Gale Databases – Global Outage: RESOLVED!

Access to Gale Databases has been restored. All is well.

Gale Databases – Global Outage

Several Gale databases (including Gale Virtual Reference Library, Opposing Viewpoints and Literature Resource Center) are temporarily unavailable because of a global service outage. Gale is working on resolving the issue, but has not provided an estimate of when service will be restored. Here are some suggestions of other online resources to use during this outage:

• For research in literature and language, try MLA International Bibliography http://www.usfca.edu/Library/databases/MLA_International_Bibliography/
• For encyclopedias, try Sage Knowledge http://www.usfca.edu/library/sageknowledge/
• For hot topics and viewpoints try CQ Researcher http://www.usfca.edu/Library/databases/CQ_Researcher/

Please call the Reference Desk (415.422.2039) if you’d like additional assistance.

Happy Constitution Day!

Happy Constitution Day, USF! September 17th is the 225th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Now, courtesy of The National Constitution Center, you too can become a signatory of the U.S. Constitution! Sign online at http://constitutioncenter.org/i-signed/

Here’s some Constitution Day trivia to impress your friends:

• The U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest of all the written national constitutions in the world.
• More than 11,000 amendments that have been introduced in Congress, but only 33 have gone to the states to be ratified, and only 27 have received the necessary approval from the states to actually become amendments to the Constitution.
• Of the 27 amendments that have been approved, only one has ever been repealed — the Eighteenth Amendment (Prohibition).

To get you in the spirit of Constitution Day and geared-up for the November elections (as well as fulfill your need to further procrastinate), here’s a video from The National Constitution Center on the role of the president and the executive branch in the U.S. Government: 

 

For more information about the U.S. Constitution and Constitution Day, see Gleeson Library’s online guide or contact Carol Spector, the library’s Government Information Librarian.

Public Access to NIH Funded Research at Risk

A controversial bill called the “Research Works Act” has been introduced in Congress. This bill would end the current policy (that has been in effect since 2008) that requires any research funded by the NIH be made freely available to the public via Pub Med Central one year after publication in a journal.

For reactions, see this ProPublica article and New York Times op-ed piece.

For the publishing industry’s perspective, see this statement from the Association of American Publishers.

Text of the bill is available here.

Happy Constitution Day!

The U.S. Constitution is celebrating its 224th birthday on September 17th. Check out recent books on the Constitution which are currently on display at the library. For additional information on the Constitution, see the library’s online guide.

FDLP Survey

Have you ever used government information at USF? Did you know that USF’s Gleeson Library participates in the Federal Depository Library Program? Help us evaluate how useful these resources and services are to you by completing the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HSLCRRB. Thanks in advance for your time!

New Pentagon Report on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Hot off the presses! A new report from the folks at the Pentagon, provides results of an in-depth survey of American servicemen and women regarding the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. DADT bars openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual men and women from serving in the U.S. military.

The report reveals perspectives from within the military:

When asked about the actual experience of serving in a unit with a co-worker who they believed was gay or lesbian, 92% stated that the unit’s “ability to work together” was “very good,” “good,” or “neither good nor poor.”

Based on the findings of the survey, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated that repealing the DADT policy “can be done and should be done without posing a serious risk to military readiness.”

Read the full report online: Report of the Comprehensive Review of the Issues Associated with a Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

See also the Pentagon’s DADT page for more information about the report including behind the scene details, the support plan for implementation, related videos, and reactions.

Happy Constitution Day!

(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

September 17th is the 223rd anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. Come see the display in the library and pick-up your very own pocket-size copy of the Constitution. Visit our online resource guide for a digital version of the constitution and section by section interpretation of its meaning.

USF Reading Project – Diego Rivera Mural

This year the USF Reading Project selection is a mural entitled “Man at the Crossroads,” by artist Diego Rivera. This mural was commissioned by J.D. Rockefeller for the Rockefeller Center in New York, but was destroyed before it was even completed. For the USF Reading Project the campus will use the visual reference of “Man, Controller of the Universe” — a mural which is found today at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City and is the completion of the mural that Diego Rivera began at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

On display at Gleeson Library is an image of “Man, Controller of the Universe” and a selection of books from our collection covering subject areas such as Diego Rivera and his artwork, other muralists, the Works Progress Administration,  and San Francisco murals. All the materials on display can be checked-out from the library.

For even more information on the controversy surrounding the selected Diego Rivera mural and related subjects, visit the library’s online guide.

Hot Lava!

For credible information about volcanoes and the recent eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull, visit these government websites:

USGS – U.S. Geological Survey

NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration – see also NASA’s Earth Observatory for satellite images

Brought to you by Gleeson Library’s Government Information Librarian, Carol Spector. Find out more about our government information collection by visiting our homepage.

Obama’s Brackets

Sure, health care reform is big news, but what about March Madness? Get firsthand information on the presidential picks in this ESPN interview.

Brought to you by Gleeson Library’s Government Information Librarian, Carol Spector. Find out more about our government information collection by visiting our homepage.

Hot Hearings

U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings are a great primary source for research papers. Included in hearings are:

• expert testimonies
• statistics
• first-hand accounts of current events
• political intrigue

What more could you possibly want?

Here are some examples of recent topics debated in Congressional Committee Hearings:

• Steroids in Baseball
• Medical Marijuana
• Genocide in Darfur
• Cost of War
• Immigration Reform
• Genetics & Discrimination
• Health Care Reform
• Violence in Music and on TV

Most hearings are shelved in the Government Documents Room. Check Ignacio for the exact location.  You can also access hearings online using the following resources:

• Ignacio
• GPO Access
• LexisNexis Congressional

Check out the display near the library’s entrance for examples of hearings from our collection.

For questions about finding and using congressional hearings contact Carol Spector (the Government Information Librarian) at csspector@usfca.edu.

I ♥ CRS Reports

Looking for background information on a complicated issue? Your new best friend: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. These reports are written by Library of Congress staff members and are intended to keep our members of congress up-to-date on current affairs. In the words of the CRS:

With public policy issues growing more complex and political debate turning more contentious, the need for insightful and comprehensive analysis of the issues has become vital. Congress relies on CRS to marshal interdisciplinary resources, encourage critical thinking and create innovative frameworks to help legislators form sound policies and reach decisions on a host of difficult issues.

Recent titles include:

• February 05, 2010 – Al Qaeda and Affiliates: Historical Perspective, Global Presence, and Implications for U.S. Policy
• February 01, 2010 – Campaign Finance Policy After Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: Issues and Options for Congress
• January 28, 2010 – The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases
• January 26, 2010 – Climate Change and the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS): Looking to 2020
• January 22, 2010 – Charitable Contributions for Haiti’s Earthquake Victims

While there is no central distribution point for providing public access to all CRS Reports, there are many entities that collect these reports and offer access. Here are some of the places where you can search by keyword for a CRS report on your topic:

• LexisNexis Congressional (you can limit your search in “Advanced Search” to just find CRS Reports)
• OpenCRS
• University of North Texas

For the backstory on CRS’s controversial distribution policy, see the FAQ at OpenCRS.

Find out more about Gleeson Library’s government information collection by visiting our homepage or contacting Carol Spector (the Government Information Librarian) at csspector@usfca.edu.

Emergency Access Initiative

In response to the earthquake in Haiti, the Emergency Access Initiative (EAI) is providing free online access to full text articles from major biomedicine journals and reference books. This service is available to healthcare professionals, librarians, and members of the public in the United States who have been affected by the disaster. If you know anyone who is working on relief efforts in Haiti, please let them know about this valuable resource.

The EAI is a partnership of the National Library of Medicine, the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and the Professional/Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers.

For more information about the EAI, see their FAQ.

For more information about Gleeson Library’s government information collection, please visit our homepage or contact Carol Spector.

The Geography of a Thanksgiving Meal

Where does your Thanksgiving dinner come from?

Linda Zellmer, Government Information and Data Services Librarian at Western Illinois University, has used data from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 Census of Agriculture to develop a set of maps showing where the foods consumed at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner (e.g., turkey, cranberries, squash, and green beans) are grown. Amaze your Thanksgiving guests with answers to such questions as which state produces the most cranberries or which state has the fewest turkeys.

Or perhaps you want to have a locally grown Thanksgiving? For information about local foods, see Gleeson Library’s Sustainable Food guides.

Find out more about Gleeson Library’s government information collection by visiting our homepage or contacting Carol Spector (the Government Information Librarian) at csspector@usfca.edu.

Happy Thanksgiving!