New York Times photojournalism blog

The New York Times recently launched a photojournalism, video and visual journalism blog called "Lens." From their website:

Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting the finest and most interesting visual and multimedia reporting — photographs, videos and slide shows. A showcase for Times photographers, it also seeks to highlight the best work of other newspapers, magazines and news and picture agencies; in print, in books, in galleries, in museums and on the Web. And it will draw on The Times's own pictorial archive, numbering in the millions of images and going back to the early 20th century.

Check it out at http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/.

Historic newspapers digitized

The Library of Congress' Chronicling America website offers free digitized versions of over 100 newspapers published between 1880 and 1910. You can also find information about the newspaper industry from 1690 to present. Check it out at http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/, and find more resources like this at http://bsu.libguides.com/journalism.

Best websites for reporters

Do you know where to go on the Internet to look at old websites? How about how to find SEC filings or property records online? The Specialized Information Publishers Association has recently released a list of websites every reporter and information professional should know, including:

• http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp (inmate locator)
• http://www.archive.org/index.php (old web site pages)
• http://numbrary.com/ (statistics)
• http://www.switchboard.com/ (phone numbers)
• http://www.info.gov/phone.htm (government phones)
• http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
• http://www.guidestar.org/ (non-profits)
• http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm (SEC info)
• http://www.secinfo.com/
• http://www.reporter.org/desktop/tips/johndoe.htm (backgrounding guide)
• http://www.pipl.com/ (great people finder)
• http://indorgs.virginia.edu/portico/home.html
  
• http://www.statelocalgov.net/50states-secretary-state.cfm
• http://www.allwhois.com/ (domain lookup)
• http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp (domain lookup)
• http://publicrecords.netronline.com/ (property records)
• http://www.virtualchase.com/ (research site)

View the complete list of recommended websites in the SIP Alert online.

Westlaw Campus Research library database

The University Libraries added a new library database to our collection this fall. The Westlaw Campus Research database (available here, log-in required for off-campus users) includes law reviews and news articles useful for corporate and legal research. In addition to these resources, it provides access to journals in advertising and marketing as well as telecommunications. Also of note, the Westlaw Campus Research library database offers online access to many broadcast transcripts, including those from several Indianapolis news programs as well as national news shows, such as NPR and CNN programs.

For additional information on this or any other library database, please contact Stacy. As an Information Services librarian, she can provide research assistance and training to individuals or an entire class.

Login to CardCat: A new service from the University Libraries

The University Libraries have added a new feature to CardCat, our online library catalog. You now have the ability to log-in to your library account from the CardCat start page using your BSU username and password.

This enables you to place holds, review item due dates, renew your library items, create a list of favorite titles, and more during your CardCat session. You can find out more about logging-in to CardCat on this page of frequently asked questions. Of course, you can still use CardCat without logging-in, which is useful when you're in a hurry or just want to do a quick search of the library catalog.

Go ahead, give the new CardCat log-in a try! And let me know what you think of this new feature.

New library webpage for journalism

A new University Libraries webpage features resources helpful for journalism research and instruction. Faculty, staff, and students in journalism and related fields will want to use the new page to find recommended databases, selected resource guides, highlighted library serves, as well as a customized web search engine. Take a look at the new page, and let me know what you think: http://www.bsu.edu/library/services/liaison/journalism!

Web searching made better

A custom search engine from Google allows you to search a group of select websites to find highly-targeted information in a specific field of study. I have used this tool to create a Journalism Research custom search engine that searches reputable journalism and media resources on the web. You can try it out by using the search box found below or in the right-hand column of this blog, or by going to the search engine’s homepage linked here. Good search examples include research topics such as “audience analysis,” “plagiarism,” or “racism in the media.”

Labor Day hours

Bracken Library will open at noon on Monday, September 4, 2006.

For a complete listing of the University Libraries' hours, please see http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,14625--,00.html.

A new resource for biographies

“Information Gathering” researchers and other journalism students will be glad to hear of a new library resource for biographies. The Biography Reference Bank, available at http://www.hwwilson.com/_promotrials/amigos/login.cfm, allows online access to basic biographical information on over 500,000 people, including over 60 contemporary journalists.* You can read more about the database at http://www.hwwilson.com/databases/biobank.htm.

To access the current trial version of Biography Reference Bank, sign-in using the password bracken@bsu.edu.

To use the database, select the Biography Reference Bank from the list of databases on Wilson Web, and type in your search criteria, as shown here (click image to enlarge):

Then, choose the correct reference from the list (click image to enlarge):

And view the additional information (click image to enlarge):

The University Libraries' trial of the Biography Reference Bank database ends on December 31, 2006. Please consider purchasing this resource with your department's library funds if you wish to continue using it.

For more information or to schedule a training session on using this database, please contact
Stacy.

(*Data from a search for journalists born since 1970.)

Interlibrary loan: An easy way to get more resources from your library

On the About Us webpage on the University Libraries website, you will read:

Our collections consist of 1.5 million print volumes, over 2,900 periodical subscriptions, over 1 million microforms, nearly 98,000 government documents, and over 120,000 maps.

Despite all the books, journals, microforms, documents, maps and other materials available at the University Libraries, you may still find times when you need to interlibrary loan resources from other libraries.

Interlibrary loan at the University Libraries allows Ball State users to request materials from other libraries across the world. The University Libraries will process your requests and make the materials easily available, usually at no cost to you. By using resources like WorldCat and other databases, you can identify other books and materials that may help you in your research. By using interlibrary loan, you will find a nearly limitless supply of library resources made available to you by the University Libraries.

The University Libraries recently re-launched their electronic request system for interlibrary loan, called ILLiad. This system allows you to easily request books, articles, and other materials from other libraries using your own computer. You can access ILLiad and read more about interlibrary loan at http://www.bsu.edu/library/collections/ill/.

What titles will you request?

[Categories: News, Resources, Tell Students]

Toolbar for quick access to the University Libraries

Have you ever wanted to look up a book in the online card catalog, but didn’t want to navigate back to the Libraries website? Do you want one-click access to library databases and resources? Then the University Libraries’ Toolbar is your answer.

This browser add-on works with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox to give you easy access to key library services and resources. By installing the Libraries’ Toolbar, you can quickly search CardCat, go directly to databases, easily navigate to the Ask-a-Librarian help page, and more. Once installed, the Libraries’ Toolbar looks like this (click to enlarge):





It could save you time when researching online. For instructions on installing the University Libraries’ Toolbar, go to http://www.bsu.edu/library/article/0,,42835--,00.html. If you have questions, feel free to ask Stacy.

Campus computer outage on May 21st

University Computing Services has planned a computer outage on Sunday, May 21, from 12:00 am until 8:00 am. Internet connectivity, e-mail, all BSU websites and the IBM mainframe will be unavailable during this outage in order to allow for an upgrade.

Gear up for the hunt

Finding Career Resources and Research
Thurs., Apr. 20, 3:00-3:50 p.m.
"Looking for an internship? A new job? Before you start pounding the pavement, come to this workshop to learn about researching a company, finding job ads, and preparing for interviews. Taught in conjunction with the Career Center.
"To register online, visit this link and follow the directions. You can also call Instructional Services at 285-8017, or send us a note at libinstr@bsu.edu! Sessions are conducted in Bracken Library room 104.
"'Gear Up for the Hunt' is part of our Spring Workshops 2006 series, open to all Ball State faculty, staff, and students."