Fogler Library, University of Maine - Library newsletter for faculty

FOGLER LIBRARY NEWS SERVICE
Publicizing events, collections, acquisitions and services at UMaine's library
-- Wednesday, March 25, 2009--

SUMMARY
1.   Events
      A. Fourth Annual Earth Day Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Edith Marion Patch
2. Databases
     A. Journal Citation Reports from Thomson Reuters

3. Collections
     A. New in Reference
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1.   EVENTS
A   FOURTH ANNUAL EARTH DAY CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF DR. EDITH MARION PATCH
   A Celebration of the Life and Legacy of Dr. Edith Marion Patch will be held Sunday, April 19, 2009 from 3 - 5 p.m. in the Thomas Lynch University Club, Fogler Library.
   This year the Edith Patch Awards will be presented in recognition of the work of two outstanding undergraduate and graduate women who are carrying on Dr. Patch’s legacy of commitment to science, agriculture, engineering, or environmental education. Join us for poster sessions and presentations featuring the work of the University of Maine’s next generation of women in science while enjoying a selection of hearty appetizers and light fare prepared by the Friends of Edith Patch from recipes included in the Edith Patch Cookbook.
   $15.00 per person | Students with ID $5.00. Please r.s.v.p. by April 9. For more information, contact Gretchen Gfeller. Voice: 207-581-1696. E-mail: gretchen.gfeller @umit.maine.edu

2.   DATABASES
A. JOURNAL CITATION REPORTS FROM THOMSON REUTERS
   Fogler Library subscribes to Thomson Reuter's Journal Citation Reports (JCR) for the sciences and the social sciences. JCR allows the user to determine, among other things, a journal's Impact Factor. The Impact Factor is calculated by taking the number of citations to articles in the journal for the 2 previous years and dividing by the total number of articles published in that journal for those same two years. JCR provides Impact Factor data for the past 5 years with 2007 being the most current year available. Users can view data on individual journals as well as by subject groupings. Other information provided by JCR is: 1.) cited half life - "The number of journal publication years going back from the current year which account for 50% of the total citations received by the cited journal in the current year" (JCR Guide, 2005, p. 10) and 2.) Immediacy Index - "The average number of times current articles in a specific journal were cited during the year they were published" (JCR Guide, 2005, p. 10).
   The journal's Impact Factor is often sought by faculty seeking promotion and/or tenure and those researching a journal in which to publish. Much has been written about the use (and misuse) of Impact Factors to evaluate journals as well as authors. The following article by Dr. Eugene Garfield is a good one to read: <[ http://www.thomsonreuters.com/business_units/scientific/free/essays/impactfactor/ ] Also see "The Number That's Devouring Science" by Richard Monastersky in the October 15, 2005 (52(8)) issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education available through URSUS and The Impact Factor Game, PLoS Medicine 3(6): e291 at: <medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0030291&ct=1>.
      JCR is available from Fogler Library's Indexes and Abstracts page at: [ http://www.library.umaine.edu/indexesdb/Indexes.asp ]
    For questions about JCR please contact either Fogler librarian Jim Bird, Science & Engineering Center (x11686, Jim.Bird@umit.maine.edu ) or Cynthia Crosser, Social Sciences & Humanities Librarian (x13612, Cynthia.Crosser@umit.maine.edu ).

3.   COLLECTIONS
A.   NEW IN REFERENCE
   The Grove encyclopedia of materials and techniques in art. REF N8510.G76 2008
This one-volume resource "deals with all aspects of materials, techniques, conservation, and restoration in both traditional and nontraditional media, including ceramics, sculpture, metalwork, painting, works on paper, textiles, video, digital art, and more."
    Blood on the stage: milestone plays of crime, mystery, and detection: an annotated repertoire, 1900-1925 (REF PN1952.K33 2008) examines the plays of the first quarter of the 20th century whose themes often involved a criminal element.
    Historical Dictionary of Old-time Radio (REF PN1991.3.U6R45 2008) covers the period roughly between 1926 and 1960 that is often termed the Golden Age of Radio. This resource examines the various aspects of radio that made it the dominant medium of information and entertainment of that period.
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Distributed by the Fogler Library, The University of Maine, Orono, Maine.
Please send comments or requests for more information on news items to
Gretchen Gfeller 207-581-1696 gretchen.gfeller@umit.maine.edu or Frank
Wihbey, 207-581-1681 frankw@umit.maine.edu. Newsletters are also posted and
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