http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/library
Volume 14, #1
Spring 2003
Special points of interest:
- Many of the Library's Databases have changed their look, and in some cases, their functions.
- The Library has had an infusion of new technology over the last several months
- Turnitin.com is here and ready for use by Faculty
Inside this issue:
| New CUNY Web-based Catalog | 2 |
| Changes in Library Databases | 3 |
| Changes in Lexis/Nexis | 3 |
| Faculty Activities | 4 |
| Changes in EBSCOHost | 5 |
| Wireless Laptop Project | 5 |
| Notes From the Units | 6 |
| Turnitin.com | 7 |
Changes in the Systems
By Scott WhiteIf you've visited the Library's web page in the last semester, you probably have not noticed many changes. Most of the features and buttons have remained the same. However, when you click the links, you were probably surprised at how different everything looked. A great deal has changed, with several added features, some deletions, and added functionality for researchers.
Our main full-text database providers, EBSCOHost and Lexis/Nexis, both redesigned their web interfaces and added new features and content. The online catalog, CUNY +, has also changed. In fact, all of the Library's database management software has changed with the installation of Aleph 500 as the main on-line management software program.
In some databases, there have been deletions, as copyright battles rage and authors maintain the right to keep their work from being accessible in full-text databases without fair compensation. Articles you were used to retrieving and using for class may no longer be available.
The library has obtained a license for Turnitin.com, a web-based plagiarism detection software. We hope the program will help combat the problems of plagiarism that seem to have developed across America's college campuses, probably partly as a result of the ease of access to online information, both on the "free" web and in databases such as EBSCOHost.
New and additional computer terminals have been installed in the library to accommodate the needs of students who now use Blackboard to access class assignments and participate in groups discussions, e-mail to communicate with professors and each other, word-processing software to complete research assignments, web design tools to create electronic student portfolios and the online registration center to register.
This issue of Library Notes will explain some of the changes and additions and where you can go for help when working with tie information databases. We encourage you to contact your department's Library Liaison, listed on the back page of this newsletter, to find out more about the various changes that have been instituted during this academic year. We also encourage you to bring your class to the library, especially in support of a research assignment, so that we can highlight some of the changes for you and your students. Details concerning Library Instruction appear on page 6.
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All is flux: nothing stays still. |
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