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National Technical Information Service (NTIS) Newsletter

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) values its recognition by the technical information community, libraries, and participating Federal Government agencies as the leader in providing must-have U.S. Government technical content.  To this end, NTIS will always strive to acquire, index, abstract, and archive the largest collection of Government-sponsored technical reports in existence.   

NTIS is committed to increasing electronic access and electronic delivery of this content to its customers:

• In 2007, NTIS increased access to Federal technical reports by extending the search function at www.ntis.gov to include its entire bibliographic file, which dates back to 1964. 
• In addition, NTIS improved the precision of search results by reengineering the advanced search function on the Web site to allow customers to more narrowly define the information they are seeking by year, author, etc.   
• Beginning May 2008, NTIS began a program to increase electronic output options. 

Now, NTIS wishes to further serve our customers with a free NTIS Technical Reports Newsletter (go to http://www.ntis.gov/pdf/ntrnews-vol1.pdf).  The Newsletter, which will be sent electronically each month, highlights and alerts you to recently indexed and abstracted titles in particular categories – this first issue is about Going Green. Future editions will feature various NTIS content categories as well as showcase the relevancy of past U.S. Government technical reports to the current issues of our times.

To subscribe is easy. Just send us an email with your name and email address to ntrnews@ntis.gov.

Eresource Update: Springer Ebooks

The USF Libraries have recently purchased three Springer e-book collections with close to 2,000 titles. These ebooks are available 24/7 with an unlimited number of users.   All titles  are fully searchable. The Springer ebooks are fully integrated with the Springer Online Journals for convenience.  All collections  include publications from 2005-2008.  As USF does not provide access to all 28,000 titles on the Springer site, titles owned by USF are flagged with a green icon.

The collections acquired by USF are:

Earth and Environmental Sciences.  Springer publishes over 200 titles in earth and environmental sciences that are captured in this collection.  Includes book series such as Lecture Notes in Earth Science, Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library and Environmental Science and Technology Library.  Reference works include volumes from the Encyclopedia of Earth Science such as Gornitz:  Paleoclimates, Ancient Environments , Oliver:  World Climatology, and Schwartz:  World Coasts.

Biomedicine and Life Sciences.   With over 300 titles published each year, the collection covers the fields of biological sciences, experimental medicine, biomedicine, food science, and environmental and plant sciences.  Includes such titles as Bergey’s Manual of Systematic Bacteriology; textbooks such as Modern Food Microbiology and  Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem; book series like Topics in Current Genetics; and major reference works such as Encyclopedic Reference of Cancer,  the  Encyclopedia of Entomology, and Drug Discovery and Evaluation:  Safety and Pharmacokinetic Assays.

   

Computer Science.  With over 500 titles in 2005 alone, this collection covers the applications, concepts, theory and technology of computer science.  Titles address artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, networks and telecommunications, image processing, computer vision, security and cryptology, pattern recognition and graphics, software engineering, and information systems and applications.  The series Lecture Notes in Computer Science, including the subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics are part of this collection.  Book series include the Natural Computing Series , Advances in Information Security, and Computer Supported Cooperative Work. 

All ebooks can be accessed at the item level  through Endeca, WorldCat Local, and Springer Link.  For these and other library resources visit http://www.lib.usf.edu.  Click on Databases by Title/Subject, the USF Libraries Catalog or the Next Generation Catalog to begin.

PRONTO / PRONTO Books & More - Delivered To Your Desktop or to Your Door!

PRONTO Document Delivery and the expanded service, PRONTO Books & More, deliver articles, books, or media owned by the USF Tampa Library directly to USF faculty and A&P personnel, free of charge without you ever having to make a trip to the library! 

PRONTO's Document Delivery service offers electronic scanning of articles from print journals owned by Tampa Library. Prior to requesting materials, please verify in the USF Libraries Catalog that the Tampa Library does own the journal that you want. You can then ask that your article be put on e-reserve for you or that the article be sent to you electronically through email. To request an article, please complete the electronic request form on the USF Tampa Library's web site. The Tampa Library will process up to 20 requests per user per week.

When ordering PRONTO Books & More, you will need to use a separate electronic library request form, that is also available on the USF Tampa Library's website.  These requested materials are delivered directly to your campus address. The Tampa Library will process up to 20 requests per user per week. Both services, PRONTO Document Delivery and PRONTO Books & More, have a processing time of two business days. Please contact Richard Schmidt at rschmidt@lib.usf.edu or call him at (813)974-8776 if you have any questions.

Final Phase of the Print Journals Review - Your Input Is Needed!

This fall, with the support of the Faculty Senate's Library Council, the USF Tampa Library subject librarians are finalizing a Print Journals Review project begun in Spring 2008. At that time, the faculty were surveyed about their use of selected print journals in their subject disciplines. The purpose of the final stage of this review is to offer faculty and students an opportunity to contribute to the conclusion of the review process which is designed to ensure that our print journal collections match the needs communicated to us by the faculty in the survey results from last spring. If cancellations are appropriate, we intend to reinvest the savings in new titles.

Please visit the USF Tampa Library's web site and review the title lists, available in complete A-Z title order or by title within specific disciplines. Click on any title you feel should be retained and fill out the accompanying electronic form stating why this print title is important to your teaching or research. For print titles that are also available electronically, please indicate why the print format is crucial to you. Also on the Journal Retention Form is a place where you can suggest titles the library currently does not own. The Print Journals Review site will be available from August 15-September 30.  We want to hear from you to ensure that our journal collection does reflect the teaching and research needs of our faculty and students!

New Feature in This Issue of STM News @ USF Libraries

STM News @ USF Libraries in constantly changing and improving and welcomes any and all feedback from you! There is another new feature added this month and there are other changes in the works.  The purpose of this newsletter is to deliver the latest information from the USF Libraries directly to the desktops of the USF science population in a timely manner.  Our goal is also to provide you with direct contact to the research librarians who are most closely connected to the science disciplines that they represent. Please let us know how we are doing!

The new permanent feature premiering with this issue is linked over on the right hand column of the newsletter:   

• Scholarly Communication - Open Access Journals - Scholarly Communication is a term that is used to describe the process that academics, scholars, and researchers use to share and publish their research findings so that their research can be made available to the wider academic research community.  The term “open access” refers to providing free, permanent online access to full-text, scholarly journal articles or other research materials. This site links to information about the issues involved in the current "crisis" in scholarly communication and a list of open access resources.

The following new features premiered in the last issue of STM News @ USF Libraries:  

• Alerting Services - Links to all of the Sci/Tech databases that provide email alerts for new journal articles in your research area, table of contents for the journals in your field, or citation alerts to let you know when someone has cited one of your articles.
• E-Resources @ the USF Libraries - Links to the latest information on newly-acquired electronic resources in all academic disciplines.
• Science.gov - Links to the vast amount of scientific and technical information that is available online from United States government agencies.
• Subject Guides for Science & Engineering - Links to Subject Guides in the Sciences and in Engineering.  These guides provide a listing of databases, e-books, print resources, and related web resources in science and engineering.

Coming Soon!  Listings of New Books by Discipline and the latest information on the USF Libraries' ARL collection initiatives.  Stay Tuned!

Faculty Serials Review - Survey of Print Journals - Thanks for Your Input

We want to thank everyone who participated in the Faculty Serials Review - Survey of Print Journals that was recently sent to all of the natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering faculty. The survey  included a list of journal titles,  sorted by discipline, that were only available in print, without any electronic equivalent, and other print titles with varying levels of full-text through one or more of the libraries’ databases.

The response rate for the survey was high and the results will be analyzed later this month.  The final results of the survey will be made available for further faculty review in September 2008. Your participation in the survey is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or comments about the Faculty Serials Review, please contact Cheryl McCoy (Natural Sciences), John Abresch (Social Sciences) or Matt Torrence (Engineering). Thanks for your input.


Cheryl McCoy                            John Abresch                         Matt Torrence
cmccoy@lib.usf.edu                   jabresch@lib.usf.edu             torrence@lib.usf.edu

(813) 974-3530                         (813) 974-7221                      (813) 974-2779

USF Names William Garrison Dean of USF Libraries

USF Names William Garrison Dean of USF Libraries

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 9, 2008) – William Garrison was named Dean of the University of South Florida Libraries on Monday, February 4. Garrison has recently served as Deputy University Librarian & Associate Dean of Libraries at Syracuse University.         

“Bill Garrison has spent his entire career working in libraries that belong to the prestigious Association of Research Libraries,” said USF Provost Ralph Wilcox. “Above all, he understands the key role that the libraries play in supporting student, faculty and program needs as USF advances toward its strategic vision. We believe that as Dean of USF Libraries, he brings with him the vision, experience and leadership qualities to ensure that USF Libraries will become a member of the ARL.”

Garrison was a Fellow in the first Association of Research Libraries, Research Libraries Leadership Fellows Program. Before joining Syracuse University, he held senior positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Stanford University, and Northwestern University. All of these universities are members of the Association of American Universities (AAU). USF’s strategic plan has as its central goal to position itself for AAU membership.

“I look forward to helping USF develop a top-tier research library system,” said Garrison. “USF already has an outstanding library system and a great staff, and working together, we can take it to the next level as the administration works to do the same throughout the University.”

The USF Library System consists of six libraries. The principal research library is located on the Tampa campus. USF-St. Petersburg is home to the Poynter Library, and the Sarasota campus is home to the Jane Bancroft Cook Library. The Lakeland campus has recently found room to house their own library, which had previously been a joint use facility. Specialized libraries include the Shimberg Health Sciences Library, serving the needs of USF Health consisting of the College of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, and the Institute Research Library serving the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute.

The University of South Florida is among the nation's top 63 public research universities and one of 39 community engaged public universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.  It is one of Florida's top three research universities.  USF was awarded more than $300 million in research contracts and grants last year. The University offers 219 degree programs at the undergraduate, graduate, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine.  The University has a $1.8 billion annual budget, an annual economic impact of $3.2 billion, and serves more than 45,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland.  USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.
– USF –

Earth Portal

The Earth Portal is a comprehensive resource for contemporary, science-based information about the environment.  The purpose of the portal as indicated on its website is to provide a forum for the facilitation of “expert-driven, massively scaleable information resources on the environment” in an ongoing public dialogue about environmental issues in human affairs. The Earth Portal has three components:

1.    The Encyclopedia of Earth, with over 2,000 articles, is produced and reviewed by 700 scholars from 46 countries.

2.    The EarthForum provides commentary from scholars and discussions with the general public.

3.    The EarthNews offers news stories on environmental issues drawn from many sources

New access to ISI Web of Knowledge: Available Feb. 3

Dual access to be discontinued - All databases in new interface - Fully integrated Web search - And more ...

The next time you access ISI Web of Knowledge, you'll find more power, easier access and new options. Here's a summary of the latest enhancements, available February 03.

Dual access discontinued

Since August, you've had access to both the new and previous versions of ISI Web of Knowledge. As of February 03, all users and institutions will access the new version only. Access to the older version is discontinued.

The URL will continue to be http://isiknowledge.com

Access all databases in new interface

Now, users can access all ISI Web of Knowledge databases via the new, intuitive interface, including:

• Derwent Innovations Index^SM
• MEDLINE^®
• Web Citation Index™
• Journal Citation Reports^®
• Essential Science Indicators^SM
• Highly Cited Researchers™

Easily access relevant Web search results

Thomson Scientific WebPlus complements ISI Web of Knowledge searches with editorially selected, quality content from the open Web. One click brings you highly relevant and prioritized Web results. You can launch a WebPlus search from the All Databases homepage, from an individual product homepage, or from the top of All Database search results pages.

ResearcherID — a unique author identifier

This new tool for the global research community at: http://www.ResearcherID.com increases researchers' visibility and makes their work more accessible. A unique ID number expressly associates each researcher with his published work, and lets others easily find full publication lists and avoid the common problem of author misidentification. Users can easily search the Researcher ID registry to find citations, collaborators, speakers, editors, and reviewers. Links to more information are in the sidebar at the right-hand side of the ISI Web of Knowledge homepage.

New links to CAB Abstracts® Plus collections

Now, co-subscribers can link directly from CAB Abstracts records on ISI Web of Knowledge to full-text information in CAB Abstracts Plus collections. These collections provide access to the full text of hard-to-find journals, conference proceedings and reports; distribution maps; and detailed descriptions and illustrations of fungi and bacteria. These links are automatically enabled for current co-subscribers of CAB Abstracts on ISI Web of Knowledge and CAB Abstracts Plus.

Interface and resources files available in Simplified Chinese

To help serve the needs of the international user community and improve usability for Chinese users, Thomson Scientific has made the ISI Web of Knowledge interface, help files and other resource files available in Simplified Chinese. You can choose to view files in Chinese from the bottom of any ISI Web of Knowledge page.

More Reference eBooks

The Encyclopedia of Hydrological Sciences
Provides research level coverage of fresh water resources, an area of heightened research due to population increase, pollution and degradation of resources, and variations in regional and global change in the climate.   
The Wiley Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineering
Contains the fundamentals of life, engineering, mathematical, and information sciences with the methodologies and systems of biomedical engineering.  Covers topics such as human performance and reverse engineering, and rehabilitation and orthopedic engineering.
The Encyclopedia of Statistical Sciences
Useful for those working in statistics, probability theory, biostatistics, quality control, and economics with emphasis in applications of statistical methods in sociology, engineering, computer science, biomedicine, psychology, survey methodology, and a host of other disciplines. 

The Encyclopedia of Biostatistics , 2nd Edition 
Covers the development and use of statistical methods in the life and medical sciences in eight cross-referenced volumes.  This new edition will find widespread application in basic medical sciences; the planning, financing and distribution of health care; and the measurement of health care status and progress in the population. 

Encyclopedia of Environmental Microbiology 
Addresses the methodology for detection and preventive measure for avoiding or reducing human exposure to harmful agents.  This is a useful resource for microbiologists studying microorganisms and their habitats, and those working in applied research areas such as public health, agriculture, food, and water quality, water or wastewater treatment, or resource recovery.