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English Department Library Newsletter
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26 August, 2003 |
Volume 1, Number 1 |
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BC Libraries
Online Databases E-Journals E-Books Other Libraries Scholarly Communications
Interlibrary Loan
Online Requests/ Forms Faculty Research Support Course Reserves MetaQuest Digital Library Initiatives Circulation Services Hours |
Welcome, This is the first issue of a new English Department Library Newsletter. At a time when we are all bombarded by a plethora of information in a variety of formats, I wondered about the advisability of subjecting you to yet more! Still, as so much is happening, electronic and otherwise, in BC’s Libraries and in the wider world of information, I thought that a short newsletter might be a useful vehicle for alerting you to some relevant news, developments, issues. Best, Brendan Rapple (rappleb@bc.edu ) x24482 Contents:
Want to Start an Electronic Journal? Have you an idea for founding a new scholarly journal? Or are you an editor of a print journal that you would like to transform into an electronic journal? BC Libraries recently purchased a license to publish several electronic journals using Berkeley Electronic Press (BePress) software. The Berkeley Electronic Press's software facilitates an innovative publishing model that promotes high-quality, rapidly disseminated, low-cost electronic alternatives to high-priced print journals. At the heart of the BePress system is EdiKit®, a powerful web-based editorial management software. EdiKit is used to manage an article in its progress from submission to publication. EdiKit automates every procedural step in producing scholarly journals, from submitting an article to its review and final publication. It eliminates delays inherent in such tasks as mailing manuscripts and reviews; managing correspondence among authors, reviewers and editors; and bundling articles into an issue. BC Libraries welcome queries from the English Department about BePress as well as proposals for the creation of electronic journals or for the transformation of existing print journals into electronic format. Please contact Bob Gerrity < gerrityr@bc.edu > or Brendan Rapple < rappleb@bc.edu >. return to top Faculty Publications Database Forms Tenure track faculty are now able to submit citations to the Faculty Publications Database using online forms available through the Libraries' homepage. By choosing Online Requests/Forms from the Quick Links choices and clicking Go , they may access the appropriate form for their publication. Tenure track faculty are encouraged to use these forms to ensure that their citations are received in a timely and efficient manner. If using these forms is not a convenient option, citations may still be submitted to Gail White, Reference Department, O'Neill Library or to whiteg@bc.edu . Publication citations that have appeared in the annual Boston College Celebration of Scholarship have already been received and do not need to be resubmitted. return to topMetaQuest MetaQuest is a research tool which contains links to hundreds of databases and library catalogs. MetaQuest allows you to cross search multiple databases using one simple search, to create your own list of favorite databases, and save your search results within MetaQuest. This new version of MetaQuest also includes links to thousands of e-journals and links the Libraries’ subject research guides, as well as a new alert feature. Use MetaQuest to
A Guide to Literary Research A new web page, A Guide to Literary Research , is intended to assist students who are conducting research on literature in English. The Guide includes brief descriptions of services and resources directly related to relevant research activity, along with some links to the items described. Among the topics covered are:
Charles Kingsley Annotated Bibliography
While such bibliographic citation databases as MLA Bibliography (Modern Language Association) and ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature) are essential resources of Kingsley scholarship, they do not provide abstracts or summaries. Moreover, the MLA database only dates from 1921 and ABELL from 1920. While the bibliographies on the present site are by no means intended to be comprehensive, they represent a strong selection of the major works of Kingsley scholarship published in the twentieth century and later. Each of the bibliographic entries has an annotation and has been assigned descriptors or subject headings. These descriptors are intended to define major themes in each work and one may toggle between works having the same descriptor. NB: Please note that this web site is a "work in progress" and that it is planned to add many more works to the annotated bibliograhy. return to topPast Masters: Full-Text Authoritative Editions Past Masters is a very useful database that may be under-utilized by the BC community. Perhaps it's not known as well as it might be. The database contains excellent editions of the full-text works (in electronic format) of a diverse range of authors from different periods. Titles include:
Every word (unique character string) in each of the texts is fully indexed and search results find every paragraph containing the search term. Search results are restricted to only the paragraphs containing the search terms. To access: Go to the Online Databases page and scroll down to Past Masters in the alphabetical list. return to top Spotlight on Some New (and not so new) Databases Digital Library of Classic Protestant Textst Children's Literature Comprehensive Database (CLCD) Evans Digital Edition ProQuest Historical Newspapers: New York Times Nineteenth Century Masterfile Readers' Guide Retrospectivereturn to top
Electronic Books
BC Libraries have a useful guide, Electronic Books , that points to a selection of the numerous databases, web pages, archives, e-text centers, etc., providing access to full-text books. The primary focus in this guide is on works of literature though online books in other areas are also pointed to. Reference books, textbooks, government documents, reports, dissertations, theses are not included. return to top RefWorks: Bibliography and Database Manager The purpose of the web-based tool RefWorks is to simplify the process of documenting sources in a research paper, dissertation, or other project requiring references. It aims to make it easier for you to store, organize and keep track of citations. These references can then be inserted into papers and RefWorks will automatically format the footnotes and bibliography. One may choose from a multitude of different styles including MLA, APA, Turabian and Chicago. An important benefit is that one may import references from a number of online databases. As a web-based product, RefWorks is available to users across various platforms including Windows, Mac, Unix, etc. To set up a personal RefWorks account and learn more, see the Libraries' web page eResearch & eLearning Tools . There is also a very useful RefWorks tutorial . return to top Online Request Forms The Libraries' web site offers several electronic forms which can assist researchers in acquiring materials. The following forms can be accessed by choosing the Online Requests/Forms option in the Quick Links pulldown menu on the Libraries' home page ):
return to top Automated Alerts or Current Awareness Services A number of databases and collections of electronic journals provide an alert feature whereby you can set up a search profile/strategy. These are automated current awareness services that result, depending on the type of profile or strategy, in table of contents of your chosen journals or a list of individual article citations being e-mailed directly to your e-mail box. Relevant databases include: Quest , ingenta , British Humanities Index , American Humanities Index , ATLA Religion Database , Book Review Digest , MLA Bibliography , Philosopher's Index , Cambridge University Press Journals , Oxford University Press J ournals , Project Muse . For more information click Research Guides: Automated Alerts . return to top Library Research Guides BC Libraries have created numerous guides to assist users in their research. The following are those that might be of more relevance to students who are conducting research on literature in English. However, many others are available at Research Guides . African-American Literature |
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