Please pardon our mess. The Sciences Library is working to create more study space on the third floor. We’re taking down some empty shelves and moving in some new furniture. We’re looking forward to seeing it finished, but in the meantime, check out these photos of our progress.
Math Category
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Good News for Science
A new policy memorandum from Dr. John Holdren of the Office of Science and Technology Policy requires Federal agencies to develop plans to make the published results and digital data of federally funded research freely available to the public within 12 months of publication.
For more information, including the full-text of the memorandum:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/02/22/expanding-public-access-results-federally-funded-research
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Web of Science Workshop
Do you use Web of Science in your research? The UI Libraries provide free access to Web of Science, an excellent multidisciplinary citation database. Join us for a Web of Science Workshop and learn advanced techniques that will help you conduct your research more efficiently and effectively.
Lunch @ the Sciences Library
Web of Science Workshop
11:30am- 12:20pm, Wednesday, February 27th
102 SL (Sciences Library Classroom)
In this workshop, you will learn how to:
- Access Web of Science from off-campus;
- Use Advanced Search to retrieve more relevant search results;
- Analyze result lists by author, organization, publication year, etc.;
- Save citations from Web of Science to RefWorks, EndNote and other citation managers;
- Set up alerts to keep up with the literature in your field;
- Find the full-text of citations retrieved in Web of Science;
- Get help when you need it!
This workshop is free and open to all UI students, faculty and staff. There is no need to register. You may bring your lunch if desired. Free coffee will be provided. If you have any questions, please contact Sara Scheib at sara-scheib@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-3024.
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RefWorks Workshop
Are you starting a new research paper or project and looking for a way to manage your references? Then join us for this useful and informative workshop about RefWorks! RefWorks is a web-based citation manager and it’s free to all University of Iowa students, faculty and staff.
Lunch @ the Sciences Library: RefWorks Workshop
Wednesday, February 13 @ 11:30am – 12:20pm
Sciences Library classroom (102 SL)
In this workshop, you will learn:
- How to sign up for a free RefWorks account;
- How to export references to RefWorks from popular research databases;
- How to use RefWorks to organize and share your references;
- How to use RefWorks format citations and bibliographies;
- How to download and use the free Write-N-Cite add-on to Microsoft Word to include preformatted citations and bibliographies in your paper.
This workshop is open to all UI students, faculty and staff. There is no need to register. You may bring you lunch if desired. Free coffee will be provided. If you have any questions, please contact Sara Scheib at sara-scheib@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-3024.
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Workshop: Library 101
Do you need a brief overview of the resources and services available at the Sciences Library? Do you have a question about the library or it’s resources that you’ve never had the chance to ask? Then join us for the first Lunch @ the Sciences Library workshop of the semester! Tomorrow (1/30) at 11:30am – 12:20pm in the Sciences Library classroom (102SL).
In this workshop, you will learn:
- How to view your library account to renew materials or see what you have checked out;
- How to search for books, videos, journals and articles using the library catalog and popular databases;
- How to get materials from other libraries (interlibrary loan);
- How to get library materials delivered to your office or favorite branch library;
- How to get help when you need it.
There’s no need to register, just show up if you’re interested. Bring your lunch if you wish. Free coffee will be provided. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Sara Scheib at (319) 335-3024 or sara-scheib@uiowa.edu.
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Winter Interim Hours at the Sciences Library
Sciences Library Winter Interim Hours, December 15, 2012 – January 21, 2013:
| Monday – Friday | 9:00am – 5:00pm |
| Saturday – Sunday | CLOSED |
Exceptions: CLOSED December 24-28 & 31, January 1 & 21.
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News from Iowa Research Online
The August 2012 theses and dissertations are now available in Iowa Research Online (IRO), which is the repository of the research and scholarly output selected and deposited by the faculty, researchers and students of the University of Iowa. IRO is part of the larger Open Access movement to transform scholarly communication.
The sciences departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are well represented in IRO with the following departments contributing new disserations and theses.
- Chemistry – 3 contributions
- Geoscience – 3 contributions
- Mathematics – 9 contributions
- Physics – 5 contributions
- Statistics – 1 contributions
The UI Libraries are also happy to announce some improved functionality in Iowa Research Online.
- The internal search options are dramatically improved with facets included in the search results.
- There is a new follow option. You can now follow a series, person, discipline, etc. All you have to do is sign up for a free bepress account and then click follow. You will receive an email when new content is added.
- The disciplines are now more connected to other sites. The page listing them has been reorganized so that you can see the subdisciplines, authors and the works in the discipline. If an item is in a subdiscipline, it should also appear in the parent discipline. Each page includes a link to the “commons” which links all the bepress participating institutions together.
If you have any questions about the IRO or if you would like to deposit your research there, please contact the Sciences Library.
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Trial: Data Citation Index
The UI Libraries is trying out a new resource. The trial ends on December 15, 2012.
The Data Citation Index supports data discovery, reuse and interpretation that benefits everyone involved in the research lifecycle.
Please send comments to Michael Wright.
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Workshop: PubMed & NCBI
Do you use PubMed or other NCBI databases in your research? Would you like to learn some expert tips and tricks? Shane Wallace and Chris Childs from the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences will be coming to the Sciences Library to demonstrate the advanced features of PubMed and other NCBI databases and answer your questions. Please join us.
Lunch @ the Sciences Library: PubMed & NCBI
12:30-1:20 pm, Wednesday, November 14th
102 SL (Sciences Library classroom)
In this workshop you will learn:
- What kinds of resources are available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information?
- Expert search tips for PubMed and other NCBI resources.
- How to find the full-text of articles cited in NCBI resources?
- How to export citations from NCBI resources to citation management tools like RefWorks?
The workshop is open to all UI students, faculty and staff. There is no need to register. You may bring your lunch if desired. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Sara Scheib at (319) 335-3024 or sara-scheib@uiowa.edu.
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Celebrating the Iowa Connection to “Silent Spring”
My Friend, Rachel Carson: Shirley Briggs and the Iowa Connection to “Silent Spring”
Fifty years ago, Rachel Carson published “Silent Spring,” a lucid and compelling book about how DDT and other pesticides were damaging the environment and human health. The book called for a change in the way humankind viewed the natural world and became an inspiration for the environmental movement. One of Carson’s staunchest advocates and closest friends was Iowan Shirley Briggs, who met Carson when they worked together at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1940s.
To recognize this Iowa connection to “Silent Spring,” the University of Iowa Libraries and Office of Sustainability are presenting a symposium and exhibition opening, Thursday, Nov. 15, inspired by the extensive collection of Briggs’ diaries, letters, photos and artwork in the Iowa Women’s Archives.
The symposium begins at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in Phillips Hall Auditorium (100 PH), followed by an opening reception in the UI Sciences Library, where an exhibit of Briggs’ photos, writings, art work and memorabilia will be on display through Jan. 7. “A Sense of Wonder,” a short film about the last days of Rachel Carson as she struggled with cancer, will be shown from noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the Iowa City Public Library.
Speaking at the symposium will be Liz Christiansen, director of the UI Office of Sustainability, who will read from “Silent Spring” and tell about Carson’s legacy to the environmental movement. Kären Mason, curator of the Iowa Women’s Archives, will talk about Briggs and her connection to Carson’s work. Brief clips from “A Sense of Wonder” will also be shown.
Briggs, an Iowa City native, was the author of “Basic Guide to Pesticides” (1992), inspired by the many requests for information about pesticides after “Silent Spring” was published in 1962. Briggs attended the University of Iowa earning a B.A. in art, art history, and botany in 1939 and an M.A. in art and art history in 1940. She studied with Grant Wood at UI. In 1945, she was hired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an artist. She became close, lifelong friends with Carson and with other noted naturalists, such as Roger Tory Peterson, through her work as editor of the Atlantic Naturalist, a publication of the Audubon Naturalist Society of the District of Columbia.
After years of research in the United States and Europe, Carson made the decision to produce “Silent Spring.” This landmark work was linked to the increase of awareness of the impact of persistent, bio-accumulative chemical pollutants in the environment – these include DDT, mercury, Chlordane and Dieldrin, among others. These deadly chemicals are still being cleaned up and removed from the environment.
After her book’s publication, Carson was vilified by chemical companies. Her writings about the impact of legacy chemicals led to landmark legislation and the banning of the use of DDT. She died in 1964 after a long battle against breast cancer. After Carson’s death, Briggs created a non-profit organization, the Rachel Carson Council, a pesticide research information clearinghouse for both scientists and lay people.
Just eight years after “Silent Spring” was published, President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency and with an extensive directive, helped pave the way for a series of important environmental laws, such as the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
