Sciences Library News

May Summer Session Hours at the Sciences Library

Sara Scheib — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:37:55 +0000

May Summer Session Hours, May 18, 2013 – June 10, 2013:

Monday – Friday	9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday – Sunday	CLOSED

All Libraries will be closed on Monday, May 27th for Memorial Day.

Summer Librarian Office Hours at the Chemistry Building

Sara Scheib — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:54 +0000

The Sciences Library will provide Librarian Office Hours this summer at the Chemistry Building (CB) in W223. A librarian will be available to assist you during the following hours:

Mondays – 9:30am-12:00pm
Tuesdays – 9:30am-12:00pm
Wednesdays – 9:30-12:00pm
Thursdays – 9:30am-12:00pm

During office hours, we can assist you with:

Questions about your library account
Searching the library catalog and specialized databases
Finding books and full-text articles
Getting materials from other libraries (interlibrary loan)
Using citation managers like RefWorks and EndNote
And much, much more!

A selection of chemistry reference books are also available. If you have questions or if you would like to make an appointment outside office hours, please contact the Sciences Library at lib-sciences@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-3083.

Mobile Topographic Data

Sara Scheib — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:37:55 +0000

“Android and iPhone users can now use their mobile devices as digital topo maps, leveraging USGS maps together with the power of GPS to zoom in on their precise location while hiking, biking, running, or any other activity that benefits from precision navigation. The type of data that are available includes USGS imagery and topographic maps from The National Map, as well as road and contour layers.”

More information from the USGS: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3580&from=rss_home

Topography by quinn.anya on Flickr

RefWorks Workshop

Sara Scheib — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:01:01 +0000

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, May 8 @ 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.

Workshop: Managing Privacy Online

Sara Scheib — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:50:22 +0000

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube… The options for sharing your life online seem to be endless. But in this age of social media, maintaining privacy is increasingly challenging. Join Kelly McElroy, Undergraduate Services Librarian, and Sara Scheib, Sciences Research & Instruction Librarian for a discussion of privacy in the social media age. Share your strategies for managing privacy online and learn from others in this informal and open workshop.

Lunch @ the Sciences Library
Managing Privacy Online
11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m., Wednesday, April 24
102 SL (Sciences Library Classroom)

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.

Open Access Fund

Sara Scheib — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:55:20 +0000

Open access is an electronic publishing model that allows free and immediate access to research, and also allows authors to retain intellectual property rights to their research. Many open access journals charge authors publication fees, which can be a barrier to publishing in such venues.

To help offset the cost of publishing in open access journals the Office of the Provost and University Libraries have established a small fund to assist with authors’ fees.

Researchers may apply for funding to be applied toward publication fees up to:

$3,000.00 for publication in full open access journals that allow immediate, free access to all their articles upon publication (check the Directory of Open Access Journals: http://www.doaj.org/ for titles that qualify).
$1,500.00 for publication in “hybrid” open access journals. These are subscription-based journals that allow open access only to articles for which author open access fees have been paid (check Sherpa/RoMEO’s list of Publishers with Paid Open Access Options: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/PaidOA.html).

Funding is not available to researchers with grant funding that could be used to pay open access fees.

For more information and an application form, go to: http://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/OAfund

Questions about the process may be directed to Mike Wright, Interim Associate University Librarian, Collections and Scholarly Communication (michael-wright@uiowa.edu).

Earth Day Presentation

Sara Scheib — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:11:32 +0000

Join the Sciences Library to celebrate Earth Day!

Sustainability at the UI: What’s Happening and How You Can Help

3:30 – 4:30 pm on Monday, April 22
102 SL (Sciences Library classroom)

At this presentation, Liz Christiansen, director of the UI Office of Sustainability, will bring us up to date on the many sustainability efforts here at the UI and identify some ways you can help. Liz will describe some simple changes you can make as an individual to have a positive impact on our environment and identify some campus and community organizations you can join to help save the planet! Sara Scheib, Sciences Research & Instruction Librarian, will identify some sources you can use to find more information about environmental issues.

After the presentation, enjoy some refreshments and browse through the Sciences Library’s new Earth Day exhibit, featuring endangered species specimens from the UI Museum of Natural History.

This event is free and open to the public. If you have questions, please contact Sara Scheib at (319) 335-3024 or sara-scheib@uiowa.edu.

Workshop: Staying Current

Sara Scheib — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:36:08 +0000

How do you keep up with the news and research in your field? Would you like to learn how to use technology to find new information for you? Join us for a Staying Current workshop and learn how to use RSS feeds and other alert options to keep up with blog posts, news and scholarly articles.

Lunch @ the Sciences Library
Staying Current
11:30 am – 12:20 pm, Wednesday, April 17th
102 SL (Sciences Library Classroom)

In this workshop, you will learn how to:

Use an RSS Reader to keep up with blog posts and news articles;
Use Google Alerts to monitor the web for relevant information;
Use Saved Searches in various research databases to keep up with scholarly communications;
Use Citation Alerts in Web of Science or Scopus to monitor your citations;
Use Journal Table of Contents Alerts to keep up with your favorite journals.

Workshop: Get Organized

Sara Scheib — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:11:19 +0000

Do you struggle to stay organized as the semester progresses? Are your notes and files scattered about in notebooks, folders, and various electronic storage devices? Would you like to share your own tips and tricks for staying organized with others? Join us for a Get Organized workshop to learn about free software tools you can use to get organized and stay organized all semester long and share your organization solutions with the chronically disorganized.

Lunch @ the Sciences Library
Get Organized
11:30 am – 12:20 pm, Wednesday, April 10th
102 SL (Sciences Library Classroom)

In this workshop, you will learn how to use free software such as Evernote and Dropbox to:

Take notes electronically;
Keep your notes organized;
Access notes from any computer with an Internet connection;
Save your files to the cloud;
Access your files from any computer with an Internet connection.

Planck Spacecraft Map

Sara Scheib — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 20:53:13 +0000

“Europe’s Planck spacecraft has obtained the most accurate and detailed map ever made of the oldest light in the universe. The map results suggest the universe is expanding more slowly than scientists thought, and is 13.8 billion years old, 100 million years older than previous estimates. The data also show there is less dark energy and more matter in the universe than previously known.”

From Science@NASA Headline News