New Database---EBSCO Images

EBSCO Images, an interface for searching images contained in multiple EBSCOHost databases, has now been added to our database listings on the Tarver and Regional Academic Center web sites. EBSCO Images is also available through the GALILEO interface.

"EBSCO Images consists of over 100,000 images from Academic Search Premier, Academic Search Elite, MasterFILE Premier and Middle Search Plus, in the following categories:

• 70,000+ photos
• 30,000+ images from Canadian Press
• 1,200+ maps from MapQuest
• 500+ photos from public domain sources

The images consist of a wide array of photos and maps, with an emphasis on world news and events. Other areas of coverage include contemporary and historical photos of people, places and the natural kingdom.

Results can be filtered by various categories including:

• Photos of people
• Natural science photos
• Photos of places
• Historical photos
• Maps
• Flags"

February is African American History month

Check out this cool web site from the Library of Congress, with numerous exhibits highlighted on African American History, including one featuring a local Georgia college.

Who are some heroes of yours? One of mine is, Dr. Charles Drew, who developed improved techniques for separating and storing blood. Share some of yours with us.

Do you have any favorite websites to share? Let us know!

Georgia Official and Statistical Register

A new database, the Georgia Official and Statistical Register, has been added to Tarver Library's database listing.

"The Georgia Official and Statistical Register was published from 1923-1990 by the Georgia Archives. Considered an important reference work for historical research, the Register covers Georgia's executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, providing biographical sketches of elected and other state officials. Georgia members of U.S. Congress and federal judges are included, as are county officials and regents of the university system. The Register contains election returns, provides basic reference data on Georgia counties, and covers Georgia miscellany, such as the state flag, state flower, state song, rosters of Georgia governors, and legal holidays."

Please pardon...

Please pardon our construction on the blog. You may see posts appear and disappear over the next few days as we test out new features to better communicate with you. Thanks!

The Chinese New Year is today!

Today, February 7, is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important festival in the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese year 4706 begins on February 7, 2008, the Year of the Rat. The Rat is the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, and it begins a new 12-year-cycle. The rat symbolizes speed, hard work, and change.

“Kung Hei Fat Choy” is a greeting and means “wishing you luck and prosperity.”

Take a look at this site for more information on how the Chinese New Year is determined.

Take a look at a few of the resources that we have in the library:
Lion dancer : Ernie Wan's Chinese New Year/ by Kate Waters and Madeline Slovenz-Low ; photographs by Martha Cooper

China A to Z : Everything you need to know to understand Chinese customs and culture

Red Brush

The art of Chinese calligraphy

If you're celebrating the Chinese New Year, please leave comments below to let us know how you plan to celebrate the holiday.

Check out our new feature!

Don't have an RSS Reader or aren't familiar with what RSS is? Do you still want to keep up with our blog? Well now there's a simple way to do so! You can sign up to have posts delivered by e-mail!

Over on the right is a box to that says "subscribe by e-mail." Enter in your e-mail address, press submit, and make sure you go to the activation account sent to your e-mail....and then you're ready to go!

If you want to know more about what RSS is drop us a line or come on over to the reference desk. We're more than happy to help you.

Did you know?

Do you know how Interlibrary Loan (ILL) works?

This post will give you a brief play by play on what happens and how it works

Here's what you, the user does:

• You find a citation.
• Check the citation in the library catalog to see if we subscribe to it in print or check Online Journals to see if we have it in another database.
• If not, you head to the ILL page (or use the prepopulated ILL forms in the EBSCO or Wilson databases) to make your request.
  
• That's it for you! What you've done is found the citation, checked the library catalog, and checked online journals. You then made your request with the citation information and your information.
  

What happens next:

• Interlibrary Loan staff receive and review your request. We make sure that we have all of the information that we need to process your request.
• Our ILL staff then check to see who has the book or article and are they in one of the groups that we belong too. Why can't we just get it from a library that you found that has it? Well we may not belong to the same group or they don't have that exact issue. Or they want to charge us too much money. Why is this important? Because we don't want to have to pass on the cost of ILL onto you.
  
• We then choose a grouping of libraries that has the material that you requested.
  
• Then its up to these libraries that we've asked to borrow from. That's why it takes a while for your books and articles to come. We have to wait just like you for the materials to arrive. We have no control over the time it takes a lending library to get us the articles or books.
  
• Once we receive your item(s) we will notify you that it is ready for pickup.

That's the basics of how ILL works. If you have any questions during these steps make sure to get in touch with one of the reference librarians.