Life Sciences Library

CONTENTS

• Time to Plan for Fall Semester
• What's Happening with the Reference Collection?
• New Electronic Resources
• Science Books by PSU Authors
• UK PubMed Central Launches
• AgNIC Home Gardening
• Library Contacts
• Library Hours
• Electronic Newsletter Subscription Information

Time to Plan for Fall Semester

Classes
Call us now to schedule a class for fall, most of the library instruction rooms have not been scheduled yet, so it's a good time to set up a class. To schedule a class, contact your subject librarian.

Angel
Librarians can create specialized Angel Guides for your classes so that students are directed to the best databases and other library resources for their projects.

Reserves
The staff at the Reserve Room is ready to take your lists for reserves for next fall. They will process the materials and put it on reserve during August so that it's ready to go for your students the first week of class. Please put class materials on Reserve so students are not frustrated while looking for materials that someone else has moved to another floor. If you want students to learn how to use the Libraries Resources, please contact us and we will help you set up an assignment that will teach them how to find materials.

Open House 2007
Tuesday, September 19 - Wednesday, September 20 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m..
This event introduces new students to the resources and facilities of the of the University Libraries. When the students arrive they are welcomed and receive a certificate which guides them to various areas of the Libraries. It's a self-guided "tour" that takes approximately an hour or less to complete. The Open House is fun for new students to see the buildings, collections, and meet library faculty and staff. We especially encourage first year seminar teachers to include the Open House as part of your student's activities.

Last fall we created a nature trail to give the students a taste of the resources available in the Life Sciences Library. We were surprised at the numbers of students who took the short hike and learned about the Reference Desk, the Stacks, the Current Journals area, and the Reference Collection. Over 5500 students attended the Open House in 2006 with 3500 + visiting the Life Sciences Library. So please forgive us if the Library is a bit noisy and hectic those days.

What's Happening with the Reference Collection?

The dust is beginning to settle in the Reference Section. This spring we have been evaluating the books in this collection and have been sending many of these books out of reference and into the circulating collection. We evaluated the materials in the section and selected those which are dated or rarely used. The dust we raised while looking through them was proof that they had not mived in a long, long while. And, of course you haven't missed the print indexes that we sent to the Annex, because the information is now accessible electronically.

So what do we plan to do with the empty space? We need room for groups to study and work on the fourth floor. Shelving will be taken down, carpeting will be added, and we hope to get tables and chairs that well be easy to mix and match. No timetable on this project, unless a large donation is provided by a generous patron.

So if you have course materials that refer to resources in the Reference Collection, please double check that they are still in the section. And if there is a resource that you feel should return to the Reference Collection, please contact us to reevaluate the resource.

New Electronic Resources

JSTOR added a group of new journals recently. Here's the list of ones for the Life Sciences.

• Englera - Vols. 1 - 25, 1979-2003 : Moving Wall: 3 years
• Epidemiology - Vols. 3 - 12, 1992-2001 : Moving Wall: 5 years
• Ethnology - Vols. 1 - 40, 1962-2001 : Moving Wall: 5 years
• The Journal of Arachnology - Vols. 1 - 33 (Issue 1), 1973-2005 : Moving Wall: 1 year
• The Journal of the History of Sexuality - Vols. 1 - 12, 1990-2003 : Moving Wall: 3 years
• The Journal of Wildlife Management - Vols. 1 - 68, 1937-2004 : Moving Wall: 2 years
• Medical Care - Vols. 1 - 39, 1963-2001 : Moving Wall: 5 years
• Mycologia previously Journal of Mycology - Vols. 1 - 14, 1885-1908, Vols. 1 - 95, 1909-2003 : Moving Wall: 3 years
• Reproductive Health Matters - Vols. 1 - 11, 1993-2003 : Moving Wall: 3 years
• Wildlife Society Bulletin - VOls. 1 - 32, 1973-2004 : Moving Wall: 2 years

Annual Reviews Backfiles

We are pleased to announce that the back files for the Annual Reviews Collection, which includes (among many others) titles such as Annual Review of Biochemistry, Annual Review of Genetics, Annual Review of Entomology, and Annual Review of Neuroscience are now available to the Penn State Community. We have had a current subscription for serveral years now, but this addition includes all Annual Reviews back to vol.1 of each series. These series have become an indispensable part of the literature of many disciplines. Enjoy!

Annals of the New York Academy of the Sciences

We now have full-access to the Annals of the New York Academy of the Sciences from 1879 - to date! They are now available through the "Get it!" button from your favorite database. And when searching the CAT, search by using Begins with (Browse), and limit to journal title, then pick the Electronic Resource by clicking on the "Get it" button.

Science Books by PSU Authors

Have you published a book recently or in the past? We are looking to create a resource that highlights scientific books by Penn State authors. Send the citation for your book to Kathy Fescemyer (kaf12@psu.edu) and look for a web page in the fall.

UK PubMed Central Launches

Based on PubMed Central (PMC), the US National Institutes of Health free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature, UP PubMed Central (UKPMC) provides a stable, permanent, and free-to-access online digital archive of full-text, peer-reviewed research publications. UKPMC is part of a network of PMC International (PMCI) repositories. PMCI is a collaborative effort between the US National Libray of Medicine (NLM), the publishers whose journal content makes up the PMC archive (including the Journal of the Medical Library Association), and organizations in other countries that share NLM's interest in archiving life sciences literature.

AgNIC Home Gardening

Just in time for the 2007 gardening season, the new Home Gardening AgNIC site is ready to use. With links to the most important gardening sites from extension and business, this site will provide information to the academic audience and general public. Major sections include: vegetables; flowers; lawn and turfgrass; gardening sites by state; large gardening sites; statistics and Federal sites; associations; Extension Country agents; "Ask a Question"; and "Fun and other". Please feel free to recommend related sites so that we can evaluate them and add them if they are appropriate.

This summer we will add sections for books for "garden reading". They will focus on books to read to children, in the garden, and books that are set in garden settings. We plan to add a section on garden newsletters. Any recommendations for these sections would also be helpful.

Please visit: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/agnic/homegardening/.

Library Contacts

Responsibility for instruction, reference assistance, and the selection of books and other materials for the Life Sciences Library is divided by broad subject areas. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to request assistance or to recommend new titles for purchase. Please contact the appropriate subject specialist.

The Campus mail address for all these individuals is 408 Paterno Library.

Library Hours

Library hours, are available on the Libraries webpage:

http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/hours/uphours.html

Electronic Newsletter Subscription Information

This newsletter is available only in electronic form. If you know of anyone who is interested in receiving this newsletter, please send their name, department and e-mail address to:

  •  Kathy Fescemyer. We encourage comments, suggestions and questions!