Newsletter of the Tisch Library of Tufts University
Spring 2002 No. 34
Tisch Homepage
Tufts Catalog
Tufts Homepage
E-Journals
BLC Virtual Catalog
Fair Use and Copyright
Poetry Walk
Faculty-Librarian Partnership
User Survey
Easier Access to E-Journals!
The Tufts Libraries have recently implemented a new web service that facilitates access to the thousands of electronic journals in their combined holdings. This service, called TDNet, lists over 11,000 individual journals. Many of these were not formerly identified in the libraries' catalog or e-journal list because of complications in separating them out from the large collective databases containing them. Now, however, patrons can browse the entire (and much-enlarged) e-journal list alphabetically or search by title, subject or publisher. In addition, TDNet includes a rolling eighteen-month collection of recent tables of contents (TOCS) for many of the titles in the collection, and it links to print holdings in the libraries' web catalog.
One of TDNet's best features is the ability to create a private collection of favorite journals. After an easy registration process, patrons can set up a list of preferred journals in order to receive tables of contents, perform detailed searches limited to preferred titles, and set up automatic keyword searches. All these reports will be delivered by e-mail as often as designated. Best of all, there is no limit to the number of profiles patrons can create. Faculty can create profiles for their classes and for their own research.
The TDNet service is found on the Tisch Library webpage under Catalogs & Library Resources--Electronic Journals. As with all Tisch Library resources, assistance is available at the reference desk or by individual appointment (7-3460).
Now Available: The Virtual Catalog of the BLC and Massachusetts Libraries
The Virtual Catalog of the Boston Library Consortium and the Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing Networks provides a single, searchable catalog of books owned by participating libraries of the BLC and some Massachusetts library networks. Only books are included in the first stage of this statewide virtual-catalog initiative.
The Tufts University Libraries invite patrons to use this new electronic resource. Patrons with Tufts IDs may directly request books from the participating libraries; guests will only be able to search and locate items through the Virtual Catalog. As previously reported, the goal is for delivery of BLC items within sixty-four hours.
In this age of frequent changes to the copyright laws, it is difficult to know what one's responsibilities are regarding the use of copyrighted materials. To help faculty in this endeavor, the Tufts Libraries, serving under the auspices of the Information Technology Policy Oversight Committee (ITPOC), created a website detailing the Tufts University Policy on the Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials.
Members of the Tufts community are expected to be mindful of the restrictions imposed on them by the copyright laws as well as the rights conferred on them by the fair use exemptions to the copyright laws, and they are expected to comply with these laws. In addition to the policy on fair use, the website contains pertinent FAQs, statutes and guidelines, links to other fair use websites, and tutorials. The site also includes contact information for each Tufts school, should you have any questions about fair use. The content on the website will be updated three times a year and will be vetted through the Provost's Office, ITPOC, University Counsel, and the University Library Council..
Reminder: Tufts Poetry Walk
John Holmes, 1945 and ca. 1950 Photographs from the DCA Library's Image Database
On May 18 from 10-11 a.m. a poetry walk celebrating John Holmes, "Tufts Poet" and professor of English from 1934 to 1962, along with more recent poets, will start from the Tisch Library patio and proceed to various campus sites where poems will be read aloud. The Friends of Tufts Libraries, Tisch Library and the English Department are sponsoring this event.
John Holmes, ca. 1960 Photograph from the DCA Library's Image Database
Partnership for Library Instruction in Seminar Research
Issues of this newsletter dating back to Winter 2001 have reported on a number of faculty-librarian partnerships. This article continues the series.
The Medical History Seminar
By Joanne H. Phillips, Associate Professor of Classics
The history of bladder stone surgery, the development of dental prosthetics past and present, equine medicine in antiquity, leprosy in the Medieval Ages, rhinoplasty in the Renaissance, Cesarean section, the illustration of the fetus in utero, midwifery in antiquity, the evolution of cataract surgery, botanicals in the treatment of cancer, contraception and abortion in antiquity, the history of autopsy, and the dynamics of melancholia in antiquity. These are but a few of the extraordinarily diverse eighty-five topics that have been researched successfully over the past twelve years by undergraduate students in the Medical History Seminar of the Classics Department. Participation in the seminar also has led to a number of senior honors theses: "Anatomy and Anatomical Illustration from Antiquity to Leonardo da Vinci," "Asklepios and the Virgin Mary: Spiritual Healing Past and Present," "Defining Hysteria: Hippocrates and Euripides," "The Relationship of Modern Midwifery to its Classical Origins," and "Lead Poisoning and the Medical Profession: Antiquity and Eighteenth Century Colonial America."
Since 1990 and the seminar's inception, I have collaborated with Dr. Margaret Gooch of the Tisch Library Reference Department. Her knowledge, experience and advice have been an invaluable contribution to the success of the seminar and a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. I am exceedingly grateful for her dedication and commitment to my students and the seminar. Together we have witnessed the passing of the card catalogue and welcomed the arrival of electronic bibliographic databases and online websites; together we have incorporated an ever-increasing wealth of resources into a well-designed annual library session on how to do medical history research; indeed, together we have met the challenge of guiding and training the seminar students in medical history research over the years.
The library session commences with a survey and assessment by Dr. Gooch of fundamental print sources for medical history research: encyclopedias and dictionaries, biographical dictionaries, print bibliographies. A thorough and detailed survey and elucidation of online indexes and bibliographies follows with considerable emphasis placed on search methodologies for MEDLINE and the NLM Gateway, as well as for standard databases in classical studies such as the Gnomon Bibliographische Datenbank and the Database of Classical Bibliography. The use of the BLC Union List of Serials is demonstrated, as is WorldCat (via FirstSearch). Select electronic journals in medical history are noted, interlibrary loan procedures are reviewed, and the rich resources of Health Sciences Library are stressed. Time is allotted throughout the session for the students to practice searching techniques with guidance. The session concludes with a concise survey of important URLs for access to medical history resources assembled at the websites of governmental and educational institutions. The library session also provides a wonderful opportunity for the seminar students to meet Dr. Gooch, ensuring a smooth transition for the students to work on research topics individually with her by appointment throughout the semester.
I have found the opportunity to work with Professor Phillips in designing the library instructional component of the seminar highly rewarding. It has truly been a joint endeavor with full consultation on resources selected for coverage and with her insights into their scholarly use contributing to the interest of the presentations. A bonus for me has been the chance to hear the seminar students report the results of their research at the end-of-term reception, communicating to all attending an increased appreciation for the achievements of modern medicine and for the long progress toward them.
A Growing Instructional Program: I have also been privileged to work with Professor Phillips in introducing many of her Latin students to library resources they can use. And whether in general introductory sessions or specialized upper-level classes, I see my reference colleagues doing the same: that is, working collaboratively with faculty to smooth the way for students to make productive research use of library resources. Librarians are meeting increasing numbers of upper-level history, economics, art, occupational therapy, engineering, UEP, chemistry, romance language, and child development students in such sessions and also in follow-up appointments. Just in the past two semesters, nearly 500 Psychology 1 students have attended sessions on PsycINFO, the premiere database for psychology journal literature, and have thus been more efficiently aided in its use than through reference desk guidance alone. The Tisch reference librarians are delighted to see this growth in the instructional sessions they offer and hope it will continue. Information about librarian-faculty partnerships is available from the Tisch Library webpage under Reference & Instruction-Classes and Workshops, and inquiries concerning them are welcome (7-3460).
User Survey
Students Go to Tisch Library:
This fall for the first time, the Tisch Library conducted its biennial user survey over the Web. With the help of Institutional Research, the web survey was sent by e-mail to the entire AS & E faculty and to every graduate and undergraduate student.
This year 125 faculty members responded, a decrease from the previous year's 154. Overall, faculty expressed high satisfaction with library hours and web services, with lower levels of satisfaction for the collections, computers and photocopiers. These satisfaction rates closely resemble those of the 2000 survey. Faculty members reported that they turned first to the library catalog and then to the Database A-Z list when searching for library resources.
Certain requested improvements underway: This year's faculty respondents mentioned that they would like to see increased collection sizes, improved access to e-journals, and decreased delivery time for interlibrary loan requests. As reported above, the library is working with TDNet to develop a system of organizing electronic journals that will improve patrons' ability to find precise holdings information for all e-journals owned, including those not formerly available from its e-journals list. As also reported, the Tufts Libraries are participating in a Virtual Catalog initiative that will allow user-initiated borrowing from participating BLC libraries. This, together with a new interlibrary loan system known as ILLiad that allows for desktop delivery of requested journal articles, will shorten the delivery time of requested materials. (ILLiad is scheduled for implementation this summer.)
The response rate for students was 38%. Their responses were also in line with last year's survey. Most students expressed satisfaction with hours and services but communicated some dissatisfaction with photocopiers and computers.
Some interesting information gained from the survey was that 20% of responding faculty did not know they could recommend book purchases online. Of the students, 24% did not know that they could renew books online, and 22% did not know that interlibrary loan requests were made online.
This April the Tisch Library, along with some 170 other academic libraries, will conduct a user survey that will allow for comparisons of Tisch with peer institutions. Please keep an eye out for the request to respond.
BiblioTech Connections is published three times a year: in the fall, winter, and spring. It is made available in print form as well as via the Web.
- Contributors to this issue:
- Laura Walters
- Regina Raboin
- Edward Oberholtzer
- Pauline Boucher
- Editor: Margaret Gooch
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Tisch Library, Faculty of Arts, Sciences, & Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155
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