Galvin Library has created an application that allows you to connect to library resources directly from your Facebook profile. Here’s what it looks like in your profile:

Use the IIT Library Catalog Search application to:

• Search the IIT Library Catalog: find books, e-books, videos, and journals
• Log in to your IIT/I-Share library account: renew books, check the status of your requests
• Connect to the library’s Ask a Librarian service: get research help via IM, email, or phone

The library offers many other electronic tools that make online research easier, including browser toolbars and plugins, and citation management software. Click here to see a list of more options.

You can now get links to IIT Library services from within Scirus, the scientific-information internet search engine. Scirus is different from other search engines in that it focuses only on Web pages and sites containing scientific content, such as preprint servers, digital archives, repositories and patent and journal databases.

To set up IIT Library Partner Links, click on the “Search Preferences” link on the Scirus home page. Click “Enable” under the “Library Partner Links” section, then select “Illinois Institute of Technology – Galvin Library” from the drop-down list under “I”. (See the screenshot below).

When you conduct your search, you’ll see IIT’s Get Article icon in the search results for journal articles and other scholarly literature. Follow this link to the SFX menu, which will show you options for getting the full text of the article. Most journal articles aren’t available for free online, so you need to go through the library’s links to access the full article. Also, if you’re trying to access the article from off-campus, you’ll be prompted to log in to the library proxy network.

Remember, even if the GetArticle menu says that “No full text is currently available online for this item,” you can still get a copy of the article via MyILL, the library’s new online system for requesting materials via interlibrary loan. MyILL is fast, convenient, and free to all IIT students and faculty!

To watch a brief video tutorial on how to use Scirus, click here.

Disclaimer: Users should note that Scirus is not considered a viable replacement for a search using library-provided bibliographic databases and indexes, the majority of which do not allow search engines to access their content. If you experience problems getting the full text of an article via the GetArticle link, use the Journal A-Z List or Article Finder on our web site to see if full-text access is available.

Galvin Library is pleased to announce the addition of EconLit to the library’s collection of online research databases. Maintained by the American Economic Association, EconLit is one of the most substantial online resources for economic literature. Covering all fields of economics, including capital markets, country studies, econometrics, economic forecasting, environmental economics, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, and urban economics, the database contains over 785,000 citations and abstracts dating back to 1969, and in some cases links to full-text articles. EconLit uses the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL) classification system and controlled vocabulary of keywords to index six types of records: journal articles, books, collective volume articles, dissertations, working papers, and full text book reviews from the Journal of Economic Literature.

Examples of publications indexed in EconLit include: Business Economics, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Applied Business Research, Marketing Science, and Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. EconLit records also include abstracts of books, journal articles, and working papers published by the Cambridge University Press.

EconLit can be accessed via the link above or through the Galvin Library E-Resources page.

A new version of SciFinder Scholar — the online database for journal literature in biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, and materials science — is now available at Galvin Library. SciFinder Scholar 2007 has been installed on all library public computers and is ready to use. You can also download the new version for use on your own computer here. (Please note that SciFinder can only be used from on-campus computers that have an IIT IP address).

SciFinder Scholar 2007 offers powerful new features:

Categorize references This tool enables you to sort and evaluate information in your answer sets by creating a histogram for easy analysis. Categorize separates related references on the basis of their associated CA index terms. With categorize, you can reassemble the different subsets in unique ways creating opportunities for new insights.

Save answers Now you can save answer lists of references, substances, or reactions and re-use them later in other SciFinder Scholar sessions.

Combine answer sets The combine tool makes it possible to focus on a particular research topic in new ways by combining the substances, reactions, and references in an active answer set with those in a previously saved one. By employing various options of Combine, Intersect, or Remove, you can manipulate and customize the information contained in these combined answer sets.

Print structures in grid format Gain a unique comparative view of multiple chemical structures by printing them side by side in this handy grid arrangement.

Visit cas.org to view examples that will show you the latest SciFinder Scholar 2007 features.

For any questions on using SciFinder Scholar, please Ask a Librarian.

We are very pleased to announce that all IIT users now have access to the Emporis database. Dedicated to documenting tall buildings, Emporis is the world’s largest publicly available database on architectural and building data. News, photographs, renderings, and firm data are collected by over 700 editors for more than 50,000 cities worldwide. These experienced authors and correspondents report 24 hours a day on new projects and developments in architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate with a high regard for accurate and reliable information. Emporis’s goal is to list every structure in the world which is of public or commercial interest; from a hut to a skyscraper. This resource will be particularly useful to Architecture and Civil Engineering researchers. Thanks are due to Antony Wood and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for their efforts in bringing this powerful research tool to IIT. To access Emporis, click here.

Galvin Library announces the acquisition of Simmons Choices 3, a marketing and product research resource. Drawing on data from the National Consumer Survey (NCS) produced by the Simmons Market Research Bureau — which includes demographic and psychographic data from a nationwide survey on the buying and media habits of the American public — Choices is used to develop consumer profiles of selected brands and products, and to provide information on consumer media preferences. Use Choices to move forward on your marketing or product development project using detailed consumer profiles that take into account 600 lifestyle characteristics. The Simmons NCS Study provides information gathered on over 8,000 brands in 460 product categories that drive more than 90% of US consumer spending. With Simmons Choices 3, you can combine consumer characteristics and categories to explore consumers’ behavior and decision-making processes.

To use Simmons Choices, just stop by the Circulation Desk on the lower level and ask for one of the laptops that contains the Simmons Program. Accompanying print material is kept in the Reserve collection. Having trouble? Reference Librarians can assist, just ask.

Rosetta Stone, an interactive, multi-media, language instruction software program, is now available for use in the Paul V. Galvin Library to all students, faculty and staff of IIT. It’s simple, just stop by the Circulation Desk on the lower level and ask for a Rosetta Stone laptop, plus 1 of the 5 languages we have available; English, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic or French. The laptop and language CD is available for use only in the library for 2 hours at a time. To take full advantage and optimize the features of the Rosetta Stone Language instruction method, you will need to bring along your own headset/microphone.

Rosetta Stone mimics the natural process for language acquisition that occurs and is taken for granted in childhood. Through interactive, digital technology Rosetta Stone attempts to replicate and activate that process for all learners. Rosetta Stone immerses you in the target language with images, text, and voices of native speakers. As a result, you will learn to speak, read and write the new language quickly, naturally and easily. For more information, visit the language resources page.

The library is able to make the Rosetta Stone software and equipment available to the IIT community with the generous support from several anonymous donors.