University Library > What's New archive > What's New February 2003

What's New - February 2003
Library Events
New & Improved Services
Database Updates:
Clinical Pharmacology. | Science Online. | Ulrichsweb.com. | WilsonWeb. | Discontinued Databases | Trial
Staffing Update Added Space & Equipment

Andersen Library's 50th Anniversary!

2003 is Andersen Library's 50th anniversary. On February 25, 1953, the campus library collection was moved from the third floor of Old Main's west wing (since destroyed by fire) into the new Andersen Library building. The building's dedication was not held until October 1953.

The Library will celebrate this anniversary, starting with a contest to design a graphic to represent Andersen Library and its 50 years of service. Submissions will be displayed on the Library's webpage and in the Library from March 3rd to March 10th. Judging will occur during this week. The winning submission will be announced to contest participants and Library staff on Monday, March 10th, and to the campus (via the Library's web page) on Tuesday, March 11th. Beginning February 24th there will be a display on the Library's history in the second-floor display cases near the Circulation Desk, and special bookmarks commemorating the hand-carrying of the collection will be distributed. A celebration of the Library's dedication will take place on October 24, 2003. Come celebrate with us!

Friends of the Library Activities

  • History and Architectural Style of a House
    March 21, 2003 (Friday), 1:30-3:30 p.m.
    International Education Conference Room (Andersen Library, L2254)
    Carol Cartwright, Historic Preservation Consultant, will be talking about investigating the history and architectural style of buildings and homes in the area using archival sources.

  • Library Book Sale
    April 7-10, 2003 (Monday-Thursday)
    Andersen Library Lobby

    Book Sale Hours
    Apr. 7: 6 p.m.-8 p.m.   Presale (UWW faculty, staff, students, & Friends only)
    Apr. 8-9: 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
    Apr. 10: 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Library Table at the Women's Fair

Be sure to stop by the Library's display at the second annual UW-W Women's Fair, on Tuesday, March 11 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in the University Center's Hamilton Center. In keeping with the theme of this year's Fair, our display will be highlighting women's achievements and contributions in times of peace and war. A diverse group of women in different fields will be featured, such as Lidiya Litvyak, a World War I Soviet fighter pilot, and Ada Deer, a Native American social activist. You'll also have the chance to look at key Library resources on women, such as Women in World History and the A to Z of Women in Science and Math, and take our online quiz! Find out what you know about women!

Air Handling Project This Summer

To correct the mold problem on the Library's third floor, the Library's air handling system will be under construction this summer. Ceiling tiles, chilled water coils, piping, valves, and second- and third-floor lighting will be replaced.

The project is scheduled to start in May after spring semester final exams and run for 12 weeks. While Governor Doyle's approval is pending, the health-affecting nature of the problem is generating optimism that the project will go forward.

The Library will be open during the project. Materials may be checked out at the Circulation Desk, and reference service will be available. Access to first-floor materials (Periodicals, audio-visual materials, and children's collection) will not be affected, however the temperature may be uncomfortable during the two-week period when the air handling system will be shut down. Materials on the second and third floors will be closed to the public, but Library staff will be able to retrieve requested materials after project workers leave each day, making the materials available with 24-hour notice. Universal Borrowing will be available for requesting materials from other UW campus libraries.

Faculty teaching summer session classes are urged to notify the Library by the end of April if there are particular books that students will need so that they may be relocated at the Circulation Desk.

Ask a Librarian: Reference via Chat or E-Mail

The University Library is one of 19 Wisconsin public and academic libraries participating in a pilot project to offer chat and e-mail reference service using QuestionPoint software. Reference via e-mail has been offered for years, but the chat service is new. The QuestionPoint software, developed by the Library of Congress and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.), enables staff at participating libraries to "chat" with reference patrons via the computer. Questions that cannot be answered locally can be forwarded to a global network of libraries. Librarians also may search a knowledge base formed from previously-asked questions and their answers (any information identifying patrons has been removed).

The chat reference service went "live" on Monday, February 10, 2003. The libraries in the consortium, called AskWisconsin, are sharing coverage of the chat reference service. UW-Whitewater reference librarians are monitoring the chat service from 7-9 p.m. on Mondays and from 1-3 p.m. Fridays. At other times questions submitted via chat may be handled by staff in other libraries in the consortium.

Chat Reference Service Hours
11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays - Thursdays
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays

E-mailed reference questions continue to be handled by UW-Whitewater reference librarians within 24 hours of receipt Mondays through Fridays (when the University Library is open).

To submit a question via chat or e-mail, see Ask a Librarian.

Improved Inter-Library Loan (ILL) & Desktop Article Delivery

The University Library has joined other UW libraries in implementing ILLiad, a computerized resource sharing and delivery system which allows students, faculty, and staff to request books, articles, documents, videos, tapes, records, microfilm, etc. from thousands of libraries throughout the world. This fast and convenient service allows patrons to submit requests online, track the status of requests online, and receive articles via desktop delivery (via computer similar to Electronic Reserves). While Universal Borrowing is an internal UW System sharing project used just for books, videos, CDs, etc., ILLiad extends the service to include journal articles, and tracks requests sent to libraries outside the UW System. Most articles are available within 2-4 days and all other formats within 3-5 days. Universal Borrowing is free while ILLiad Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery charges $1.00 per filled request, same as the former ILL service.

New Service for Faculty, Graduate Students, & Distance Education Students: The library is offering to deliver journal articles from our print collection to the computer desktop of faculty, distance education students and graduate students. They need to submit requests through ILLiad, and the cost will be $1.00 per requested article.

Please refer to the Interlibrary Loan web page for additional information at: http://library.uww.edu/SERVICES/loanserv.htm

Questions? Contact Brian Beecher, Coordinator of Circulation/Reserves at (262) 472-5673.

Universal Borrowing from UW Libraries

New for Spring semester 2003, all University of Wisconsin campus libraries are participating in Universal Borrowing, including UW-Madison.

This service allows students, faculty, and staff to request books, videos, tapes, government documents, records, microfilm, etc. from any UW campus library, at no charge. And the service is fast! It usually takes 2-4 working days for materials to arrive. Be sure to request materials (except journal articles) that are available at UW libraries through this service, which you use through the Andersen Library Catalog, and not through ILLiad (because ILLiad requests cost $1.00).

Questions? Contact Brian Beecher, Coordinator of Circulation/Reserves at (262) 472-5673 or contact a reference librarian by phone at (262) 472-1032, by email or in person at the Library's Reference Desk.

Featured Library Resources

The Library's homepage has a new button "Featuring..." from which a Library resource will be featured approximately every month.

Database Updates

NOTE: Off-Campus access to these databases requires a UW-W login.

Clinical Pharmacology (Ebscohost) "contains current, concise and clinically-relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products and new and investigational drugs. Drugs may be searched by their generic or brand names. Clinical Pharmacology is made up of Drug Monograph and Patient Education Records. Drug Monographs include description, mechanism of action, and pharmacokinetics. Patient Education Records contain such information as what the medication is used for, what their health care professional should know before taking the medication, how the medication should be taken, what they should do if a dose is missed, what other medications can interact, what side effects may be noticed, what to watch for, and where to keep the medication. Patient Education records are available in English or Spanish." Clinical Pharmacology has replaced the USP Drug Index (USP).

Science Online, under consideration for cancellation in November 2002, will continue to be available.

Ulrichsweb.com (Ulrich's Periodicals Directory online) was discontinued as a UWS-wide subscription (part of a shared electronic resource collection) as of January 2003. However, it has been picked up as a campus subscription. Science Online has been spared cancellation as well.

WilsonWeb databases have a new search interface. A new Library user guide on How to Use WilsonWeb databases is available.

Discontinued Databases
The following databases are no longer available:

  • AltHealth Watch
  • Books in Print
  • Columbia Earthscape
  • Knovel Scientific and Engineering Online References
  • RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
  • Science NextWave

Trial until March 31, 2003:
Environmental Policy Index (Ebscohost, scroll down to select it from the database list)

This database provides deep coverage (from 1972 to the present) of relevant areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, environmental law, geography, marine & freshwater resources, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more. The database contains cover-to-cover indexing, detailed abstracts for well over 1,000 international journals with ongoing coverage for over 500 titles, and features an in-depth thesaurus.

Staffing Update

Katie Davis started work as the new Government Documents Assistant (Library Services Assistant-Senior) on February 3, 2003. She previously worked as a student assistant at the Periodicals Help Desk, and graduated from UW-Whitewater in December 2002.

Added Space & Equipment

The middle portion of the former "front porch" on the Andersen Library building's south side has been assigned to the University Library. The new Library space (on the second floor, behind the Reference Desk) will house two new group study rooms, a new conference room, and offices for the Library Director and Automation Coordinator. The new space also will be an additional quiet area for study with study tables, study carrels, and soft seating. The conference room on the Library's third floor (L3102) will become a third new group study room.

The Library is adding new equipment for viewing DVD's and videocassettes. A DVD player has been added to the Media Center on the Library's first floor, and one of the new group study rooms on the second floor will contain a 25-inch television connected to a DVD/video player.

Some of the equipment that used to be available from Technology & Information Resources's Film & Equipment office now is available for 7-day checkout by UW-Whitewater students, faculty and staff from the Library Circulation Desk between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The available equipment includes: sound/filmstrip projectors, overhead projectors, slide projectors, slide trays, extension cords, tape recorders, phonographs, and rolling tables. Other equipment, such as film projectors, is restricted to campus faculty or staff and must be obtained from the Film & Equipment office (call 5531 or 5533).

Old news: Fall 1998 | Spring 1999, Fall 1999 | Spring 2000, Fall 2000 | Spring 2001, Aug. 2001, Nov. 2001 | Jan. 2002, Sept. 2002, Nov. 2002

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