The library now has access to Gale/Peterson’s Test & Education Reference Center. The resource includes information on colleges, universities, graduate and professional programs, distance learning, scholarships, and awards. This is an up-to-date electronic form of the information found in the many popular Peterson’s guides. Also included are test preparation guides and online practice tests for numerous standardized tests: GED; civil service and military entrance exams; licensing tests for law enforcement, real estate, the postal service, and many other fields; plus college and graduate school admissions exams. This includes the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, and PRAXIS exams. The Career Module of the resource center includes tools for help in finding careers, planning career paths, building resumes, and getting jobs. Feel free to send any comments or questions. —Derik A Badman

Temple University Libraries announce the addition of several new electronic resources, plus changes in a few familiar resources, providing enhanced and updated access to materials in core undergraduate subject disciplines.

Wilson OmniFile is a gateway database, offering integrated access to selected full-text articles and page images, plus citations and abstracts, from thousands of periodicals and journals available in these 11 H.W. Wilson specialty databases:

* Applied Science & Technology Index (formerly called Applied Science & Technology Abstracts)
* Art Index (formerly called Art Abstracts)
* Biological & Agricultural Index
* Business Index
* Education Index (formerly called Education Abstracts)
* General Science Index (formerly called General Science Abstracts)
* Humanities Index (formerly called Humanities Abstracts)
* Legal Periodicals Index
* Library Literature & Information Science
* Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature
* Social Sciences Index (formerly called Social Sciences Abstracts)

Because Wilson OmniFile is multi-disciplinary, researchers have access to information on virtually any subject, including Art, Education, Humanities, Law, Information Science, Social Sciences, Business, Biology, Agriculture, and much more. With its breadth of coverage and plentiful full-text availability, Wilson OmniFile is an excellent starting place for any project.

In addition, three other electronic resources are now also being provided by H.W. Wilson, offering a new interface and enhanced content:

* Biographies Illustrated Plus (formerly called Wilson Biographies Plus)
* Book Review Digest Plus (formerly called Book Review Digest)
* Essay and General Literature Index

Please feel free to contact a Reference Librarian by phone (215-204-8212) or online via Ask-A-Librarian for further information about these resources.

–Kristina De Voe

Temple University Libraries recently began electronic subscriptions to titles from the CQ Press. This gives the Temple community access to substantial resources on American government, politics, history, public policy, and current affairs. One of the sources of particular note is CQ Researcher, a weekly publication that focuses on a balanced presentation of one specific topic per week that follows the format of sections covering: Introduction to the issue, History of the issue, Recent events surrounding the issue, Where the issue is headed, Maps, graphs, tables, charts, Issue time line, Statements from representatives of opposing positions, Works cited, Readings for further research, Organizations concerned, and Notes on sources. It makes for an ideal starting point for forming opinions and beginning research, particularly on controversial issues and public policy. Recent topics have been: Philanthropy in America (12/08/2006)
The New Environmentalism (12/01/2006)
Privacy in Peril (11/17/2006)
Video Games (11/10/2006)
Understanding Islam (11/03/2006)
Middle East Tensions (10/27/2006)
Ecotourism (10/20/2006)
Caring for the Elderly (10/13/2006) In addition to CQ Researcher, Temple is subscribed to the titles that make up the Political Reference Suite through a common interface that is easy to navigate. The site describes these resources at:

“CQ Congress and the Nation is the signature resource for perspective and analysis of the U.S. Congress. It is the authoritative reference on Congressional trends, actions, and controversies.

CQ Historic Documents Series Online Edition collects more than 2,500 primary sources covering current events around the world from 1972 to present and provides a clear, logical organization and tools for exploring these rich resources. Comprehensive country profiles chronicling national history, government, and political parties, as well as profiles on intergovernmental organizations, development banks, and the agencies and specialized bodies of the United Nations. CQ’s Politics in America has been called “the ultimate insider’s guide to politics” and is an essential resource for readers who want authoritative information on the members of Congress. Explore the actions and opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court with clear and in-depth analysis of every decision made by the nation’s highest court since the 1989-1990 term. CQ’s Vital Statistics on American Politics is a powerful tool for researching statistical data on politics on the United States. Washington Information Directory Online Edition is the one resource you can trust to navigate the complicated web of official Washington. It’s your one-stop source for the right information.”

Feel free to contact me for further information about using these resources. –Rick Lezenby
Librarian Subject Specialist for Political Science
rlfile@temple.edu
215-204-4571

The library has just added 48 new titles to our collection of online reference works through Gale Virtual Reference Library. These full-text works are fully searchable and browsable. Each individual work is internally cross-indexed.

The titles cover a wide-range of topics from the arts to history, education, and science, and they are a valuable source for topic overviews and information when starting the research process.

The new titles are:

African American Almanac, 9th ed.
African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience
American History Through Literature 1870-1920
CDs, Super Glue, and Salsa: How Everyday Products Are Made
Dictionary of American History
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 2nd ed.
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy
Encyclopedia of American Industries, 4th ed.
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Encyclopedia of Education
Encyclopedia of European Social History
Encyclopedia of India
Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture
Encyclopedia of Modern Asia
Encyclopedia of Population
Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America
Encyclopedia of Russian History
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Encyclopedia of the Great Depression
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
Encyclopedia of World Cultures
Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement
Europe, 1450 to 1789: An Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, 2nd ed.
Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained
Governments of the World: A Global Guide to Citizens’ Rights and Responsibilities
Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia
History of the American Cinema, Volume 1
History of the American Cinema, Volume 2
History of the American Cinema, Volume 3
History of the American Cinema, Volume 4
History of the American Cinema, Volume 5
History of the American Cinema, Volume 6
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
Macmillan Encyclopedia of Energy
Major 21st-Century Writers
Major Acts of Congress
Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z
Reference Guide to Short Fiction, 2nd ed.
Reference Guide to World Literature
Science and Its Times
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
Tobacco in History and Culture: An Encyclopedia
Water: Science and Issues
West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd ed.
World Education Encyclopedia
World Press Encyclopedia
Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations

—Derik A Badman

TU Libraries is pleased to announce the addition of iPOLL Databank from The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research to its collection of databases.

A fabulous resource for the public opinion/public policy scholar, iPOLL is a dynamic, full-text database of 500,000 questions from national public opinion surveys from as far back as 1935, covering a wide array of social and political topics as well as economic issues, including the environment, presidential elections, Social Security, and immigration.

Survey sources include major U.S. survey research organizations: the Gallup Organization, The Roper Organization, Louis Harris and Associates, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, the Associated Press, and more.

Keyword, subject, organization, and date indexes are provided, allowing users to sift through questions easily. Each item includes the complete question text and the percentage of the public giving the response, in addition to study level information, such as the name of the organization(s) who conducted the poll, the dates when the poll was conducted, the polling method used, and a description of the polling sample.

Because the database focuses solely on surveys that have U.S. national adult samples – and not state or foreign samples – iPOLL complements well with the Libraries’ subscription to Polling the Nations, an online database of national, international, state, local and special survey information.

Access to iPOLL requires free registration.

Please feel free to contact me for further information about the resource.

–Kristina De Voe

Another round of new e-resources:

—Biography Resource Center: Integrates hundreds of thousands of biographies drawn from over 135 well-known Thomson Gale print sources including Contemporary Authors and over 300 full-text periodicals. Biographies of all kinds of people from history and government to the arts and sciences.

—Knovel Library: Knovel Library provides Temple with online access to over 450 titles included in the following subject collections:

-Aerospace & Radar Technology
-Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
-Civil Engineering & Construction Materials
-Electrical & Power Engineering
-Environmental Engineering
-General Engineering
-Mechanics & Mechanical Engineering
-Metals & Metallurgy
-Oil & Gas
-Semiconductors & Electronics

—(London) Times Digital Archive (1785-1985): Searchable, full-text and full-image archive of every page of the (London) Times from 1785 to 1985.

—(London) Times Literary Supplement Centennary Archive (1902-1990): “This database offers a complete facsimile edition of the Times Literary Supplement, from 1902 through 1990, contains new information on anonymous contributors that allows students and scholars to explore in greater depth the literary activity and critical opinion makers of the 20th century.

More than 250,000 reviews, letters, poems and articles in more than 5,000 issues of the Times Literary Supplement, searchable by author and/or contributor, are available here in the context in which they were originally published. Users can access any page via the online version of the published index when executing a title, author or subject search.”

—International Financial Statistics of the International Monetary Fund: Provides approximately 32,000 financial time series covering most countries in the world. The data available for each country includes data on exchange rates, international liquidity, interest rates, prices, production, national accounts and population. In many cases the data extend back to 1948.

–Derik A Badman

The 5 volume Encyclopedia of Anthropology, edited by H. James Birx and available in the Paley Reference stacks (GN11 .E63 2006), is now also available online as part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library. The Encyclopedia features “over 1000 entries that focus on topics in physical/ biological anthropology, archaeology, cultural/social anthropology, linguistics, and applied anthropology. Also included are relevant articles on geology, paleontology, biology, evolution, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and theology.” All articles conclude with a short bibliography with suggestions for further reading; many articles also include a sidebar. Articles are available as PDF files, which provide an exact reproduction of pages from the print edition, or as e-books displayed on a webpage. An eTable of Contents, an eBook Index, and a List of Illustrations are available on the main search page of the Encyclopedia. “The contributions are authored by 300 internationally renowned experts, professors, and scholars from some of the most distinguished universities, institutes and museums in the world. Special attention is given to: hominid evolution, primate behavior, genetics, ancient civilizations, cross-cultural studies, social theories, and the value of human language for symbolic communication.” All databases are listed in the A-Z database listing linked from the Temple University Libraries website. Please contact me if you have any questions. If you would like to have the Gale Virtual Reference Library / Encyclopedia of Anthropology and other social science databases demonstrated to a class, please call me at 215-204-4581 or email me to set a date for a Library User Education class. Gregory McKinney