OneSearch

Fondren Library has a new search and discovery tool called OneSearch.  It is available at http://search.library.rice.edu/

It keeps getting better and better! It includes 50 of our most popular databases, including MathSciNet, Scopus, Web of Science, and JSTOR. It also includes the library catalog. So, what this means is, that you can do a search in the box, and the results returned will include journal articles from those databases, as well as, books that Fondren library owns. It also has some enhanced features, such as the ability to save and share lists of books, write and publish your own reviews of books. In addition, it does search GoogleBooks, and if we own a book, the results from GoogleBooks will give some access, either partial or full-text, depending on what the publisher has allowed. We want to know what you think about it! Give feedback at: http://bit.ly/Txu3p Also, see a guide at: http://bit.ly/fOXz0

Library research in a mobile world

I’m teaching a class next month on using mobiles for library research. My own process has changed dramatically with the use of my iPhone. Has yours? Do you prefer one of the arXiv readers over another? Wish you knew how to access more library material over your phone? I would love to learn more about your mobile life. Email me at dkolahatricedotedu. I will post more of my tips and tricks over the next few weeks.

Physics Cancellations for 2010

The budget for 2010 caused us to cancel a few physics publications, journals and databases. Here is the list:

• PhysicsNetBase (CRC Press)
• Environmetrics (Wiley)
• Fortschritte der Physik (Wiley)
• Advanced Materials (Wiley)
• Atmospheric Science Letters (Wiley)
• AIP Conference Proceedings (PRINT) (AIP)
• Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society (Wiley)
• Color Research and Application (Wiley)
• Contributions to Plasma Physics (Wiley)
• New Astronomy Reviews (Elsevier)
• Canadian Journal of Physics (Ebsco)
• Computer Physics Communications (Elsevier)
• Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology (Elsevier)
• Terra Nova (Ebsco)

H-Index

An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output.  Authors: J.E. Hirsch(Submitted on 3 Aug 2005 (v1), last revised 29 Sep 2005 (this version, v5)) http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0508025

Interested in the h-index? Sometimes called the Hirsch index? Scopus and Web of Science both provide this feature.

The h-index is based on a list of publications ranked in descending order by the Times Cited. The value of h is equal to the number of papers (N) in the list that have N or more citations.

WoS states on their help pages, “This metric is useful because it discounts the disproportionate weight of highly cited papers or papers that have not yet been cited. In the h-index example below, the h-index is 3 because there are 3 articles with 3 or more citations that appear above the green line.”

From a mailing list that I subscribe to, Bernd-Christoph writes, ” please remember that you actually don’t need any “calculator” to get the H-index. Just compile the proper list, sort it by citation rank and look at which place the rank is equal to the number of citations. This is the h-index.”

Mobile Technologies

I’m thinking about how academics are using mobile technologies. I will be teaching a class later in the Fall and plan on using the whitepaper,  “On the Move with the Mobile Web: Libraries and Mobile Technologies.” by Ellyssa Kroski http://eprints.rclis.org/15024/1/mobile_web_ltr.pdf ” as a course backbone. It is a great source for getting some ideas on how to introduce the capabilities of mobile technologies to library staff, and to our users.   I encourage you to look at some of the apps that have been developed, take a look at the mobile.hsl.virginia.edu and Duke University websites, and get into the mobile adventure! I’m currently reading iPHone SDK Programming, Developing Mobile Applications for Apple iPhone and iPod touch, and so far so good!