College Library News

News from Patricia Killiard, Head of Electronic Services and Systems, Cambridge University Library (UL):

As featured in a brief article in the January edition of the University Library Readers’ Newsletter, the library has acquired the complete backfiles of Elsevier ScienceDirect electronic journals with funding from HEFCE’s Science Research Infrastructure Fund.

As an addition to the electronic resources offered by the University Library it is unprecedented. Each of the 2,152 journal titles is available from the first issue of publication, making available a total of over 7 million articles in a cross-searchable collection. Access to the ScienceDirect backfiles is available university-wide along with the current content at http://www.sciencedirect.com. For access within the university no passwords are required. Off-campus access is available for holders of Athens passwords [note that Athens passwords may be obtained from your faculty library or the UL].

All entries in ejournals@cambridge have been updated to reflect the new coverage of ScienceDirect. Entries in the University Library’s Newton Catalogue and the Universal Catalogue will be amended within the next few weeks.

Information about the backfile coverage, including downloadable spreadsheets of titles in each subject area, is available from the Elsevier ScienceDirect web site at
http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/content/journals/backfiles/. All subject collections, including supplements, have been acquired.

Key journals include The Lancet, from 1823 onwards, Physics Reports, Analytica Chimica Acta, Topology, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Neuroscience, Research in Microbiology, and Cell. As well as making existing peer-reviewed titles held within the University more readily accessible, the electronic backfiles widen the range of titles immediately available in Cambridge, obviating the need to acquire articles through document delivery and inter-library loan. This initiative moves the University Library a step closer to meeting demands for all journals to be available online. In addition to the e-journal backfiles the agreement with Elsevier will add a number of major electronic reference works to the collection, including the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Encyclopedia of Biological Chemistry, Encyclopedia of Neurological Sciences, and Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry II.

[This item is based mostly on the St John’s College eBook web page]

From January 2006 over 118 of the books most heavily used by Cambridge students will be available on-line via NetLibrary, a web eContent provider and a division of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc). This initiative is being developed by College libraries as an alternative response to the demand on heavily used texts, and has been formed in association with NetLibrary, suppliers of ebooks to other major research universities. This project has been made possible by the work of the Ebook Project Team of the Cambridge College Libraries’ Forum (CCLF), and by a generous donation from Professor Robert Z. Aliber, of St John’s College, Professor of International Economics and Finance Emeritus, Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.

Currently available are 118 eBooks, which are digital full-text versions of reference works, scholarly monographs, literature and fiction. Also there are 3,400 publicly-accessible titles that have come out of copyright including a wide range of literary, fictional and historical texts.

The purpose of the subscription is to:
- maximize access to information for junior members, particularly undergraduates,
- include material from all subjects taught in the Tripos, with special emphasis on the needs of those studying for Part 1,
- augment, but not replace, the Colleges print collections,
- offer flexibility of access.

The titles available can be accessed by two different routes - off campus a Raven password is necessary. [Most staff and students should by now have a Raven password. They are issued by the University Computing Service. For further information see http://www.cam.ac.uk/cs/docs/faq/n5.html].

1. By logging on to the NetLibrary site from any computer with a local (ie. cam domain) IP address, or externally using a Raven password. From here it is possible either to search for specific titles, or to view the entire selection by choosing ‘What’s available’ from the top menu, and then ‘List all ebooks’ in the left hand box.

2. By searching for a specific title on the University’s Newton catalogue under Colleges databases A-N and P-W. When the search results are returned they will include a hit with the Library location ‘Electronic book’. Go into this record and then follow the link under the heading ‘Linked resources’. Again usage here is limited to cam domain IP addresses, or access via a Raven password. To see all the titles available you can use “Netlibrary” as a keyword search.

Once a title has been selected it is possible to view the text by following the link ‘View this eBook’. Limits apply to their use: books are available to browse in 15 minute slots, and limited to three users at a time. If you have registered interest in a title but it is unavailable you can opt to receive an email informing you when it becomes available. By setting up a personal account you are able to save a list of ebook titles and to write and save your own notes for specific ebooks.

The current access arrangements are part of a year long pilot project so any feedback or suggestions to the Ebook Project Team about this facility would be gratefully received at ucam-lib-ebooks@lists.cam.ac.uk. An evaluation report will be prepared in Autumn 2006.

The CCLF Ebook Project Team comprises librarians at Trinity College, Queens’ College, Forbes Mellon Library (Clare College), St John’s College, Lucy Cavendish College, and Selwyn College.

Other links:
Project website (Selwyn College eBook web page)
UL eBook introduction
St John’s College eBook web page
Item in current Readers’ Newsletter

Note that texts of out of copyright works are widely available on the web through, for exmaple, the Digital Book Index, Project Gutenberg, and The Online Books Page. Online textbooks are being collated by Textbook Revolution.

Whitbread Group PLC today announced the 2005 Whitbread Book Award winners in the Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book categories.

Ali Smith scoops the Novel Award for The Accidental.

Outsider Tash Aw beats Rachel Zadok to take First Novel Award for The Harmony Silk Factory.

Kate Thompson beats three-times Whitbread winner Geraldine McCaughrean to take the Children’s Book Award with The New Policeman.

Hilary Spurling claims the Biography Award with the second part of her masterful biography of Matisse, Matisse the Master, a work which took her 15 years to complete.

Christopher Logue with the fifth and penultimate instalment of his celebrated account of the Iliad, Cold Calls, is the winner of the Poetry Award.

The five Whitbread Book Award winners above, each of whom will receive £5,000, were selected from 476 entries, the highest total ever received in one year. The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2005 Whitbread Book of the Year.

The winner of the overall Whitbread Book of the Year will be announced at The Brewery in central London on Tuesday 24th January 2006 by a panel of judges chaired by the author and former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo MBE.

Members of the public can vote via the Whitbread Book Awards website for which of the five books they would select as Whitbread Book of the Year. Everyone who votes will be entered into a free prize draw to win a set of the five category winners. A chart showing the most hotly-tipped book according to the public vote will also be available on the website.

For comments see The Guardian: Literary honours for some newish names and a rather old one, The Independent: Forty years after he began it, poet wins prize for epic work and The Times: Whitbread winners announced.

Secret life of Matisse wins Whitbread prize

[from The Guardian] The most undeniably solid prose talent left in this year’s Whitbread prize stayed the course through a desperately close last round of judging last night and won the £30,000 book of the year award by a whisker.

The 512-page second [and final] instalment of Hilary Spurling’s monumental biography of Matisse, astonishingly the first of the master modernist who died 52 years ago, beat off a challenge which was less stiff than it might have been because so many of the year’s leading titles fell at earlier stages of judging. […]

Spurling, who spent 15 years writing and researching her two-part biography of the French artist, said she was “gobsmacked”, adding: “My money was placed elsewhere.”

Author Michael Morpurgo, who chaired the judging panel, said the biography was “an extraordinary achievement”. He added: “It has opened our eyes to great art, and done it in an extraordinary way.”

The timetable for this term’s computer courses is now available. All courses are open to students and staff at the university. Please note that it is essential to register for the courses - you can do this on the website. If you book a place but cannot attend the course, please use the form to cancel your booking. The courses, run by the Computing Service, are free to current staff and students of Cambridge University (including Dunn Human Nutrition, Biostatistics and Cancer Cell Units and the Centre for Brain Repair), the Colleges, and Cambridge Assessment (formerly UCLES).

Courses include Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Powerpoint, plus web authoring/HTML/, SPSS (statistical package), Photoshop (graphics), endnote (bibliography software), and many others. Unless otherwise specified, courses assume basic computing skills. Indication is given on the website about which courses are suitable for beginners and which require some prior knowledge or experience (which is detailed in the course description).