New Database: MEDLINE with Full Text

For medical research, no database can match the depth and scope of MEDLINE, the index created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). "Approximately 5,200 journals published in the United States and more than 80 other countries have been selected and are currently indexed for MEDLINE. A distinctive feature of MEDLINE is that the records are indexed with NLM's controlled vocabulary, the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)."

Although some people prefer the immediacy and platform design of the NLM's related free database, PubMed, MEDLINE is the formal database that most libraries offer for biomedical research. (For more of the difference between PubMed and MEDLINE, see this NLM webpage.) Since MEDLINE is only an indexing and abstracting service, Sawyer Library has recently added a new version that enhances and expands the full-text journal component of this valuable resource. Our new database is called MEDLINE with Full Text.

EBSCOhost, the producer (and our most familiar provider of databases) says "MEDLINE with Full Text provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. MEDLINE with Full Text is also the world's most comprehensive source of full text for medical journals, providing full text for more than 1,450 journals indexed in MEDLINE. Of those, more than 1,430 have cover-to-cover indexing in MEDLINE, and of those, 553 are not found with full text in any version of Academic Search" or our other EBSCOhost electronic resources. (If you'd like to see the journal list, Ebsco has posted a PDF of it here.)

When you access the database, you will notice that although it looks somewhat like the familiar EBSCOhost interface, the search screen offers many more options. The opening field box allows you to search for everything from a GS (Gene Symbol) to an MJ (Word in a Major Subject Heading). And the limiting options below allow you to filter for human/animal study, gender, age, journal subject subset, and several other factors. When you get too many results, utilizing these variables can help you focus and search. However, doing a simple keyword combination also works. And once you do this, you can always further limit by clicking the most appropriate "Subject: Major Heading" in the left frame of your results page.

You can also limit to Full Text in the right frame, but this can be inadvisable, because although Ebsco may not have the rights to the full text, you may still be able to link to the article using our Serial Solutions 360 or custom links to other databases like Oxford Journals, SpringerLink or Wiley Interscience or the link to the library online catalog.

For those looking for a less technical approach to medical research for personal use, or for a basic English 101 paper or the like, our Health and Wellness Resource Center (another recent addition) might be a better choice. It includes many basic medical encyclopedias and dictionaries, as well as magazines and journals. Other useful Sawyer Library databases for medical research are Health Reference Center-Academic and HighWire.

We hope that you will make use of MEDLINE with Full Text the next time you are researching a medically-related topic.

[FIND MEDLINE with Full Text on our "Databases by Subject" List on the second column of our "Sciences" page. ]

Notable E-book: American Ethnic Writers

It's always been easy enough to research well-established literary writers of the the type I generally refer to as "Dead White Guys." Esteemed writers like William Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne and John Milton have been read and studied by English students for a hundred years or more. Scores of scholarly treatises have been written about their lives and work. So, if you do a bit of research in any of our literature databases, you will find materials on the symbolism of "The Minister's Black Veil" without undo effort.

But in the last thirty years, the editors of literary anthologies and many college professors have tried to widen the spectrum of authors that students read. They have rediscovered "lost" women writers like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and looked to contemporary writers of every race and ethnicity to expand our experience of literature.

The problem is that it takes a long period of time for a body of literary criticism to develop around a particular author. And sometimes it is still hard to find even a short overview of a contemporary "minority" author who might appear in a textbook anthology.

One three volume set, published by Magill/Salem Press, and available on our GVRL platform, helps fill the gap. It is American Ethnic Writers, Revised Edition, published earlier this year. As the editors claim: "This edition of American Ethnic Writers covers not only the core writers and the classics of African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, Jewish American, and Native American novels, short stories, plays, and poetry—but many recent voices as well." They continue that "all major American minority cultures are covered: African American, Asian American, Jewish American, Hispanic/Latino, Native American; the set also includes 94 women. The authors represented here are identified with one or more of the following ethnicities: African American (103), Caribbean (5), Chilean American (1), Chinese American (14), Cuban American (7), Dominican American (1), Filipino American (4), Japanese American (7), Jewish American (31), Korean American (1), Mexican American (24), Native American (20), Peruvian American (2), Puerto Rican (12), South and Southeast Asian American (6), Spanish American (1), and Vietnamese American (1)."

So, yes, you will find Sandra Cisneros and Gish Jen profiled here. And, clearly an attempt has been made to represent many forms of diversity beyond obvious racial/ethnic heritage, too. Gay authors like Harvey Fierstein and radical feminist writers like Andrea Dworkin can be found here. (Both are conveniently identified as "Jewish.") But even writers who are simply multicultural in their approach to literature and life are included, like the "Euro-American" Barbara Kingsolver.

To use the book, just click on the link in our online catalog entry. You can then either plug the name of the author you want into the "Search....within this publication" box to the left. Or you can browse authors using the "eTable of Contents" link in the middle of the opening page. The entries are clearly written, but brief. A good starting point for your interest and research. But don't forget to explore those previously mentioned literature databases to (hopefully) find more materials in the journal and reference book literature. And keep in mind that your author might be profiled in some other ebooks in our GVRL collection, as well.

New Database: Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center

Sawyer Library recently added a new database via the Boston Region contract that will be a helpful tool for anyone researching contemporary "hot button" social issues, with an eye towards a balanced, both-sides approach to coverage.

Called Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, it is, according to the publisher Gale/Cengage, "a full-text resource covering today’s hottest social issues, from Terrorism to Endangered Species, Stem Cell Research to Gun Control. Drawing on acclaimed series published by Greenhaven Press and other Gale imprints, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center brings together all the information that’s needed to fully understand an issue: pro and con viewpoint articles, reference articles that provide context, full-text magazines, academic journals, and newspapers, primary source documents, government and organizational statistics, multimedia, including images and podcasts, links to hand-selected web sites, and more."

The database is very user-friendly. When you go to the opening screen you will notice that there is a long, two-column list of some of the most "popular" topics. But you can also do your own basic search using the box on the left.

Let's say that even though I see "Animal Rights" listed in the hot topics, I decide to look for materials that speak directly to vegetarianism. If I do a basic search for that

The default tab is the "Viewpoints" section that presents arguments about the topic, like the entry "Human Consumption of Animals is Immoral" from a 1999 Opposing Viewpoint Digest. More up-to-date materials are also available, like an item entitled "A Vegan Lifestyle Is Necessary to Stop the Mistreatment of Animals" by Bruce Friedrich, from Current Controversies: Rights of Animals, 2009.

And note those other colorful tabs above the results that lead to materials like "Reference Books," "Academic Journals" and "Statistics." For different topics you will find more or less material of various levels of usefulness at these other tabs.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center is just another tool for those interested in a pro-con debate-oriented presentation of social topics. CQ Researcher is another excellent source for both sides to key social issues. And a periodical available through Academic Search Complete, called Congressional Digest, is another very useful pro-con resource.

For more on Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, you can take a look at some materials prepared by the publisher: An Overview Factsheet PDF, A Search Tips Guide, and A PowerPoint Demonstration of database use.

[FIND Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center on our "Databases by Subject" List on the second column of our "Social Sciences" list. ]

Meebo Instant Messaging

What is Meebo?

While reading the Mildred F. Sawyer Library Blog, you may have noticed the box on the right side of the page that reads “SawLib.LiveHelp." The Reference staff is now offering a means for the Suffolk University community to ask a question using Meebo, which is an instant messaging system. Simply go to the library blog page and type a question. You are automatically signed-in to Meeboquest. When you send us a message, we will try to answer immediately. In addition to our telephone and email services, Meebo is another way for our patrons to obtain reference service.

If Librarians are not currently available...

If reference librarians are not available, the Meebo box will read "Away,"
"e-mail us instead." In this case, please email your question to sawlib@suffolk.edu or call 617-573-8532. Occasionally Meebo accidently logs us out, and the message in Meebo box reads,"leave a message." The Meebo system does not, however, actually leave us messages, therefore it is important to use email or phone as your alternative means of reaching us.

What kind of questions may I ask?

We will attempt to answer all of your questions about library resources and
services. Any question you might ask at the Reference Desk is appropriate.
In order to answer your questions fully, you may be asked to email the
librarian or to schedule a research consultation.

[FIND Meebo on the Mildred F. Sawyer Blog Page]

New Database: Global Issues in Context

More and more databases are taking a specific (yet often very ambitious) approach to research these days. One that Sawyer Library has recently acquired through the BRLS regional contract is Global Issues in Context (GIC). This high-concept resource gives students country and regional information. But it goes beyond simple facts and figures. It tries to explore major issues--be they social, political, medical or environmental--and present them as challenges faced by nations around the world. Gale/Cengage sums up the product this way: "Global Issues in Context empowers users with the tools they need to understand today’s world issues from a global perspective."

It's a lofty goal. And makes for an interesting database to explore. Content includes 400 full-text English-language news sources, magazines and academic journals, such as The London Times, New African, Al Jazeera, Moscow Times and the BBC; more than 250 issue pages with topic overviews and global perspectives, reference and primary source documents, statistics, periodicals, web sites, and multimedia; and 193 country pods that feature in-depth cultural information, statistics, maps, flags, and encyclopedia articles.

There are various browse features from the product home page. And there are indications of new content recently added. If you know an issue and country you want to explore, you can certainly just use the Basic Search box in the upper right. For example, when I did a search for AIDS and South Africa, I got relevant editorials from the New York Times, news articles from AIDS Weekly, and to the right was offered appropriate video news stories from PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer. In the left frame, I was offered a variety of document types, so I could choose to look specifically at a "Topic Overview" or a "Country Overview" if I liked. In short, many material options are offered. And the overview articles--like "South Africa's Struggle with AIDS" from History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide--often come from reference books published by Gale and their publishing partners.

If you want to start simply, click on the "Browse Issues and Topics" tab on the opening screen. Then you can either click through the eight issue categories, or choose the other tab on that page to "Browse Regions." If I choose this option, click on Europe, then Southern Europe, I can then either pick a country (like Greece) or a topic (like "Cyprus Conflict" or "European Union Expansion") to delve into.

Interestingly, Gale/Cengage says that this database serves "a wide variety of subject areas, including sociology, current events, civics, politics, science, economics, cultural/religious studies, women’s studies [and] human rights." I would say that, here at Suffolk, this database would be of special interest to government/international relations students. But it might be even more useful for SBS students in their globalization course who are trying to understand the social dynamics of potential business markets.

Although neither exhaustive nor especially "scholarly," GIC definitely provides a useful grounding in the issues we face in our increasingly complex and interconnected world.

For further information, here is a quick PDF from Gale, and a link to a stored webinar.

[FIND Global Issues in Context on our "Databases by Subject" Lists for "Business and Management" and for the "Social Sciences".]

New Database: LitFinder

By way of a new Boston Region (BRLS) contract, Sawyer Library is happy to add several new databases. One that will come in handy for literature researchers is LitFinder, a Gale InfoTrac database that indexes and reproduces literary "primary sources." That is, LitFinder is a database that provides "access to more than 135,000 full-text poems, stories, plays and more."

Although we have many databases that provide descriptive and critical materials about works of literature--see, for example, the many listed on our Literature, Arts and Humanities database list--this is the first one that actually gives you the literary works themselves.

Let's say I'd like to find a few of the poems that Emily Dickinson wrote about death and dying. I might go to LitFinder and do a simple search for Emily Dickinson and Death in the search box.


The initial results page will list eight "Topic & Work Overviews." These are short descriptive and critical entries. They give some background on a particular poem and may quote a few lines from a major literary scholar about what the poem is about or why it works or doesn't. At the bottom of one of these Work Overview pages, you will often link to a reproduction of the poem itself.

But if it's the poetry you want. Look at the tabs above the initial results and click, instead, on the one for "Primary Sources & Literary Works." Here you will find citations (and, in most cases full-text) to many of Dickinson's works that mention death. (And there are lots!)

The text will be presented in most cases. And it you look at the top of the entry, there is even a an icon and link for a ReadSpeaker function


that will read aloud (albeit in a slightly robotic voice) the text of the work.

Regarding the availability of full-text sources: Keep in mind that works in the "public domain" (that is, where copyright has expired) are more likely to be reproduced in LitFinder than contemporary works. For more modern writers, you may find, at best, only a citation to a story or poem in an anthology. You would then have to check our online catalog to see if we actually own the book being referred to. If I search, for example, for Jhumpa Lahiri, I get only a short biographical note and absolutely no citations or reproductions to her works. However, if I want Susan Glaspell's 1917 short story, "A Jury of Her Peers," I will find it reproduced here.

So, although this database can be very useful in finding works from authors from the World War I period or earlier, it will not be particularly useful for late 20th or early 21st century authors.

If you'd like more information on this database, Gale has created a Search Tips Word Document, as well as a Guided Tour in PowerPoint Slides.

[FIND LitFinder on our "Databases by Subject" List on the second column of our "Literature, Arts and Humanities" list.]

Database Alert: GMID Requires Individual Login

8/28/09 UPDATE: I am VERY happy to say that Euromonitor has reconsidered their actions for academic clients. You will no longer HAVE to set up a personal login to use GMID on campus or through our proxy server off-campus. If you wish to set up the account, you may.

The company claims that "personalizing" will provide added functionality, which includes the option to

Create your own customised email alert: By selecting the categories and geographies you are interested in, you will receive an e-alert keeping you up to date with the latest developments.

Sign up to our RSS News feed: Receive timely updates on new content viewable via iGoogle, Outlook etc. from your customised content.

Create a My Home Page: View all your customised content in one place, along with your latest saved searches.

Create Saved Research: Save your research and queries if you are in a hurry and need to access them later or to share with your colleagues.

If you wish to create an account, look for the below graphic
On the GMID (after the license agreement) frontpage.

Meanwhile, I congratulate the company for their decision. And this librarian considers it one small victory for "intellectual freedom."

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A few users have been concerned and confused when they've tried to access Euromonitor's Global Market Information Database (GMID) through the Sawyer Library links recently. Unfortunately, in an obstructionist Big Brother move, the company now requires (even on an educational account) that each individual user must have their own account to use the database. Therefore, if you try to access the database you will likely first see a screen like this:

Look for the orange link in the bottom left that instructs that "New Users Register Here." You will then be directed to a page that looks like this:

Most of the registration is straight-forward. The form wants a salutation (Ms. Mr., etc), Name, Course, Department as well as location information like City, Country, and Region. Although it's more than a little odd to set your region AFTER you've entered your country, as there is no USA in Australasia, or any other region than North America, as far as I know. (But maybe that field in the form is a geography quiz.)

Unfortunately, Telephone is a required field, but it is outrageous that an information vendor that Sawyer Library contracts with should have your personal phone, so be creative, or use the general Suffolk switchboard number, which is 617-573-8000.

Other aspects of the instructions to the left are either unclear or incorrect, as well. It says, for example, to use your "business email address only" when registering. However, if you work for a company--as many of our students do--you should, in fact, NOT use your work email. You must use your SUFFOLK email to register, as Euromonitor wants to link the individual user to the subscription provider. The text also says that "if you click remember my details the next time you log in, you will not need to enter your email address and password again." Although this will work on your personal computer, it will not work if you do your research in the library as our machines wipe out cookies and other clutter every time they reboot. This means that although you will not have to do the full registration a second time, you will have to login (in the blue circle, with your Suffolk email and password) every time you enter the database again. So, remember your password and/or keep the email that Euromonitor will send you acknowledging your registration.

We apologize for the extra bureaucracy related to this useful marketing and demographic database, but this regrettable policy was set by the publisher and not by Sawyer Library.