Discover Open Access

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Join the AU libraries in exploring the OPEN ACCESS movement!

This one-week series will look at Open Access and its impact on research and publishing. 

From the origins of peer review to understanding your rights as an author, 

join us to discover what you have been missing! Join us to discover Open Access!

October 24th-28th @ Scholes Library 12pm-1pm

Refreshments will be provided

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Register to Vote!

It’s 2016 and whether you like it or not, it’s time to VOTE!
Politics may not be your thing, but your vote is your voice!
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BE HEARD! VOTE! (But first, you’ve got to register to vote)
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Both Scholes and Herrick have voter registration forms.
Scholes Library will also be streaming the debates!
While your here, fill out a voter registration so that you are ready for NOVEMBER 8th!
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HAPPY VOTING!!

JSTOR – 2015 Champion

JSTOR
 
After four rounds of voting JSTOR stands victorious as the 2015 Database Bracket Champions.
A favorite among both librarians and students, this database has some of the highest usage stats at Alfred as well. It’s no wonder too, covering over 50 academic disciplines collections on JSTOR include the full archival record of each journal from the first volume and extending within 3-5  years of the current issue.
And since any great wrap up includes the stats here ar the JSTOR statistics
Since January 2015 @ Alfred
Searches – 4,748
Full-text requests – 7,508
That means in the last 124 days
You made over 38 searches per day!
Downloaded 60 full-text articles per day!
That’s a lot of research!

And then there were two…

Champions-of-Social-Business

With all the votes in we have come down to the final two databases

JSTOR  &  Academic Search Complete

While we here at the libraries are tempted to say that these two databases are equals, awesome in their own right, and Goliaths of the search. Only one can hold the title of #1
Let’s take one last look at our competitors

JSTOR

Name: “The Non Profit”
Publishers: 900+
Disciplines Covered: 500+
Full Text Journals: 2,000+
Primary Resources: 2 Million+
Coach: Ithaca
Claim to Fame: “We Collaborate with the academic community”

Academic Search Complete

Name: “Coverage”
Temporal Coverage: 1887-Present
Indexed Journal Titles: 13,780
Full Text Journals: 9,000
Full Text Peer-Reviewed Journals: 7,850
Coach: EBSCOhost
Claim to Fame: “The world’s most comprehensive, scholarly full-text database for multidisciplinary research”
[polldaddy poll=8811706]

Taken by Storm

There is no other way to put it, YOU (whoever you are) have spoken!
Here are the winners of the first round…
Science Direct (by 7 votes)
JSTOR (by 11 votes)
Scopus (by 6 votes)
Academic Search Complete (by 10 votes)
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Now for round 2!

Cast your votes and cast them soon because ONLY TWO can compete for the title of…. well…. I guess,

THE MOST DEMOCRATICALLY VOTED BEST DATABASE AT ALFRED UNIVERSITY

(that’s some serious schools spirit with the purple, even if it’s not grammatically correct)
 
Before you vote make sure to take a look at what these databases have to offer.
(seriously though we’ve got google analytics on this thing and I can tell)
JSTORScience Direct
scopus
Academic Search Complete
 
 
OK, it’s voting time!
[polldaddy poll=8783604]
[polldaddy poll=8783609]
 

Bracketology – the winners are up to you

The Final Four are set and so is our bracket. These eight, elite databases, are about to battle it out for #1
Let’s see the matchups!
NCLA Bracket
ScienceDirect       VS          Lexis Nexis
 
Overview:
This matchup was completely unexpected! With LexisNexis unexpectedly taking the eighth seed, they look to be a underrated opponent.
Heard around the water cooler:
“I was shocked, I mean, an eight seed? What were they thinking?! If anything I’d have to give em at least a five seed. ” – Anonymous AU Librarian
“I just started laughing. I mean ya, LexisNexis is a great database, but have you seen its interface? No competition bro.” – Scholes student worker
See their stats —> Click on their Logos above to check them out  —-> VOTE
[polldaddy poll=8769280]
 
 
 
JSTOR    VS   Engineering Village
Overview:
Talk about DRAMA! We’ve got two MAJOR fan favorites here. While both cover completely different areas, this should be a close matchup.
Heard around the water cooler:
“Man… (shakes head) how do I choose? Why would they put these two in the same bracket? I’m going to need another cup of coffee ” – Engineering/History double major 
“This AGAIN just verifies that the selection committee pulled an all nighter before choosing matchups….. seriously though ” – Herrick student worker
See their stats —> Click on their Logos above to check them out  —-> VOTE
[polldaddy poll=8769299]
 
 
 
Newspaper source plus    VS   scopus
Overview:
Read all about it! Newspaper Source Plus vs Scopus! Again another hard matchup, but an interesting one since Scopus is the new database in town.
Heard around the water cooler:
“Not only would I bet the game, I say Scopus takes it all. I mean who reads newspapers? Plus, h-index is the new black.” – Overheard in Macmahon
“Just because I’m an Engineer doesn’t mean I HAVE to vote Scopus, does it? I mean NSP’s got my hometown newspaper, and I’m from ALBUQUERQUE.” – Scholes Librarian
See their stats —> Click on their Logos above to check them out  —-> VOTE
[polldaddy poll=8769315]
 
 
 
academic search complete     VS    proquest central
Overview:
The two heavyweights battle it out here in a matchup that could have possibly been for the championship, a lot to look forward to here.
Heard around the water cooler:
“Great! Two of my favorite databases against each other in the first round!? Think I’ll just flip a coin.” – Herrick student worker
“Wait what? That’s legit.” – AU Liberal Arts & Science Faculty Member
See their stats —> Click on their Logos above to check them out  —-> VOTE
[polldaddy poll=8769325]

MARCH MADNESS

Here at Scholes March Madness is in full swing so in the spirit brackets we’ve decided to provide our own bracket of sorts. We’ll break down the numbers and analyze the data over the course of March Madness, each week matching up a couple of our databases in a resource showdown. Stay tuned for the matchups!!!!
Official NCLA (National Collegiate Library Association) Sanctioned MADNESS
NCLA
Let’s introduce the teams and provide some stats….
scopus
Name: “The Freshman” –SCOPUS
Temporal Coverage: 1995-Present
Journal Titles: 21,000
Publishers: 5,000
Books: 70,000
Conference Papers: 6.5 Million
Patents: 24 Million
Coach: Elsevier
Claim to Fame: “The largest abstract and citation database of peer reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings”
ScienceDirect
Name: “Quarter” –ScienceDirect
Temporal Coverage: 1823-Present
Journal Titles: 2,500
Articles: 13,000
Full Text: Yes
Books: 26,000
Coach: Elsevier
Claim to Fame: “Home to almost one-quarter of the world’s peer reviewed full text scientific, technical and medical content”
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Name: “Coverage” –Academic Search Complete
Temporal Coverage: 1887-Present
Indexed Journal Titles: 13,780
Full Text Journals: 9,000
Full Text Peer-Reviewed Journals: 7,850
Coach: EBSCOhost
Claim to Fame: “The world’s most comprehensive, scholarly full-text database for multidisciplinary research”
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Name: “Compendex” –Engineering Village
Temporal Coverage: 1884-Present
Engineering Disciplines: 190
Publishers: 1,998
Journals: 3,800+
Trade Magazines: 117
Conference Proceedings: 80,000+
Databases Include: Compendex, NTIS, Chimica, GeoRef (12 in all)
Coach: Elsevier
Claim to Fame: “Engineering Village is the definitive “go to” resource for engineering information for academia”
JSTOR
Name: “The Non Profit” –JSTOR
Publishers: 900+
Disciplines Covered: 500+
Full Text Journals: 2,000+
Primary Resources: 2 Million+
Coach: Ithaca
Claim to Fame: “We Collaborate with the academic community”
Lexis Nexis
Name: “Jr” –LexisNexis Academic
Temporal Coverage: 1790-Present
Newspapers: 3,000+
Magazines: 2,000+
Full Text Sources: 15,000+
Legal Research Coverage: Federal & State
Coach: LexisNexis
Claim to Fame: “Powerful, easy, vetted”
Newspaper source plus
Name: “Newsboy” –Newspaper Source Plus
Full Text News Articles: 58 Million+
Newspaper Coverage: 1,200+
Media Coverage: TV & Radio broadcast transcripts
Coach: EBSCOhost
Claim to Fame: “Today’s news today”
proquest central
Name: “The Quest” –ProQuest Central
Subject Areas: 160+
Full text Dissertations: 50,000+
Market Reports: 43 Industries
Coach: ProQuest
Claim to Fame: “The Ultimate cross-disciplinary research tool”

Forget Books, Pickup a Trade Magazine!

Books are boring. Yes I said it, boring.

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dog

What is this librarian talking about? Has he never heard of Hemingway, Austin, Dr. Seuss? Where would we be without A Tale of Two Cities, Dune, or The Secret Garden? Does he not value job security? Heard of that quote by Thomas Jefferson “I cannot live without books?” MY GOD! Does he even know he’s librarian!?

smellPlease, hear me out. I love books too. That better? First off, they’re way better than the movie. And who doesn’t love that smell, right? I could get lost in that smell…. I am a librarian you know.

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Plus, ebooks (We’ve got a digital ton of these) are great right? Ctrl+f right through those things and find all the good stuff you came for. Seriously every time you open an ebook and hit those two little magical buttons you’re turning yourself into a real life index/Sherlock Holmes. I mean is there anything ctrl+f can’t find?
Ok maybe not one of those.

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Anyways, now that I have told you all about how awesome books are let me get back to my original argument about the AWESOMENESS of trade magazines. (by now I would hope you had figured out that I was just trying to catch your attention with that boring books line)

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It will all make sense soon.

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TRADE MAGAZINES

What are they?

Trade magazines are periodicals that are developed for different professions, industries, trades, fields, etc.. They often share what’s happening within a field, review new research/techniques/trends to show possible impacts, provide a forum for discussion, and geared toward you.

Why should I care?

Trade magazines are great for a number of reasons. Many of them are associated with professional organizations. These organizations are all about supporting the their members and their field of study. They can provide job listings, information on grants, conferences, and other opportunities. In general, they are a great resource for keeping up on what is happening in your field. Besides all that, trade magazines are great for researching your next paper on recycling spent nuclear fuel,  3D printing in space, or wax fuel for safer rockets, etc..

You just blew my mind, where can I find them?

So glad that you asked! Depending on what you are looking for you can either find them in print at the library, through one of our databases, or online through the library’s subscription. Both Scholes and Herrick librarians can point you in the right direction. Just drop by and ask! If you want to learn more about trade magazines or any of our other awesome resources, find your personal librarian and drop them a line.

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A short list by subject area

Accounting

Art

Business Administration

  • MWorld (AMA – American Management Association)

Chemistry

  • C&EM (ACS – American Chemical Society)
  • ChemMatters (ACS – Education Division)

Education

Engineering (Ceramic)

Engineering (Electrical)

  • IEEE Spectrum (IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Engineering (Mechanical)

  • ME Today newsletter (ASME – American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
  • Mechanical Engineering Magazine (ASME) Library access

Physics

Psychology

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