,000 magazines, journals and newspapers and almost 6500 are in full text! (Full text means the whole article can be accessed online – right then and there!) But what subjects does it cover, you ask? Well, you name it! This baby covers the full gamut! It’s got your business, your science, your health, your news, your arts…and more! Well, how far does the archive go, you might wonder. Some issues go back to 1980 – the new wave era! Now, that’s an archive! But don’t just listen to me…check out all the facts or go on a guided tour! And when you’re ready to take her for a test drive, go to the Library’s magazine databases page and click InfoTrac Onefile.

Some exciting new web resources:

1) Triple your fun book search!

A new meta search engine (meta search engines let you use many search engines at once) lets you search 3 book databases at once! The appropriately named Book Search x 3 searches A9, Google and MSN Live Search all at the same time! These engines search public domain electronic books (that means, books no longer under copyright)…which means you can download and read ‘em right away. Nice, little book covers included in results!

2) Records from the old sod now online

Passenger record lists from the U.K. covering 1890 – 1899 went live this month on the web site findmypast and remaining decades between 1900 and 1960 will go live over the next six months. From the database, you can view digitised images of the original ship passenger records which contain over 1.5 million pages, listing the 30 million passengers who travelled on long-distance journeys from UK ports. If your ancestors came to Canada from the U.K., you just might see their names!

3) More fun with Wikipedia!

Wikiseek bills itself as “a better way to search wikipedia”. It searches entries in the wikipedia and also sites that are cited in wikipedia entries resulting in a nice, clean, spam-free interface! Why not just search Wikipedia? Unfortunately the evil-doers of the Internet world have awoken to the vast marketing (read: spamming) possibilities of wikipedia. With spam in the mix, your results can be diluted or just plain inaccurate. For more info on the challenges Wikipedia is facing, check out this interesting blog article by lawyer Eric Goldman.

4) More Music

Any time I hear of a new music recommender system, I like to tell y’all about it. Just discovered iLike and it is similar to Pandora that I’ve mentioned before in that it recommends music you might like based on your preferences. iLike goes one step further and includes a social network…see what other people are listening to and if you have similar tastes, you might discover new music based on their preferences. iLike also connects you to GarageBand.com, a site for emerging artists which contains free music. In addition, iLike offers a plugin for iTunes so that you can share playlists with friends. USA Today had a good article on 6 music services earlier this month if you’d like to find out more.

5) >A revolution in health web sites

There are loads of health sites on the web but RevolutionHealth is particularly interesting. Why? Like many web tools today, it’s social! This means that much of the content on the site has been rated by users. Looking for a treatment? See which treatments got the highest rating. Looking for nutritional information? Check the resources others found the most useful. Need to talk? Join the forums. Not sure exactly how much I would trust the information for a serious health issue; however for everyday health concerns like food labels, recipes and the like, it’s an interesting concept. In addition to all that, there are some great tools accessible right off the home page…a BMI index, a symptom checker (this part has authoritative information from sources such as the Mayo Clinic and National Institutes of Health), exercise and calorie trackers and more. Some of the content is primarily for U.S. residents (the doctor and hospital ratings for instance), but most of the content is of interest no matter where you live. The site is in its infancy now but as more people find it and add content I can see it growing in popularity. Join the revolution and check it out!

hanging out in the e-Library

P.S. You may notice that our display is a little off if you are using Internet Explorer. Our host, Blogger.com has recently made an upgrade…please bear with us as we work through the resulting changes. For a better display (and hassle-free web experience), you might want to download the Firefox browser. It’s free and both Internet Explorer and Firefox can be installed on your computer at the same time, so no problemo!

Deck the digital resources with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la laaaaaaaah

What is Santa leaving under the tree at the Library @ Mohawk – lots of new e-resources, reading materials and a library podcast, that’s what! And looks like he’s been to the web resource world too as there are lots of sweet treats there as well!

I )Library News

1) E-resource treats

Just a reminder that in January, you will see a whole bunch of new online magazines and journal databases, thanks to Knowledge Ontario! Can’t wait? Need a teaser? Well, okay…just a little one. Here is some information on the new databases coming your way! Some highlights: C.P.I.Q. will be a great resource to turn to when you need Canadian information – check out over 700 Canadian periodicals (English and French) with full-text articles from 240 Canadian periodicals! Wowsers! Health & Wellness Resource Center is the place to go when you need comprehensive health information – check out the books, journals, magazines and pamphlets in the areas of alternative and complimentary therapies. And there is oh, so much more! Tune in in January when we’ll divulge all!

2) Holiday reading

Looking for something to read over the holidays? Well, check out the Library’s new titles list! There are loads of books on watercolour and oil painting just in at Brantford, some interesting videos and DVD’s new at Fennell (The Corporation, Bigger than Enron), some great new welding videos at Stoney Creek, and of course, some new nursing books at IAHS! Just in time for holiday reading!

3) Holiday listening

Check out the BRAINcast web site for the latest podcast – this week we feature a tour of the e-Library @ Fennell campus! Listen as the waterfall gurgles and the fireplace crackles, hear the buzz of students working, and learn about all the neat services you can access in the e-Library!

II)Holiday goodies from e-land

1) Holiday gift from Microsoft: Live Search Books

Microsoft has just launched its ebook database, called Live Search Books, where you can search for and access full-text public domain ebooks. You can see the actual scanned pages of these books which is really exciting if you’re a book geek (like us in libraryland!) Where are all these books coming from? The books included are noncopyright books scanned from the collections of the British Library, the University of California and the University of Toronto with more coming soon from the New York Public Library, Cornell University and the American Museum of Veterinary Medicine. More info here in this article from Cnet News.

2) Festive treat from New York Times: 100 Notable Books of the Year

For a limited time, the New York Times is making available for free their list of the 100 notable books of the year. Thank you, New York Times!

3) Seasonal pressie from a wreath supplier in the Pacific Northwest

Who can’t do without the lyrics to popular Christmas songs? A free download for all of your carolling needs!

4) Holiday treat from PC Magazine

A treat for the geeks (like me) – PC Magazine’s 2006 Year in Review rates the best and worst in technology! Woo hoo! Great for last minute gift ideas too, hint, hint!

From all of us in the Library @ Mohawk to all of you, dear BRAIN_blog readers, have a happy and healthy holiday season!

Christmas in the e-Library

Baby, it’s cold outside

Well the cold weather is definitely here (it being December and all.) This means that it’s time to snuggle in under your favourite afghan with a warm cup of cocoa and some library news! In addition, why not check out a couple of cool sites, educational technology news and a review of some web tools that can help you to get organized? And look, it’s all right here!

1) Library News

Trial databases galore
Have you checked out the huge roster of trial databases on offer yet? Head on over and go for a test drive. We’ve got your computers, your business, your health, your science – all wrapped up! New this month – Nursing Consult! Just for the nursing folks, this database features news, books (some for PDA’s as well), clinical updates, journals and more. And when you’re done, let us know what you’re thinking about all this!

Confused by copyright?Are you confused about copyright? Well, give facultyspace a whirl. Click on classroom corner, then Copyright and you’re half way to becoming an expert! Almost! Take a gander at the links we’ve collected on the topic – there are guides, reports, legislation and even a presentation from the Library. Check it out!

EBSCOhost new features
As you are no doubt aware, EBSCOhost databases cover the full gamat of subject areas – from health to business to news and everything in between and they include thousands (yes, thousands!) of top quality magazine and journal articles. Well, now EBSCOhost offers some new features! Click on the New Features link in the top right corner and check them out! Not sure where to start? See the list of magazine and journal collections at TheBRAIN!

New podcast
New this week! On this week’s BRAINcast, we get social, social bookmarking, that is! Learn the in’s and out’s of this exciting new personal information management tool! Check it out on the BRAINcast web site!

2) A couple of cool sites…

Just a couple of sites we’ve come across in libraryland that we thought you might be interested in:

Culture.ca is “Canada’s cultural gateway…for everyone who wants to explore, find, and share the best of Canada’s cultural and creative life.” And who doesn’t? Not a new site, but an improved one with loads of new content and easy-to-use subject categories such as Arts, Heritage, Society, and more! Also features some interesting Canadian cultural blogs! And, well, it’s just so dang pretty!!

For a limited time only! Ancestry.com, the immigration records people, are extending free access to immigration records until Dec. 31st! The reason? They are celebrating “the world’s largest collection of U.S. immigration records”! The collection that is free to search features passenger records from over 100 American ports between the years 1820 to 1960. Also available until December 31st are select Canadian, UK and other worldwide immigration collections. (After Dec. 31st, a fee applies.) You do need to create a (free) login and when you do, watch out! It’s mighty addictive searching around for the ancestors!

3) In the educational technology department… news tip of the week!

There’s a new issue of EDUCAUSE review out! (Nov/Dec., 2006) Check out the article on youth, privacy and social networking technologies for an in-depth look at the legal and privacy implications of being social on the web. And in the New Horizons department, New Media and New Literacies: Perspectives on Change is a great article on how to be innovative in the college environment. Bottom line: networking, networking, networking!

4) In the new web tools department…

Do you have a driving desire to catalogue everything about yourself? Every book you’ve ever read? Restaurant you’ve ever tried? Movie you’ve ever seen? Well, maybe not. But if you do want to organize your stuff a bit better and on top of that, check out what other people are collecting, reading and eating….then there are web tools for the job!

Librarything lets you catalogue your book collection quickly and easily. This is a great tool to use if you want to keep track of books you’ve read too. Both fiction and nonfiction books are included. And the bonus to librarything is that you can check out what likeminded readers are reading. Simply create a (free) login and easily add records for your books (don’t worry – nothing fancy, here – no Dewey Decimal system!) You can also add tags (subject headings) for easy retrieval later. Then, the fun begins! Check out what other people (who have read the same books you have) are reading, dive into the reader forums, relish the recommendations!

Yes, you thought I was crazy when I suggested cataloguing restaurants and movies, didn’t you? But there is a tool out there just for this purpose! Allconsuming.net is a web site where folks catalogue books, music, movies, meals, restaurants and more! And like librarything, once you’ve finished cataloguing your life away, you can see what likeminded people are up to (when, like you, they aren’t cataloguing their lives away.) No, it’s not just a site for librarians, either!

Squirl goes one step further and encourages you to catalogue absolutely anything that you collect. In fact, it bills itself as a “site for collectors”. When you’re not collecting, why not record it all and then compare your fabulous collection of black velvet Elvis paintings to other peoples’ such collections? Kidding aside, these free tools are a great way to organize your stuff and to open up your collections to others! Share and share alike, as they say. And it’s all free!

An Animated Discussion

Web Resources

“Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.”
– Walt Disney

When we say something is animated, we are conveying that that person or thing is full of life and movement. With that in mind, what could make learning and teaching resources more interesting than using the power of animation to add a little life and movement? The advent of new, user-friendly technologies have made animation available to anyone with the time and the story to tell. Animations can help us visualize what is intangible and witness processes that we might otherwise never see.

North Harris College’s Biology Department has assembled a web page with links to Science Animations, Movies & Interactive Tutorial Links. These mini-movies have impact, especially if you’re trying to understand the finer points of a particular process. The animations are categorized into the following categories: Microbiology, Plants, Animals, Ecology, Geology, Astronomy and Physics. While you’re there, check out the “Einstein Light” animation under the Physics category, just to see if it makes the theory of relativity (E=MC2) any clearer for you. I personally watched it several times and I’m more confused than ever! But it was really interesting, nonetheless…

Another great place to track down free instructional animations is at the Intute web site. Intute is an online service providing access to web resources for education and research. All their material is evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists. To locate the animations, simply enter “interactive animations” in the search box. You can also search for thousands of resources in the areas of Science and Technology, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Health and Life Sciences.

Library Resources

We’re always happy when people take the time to read our BRAINblog, and now that you’re here, why don’t you stay a while longer? If you look in the box on the right-hand side of the screen, and scroll down to under the archived posts, you’ll see the neat tutorials we’ve put together for our readers. Learn about RSS, blogging basics, social bookmarking, internet tools, how to find the Hamilton Spectator in our databases and how to set up journal alerts in both EBSCOhost and ProQuest.

Our scholarly library presentations are right under the tutorials. Take a journey into Google Scholar, social software applications and blogging basics. The (magical mystery) information discovery tour is a must for anybody who’s new to the world of post-secondary research.

And while we’re shamelssly promoting the exciting, multi-media resources that are available through the Library @ Mohawk, let’s tell you about our latest BRAINcast! Yes, even your favourite library is getting in on all the podcast action. This week’s tutorial: Choose your Sources! Join us as we chat about the best sources to use for your particular assignment or class. Download us to your ipod, or simply listen via the web.

Thanks for visiting, and see you next time!

The Clumsy Brainiac

They say that this is the time of year for minor accidents and other klutzy incidences. The time change, the sensory-deprivation of big mittens and clunky boots combine with a foreboding sense of “I have to get this done before the holidays!” to make this the time of year when many of us should stock up on our band-aids. We here at the Library @ Mohawk have certainly had our share of embarrassing moments lately! But I digress…

Web Resources

I recently tripped over (pun intended) some really interesting websites to help you feel super-smart even when you’re having an ego-injuring kind of day. The first one is Brainiac: What’s Happening in the World of Ideas. Put out by The Boston Globe, this blog is a safety net for people whose curiousity might otherwise lead them to go “the way of the cat”. Find out what others are thinking about books, sports, music, philosophy, and just about everything else. Getting smart about the issues can be as easy as falling off a log!

Did you know that many of the world’s greatest discoveries were accidents? Teflon, penicillin and Velcro were all stumbled upon by scientists trying to do something else! The Science Channel: Discoveries this Week fact page highlights interesting facts and discoveries from the world of science, archaeology and technology. And speaking of accidents, here’s a fact, straight from the site: “Workers in coal mines often ended up with accidental tattoos created when coal dust got into wounds and healed there. Accidental tattoos from gunpowder explosions can explode themselves if treated with a laser during removal. “ Now you know why your mom was always chasing you with the antiseptic.

Library News

We recently posted our latest podcast, and it’s just waiting for your eager ears. It’s a tour of the Library web site, TheBRAIN. Enjoy our friendly voices while you kick back and sip your double-foam caramel macchiatto latte – you’ll learn things that will help you make the most of the Library @ Mohawk. Check out our BRAINcast website today!

If you haven’t already visited our new and improved FacultySpace site, now is the time! Our resources are easier than ever to access, and our new style is simply divine. As always, if you need in-person help with any of your research, the library staff is eager to make contact!

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Thanks for visiting the BRAINblog, and feel free to comment below on anything you have read here today. We’ll see you next time, and just watch your step on the way out!

Scary stuff, kids

Just in time for Halloween, we have some treats from the Library (podcast, ipods, facultyspace news), some haunted tales from the web world, (well, okay, not too haunted) and some chilling e-Learning resources! Ahhhhh, scary!

1) Library News
This week’s podcast: CSI: Catalogue Scene Investigation…the Library Catalogue: UNCOVERED!
Listen in to this week’s podcast as the Library’s Francesca and John uncover all the cool things you can do with the Library Catalogue. Sure, you can look up books…but did you know you can browse the shelves, reserve something to pick up later, renew items you have out? All right from the catalogue! While wearing your fuzzy slippers! Oh yes, and there’s more! Find out the scoop during this week’s podcast! All you need to know about the catalogue in under 9 minutes!

Listen to health info on the go…..at the Library @ IAHS!
You can now borrow an iPod shuffle from the Library @ IAHS! Not only will you be able to listen to the Library’s podcasts but there will be nursing and health-related podcasts preloaded as well! A treat for your two ears! Head on over to the Library @ IAHS to check it out!

How do I find books around here?
Need a refresher on how to find books and videos in the Library @ Mohawk? Check out this handy tutorial….now with audio! Everything you need to know in under 7 minutes!

What has the Library done for me lately?

Are you a faculty member wondering what the Library@Mohawk can do for you? Well, wonder no more. Head on over to the facultyspace to see a list of all the fine things we can offer you…help in the classroom, research support, keeping you up-to-date! And a handy brochure you can print out and take with you to boot!

2) Web World News

What’s so smart about SMART answers?

Ask.com has been providing smart answers for ages! But what are they and why are they so smart? Well, instead of providing you with a list of links to answer your query, Ask provides an answer at the top of the result list and this is called a “smart answer”. You don’t even need to click on anything in most cases – the answer is sitting right there in front of your face! For example, looking for the population of a country, political information (name of leader for example), an award winner (Oscar, Nobel Prize), word definition? Just type in your query with a word that signifies what you are looking for. For example, if I type in best actress Oscar winner 1982, the answer appears right off the top! Similarly, type in [President] Philippines, [population] Uganda, [definition] euphoria, etc. where the word in square brackets signifies what you are searching for. Where does Ask.com get all this great info? They gather facts from these sources:World Fact Book, Wikipedia, The American Heritage Dictionary, and Roget’s Thesaurus. Maps, news and image databases are also searched. When you’re looking for facts in a hurry, give smart answers a try! More info

Start Your Engine!

Haven’t you always wanted to build your own engine? Jet-propelled? Super nasty? Well, now you can build your own engine, search engine, that is! ResultR is a search engine that pulls in results from a variety of other search engines that it displays grouped by engine. Included are search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo news, Findory, Technorati, Furl, Wikipedia, eBay and so on. Tabs allow searches across the web, news, blogs, social information, media, jobs, reference, local and shopping. And here’s the clincher: you can pick which engines you want to search with, save your settings and name your engine! Hoo boy! There are 40 plus options offered through ResultR. You are allowed 15 options and a cookie allows you to save your choices to your computer. Once you get back the glaring red text, it’s a fun ride! Read more at Search Engine Watch

3) E-Learning News

Is social software taking over the world?

Social Software: E-Learning Beyond Learning Management Systems from the European Journal of Open, Distant and E-Learning discusses “the potential of social software to move e-learning beyond learning management systems”. The nature of sharing and organizing information is changing so fast out there in the webby world, all of our previous assumptions about e-learning are getting shaken to bits! The Creating Passionate Users blog also has an article on this theme and with pictures too! Something to ponder, indeed!

To blog or not to blog
Waiting to dive into the blog pool but want to test the waters first? Check out AcademicBlog wiki – it lists blogs from all over academe. Check out what other academic types are doing in a whole range of disciplines: science, the arts, business, medicine and more!

Library News Madness

This week, there is so much Library news, it’s almost madness! And not only that but some far out web-world news to boot! Can you stand it? [Yes, I just used the phrase "far out" ...believe it, it's true!] Now, on to the news…..

1) Library News

a) Heaps of more trial databases to try out! These databases are crammed full of magazine and journal articles as well as electronic books on a motherload of topics – from computers to business to health! Many of these are available for you to try out until December! Through a special arrangement by Knowledge Ontario, you’ll be seeing many of these added to the regular line up of Library @ Mohawk databases come January! Here’s a sampling of what you can try out:

CPI.Q (Canadian Periodical Index): contains a wealth of Canadian and international periodicals — including Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail; Maclean’s weekly magazine; Canadian News Facts; and encyclopedic reference materials, such as the Canadian Parliamentary Guide and Canadian Newsmakers.

Discovering Collection: comprises thousands of overview essays, critical analyses, biographies, timelines and multimedia elements.

Health and Wellness Resource Centre: includes loads of health-related resources for the everyday consumer. Includes a Drug & Herb Finder, Alternative Health Encyclopedia, Health Assessment Tools and more!

And there’s plenty more…be sure to stop by for a free sample!

b) New titles: Have you checked out the new titles list? Updated last month, it’s almost endless! Wowsers!

c) New Podcast: E-Books: What are they? Their secrets uncovered. Ever wondered what you could do with an electronic book? Well, it turns out there is a ton of things you can do with one – check out this week’s podcast when the Library’s Collection Management Librarian gives you the inside scoop on this oft misunderstood but extremely useful library resource.

Hey – did you know you don’t have to visit the BRAINcast web site every time you want to listen to a new episode of the Library’s podcast? If you use iTunes or Bloglines, just click on the iTunes or Bloglines button on the right hand side of the BRAINcast web site to subscribe to the feed. Once you do that, each time a new episode is published, you’ll get it delivered straight to your Bloglines or iTunes! Easy peasy!

d) New content this month in Facultyspace

We’ve added a whole new category of content to the facultyspace called “your research”! With the new focus on institutional research here at Mohawk, wouldn’t it be nice to keep up-to-date with the issues surrounding research and the sharing of scholarly information? Well, now you can! Go to the facultyspace, choose the Learning4You button on the top navigation bar and choose “your research” from the dropdown menu (or just type your research into the search box!) So far we have 3 top-notch sites all about the wonderful world of scholarly research and research dissemination.

2) Web-World News

a) RLG…RIP

A while back I wrote about RedLightGreen – a fantastic web site that listed books from loads of Libraries throughout the world and created bibliographies for you on the fly. Yes, it was dreamy as all get go but sadly…it is no more. But weep not dear readers as it has been replaced by a similar service: Worldcat.org. WorldCat.org, contains a list of resources from nearly 12,000 libraries worldwide! That’s a lot of books! At the moment it doesn’t have the handy bibliography-creating feature but they are working on it.

If you saved citations in RedLightGreen, you can retrieve yourcitation list from RedLightGreen until November 4th by following these steps:

- Connect to RedLightGreen. Use the Sign In link (if you aren’tautomatically signed in)
- Click the Your List link in the upper right
- You can then select the E-Mail link to send your citations to your e-mail account, or get a printer-friendly view to print or download.

b) Search for Video Podcasts!

There are loads of video podcasts out there but how do you find them all? Check out the super site Searchforvideo.com to search or browse by category. Categories included are: music, sports, news, comedy, tech and TV-Film. You can also subscribe to the video podcasts right from this web site! Nifty!

c) On the cusp…
Just wanted to share this tidbit of web world news to let you know what is coming down the pipes…this week Sun Microsystems announced that they will be launching a presence in the virtual world Second Life. They will actually feature a press conference within Second Life (first Fortune 500 company to do so!) and a tour of the Sun facility within Second Life.

What is Second Life? The Sun web site sums it up nicely: “Second Life is a 3D online world with a rapidly growing population of more than 700,000 residents from 100 countries around the globe. The residents themselves create and build the world, including homes, vehicles, nightclubs, stores, landscapes, clothing, and games.”

Why does this matter? Online worlds like Second Life show how the Internet is being transformed into a totally participatory medium – almost like a world unto itself – can you hear the Star Trek music in the background? Sun is the first but probably not the last Fortune 500 company involved in education to perk up and start paying attention to the possibilities. Something for us to keep an eye on for future ways of teaching and learning! For more on this, check out this presentation on the EDUCAUSE web site: Second Life: The Educational Possibilities of a Massively Multiplayer Virtual World (MMVW)
Beam me up, Scotty!

New Trials, Tutorials, Tools and Tons More!

This week we cover: 1) new online resources from the Library @ Mohawk, 2) new resources for educational research enthusiasts (and I know you’re out there!), 3) news from the web world (that you might not be able to live without), and 4) news from LibraryLand!

1) News from the Library @ Mohawk

New Trial Databases to Try Out, Crammed Full of Quality Magazine and Journal Articles!

We have a tantalizing array of new magazine and journal article databases for you to try out! Give them a taste and let us know what you think. These trials cover the subjects of computers and applied sciences, education, environmental science, health, medicine, social science, and business. (Sorry – no remote access available for the trials!) Here’s the rundown on these tasty information treats:

Computers @ Applied Sciences Complete: covers the spectrum of the applied sciences, representing knowledge on traditional engineering challenges and providing material for research concerning the business and social implications of new technology. CASC provides indexing and abstracting for more than 1,300 academic journals, professional publications, and other reference sources. Full Text is also available for more than 500 periodicals. Subject areas include the many engineering disciplines, computer theory, and new technologies.

Education Research Complete: Education Research Complete is the definitive online resource for education research. This massive file offers the world’s largest and most complete collection of full text education journals. Education Research Complete also covers areas of curriculum instruction as well as administration, policy, funding, and related social issues.

Environment Complete: Environment Complete contains all of the content available in Environment Index, as well as full text for 400 journals, including many of the most used journals in the discipline, such as Environment (back to 1975), Ecologist, Conservation Biology, etc. Environment Complete also provides full text for 80 monographs, such as Encyclopedia of World Environmental History (3 volumes), Advances in Water Treatment & Environmental Management, etc. Further, the database offers full text for the conference papers of the North American Association of Environmental Education.

Evidence Matters: A user-friendly knowledge management system that allows a user to create an instant meta-analysis of the peer-reviewed clinical literature to answer questions on best practices and therapies for a patient with a confirmed diagnosis. : Requires a password which you can get from any Library @ Mohawk reference staff member.

MarketLine: access company profiles, business news, the latest business research and reports. Requires login for trial – please ask any Library @ Mohawk staff member.

MyiLibrary: contains thousands of e-books, in the fields of medicine, engineering and health, ready for quick lookup or in-depth research. Requires a password which you can get from any Library @ Mohawk staff member.

SocINDEX with Full Text: the world’s most comprehensive and highest quality sociology research database. SocINDEX with Full Text contains full text for 344 “core” coverage journals dating back to 1895, and 129 “priority” coverage journals. This database also includes full text for more than 700 books and monographs, and full text for 6,800 conference papers.

Quick Refresher on How To Find Magazine Articles! Two New Tutorials…Now with Audio!

Rusty on your magazine article searching? Can’t remember where to start? No worries! Access the Library’s tutorials that now include audio – 8 minutes that will save you time and frustration! To access the new tutorials with audio, go to the How to Find dropdown menu on TheBRAIN homepage, (top right corner), choose Articles and then click either the EBSCOhost demo or ProQuest demo. An audio tour of TheBRAIN is also available… Take a BRAIN Tour.

How Can You Get Some Help Around The Library? (New Podcast)

A new podcast has been uploaded to TheBRAINcast web site. This week we feature a rundown of all the myriad and sundry ways you can get help from the Library! Listen in for the grand finale when the Library’s lovely Lois counts down the top 5 ways you can reach us! Oh the excitement! At only 6 minutes in length, it’s a quick way to get up to speed on important library info when you’re on the go!

Want to learn more about how YOU can use podcasts in the classroom? See this EDUCAUSE article that describes the process by which a university department chose podcasting as an instructional tool: Podcasting Lectures: Formative evaluation strategies helped identify a solution to a learning dilemma. Or, just want to know what this crazy pod thing is all about? Check out this indispensable guide from EDUCAUSE: 7 Things You Should Know About Podcasting.

2) New E-Resources for Educational Research Enthusiasts!

Wikiversity: it’s all about sharing!

A new web site for the creation and sharing of free learning materials and activities has just launched and it’s called Wikiversity! Wikiversity is a multidimensional social organization dedicated to learning, teaching, research and service. Its primary goals are to: 1) create and host free content, multimedia learning materials, resources, and curricula for all age groups in all languages and 2) develop collaborative learning projects and communities around these materials. And the great thing about it is that you can add content yourself – it’s completely collaborative!

You might be scratching your head and wondering, what in blazes is a wiki? Well wonder no more – read all about it in the Wikipedia! Generally speaking, it is a free, open source piece of software that allows you to manage online content and it allows sharing of information and collaboration on the creation of content. Awww…isn’t sharing nice?

facultyspace: New Content!

We’ve recently added some exciting new web sites to the Plagiarism and Copyright sections of the facultyspace! (To access, click Classroom Corner from the top navigation bar, then select either Plagiarism or Copyright from the dropdown menu…or, just type plagiarism or copyright into the search box!) See for example the great new tutorial produced by Acadia University on plagiarism called You Note It, You Quote It!….could come in handy when describing plagiarism to your students!

Educational Database of Journal Articles…for a limited time only!

And as you read above, we have on trial a fab new database crammed to the brim with journal articles and reports on educational research….all kinds of topics like curriculum development, social policy, educational administration and more are included! Check out Education Research Complete for a limited time and let us know if you find it useful!

3) New Web Developments…A Quick Rundown

Lots happening in the “must-know new web developments department” so here is quick rundown:

Google has just released a new tool that makes a web search accessible to people with disabilities. Check out Google Accessible. Don’t be fooled though – this tool doesn’t reformat the web sites that you find so that they are accessible. Only the search page and search results page are more accessible (than regular Google.)

Educational You Tube? You bet!
You’ve seen regular youtube…that mad menagerie of video media… well, now there’s educational youtube…video content for the educational community. Currently there is only content from U.S. colleges and universities and you need to have an email address with .edu in the domain name to view the content but I’d imagine it won’t be long now before you are viewing videos from the Canadian educational community…let’s keep our eyes peeled!

Can’t get enough video? New tool Clipblast lets you search for video content from premium content sources such as CBS, Today Show, CNBC, and Expanded Books. If you’re looking for videos of something other than teenage rockstar wannanbes, Clipblast is the ticket!

Pandora, the online music tool that I’ve written about in the past that lets you choose a genre of music and then listen to it on your computer to your heart’s content, added the Pandora Backstage last summer….this is a searchable database offering information about thousands of artists and individual songs. Search by artist or song title. In many cases you can also hear samples of tunes via Backstage! The dreamyness of it all!

Last summer also saw the expansion of web offerings from Zoho. The read/write web has spawned many collaborative and free software programs that mimic the functionality of office programs we use everyday. Zoho is one example. Access free spreadsheet, presentation, word processing, chat, project management and more kinds of software programs at the zoho site. Not only is it free software but it is online…this means that you can share information with colleagues without having to email them entire files. Just edit a document online and ask your colleagues to view it….they can edit it too! And it’s all free, free, free!

Over the past little while there has been a lot of buzz coming across the border about net neutrality…but what’s it all about, alfie? Check out We Are The Web for an interesting and informative take on the issues. Still confused? Check out Jon Stewart (Daily Show)’s piece on it….all the facts in an (albeit sarcastic) nutshell! Or, for something a bit more comprehensive, there is this from Wikipedia.

4) News from LibraryLand

What are librarians getting all hot and bothered about this week? Well, first off, it’s banned books week this week! You can find a list of The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000 and The Top 10 List of Most Frequently Challenged Books via the American Library Association web site! Yes, this gets us pretty excited!

In other LibraryLand news, The World eBook Fair is having another month of freebies for the month of October! We wrote about these folks last summer…the web site offers loads of free ebooks that are in the public domain….and you know what that means – no copyright restrictions – yay! Download any ebooks you want for the whole month (regular cost is $8.95US/year). The e-tomes are available in PDF format, plain text and MP3 and can be read on your computer or portable device. Browse the collections page to see what’s available.

Everything Old is New Again!

Welcome back to another new semester at Mohawk and for the newbies, welcome to Mohawk! As usual, our first blog posting of the school year features loads of new stuff from both the Library @ Mohawk and the world of web research. Here’s the rundown of what we’ll cover in this issue: 1) newly designed facultyspace, 2) new StatsCan interface, 3) new look for netLibrary, 4) new face for the EBSCOhost databases, 5) new EBSCOhost database, 6) makeover for Choices Explorer, 7) new podcasts from the Library, and new instant help menu.

1.) newly designed facultyspace
The web site designed just for faculty at Mohawk has had an extreme makeover. In addition to the new look, there are additional features! You can now search for a resource by keyword, limit your search to Canadian content only or to faculty faves (our picks) or search by format of material (blog, podcast, reports, tutorials, etc.) In addition, you can save results you like and email, print or save them! And don’t worry – the same great services that you�ve come to rely on are still available! For example, the video booking form, place an item on reserve form and recommendations form are still on the site – click “library info” from the navigation bar and make your selection.

Are you wondering, “just what exactly is a facultyspace?” The facultyspace contains just over 200 web sites grouped into four main subjects: classroom corner (sites dealing with classroom management such as plagiarism, assessment, etc.), learning4you (a collection of sites on conferences and courses), reading room (online magazines, journals and reports in the field of education) and technology toolbox (sites on instructional technology, e-learning and new technologies in the classroom.) You can browse by subject area by clicking on the top navigation bar or the “explore the space” box, or you can search by subject, keyword, type of info, etc. Take ‘er for a whirl and let us know if you’d like to see anything added or changed – it’s your space, faculty!

2.) new StatsCan interface
That venerable and trusty source for all things statistical, StatsCan has also had a facelift. The new site offers an improved search function, access to statistics by subject and more! Check out the new and improved side bar for ease of navigation, the lovely Statistics by Subject box in the lower right corner, and when you choose a subject, check out that nice, clean layout! Admit it – you’re excited!



3.) new look for netLibrary
NetLibrary, the massive collection of electronic books that you can access through the Library web site, TheBRAIN has also introduced a new look! My, it’s pretty! And in addition to the new look, there are loads of new features such as: spell checking (like Google’s “Did you mean…?”), ability to see related terms to narrow a search, ability to search and view results in a few other languages such as French, Spanish, Chinese, etc. To access netLibrary, click Find electronic books from TheBRAIN homepage, then, click netLibrary. Check ‘er out!

4.) new face for the EBSCOhost databases
Yes, everyone put on a shiny, new face this summer, including EBSCOhost! Check out the nice, new face on all of the EBSCOhost databases and be amazed by the vibrant colours and 3-D effects! And just in case you’ve forgotten – EBSCOhost is the provider of a wealth of online journal and magazine articles in a whole whack of subject areas (health, business, humanities, science, etc.) To access, click on the link Find articles from magazines and journals on TheBRAIN homepage!



The Library has purchased access to another EBSCOhost database: Scientific and Medical Art Image Database which is a collection of 10,000+ high quality illustrations and animations depicting anatomy, physiology, surgery, diseases, conditions, trauma, embryology, histology, and many other topics. You can download these images to use in your classroom and presentations! Coming soon to the Other Databases section of TheBRAIN!

6.) makeover for Choices Explorer
Choices Explorer, the career information resource that you can access on TheBRAIN has also received a makeover. After you sign in at the top right corner, you will see a Choices Explorer image on the next screen. Click that image and you’re off to the races. Remember, if you need the login, just get in touch with Library staff. To access Choices Explorer, click Databases from the blue navigation bar on TheBRAIN, then select Careers from the Subject dropdown menu.

7.)new podcasts from the Library!
This month, the Library launched TheBRAINcast: Podcasts from the Library @ Mohawk. Every two weeks, we will feature a unique audio segment about some exciting aspect of the Library @ Mohawk! Each segment will last approximately 5-10 minutes. We’ll feature tours of each campus Library, Library tips and tutorials, research guides and more! Check out the podcast information page, head right to the BRAINcast web site or download the first podcast here (requires QuickTime). This week, we feature a tour of the Library @ Fennell campus!

new instant help menu
Check out the colourful menu on TheBRAIN homepage to get to the information you need quickly and easily. From this flashing menu you can access the Library AskUs! page (which lists all the ways you can get help from the Library @ Mohawk), a BRAINtour (a five minute whirlwind tour of TheBRAIN in Flash, with audio), the tutorials page, the Library Frequently Asked Questions, and the Library catalogue – go to TheBRAIN homepage to find the instant help menu, click on the box of your choice and you’re there!