Library News

By Alice Bampton

Three junior librarians, Laura Bang, Robin Bowles and Kristyna Carroll, were promoted from Librarian I to Librarian II, University Librarian Joe Lucia recently announced. “They have each made a substantial contribution to the success of the Library, and all of them have been engaged professionally at a national level in advancing new ideas or promoting new initiatives that will help shape the future of academic libraries,” Lucia said.

Laura Bang, curatorial assistant in Special and Digital Collections, came to Falvey in 2010. Bang hires, trains and supervises students and staff in the Digital Library. She also develops and mounts the Special Collections exhibits, both online and physical, and catalogs Special Collections acquisitions. She has a master’s degree in library science from the University of Maryland. Bang’s undergraduate degree is in comparative literature from Bryn Mawr College.

Robin Bowles, Nursing and Life Sciences librarian, was appointed in 2009. She serves on the Biology/Nursing/Environmental Studies and Science/Technology subject teams. She earned her master’s degree in library and information science from Drexel University. Bowles holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in science and mathematics from West Chester University.

Kristyna Carroll, a research support librarian, graduated from Villanova with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and honors. She returned to Villanova in 2010 after graduating from Drexel University with a master’s degree in library and information science. Carroll serves on the Geography/Political Science/Naval/Cultural Studies and Communication/Education/Psychology/Sociology subject teams.

Librarians, like faculty, are appointed through the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

A librarian seeking promotion submits a dossier to the Library Promotion Committee comprised of librarians who hold the rank of Librarian II or higher. The Committee, chaired this year by Taras Ortynsky, descriptive services librarian, Resource Management Center, makes its recommendation to the University Librarian who sends his decision to the VPAA who takes the final action.

Lucia said, “Promotions are made on the basis of excellence in service to the University academic community, professional engagement at the local and national level, and contributions to the profession of academic librarianship as evidenced by a record of significant publication or presentation at major library conferences.”

Also contributing: Judy Olsen

By Robin Bowles

What is the best database for Biology articles?

The best bet for comprehensive biology research is Biological Abstracts. If your topic is animal related, you should also check Zoological Record. You can use PubMed for biology topics, but be aware that it contains a vast amount of medical literature that won’t be useful to you. Google Scholar (which is not really a database) and Scopus also have many good scholarly articles for biological research.

How do I pick good search terms when looking for articles?

The key to choosing effective search terms starts with answering one question: “What words or phrases will appear only in articles that interest me?” For example, if you are researching “how little brown bat colonies cope with white-nose syndrome,” you should select those words or phrases that will only appear in articles on your topic, in this case the phrases “little brown bat” and “white-nose syndrome.”

Your next step is to combine those search terms into an AND statement: “little brown bat” AND “white-nose syndrome.”

Then take it one step further and look for other terms and phrases that are synonymous with the ones you’ve already picked.

You may turn to Wikipedia and discover that other names for the little brown bat are “little brown myotis” and “Myotis lucifugus.” “White-nose syndrome” is also written as “white nose syndrome” or “WNS” and is believed to be caused by the fungus “Geomyces destructans.”

Wait a minute! Did you just use Wikipedia?

Yes, Wikipedia is a good place to look for alternate names and terms. I’m using it here to inform my search strategy, not as a research source itself. (more…)

To highlight undergraduate research and the Library’s role in facilitating such research, Falvey Memorial Library honors students whose achievements have distinguished them as Falvey Scholars. The tenth annual Falvey Scholars Award ceremony took place on Friday, April 27, 2012, on Falvey’s newly renovated second floor.

The Falvey Scholars Award was established in 2002 by Joseph P. Lucia, University librarian and library director. Lucia collaborated with the honors program and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships to establish the award. This annual program, according to Lucia, serves “to recognize and reward exceptional undergraduate research.”

Casey Burkhardt (Computer Science), delivered the first presentation: “The Trajectory to the ‘Technological Singularity.’” Singularity, Casey explained, is “a point at which technology surpasses the abilities of the human brain.” He also discussed the ethical component and social responsibility related to such technological pursuits. Casey’s faculty mentor, William Fleischman, PhD, could not attend. Joe Lucia read Dr. Fleischman’s introduction in his stead.

Theresa Donohoe (English), the next presenter, discussed “Nature, Culture, and Gender in Gardens of Middle English Poetry.” Focusing on “The Pearl,” an anonymous fourteenth century poem, Theresa studied a manuscript from the British Library in researching the treatment of nature and of women in the poem. She cited other fourteenth century texts—”The Book of the Duchess,” “The Knight’s Tale,” and “The Merchant’s Tale” by Chaucer—in her presentation, reciting some passages in middle English. Theresa’s faculty mentor was Alice Dailey, PhD.

Mark Reimlinger, Emily Battinelli, and Frank Anuszewski (in absentia) (Electrical Engineering), discussed their project: “Microstructured Optical Fibers for Environmental Sensing.” Mark’s work on this project, which he had begun in March of 2010, involves measuring the absorption of light so precisely as to detect, for example, chemical agents. Emily stated that this technique could also be used to detect types of antibodies, indicating the presence of certain diseases. Rosalind Wynne, PhD, served as the team’s faculty mentor.

Matthew Hemmerle (Economics) showed how a country’s dependence on oil affects its economy and its political system: “Manufacturing Institutional Quality: The Impact of Dutch Disease on Governance in Oil Dependent Countries.” In researching dozens of oil-dependent countries, Matthew studied how such countries’ oil sectors may negatively impact their manufacturing sectors. Matthew integrated his experiences studying in Jordan and visiting Cambodia on a service trip into his research. His faculty mentor was Mary Kelly, PhD.

Hillary Dutton (Nursing), the event’s final presenter, delivered “Electronic Aggression in Adolescents: The Current State of the Science.” Cyber-bullying, Hillary explained, exceeds the boundaries of traditional bullying, following its target into his/her home and even the bedroom. And if the bullying doesn’t originate from a school computer, she continued, the school can’t intervene. Her faculty mentor, Elizabeth Dowdell, PhD, described Hillary as “a really strong and independent soul.”

The Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, ’75 A&S, president of Villanova University, spoke next. In the context of faculty’s responsibility to build knowledge, Father Peter asserted that the University’s “students are also contributing to that knowledge.” He also recognized the service of the faculty mentors who supported the Falvey Scholars.

During the luncheon that immediately followed, attendees remarked on the timeliness of the Scholars’ topics, their professionalism—both in presenting their research and in responding to the audience’s questions, and the thoughtful questions posed by student attendees.

Special thanks to Gina Duffy, library events and program coordinator, and her team for posting online announcements; for setting up the chairs, tables, computers (for the presenters) and the display screen; and for organizing the refreshments. Special thanks also go to the library’s graphic designer, Joanne Quinn, who created the display window on the first floor, celebrating the Falvey Scholars and the tenth anniversary of this event.

Contributed by Gerald Dierkes; photography by Alice Bampton

Falvey Memorial Library announces its institutional membership to Hindawi Publishing Corporation. Launched in 1997, Hindawi publishes a growing number of open access journals in engineering, medicine and the sciences, and now includes Nursing Research and Practice, as well as social sciences titles such as Journal of Anthropology and Urban Studies Research.

Read more about Hindawi and open access publishing on Barbara Quintiliano’s recent blog post.

Many graduate students completing theses and dissertations at Villanova are required to post them to Dissertations and Theses Full Text (ProQuest). Posting your thesis gives scholars all over the world access to your work. Because your thesis becomes fully searchable, students and researchers are able to benefit from the work you put into your project.

But before you sit down to submit your thesis to ProQuest, there are a few things you’ll need to get ready. We’ve prepared this topic guide to help you.

By Merrill Stein and Kristyna Carroll

What you can do: Consider our planet today.  Consider the Villanova Commitment to Sustainability.  Find out what you can do to make a difference.  Learn how to be green in a billion ways or learn how even Olympic athletes are being green.  Follow the Earth Day Network on Facebook.

Lobby for environmental protection by contacting your representatives in Congress.  Support green companies and products while also protecting the environment by being a green shopper.

Library resources: Find inspiration with our many DVDs related to the environment or with some classic environmental literature.

Databases:

Learn about some famous tri-state area environmentalists, such as Rachel Carson in the Biography in Context database.

Follow the history of Earth Day in the Historical New York Times and ProQuest Newspapers databases.  Read about the development of  U.S. environmental policy  in the America: History and Life , CQ Electronic Library and Congressional (Lexis Nexis) databases.  For instance, learn more about Disappearing Forests from CQ Global Researcher.

Try looking in the Pollution Abstracts database for information about flex-fuels, biological diversity and water quality.

Remember our planet to keep it well.

by Jacqueline Mirabile

Handbook of Life-Span Development (Wiley, 2010) is now available full text online, covering cognitive, biological, social and emotional aspects of human change across the life span.  The chapters range from the development of mental processing to developing civic engagement within a civic context.

Searching in the full text of this title for the term gestures indicates that there are 13 chapters which contain the word gesture. As expected the chapter “Gesturing Across the Life Span” has the most but there is also information in these chapters: “The Development of Representation and Concepts” and “Neurobiological Bases of Social Behavior across the Life Span.”

Each chapter has an extensive list of references with links which may take you to full text.  Links to this resource can be found in the library’s catalog as well as the Subject Guide pages for Counseling and Psychology.

Also, when searching a topic if you do not limit to this particular title you can pull up references from any of the resources Falvey subscribes to from Wiley Online Library.

Six Villanova students presented their senior projects during the eighth annual Falvey Scholars awards ceremony in Falvey Memorial Library on April 23 at 1:00 p.m. This annual program, established by the Library, recognizes outstanding undergraduate research. The collaborative efforts of the Library, the Honors Program and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships make this program possible.

This year’s recipients represent all of the University’s undergraduate colleges, and each winner’s presentation highlighted the value of utilizing library resources and staff.

Arts- Brittany Parisi (Political Science), “Evolving the Third Sector: The Convergence of Local and International Civil Society in India.” (Satya Pattnayak, Ph.D., faculty mentor)


Business – Christopher McKay (Economics), “Equity vs. Efficiency: When is Lending a Helping Hand Being Too Helpful?” (Mary Kelly, Ph.D., faculty mentor)


Engineering – Susan Mischinski (Engineering), “The Effect of Bone Microstructure on Crack Initiation and Propagation In Human Cortical Bone.” (Ani Ural, Ph.D., faculty mentor)


Nursing – Ashley Thompson and Kelly Moran (Nursing), “Social Ecological Model to Address Hookah Smoking of Villanova Students.” (Ruth McDermott-Levy, Ph.D., RN, faculty mentor)


Sciences – Shreya Trivedi (Biology), “Analysis of the role of inflammatory pathways on estrogen-induced uterine tissue remodeling in the ovariectomized immature rat.” (Louise Russo, Ph.D., faculty mentor).


“This program is exciting and rewarding for the Library; it allows us to experience the intellectual work of our outstanding students,” said Joe Lucia, director of Falvey Memorial Library.

This year’s winners were chosen from a group of candidates-either an individual Villanova University senior or a group of seniors- working together with the faculty adviser for their senior thesis or capstone project. The candidates were then selected by the Falvey Scholars Selection Committee, comprised of representatives from each of the collaborating departments.

Digital copies of the winning papers are maintained in the Villanova Digital Library.

Compiled by Akua K. Adoo, Publications and Communication intern; photographs by Alice Bampton, Laura Hutelmyer and Natalie Tomasco

Falvey offers the University community online access to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators.” Widely valued for the timeliness and credibility of its news coverage, the Chronicle has won numerous awards for its coverage of political issues with impact on higher education. (more…)

Struggling with a research project in Biology?

The General Biology Research Guide contains links to a huge variety of biology-related databases as well as online reference books and other materials.

The Guide now also contains video tutorials for PubMed and Biological Abstracts.

There are also many other Research Guides in Biology including Human Anatomy and Graduate Biology pages.

See them all at the Course and Topic Guides page, which contains course guides covering a range of subject areas.

For more help in Biology contact the Biology librarian Robin Bowles or 610-519-8129. You can also use this form to make a personal research appointment with Robin.

For Biology updates, please refer to the SweetPea blog.

For help at any time, on any subject, contact the information desk (610.519.4270) or  ask a research librarian.

By Robin Bowles