Finding a Library computer during crunch-time… November 24, 2008
Posted by Thomas Crichlow in : Cool tools, Tips for students , 3commentsTo see a list showing how many computers are available at various Library locations around campus, point your cell phone’s browser to a new page on the Library’s mobile website: http://library.duke.edu/mobile/workstations.do
This is part of a beta site providing Library web content formatted specifically for cell phones and other handheld devices (iPod Touch, Blackberry, etc.). Feel free to give us your feedback letting us know what Library information you’d like to access via your cell phone’s browser.
Kudos to Jim Coble, Matt Gates, and Jason Simons for making data on available computers accessible to our patrons.
We also have a set of pages on the Library’s main website, http://library.duke.edu/services/workstations/, that displays the same information graphically.
Reference Desk, 1958 November 19, 2008
Posted by Hannah in : Duke researchers, Librarians, Life in the library , 4commentsWhat kinds of questions did Duke students ponder 50 years ago?
Here’s a glimpse at some of the questions recorded by Duke Reference librarians in 1958:
Have we (the U.S.) ever been out of debt?
I have to write a paper on the origin of the earth.
I want material on the moon in July 1778.
Where can I find material on safety items in airplanes, like ejection seats?
Is Thurston the Magician still alive? If so, where does he live?
Where can I find how many witches were killed in Europe?
Can you recommend a book on “mind reading”?
Where can I find how to grind the lens of a telescope?
I need some quarto-sized pictures of prehistoric man.
What color is the star Venus in the morning sky?
Are the people of Massachusetts called “Massachusettentians”?
Could you give me a list of brand names of all whiskey made in the U.S.?
I want a list of cities with their pollen counts, so I can locate to a pollen-free community.
Shortly after World War I (probably 1924), you sent me a booklet on inflation. As I recall it, that booklet discussed the evils of inflation and what happened to people in the area it hit. I would like to get a copy of it as a more modern version.
What is the source of the quotation “It is better to light a candle, than to curse the darkness”?
Where in the Manhattan yellow sheets should I look for a company which handles foreign exchange currency and sending money abroad?
I ate some fruit at lunch and I’ve forgotten what it is. Can you help me?
I am writing a 1500 word paper (due tomorrow!)–on how to set up a beach (life saving corps, etc.).
Who makes Edith Lance bras? I want to write a complaint to the company…
Image credit: “Studying Dink, 1957.” Duke University Archives. Durham, NC. USA. library.duke.edu/uarchives. Accessed Nov. 17th, 2008.
China Data Online November 17, 2008
Posted by Nathaniel in : Duke researchers, Featured Database , 1 comment so far
China Data Online includes two parts: economic statistics and census data. It includes the economic statistics of China, arranged by regions and categories; monthly and yearly reports on China’s macroeconomic development; statistical databases about China’s population and economy at the county and city level; and financial indicators of more than 568 industrial branches.
Duke’s subscription includes (1) China Yearly Macro-economy Statistics (1949-), (2) China Monthly, Macro-economy Statistics (1998-), (3) Monthly Reports on Economy Development (2002-), (4) China City Statistics (1996-), (5) China County Statistics (1997-), (6) China Industrial Data (2001-), and (7) various statistical yearbooks (2002-).
The database also includes census data, including census data from 1982, 1982 (10%), 1990, 1995 (survey), and 2000 (county and province level).
Click here to access China Data Online.
Search beyond Google November 10, 2008
Posted by Michael in : Cool tools, Research Help , 1 comment so far
Many of us use Google to search the web for personal research and library resources for scholarly publications. Sometimes, however, it’s not clear whether what we need will be on the web or in scholarly literature. I’d like to point out some nice search engines for specific types of information that combine the ease of Google with the specialization of a library database. These tools could help you make sense of the web.
To find more like these, go here for a list of 100 Useful Niche Search Engines.
Scirus - Specializing in scientific information, it allows researchers to search for journal content and also scientists’ homepages, courseware, pre-print server material, patents and institutional repository and website information. Also, its new ‘topics pages‘ are Wikipedia-style entries with identified (usually scholarly) authors.
Meta-Index to U.S. Legal Research – This site gathers search engines for U.S. legal information from across the web and puts them all in the same place. It points you towards good tools for searching legislation, judicial opinions and regulations on the web.
CiteSeer - This search engine for computer science and information science is full of features including citation analysis tools.
InternshipPrograms - A nice way to search for internships and for organizations to find interns. Register by including your résumé and interests.
Clusty - Provides search results in a list, but also includes a sidebar with categories, so you can review results by subject area.
Google – Don’t forget about Google’s own features such as Advanced search, Google Books, Google Scholar, Google News, etc.
Russian Resources November 4, 2008
Posted by Nathaniel in : Duke researchers, Featured Database , add a comment
The Universal Databases provides a unified search engine for several Russian language databases: Russian Central Newspapers (UDB-COM), Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press (UDB-CD), Social Sciences & Humanities (UDB-EDU), Voprosy istorii: Complete Collection (UDB-VI), and Voprosy literatury: Complete Collection (UDB-VL).
The multilingual interface offers transliteration and Russian/English search capabilities.
Click here to access the Universal Databases.
