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.

New! Text A Librarian

Quick, save this number in your phone or scan this QR code!

Start your text with the word: gleeson

Example:
gleeson  What are the library hours on saturday?
(after your first message to us, you don’t have to use the word gleeson any more).

Give it a shot and send us a text—we would love to hear from you!

More info, including other ways to contact us, can be found on the Ask A Librarian Web page.

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.

ScienceDirect Maintenance Sept 10

ScienceDirect is expected to be offline and unavailable for approximately 11 hours on Saturday, September 10.

Down time is expected to be 4:30 AM – 3:30 PM

In relation to the planned work, SciVerse ScienceDirect alerts will be suspended for two weeks, September 9-23. Subscribers will receive their outstanding alerts when we resume processing.

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.

Government Documents: Africa and the State Department

The U.S. State Department and Africa

The United States Department of State (often referred to as the State Department) is the federal executive department responsible for international relations.

The State Department has a blog called, Dipnote where you can read blog entries from State Department officials about their work and international travels.  “Dipnote” refers to a diplomatic note, which is one of the ways with which governments formally communicate with one another.

A recent blog entry from Dipnote featured the winner of Apps 4 Africa, a technology competition inviting entrepreneurs to build tools to serve the needs of local Non-Governmental Organizations and communities in Africa. The winning application, iCow, lets farmers manage the breeding periods of their cows and monitor their cow’s nutrition.

Watch a video on the Dipnote blog of Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, sharing the winners.

 

Gleeson’s Government Documents collection also has several documents about the State Department and Foreign Aid to Africa.  Below are some links to recent documents in the collection:

*Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs appropriations bill

*U.S. assistance to Africa: a call for foreign aid reform

Documents from the HELP Committee

The U.S. HELP Committee

Gleeson’s Government Documents collection has a number of interesting documents from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that goes by the easy-to-remember-acronym, HELP.  The committee presides over the country’s health care, education, employment and retirement policies.

The HELP Committee Reports Affordable Health Choices Act to the Senate.

Here are some examples of HELP documents in the collection:

*If you interested in the health care reform debate, you might start with Principles of integrative health: a path to healthcare reform and move on to Addressing underinsurance in national health reform. The government also recently published a helpful factsheet on the Affordable Care Act.

* Are you interested in Cancer research? Check out the HELP committee’s Cancer: challenges and opportunities in the 21st century, available in print and online.

*Finally, if you followed the recent dramatic story of the 33 miners who were trapped for over 2 months and rescued from a collapsed mine in Chile or the tragic mine explosion in West Virginia, take a look at the HELP Hearing, Two years after the Miner Act: How safe is mining today?, which discusses the 2006 Miner Act to improve health and safety in American mines.

Government Printing Office Comic Book

The Government Printing Office Publishes Its First Comic Book

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) recently published the agency’s first comic book, Squeaks Discovers Type, as part of the agency’s 150^th anniversary. GPO employees created the comic book as a teaching tool for children to illustrate the important role of printing throughout history.

What is the GPO?

The GPO prints documents produced by and for the federal government and is basically charged with making government information from the 3 branches available to the American Public.  GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) is a digital system still in development that provides free online access to government documents.

Watch a video or read about GPO history in Gleeson’s catalog.

You can also check out the GPO blog, Government Book Talk, which features favorite  publications from the Federal Government.

UFOs and Government Documents

In honor of Halloween, take a look at some of Gleeson’s more unusual, “spooky” government documents.

In addition to the pamphlet pictured here, in which the United States Air Force put together Aids to Identification of Flying Objects, Gleeson Government Documents Print Collection also has materials on the Roswell Report.   This document concerns a series of mysterious incidents in Roswell New Mexico in the Summer of 1947.   Several people reported sighting unidentified flying objects and the alleged debris of extra-terrestrial beings.  After the military claimed the debris was from a high-altitude surveillance balloon from a top-secret project and closed the case with its report, many people claimed it was just a government cover-up.   What do you think?  Take a closer look at the documents for more details!

Climate Change and Proposition 23

On October 10^th, 188 countries participated in over 7000 climate action events for the Global Work Party, ranging from local garden plantings to solar panel installations.

Global Warming is also a critical issue in the upcoming November 2^nd elections in California with Proposition 23, which proposes suspending certain clean air laws until unemployment drops in the state. The California Government website has a climate change portal where you can read more about California’s climate impact and legislation.

Would you like more information on ways the federal government is involved? Gleeson’s Government Documents collection has documentation from the U.N. climate change conference as well as several interesting hearings from the Committee on Natural Resources:

• Climate change legislation
• The role of federal lands in combating climate change
• Greenhouse gas trading program

Reference Books of the Week

The rights that are derived from the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights have come about through popular activism, war, and jurisprudence. As we are in the midst of election season, it is important to consider the origins of our rights as embodied in the Constitution, especially when we go to the polls to cast our votes for the leaders who we feel will best uphold the values that define our society.

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution, edited by Leonard W. Levy and Kenneth L. Karst

This six-volume set contains entries on all matters relating to the United States Constitution, including profiles of key figures who influenced the interpretation of the Constitution (Charles Austin Beard), key interpretations that defined the role and powers of the Federal Government (American Insurance Company v. Canter), and issues that while they may not have anticipated in the Constitution as written, still rely on Constitutional interpretation (Abortion and the Constitution). This is a valuable reference for all who wish to see how the Constitution has been applied to key issues and cases throughout American history, as well as learn about the people who were instrumental in shaping interpretations that affect our daily lives.

GLEESON REFERENCE: KF4548 .E53 2000

Constitutional Rights Sourcebook by Peter G. Renstrom

This volume is a concise compendium of information about rights contained in the United States Constitution, as well as the origins of these rights through interpretations of specific Constitutional amendments. The book is divided into sections that contain information about the relationship between the Constitution and the Supreme Court, sections on several of the amendments that have been key sources for interpretations of civil rights including entries on the rights interpretations that have been influenced by these amendments, and a section of legal words and phrases that are important for understanding civil rights. The book also contains appendices containing the full text of the Constitution, lists of all the Supreme Court justices through 1999, and the compositions of each Supreme Court from 1900-1999 organized by Chief Justice. This is an excellent guide for those who want to find information about civil rights law, interpretations and their origins.

GLEESON REFERENCE: KF4550 .Z9 R463 1999

Encyclopedia of American civil liberties. Paul Finkelman, editor

This three-volume encyclopedia contains information on all aspects of civil liberties in the United States, as they have come to be understood through interpretations of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Entries include biographical information on men and women, both jurists and lay people, who had an influence on our understanding of civil rights (Learned Hand). The encyclopedia also contains information on issues that we grapple with on a daily basis, such as hate speech and related laws, and theories that influence how courts come to the decisions that influence our civil liberties. This reference is invaluable, as in a free and open society, it is important not only to to study the issues where questions of civil liberty come into play, but to know how these decisions and interpretations that affect us every day first came into being.

GLEESON REFERENCE: KF4747.5 .E53 2006

BP Oil Spill Reports

The Committee on Energy and Commerce has held 9 hearings into the chain of events that caused the BP oil spill disaster and it’s impacts on the Gulf Coast.

Read Chairman Waxman’s Statement on the BP Oil Spill Report.

Full text of the most recent hearings are available on the Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment web page.    As a legislative response, the Committee also crafted the Blowout Prevention Act of 2010 to establish new federal regulatory requirements to prevent future spills from oil and gas wells as well as proposed amendments to the House of Representatives’  Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) act.

Find full text of the original CLEAR act as well as the amended act in Gleeson’s Government Documents collection:

H.R. 3534, “the Consolidated Land, Energy, and Aquatic Resources Act of 2009″ (parts 1 and 2)

Proposed amendments to H.R. 3534 to provide greater efficiencies, transparency, returns, and accountability.

The Energy and Commerce Committee also has a Youtube account if you would like to see video of the hearings.

Reference Books of the Week

The desire to recapture and remember lost episodes from history is not limited to our current time, but has been present in times past.  Below are some fascinating reference works containing information about days gone by.  It is important that we have these works and that they be preserved to help us remember who we are and where we came from. All of the books listed below are located adjacent to the Reference Desk on the first floor of Gleeson/Geschke.

The Book Of Days: A Miscellany Of Popular Antiquities In Connection With The

Calendar. Robert Chambers, editor.

This two-volume set from 1869 provides a fascinating look at historical dates and festivals compiled according to the dates of the calendar. A random example is this entry for January 29:

“George III: The death of George III. on this day in the year 1820, was an event of no political consequence, as for ten years he had been secluded under mental eclipse.”

This set is filled with much similar ephemera and lore, much of which has been forgotten today.  Indeed, one of the purposes of this book was

“…while not discouraging the progressive spirit of the age, to temper it with affectionate feelings towards what is poetical and elevated, honest and of good report, in the old national life…”

Even in the Industrial Revolution in mid-19th Century England, there was a desire to preserve some memories of a bygone era.

GLEESON REFERENCE   -   D11.5 .C44

Haydn’s Dictionary Of Dates And Universal Information Relating To All Ages And Nations, by the Late Benjamin Vincent. 24th ed., Containing The History Of The World To The Summer Of 1906

This is another collection of facts and information, published in London in 1906.  This volume is presented strictly in alphabetical order, with pertinent dates listed under each subject entry.  An example:

“POOR. The poor of England, till the time of Henry VIII., subsisted as the poor of Ireland until 1838, entirely upon private benevolence.  By statute 23 Edw. III. 1349, it was enacted that none should give alms to a beggar able to work.”

Again, this compendium shows the kind of information and facts that was considered to be important among learned Englishmen at the turn of the last century.

GLEESON REFERENCE:     D9 .H45 1906

Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Joseph R. Strayer, editor in chief

This 14-volume dictionary provides a comprehensive set of definitions for terms relating to Medieval literature, art, culture and politics, and key figures.  For example, one can find the following entry:

“ARNULF (ca. 850-899), emperor of illegitimate though royal lineage, deposed Charles the Fat and succeeded him as king of the East Franks in 887.”

This dictionary is highly recommened as an essential reference work for any one who needs to find information on the Middle Ages.

GLEESON REFERENCE:     D114 .D5 1982

“I would like to thank, Mr. Chairman, your avatar for holding this hearing.”

Do you think avatars and Second Life virtual worlds are only for geeky teen boys playing World of War Craft?   Well, think again!  The U.S. House of Representatives got in on the action in 2008 when the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the Committee on Energy and Commerce met in Second Life to discuss virtual applications in government.  We have the full document of the hearing in our Government Documents collection.  Each representative had his/her own avatar as they “met” to discuss topics ranging from global commerce to virtual terrorism.

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:

“I would like to thank, Mr. Chairman, your avatar for holding this hearing. I actually suspect that the real reason we are here is so that you can get some pointers on how to get past the seventh level of the World of Warcraft, but I do think you need to know that chairing this hearing is only worth two experience points.”

Find the full text of the hearing in print and online by clicking on this link:

Online virtual worlds : applications and avatars in a user-generated medium

The Committee on Energy and Commerce is a committee of the United States House of Representatives.  Established in 1795 it is one of the oldest house committees in the United States.  So, what do they do? The short explanation is that the committee deals with issues related to commerce and public health.  Recent examples of issues include the egg recall and the BP oil spill disaster.