HM Briggs Library Web Toolbar

Access library and other research resources quickly from your browser using the free Briggs Library Toolbar! The toolbar is compatible with Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari. The toolbar is very easy to install and updates quickly with a built-in refresh option. The toolbar is also easy to uninstall if you wish to remove it from your browser. The HM Briggs Library Toolbar provides searching and one-click access to:

* Library Catalog
* Library Databases
* Journals List
* Electronic and Paper Reserves
* Google Scholar
* Archives & Special Collections
* Government Documents
* Library Research Tools such as: Interlibrary Loan, Citing & Copyright, Distance Library Services, Renew Books Online.
* The main SDSU Web Page

Try it out today: http://lib.sdstate.edu/services/toolbar.html

Laura M. Wight, Associate Professor & Information Literacy Librarian

EndNote Bibliographic Software available from Briggs

The South Dakota Board of Regents has obtained a license for all students and employees of South Dakota State University for the EndNote Bibliographic Software.
EndNote is will help manage citations for research and writing and for bibliographies for classes. After the bibliographic information for references have been entered by downloading them from databases or manually entering it the “Cite-while-you-write” feature will automatically insert citations in the text and create a bibliography at the end. “Cite-while-you-write” works with Microsoft Word and Open Office. Even more amazing is that over 3700 styles including MLA, APA, CSE, Chicago, etc. and styles required for many specific journals are available for use in EndNote. Is it possible to change the citation style after writing the paper without laborious reformatting, just choose a new style and EndNote makes all the changes.
The software can be loaded onto your computer at work and home. Libraries of citations can be shared between computers or users by using flash drives or EndNote Web (an online limited version of EndNote accessible to anyone).
To load the software onto your computer, faculty should access InsideState and choose Academics and Briggs Library. On the Briggs Library InsideState page, the EndNote software is linked on the right side of the page. Students should check on MyStateOnline under My Academics in the Library box (if it is not listed here, e-mail Elizabeth Fox at elizabeth.fox@sdstate.edu). Two files need to be saved onto your computer. Once the two files are saved on your computer, you just need to double click on the ENX3Inst.msi file and follow the directions.

~Elizabeth Fox, Digital Information Services Librarian

Congressional Hearing: Role of Museums and Libraries in Strengthening Communities

“Examining the Role of Museums and Libraries in Strengthening Communities” – Hearing before the Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities – Committee on Education and Labor – U.S. House of Representatives – 110th Congress, 2nd Session – September 11, 2008 – Serial No. 110-109.  Y 4.ED 8/1:110-109

 http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS109681

Vickie Mix, Documents Librarian

Intellectual Freedom and Freedom of Information

Intellectual freedom begins with the freedom of information. The value of free and public information was recognized early in the history of the United States of America. In 1813, Congress authorized and mandated the distribution of Congressional materials to select universities, historical societies, and state libraries. The result, was the creation of the Federal Depository Library Program. The purpose of the Federal Depository Library Program is to provide free, easy, permanent access to federal government information. Title 44, Chapter 19 of the U.S. code established the legal requirements for federal depository libraries, foremost of which is to make government publications available for free use by the general public.

In 1889, South Dakota State University was designated as a depository library. H.M. Briggs Library is the largest depository library in South Dakota, collecting 75% of publications distributed through the Government Printing Office. There are over 575,000 volumes in the Government Documents collection including monographs, microforms, CDs, DVDs, floppy discs and electronic documents on the Internet. These are all publications produced by federal government agencies required by law to provide copies (in any format) of publications to the Government Printing Office for distribution to depository libraries that may choose to select those publications. Today, the Government Printing Office provides access to over 90% of these publications online. Additionally, government agencies increasingly only publish information through their websites. The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 and the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments ensures public access to government information in tangible and electronic formats. Your right to know what your government is doing is further supported by the present Presidential administration’s transparency initiatives.

The Documents Department of Briggs Library supports your right to know and your right to access Government Information. The Government Documents collection is a rich legacy of historical and contemporary research materials on almost any topic. Resources are available in multiple formats paper, microforms, CDs, DVDs, floppy discs, online databases, online research publications, online consumer information sites, and electronic government services.

Exercise your intellectual freedom to access the information of your Government. Documents staff are more than happy to assist in the quest for government information. We are committed to the free, unrestricted access to government information.

Find out more about Government Information at Briggs Libray at http://lib.sdstate.edu/find/govdocs/ and our collection access policy at http://lib.sdstate.edu/find/govdocs/DocumentsPolicy.pdf.

Vickie Mix, Documents Librarian

National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week

Believe it or not stress and anxiety can be a good thing.  If you’re worried about your electricity being turned off, you’ll likely pay your utility bill on time.  If you’re worried about passing your classes, you’ll likely put in some study time. 

 

However, sometimes fear and anxiety go past normal levels and people have trouble coping.  Helping people who experience overwhelming levels of fear and anxiety is the focus of National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week, May 3-9, 2009.

 

Freedom from Fear, a national non-profit mental health advocacy organization, sponsors the week and urges anyone experiencing debilitating anxiety or depression to seek help.  The organization’s Web site can be found at www.freedomfromfear.org and their toll free number is 1-888-442-2022.

 

Resources for SDSU students include Student Health and Counseling Services which offers by-appointment and crisis counseling.  Their offices are located in the Wellness Center or call (605) 688-6146.

 

National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week, coincides with finals week at SDSU.  If you’re in the library studying, check out a display on this issue located in the hallway to your right when you come in the door.

 

If you need more information about depression or anxiety, you will find hundreds of relevant books in the Briggs Library catalog.  In addition, thousands of relevant magazine and journal articles can be found using databases listed on the library research databases page.  EBSCOhost Megafile and ProQuest will each provide a great selection of both magazine articles written for the general public and scholarly research articles written for more scientific purposes.  For even more comprehensive scientific coverage, PsycINFO and Medline would be excellent choices.  You will find that digital versions of many of the articles will be available from these databases. 

 

Best wishes to all students for a healthy and successful finals week.

 

Linda Kott

Information Services Librarian

Chemistry Database Gets New Interface

For all you chemistry researchers out there, we now have access to SciFinder Scholar via the web. SciFinder Scholar provides comprehensive bibliographic access to the scientific literature of chemistry and related disciplines. Access is limited to SDSU faculty, staff, and students due to licensing restrictions.

SciFinder Scholar provides the SDSU community with quick and easy access to a wide diversity of research from many scientific disciplines. Faculty and students can explore:

• CAS database content created by scientists
• References from over 9,500 currently published journals and patent information from more than 50 active patent issuing authorities
• Important discoveries that span the scientific century back to 1900
• The latest scientific breakthroughs almost as soon as they are published with references added daily and some patent information as recent as two days ago
• Complete coverage of chemistry and the life sciences including biochemistry, biology, pharmacology, medicine, and related disciplines
• The world’s largest collection of organic and inorganic substance information

To access this database, a user must create a free account. These accounts can be created here. Remember, this account must include an SDSU e-mail account. We only have one concurrent user for all the South Dakota universities.

~Elizabeth Fox, Digital Information Services Librarian

Linking to SDSU Library resources in Google Scholar

Google, the world’s most heavily used search engine, also has other products available besides the basic search. Google Scholar is a useful tool for locating journals and other scholarly sources. The ease of use and similarity to basic Google attract users to this resource. Now it is possible to check our library holding information in Google Scholar. Google Scholar crawls our library holding information.

For on-campus users:

Go to Google Scholar website (http://scholar.google.com) and do a search, additional links called “Find it@SDSU” are now available. For journal articles, clicking on these links will provide access on your computer to articles included in our e-journal holdings or find the library has a subscription in paper.

For off-campus users, you need to take additional steps:

• Click on the ‘Scholar Preferences’ on the Google Scholar homepage.
• Type “sdsu” in the search box behind Library Links.
• Click on ‘Find Library’
• Select ‘South Dakota State University – Find it@SDSU’ as one of the libraries that you wish to appear on Scholar results screens.
• Click on ‘Save Preferences’ at the bottom of the webpage.

When you click on a link you will be asked for your username and password just as if you where accessing the journal via the library’s Magazine and Journal List.

Please use the “Find it@SDSU” links when using Google Scholar. Our Integrated Systems Librarian, Fei Xu has been working on implementing Google Scholar links to SDSU library holdings and would appreciate feedback or questions about the links.

Mary Caspers-Graper, Head of Technical Services

Briggs Library’s Catalog for Books is Down Aug 11-15

The library system that is used throughout the state of South Dakota is being upgraded to a new and improved version during the week of August 11-15. That means that our catalog will not be available for searching that week. We have access to another database that contains our book collection as well as those of many other libraries that you can search if you are in need of books during this week. The Books link under the Find category on our homepage will link you to that database. You can use a more advanced search in the same database by going to the Articles and Databases link next to the Books link and going to WorldCat Advanced on the Articles and Databases page. If you have questions, please contact the information desk at 688-5570 or blref@sdstate.edu.

~Elizabeth Fox, Digital Information Services Librarian

Did You Know …. Documents Databases Rock!

Did ya know? Do ya care? Of course you should. Yes indeed, the Information Highway can be a bit easier to navigate with government databases just a few keystrokes and clicks away. Federal government information is available not only from agency web sites, but also from a multitude of federally sponsored databases, or search engines. Interested in medicine? Try the National Library of Medicine! Search tools include MedlinePlus, Clinical Trials, DailyMed, and PubMed. Topics covered range from basic consumer information to scholarly scientific and medical research. And oh yes, much is available full text online. BONUS!!!!!!!!!!

If you’re interested in energy topics, try the Department of Energy’s Information Bridge. Scientific and technical information is at your fingertips. From 1991 forward, many full text documents and bibliographic citations of the Department of Energy’s research reports literature awaits your discovery.

For a number of federal databases related to the presidency, legislature, and judiciary, try GPO ACCESS! GPO Access is one stop shopping for the US Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, Core Documents of Democracy, Bills, Laws, the Catalog of Government Publications and much, much more.

Some government databases are only available in the library or on campus. Our most recent addition is the Homeland Security Digital Library. Want flood information? Check it out with your friendly Documents Librarian. Want technical reports, try the NTIS. The National Technical Information Service links to bibliographic records and full text (when available) to over 240,000 reports from 1961-2000. Ask for assistance in the Documents Office or at the Information Desk.

For more government search engines check out “Finding Government Information: Federal Databases“.

Happy Surfing! AND Rock On!

Vickie Mix, Documents Librarian

Blackwell Synergy Journals move to Wiley Interscience

Briggs Library subscribes to many journals through the publisher Blackwell. Blackwell is joining with another publisher, Wiley and Sons so the Blackwell journals will soon be available through the Wiley Interscience interface. Unfortunately, there will be a period during which these journals are not available electronically. Friday, June 27 at 8:00 p.m., the Blackwell electronic journals will not become available. Saturday, June 28 at 4:00 a.m. the Wiley journals will become unavailable as well. Sunday, June 24 at 8:00 p.m. both Wiley and Blackwell journals will be available again through the Wiley Interscience interface. We will be changing our links for Blackwell journals on Friday but these new links are not expected to work until Sunday at about 8:00 p.m. Wiley and Blackwell are looking forward to the integration of their journals and to taking the best of both systems to create one that is better than either. For more information on this move, go to http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/aboutus/wiley-blackwell/transition_end-users.html.

~Elizabeth Fox, Digital Information Services Librarian