History & Political Science

JSTOR joined the ever-growing circle of e-book publishers late in 2012 starting with a collection of around 15,000 e-books from a range of well-respected university presses such as those of Penn, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, California, North Carolina and Columbia. Among them is a small number of non U.S. publishers, such as Boydell and Brewer, Edinburgh University Press and the University of Toronto Press. The complete list of available JSTOR book titles is available for review.

The Library is currently testing the e-book-publishing waters with a boutique collection of history titles. Army at Home by Judith A. Giesberg, PhD, is a familiar title here at Villanova University. While a few of the JSTOR books are duplicated in the library’s print collection, most of the JSTOR titles are new. JSTOR books owned by Villanova can be found in the library’s catalog as well as in the JSTOR database.

JSTOR books are seamlessly integrated with other JSTOR content. Just as journal content is fully searchable, so are the e-books. Search results can be filtered into results from journal articles and books simply by clicking on the newly added Book tab on the results screen. To include titles not owned by the Library in the results list, switch from “Content I can access” to “All content.” Books not available to Villanova faculty and students are identified by an X-icon next to the check box.

Each book has its own landing page with such features as stable URLs, a link to JSTOR book reviews, abstracts, the table of contents and the first 100 words of each chapter. Unfortunately, not all books are equal, and the different access options can be confusing. Some books are only available as single-user titles. Chapters from a single-user book can only be viewed by one person at a time. Downloads are available, but require registration for a free JSTOR account, and the downloaded PDF files cannot be printed. Single-user books have a security key icon on the book landing page which reminds the reader of the access limits. Multi-user books are as easy to access as JSTOR journal articles.

Use the links below to explore the different access models to JSTOR books.

• Foul Bodies: Cleanliness in Early America.
  This title is not part of the Falvey collection. Villanova faculty and students can link to book reviews, read the abstract, the table of contents and the first 100 words of each chapter.
• Romantic Ecologies and Colonial Cultures in the British Atlantic World, 1770-1850.
  Villanova faculty and students have full access to the contents of this book.
• Krupp: A History of the Legendary German Firm.
  This is a single-user title with limited access.

A detailed overview over the JSTOR book program is available online. Questions or comments? Contact me directly (jutta.seibert@villanova.edu) or post your comments online.

The long awaited Encyclopedia of Ancient History is now available after repeated publication delays. Unparalleled in scope with over 5,000 original, peer-reviewed articles, the Encyclopedia covers subjects ranging from the ancient Near East to Pharaonic Egypt, the Roman Republic, and Late Antiquity. Five general editors, twenty-three area editors, and a total of 1,827 scholars collaborated on this project. Villanova University’s own Christopher Haas, PhD, contributed articles on Axum and Hypatia. Although available in thirteen print volumes, the Encyclopedia was conceived and planned as a digital reference work. Its content will be continually updated, and new articles will be added over time. Readers are encouraged to contact the editorial board with corrections and suggestions for additional entries.

Searching and browsing the contents of the Encyclopedia seems unnecessarily complicated. A first-time user will be tempted to simply use the search box on the start page, which will retrieve keyword matches from all Wiley-Blackwell titles. Only upon closer inspection will the reader notice the “Search in this Book” link beneath the search box. The “Find Articles” options on the left menu are barely noticeable as well. Articles are organized in twenty-two topical categories to facilitate browsing. The scope of the Encyclopedia makes it easy to compare topics between various ancient civilizations. A good example is the seven different entries on calendars.

Articles vary in length but rarely exceed ten pages. PDF files of articles are available for downloading. Each article lists references and suggested readings. A good number of references are written in foreign languages, but available English language translations are included as well. A “How to Cite” link generates a basic citation for each article. Alternatively, citations can be exported to RefWorks or EndNote. Overall, this is an excellent new reference title and a good starting point for undergraduate and graduate students alike.

You may also be interested in the following new e-reference works from the Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World Series:
A Companion to Women in the Ancient World
A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East
A Companion to Tacitus

Questions or comments? Contact me directly (jutta.seibert@villanova.edu) or post your comments online.

The history/sociology liaison team lost one of its original members – David Burke, who will devote more time to resource management and the creation and organization of metadata in Falvey’s growing digital library.

Laura Bang, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland’s library science school, replaces David on the liaison team. Laura joined Falvey this past spring as a curatorial assistant in Special and Digital Collections. Originally from Santa Barbara (Ca.),  Laura received her bachelor’s degree in comparative literature from Bryn Mawr College. Last summer, while in graduate school, Laura worked at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany. Laura noted that the IYL is located in a fifteenth-century castle and that her work there was her “favorite experience in library school.”

Jutta Seibert, coordinator of Academic Integration, continues as team coordinator and Alice Bampton, Visual Resources librarian, remains on the team.

Are you interested in U.S. history and politics? Have you worked with the Serial Set before or did you always shy away from using it because of the time and effort involved in tracking down documents included in this series?

Villanova faculty and students will have access to the full text of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set and the American States Papers on a trial basis until October 11. The Library is evaluating the purchase of this valuable resource and we would like to include your opinions into the evaluation process.

The Serial Set goes back to the 15th Congress (1817). The online version currently on trial includes the years 1817 to 1994. It contains House and Senate documents as well as House and Senate reports. The documents cover a wide variety of topics and include reports of independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
The American State Papers, 1789-1838 are part of the trial access.
Take a look, evaluate its value for faculty and student research projects and email your feedback to Jutta Seibert.

Falvey patrons now have access to the online Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome which contains contributions from 500 authors. Entries cover the Bronze Age (3000 BCE) through the era of Emperor Justinian (600 CE). The Encyclopedia contains topical outlines on Rome and Greece, numerous illustrations, maps, and genealogical tables. Primary sources and annotated bibliographies of mostly English secondary titles are provided with the articles; most articles also include helpful cross-references. While the writers are usually authorities in their fields, their intended audiences are college students and educated laypersons.

Additional online resources in the field of ancient history:

• Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World
  Over 2,500 entries beginning with the first Olympic Games in 776 BCE and ending with the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE). The Dictionary “covers key aspects of ancient Greek and Roman life and literature…”
• Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
  Authoritative survey of ancient Greek and Roman history.
• Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
  The Encyclopedia focuses on dynastic Egypt, but also includes some earlier material. More than 250 scholars contributed over 600 articles accompanied by bibliographies.
• Cambridge Ancient History
  Covers ancient history from prehistory to late antiquity (3000 B.C.-600 A.D.). All 14 volumes can be searched simultaneously, individual chapters can be bookmarked or downloaded and cited references can be tracked via OpenURL, which will link to the full text in Falvey’s holdings or pre-fill an interlibrary loan form.
• Cambridge History of the Byzantine Empire c. 500 – 1492
  Written by a group of expert international Byzantine scholars, it “follow[s] the fortunes of the empire” chronologically from “The Earlier Empire c. 500 – c. 700” to “The Middle Empire c. 700 – 1204” and ends with “The Byzantine Lands in the Later Middle Ages 1204 – 1492.” These three parts are subdivided into chapters. Also included are a glossary, genealogical tables, lists of rulers, alternative place names, 52 maps and a bibliography.

Did you know that Oxford Reference Online includes time lines of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome? Each date and event listed on these time lines is linked to entries in relevant online Oxford reference titles.

• Ancient World
• Ancient Egypt
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Rome

All titles are all available through the Library catalog. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments that you may have.
Contributed by Alice Bampton.

Faculty and students in modern languages, history, and global studies occasionally need to watch DVDs coded for different regions and systems. While the Library has always endeavored to buy the requested films in a format that can be played on its public viewing stations, many of the titles are not produced for the mass market and not available for Region 1, the U.S.A. and Canada only. (Please click here for more information on DVD formats and region codes.)

Since faculty requested multi-region, multi-system DVD players for use in the Library in the recent faculty library survey, the Library recently outfitted one of its public viewing stations with such a DVD player.

Drop in and enjoy your movies. Headsets will be provided but popcorn is strictly B.Y.O.P. The viewing stations are located on the first floor.

The Library’s liaison librarians are ready to assist you with the purchase of foreign films for your classroom needs.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments that you may have.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007) edited by G. Ritzer, one of the standards reference works in sociology, is now available online. This new edition replaces the second edition of the Encyclopedia of Sociology (2000), a set of five volumes with 397 entries edited by E. F. Borgatta and R. J. V. Montgomery. The new edition is over twice the size with 11 volumes and 1,786 entries. It covers a number of new and expanding fields such as the “sociology of consumption and sport” and “body and cultural sociology.” Starbucks and Whole Foods Market are represented as well. Updates are added at least twice a year. Among recent updates were entries on macrosociology, consumer society, gun control and online social networking.

The online Encyclopedia includes a time-line that lists “over 700 of the most influential events, figures, and publications to have made an impact on the field.”  Essays on Theory and Methods are helpful overviews for new students in the field. All key thinkers and concepts are included. More detailed essays can be found in the Blackwell Companions to Sociology, which are also available online.

Bookmark the Encyclopedia for daily use or access it via the Library’s web site. Links can be found in the online catalog as well as on the sociology subject guide.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments that you may have.

The overall feedback from the survey on questions relating to library services and collections was remarkably positive, but faculty respondents made many critical comments about the library facilities.

Nearly a third of Villanova’s full-time faculty participated in the survey. According to over 90% of survey respondents, library resources and services are ‘more important’ or ‘as important’ today as they were five years ago. Books (85%) and e-journals (86%) ranked at the top as ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ library resources.

An impressive 80% of survey respondents know one or more of the librarians on “their” library liaison team and the overwhelming majority of them is satisfied with the services provided by the liaison librarians. Library liaison teams, librarians, the Library’s website and colleagues are the leading sources for information about new library resources, services and events.

Faculty members are frequent visitors of Falvey’s website, but use the physical space far less frequently than undergraduate students do. Faculty would like to visit the physical building more often, but find it a very uninviting environment that does little to stimulate their intellectual endeavors. One survey respondent noted that “the place desperately needs a renovation; it’s grim, dated space, when it should be a centerpiece celebrating our teaching and research mission.”

Read a short summary of the results online. The Library will conduct follow-up focus groups with faculty during the spring semester and is still looking for interested faculty volunteers. Please contact Jutta Seibert (ext. 9-7876) if you would like to participate.

Are you interested in a library research workshop for one or more of your classes in the upcoming spring semester? If yes, then please contact me as soon as possible to schedule the workshop(s). The Library has only one classroom and it tends to get booked up quickly at the beginning of each semester. Workshops later in the semester may be more beneficial for your students who can use their new research skills for their assigned papers.

Maybe you do not have the time for a library workshop, but you feel that your students could use some extra help? A research course guide is a practical alternative. Please take a look at some of the online course guides from previous semesters: art history, criminal justice, history, and sociology. Upon request I can set up a customized online research guide for your course. In the past I have also combined research workshops with online course guides in lieu of handouts.

Last but not least, remember to order books and videos early, so that they will be available in the Library when you or your students need them.

Here is my contact information:
E-mail: jutta.seibert@villanova.edu
Phone: 610-519-7876
Office: 1st floor, Falvey Library

It’s that time of the year again:  The fall semester is right around the corner and everybody is scrambling to finish his or her syllabus.  Please contact me as early as possible if you plan to bring your class to the Library for a research workshop, even if it will be much later in the semester.  The Library’s classroom tends to get booked quickly.  I find that research workshops are most beneficial when they are scheduled after students have picked their paper topics.

There may be no room in your syllabus for a library workshop, but you feel that your students could definitely use some extra help.  A research course guide is a practical alternative.  Please take a look at some of the online course guides from previous semesters:  art history, criminal justice, history, and sociology. In the past I have often done both, research workshops and online course guides in lieu of handouts.

Last but not least, remember to order books and videos early, so that they will be available in the Library when you or your students need them.

Here is my contact information:
E-mail: jutta.seibert@villanova.edu
Phone: 610-519-7876
Office: 1st floor, Falvey Library