National Indian Law Library

National Indian Law Library

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and West, a Thomson Reuters business work to improve access to Native American tribal law available through NARF’s National Indian Law Library (NILL). Selected tribal law content will be editorially annotated by West for Westlaw and will be cross-linked to court opinions and other law on Westlaw when available. Unannotated tribal law will be freely available through the NILL website. Select materials may also be published in West print products and law books.

Content includes tribal codes, ordinances, constitutions, and intergovernmental agreements.

Finding An Article

We now have our Serial Solutions product available on the Library’s website.  It is located under Library Resources – Find Newspapers, Magazines & Journals Online.

There are several ways to search for a publication name.

• Title words (Best choice if you have a good idea of the publication’s name.)
• Select the first letter in which the publication starts with
• Select a subject area
• Enter a publications DOI (don’t worry about this one! Chances are no one except maybe cataloging knows it)
• Select a databases (Not sure why you would want to use this option from this page but we have to have it in order for the other lists to work!)

Please note:  Do NOT use the A-Z list of databases as a list of databases we own.  This is only a list of databases which contain newspaper, magazine and journal articles.  Many of our databases contain book content and they are not listed here.

New Features for Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos

Announcing Exciting New Enhancements to Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos

Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos, World Book’s beginning Spanish-language reference site, will be launched in early September with a new design, new content, and additional functionality.

Key features include:

• High interest, easy-to-read content captivates and inspires learners.

• Search and browse options make finding content easy.

• Dozens of hands-on activities engage different learning styles.

• Spanish-language Web sites and news from around the world make up-to-date information accessible.

• The World of Animals feature allows users to explore a wealth of animal facts, images, and videos, and compare animals side by side.

• A Spanish visual dictionary helps young learners clarify word meanings and grasp complex visual topics in Spanish and English.

• Bilingual browse feature allows users to switch between Spanish and English content

• Articles link to English-language versions of the articles in World Book Kids.

VISIT THE NEW ENCICLOPEDIA ESTUDIANTIL HALLAZGOS

Using Mobile Devices to Promote Learning

Mobile device use is exploding among children worldwide, cell phones and iPods are this generation’s preferred form of social communication. More than half of the world’s population now owns a cell phone and experts project that people will use cell phones as their primary means of accessing the Internet by the year 2020.

At CES 2009 findings and recommendations for using mobile devices to help children learn where unveiled.  Read the report  at http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/pdf/pockets_of_potential.pdf.

There is also an article at Education Weeks Digital –  Mobile Devices Seen as Key to 21st-Century Learning

New Literature Criticism

The following titles have been added to Literature Criticism.

Titles

Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol 274

Contemporary Literary Criticism Vol 275

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol 212

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol 213

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism Vol 214

Poetry Criticism Vol 097

Short Story Criticism Vol 124

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol 219

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism Vol 220

eLibrary Elementary New Titles

The following are new ebook titles which are now available in eLibrary Elementary.

American Journalists: Getting the Story .
Archaeologists: Explorers of the Human Past
Archaeology: Discovering the Past
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, v 3.0
Compton’s by Britannica, v 6.0
Child of the Fighting Tenth: On the Frontier with the Buffalo Soldiers
GeoNova City Maps
GeoNova Continent Maps
GeoNova Country Maps
GeoNova Flags
GeoNova Ocean Maps
GeoNova Province Maps
GeoNova Region Maps
GeoNova State Maps
GeoNova Territory Maps
GeoNova Thematic Maps
Jazz Makers: Vanguards of Sound
Postwar America: A Student Companion
Pyramids
The Boy of Chancellorville and Other Civil War Stories
The Mystery of the Egyptian Mummy
The Presidency of the United States: A Student Companion
The Middle Ages: An Illustrated History
USA in Space
Weekly Reader Graphic Biographies Series
Weekly Reader Graphic Histories Series

Top Websites

Public Agenda Issue Guide: Right to Die
Organization: Public Agenda

“Over the past decade, we have gone from Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s first defiantly public assisted suicide to the first legal assisted suicide in Oregon. Although the central issue has been whether terminally ill individuals should have the right to ask a doctor to hasten their own deaths, a larger issue has been raised as well: about dying with dignity and what constitutes a ‘good death.’ Dying, for most Americans, is no longer a natural event, something that simply happens to us. In the majority of cases, people die in hospitals where physicians and nurses make a valiant effort to keep patients alive until there is no reasonable chance of recovery, often using the latest medical technologies.” (PUBLIC AGENDA) This site provides an overview of the debate over euthanasia and features data on public opinion.

Focus on the Flu
Organization: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

“Get access to a variety of information on seasonal and pandemic [swine] flu… Included are succinct descriptions of NIAID-supported research projects; color illustrations; news releases; publications; NIAID congressional testimony; and helpful Web links.” (NIAID)

Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides
Organization: Environmental Working Group

This site provides information on pesticides found in fruits and vegetables and advocates the purchase of organic produce. Make a virtual fruit or vegetable salad to find out out how many pesticides would be in the conventional vs. organic versions. View data that show that some fruits and vegetables carry a heavier pesticide load than others.

Gale’s Marketing Page

Need a poster, bookmark or tent card to promote a Gale database?  You can get them at the Gale’s marketing page.

WorldBook Spanish Encyclopedia

Below is a short video link which shows you the new interface for Hispanica Saber and all the great content found within.

Click on the Picture to start the video

WorldBook Gets a Face Lift

WorldBook Online has turned on their new interface for us today. In additon to the new look there are a lot of new cool features.

WorldBook Student has been replaced with Info Finder and a new section has been added called Reference Center.

The Reference Center has a host of tools to learn with and use. Includes tutorials on how to use computers and the Internet; A citation builder, build your own timeline and Pathfinders. PathFinders are like our InfoGuides. The contain WorldBook articles, magazine articles, websites, suggested books to read, media and questions.

Info Finder has all new Science Projects and Biography Center which has a great section called WorldBook Picks – lists of most often requested biographies like Famous leaders who were assassinated, Famous Baseball Pitchers, Famous divas, or Notable African-American Firsts.

Top Websites

• National Science Digital Library - great resources for teachers who teach science and math. Includes Literacy Maps, articles by experts, and search results provide vetted websites with activities and lesson plans. You can scope results to grade level and formats which include podcasts and videos.
• Online Collections – Hispanic Reading Room - contains historical information about people, places and events. Encompasses Latin America, the Caribbean, Hispanics and Portuguese in the United States, the Iberian Peninsula, and other places where Iberian culture dominated and has survived.
• American Museum of Natural History presents Ology - A fun site for kids to learn about the Earth. Includes activities, experiments and ask the scientist.

All these links and other Top Websites can be found on del.ico.us at Las Vegas – Clark County Library’s Bookmarks.

Reading: Paper vs Screen vs Audio

from OverDrive’s Digital Library Blog by Cindy Orr

Centuries ago it was strange and frightening to see someone read silently. People wondered what was happening to the person who was staring at a book but saying nothing. Were they possessed? Were they all right? This is because the norm until the 10th century was to read aloud. Monasteries weren’t the quiet places we imagine. The monks were all mumbling to themselves!

We don’t think about it much, but styles of reading have changed over time–even on paper. Scrolls were one format, and then the book (or codex) was invented. Moveable type made reading even easier. And now we can read on screens and listen to audiobooks. But is the experience the same?

Some people say it isn’t. One reading expert insists that handling a paper book makes reading physically rewarding because we see those finished pages grow on the left hand side as we read. But others would say that the most elegant thing about a paper book is that it “disappears” as we read, leaving just us and the story–but that is also the goal of good electronic reading devices. Read More..

What do you think?

Animals. From aardvark to zorilla.

Grzimek’s acclaimed 17-volume Animal Life Encyclopedia is the print standard for conventional animal reference collections. But students and researchers today need dynamic resources that foster discussion and critical thinking. That’s why Grzimek and Gale offer an online solution that sets the benchmark for comprehensive and credible animal information while facilitating interaction.

Grzimek’s Animal Life is a perfect example of the new generation of resources from Gale this fall, designed with users in mind. Constantly updated with facts, figures, news and views, this image-rich resource is a true educational experience where a quick trip to find specific information can lead to the desire to explore and learn more. This fall, users will be inspired by:

• Unequaled coverage — more than 4,000 species categorized by Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Insects, Invertebrates, Mammals and Reptiles, including information on evolution, habitat, behavior, range and more
• Authoritative, peer-reviewed content — updated regularly by a worldwide network of experts
• Ease of use — immersive tools like interactive range maps and an intuitive interface let users discover while also supporting serious academic research
• Media richness — thousands of photos, maps, videos, audio tracks and more

Planned enhancements include:

• Ancillary topics — such as endangered species, biomes, prehistoric animals and others
• Feeling of community — connecting experts, educators and users
• Critical thinking opportunities — nurturing valuable skills needed to truly examine issues and how they relate to others
• Curriculum correlations — content corresponds to National Science Curriculum

Release date is Fall 2009.

Online adventure story to launch at National Book Festival

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka is the first in a chain of authors who are writing a serial adventure story for publication on a new Library of Congress website. Cosponsored by the Center for the Book and the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance, “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” will bring young and old together with rollicking family entertainment. The updated website and the initial installment of the story will premiere at the National Book Festival on September 26….
Library of Congress, Aug. 7

Sony Reader and OverDrive

Did you know that Adobe EPUB and PDF eBooks already in our eBooks to Go (OverDrive) download collection are compatible with the Sony® Reader?

This is good news for patrons who love to read eBooks on the go! It’s a win for “open standards” for eBooks. Sony and OverDrive are promoting the new EPUB (XML) format, so we can offered hundreds ebooks to them. They will be compatible with many new devices in addition to Windows and Mac.

We’re also anticipating announcements later this month from Sony on a less expensive Reader and other lower priced products are expected to follow. The key to this story is EPUB is supported by OverDrive. This is the only eBook format needed and it will eventually be compatible with most portable devices (iPhones, Blackberries, etc.) and many e-Ink readers.

Global Road Warrior

As of September 1, Global Road Warrior is cancelled.  I know many of you were interested in the Maps A-Z collection this vendor offered.  In January we will review our budget to see if there are funds to pickup it.

Find Newspapers, Magazines & Journals

We have a development site for our new product from Serial Solutions – Find Newspapers, Magazines and Journals. We still need to get the linking turned on in the databases and the MARC records loaded into the catalog for all our electronic subscriptions.  This site is good if you already have citation information and need to know which database to find the full text or to see which of the databases index a specific title. The first step of this project is just the electronic content.  For the second step I would like to see the print and microfilm holdings included.  Would you also like to see this content?

Note: not all of our databases are listed here as some of them contain only ebooks and not articles.  Please do not use this for a list of databases, if you do you will be missing some.

You are welcome to give it a try and feel free to make any comments you like.  I’ll keep you updated on a launch date for the patrons.

WorldCat Introduces Single Search

Your WorldCat search experience just got better! Users can now search all of our OCLC electronic resource services. Integrated search results currently include resources from the library catalog and NetLibrary™ eBooks and eAudiobooks.

The interface for WorldCat Local is similiar to Encore.  Do your search then refine it with a variety of tools which include year, language, audience, format and etc.

Give it a try and let me know what you think by submitting your comments.

Gale’s One Search

Yesterday we talked about the new Gale’s Power Search. Today I would like to talk about a feature within Gale’s Power Search called One Search. Power Search only searches the magazine and newspaper databases. One Search searches across all the Gale databases we currently own. This includes the resource centers such as Student Resource Center and Biography Resource Center.

If you are looking for ebooks as well as magazine and newspaper articles this in the search to use.

Be sure to try it out and let me know how you like it. What wowed you?

Articles in Gale Databases

We are in the process of grouping Gale databases together under one search link.  Articles in Gale (this is what we are calling it on our Databases A-Z page) - searches all the magazine and newspaper databases we own. This ‘federated search’ provides for some really cool features. It is the same interface as what appears on the individual databases like InfoTrac OneFile. Here are a couple of features you need to know about.

• User Logins – all users of the database can create a login and save articles and searches.  Besides saving they can -
  • Customize the RSS feeds displayed on the home page
  • Share their folders or articles via email or bookmarks (great for teachers or librarians)
  • Always available from any Gale database supplier.  That’s right if a student is attending UNLV and uses Gale Databases at college then wants to come to one of our libraries and continue working from our Gale databases they can do that if they setup their own Gale login. By logging in to their account from our database they will see all the articles and folders they created while logged in at UNLV.
• Time magazine goes back to 1923 in full text.  Got a student looking for what happened on August 4, 1929? Use this resource-
  • Browse Publication
  • Search for Time
  • Select Full text coverage year
  • Select 1929
  • Select Issue
  • Select an article from the Table of Contents for the issue
• Translates article in 11 languages on the fly
• Build in dictionary – highlight a term and click dictionary
• Provides images, videos and podcasts as well as articles

Let me know what wowed you!