Author Archives: mdilwort

Author Archives: mdilwort

Be an Ambassador to the Land of Google

Be an Ambassador to the Land of Google

Matt Dilworth, outreach
Chances are, you use Google every day.  As one of the most widely used search engines, it’s the first thing many of us try for our casual information needs, and sometimes even for major scholarship.  Google has tried to tailor their products to support higher education – Google Scholar being one result of this.  Google Scholar can link directly into our library’s catalog and databases, and even send citation information to tools like RefWorks for creating your bibliography pages – all using Google’s friendly, clean interface.  And for faculty, it can track you or your colleagues’ publications, sending you an email whenever someone cites your work (and creating graphs and other metrics of its use).  Another tool is Google Books, … Continued
Disease Research

Disease Research

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
May is Hepatitis Awareness Month, but whether you have a research interest in Hepatitis or in any infectious disease, the library is the place to go for information.  We all do some of our research on the Internet – even when we know there are better choices.  But with medical topics, that’s a particularly bad idea.  While there are a handful of trustworthy sites on the free web – things like PubMed, the Mayo Clinic, and the Center for Disease Control – there is an inordinate amount of garbage out there.  And when it comes to health, believing it can be dangerous.   Of course, our databases are rich with reliable scholarly articles, and choices like Health Source, MedLine, Biomedical … Continued
Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!  Heritage months are always a great opportunity to immerse yourself in culture, so this month offers the perfect opportunity to explore the rich contributions of those of Asian descent.  Fortunately, the library has resources for any question.    The Asian Studies eBook Collection is a great place to start, with material on everything from art to religion to history.  It covers perspectives from China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Central, South, and Southeast Asia.  If it’s literature you want, Asian American Drama and South and Southeast Asian Literature are great for both original writing and critical research.  Interested in business?  Try Asian Business and Reference.  Or listen to Asian voices unfiltered with … Continued
Catalog Facelift

Catalog Facelift

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Website
Long gone are the days of card-based catalogs, but still, the library’s online catalog continues to improve.  You may have tried the new version of IUCAT – the search box on our home page uses it – but now the bugs are worked out and it is our official index for books, ebooks, videos, reserves, and more.  It’s still the same catalog, though, and you can do all the same things – it’s just a new, cleaner interface.  You can still look for books and videos, renew your checkouts, request items from other IU campuses, and will receive email warnings before your checkouts come due.  But using it is easier than ever.   You can use it to search IU … Continued
This Week in History

This Week in History

Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
This week marks the anniversary of the tragic Kent State demonstrations, a protest against the Vietnam War (specifically, the Cambodia invasion) that cost the lives of four students and injured nine others.  Given the importance of Vietnam to modern American history, it is a common topic in our history classrooms and assignments.  The Kent State shooting showed us that even students here in America could find themselves in the line of fire.   Whether you’re researching the Kent State tragedy or the Vietnam War as a whole, there are plenty of resources for you.  Databases like America: History and Life or JSTOR have a wealth of information – even a simple search turns up hundreds of articles, new and old.  … Continued