UC Campuses to Evaluate Scopus

Through December, 2010 the UC community will have an opportunity to try out and evaluate the Scopus database: http://www.scopus.com.

Scopus is a large interdisciplinary abstract and citation database of research literature and selected websites developed by the scholarly publisher Elsevier. It currently indexes, selectively abstracts, and provides citation analysis since 1996 for nearly 18,000 peer-reviewed journals including open access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, web pages, and patent records. Although most comprehensive in the sciences, Scopus is currently expanding its coverage of the social sciences and humanities literature. Citations in Scopus are linked to full-text articles available via UC eLinks.

During the Scopus evaluation period, members of the UC community are invited to consider its coverage and functionality in comparison with similar databases. Given the current fiscal restraints throughout the UC system, it is unlikely that CDL or any of the UC Libraries will be able to provide access to multiple resources with duplicate or similar content after 2009. The Libraries working with the Scopus Task Force will be actively soliciting feedback on Scopus from end users during the course of the access period.

Various training opportunities for Scopus are being planned at each UC campus. Interested researchers at UCSB are encouraged to go to http://trainingdesk.elsevier.com/scopus/index.asp for information on training opportunities and links to online tutorials.

More information about the Scopus trial is available at http://www.cdlib.org/inside/collect/scopus_public.html.

The librarian at UCSB who is coordinating the systemwide evaluation of Scopus is Andrea Duda, who may be contacted at duda@library.ucsb.edu or 893-2647 for additional information and feedback.

Need help? We’ve got your back, 24/7.

We have expanded the hours of our chat reference service.  Now, you can get help from a librarian 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

All you have to do is Ask a Librarian!

Where’s Your Favorite Place to Study in the Library?

We have a variety of study spaces in the library for different study preferences.

Tell us your favorite spot and why!

Writing a Paper on Our Computers?

In order to make changes to an MS Word or Powerpoint file, you will need to use one of the computers with the full version of these programs. Look for a blue sign on the computer that says “Microsoft Office Available”.

The most reliable way to save your work is to use a USB thumb drive. We highly recommend this method, as it is the best way to protect yourself from losing your work. Also, if a computer loses power or has to be rebooted anything that is saved to our computers will be lost.

If you have e-mailed a file to yourself and want to edit it, you MUST either save it to a USB drive or to our computer BEFORE making any changes. If you do not do this, your changes won’t be saved.

UCSB students can also save files to U-Storage space. To do this, see the directions below:

• U-Storage SFTP Instructions
• U-Storage Web Instructions

Improved Wireless on First Floor

In an effort to improve wireless access in the library, we have upgraded the the wireless network on the first floor of the library. Other floors that have been upgraded include 4 and 5. If you are looking for a fast connection, try one of these three floors.

Don’t forget that we also have a wireless printing service available for PC users.  People who are logged on through the wireless network can send print jobs to any of the public printers in the library.  For more information on wireless printing, see http://www.library.ucsb.edu/print.html.

All of these changes are part of our ongoing efforts to improve our services for our users.

Can I Submit My Artwork For Display in the Library?

Yes! We have a space for student art on the first floor of Davidson Library near the central elevators. Check out the art already there and get inspired to submit your own. Contact Angela Boyd for details: aboyd@library.ucsb.edu

GRAMMY Foundation grant awarded to UCSB Library’s Cylinder Project

Edison cylinder recordings will be digitized and preserved with access to them provided by the university library’s internationally-acclaimed Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project.  Funding from the grant will enhance public access to these important historical recordings, which will be part of the website’s collection of nearly 8,000 digitized recordings, the largest such archive currently available online.

Full press release

UCSB Libraries Acquires Lou Cannon Papers

UCSB Library’s Department of Special Collections has recently acquired the papers of author Lou Cannon, former White House correspondent and noted biographer of Ronald Reagan. He has also authored an extensive social history of the Rodney King beatings and the resultant 1992 Los Angeles riots.

“The Ronald Reagan and the Rodney King archives that are now housed in Special Collections at UC Santa Barbara represent my life’s work, and I’m pleased they’ve found such a good home,” said Cannon.

For additional information about the collections, please see the press release or contact the Department of Special Collections at (805) 893-3062 or special@library.ucsb.edu.

New UC-wide Open Access Agreement

UC’s California Digital Library has completed successful negotiations with Springer to launch an open access arrangement as part of its 2008 Springer journals license. This will allow all articles by UC-affiliated authors to be issued under Springer’s “Open Choice” model without additional author fees.

The articles will be accessible via SpringerLink and will be published under the terms of a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial license. When publishing in a Springer journal, authors will see acceptance screens advising them of this arrangement. Authors will not be offered an opt-out option at this time, although this can be considered for a later stage if there is a demand for it.

Planning is also underway for automatic deposit of these articles into the UC eScholarship Repository.

What would you ask the Dalai Lama?

On April 24, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, author of this year’s selection for UCSB Reads, will be on campus to deliver two lectures. Our theme this year is “Ethics — Beyond Ourselves,” which ties in with the theme of his afternoon lecture.

If you had the chance to ask him a question about an ethical issue, what would it be? We will be submitting these to the Dalai Lama and hope that he will be able to address some of them. Reply to this thread and join in on the conversation!

For more information about the Dalai Lama, see the About the Author page on the UCSB Reads web site.