Library News for Fall 2009

EBSCO Multi-Search

Library patrons now can search multiple EBSCO databases through Multi-search -- a product that centralizes simultaneous searching of multiple databases. A link to Multi-search can be found on the library's home page, on the upper right hand search box, under "Articles".

EBSCO Multi-search currently includes the following databases:

• Academic Search Premier
• America: History & Life
• ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
• Business Source Premier
• Communication & Mass Media Complete
• ERIC
• Historical Abstracts
• MEDLINE
• MLA International Bibliography
• PsycINFO

WorldCat Local

WorldCat Local enables simultaneous searching of the Furman University Libraries' online catalog, article databases, and other library catalogs worldwide. All search results are integrated into a single results set. WorldCat Local searches can also be limited to only the Furman library, to only articles, or to specific materials, such as DVDs or videos. The library will be trialing this product during the Fall semester

Princeton Review Ranking

The Duke Library was ranked the eighth best library in the nation by the Princeton Review. The Review measures student satisfaction with campus services nationwide.

Good News About Pascal

Pascal (Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries) has made it through this round of budget cuts. The good news are a result of the partner libraries' willingness to increase their membership fees to meet the cost of operating the many collaborative programs sponsored by Pascal. While this is very good news indeed, the challenge of advocating for better funding for Pascal has not gone away, as a new round of advocacy will be needed to make sure the state funds it appropriately for the next fiscal year.

Shift to Electronic Journals

In the course of the Fall semester the library will be working with publishers to switch many of our journal titles from print to electronic format. Use studies conducted over the past years make it clear that patrons prefer electronic journals, and many publishers are favoring that format as well, adding content and features otherwise not found in the print versions. As a result, we will stop receiving print issues of many of our subscriptions (about half of the titles will switch) in January-February of 2010. We will make sure to mark the shelves for those titles that have switched formats.

The Archives of Babel

The Archives of Babel at Furman University’s Special Collections and Archives cannot, obviously, house a complete collection of works in every language. However, Special Collections and Archives does contain a surprising array of texts written both in and about a variety of languages. With this exhibition, we display a small and diverse sampling of materials featuring different languages as well as dates of origin. Understanding language to be an effort at communication or articulation bound by context, we aim to broaden traditional notions of language to include non-written forms as well as music. If humankind failed to attain infinitude in height through Babel, we have certainly achieved it through the breadth, depth, and diversity of language.

The exhibit runs from September 25, 2009 through January 22, 2010, and the reception will be held on October 30, 2009 from 4:00 to 6:00pm in the Pitts Room.