Library News for the Faculty of Communication and Culture

Monday, March 27, 2006

Electronic Historical Newspaper Archives at U of C

U of C has electronic access to the following historical newspaper collections. These are full page images of the newspapers.
More newspaper resources at U of C.

New resource - PapersInvited

PapersInvited presents an exhaustive list of Calls for Papers issued by professional bodies, journal editors and other conference organizers in all disciplines. PapersInvited has become the preferred destination where conference organizers, journal publishers, researchers and academicians come together to issue and receive information resources that encourage presentation and publication of contemporary research.

PapersInvited has some additional benefits, including a planner, calendar and more. For more information, PapersInvited. You will need to create a personalized account to take advantage of these benefits.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

New Database Trial - Community of Scholars

A new tools to try out. According to the producer, "Community of Scholars provides direct access to more than 1 million active researchers working in over 200 disciplines and 8 countries. Searches in Community of Scholars provide unparalleled exposure to the community currently studying a topic of interest. Exploring this living research community expands awareness and access to cross-disciplinary research perspectives, publications, research methodologies, expertise, and collaborative opportunity. With Community of Scholars, your faculty and students are directly connected to the community of scholarly research." The complete brochure is available at http://info.csa.com/communityofscholars/comm_scholar_bro.pdf

I took a quick glance of the list for C&C and I think you're all there. You can go in and edit your profile if they got you wrong.

To access the trial, go to
http://md1.csa.com/ids70/quick_search.php?SID=7b9ec4329a7fdedf7feee3b64d030078
Trial ends April 6, 2006.

Please send any comments to me or Chris.

Monday, March 13, 2006

History and Popular Culture resources from Alexander Street collections

North American Indian biographical database
The North American Indian Biographical Database contains more than 100,000 pages of personal stories, many of which are previously unpublished, rare, or hard to find. The collection presents the entire spectrum of Indian and Canadian First People experiences from their own point of view. Firsthand accounts reveal how Indians lived, thought, and fought to protect their interests; how the tribes interacted with each other and the white invaders; and how they reacted to the constantly changing and challenging situations they faced. These rare and informative biographies are supported with historical materials that provide context for the personal stories. Also included is a detailed timeline of Indian events, cross-referenced by region and tribe, to further aid in contextual placement.

Oral history online
This landmark project makes English-language oral histories easily accessible for the first time, giving voice to typically unheard peoplefrom all walks of life from around the world. The database provides detailed indexing of oral history collections, repositories, and narratives, along with links to full text, audio, and video where available. Updated quarterly. Includes the Oral History Top 100 popularity rankings.

Women and social movements in the United States 1600-2000
This project includes tens of thousands of primary documents, document projects with introductory essays that interpret the documents, a definitive bibliography, related web links, a Dictionary of Social Movements, and an enormous collection of images. The project will continue to grow each year.

Black thought and culture
More than 100,000 pages of monographs, speeches, essays articles, and interviews written by leaders within the black community from earliest times to 1975, illustrate the evolution of what it means to "be black." Includes the only full run of The Black Panther - the party's newspaper - and 2,500 pages of oral history interviews recorded by the former Black Panther, David Hilliard. Teachers, artists, politicians, religious leaders, athletes, veterans, entertainers, and others are represented. Find influences, read history in their words, discover a wealth of fugitive material

Film and Drama resources from Alexander Street collections

A wide range of new Alexander Street collections in the areas of drama and film, history, literature, and popular culture.

American film scripts online
One thousand film scripts are indexed and organized to allow searching by scene, by character, by director, and more. Most have never been published in any format, and about half appear as facsimile images. With more than 100,000 scenes of life as portrayed in the movies, this resource is of interest to researchers in sociology, psychology, popular culture, writing, film studies, and history.

Asian American drama
With 250 plays, this is a landmark collection in a rapidly developing genre. It documents the Asian American experience as dramatized in works by writers from the 18th century to the present, together with biographies, a performance database, production details, and associated visual resources, including photos, playbills, and manuscript images.

North American women's drama
This major new initiative delivers 1,500 plays by women from the United States and Canada, including the complete works of leading playwrights along with those of lesser-known but important writers. Many of the plays are rare, hard to find, or out of print. Relevant for the study of literature, women's studies, and the history of feminism.

Black drama
The project brings together 1,200 plays, almost a quarter of which are previously unpublished. Nowhere else will researchers see these works! They have been carefully selected by well-known experts such as James V. Hatch, a board of scholars, and the writers themselves. The collection includes the complete works of more than 300 playwrights from North America, Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, and other locations. Starting with Victorian plays and working up to the present, this indispensable collection presents the writings together with biographies, playbills, images, production notes, performance information, and much more.

North American theatre online
North American Theatre Online will be the largest, most comprehensive reference work in North American drama. It will provide detailed bibliographic information on more than 10,000 plays -- including references to works that have never been published. It will contain thousands of facts about theaters, authors, theatrical companies, and individuals, as well as some 1,000 playbills, posters, photographs, and related theatrical ephemera.

Twentieth century North American drama
From Maxwell Anderson to Marsha Norman, the complete works of major North American playwrights. Alongside the works of the most successful writers of the century are the lesser-known but important works of African Americans, Asian Americans, gay and lesbian writers, and others. Hundreds of unpublished plays, production information, playbills, and theatre details round out the collection.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Wikipedia again

There seems to be no shortage of news and opinion pieces on Wikipedia these days. Here's another. What makes this one different is that the author isn't picking sides; she says both Wikipedia and conventional encyclopedias like Britannica have a role in research, and that those goals aren't the same. Here's her conclusion:

"Let’s act like careful, reasonable people. Wikipedia is a great starting point. It’s a lesson in research methodology, a fun way to share expertise, and a groundbreaking new way of working. Its consensus model represents a shift in management styles and away from hierarchical organization. You might say that Wikipedia is Zen-like. Its ever-changing nature means that when you read it, you are completely in the moment. And its collective brain is like a conscious universe in which we are all one.

Britannica is a different animal. Flawed, yes. Behind the times with regard to non-Western and minority leadership, sure. Indispensable? You betcha. "

The article also provides a great overview of what Wikipedia is, how it's edited, who its audience is, etc. Complete article is available at http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/mar06/berinstein.shtml
Searcher: The Magazine for Database Professionals, vol. 14, no. 3 (Mar.)

Sage Journals Online - new interface

We now get all Sage journals online through a new interface. The catalogue links for individual titles will be coming soon. In the meantime, you can search for titles or topics through the main site http://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca:2048/login?url=http://online.sagepub.com/

Lots of these journals are relevant to C&C research and teaching. A full list is available at http://online.sagepub.com.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/lists/allsites.dtl#A

You can also set up email search alerts and table of contents alerts by creating an account on the site. It's free and it's a really convenient way to keep on top of new publications in your research area. Let me or Chris know if you need a hand getting set up.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

New Conference Board of Canada Subscription

e-Library / Conference Board of Canada

The Conference Board publishes on Economic Trends, Organizational Performance, and Public Policy, all with a Canadian focus. You can find out more about the CBofC at http://www.conferenceboard.ca.ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/who.htm

The subscription includes:

Research reports, Special reports and Viewpoints.

Approximately 30 reports are produced annually to provide customers with new insights into key areas of economic, management and public policy. We also team with other organizations to produce special reports on a variety of subjects. Viewpoints are reports that allow our research staff to offer opposing views on a specific topic. Formats include Member’s Briefing, Full Report and Detailed Findings.

Periodicals

As part of our core research, we produce periodicals on a monthly, quarterly, yearly and biennial basis. Formats include Newsletter, Executive Summary and Full Report.

Executive presentations

Our Research Associates present their findings at conferences, seminars and meetings. These presentations are made available on the e-Library.