News & announcements for the staff of the Information Desk
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Update on new library online services
Summon update
--------------------------------------
As described previously, we are currently making a technical change in how we retrieve Article (Summon) results, to allow us to integrate the digital rights for our online resources into the Summon display. This work is ongoing and will be completed within the coming week. Once done, the Summon (Article) results will be presented in a way that is visually consistent with our other library web pages. Summon functionality will remain the same. We will notify you when this step is completed.
After this work is completed, we will add the ability to easily switch from catalogue to article search results, within the Endeca interface. After that, we will integrate Recommended Databases and Library Web Pages into our search results.
--------------------------------------
Summon Tips and tricks
--------------------------------------
1. Summon includes and indexes more data than it displays. For example, you can locate articles within Summon by searching on their PubMed identifiers, even though the PMIDs are not displayed in Summon.
2. Serials Solutions is currently indexing the full text of recently published books that are deposited in HathiTrust for Summon. This will enable you to search within the full text of books from our printed collections, where those titles are part of the HathiTrust collection. To try out an example, search Summon for "Virginia Woodhull" or "arnaldia", de-select the default limit to journal articles, and then limit to items in the library catalogue.
3. When we migrate to Serials Solutions, our simplelinks URLs will continue to work as they do now. If you have questions about specific links that are in your webpages, please get in touch with us at onesearch@library.utoronto.ca
-------------------------
Catalogue records for e-resources
-------------------------
The updating the e-resource records in our catalogue is now targeted for the weekend of Sept 16-17, as the data required has just been received from Serials Solutions.
Sian Meikle
Sept 7, 2011
Monday, August 08, 2011
Changes to our online services and systems
Here is an update about key changes to our online services and systems that are happening soon. It is meant to summarize some of the key changes and how they fit together.
1. Proquest databases and content are moving to a new platform.
Proquest has built a new platform for all its databases and content. Over the next two weeks, you begin to see the new Proquest interface as we update our Proquest links. By August 5, all Proquest resources will be available through the new interface. If you have included direct links to Proquest resources in your web pages, your old links will continue to work over the next few months; they will be automatically redirected to the new URLs. Please update them, and contact Marc Lalonde if you have questions. Marc is in consultation with librarians throughout this system as he manages this migration process.
2. Scholars Portal Search discontinued
Proquest is also discontinuing the CSA Illumina platform, and as you may know, CSA Illumina powers Scholars Portal Search. Scholars Portal article databases that are available through Proquest will be migrated to the new Proquest interface, and other Scholars Portal article databases to which we are subscribed will be available through their providers' interface. Please note that this change does not affect any of the many other Scholars Portal services including Scholars Portal Books, Journals, ODESI, and Research Management
3. Summon Search introduced
Coinciding with the discontinuation of Scholars Portal Search, we are introducing Summon Search from Serials Solutions as a replacement. Therefore, as of August 5, the Article Search box (on the library homepage, Blackboard Library Resources pages, and elsewhere) will be powered by Summon. You will see the Summon search interface continue to be refined throughout August, and we invite your feedback about the new interface, using the feedback links on Summon web pages. Summon introduces some great new fulltext search features and pulls millions of journal articles and much more into a single, powerful search interface. -- please look for updates. Staff training for this product will begin in the Fall. In the meantime, a group of staff have been experimenting with Summon. Their findings are noted on the LibGuide found here: http://guides.library.utoronto.ca/aecontent.php?pid=219660&sid=1824343. Debbie Green has been coordinating a librarian team in gathering these findings.
4. Serials Solutions ERM replacing SFX/Verde ERM
In early Fall 2011, our new Serials Solutions Electronic Resource Management system will go into service, allowing us to manage our burgeoning e-resource collections more quickly and easily. The new system includes 360 Link, which will replace SFX as the Open URL resolver software powering Article Finder. This migration culminates the work of a large team of staff from across the system.
5. New look for library homepage
As of September, the library homepage will look familiar but streamlined, and will include a new feature. In addition to our current homepage search options -- catalogue, articles, e-journals -- you will have the option of searching across all resources at once (catalogue, articles, e-journals, and library web site). You will also continue to have, as now, the options of searching just the catalogue, e-journals, or article databases from the homepage. We'll send out a preview of the homepage's new look in the week of August 2-5.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us.
Caitlin Tillman and Sian Meikle
on behalf of the Serials Solutions and Summons implementation teams
July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Changes to Scholars Portal link on Gerstein's homepage
At the end of July, I will remove this link from our homepage. If someone needs to search a broad multidisciplinary database, they can use Scopus or Web of Science.
The change to Scholars Portal Search will also affect the search box (see image below) on the Search for Articles tab. This search box will be removed at end of July as well.
Heather Cunningham
July 20, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Journal records not indicating holdings
Once in a while you might notice that the bib record for a journal title does not indicate the holdings, so you have no idea what volumes we have. This is due to an error in a program run on the old holdings field (090) a few years ago. If you happen to come across a Gerstein serial that does not have a holdings statement, please note the title and let me know (please copy Meredith). We are trying to get a list of the titles so Cataloguing can correct the missing holdings. Thanks very much.
Carla Hagstrom
July 13, 2011
Thursday, July 07, 2011
New UofT Wireless Network Now Available in Addition to UTORwin
Before you can access the UofT network for the first time, you will need to verify your UTORid. There will be a short delay between verifying and being able to access UofT. Full details and step-by-step instructions for connecting to the UofT wireless network.
Please note that the device will be configured with the UTORid and password that was used to set it up and it is therefore not recommended for shared computers or devices. Central ITS is also working to resolve a configuration problem for users of Android versions 2.2 and lower. Some Android devices may need to stick with the UTORwin wireless network in the short term.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Vehicles blocking handicapped entrance
Peter Gurney
May 30, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Non student use of material in STL
Individuals who do not have a current record in Sirsi must use STL material in the STL area only. A user insisted that he had been allowed to use material elsewhere in the building if he left his drivers license as collateral. This practice was discontinued a couple of years ago.
If you have any questions please speak with me or Anita.
Renata
Friday, April 01, 2011
Microform Collection at Robarts
http://mediacommons.library.utoronto.ca/research/microform/finding-microform-materials
The list is complete to today's date. As we receive more material, we will update the list. Please note there is a separate guide on the same page for the science journals and to the Irish newspapers.
Enjoy,
Joan Links
Media Commons
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Procedure for Clearing Abandoned Study Rooms
Jeff has modified the sign at the end of the study room corridor on the 2nd floor to note the '20 min rule.'
PROCEDURES FOR CLEARING AN ABANDONED STUDY ROOM
This procedure should be followed when a group of students complains that they are looking for a study room, and there is a room left abandoned with people’s belongings in it.
Staff member will notify a supervisor or librarian (or Peter Gurney, Dana or Jeff if a supervisor is not available) of the situation and:
- the supervisor verifies that 3 people are waiting for the room and there are no other rooms in the area which could be used
- when possible, if there is another room with 2 or fewer students in it, they should be asked to vacate first, before the abandoned room is used.
- 20 minutes after the initial report the supervisor goes to the group room, verifies again that no other room could be used, moves the abandoned possessions to a corner of the room and leaves the flyer explaining the group room policy (Flyers are found at the Loan services desk and also in the 2nd Floor RRUnit staff lounge filing cabinet)
During evenings and weekends, Library Patrol will handle the clearing of abandoned rooms.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Important Changes to Crown Copyright
Users reproducing works for non-commercial purposes must:
- Exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced.
- Indicate both the complete title of the work reproduced, as well as the author organization.
- Indicate that the reproduction is a copy of an official work that is published by the Government of Canada and that the reproduction has not been produced in affiliation with, or with the endorsement of the Government of Canada.
Read more.
From the March 2011 Staff Update
Monday, December 13, 2010
New in the catalogue -- Permitted Uses and Print on Demand
1) Permitted Uses
All online resource records now provide information about their permitted uses under our licenses. You will see Permitted Uses icons on the hitlist, and more information about permitted uses on detailed records. Users are informed whether material from each online title may be reproduced in Blackboard and course web pages, and in printed course packs. The Permitted Uses information is linked to a page providing a permanent link to the title that may be used anywhere, and also more information about the title's license. A contact to request this information is provided if it has not yet been recorded in the database. Permitted Uses information is available through the Endeca catalogue, and also from the e-journal and e-resource tabs on the library homepage.
2) Print on Demand
Users may now order printed copies of selected online resources through our print-on-demand program. Some 220,000 online titles (out-of-copyright titles, scanned from our collections) now display a Print Book option, in the hitlist drop-menu of options for these titles, and also on their detailed records. Users may order a printed copy of the title through the University of Toronto Bookstore Espresso Print on Demand service or download a pdf to print themselves. More print on-demand options, and more print-on-demand titles, including recently published materials, are coming soon.
Sian Meikle
Dec 13, 2010
Monday, December 06, 2010
About old exams...
St. George Faculty of Arts and Science
We have a rolling set of the 3 most recent years of exams available online, by policy of the Faculty of Arts and Science. The current set is December 2007 - August 2010. Old exams are handled as a batch through ITS, by arrangement with the Faculty of Arts and Science. Exams are loaded once annually, in the fall.
Links to old exams for a given course will appear automatically in the Blackboard Library Resources page, if they are available. Only exams are made available through this channel -- term tests and exam solutions are not, although individual faculty members may choose to post them on their course pages.
If a user is enquiring after a specific exam that they cannot find, here are some helpful facts. By Arts and Science policy, all exams are posted, unless they have been restricted -- this happens when a professor makes an application to the Faculty, on the grounds that an exam shouldn't be published because it will affect the ability to set future exams without repetition. Another explanation for a lack of previous exams is that a course may not have been offered in a given session. And finally, course codes sometimes change. I generally direct the student to the instructor for more information.
St George other faculties
At present, we are not mounting exams for any other St. George campus faculty through the library, though we would be very open to doing so, if you get enquiries. Please contact me, to discuss further.
Scarborough
The librarians at Scarborough work directly with instructors to make some exams and course tests available. Again, they appear directly in Blackboard Library Resource pages where available.
Mississauga
UTM exams are available at http://eres.utm.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/courseindex.asp. The collection is not limited to the most recent 3 years.
Sian Meikle
Dec 6, 2010
=======Additional entry from Sian Meikle, Dec 9th:
-- here is more information about where the exams collections are linked from:
1) Library website: From the page-top navigation menu, choose Research -> Special Collections -> Exams and Course Collections.
This takes you to http://eres.library.utoronto.ca/courseindex.asp. Old exams are the first option on the page. You go to http://exams.library.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca.
2) Blackboard course web pages: choose the Library Resources link on the left menu. You will get at least one, and possibly two, links to old exams:
(a) There is always a link to the old exams collection at the bottom of the page. This takes you straight into the Old Exams collection (http://exams.library.utoronto.ca.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca)
(b) If the old exams collection includes exams for your course, you will also see a link at the top of the Library Resources page, taking you straight to those exams in the course collection:
===============Additional entry from Cris Sewerin, Dec 9th:
there is a collection of old exams that perhaps was missed since it is outside of Fac. Arts & Science : the Skule (engineering) exams: http://courses.skule.ca/. Would it be possible to add it?
Friday, November 26, 2010
Gerstein & Information Commons Support Changes
All staff,
The Information Commons (IC) Support for public workstations & printers and instruction labs is being consolidated in Robarts under the direction of Mark Leighton as of next Monday, March 15th.
Contact with IC regarding public equipment will be handled very similarly to current practice. That is, with the assistance of all staff, Jeff will continue to be informed about any problems with public equipment. Jeff will also continue as Gerstein's contact with the IC support team, reporting equipment problems via their new OneStop service (416-978-0429 or email icicle.support@utoronto.ca ).
If there are minor equipment problems and Jeff is unavailable, please email or voicemail Jeff.
If there are major equipment problems and Jeff is unavailable, please call the IC support team at 416-978-0429 and then email/voicemail Jeff about the issue.
Sandra
March 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Zotero now enabled for our catalogue
For the metadata-inclined, we are using unapi with RIS format for the zotero data import currently, as it was the most expedient method for making this useful service available. This is roughly equivalent to the catalogue data we export to RefWorks. As time permits, we'll be switching to unapi with MODs, as it allows us to make a richer view of our catalogue records available to zotero.
Sian Meikle
Nov 8, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Vision enhancement/magnifier for public PC's
- "Start" button
- Accessibility
- Magnifier
Alternatively...instead of choosing "3. Magnifier", in the same folder there is a "wizard" that will walk the user through the process of selecting personal visual settings of a greater variety than just a magnifier.
The wizard is a very helpful tool and should be pointed out to all users interested in this type of assistance.
This is a standard component of the existing Windows XP operating system. When this operating system changes to Windows 7 (probably in 2011) the location of this tool may be different.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Library Shelf Browse
http://discover.library.utoronto.ca/news/online-library-shelf-browse
Key features include:
-- the ability to browse shelves at a single library, or across all of our collections, including our online collections
-- the ability to see all of our books, even those that are checked out right now
Shelf browse is available for all of our classification systems -- Library of Congress, Dewey, and the As-Is schema used in our Rare Books collections.
While we still have a couple of issues relating to accented characters to resolve, we hope that you and your users will find it useful! We'd welcome your feedback and suggestions for future development of shelf browse.
Sian Meikle
Oct 13, 2010
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: if the user selects a specific location (gerstein) the browse search results will not include online material
Monday, October 04, 2010
Locate DOI's in PubMed instead of Ovid MEDLINE
Below is... ...Ovid's response.
The principal message: if you need to locate doi's, don't do it via OvidMEDLINE; use PubMed or other databases.
Susanne Tabur
Oct. 4, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I checked with our database production team for information on why some articles had DOI information in PubMed and not in Ovid’s Medline. They told me that the NLM hosts some DOI information on a separate server and the NLM does not provide it to any vendors. I’m including database production’s response to me incase it has useful information that I failed to mention. When I asked for clarification on their statement below I was told that while it was in theory possible to daily data mine the NLM site for data they hold beyond what they provide in the XML feed it was outside the scope of our offering.
We do not receive fields in theset with our XML daily update feeds from PubMed and never will. All Three of the records sighted by the customer the DOI information is only available on the NLM site in the field and is not provided to anyone. NLM’s response is this data lives on another server and will never be provided to outside customers. The only DOI information we receive is in the XML tag from NLM. When they provide us with all of the DOI information they have on their web site we will load it into our OvidSP version of Medline.
Neil Christiansen at OvidMedline
Sept. 30, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Linking to Multiple Databases in Scholars Portal
You will see you can link together as many databases as you want and of your choice. The list of long names is not up to date on the site above.
To find the names not listed on the link/page above when you're on the search page at Scholars Portal and go to the list of specific databases, put your mouse over the ?, question mark and you can see the database long name needed in the menu bar of your browser. Our user info is utca and utca416.
Richard Hydal
Sept 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Group holds with UTS items
Lari Langford
September 16, 2010
ILL Pickup - policy change
Bonnie Horne
August 20, 2010
Card and Change Machines
1. The visitor card dispenser has finally been installed at Gerstein between the existing cash-to-card machine and bill changer across from the Resource Sharing department. Card dispensing has been disabled on the two cash-to-card machines and all instructions on how to purchase a card have been covered over on these machines.
New signage is coming soon including a UTL Cash Card Policy sign (similar to the one posted above all the cash-to-card machines at Robarts) that will now enforce the "no refund" policy on the purchase of the visitor card.
Julian Mitchell
August 12, 2010
2. We finally have our dedicated machine for dispensing visitor cards. As well, the card dispenser on the "Cash-to-Card" machine has been disabled. It's now pretty difficult to buy a visitor card by mistake.
As of today the Cashier's Office will no longer reimburse us for cards bought in error. Please do not buy back any visitor cards.
Peter Gurney
September 29, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Statistical software - locations on campus
1. The Map and Data Library has SAS , SPSS, Stata and NVIVO on the computers in the Robarts, 5th floor lab. Students with UTORid may use these computers in the lab any time the library is open and the lab is not being used to teach a class. There is one computer in the "inside area" of the Map and Data Library with MATLAB, available from 11-5 Mon. to Fri. More info
2. There are many online books that can help patrons as well (e.g. enter SPSS into the "e-resources" tab or the catalogue for many e-books about SPSS.
3. CHASS (Computers in the Humanities and Social Sciences) -- Located on the 14th floor of Robarts Library. Patrons can contact CHASS to determine if they are in a department supported by CHASS: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/about/contactus.html CHASS has various statistical software such as SAS, SPSS, MATLAB, etc. http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/facilities/serversoft.html
4. Discovery Commons in the Medical Sciences Building (MSB), Room 3172
Discovery Commons has computers with SAS, SPSS and "R" Open Source Software available for faculty and student use. Discovery Commons is open Monday to Friday from 8:00am-6:00pm. For more information please contact Discovery Commons at 416-978-8504, or discovery.commons@utoronto.ca. Patrons who are not part of the Faculty of Medicine can contact the Discovery Commons to determine if they are eligible to use these facilities.
5. Education Commons, OISE
Education Commons provides Workshops on SPSS and NVivo. For more information, please visit the Education Commons website at:
http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/ec/Home/Workshops_Events/Workshops/index.html.
Patrons who are not part of the Faculty of Education can contact the Education Commons to determine if they are eligible to use these facilities.
6. Statistical Consulting Service
The Statistical Consulting Service (SCS) provides fee-based consulting services, including study
design, data analysis and interpretation, on all statistical aspects of business and academic research. Their clients include university researchers and graduate students from the University of Toronto and researchers from other public or private institutions. For more information, please visit: http://www.utstat.utoronto.ca/pagecontent/index.php?pageid=155
7. University of Toronto at Mississauga
The University of Toronto at Mississauga offers workshops (SPSS, GIS, Excel, etc) for instructors, TAs, and students (graduate and undergraduate).
For more information, please contact Andrew Nicholson at andrew.nicholson@utoronto.ca.
The UTM Library also has a number of computers where students can access software.
More information is available at: http://library.utm.utoronto.ca/faq/software
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
LIRA accounts & personal info
The Terms & Conditions are clearly displayed on the LIRA station monitor. (This way the patron does not have to access a PC to see the Terms & Conditions an a library webpage). These Terms & Conditions describe which digits from a driver's license and credit card are used for account management. It states: "Your personal information is collected & used as needed for proper administration of your Library and Internet Resource Account and related purposes. It is protected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk Manager at 416-978-5130, 130 St. George Street, Robarts Library, Information Commons, Room 111."
So, if a patron does not want to provide the required identification to have a LIRA account created (either via the LIRA station or via a staff member), you can:
1. Politely state that we cannot create an account for them due to our policy and they are free to go elsewhere. There are signs by the LIRA stations with the names and locations of other places patrons can go to for internet access (nearby Kinko's and public libraries).
2. Additionally, the patron can be directed to the Help Desk Manager of the Info Commons (contact info in the LIRA monitor screen).
3. The url of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is also displayed on the LIRA station monitor if the patron would like to consult that.
Heather
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Recent Changes to Scopus
1. single login allows search of Scopus, Science Direct, and the new Hub & all are now searchable in one interface
2. searching in Science Direct section allows searching of images (it searches the text and captions of images plus the 20 words preceding and following the image in the text)
3. it is possible to search the Methodology section of full text articles within the SciVerse applications
4. two new citation metrics are available (SNIP & SJR)
5. there is increased coverage of journals in the humanities & socila sciences
6. increased interoperability including options for ITS departments to implement api's
Coverage remains 1995/96 to the present
Susanne Tabur
Sept 21, 2010
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
AskON Hours
AskON for Academic (college & university) libraries:
- Mon-Thurs: 11am-10pm
- Fri-Sun: 11am-5pm
- Winter Holiday: December 12 to January 10
- Holiday Closures: New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Holiday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve Day
AskON for Public Libraries
For those of you wanting to use AskON from home as a public library patron, here are the public service hours:
- Mon-Thurs: 12:30-8:30pm;
- Fri-Sat: 12:30-4:30;
- Sun: 1:30-4:30pm
SPREAD THE WORD!
It would be great for all of us to let our friends, family and school librarians know about AskON and eResources – feel free to plug these often.
- For AskON, patrons need to visit their public library homepage to find the AskON button for reference chat – see http://askon.ca/en/index.shtml to choose the library nearest you.
- The eResources are available to everyone by visiting http://eresources.knowledgeontario.ca/.
Kim Silk
Sept 8, 2010
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Summary of public colour copying and scanning options on campus
Robarts - Information Commons
Pratt Library (Victoria College)
Has several scanners available for the public (phone call to Pratt Sept 1 2010).
Sept 9/10 entry by Jeff: instead of using Bonnie's printer, the scanned document could be emailed to the user. The user could then pick it up from our public computers and print it to our colour printer. One could use a flash drive to transfer the file as well.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
External User Fees - institions subsidizing their users
Carole Moore / Aug 31, 2010
Users requiring more information on their institutions subsidies, must contact their institution.
Allison Bell / Aug 31, 2010
New Borrowing and Access Fees for External Users
$250.00 - for 1 year
$160.00 - for 6 months
$100.00 - for 3 months
$110.00 - for Seniors (for 1 year)
These fee changes apply to Direct Borrwers (faculty, staff, and graduate students from Canadian universities) and to other external patrons who purchase Research Reader cards. There are no changes to the fees for Alumni borrowing cards.
Research Reader cards are issued at Reader Registration, Robarts Library, only. Direct Borrower cards are issued at Reader Registration, Robarts, and at UTM and UTSC libraries.
New, this fall, is a fee for access to the Robarts Library stacks. Short-term visiting researchers (i.e. faculty, staff, and graduate students from other universities) will be able to purchase a stack pass at the Information Desk, which can be used for up to 7 days. The fee is $20.00.
Those who wish longer-term access to the stacks, but who do not wish to purchase borrowing privileges, can purchase the Robarts Stack Access Card at the Reader Registration Desk. Issued annually, with an expiry date of September 30, this card costs $50.00. The card colour for this year is yellow and the expiry date is written on the card.
Full details about these new fees are outlined on the Reader Registration web-pages. Reader Registration staff have information about which Canadian universities are subsidizing the cost of borrowing or access cards. Please refer inquiries to these staff (416-978-7694).
Please note: Undergraduates from other universities, community college students, secondary and elementary school students are not eligible to become borrowers or to purchase stack access.
Endeca - generic covers
There are different images depending on the item format: book, cd, musical
score, journal, etc.
We also randomly change the colour of the image to improve the aesthetics of
the page.
Marc Lalonde, Aug 31, 2010
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Turnitin and Plagiarism
http://www.utoronto.ca/ota/newfaculty/FAQs.html#Anchor--Academ-13804
Deterring Plagiarism with Turnitin.com
As you prepare for the upcoming academic year, keep in mind that Turnitin.com is available for use in your courses. Turnitin.com is an electronic resource that assists in the detection and deterrence of plagiarism. New faculty users should contact Pam Gravestock at or 416-946-8585 to set up an account. More information on Turnitin.com can be found at http://www.utoronto.ca/ota/turnitin/index.html
Refworks Account Size Limit
Cultural Passes for New Citizens
One of the pick up locations is 15 King's College Circle - the University of Toronto Arts Centre. Their hours are posted on the U of T Website.
This is the pick up locations for the Toronto area -
http://culturalaccesspass.ca/torontoRegion.html
To apply and pick up the cultural pass, one must present the Commemorative Document, which states the full name and date of citizenship. I have included the FAQ page url .
http://culturalaccesspass.ca/faq_1.html
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Science Express
From the Science website: Science Express provides electronic publication of selected Science papers in advance of print. Some editorial changes may occur between the online version and the final printed version.
For more info see: http://www.sciencemag.org.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/feature/express/introduction.dtl
Of course this is only available from the link called: Full text from: Highwire Press American Association for the Advancement of Science and not from the Gale, Expanded Academic, or Proquest links to Science.
Gail Nichol
June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Top Ten Consumer Health Websites Updated 2010
There was no clear favourite: the top 3 recommendations tied at 10 votes each. Submitted websites had different focuses. They tended to fall into a few categories such as women, children, disease-specific, and health promotion. We decided to compare the websites in each category and selected the ones that stood out. Because our choices were the best in different subject areas, we felt that we couldn’t rank them as 1, 2, 3. Instead we chose to list them alphabetically.
A copy of the poster as well as summary of the results of the survey can be found at our website: www.chipig.ca.
The websites that made it into the Top Ten for 2010 are:
AboutKids Health http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca
Canada Safety Council http://safety-council.org
Canadian Cancer Society http://www.cancer.ca
Caring for Kids http://www.caringforkids.cps.ca
Dietitians of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca/
Heart and Stroke Foundation http://www.heartandstroke.ca
Here to help http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca
PasseportSanté http://www.passeportsante.net
Sexualityandu.ca http://www.sexualityandu.ca
Women’s Health Matters http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca
Mary Anne Howse
June 28, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Collection move during Robarts construction
P. Bellamy
June 9, 2010
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/43502934/?key=NTQ3YmEzMzIt&pass=NDQ3MS00Yzdl
MaRS Research Services
If the researcher is employed by a member institution of MaRS Innovation (see the list below), please feel free to refer him or her to my colleague, Xuefei Mao [ smao@marsinnovation.com ].
MaRS Innovation also offers highly specialized life sciences and technology patent searching capabilities which could be tapped if appropriate.
MaRS Innovation members institutions include:
* Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
* BioDiscovery Toronto
* Bloorview Kids Rehab
* Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
* MaRS Discovery District
* Mount Sinai Hospital
* Ontario College of Art and Design
* Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
* Ryerson University
* St. Michael's Hospital
* Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
* The Hospital for Sick Children
* The New Women¹s College Hospital
* Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
* University Health Network
* University of Toronto
Helen Kula
Friday, June 04, 2010
Eduroam
I wanted to make you aware of a new service for faculty, staff and students called eduroam (education roaming). This allows faculty, staff and students to use their UofT wireless login credentials in order to use wireless networks when they are visiting other participating universities (see a list for Canadian universities: https://wiki.bc.net/atl-conf/display/CANEDUROAM/Using+eduroam; see worldwide universities: http://www.eduroam.org/)
UofT faculty, staff or students visiting another participating institution should contact the Information Commons Help Desk – help.desk@utoronto.ca, 416-978-HELP (4357) for technical support to configure their laptop BEFORE they go to another university.
And, visitors from other participating universities should be able to use their own credentials to login to the wireless when at UofT libraries. Visitors to UofT should contact their home institution's IT support for assistance. Technical support for eduroam will be provided by one's home institution.
If there are questions about eduroam at the Info Desk, UofT faculty, staff and students can be directed to the Information Commons Help Desk. Visitors from other universities can be assisted by directing them to their own university's web page to find their IT contact info.
Information about eduroam appears on several library webpages:
Gerstein's "All services" page: http://gerstein.library.utoronto.ca/services/all-services
Gerstein's Services to faculty page: http://gerstein.library.utoronto.ca/faculty/services-for-faculty
eduroam @ UofT: http://eduroam.utoronto.ca/
Monday, May 31, 2010
Research Reader Information
You will find the page at: http://discover.library.utoronto.ca/external/visitors-from-other-universities
More information for users from the public available here:
http://discover.library.utoronto.ca/external/public/
Edited by Jeff, Jan 2011 (broken link)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Email alerts for Google Scholar
FYI:
"Until now Google Scholar users had to use a variety of methods to create alerts to notify them of new content in Google Scholar. Well, the wait is over and as of this weekend, Google Scholar E-Mail Alerts are now available. It’s Google, of course they’re free."
May 11, 2010
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Student barcode printout request for Metropass purchase
It does not need to be printed.
Just look it up and write it down for them...and they can use that to go and purchase their Metropass.
As always, those without their Tcard should show you photo ID before you give them any personal information from a SIRSI user record. (if they have no photo ID you could ask them to recite all their personal information while you are looking at thier SIRSI record...and decide for yourself if they are who they say they are)
August 2010 Update: first time users of this benefit are asked to "print out" a specific page. They are asked to "pre-register". These users are asked to go to "http://www.datacard.com/ttc" and use this code "uot75011". More information on this can be found at: http://www.utsu.ca/index2.php/content/1427
Monday, April 19, 2010
Retrieving ILL Items when Resource Sharing Closed
Please follow the procedures outlined below in the absence of full-time Resource Sharing staff:
SITUATION 1
User wants to pick up a book requested via ILL from Resource Sharing.
Procedure for intercampus delivery items:
Take the 'DocDel' key from the lower reference desk and open the Resource Sharing door.
Books and articles are on shelves under the ILL service desk, arranged by user last name (but be prepared to check first and last).
Find the book and hand it to the user. It should already be desensitized.
Exit and lock door.
Please be aware that intercampus delivery books (ICD) may also be found shelved behind the Circulation desk.
Procedure for non UofT items:
Take the 'DocDel' key from the lower reference desk and open the Resource Sharing door.
You will notice that the white ILL Picklist report is in the book as well as a yellow flyer. Remove the white form and get the borrower to sign it, where they sign is not important.
Place the signed form in the metal filing box that is on the desk above the books. The filing box is marked "Charge out file. Books that have been signed out". Give the user the book with the yellow flyer in it.
Exit and lock door.
NOTE: this is for material borrowed from other institutions only, not UofT intercampus deliveries.
SITUATION 2
User wants to pick up and pay for an article requested on ILL from Resource Sharing.
Procedure:
Use key to enter Resource Sharing.
Find the required article - envelopes are arranged by user last name.
Check the envelope: is there a charge slip?
- If no, hand envelope to user.
- If yes, ask him/her to pay at the Loan Services desk. If the cash is closed, take patron's contact details, and ask him/her to pay at a later time. Give contact information to Renata next day.
Please do not withhold articles if Loan Services cash is closed.
Exit and lock door.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Post Docs access
For example:
UTORid: bellalli
PIN: alli
Cou can check this by 'verifying' it on the UTORid page (under 'Problems with your UTORid):
https://www.utorid.utoronto.ca/
Friday, March 26, 2010
Practising with a Stats Question
"When I got back to the office yesterday after the Gerstein event, there was a perfect question waiting for me:
The user wanted annual smoking rates for Ontario, from about 2000 to the latest. We checked CANSIM, but each time series from the Canadian community health survey seemed to consist of only one year per series, and it would have required 'gluing' together a series of numbers from disparate CANSIM tables.
So we went to the Canadian tobacco use monitoring survey. Selecting (in
SDA) each annual person file, and doing a cross-tabulation of the smoking status question (Q10 or Q010 in most years) and province, and noting down the % of daily smokers, occasional smokers, and non-smokers.
I encourage you to try the same thing, in SDA, and in
One major difference: in SDA the resulting table is by default weighted to the population, while in Nesstar (ie
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Qualitative Research Nursing assignment
"Hi _______,
I am attaching a handout with some tips for using CINAHL. Feel free to email ask.gerstein@utoronto.ca if you need any assistance with it. [CINAHL 2010 handout is located in the sidebar of the blog])
As for finding qualitative research articles you can copy and paste this text and search for it in CINAHL (**Make sure you UNCHECK the box that says 'Suggest Subject Terms' before searching for this. That will allow it to be searched as a phrase**)
(MH "cluster sample+") or TX life experiences or TX human science or TX discourse* analysis or TX narrative analysis or TX lived experience* or TX field research or TX field studies or TX field study or TX giorgi* or TX husserl* or TX merleau ponty* or TX van kaam* or TX van manen* or TX spiegelberg* or TX colaizzi* or TX heidegger* or TX participant observ* or TX data saturat* or TX semiotics or TX heuristic or TX hermeneutic* or TX etic or TX emic or TX focus group* or TX purpos* sampl* or TX constant comparison or TX constant comparative or TX grounded research or TX grounded studies or TX grounded study or TX grounded theor* or TX phenomenol* or TX ethnon* or TX qualitative or (MH "ethnological research") or (MH "ethnography") or (MH "phenomenology") or (MH "focus groups") or (MH "discourse analysis") or (MH "theoretical sample") or (MH "field studies") or (MH "constant comparative method") or (MH "thematic analysis") or (MH "content analysis") or (MH "observational method+") or (MH "purposive sample") or (MH "qualitative validity+") or (MH "grounded theory") or (MH "ethnonursing research") or (MH "phenomenological research") or (MH "ethnographic research") or (MH "qualitative studies")
This will look for all qualitative studies. If you want to, you can modify it and take out any of the terms that you are not interested in finding.
Then you can combine these results with your search subject terms (__[suggest some relevant terms based on their topic]__) in the search history screen.
These terms were found here: http://www.library.vcu.edu/tml/bibs/nursingevidencefilters.html (scroll to bottom)
There's also a good article on search strategies here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2288/4/5 for your information."
email dated March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Door Alarm Procedures
Exceptions are the " English Wing" (i.e south end, 2nd floor) and "7 King's College". This set of alarms also sound at the Circ Desk and can only be turned off by Peter, Vidya, Bonnie or Renata. Alternatively, in the evening Building Patrol can also turn them off. (Note that these alarms are programmed to turn off after 3 minutes if nobody is available to attend to them.)
Please leave a note for Peter Gurney of all instances of alarms going off. (location, date, time, and any other specifics you think may be important)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Printing - Document Queue
This is occasionally a problem for alumni or other researchers who may sit at a computer for hours at a time. If you help anyone that fits this description, please let them know to print out their documents every 2 hours (at least).
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Public Equipment Updates
-Other computing facilities on campus: http://life.utoronto.ca/get-online/internet-access.htm (scroll down)
Monday, March 15, 2010
USB monitor ports active
Friday, March 12, 2010
Arts and Science Online Exams
I've just introduced a new feature to the Library Resources feed [in Blackboard] for St.George Campus Faculty of Arts and Science courses -- for courses that have previous exams online, a link to the course's old exams now appears in the Library Resources feed ....
The collection so far includes Faculty of Arts and Science exams for the last three years (December 2006 - August 2009).
Monday, March 08, 2010
Finding NTIS Documents
http://search3.scholarsportal.info/ids70/advanced_search.php?SID=bcc0d51ef3990af9dfd2947de5ca9b49
Sam-chin
---------------------------------------------
I just did a title search in WorldCat--sort of banking on someone cataloguing it. Two records appeared, one was a dissertation record (probably could get it, then, from DissFT, the other record had the direct link to the .mil site.
Sheril Hook
------------------------
google gets you there as well.
Cris Sewerin
Monday, February 22, 2010
Papers software page updated
There are three routes to this page:
Gerstein home page - Faculty - Supporting research
Gerstein home page - Students - Accessing e-resources
Gerstein home page - Services - Accessing e-resources
Occassionally there are email questions (usually via ask.gerstein) about Papers.
Thanks, Heather
Feb 19, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
BioMed Central Cancellation Information
a) retain rights to their intellectual property by requesting that an author addendum be appended to the contract they sign with each journal (More info about this at http://carl-abrc.ca/en/scholarly-communications/resources-for-authors.htmlhttp://carl-abrc.ca/en/scholarly-communications/resources-for-authors.html) andFor more information please contact Sandra Langlands, Director of the Gerstein Science Information Centre, at s.langlands.melvin@utoronto.ca or 416.978.6370.
b) to deposit in T-Space via the Faculty of Medicine's Office of Research and International Relations: http://www.medresearch.utoronto.ca/
Jan 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
ChEMBLdb - Open access drug discovery database launches
ChEMBL is a database of ca. 500,000 bioactive compounds, their quantitative properties and bioactivities (binding constants, pharmacology and ADMET, etc). The data is abstracted and curated from the primary scientific literature and the data made available due to funding by the Wellcome Trust.
Direct link to the database website:
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/chembldb/
The database is part of the ChEMBL resources at the EMBL-EBI (European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute).
Press release at: http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/News/pdf/Press18Jan10.pdf" "ChEMBLdb is a unique resource because of its focus on drug discovery and its size: information on an additional 100,000 compounds has been added to the database for its launch, taking the number of small molecules to over 520,000, and it contains over 2.4 million records of their effects on biological systems. The data include information about how small molecules bind to their targets, how these compounds affect cells and whole organisms, and information on the molecules' absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity."
This is a new resource and the creators invite feedback so that they can make future improvements.
Gail Nichol
Jan 26, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Visitor card - reason for refund
they think they are adding money to their TCard. Starting immediately
we will refund this money to them. Here is the process.
1.The user hands over the visitor card to the staff member.
2.The staff member fills out a TCard claim form.
Where the form says Reason for Refund in the Notes field on the right
say "card purchased in error"
HAVE THE USER SIGN THE FORM. It doesn't matter where
3.Attach the visitor card to the TCard claim form and give it to Peter
or Renata
4.Give the user $5 _from the float of $5 bills_
5.Peter or Renata will leave a note on the $5 float, alerting staff that
the float will not be $100.
Peter or Renata will send the TCard claim form and the card to Julian
and who will return the funds to Peter or Renata.
WE DO NOT REFUND MONEY IF TOO MUCH VALUE WAS ADDED TO A VISITOR OR TCARD
Renata, Jan 8, 2010.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
NEJM Videos in Clinical Medicine
Link to the videos through the EIR: http://main.library.utoronto.ca/eir/EIRdetail.cfm?Resources__ID=893655&T=M&FID
They are also available via the Highwire version of the NEJM, they are easy to find by typing 'videos' in the search box at top of the page.
About this title: Since April 13, 2006 the New England Journal of Medicine added a new journal feature, Videos in Clinical Medicine. The Journal's table of contents includes this new type of article. For optimal viewing, the instructional videos will be displayed as streaming video in a version that includes chaptering and captions. The videos will also be available both in a downloadable file (of about 20 MB) and in a version compatible with handheld digital devices.
Each video will be from five to eight minutes long and will be accompanied online by a printable summary to supplement the video. Access to the Videos in Clinical Medicine is limited to subscribers, including all those who access the Web site with institutional subscriptions such as UofT.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Receipts for adding money to print cards/student cards
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Refworks Alumni Program
Lifelong access to RefWorks will be an added benefit for alumni, and help academic institutions maintain the healthy alumni relationships that are so essential for donations, rankings and other ongoing involvement.
To learn more about the Alumni Program, please click here.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Direct Borrower Fees - exception for Ryerson & McMaster
It may be that over time other institutions follow suit. In this regard, when sending direct borrowers to Robarts it might be prudent not to get into the discussion of charges at all. This is best negotiated by the staff of Reader Registration, who may determine, for example, that a person is eligible for an alumni card for a lesser sum than the direct borrower card.
Bonnie
Oct 13
Thursday, September 24, 2009
iClickers at U of T
All three UofT campuses offer i-clicker (www.iclicker.com) as their centrally supported Classroom Response System. The system will work for classes as large as those in Convocation Hall and on Macs or PCs. The main benefit of selecting one vendor is that students will only be asked to purchase one unit, and it will work in all their classes that use a Classroom Response System.
More information here: http://content.library.utoronto.ca/rcat/services/clickers/
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Regis Library relocation/construction delay
Teresa Helik
Sept 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Racer - request form issue with publication date
In this case, enter it in the 'DATE PUBLISHED' field, under 'PART DETAILS'.
This works.
Helen
Sept 10, 2009
Reader Registration - change in hours of service
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Further to my recent e-mail concerning the issuing of Direct Borrower
cards at the Reader Registration Desk, Robarts Library, please note
that, effective Sunday, Sept. 13, the Reader Registration Desk service
hours will be changed to:
Monday - Saturday - 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sunday - 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Thank you,
Lari Langford
Sept 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Fees for Research Readers and Direct Borrowers
In order to maintain our acquisitions and provide services to all researchers, we are announcing changes in the fees for library privileges extended to external borrowers, as of October 1, 2009. Graduate students, staff, and faculty borrowers from Canadian (i.e. Direct Borrowers) and other universities will be charged the same rates as Research Readers, which will be:
12 mos. - $200.00
6 mos. - $150.00
3 mos. - $75.00
Seniors (12 mos.) - $95.00
Direct Borrower cards will be issued from or renewed at the Reader Registration Desk at Robarts Library, only, now that fees will be charged. Please refer all eligible patrons to this service desk. The hours of service at Reader Registration are: Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Please note that Direct Borrower loan privileges will be changed to be consistent with the Research Reader privileges: 14 day loan, with 2 renewals and a charge limit of 100 books.
Web-pages and brochures will be updated as soon as possible.
Please direct any questions to Lari Langford.
Thank you.
Lari
Sept 8, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Changes in Media Commons Location and Service
Room changes:
The AV circulation desk is now located in Robarts Room 3058.
A limited number of microform printers and AV viewing stations are located in the 3rd floor atrium.
Brock Silversides’office and AV view classrooms are in Robarts, Room 14045.
Acquisitions and Booking is now in Robarts, Room 3012. Please email or phone Charlotte Jacobs or Joan Links before you come to see them so we can open the doors for you.
Phone numbers and email addresses:
All phone numbers and email addresses will remain the same.
Phones to the Acquisitions and Book office are currently active.
The phones to the circulation desk will be activated some time next week.
Circulation:
During the renovations there will be normal access to the AV collection.
There will be limited and restricted access to the microform collections.
Hours for AV/Microform Circulation Desk:
Tuesday, Sept 8 to Thursday, Sept. 10: 8:30 am to 8:00 pm.
Friday, Sept. 11: 8:30 am. to 6:00 pm.
Sept. 12 – 13: Closed.
Fall/Winter hours may begin on Monday, Sept. 14. Further notification of the Fall/Winter hours schedule will be sent out on Friday Sept. 11.
Microform retrieval:
Sept. 8 to 11: Retrieval will be at 10 am., 12 pm., 2 pm., and 4 pm.
This is a tentative schedule and will change depending on new workflow patterns. We hope to have a revised Fall/Winter schedule for microform retrieval on Friday, Sept. 11.
Joan Links
Sept 4, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Robarts Renovations - map collection & govpubs
The government publications area will be closed Tues. 11 August - Sun. 16 August.
There will be no access to the 5th floor during this period.
Gabriela Bravo
Aug 7, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Closest Fax Machines/Copy Centers
There is a copy center at University and College in the Hydro building lower level, a Kinkos further south on University (505 University Ave, Toronto, ON), and an Alicos at College and St. George (203A College Street Toronto, ON).
Monday, July 06, 2009
Search Procedure for Missing Items
follow when searching for an item, so I thought a recap of the process
would be helpful. I hope that this will allow staff to explain the
procedure clearly to the requester so that they know what to expect.
Once a search card is taken it is placed on Kelly's desk. During the
next week it will be searched for on two occasions. The following areas
are checked: sorting shelves, stacks, STL, mending shelves and
Meredith's binding shelves. In addition we will search for variations
on the call number i.e. QA123 B4 would be checked in Q123, QB123, QC123, and so on.
After the second search the status of the item will be changed to "searching". In the case of a journal issue a note will be put in the catalogue record.
The requester will be contacted and told that we were
unable to find their item. Once the status is "searching" the requester
can ask for Inter Campus Delivery or request it from another institution.
The items will be searched monthly until November. In November their
status will be changed to "missing_utl".
If you have any questions please ask Renata.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
DVD Burners
DVD Burners are available in the Media Commons (adjacent to the Information Commons, 1st floor Robarts). They are not available in Gerstein, nor in the Information Commons.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Problems with PDFs in CSA
This is because the redirection to csagateway.com is no longer taking place.
It is recommended that you:
1. Manually delete temporary internet files and verify that
cookie files are deleted.
Steps to manually delete cookie files for Internet Explorer 5 and 6:
i. Open Internet Explorer.
ii. Click on Tools/Internet Options
iii. Under the General tab, under the Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Files
iv. Click on Delete Cookies
v. A pop up window comes up, click on the OK icon.
For Firefox:
i. Open Firefox.
ii. Click on Tools >> Clear Private Data
iii. Check the boxes beside Cookies and Cache
iv. Click on Clear Provate Data now
2. Delete all previous Shortcuts to the Subscription Services from
your Desktop
3. Type in the URL: http://subscribe.csa.ca
4. Delete any Favourites within your browser and recreate a new
one with the URL: http://subscribe.csa.ca
If you are still unable to view the PDFs, staff at Gerstein should contact IT support. Patrons can try the following on their computers:
i. Click on the /My Subscription/tab within the Subscription Service and click on the link (top right) to reinstall the FileOpen plug-in;
ii. In some cases it may be necessary to first uninstall FileOpen and then reinstall it.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Consumer Health Information Service (CHIS) at the Toronto Public Library closed on May 8, 2009
The Toronto Public Library will continue to provide health information to local users. Please visit the Business and Health Sciences centre at the Toronto Reference Library, call the library's centralized phone service at 416-393-7131, or visit the Toronto Public Library's health and wellness wiki at http://chis.wikidot.com/
History of CHIS:
CHIS began as an 18-month pilot project funded by the Premier’s Council on Health, Well-Being and Social Justice in November 1991. The Service – located at the Toronto Reference Library - opened to the public in February 1992. It included a walk-in service, local and toll-free phone line assistance, as well as the provision of tailored information packages to help consumer make informed decisions about their health. In 1993, the Ministry of Health began funding CHIS.
Since CHIS opened in 1992, approximately 115,000 people have consulted CHIS for health information, and 350,000 users have accessed the CHIS website since it became available in November 1999.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Accented and non-accented characters in the new catalogue
characters interchangeably for all character sets, all languages. This
means that we can now recommend it as a good choice for searching for
material in the Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese, Slavic,
Baltic, Turkic, and Finno-Ugric scripts. If a user enters either an
accented or unaccented version of any word, they will retrieve all
instances of the word in the catalogue, both accented and unaccented.*
(*As we've discussed, the new catalogue interface previously handled
accented and non-accented characters interchangeably for the Latin-1
character set only, which meant that it was fine for searching in west
European languages, but did not retrieve complete results for accented
words in the languages above).
Sian Meikle, May 11, 2009
Renewal and fines changes
Math, Earth Sciences, Gerstein, Robarts, Engineering,OISE,Media
Commons,UTL Downsview, UTM,Law,Physics,Innis,Music,FIS,ROM,New,Laidlaw,UTSC
University of Toronto faculty, staff and students will be able to renew
books three(3) times, providing that the book has not been placed on
hold by another borrower. As well, all books are still subject to recall
after 2 weeks of the initial loan period when requested by another user.
On May 11, 2009 some libraries(Central system and others) will begin
charging overnight fines on Reserve Room material.(Fining even when
library is closed) Fines on Reserve Room material are 50 cents per hour.
Renata, May 11, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Baycrest sharing knowledge. Great resource for staff, families, patients on memory and other cognitive disorders.
http://www.baycrest.org/MemoryandAging/
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Genamics JournalSeek
http://journalseek.net/
From the website: "Genamics JournalSeek is the largest completely categorized database of freely available journal information available on the internet. The database presently contains 94715 titles. Journal information includes the description (aims and scope), journal abbreviation, journal homepage link, subject category and ISSN.
Searching this information allows the rapid identification of potential journals to publish your research in, as well as allow you to find new journals of interest to your field."
You can browse by category or search. I tried a few abbreviations and retrieved the title of the journal I needed.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Pet Policy
Just for clarification, all staff should be aware that our policy is no pets, except 'seeing eye dogs' for those with visual disabilities. This is as per the University's policy as stated at: http://www.fs.utoronto.ca/aboutus/policies/fire.htm (scroll down to the section on pets)
"PETS other than seeing eye dogs are NOT permitted in any University buildings. Exceptions must have written permission from the Dean or Chair responsible for the area, and the owner will be responsible for clean-up, damage and liability."
New Old printer
It's the Lexmark 520 that previously lived on the 2nd floor with the RRUnit.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Origin of PICO
Sackett DL, Richardson WS, Rosenberg W, Haynes RB (1997). Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM. New York: Churchill Livingston.
However, see http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/270/17/2093 for the first discussion of the ideas. The terms were then solidified in Richardson WS, Wilson MC, Nishikawa J, Hayward RS. "The Well Built Clinical question" ACP J Club. 1995 Nov-Dec;123(3):A12-3. The authors don't coin the acronym PICO but use all the words. (We don't have an online copy at U of T but someone on the web put up a scan here: http://www.mclibrary.duke.edu/subject/ebm/richardson.pdf )
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Alternatives to UpToDate
A: ACP PIER and Clinical Evidence are two great tools which are actually updated more frequently than UpToDate. They are useful diagnostic and point-of-care tools, providing evidence-based guidance for practitioners.
Friday, March 13, 2009
MLA citations no longer require URLS to be included.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/11/mla
"...the MLA has ceased to recommend inclusion of URLs in citing Web-based works – unless the instructor requires it or a reader would likely be unable to locate the source otherwise. “Inclusion of URLs has proved to have limited value… for they often change, can be specific to a subscriber or a session of use, and can be so long and complex that typing them into a browser is cumbersome and prone to transcription errors. Readers are now more likely to find resources on the Web by searching for titles and authors' names than by typing URLs,” states the handbook."
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Astronomy Library Services
FYI
The Astronomy library does not use SIRSI, all of their materials are signed out using cards!
Monday, March 09, 2009
Bill Changer Claim Forms
T-Card Claim Forms
Patrons fill in the form and leave it with staff at the Loan Services desk. The Library's Business Office at Robarts Library follows up on the claim.
Staff Pre-loaded Print Card
Vouchers
Vouchers are issued when a patron uses their T-card or a Visitor card to print, and payment is subtracted from the chip on their card but the machine does not print/photocopy, or does so but the print/photocopy is damaged or illegible.
Vouchers are filled out at the Information Desk by desk staff, indicating the number of pages lost. Having a voucher allows a patron to approach the Information Desk at a later date and ask that a print/photocopy job be printed at a public printer by a staff member using the staff print card in the printer cabinet. When issuing a voucher, please inform the patron that are only to be claimed at Gerstein (i.e. patrons cannot take these to the Info Commons or Robarts to get print jobs). This is purely an internal Gerstein procedure.
Card Flagged Error Message
If they cannot remember which machine to go to, or if this does not remove the ‘flag’ they should be instructed to go to the T Card office (2nd Floor Robarts) to have the card unflagged.
Courtesy Printing Cards
‘Courtesy cards’ are visitor cards which are held at the desk for the use of one-time visitors to the library when they have only a few pages to print. If the user is photocopying, they can be directed to the coin-operated machine and the change machine if they do not have coins.
If someone comes to the desk and asks for one of these ‘Courtesy cards’ they are likely not a one-time user and should be instructed to purchase a visitor card. Desk staff should use their discretion as to when the card can be borrowed by a patron.
When the courtesy cards are loaned out, the staff member must request a piece of identification from the person borrowing the card, which will be returned when the card is brought back to the desk. Staff should lock the ID into the black printer cabinet to keep it secure for the patron. If your desk shift is ending, let the next person who comes out know that the ID is being held in the cabinet for a visitor.
When lending these cards, the staff member should tell the patron that any funds left on the card will not be refunded, and to only load the card with the amount needed to cover the cost of printing.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
2009 Toronto Notes
If a patron needs them immediately, they can be purchased at the Bookstore.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Questions about studying for licensing and qualifying exams
If a patron comes in with questions about study materials for medical licensing and qualifying exams, including practice exams, you can direct them to our study guide on this topic which can be found at:
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/MyUTL/guides/index.cfm?guide=medlicense
Robarts Renovation Update and 2009 Planning
By way of update regarding the two test projects, the north apex on the 9th floor is now scheduled for completion in early February. The construction boarding has come down and the area has been secured with fencing to allow for carpeting and finishing work.
Construction on the 5th floor will begin in February and is expected to continue into the early summer. Although the government publications and maps collections on the 5th floor will be accessible during the construction period, all staff currently working on the fifth floor will be relocated. Sherry Smugler and Vicky Escandor will move to the 6th floor in mid-January. The government publications processing function will have a permanent home on the 6th floor. The GIS Maps and Data staff, which includes Marcel Fortin, Laine Ruus, Susan Jewel, Gerald Romme and Bernie Disonglo, will move to space on the 1st floor in February. They will remain there for the duration of the construction and then move back to the 5th floor. Public service assistance for Data Maps and GIS will be delivered from the 1st floor location and will involve some travelling back and forth between the 1st and 5th floor. Signage and webpages will be updated to note this when the move takes place.
In preparation for construction, the 5th floor government publications collection has been reduced in size and redistributed. The map cabinets will remain on the 5th floor but will be shifted.
The planning and initial design process for the rest of the Robarts renewal and renovation will take place during the first six months of 2009. The process will include input and consultation with representatives of the staff groups residing in areas designated for renewal. General meetings will also be scheduled to update all interested staff on the overall planning process. The initial planning process will result in a costing exercise which will determine the overall extent of construction and scheduling timelines for specific areas. If all goes as planned, construction will begin in the late spring and continue on an area-by-area basis over a three year period. The continuous operation of the library throughout the construction is a given and will inform all scheduling considerations.
Further updates will be issued in the new year. The new main library webpage will also feature a link to renovation news.
Joan Leishman 16/12/2008
Ovid MEDLINE Global Reload
Just a reminder that due to the reload we occasionally have questions early in the new year from those who have set up alerts in Ovid databases. They often wonder what has happened to their alerts. The reload sometimes delays new content from showing up in the alerts or the alerts themselves into early February. Please see below.
Sandra
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 2009 Ovid MEDLINE® Global Reload
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:48:14 -0800
*2009 Ovid MEDLINE® Global Reload*
*Dear Ovid Customer:*
We are working on the dataset for the 2009 Global Reload and look forward to completing the 2009 MEDLINE regeneration as quickly as possible. At this point, we expect that the reload will be live on OvidSP in mid-late January 2009*. *
As a reminder:
* The last MEDLINE Daily update went out on November 19, 2008.
* The last MEDLINE Weekly update went out on November 24, 2008.
No substantive field changes are currently planned for this reload. A complete description of the 2009 MeSH thesaurus changes are available by linking to:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/whatsnew.html
If you should have any questions during this time, please contact us at
wkhealth-support@wolterskluwer.com
Sincerely, Ovid Technologies
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Group Study Room Policy
- Rooms are for the use of groups of 3 or more students. One or two individuals using a Group Study room should be prepared to move if requested to do so by groups of 3 or more students. Thank you for your cooperation.
- Covered beverages are permitted but eating is not.
Please direct groups of 2 to our 1 Below group study 'area' as an alternative. (below the reference room)