by Sharon Siegler and Rob Weidman
Lehigh SFX Links is a new service for electronic library resources thatlinks users quickly FROM the reference to a publication TO the actual itemreferenced. Links to electronic full-text are not new, but often in thepast took the user only to the main web page of the publication or to thepublisher's web page, rather than to the specific article in question. Indeed LTS has provided links through ASA, the online catalog, and variousabstract services for some years now, but there were still several stepsbetween identifying the initial reference and retrieving the actual article.SFX does the leg-work for the user, listing alternatives if there is noelectronic format to be had.
Most, but not all, of the popular services have SFX links. As the semesterrolls on, look for the Lehigh SFX Links logo shown here.
The link that is provided can originate in a bibliographic database (forinstance: any First Search database, ProQuest, ABInform, etc.), a publisher'sweb site (for instance: Elsevier), or a reference in some other electronicpublication.
SFX, through a series of behind-the-scenes queries, retrieves a list ofoptions in roughly this order: electronic full text article, electronicabstract if no full-text is available, and ASA, Lehigh's onlinecatalog. This last option will direct the user to ascertain whether Lehighowns a print copy of the article_Lehigh still subscribes to 3,300+ papersubscriptions.
The screen capture on the next page demonstrates what a user would be presented with for an article on student cheating published in volume 37of the journal Adolescence. As illustrated, LTS offers two sourcesof the electronic full text for that particular article.
Another aspect of SFX is the Citation Linker, a simple online form, thatlets the user type in a reference (perhaps from a print source) to findout whether an electronic version of the cited article exists, without havingto know a URL or many details at all. With this powerful tool, users candetermine if an article is available electronically immediately or if Lehighhas a paper subscription. Next semester users will be able to submit anILL request without re-keying data. To try out the Citation Linker,connect to the Electronic Journals at www.lehigh.edu/library/ejournals/ejournals.html.
The initial setup of SFX at each institution requires library staff to identify electronic subscriptions to a great level of detail, includingthe range of holdings (by year). Currently Lehigh University subscribesto individually, or receives through bundled subscriptions, about 8400 differentelectronic titles. SFX, named after the Hollywood shortcut for `special effects,'is marketed by Ex Libris, an international library systems company.
Web of Science — Not Just For Scientists!
by Christy Roysdon
Library and Technology Services has recently acquired ten years of backfilesand a continuing subscription to the ISI Web of Science. This multidisciplinaryscholarly research tool provides indexing and abstracting coverage to thousandsof key journals not only in the sciences, but also in the social sciences,business and the humanities.
Encompassing the Science Citation Index, Social Citation Index, andArts and Humanities Citation Index, the Web of Science employs the uniqueconcept of citation indexing, developed by Eugene Garfield at the Institutefor Scientific Information (ISI). Citation searches begin with a known documentand track papers that cite that document over time. The set of citing articlesare related to the original article in many different ways. Citing articlesmay simply build on research reported in the original article, but may alsorefute the original work, place it in a larger review context, or employits ideas or methodology in an article published in an unrelated discipline.
Another reason that the Web of Science is so important to researchersis that it covers a broad swath of important scholarly journals in everydiscipline. A keyword search of ISI files is a quick way to retrieve importantpapers on a topic from a broad selection of major journals. The new LehighSFX Links service extends the convenience by offering instant access tothe full text of articles covered by the Web of Science that are available electronically through Lehigh University (see article on Lehigh SFX Linksabove).
Humanists and social scientists in particular will also discover thatthe Web of Science is a convenient and current source of citations to book reviews published across many disciplines. Scholars have also found theprocess of co-citation searching — searching for the co-appearance of twoauthors in a citation list — to be a fruitful and unique search mode.
As a form of institutional research, citation indexing has also been employedas a way to monitor the impact of published research and the influence of individual authors within their own fields and across disciplines. ISIhas also developed the influential, if controversial "impact factor" — ameasure of journal importance based on citation statistics.
The Web of Science encompasses the three citation indexes that the library already owns in CD and paper format, but puts them in a web environment.Available from 1993 forward on the Web of Science, the files can be searchedseparately or simultaneously. Print volumes in the Fairchild-MartindaleLibrary are available for scholars needing to search earlier citing papers.
Individuals doing interdisciplinary research will find the cross-database feature very helpful — one can search all three indexes at the same time. Another feature of Web of Science is the ability to sort literature bynumber of times cited, a great way to locate important papers. Other helpfulfeatures include the ability to email results; and exporting of search resultsto reference software.
Faculty and students who wish to learn more are invited to take one ofthe LTS seminars on this topic. For a schedule of the seminars, see www.lehigh.edu/lts/sems/lts-seminar.html
Microsoft Drops Windows 98 Support
The Windows 98 operating system will no longer be supported by Microsoftas of January 16, 2004. This means that critical updates such as securitypatches (in response to new virus outbreaks) for Windows 98 will no longerbe developed. Phone support at Microsoft will no longer be available andonline help will be restricted to self help files. Library and TechnologyServices is assessing the situation at Lehigh with specialized softwareinventory tools to determine what computers may still be using the Windows98. LTS will be contacting key administrators with the current status intheir departments as well as recommended solutions. There are a varietyof options including upgrading to Windows XP with or without additionalmemory depending on the situation. Some computers may need to be replaced.
Free Beowulf Computing Cluster through 2003
To acquaint users with the Lehigh Beowulf high performance computing cluster, the Beowulf Steering Committee has authorized free usage through December.Lehigh's cluster, known as Fire, has 96 processors constructed entirely frompersonal computer component technology. Currently the cluster is dividedwith 64 processors reserved for Industrial Engineering and the remaining32 processors available to other campus users.
Around the country, primarily in small science and engineering labs, Beowulfclusters are being implemented to satisfy short term needs. They can be usedto carry out scientific computations at a fraction of the cost of conventionalmachines while delivering the same quality performance. Some universitiesare using these so-called "Pile-of-PCs" to teach parallel programming.They can also be used as test beds to conduct computer science research. At Lehigh users must first request a Beowulf Cluster account by fillingout the form located at www.lehigh.edu/~ltsforms/. For more informationsee www.lehigh.edu/computing/sgi/beowulf.hmtl or contact Computing ConsultantPaul Ryan.
Novelist Matthew Pearl to Speak March 24th
Matthew Pearl, author of the New York Times bestseller TheDante Club, will visit the Lehigh University campus on March 24th, speakingat a lecture sponsored by the Friends of the Lehigh Libraries. Pearl, whobegan the book while a student at Yale Law School, credits Lehigh EnglishProfessor Scott Gordon with inspiring him to pursue his love of writingwhile both were at Harvard University.
The Friends will also designate the book as its 2nd semester "On the Same Page Lehigh" selection; the book is due out in paperback in February. Asa reading selection, The Dante Club follows City of Light(L. Belfer) in spring 2003 and Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting Byin America (B. Ehrenreich) in summer/fall 2003. For more informationon the "On the Same Page Lehigh" reading program, see www.lehigh.edu/samepage.
Matthew Pearl is a young and successful historical fiction writer. Heis a scholar as well and his novel informs and entertains across multipleboundaries: the medieval classic The Divine Comedy written by Dantewhile in exile from his beloved Florence during the early 12th century andthe world of the New England "Brahmins" (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, JamesRussell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.) in 1865 Boston. A subplotin the novel is the intense mid-century struggle within higher educationover including subject matter other than classical languages in the curriculum.Dante wrote his work in Italian, not Latin, and then Longfellow and companyproposed to make an American translation.
Recently the American translation of the Comedy has been re-issuedin its 1867 Ticknor and Fields edition. Edited by Pearl, it alsoincludes two prefatory essays by Matthew Pearl and Lino Pertile that provideperspective on Longfellow's personal and literary triumph.
The following new LTS Team Leaders have been named: Sherri Yerk Zwickl,Instructional Technology Team Leader (formerly Business College Team Leader); Debbie Feldman, Business College Team Leader (formerly Enterprise Consultant); and Sara Rodgers, Academic and Administration Team Leader (formerly Computing Consultant). Neil Toporski left the university July1st to become Director of Instructional Technology at Rowan University inGlassboro, NJ. Stacey Alderfer will assume the position of SeniorAnalyst in Technology Management Services.
Cataloger Rob Weidman was recently promoted to the position of Digital Library Technical Coordinator in LTS' Library Collections and Systemsunit.
Client Services Director Tim Foley was a panelist at the JA-SIGUPortal Conference in June in Colorado on the subject of the SCT uPortaloption (Luminis).
Librarian Jennifer Heise and Team Leader Stacey Kimmelserved as guest editors for the Internet Reference Services Quarterly(vol.8, nos.1& 2) on "Virtual Reference Services: Issues and Trends".The publication was also issued as a monograph of the same name.
Gerald A. Lennon, Senior Analyst in Enterprise Systems Implementation,presented at the Pennsylvania Banner Users Group meeting in Harrisburg inlate October on the subject of Lehigh Banner Advancement Self Service withan emphasis on launching the Alumni Online Directory, Career NetworkingSolutions, and Personal Information.
Lennon and Willa Johnson Ostrosky, conducted two sessions at the SCTEducation Technology Association meeting in Albany, NY, in June 2003. Onewas titled "On-Line Giving with SCT Banner and Touchnet" and the other "Lehigh'sAlumni Directory using PCI and SCT Banner".
Judy McNally, Team Leader for Library Technical Services, and SharonWiles Young, Library Access Services Director, presented "Managing,Controlling, and Cataloging the Elusive Electronic Journal" at the Pennsylvania Library Association Annual Conference in Pittsburgh this October.
Senior Analyst Mark Miller recently passed the CISCO Certified Internetwork Expert test and in June Computing Consultant Dave Morrisettesuccessfully completed the high level Red Hat Certified Engineering (RHCE)test, the premier Linux certification.
Instructional Media and Design Consultant George Motter conducteda full day workshop on Internet2 applications in the health science arenafor the 2003 International Conference on Health and Science Communicationsheld in Bethlehem in June.
"Opening Doors: Libraries and Campus Portals" was co-presented by ChristineRoysdon, Director for Library Collections and Systems, at the PennsylvaniaLibrary Association Annual Conference.
Science Librarian Brian Simboli has been appointed to the INSPEC Library Advisory Committee for a two year term. INSPEC is an important indexing tool that covers physics, electrical/electronics, computer science/engineering, and information technology.
New Site Features Valley Geology, History
by Brian Simboli
Library and Technology Services has completed a new digital library project,"Geology of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania: Historical Works". It is available off the library homepage under Library Digital Projects.
The project's centerpiece is two scanned and digitized volumes from thePennsylvania Geological Survey covering Northampton and Lehigh Counties. The volumes, for which the Lehigh University professor Benjamin L. Miller(1874-1944) was primary author, contain a rich and diverse wealth of detailnot only about geology, but also about the history, place names, culture,meteorology, and economics of the region. A search engine and browseabletable of contents, as well as printable PDF images, enhance the usefulnessof the volumes.
Additional materials at the website include Miller's 1939 pamphlet for the layperson, "Guidebook to Places of Geologic Interest in the Lehigh ValleyPennsylvania"; a history of the Lehigh University geology department; memorialsto Miller; and links to related library resources.
A related exhibition is on view in Linderman Library through December. Display cases on the first floor contain copies of the materials digitized for the website; specimens of rocks from the Lehigh Valley and fossils (even a dinosaur footprint!); photographs from Miller's South America travels;and various of his publications. The exhibition continues in Linderman'sBayer Galleria, the Special Collections Reading Room, and includes letters,diaries, photographs and writings relating to Miller's career. The exhibitas a whole provides a colorful window into the life of a geology professor,prolific writer, world traveler, popular lecturer, and consultant.
The first floor portion of the exhibition may be viewed during LindermanLibrary hours. The Bayer Galleria is open weekdays from 1:00-5:00 P.M.and otherwise by appointment. The enclosed Flyer features the projectand exhibition with more detail about the content.
The photograph is of kilns at the Coplay Cement Mfg. Company