We have some money left over in the large items fund — this fund pays for one-time purchases of over $1000. If there is an item you would like to see the library acquire — an expensive book series, a CD-ROM package, etc. let me know and I’ll put in a request. As always, email jryan1@lsu.edu.

A print library use survey will be conducted for two hours once a month in Middleton; twice a month for two hours each in Hill Memorial Library; twice a month for two hours each in the Veterinary Medicine Library; and an electronic briefer survey for the same random times each month when accessing library electronic resources.

The surveying will commence in the next two weeks and will continue over a twelve month period.

Cooperation in completing the surveys will be helpful to the library in determining how library facilities, materials, and services are being used.

Thank you for your assistance.

So far I’ve limited myself primarily to new book announcements and weekly resource spotlights, but I’d like to expand the content of this blog somewhat over the summer. What kind of things would you like to see posted here? Please post a comment here or email me at jryan1@lsu.edu.

Spring ordering is upon us and I am once again taking suggestions for books to be ordered for Middleton. Because of budget issues, we have less money this semester than anticipated, so unlike last semester I cannot guarantee that all recommended books will in fact be ordered. However I will do my best.

Please send suggestions to jryan1@lsu.edu.

It’s a new semester and I will once again resume regular posting here on the blog. Remember that I am always available to help you or your students with any research related questions you might have. I am also free to do specialised instruction for your classes. Just email me or give me a call to set it up.

Phone: 578-2950
Email: jryan1@lsu.edu

I hope everyone had a good time over the holidays. In 2006 I am looking to expand the scope of this blog. I have a few ideas, but this is all about what you want to see. Please send me your ideas and suggestions at jryan1@lsu.edu.

From Bill Armstrong:

“Yes, you may indeed upgrade your office computers and any lab computers to the 2006 version of SciFinder Scholar. The software can be downloaded from the following site:
http://www.lib.lsu.edu
User Name: scifinder
Password: LSU_sci_fin (case sensitive)

If you are upgrading an earlier version on your machine, you only need to download the executable installation file, SFS2006.exe.

If, however, this is a brand new installation, then you’ll also need to download the site.prf file for Windows. Once you’ve installed the program, go back to the download site and save the site.prf file directly into the folder in which SciFinder installed itself, C:SFSCHLR. The information contained in this file is essential for CAS to allow your computer to connect.”

From Bill Armstrong, our Chemistry Librarian:

“SciFinder Scholar has now been upgraded to the 2006 version in the Reference area, including Ref Desk. The OCS labs have already been upgraded as well.

Most of the improvements have been to the substructure searching capabilities, but there are a couple of other organizational changes on the opening search screen I wanted to call your attention to. Previously, your access points to the bibliographic literature and the compound Registry file were all found on the opening screen. Now they’re organized into two groups: Explore and Locate. Under Explore, you’ll find the Topic Search, one of the two types of searches you’ll do the most. The other search
useful to you is the compound search by name or CAS RN, and this is now located under Locate.”

From IEEE Xplore maintenance:

“IEEE has scheduled necessary maintenance to the IEEE Xplore digital library
for Monday, 28 November from approximately 2 – 3 PM EST. During
maintenance users will be able to access the site, search, and view
abstracts, but they will be unable to view full-text PDFs. We are posting
a message to the IEEE Xplore welcome page so that users become aware of the
limited access.”

Journal Citation Reports on the Web is now available from the LSU Libraries; faculty and students may access (both on and off-campus) the JCR reports from the list of Indexes and Databases on the Libraries web site.

Journal Citation Reports is a comprehensive and unique resource that allows you to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from over 7,500 scholarly and technical journals from more than 3,300 publishers in over 60 countries. JCR Science Edition contains data from over 5,900 journals in science and technology. JCR Social Sciences Edition contains data from over 1,700 journals in the social sciences.

It is the only source of citation data on journals, and includes virtually all areas of science, technology, and social sciences. Journal Citation Reports can show you the:
· Most frequently cited journals in a field
· Highest impact journals in a field
· Largest journals in a field

Citation and article counts are important indicators of how frequently current researchers are using individual journals. By tabulating and aggregating citation and article counts, JCR offers a unique perspective for journal evaluation and comparison.