What’s New

Ashland University Adds First Dissertation to ETD

Ashland University has approved its first dissertation for publication in the OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center: "An Examination of Lesson Study as a Teaching Tool in U.S. Public Schools" by Ruth E. Friedman. Ashland University is the 15th institution to join OhioLINK's ETD Center.

The OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center is a free online database of graduate theses and dissertations and undergraduate honors theses from students at participating Ohio colleges and universities. Any OhioLINK member institution may join and submit theses and dissertations to the database. A list of participating institutions is available.

The ETD Center currently contains more than 5,700 theses and dissertations, which are accessible to anyone worldwide. The full-text is available for 90% of the included documents. For more information about the OhioLINK ETD Center, see the FAQ.

New Reference E-Books Added, Collection Grows to 417

Nine new e-books have been added to OhioLINK's Electronic Reference Books Collection bringing the total number of e-books available in this collection to 417.

The Electronic Reference Books Collection contains special-topic reference books—including encyclopedias, handbooks, biographical collections, guides—from ABC-CLIO, an educational reference publisher.

The most recent additions to the Electronic Reference Books Collection include:

• Cults: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition
• East Asian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook
• The Environment and Science: Social Impact and Interaction
• Hate Crimes: A Reference Handbook, Second Edition
• Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact
• The Industrial Revolution in America: Iron and Steel, Railroads, Steam Shipping
• Marriage on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents
• Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918: An Illustrated History of Their Impact
• Northeast and Midwest United States: An Environmental History

Electronic Reference Books may be found by searching the OhioLINK Library Catalog, by searching the collection, or by browsing the list of titles in the collection.

OhioLINK users who are interested in finding more e-books should explore the History E-Book Project, netLibrary, Oxford Reference Online Premium Collection and the Safari Tech Books Online Collection. All OhioLINK e-book collections may now be accessed on-campus, or remotely.

Using Google Scholar? Look for OLinks!

If you're not familiar with Google Scholar, it's Google's specialized search engine for conducting scholarly research. As Google explains, you can "use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web."

While we still think that visiting your local academic library (in person or online) is the BEST way to find scholarly information for class assignments and research, Google Scholar is now a better secondary source for preliminary research. Why? Because now you can see whether you have free access to the resources you find using Google Scholar.

Here's how it works. After you conduct a search in Google Scholar, you will see "Find it with OLinks" or "OhioLINK OLinks" for journal articles and books. Click on this link to see if you can access the article or book (for free!) from OhioLINK or our 85 member libraries. If an article is available online, OLinks can lead you directly to it for free. If the article or book is in print, OLinks can tell you where to find it at your library or elsewhere in Ohio.

"OLinks" displays automatically if you are searching on-campus. If you're using Google Scholar while off-campus, or if links to OLinks don't show while on-campus, you can manually configure your browser to use OLinks. To do so, set your preferences in Google Scholar by entering "Ohio" or "OhioLINK" in the box marked "institutional access." You can also enter your school's name, as your local library may provide other linking options in Google Scholar.

And please remember, don't pay for information online that you can get from your library for free! If you're ever asked for payment to view an article or resource online while using Google Scholar, visiting a publishers' site, or any other reason, contact your library first to see if you can access the same, or perhaps a better resource from your library or OhioLINK for free. If you need help using Google Scholar, or finding information for a class assignment or research project, ask the experts. Get online help from an OhioLINK librarian via Chat with a Librarian, or call your library for assistance.

Trouble Using Chat with a Librarian? Update Java!

If you are on the Chat with a Librarian homepage and you click on the chat icon, but can't connect to chat, you may need to update java. To update java, visit Sun Microsystem's homepage for a free download.

If you continue to experience problems with chatting, or any other OhioLINK service, please contact your local library for help or contact us.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Chat with a Librarian, it's a service that can save you time and frustration. Chat with a Librarian allows you to get real-time research help online from a professional OhioLINK librarian no matter where you are. So the next time you need help finding information for a class assignment, have problems using a library- or OhioLINK-provided resource, or have a research question, go to http://chat.ohiolink.edu and Chat with a Librarian!

Chat with a Librarian is only available to students, faculty, and staff members at OhioLINK member institutions.

OSearch: Coming in July, Sneak Previews Available Now

In July, OhioLINK will release an updated version of our internally-created interface for several research databases. The new interface, called OSearch, will replace the current interface for more than 30 databases, including Applied Science and Technology Abstracts, Art Abstracts, Biological Abstracts, Business and Industry, Compendex, Education Abstracts, Eric, Humanities Abstracts, Inspec, and PsycINFO.

While the basic functionality of OSearch will remain the same as the current interface, improvements have been made, the most noticeable of which is a dramatically improved design. You can preview OSearch now for Compendex, ERIC, Inspec, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO. Other previews will be posted as they become available.

New in DMC: Oral Histories of the 1970 Kent State Shootings

A collection of 69 oral histories related to the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University has been added to OhioLINK's Digital Media Center (DMC). The oral histories include many eyewitness accounts of the event and its aftermath, contributed by people who were students, faculty members, and City of Kent residents at the time, as well as an account by an Ohio National Guardsman. This is the sixth collection to be added to the Historic & Archival Digital Media database, which is freely available to anyone worldwide via the Internet.

The Kent State May 4 Oral Histories are available as audio files. Apple's free QuickTime player is required to listen to the files. A written transcript is also available for most of the oral histories. Click on the "full record" link to view the transcript.

The "May 4 Oral History Project" was started in 1990 to preserve personal histories of and individual reactions to the shootings on the Kent State University campus in 1970. The collection is maintained and was contributed to the DMC by the Department of Special Collections and Archives, Libraries and Media Services, at Kent State University. Visit the department's Web site for more information on this collection and additional resources on the Kent State shootings.

Update (5/25/05) - A press release about the Kent State May 4 Oral Histories collection is now available online.

New ISI Web of Science at OhioLINK

OhioLINK has installed the latest version of the ISI Web of Science interface. This affects three databases: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index Expanded, and Social Sciences Citation Index. If you are on-campus at an OhioLINK member college or university you can preview the new system now.

Full implementation of the new system will occur on June 6, 2005. Between May 20 and June 6, 2005, weekly updates will be loaded only to the new system. During this period, please switch to the new system for on-campus use if you need the most current data. Remote access will only be available from the old system, until June 6.

If you have any questions about ISI please contact your local library for assistance.

Job Opportunity: System Developer

OhioLINK is seeking a system developer (temporary, two-year position) for the Digital Resource Commons. The System Developer position will serve as a key team member to facilitate the design, development, testing and implementation of new content management technologies for state of Ohio higher education communities through OhioLINK.

Read the online job description for complete details.

Review of potential applicants will begin no later than May 16, 2005 and will continue until a successful candidate is chosen and has accepted.