Villanova faculty and students now have online access to the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures. The encyclopedia focuses on women and the civilizations and societies in which Islam has played an historic role. It is “an essential reference work for students and researchers in the fields of gender studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, as well as scholars of religion, history, politics, anthropology, geography and related disciplines.” Available through the library home page via E-Reference Resources A-Z.

For more information, see Jutta Seibert’s blog post.

Knowing other languages empowers one to travel, to study abroad, or to interact more readily with people from other countries. Should we add new titles that would introduce you to the sight or sound of other languages? Or do we already have what you need?

Tell us in the Comments!

A sample of audio book publishers/producers:

http://www.recordedbooks.com/

http://www.simplyaudiobooks.com/

http://www.booksontape.com/

Villanova faculty and students now have online access to the Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (Leiden: Brill, 2007). The Encyclopedia focuses on women and the civilizations and societies in which Islam has played an historic role. It is “an essential reference work for students and researchers in the fields of gender studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, as well as scholars of religion, history, politics, anthropology, geography and related disciplines.” Over 1000 scholars from around the world contributed to the encyclopedia, among them Prof. Hibba Abugideiri who teaches in Villanova’s history department.

The Encyclopedia is organized thematically as follows:

Vol. 1: Methodologies, Paradigms and Sources
Vol. 2: Family, Law and Politics
Vol. 3: Family, Body, Sexuality, and Health
Vol. 4: Economics, Education, Mobility and Space
Vol. 5: Practices, Interpretations and Representations
Vol. 6: Index

The treatment of concepts such as orientalism, harem, and jihad is thorough but still comprehensible to undergraduate students. Each entry includes a bibliography which traces the scholarly literature on any given topic. Cross references are hyper-linked and easy to follow. Entries can be viewed in html or pdf formats, e-mailed and/or printed. Most entries are subdivided by geographic area, but not all geographic areas are systematically covered. A search of the full text of all entries can only be done through the Advanced Search feature. The Quick Search link, which can be limited to Search this publication only, searches only the titles of entries.

Some of the letters used to transliterate Arabic names and terms are not available on standard U.S. keyboards. Two examples are the letters kāf (ﻙ) and ḥā (ﺡ), which are occasionally rendered as ß and £ respectively. Scholars with an Arabic keyboard or those who are familiar with keyboard shortcuts can enter symbols such as £ or ß or can copy and paste them from other sources into the search box. Undergraduate students who are generally not familiar with transliteration issues may not grasp the limitations of certain search terms. Transliteration is also not consistent throughout the Encyclopedia and it is advisable to try different versions in order to catch all instances of a given term, e.g., Ibn Hanbal is also transliterated as Ibn £anbal

Links to the Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures can be found in the Library’s catalog, on the Gender and Women’s Studies subject guide as well as under E-Reference Resources (History, Multicultural Studies, Sociology).

Comments? Please let us know what you think.

If you came to love the free beta SourceOECD with it’s fabulous access to international statistics, books and reports and mourned it’s loss when free access was terminated, have we got good news for you! Falvey Memorial Library has been able to subscribe to the full compliment of SourceOECD resources.

OECDStat (the statistical component) is an interactive database of comparable international data on everything from aid to welfare. Both OECD and non-OECD country data are often included. The time series data are customizable and downloadable to Excel or text files for statistical packages. This resource is ideal for students working on theses and faculty research with global comparative components.

Over two dozen periodicals published by the OECD are available in full text. Many of the articles in these periodicals are indexed elsewhere in article databases such as EconLit, ABI Inform, and PAIS International. Periodical titles are also discoverable from our catalog or E-Journals by Title.

All of the books and working papers published by the OECD since 1998 are also included in our subscription. Students of geography, public policy and economics will find a wealth of information and analysis here. OECD country studies cover everything from taxation to social issues, technology and industry. Stand alone comparitive studies on controversial topics such as health care delivery, migration policy, genetic testing, work and family life balance, educational finance policy, corporate social responsibility and urban redevelopment to name a few will be helpful for persuasive papers and presentations. The thousands of OECD books included in the collection can not be found in our catalog, there are only available via the SourceOECD database.

We’re hoping that this resource will become a favorite for freshmen and faculty alike. SourceOECD is available in it’s entirety via Databases A-Z, and select Subject pages. Let us know what you think!

If you came to love the free beta SourceOECD with it’s fabulous access to international statistics, books and reports and mourned it’s loss when free access was terminated, have we got good news for you!  Falvey Memorial Library has been able to subscribe to the full compliment of SourceOECD resources.

OECDStat (the statistical component) is an interactive database of comparable international data on everything from aid to welfare.  Both OECD and non-OECD country data are often included.  The time series data are customizable and downloadable to Excel or text files for statistical packages. This resource is ideal for students working on theses and faculty research with global comparative components.

Over two dozen periodicals published by the OECD are available in full text.  Many of these periodicals are indexed elsewhere in article databases such as EconLit, ABI Inform, and PAIS International.  The are also discoverable from our catalog or E-Journals by Title.

All of the books and working papers published by the OECD since 1998 are also included in our subscription.  Students of geography, public policy and economics will find a wealth of information and analysis here.  OECD country studies cover everything from taxation to social issues, technology and industry.  Stand alone comparitive studies on controversial topics such as health care delivery, migration policy, genetic testing, work and family life balance, educational finance policy, corporate social responsibility and urban redevelopment to name a few will be helpful for persuasive papers and presentations. The thousands of  OECD books included in the collection can not be found in our catalog, there are only available via the SourceOECD database.

We’re hoping that this resource will become a favorite for freshmen and seasoned researchers alike.  SourceOECD is available in it’s entirety via Databases A-Z, and select Subject pages.   Let us know what you think!

There’s quite a buzz about the new technology that allows people to download (and read) books and newspaper subscriptions on an electronic device no bigger than a composition book. Some are embracing the electronic book with open arms. Some aren’t. Where do you stand on the use of e-readers?

Tell us in the Comments!

(More about E Ink technology.)

(Photo courtesy of E Ink Corporation and Sony Corporation.)

The Counseling and Therapy In Video database is now available. It is a searchable online collection of hours of video helpful for those in the fields of counseling, psychology, social work and psychotherapy. It includes counseling sessions and demonstrations which are produced specifically for educational training (actual, re-enacted, and scripted). The consultations and lectures by experts outline therapeutic approaches and issues affecting the mental health field. The teaching and discussion guides are downloadable. Among the different ways to search include client details such as age and gender, conditions and symptoms, therapeutic method and subjects such as divorce.

This guide to the database shows how to make clips on page 8 and how to create playlists on pages 9-10. Sample search topics are on page 13.

The latest resource to be fully described and available in the Digital Library is the body of materials making up the
Philadelphia Riots Collection; owned by the American Catholic Historical Society this collection documents early issues related to domestic violence, gun ownership, militia deployment, and crime.

As well this is an important collection for the history of Villanova University. Known as the Philadelphia Riots, as well as the Philadelphia Nativist Riots,these disturbances inadvertently created a climate inhospitable to Catholics in the inner city, and let to the expansion of Villanova, first as a College and then later as a University. The Main Line area beckoned to the Order of Saint Augustine after the experience of the burning of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church as a more rural and safer haven for education so the initial “Augustinian College of Villanova” which opened in 1842 was greatly expanded.

This collection includes letters to and from the Philadelphia Sheriff at the time, Morton McMichael; letters and orders to and from Major General Patterson; lists of the Posse members sent to hunt for the arsonists; and a broadside from Bishop Kendrick calling on the Catholic citizens of Philadelphia to remain calm and not to resort to violent in retribution.

Supplementing this collection are other works related to the Riots owned by Villanova University, including:

The Full Particulars of the Late Riots, with a View of the Burning of the Catholic Churches, St. Michaels & St. Augustines. (Link)

Robin Bowles

Robin Bowles recently joined Falvey Memorial Library as a member of the Life Sciences/Nursing team. Robin has a master of science in library and information science from Drexel University where she specialized in medical and life sciences research and instruction. She received her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in science and mathematics from West Chester University. 

Before coming to Villanova University, she worked at Colorado State University as the interim liaison librarian in biology and veterinary medicine. She has also held positions at the University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library in reference and interlibrary loan, and at the Devereux Behavioral Healthcare Library (Villanova, Pa.) in serials management, assessment, interlibrary loan and document delivery. 

Robin, a native of the Philadelphia area, noted that her high school graduation was held here on campus in the Pavilion. 

Her hobbies are hiking, sewing, logic puzzles and attempting to master all of Google’s products and services.

 Robin said, “I’m very excited by the prospect of forging long-term relationships with people here at Villanova …and integrating new technology into the learning environment of the future.”

Article by Alice Bampton; Photograph by Laura Hutelmyer 

If you could change one thing about Falvey Library, what would you change? Over the years we’ve added a coffee shop, started a laptop loan program, and opened a 24-hour lounge. What else can we do to improve the library?

Tell us in the Comments!

(“There is nothing like looking if you want to find something.” — J. R. R. Tolkien)