Archive for October, 2011

Newspapers of the French Revolution

Monday, October 24th, 2011

We recently added to our collection a database called Archives Unbound- Journaux de la Révolution de 1848 (Newspapers of the French Revolution 1848).

Publishers Description:

“This series captures the British Library’s holdings of all newspaper and periodical titles published in France during the revolution of 1848. Coverage is continued through the coup d’état in 1851 to the establishment of the Second Empire in 1852. Some titles represent continuations of national dailies and weeklies which published through the unrest, offering a base-note of news coverage from experienced journalists, while many others sprang up in direct response to the political situation, and witnessed events from very partisan perspectives. George Sand is just one of the famous literary voices here commenting on the unrest and uncertainty.

While the revolutions are second only to World War II as research areas in French History, specific titles also address those studying many aspects of 19th-century French life, including: women’s periodicals, literary, musical, theatre and opera reviews; medical and trade titles; regional papers; and newsletters. There is also a strong strain of illustrated satirical and humorous titles, and pamphlets held at the main British Library rather than being classed as newspapers.”

To access this collection, click on the Databases tab on the library’s homepage and look under the History (World) subject area.

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Open Access Resources

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

In celebration of Open Access Week from October 24-30, 2011, we invite you to learn more about open access resources and open educational resources. We have a Research Guide on the topic of open access and scholarly communication issues. There is a growing movement of scholars who desire to have their work accessible to a wider audience through Open Access (OA) methods.  Some authors understand that more visibility and greater citations come with greater access to their works.

There are two main avenues for providing greater access to journal articles, books and book chapters.   Many scholarly articles are provided in an open access format from the publisher.  The publishers of these journals do not charge readers or subscribers to read their content.  They receive funding through other means.  The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a great place to find freely available scholarly articles and journals.

Scholarly authors can also archive their work in local digital repositories, such as Peak Digital.  However, the publishers of articles have different restrictions.  Some publishers allow the authors to post the PDF versions of articles, while other publishers only allow the pre-print or post-print versions to be posted to a local website.  Authors can check for various publisher restrictions at the SHERPA/RoMEO database.

Some publishers provide free backfile access to their articles, but they limit current content to subscribers.  Many of the publishers at Highwire Press provide free access to older articles in this fashion.

Most scholarly authors are concerned about citations to their work, and one of the measures of the quality of a journal is the “Impact Factor”.  This number is calculated by Thomson Reuters using data derived in their Web of Knowledge product.  They publish impact factors in the Journal Citation Reports.  As more and more authors and readers find, use and cite OA content, then they will receive higher impact factors.  Most of the major article indexing databases (such as the Web of Science) include many OA journals.  The world’s largest journal is also an OA journal, PLoS ONE, and that journal has a solid impact factor.

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ProQuest Legislative Insight

Friday, October 14th, 2011

Thanks to the DU Law School Library, the entire campus now has access to ProQuest Legislative Insight. We have had ProQuest Legislative Histories (a component of ProQuest Congressional) for many years. Because of the success of tracking federal legislative histories from 1969 to present through this interface, ProQuest has undertaken the task of creating older legislative histories. When completed, this database will have legislative histories for all major pieces of U.S. legislation from 1929 to present.

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New Quiet and Group Study Spaces Available Across Campus

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

We are very pleased to announce over 20 new designated group and quiet study spaces throughout campus to supplement the study spaces available in Penrose@Driscoll!  These include six Sturm classrooms available for quiet study until midnight Monday – Saturday and the designation of the Driscoll Pub as a quiet study area overnight (from 11pm-8am weekdays).

The complete list of  Study Spaces on Campus can be found online on the Students page of the library’s website.  This chart allows you to look for space based on the type study (group or quiet) and lists amenities available in each area such as food services and printing.

Note that the entire Driscoll building is open library hours, including 24 hours a day from 10 a.m. Sunday to 8 p.m. Friday and on Saturday from 9 a.m.–8 p.m. (complete hours).

During the renovation of Penrose Library and the move of most library services to the Driscoll Ballroom and Gallery, study space is at a premium.  The library recognizes this and our Dean and Director, Nancy Allen, has been working with others on campus to open up additional spaces for group and quiet study.  We hope that you take advantage of these new study areas and let us know if you have any questions!

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