Off The Shelf

I blogged last week about how Ebrary now allows direct exporting to RefWorks. Well they’ve been busy adding even more new features. You’re no longer required to download the Ebrary Reader to utilize the InfoTools functions. So perhaps if you’ve had trouble in the past using ebrary on a computer where you don’t have administrative rights to download, now you can more easily use Ebrary.

Ebrary has provided this short video (3 mns) highlighting these new features. They also provide a more comprehensive video demonstrating how to use the Ebrary database (11 mns).

Ebrary is one of our ebook databases. If you haven’t explored ebooks yet, perhaps now is the time!

“Books are a great source of information for your papers, research and coursework. Books and ebooks allow an author to explore a topic in great depth. They can offer a different perspective than articles because they tend to provide a deeper overview or framework for the topic. You also do not have to read the whole book. If only a chapter is useful you can simply use it and cite only that chapter.”

-From our guide Finding Books & Ebooks (located on the Guides & Tutorials page)

-Sommer

Great news! You can now export Ebrary ebooks to your RefWorks account. If you haven’t already heard us rave about RefWorks, then be sure to check out our blog posts about RefWorks.

Below are the instructions for first enabling RefWorks function in ebrary, followed by the export directions for a single ebook or for exporting your entire Ebrary Bookshelf. I found these directions by clicking on Help in the Ebrary database. (Directions modified somewhat.)

Enabling EndNote or RefWorks

You must enable integration with EndNote or RefWorks before ebrary displays the buttons that support the feature. (You only have to do this one time and then you’ll be able to export every time you use ebrary.)

1. Click My Settings, located to the right of the language choice drop-down menu.
2. In the Managing Bibliographic Information area, click the Show EndNote buttons check box, the Show Refworks buttons check box, or both.

By default, no buttons are displayed.

3. The next time you perform a search, go to your bookshelf, or use the InfoTools drop-down menu while viewing a book, you can export the citation information.

Saving Bibliographical Information With RefWorks

RefWorks is an online research management, writing, and collaboration tool that you use over the Internet. Before you can save bibliographic data using RefWorks, you must create an account with RefWorks.

To save bibliographic data for a single document:

You have these choices:

• Click the RefWorks button below the document on the search results page.
• Open the document in the ebrary QuickView Reader and choose InfoTools > RefWorks.

RefWorks imports bibliographic information about the document. If you are not logged in to RefWorks, RefWorks prompts you to log in first.

Note: The prompt from RefWorks might be displayed in a different tab or browser window.

To save bibliographic data for all documents in a bookshelf folder:

1. Sign in to ebrary. Select the Bookshelf tab. You must be signed in to view your bookshelf.
2. Select a folder you have created. You can only save bibliographic information for documents in your folders.
3. Click the RefWorks button.

RefWorks imports bibliographic information for each document in the folder. If you are not logged in to RefWorks, RefWorks prompts you to log in first.

-Sommer

Were you aware that the Library has two specialized databases that contain subject specific encyclopedias?  You can find the databases Gale Virtual Reference and CREDO reference listed under the  Articles, Books and More link on the Library’s home page. So why would you want to use subject specific encyclopedias when all you hear is that you need peer-reviewed resources for your coursework and papers?

Well here are a couple of reasons:

If you are having trouble understanding concepts  in a textbook, or in an article,  you may want to look them up in these encyclopedias to get a brief overview of the topic. The articles in these subject specific encyclopedias are very often written by experts in the field and may help you to further understand the concept/topic.

If you are starting a search in the Library databases and not getting results, or even before you start searching you may want to review your topic in one of these encyclopedias.  You can often get ideas for alternative search terms or ways to describe your topic by reading these brief articles.

So the next time you are struggling to understand a concept or find articles on a topic check out one of these databases of specialized encyclopedias to see if they can help move you forward with your research!

Robin

I know books aren’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Capella’s online Library, however the Library does have approximately  90,000 electronic books. You access them much as you do journal articles by doing a topic search in  databases such as  ebrary and NetLibrary. Ebooks aren’t as familiar to some as a print copies of  books. However  just think of the advantages: they are available immediately so you don’t have to check them out and they can be searched by keywords.

 If you want to search for books outside the Capella Library the librarians recommend a couple of different tools. Both WorldCat and Google Books can be searched by subject for books outside of the Capella Library on a particular topic. Google Books frequently provides a Table of Contents and sometimes a limited preview of the book.

You can request books not in the Capella Library through Interlibrary Loan. They will be mailed to you and you will get a prepaid mailer to send them back. You can also request specific chapters in book and they will be electronically scanned and sent you you via email.

 Have other questions? Check out this guide from the Library’s Guides & Tutorials page How Do I Find Books and Ebooks?  or Ask a Librarian.

Robin

The Capella University Library’s database, Credo Reference, has added new books to its collection.  Here is a sampling from the list of new titles:

• Africa and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History
• Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture
• Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict
• Handbook of Global Environmental Politics
• Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History
• Women’s History as Scientists: A Guide to the Debates

To find out more about these titles or see what other reference books Credo has available, check it out by going to the library home> Articles, Books and More> Credo Reference.

 -Kim

Many of you have noticed changes to the ebrary database. Last week ebrary changed not only how the database looks, but also what you need to do to read a book.

To search for a book, choose the search option at the top of the page. From the results page you can view the entire book by clicking the title or see just the table of contents.

You no longer need to download the ebrary Reader to see the content of a book. All books will come up under Quick View, but you will need to use the ebrary Reader if you want to print, highlight, or save a book to your bookshelf.

The link to the ebrary Reader is just above the Quick View’s image of the book.

Ask A Librarian if you have questions about using the new ebrary.

- Erin

The library recently added a number of books to its Gale Virtual Reference Library database.  One book that has a little something for everyone is Social Change in America: The Historical Handbook.  As the description states, “Topics covered in Social Change in America include family life; work and employment; housing; wealth and poverty; education; health; crime; volunteer activity; religion and religious affiliation; politics; the impact of the Internet on American society.”  If you need a book with statistical information or historical perspectives about America, this is a good one to check out.  You can find this, and the other new additions to the Gale database, on the Articles, Books and More page in the library.

-Kim

What is Questia?

Questia is a commercial digital library of books and articles that promotes itself as a replacement to traditional school and academic library collections.  It is target market is primarily high school level students and undergraduates, who may prefer it over their school library collections because of its Google-like search interface and basic reference list generation tools.

How does Questia’s library compare to Capella’s?

The Capella Library purchases its collection material specifically for the schools it supports, as well as its primarily post-graduate degrees, based on scholarly and industry standards.  We also provide a RefWorks account to every Capella learner, which offers advanced citation and bibliography-building tools.

Collection breakdown

Questia:
“1.5 million articles”
1.1 million of those are news
185,000 of those are magazine
articles
Approx. 215,000 scholarly articles

Capella:
31.8 million articles
Plus 16.5 million company
records
Plus Test and Survey Instrument Reviews
Plus 600,000 dissertations
Plus many millions of news articles
Approx. 8,111,000 scholarly articles

Cost?
Questia: $240/year
Capella: Free for active Capella learners

– Erika

Many of us love the accessibility of the digital book (or ebook, as we often call them).  No hunting the stacks or taking a trip to a far-away library.  Just a few keystrokes and there it is.

But then you’ve got to read them.  That’s where the digital book starts to break down.  They’re just not as pleasant as curling up with the real thing, it’s hard to have 6 digital books spread out on a desk in front of you, and who wants to spend more time in front of a screen? 

The University of Michigan has purchased an Espresso Book Machine that lets it quickly turn a digital book into a bound paper version.  Now those who prefer a physical copy can have the best of both worlds:  a digital copy makes the book available everywhere, and the book machine gets the user the type of book they want. 

At $10 and about 7 minutes, that’s a pretty good deal.  Right now it’s mostly used for out of print and out of copyright books, but perhaps the publishers of the future will “outsource” the printing to the end user, making most books available this way.

-Erin

When many people think of research, they automatically think of books.  They’re big, packed with information, and fill library shelves.  But as you work on your degree at Capella, you may find yourself using very few of them.

This isn’t just because it’s hard for your Capella librarians to get ebooks to sit upright on a shelf. 

As you progress to higher degrees, books will be less likely to meet your research needs.  In fact, by the time you’re working on a doctoral degree, you may be using scholarly journal articles almost exclusively.  

This is because scholarly journals:

• are published faster than most books.
• often contain peer-reviewed articles.
• provide literature reviews in the field.
• cover single, specific research studies.

Books are still a great resource for research, but they do have their place.  Once you have developed a real understanding of your field, you may no longer need the general summaries that books often provide.

For more information about different sources, please see our guides:

Sources: What can you use for your research?
Evaluating Sources in Business and Technology
What are Peer-Reviewed Articles and How Can I Find Them (Flash, with Audio)

- Erin