Are you researching a current, “hot” topic? Need to find out what is newsworthy in countries around the globe? Try the Library’s newest interdisciplinary database, Global Issues in Context.
You can access this database from the Library's homepage by clicking on "Online Resources A-Z", clicking on "G", and scrolling to find this title. You can even use it off campus--just log in with your Library borrower ID.
This database explores broad current events and controversial
topics from a global perspective. Information is arranged in topical “portals.”
These portals provide a wide range of materials, including a brief overview of
the topic, reference sources for background information, global news articles,
images and videos, podcasts, primary source documents, scholarly journal
articles, and more. All materials are full text and link to other related
portals within the database.
Use the search box near the top of the page to look for materials, or browse portals by issue or geographic region.
For help using this or any other resource, email us or contact an RU Library location for assistance.
Produced in collaboration with the University of Chicago, Black Thought and Culture contains 1,297 sources with 1,100 authors, covering the non-fiction published works of leading African-Americans. Contributors are drawn from all areas of life, including teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes and entertainers. Documents include many primary sources, such as interviews, speeches, pamphlets and letters. When completed, the collection will include the first-ever complete run of the Black Panther newspaper. There are approximately 5,000 pages of previously inaccessible documents.
Black Thought and Culture is quite user-friendly, as it is searchable by author, source, year, historical event, personal event, questions and subjects. You can access this database through the RU Library Home Page, under "Books" and "Online Reference Sources."
Do you ever wish you could sit back and have articles from journals and magazines be brought to you, rather than having to go and find them by yourself? Well, this installment of Database Tips will help you realize at least part of that dream.
A new feature in EBSCOHost Databases, which include databases such as Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, ERIC, and PsycINFO, as well as in Academic One File, will deliver articles based on the search criteria you choose. All you have to do is search for articles in one of those databases, and the database will give you a link that you can use to subscribe to the search.
How it works is this: the database creates an RSS feed based on the search criteria that you use to find articles. You might know about RSS feeds if you are a blog reader or writer. In the simplest of terms, an RSS feed takes new content from a blog, or any website that is regularly updated and has a feed, and directs it somewhere else, like a feed reader, blog aggregator, or favorites bar in a browser, making it easy for you to keep track of your favorite blogs, newspapers, websites, and now, article searches!
So, the next time you set up a successful search in an EBSCOHost database or Academic One File, look for a link at the top of your list of results. In EBSCO databases, the link will say Create alert for this search, and in Academic One File it will say Create a Search Alert. In both cases, the links will appear next to the orange RSS feed icon, which you can see to the above right. After clicking either link, you will get the URL for the feed, which you can use to subscribe to the search.
Still confused? RSS, despite being called "real simple syndication," tends to be a subject that makes even the most tech savvy people scratch their heads and mutter. Well, mutter no more: we've created a primer on blogs and feeds--what they are, and how you can use them. You can read them here:
As always, if you have questions or need further assistance, contact us!
We want you to come to the library. We really do. But,
because the PAL is a modern sort of library, we provide you with some great
resources that you can use form home. There are two in particular that will be
of interest to anyone with ears. You don’t have to be a CCPA student. If you
haven’t yet taken a look, or listen actually, to the Naxos Music Library and the
Database of Recorded American Music (DRAM) be sure to do so soon. Both are
online resources loaded with streaming audio, and each has a slightly different
focus. Naxos is mostly what people think of as classical music – Bach,
Beethoven, Mozart etc. At nearly 17,600 CDs worth of music, there’s a ton to
choose from. If you ever felt like giving classical music a try, here’s your way
to do it. Everything you listen to in Naxos is paid for by the library, and with
the amount of music in there, you can explore for…well…years.
For those with listening tastes a bit more eclectic, you’ll
find plenty to keep you interested in a similar resource called DRAM. From folk
to opera, Native American to jazz, 19th century classical to early rock, musical
theater, contemporary, electronic and beyond, if you can’t find something
interesting then you just don’t like music. DRAM has fewer recordings than Naxos
at only 1500, but the diversity is astounding…and again...paid for by the
library.
Between the two, Naxos and DRAM deliver an enormous amount of important and interesting music to your desk top at school or at home. Be sure to log on by clicking on the PAL home page links.
