Popular and Trade Publications, and Our Databases

 Hello all,

I'm writing this to hopefully save people some headaches when attempting to locate articles from popular and trade publications (e.g. the New York Times, Washington Post, Education Week, Wired, New Yorker etc.).

While we do have access to ProQuest and EBSCO archives of these publications we do not have access to every article that appears within them or on their websites. For instance, while we have access to the main articles from Education Week, ProQuest does not have the op-eds or letters to the editor that appear within each issue. Similarly, the New Yorker seems to retain certain articles as exclusive to their website. For publications that put out daily releases like the NYT or WaPo there may be as much as a month's delay between an article being published and getting access to it through the databases.

At time of writing I have found no expedient way of precisely predicting which articles will be included or excluded in the databases. I expect that articles printed within the physical issues of these publications will be included, but as most people access them through their websites there is not a way of reliably determining which articles are web exclusive for all publications. Some publication websites will state this information somewhere on the article's web page, and some will not. You will have to do your best to investigate articles on a case to case basis.

If you are searching the databases for a particular article within a publication, my advice would be to first attempt to locate the publication within the Journal A-Z List, then assuming we have access to the publication try searching for the article by the author's name first and narrowing down the date range as needed. The titles on website articles often change for search engine optimization or to better attract reader's attention, however the title in the databases will remain the same as when the article was first published. If the author search yields no results you can then try searching by title, attempting to find the exact issue within the publication, or searching a phrase from the article itself.

 In the event that you cannot locate an article for a patron within the databases you still might be able to get the article for them. Publications will often grant a number of free articles to the public as a way to entice people to subscribe. If the computer you are using allows you to see the article in question you can use the "print to PDF" function to make a copy of the article which you can then email to the patron or attach as file in LibraryH3lp. If this isn't possible you can also direct them to try Inter-Library loan as they have been able get access to articles in these publications in the past.

Otherwise, express your sympathies to the patron and, if needed, gently remind them that we have no control over what gets placed into the databases. That is determined by an agreement between the databases' companies and the publication in question. 

 

  

Restricted Databases

This is a follow up to the previous post by Lea.

The vast majority of databases we pay for are open to community patrons (i.e. patrons who are not students, staff, or faculty), however there are a handful of them that have restrictions on who can access them or how many people can access them at one time.

As Lea said, Amy Kendrick helpfully put together a list of these databases, which I'll link here again in case someone used the search function to find this post.

The spreadsheet is largely self explanatory but there are a few oddities that are worth highlighting.

De Wolfe Music Production Music Library-

Only media studies students have access to this resource. If a patron has a question about this resource then it is best to direct them to the Jeremy, Vini or Andrea at the Harold Schiffman Music Library. Contact emails for them are listed on this page.

News and Observer Index, 1926-1992 (Raleigh)-

This resource requires a Government & Heritage library card number from the State Library of North Carolina. This is entirely free but it might take a few days to process their application. You can find the online application form here.

Wharton Research Data Services- 

 This resource has a very specific license that allows only Bryan School of Business and Economics staff, faculty, and PhD students, as well as certain library staff and faculty to access it. On the off chance you get a question about this resource, or a student from the Bryan School is looking to gain access, please direct them to email our business liaison librarian Steve Cramer.

UpToDate database - only for current faculty, staff, students with active iSpartan account

 Hi all, Amy Kendrick the electronic resources librarian recently made a list of restricted databases.  (sorry that list is locked down to require a UNCG log in to view).  The list has been updated to reflect the fact that the UpToDate database is restricted to current faculty, staff, and students with an active iSpartan account.

MKT 309 Principles of Innovation: new project on campus tech transfer patents

 MKT 309, a required multi-section class for business school students, has a new patents innovation option for some sections. [Some sections are still focusing on the same three local/regional innovation projects as last semester -- see my post here from last August for details.]

The patents sections can use this page for opening research suggestions. There's also an intro video by me. The students should have access to the patents as PDFs via Canvas. They are supposed to use LLM AI to getting a more user friendly explanation of the technology in the patent. 

It's a complicated semester-long, multi-team, multi-innovation project. Feel free to send any of these students to me. All the Isham section students have seen me (or should have watched my video).

Thank you.

--Steve

Accessing PowerScan for Microfiche Reader

 Hello all,

 Patrons have had some trouble lately accessing the PowerScan 3500 application that runs the microfiche reader in ROI. I believe that ERIT is going to do a few things to make the app more obvious, but in the mean time you will want to inform patrons looking to use the microfiche reader that they'll need to find the PowerScan app within the Windows start menu

To access the start menu after you've logged-in to the computer, either click the windows icon on the far left side of the task bar, or press the windows key on the keyboard (the one between the Fn and Alt key on the left side).

 It should bring up a menu that looks like the one pictured below:

From there, either type "PowerScan 3500" in the search bar, or click the All button and scroll down until you find the program's listing.

When you launch the app, you'll likely receive an error message that mentions an invalid license. Click the OK button, and the app should launch normally after a few seconds.