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The Lamont News-List lamref(a)fas.harvard.edu
March 11, 2005 http://hcl.harvard.edu/lamont
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Are you doing research in the sciences or on a science-related topic?
Cabot Library has produced a series of "Getting Started In . . . " guides
for undergraduates. If you're ready for next steps, you'll find a nifty
collection of guides that go "Beyond the Basics," too. Cabot's research
guides are all available here:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/cabot/Reference_Guides_Basic/index.html#second
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IN THIS ISSUE:
-- Cool Tool on the Harvard Libraries E-Resources Page
In this database, everything old is news again!
-- Power Searching Tip
no. 6: "Ordered-received" and other mysterious messages in the
HOLLIS catalog
-- Web Sites Worth Visiting:
A compendium of Presidential campaign commercials, 1952-2004
-- Looking for a specific journal article online?
"Citation Linker" is also a way to "Find it @ Harvard"
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COOL TOOL ON THE HARVARD LIBRARIES E-RESOURCES PAGE
In this database, everything old is news again!
The New York Times Historical 1851-2001 [ProQuest Historical Newspapers]
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:nytihist
It's America's most influential newspaper, the place to go for "all the
news that's fit to print." Now, 150 years of the _New York Times _ have
been made searchable online.
What sets this news database apart from the rest?
If you've ever tried searching the NYTimes.com archives, you already know
that much of its content is unavailable for viewing--unless, of course,
you pay a fee. The Harvard Libraries offer students access to back issues
of _The New York Times_ through LexisNexis, but this alternative has its
share of drawbacks, too. LexisNexis uses plain text files (as opposed to
.pdfs); it omits news photos, graphs, and visuals of other kinds; and
anything that made the pages of the _Times_ before 1980 is not full-text.
_The New York Times Historical_ closes these gaps by providing you with
page images of every news story in every daily issue, all the way back to
its publication debut on September 18, 1851. And it offers you a lot more
besides. Birth and death announcements, editorial cartoons, stock prices,
weather reports, classified ads, old crossword puzzles: they're all at
your fingertips here.
For many kinds of projects in the social sciences and humanities, _The
New York Times Historical_ can be an invaluable research tool. Its
coverage of people, places, events, and things makes it an excellent place
to unearth historical evidence for claims you make about the past.
You don't have to be a student of history, however, to discover that _The
New York Times Historical_ makes fascinating reading. Start poking
around in it and you'll be surprised at all the information you'll quickly
uncover. And just in case you want to give the database a try, here are
some things that might be fun to go looking for:
* Early reports of Harvard's plans to build Widener Library
* Eyewitness accounts of the battle at Little Big Horn
* Reaction to the death of Charles Dickens
* Game by game coverage of the 1918 Sox-Cubs World Series
* The origin of the term "McNamara's war"
* The capture and trial of Hawley Crippen
* The invention of the telephone
* Gandhi's "fast unto the death" in 1932
* The first news accounts of a rare cancer afflicting homosexual men
(later identified as AIDS)
In addition to _The New York Times_, Harvard offers you online access to
several other "historical" newspapers. These include:
The Wall Street Journal Historical (1889-1987) [ProQuest Historical
Newspapers]
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:wallstjh
The Washington Post Historical (1877-1988) [ProQuest Historical
Newspapers]
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:washpost
The (London)Times Digital Archive (1785-1985)
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:timesdig
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POWER SEARCHING
Tip no. 6: No. 5: "Ordered-Received" and other mysterious messages in the
HOLLIS catalog
No doubt you've already discovered that checking on the AVAILABILITY of an
item in the HOLLIS catalog is just as important as noting its LOCATION and
call number. There are few things more frustrating than going after a
book only to find that it's not on the shelf, either because it's already
charged out to a patron or because some other restrictions on its use
apply.
There are also instances, however, when the "Availability" information is
presented in language that is mystifying to anyone other than a Harvard
librarian. To help you out, we've rounded up four of the messages that
students most often ask about and decoded them below.
** ORDERED-RECEIVED: Books, videos, and other materials that have been
purchased for a library collection and have recently arrived will
sometimes display this message under "Availability" for a short period of
time. "Ordered-received" indicates that the new item, now onsite, is
being readied for users and for life on Lamont's shelves. Some final bit
of cataloging may be underway, or a barcode, book plate, or call number
label may need to be affixed, for example.
"Ordered-Received" does NOT mean "off limits," however.
If the item is one that Lamont owns, come by the Reference Desk. We'll
take down the information and pass it on to our Technical Services
department. They'll do their best to get the item processed
quickly and they'll notify you as soon as it's ready.
Widener items should be requested via this online form:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/widener/request/received.html
** ON ORDER or ORDERED--NOT RECEIVED: These messages are synonymous; both
indicate that a particular item has been purchased and is expected to be
added to the collection. It has not yet arrived at Harvard, however.
Though you may have to wait for them a bit longer, materials that are "On
Order" or "Ordered-Not Received" can also be held for you. If the item is
one that Lamont has purchased, you can stop at the Reference Desk and give
us the information. When the item does come in and has been fully
processed, we'll notify you, so you can use it first.
** STORAGE: You'll occasionally see this note next to the call number of
Lamont items when you check "Availability" information. For a variety of
reasons, we sometimes decide to put away extra copies of books until
they're actually needed by library patrons. They can be retrieved for
you--not on the spot, but in a fairly short time frame. Ask for them at
the Lamont Circulation and Reserves Desk. Requests that are made by 3
p.m. each day are normally available by 4 p.m.; requests made after 3 p.m.
are usually available the next morning, after 10 a.m.
You can request a storage copy in-person OR via the Lamont Library home
page. Point your browser here:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/lamont/forms/storage.html
** NO CIRCULATION INFORMATION AVAILABLE: There are several reasons why an
item may carry this message. Lamont items that display it are usually
anomalies; Circulation or Reference staff can probably help resolve the
problem.
Some Widener items, on the other hand, may display this message because
they lack barcodes--and barcodes are the means by which HOLLIS tracks
circulation information. The best first course of action is to check the
Widener library shelves. The item may actually be sitting right there.
Widener Circulation staff will add the missing barcode when you check the
item out.
Finally, some libraries--Houghton, the Harvard Archives, and smaller
research or departmental collections--may display this message to
identify an item that never circulates. The good news is that you can
probably get your hands on these materials whenever you need them. But
you'll have to use them onsite, as they do not, under any circumstances,
leave the owning library's premises.
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WEB SITES WORTH VISITING
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2004
http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php
This a web site that will appeal to anyone interested in advertising
history, in the American presidency, or in the power of words and images
to shape attitudes and behavior. Produced by the American Museum of the
Moving Image in New York City, "The Living Room Candidate" presents the
good, the bad, and the ugly of presidential politicking since the time of
Eisenhower. 250 commercials are available for viewing, and they are
fascinating, both as artifacts from a particular time and as examples of
an evolving form of communication. Here you'll find such landmarks as
Ronald Reagan's 1984 "Morning in America," Lyndon Johnson's "Peace
Girl/Daisy Ad" (1964), and, of course, the infamous "Willie Horton"
commercial from the 1988 Bush/Dukakis race.
Commercials can be sampled in several ways: individually, by campaign year
and party; by "issue" (poverty, war, taxes, and the like); and by type
(those that play on "fear," for example, that are "documentary in style,"
that focus on "real" people). Each time you view a commercial, you're
presented with a list of related TV spots over time. Helpful history and
commentary contextualizes what you see.
One of the other interesting features of this site is a subsection called
"The Desktop Candidate," which examines the effects that the Internet has
had on the last two presidential campaigns. Along with party websites
and "official" online ads for Republican, Democratic, and third party
candidates, there is also a selection of spots produced by partisan groups
(like Swift Boat Veterans) under the heading "Shadow Campaigns."
"The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like
breakfast cereal is the ultimate indignity to the democratic process,"
Adlai Stevenson said in 1956. "The Living Candidate" puts that
pronouncement up front on its site. Have a look around. You'll wonder
whether Stevenson, ironically, was right.
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LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR JOURNAL ONLINE?
"Citation Linker" is also a way to "Find it @ Harvard"
"Find it @ Harvard" is a service that's made it easier than ever before
for you to locate an online copy of a journal article that might be
important to your research. If you've spent time searching in Academic
Search Premier, you'll probably have seen this signature yellow and red
button next many times already. "Find it @ Harvard" buttons are turning
up in lots of other Harvard e-resources, too: PsychInfo, EconLit, the MLA
Bibliography, PubMed (to name just a very few). When an article looks
promising, one click on "Find it @ Harvard" helps you determine if it's
available online, via one (or more) of our 6000 Harvard e-resources. And
if there isn't, a "Find it @ Harvard" search will tell you which Harvard
Libraries subscribe to the journal in print.
"Find it @ Harvard" works great when you're "inside" a database, to be
sure. But what if you've come across a journal citation another way:
from a bibliography at the end of book, for example, from a web site
you've visited, or in an email from your section leader or course TF?
In these situations, you can still determine the online availability of
the referenced article pretty easily. Here's what to do:
>From the Harvard Libraries home page (http://lib.harvard.edu), click on
"CITATION LINKER." You'll find it under the red "E-Resources" menu button
at the top of the page (and also among the items listed at the bottom of
the home page screen).
When a new screen opens, just enter the journal title. (You can--but
aren't obliged to--enter additional information, like the volume,
publication year, or page numbers). Click the "Find it @ Harvard" button
and the system will take it from there!
Citation Linker **is** "Find it @ Harvard," just made available to you
another way.
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HAVE A TOPIC you'd like to see us cover in a future issue of the Lamont
News-List? A research question you need answered? A tip you want
to pass along to other Lamont News-List readers? All suggestions welcome!
Send your thoughts and comments to sgilroy(a)fas.harvard.edu.
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Copyright 2005 President and Fellows of Harvard University
