Jan 29, 2009

Friendly US Government contracts database

USAspending.gov is a new web site that houses a database of US Government contract to private businesses. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award:
  1. the name of the entity receiving the award;
  2. the amount of the award;
  3. information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
  4. the location of the entity receiving the award;
  5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.
Select Contracts to perform a search. Export the data in .csv or .xml.

Isn't more transparency good?

Jan 28, 2009

2009 Horizon Report - Education & Technology

The annual Horizon Report is a collaborative effort between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). Each year, the report identifies and describes six areas of emerging technology likely to have a significant impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression in higher education within three adoption horizons: a year or less, two to three years, and four to five years.

The areas of emerging technology cited for 2009 are:
  • Mobiles (i.e., mobile devices)
  • Cloud computing
  • Geo-everything (i.e., geo-tagging)
  • The personal web
  • Semantic-aware applications
  • Smart objects

Jan 26, 2009

European Culture online

Europeana is a "virtual European library, aiming to make Europe's cultural and scientific resources accessible for all. It will build on Europe's rich heritage, combining multicultural and multilingual environments with technological advances and new business models." It currently has 2 million items and plans to have 10 million by the end of 2009.

The database includes records from the major European libraries and museums. You will find digitized versions of original works (books, art, sheet music, audio, and more). For example, Mozart's sheet music, Da Vinci's works, photos from North Pole expeditions, etc. Most records directly link you to the item's home museum or library web site.

Jan 22, 2009

Great tool for citing works and formatting papers

How would you like a tool that automatically formats your citations and your paper as you write it? EndNote Web is such a tool. This web-based tool is a place to collect citations from articles, books, magazine, etc. and make personal notes. You may take this collection and export a bibliography in your prefered citation style (e.g. MLA, APA, CBE, Chicago).

The MS Word plugin, Cite While You Write, will format your paper as you write. Login to EndNote Web, select your preferred citation style, and start writing. When you need to cite a work, select it from your EndNote Web library and the work is cited in-text and place automatically in the bibliography. If you need to change the style, you do not need to rewrite the paper, just pick the new style and the paper and bibliography will be reformatted automatically. This plugin is already loaded on the computers on the first floor of the library.

MORE information on the library citation page.

Jan 16, 2009

IM or Text a Librarian

Students now may ask a Librarian questions via instant message or text. Below are the library's IM screen names for each major service. Plus, on the library's contact page is a Meebo box. You may input your question directly into the box (no need to open any IM program). Texting instruction are also provided. The librarians are on at variable times.

Add our screen name(s) to your buddy list.
  • MSN - nsu_librarian@hotmail.com
  • AOL - nsulibrarian
  • Yahoo - nsu_librarian
  • GTalk/Jabber- nsulibrarian@gmail.com

Jan 15, 2009

Finding Stats in Lexis-Nexis Statistical DataSets

Lexis-Nexis has repackaged its statistical database into a more functional tool, LN Statistical DataSets. If you are looking for statistics, start here. The interface is easy to use and interactive. You may select multiple data points based on criteria (year, location, etc). You may browse the contents of the collection, select subjects and variable of interest, and view your data in side-by-side tables and charts. Plus, you can download the data and charts into multiple formats/programs (Excel, .cvs, SAS, PDF, etc).

NOTE: Lexis-Nexis Statistical DataSets demo

Jan 14, 2009

Citation tool in Facebook

OCLC WorldCat has created CiteMe and WorldCat, a Facebook Applications. The CiteMe app is useful for citing physical items (books, videos, etc.) only. Select the CiteMe application from your apps list and search for the book title you want to cite. Once you find the book you want to cite, select the citation style (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago or Turabian). The WorldCat app does the same thing, but provides a bit more information about the title. For citing via the WorldCat app, select Format a Citation once you found the item you want to cite. The app is a lite version of WorldCat, which provides citation, library location and other information about each title.

Note: Always manually check the citation after using any automated citation tool. Facebook also has an article citation app, but it is not very good.

Jan 1, 2009

New books in the LIbrary

This spreadsheet lists the new books in the Williams Library. The spreadsheet is arranged by subject (select a subject area at the top of the page). The spreadsheet will be updated monthly. The books are located in the New Book collection, which is in the round room. You may also subscribe to the individual subject pages via RSS, which will automatically inform you of any updates/changes to the subject page.

NOTE: Video demo on RSS in Plain English by Common Craft