iGoogle and Duke Libraries April 10, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Catalog Tip, Cool tools, Database Tip , add a commentWe’ve heard of several faculty and library staff members who are converts to iGoogle, which is sort of a customizable universal home page. If you use iGoogle and the Duke Libraries, you should certainly add our Google Gadget, which lets you put the tabbed search box from the library home page right into iGoogle. Here’s how it looks:
You’ll notice that Catherine also has her Gmail account, Facebook account, Google Reader (for subscribing to blogs, like Duke’s Library Hacks!), Google Docs, and a news feed (plus other stuff you can’t see like weather and Youtube) all feeding in to her iGoogle page.
You can also create your own free-form “gadget” with links to, for example, e-journals or databases that you search all the time, creating a series of research shortcuts for yourself. Give the Duke Library Google Gadget a try and see if other iGoogle tools work for you. If you have a library or research-related iGoogle Hack, leave us a note in comments!
Save time! Learn EndNote! April 9, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Cool tools, Duke researchers, Research Help, Tips for students , add a commentJump start your research and writing by using EndNote, a reference management tool that is sure to save you time and frustration. Duke faculty, students and staff may download EndNote to personal or work computers, free of charge.
Perkins Library is offering four free EndNote sessions:
- Wed, Apr 9 from 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Lilly Library Training Room (EndNote Advanced–Scieces/Social Sciences)
- Mon, Apr 14 from 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM in Lilly Library Training Room (Introduction to EndNote)
- Tue, Apr 15 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM in Bostock Library, Room 023 (EndNote Advanced)
- Thu, Apr 17 from 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM in Bostock Library, Room 023 (Introduction to EndNote)
Interested? Register today — space is limited!
Want $1000? April 4, 2008
Posted by Emily in : Duke researchers, Original research , 1 comment so far
Then enter your research paper or project into competition for the Libraries’ Durden Prize or Middlesworth Award.
Undergraduates who make exceptional use of library collections (databases count and e-journals count!) are eligible for the Durden Prize.
Undergraduates OR graduate students who incorporate materials from the Rare Books, Manuscript and Special Collections Library are invited to submit papers for consideration for the Middlesworth Award.
All winners will be recognized at a reception at Parents and Family Weekend 2008 and will receive $1000.
Submissions for both awards are due to the library by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 15.
Note: Both awards require a faculty member’s signature, and the Durden Prize requires a short essay on your research process, so you may not want to wait till May 15 to decide to apply!
Find an Open Computer April 4, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Cool tools, Life in the library , 1 comment so farAs the semester gets endy and the library gets FULL, remember we have a handy online system that allows you to see where there are unused computers in Perkins, Bostock, Vesic, Music, and Lilly.
Another school (Georgia Tech) set up a system like this, and a student cartoonist in their paper replied with the following:
If you are uncomfortable asking someone to give up a computer even though she is hanging out on Facebook and you really need the statistical software because your paper is due at 5pm, ask a librarian at the desk. We can find you an open computer or help remind others that people using the library computers for academic work should have priority.
Search TRLN Feature 1: Spelling Correction April 2, 2008
Posted by Phoebe in : Catalog Tip , 1 comment so farSearch TRLN (introduced here) has some great features that make the search experience more like familiar online searches (cough*google*cough) than like more traditional library catalogs.
Search TRLN will try to suggest corrections for your spelling errors or typos. I did an Author search on “milosAvic”, deliberately, but plausibly, spelling this name wrong. Search TRLN realized I might have meant “milosEvic” and included search results for that spelling in my list. As it turns out, the first 5 items in the list have authors named Milosevic associated with them. Nice!
