Vol. XIV, no. 6 Tusculum College Tate Library  March-April 2004

New Book List:

The March new books list has just been posted. A total of 276 titles are included. For the first time, gift books are included in the mix and are indicated with an asterisk (*). Thanks to all those who provided these extras.

Reminder:

School directors are reminded that May 3 is the deadline to turn in book lists for next year.

New Supplemental Materials Recommendation Form:

A new supplemental materials recommendation form has been placed on the library’s website under Request Forms or click here: Recommendation for Purchase  It is designed to be used outside of the normal faculty selection process by students, staff and administration, alumni, friends of the College, and others who do not normally provide their selection recommendations into the spring book lists compiled by the three schools. Every request made is appreciated and will be given careful consideration.

Tate Library Research Database of the Month: 

Literature Resource Center, Publisher:  Gale Group  

http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=tusculum

Located on the Tate Library Website under Research Databases through the Infotrac II link,  Literature Resource Center is a user friendly database of resources pertaining to literature from ancient writings to the present and from a variety of countries, cultures, and languages.   The contents include “biographies, bibliographies and critical analyses of more than 120,000 authors” according to the posted database description.  Many of the well renown Gale Reference Books such as Scribner Writers Series are included in this database.  

Also included is the Encyclopedia of Literature which provides brief articles on topics ranging from an author, to a character in a novel or play, to a literary genre or  to a creature in world mythology.  Another interesting link is “Authors on the Highway” which provides information on various current authors touring schedules across the United States and is provided by Publishers Weekly Magazine. 

The search screen for LRC is easy to use and allows users to search by author, title, keyword as well as to view a literary timeline to show key authors/works in  the context of world events.    This database is a great resource for any literature or writing course and may also serve history classes as well. CHECK IT OUT!  If you have further questions regarding this database of the month, contact a TC Librarian.

Library Construction:

Renovation of Tate Library proceeds apace. You are reminded that photos and a web cam are available both on the main web page of the College and the news pages of the library.

About the Newsletter Logo:

I have been asked several times of late as to why we maintain the current newsletter logo, featuring books and film as opposed to, say, computers and DVD cases. Years ago,  when I held the library directorship at another institution, the noted West Virginia and Appalachian artist John Bond, who was then on staff, and I struck up a friendship. At some point, we discussed my need for a newsletter logo and he very graciously drew the logo you see above. When I migrated to Tusculum in 1990, the present newsletter concept – and logo – came with me.  Bond’s work will thus continue to enjoy prominence on these pages.

Statistics (March 2004):

In the data which follows, the first of two figures is that for Tate Library – Greeneville and the second is for Tate Library – Knoxville; where there is only one number, it is combined for both. Some items do not lend themselves  to this easy breakdown and are addressed as appropriate; several people log on to visit our links library or free databases for which we have no figures, e.g., FirstGov. The various database vendors all provide access to more than one database; however, the complete list (49 different titles) is too long for breakdown here.

Website (library only) Visits: 6,614; Subscription database searches (total): 5,895; Total electronic visits to  Tate Library: 12,509.

Subscription Database Searches Breakdown by Vendor: Infotrac I (TEL), 2,148; Infotrac II, 2,060; EDRS,  76; EBSCOhost, 1,084 (CINAHL 16; MLA Bibliography 24); JSTOR, 273; CQ Researcher, 230, Proquest, 2188.

Interlibrary Loans: Greeneville to Knoxville, 0; Knoxville to Greeneville, 0; via OCLC from other libraries for both campuses, 15; via ARIEL from other libraries for both campuses, 0. Books by Mail: 2.

Cool Links

 Education Resource Organizations Directory (EROD) http://bcol02.ed.gov/Programs/EROD from the Dept. of Education is designed to help students and educators locate state, regional, and national organizations which provide information and assistance on many educational topics. Be sure to check the “What’s In This Directory for Me?” section which describes how users might profit from employing this site.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics http://repec.org is a directory and database for scholarly works worldwide; citations are provided to 100,000 working papers, 80,000 articles, and 500 books or book chapters. Although not a full-text database, some resources are available from some of the  17 various listed sites. Everyone, student or faculty, in the School of Business should become familiar with this free tool.

ReefBase http://www.reefbase.org provides all manner of information about coral reefs, the life forms they attract, and the ecological challenges they face. Particularly helpful is a “Reference” section which provides a searchable database of books, government reports, and other data.