New American history treasure trove!

If you are looking for primary sources for American history, be sure to look in Accessible Archives, a new online research database now available through the BU Library. Accessible Archives contains eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, commerce as seen through advertisements, and genealogical record, all available full-text. For more information on the collections contained in Accessible Archives, visit this page.

Access the database via the Library's Databases A-Z page, the Databases by Subject page, or via selected Research Guides. As always, if you have questions or would like research assistance, Ask a Librarian.

DSM-5 now available online through Library

Andruss Library is proud to provide online access to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. A staple of academic libraries, the DSM-5 is described on the American Psychiatric Publishing website as follows:

The most comprehensive, current, and critical resource for clinical practice available to today's mental health clinicians and researchers of all orientations. DSM-5 is used by health professionals, social workers,and forensic and legal specialists to diagnose and classify mental disorders, and is the product of more than 10 years of effort by hundreds of international experts in all aspects of mental health. The criteria are concise and explicit, intended to facilitate an objective assessment of symptom presentations in a variety of clinical settings-inpatient, outpatient, partial hospital, consultation-liaison, clinical, private practice, and primary care. 

Access the DSM-5 via the Databases A-Z page or Databases by Subject >> Psychology. The database also contains DSM-5™ Handbook of Differential Diagnosis and DSM-5™ Clinical Cases.

Any questions, ask a librarian.

New Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences database!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recently created the Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections, which provides free online access currently to a growing collection of over 3,000 items, including correspondence, photographs, early release fliers, full issues of rare periodicals, sheet music and movie star ephemera. The digital collections also include complete copies of more than 250 Academy publications, dating back to the founding of the organization in 1927, and provide access to significant items including selections from the Alfred Hitchcock papers and the Cecil B. DeMille photographs, as well as the annual Academy Awards programs.

Access these collections via links for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Margaret Herrick Library Digital Collections on the following Library web pages:

• Databases A-Z
• Film & Image Databases
• Mass Communication - Specialized Databases
• Music - Specialized Databases 
• Theatre/Dance - Specialized Databases

As always, if you have questions please contact the Research Center desk (x4204) or your liaison librarian.

New ornithology database!

The Library now provides access to Birds of North America Online, a database from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the American Ornithologists' Union. The database provides comprehensive life histories for each of the 716+ species of birds breeding in the USA (including Hawaii) and Canada. For a list of FAQ on how to use, click here.

The database may be found on the Library's Articles/databases page > Databases A-Z and other appropriate pages.As always if you have any questions, please contact your liaison librarian or the Database Coordinator, Linda Neyer.

New foreign language library database!

The Library now provides online access to Powerspeak, an online foreign language learning program that supplements the study of Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, and Inglés (ESL). As noted by Choice:

"Powerspeak Languages is not a substitute for classroom learning, but it provides an excellent opportunity to dive into a language to prepare for a summer experience or a trip abroad. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and general audience." --CHOICE, January 2012

Powerspeak is available to anyone in the University Community via the Library's Databases A - Z page and related pages, or it can be accessed directly via this link: http://navigator-bloomu.passhe.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/pl1928?db=PWSP . For a tutorial on how to use, click here. If you have any questions, please contact your librarian liaison, the Database Coordinator, or the Research Center once the semester begins.

Download ebrary ebooks to your phone, e-book reader, or tablet

ebrary (one of our favorite ebook partners) now provides downloading of books. You may download an ebrary book whenever the DOWNLOAD button appears in the toolbar. Most ebrary books may be downloaded for 14 days (the loan length is indicated when the Download button is clicked). After the loan period has expired, you will be prompted to download the book again.

Downloading an ebrary book lets you access the book offline. You first need to download the book to your computer and then transfer it to a device that has Adobe Digital Editions installed. You can view Adobe Digital Editions list of compatible devices here.

Downloaded ebrary books in Adobe Digital Editions format cannot be read yet by Kindles, but you can download chapters or sections of up to 60 pages as PDFs, which can be read by Kindles. For more information, read about downloading at ebrary Support.

As always, if you have a question or need help, please contact a Research Librarian. There is also a helpful tutorial on how to use ebrary here.

New Gale Virtual Reference Library ebooks!

Did you know Gale Publishing, well known for its authoritative print reference books, also provides electronic access to many of its titles in the "Gale Virtual Reference Library"? 

The Library is pleased to now offer the following 10 titles, providing authoritative information in the social sciences and health and biological sciences:

American Decades Primary Sources

Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine -  3rd ed.

Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy through Adolescence

Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders -  2nd ed.

Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health -  2nd ed.

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia

Scholarships - Fellowships and Loans -  27th ed.

World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and CorrectionalSystems 2nd ed.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life -  2nd ed.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices

To access, go to the Library's Databases A-Z page or to the Databases by Subject page > Encyclopedias, etc. As always if you have any questions, stop by or call the Research Center, x4801.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) database trial

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports from 1941 to 1996, is now available as a trial on the Library's web page. To access, go to Databases A - Z > Trials.

The original purpose of FBIS was to "was to monitor, record, transcribe and translate intercepted radio broadcasts from foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories." FBIS is the United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence, and the database contains some very interesting and unique primary documents.

Available only on campus. Trial ends April 15, 2011. Please leave a comment if you use the database. We'd love to hear your feedback.

Egypt's Change of Power - NewsBank's Special Reports

Newsbank is publishing updates on the unfolding situation in Egypt and the Middle East, which are available in the database Newsbank Special Reports on the Library's Databases A-Z page. To view, login here and click on the link for World Politics and Governments: Unrest in Egypt. (If off-campus, login using your BOLT login -- BU email address and password.)


There's some really nice content here -- background info, images, maps, suggested search terms -- in addition to the articles. You may want to share some of this with your students, too.

LN

New interface for Lexis-Nexis Academic

Lexis-Nexis Academic is changing to a new interface this Saturday, August 7th. The new interface, in beta for the last 7 months, has gotten positive feedback from users that it's much more 'user-friendly' than the last. Service may be temporarily interrupted from noon to 3 pm, EST, during the transition.

The links will automatically redirect (no need to do anything), but if you're curious and want to give it a test drive now, check it out here. There is also a useful collection of help pages you can peruse, available here.

As always, if you have any questions, please contact the Reference Desk, ph. 389-4204, or email us at reference (at) bloomu (dot) com.

Films on Demand

The Library now provides online access to over 6,000 videos and 60,000 video segments in streaming video. The Films on Demand database is listed on the Library's Find Articles & More page > Databases A-Z page and may be freely used by BU students, staff and faculty for educational purposes. For more information, consult this FAQ. For help in using the films, consult these online tutorials.

Films on Demand includes films from producers like Films for the Humanities & Sciences, BBC, ABC News, Bill Moyers, Cambridge Educational, Clio Awards, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Information Television Network, Macneil Lehrer Productions, and Open University. Some of the following titles will give you an idea of the breadth of subjects included, covering virtually all disciplines taught at BU:

• The Age of Walmart
• Alternative Power Sources and Renewable Energy
• American Writers on Writing
• Apollo 11: The First Moon Landing
• Aspects of MS
• Business Communication: Listening
• The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns
• Classical Greek Philosophers
• Critical Guide to Shakespeare
• Discovering Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet
• Dying to Leave: The Dark Business of Human Trafficking
• Einstein Made Relatively Easy
• Essen und Fahren: German Food and Fun
• The Genocide Factor
• Globalization at a Crossroads
• Miss Julie by Strindberg
• Psychology Media Suite (120 video clips)
• Stories of Women in Kabul
• Technology and Deaf Culture

To view a short promotional film explaining the services and benefits of Films On Demand, click here.

As always if you have any questions, please contact the Reference Desk at 570.389.4204 or your librarian liaison for assistance.