In this issue:  Library Adds Two Databases  Electronic Reserves  New Kids' Corner  Director's Corner  Minneapolis Campus  New Library Staff Back Issues:    No. 6, Spring 1999 | No. 5, Fall 1998

ATLA RELIGION DATABASE

The ATLA Religion Database is a compilation of three print indexes: Religion Index One: Periodicals (RIO), Religion Index Two: Multi-Author Works (RIT), and Index to Book Reviews in Religion (IBRR). Coverage begins in 1949, with selected records dating back as far as 1818. Over one million records include citations in 26 languages from 650 journals, essay collections, and book reviews, from all fields of religion. Religion majors are not the only researchers who may find the ATLA

Religion Database useful. The database also covers religious research in related fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, medicine, law, and business. Due to its location on the CD Network, the search format of the ATLA Religion Database will be familiar to those who have also used ERIC, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and the rest of the databases on the network.

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe is a comprehensive Web-based database that offers access to a wide range of domestic and international news, business, legal, and reference information sources. If you are searching for information particularly in business and law, Academic Universe is a great place to start because many of the sources are unavailable elsewhere in the CSC Libraries.

Academic Universe is divided into five main research areas: News, Business, Legal Research, Medical, and Reference. Within each area are several subcategories to further refine a search, from country profiles, to newswires, to patent laws, just to name a few. These research areas are supported by nearly 5,000 sources, including newspapers, journals, newswires, company reports, trade publications, court opinions, government documents, transcripts from broadcasts, and reference works. News information is updated daily and wire services several times daily. The majority of documents are available in full-text, although some sources omit photographs, tables and charts. Where full-text is not available, an abstract is usually provided. While some sources date back to the 1970's, the majority of sources begin in the early 1990's.

If you have any questions about the ATLA Religion Database or LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe, please stop by or call the reference desk (651-690-6652).

Written by Laura Frese

The Word is Out There: Electronic Reserves on the Web

In the spring issue of LAVA, you may have read that library staff were preparing to launch a new service called Electronic Reserves. Well, the wait is over -- Electronic Reserves is now available on the Web! Have you ever wanted to read an article your instructor placed on reserve, but couldn't get to the library? When you do get to the library, is the material already checked out? Maybe E-Reserves is the solution to your problem.

During the past summer, the CSC Libraries and CSC Computing Services worked together to set up Electronic Reserves. This new resource will make selected reserve material available to St. Kate's students via the library's home page. Electronic Reserves gives students access to course related materials through the Web. Students may access, view and print selected materials from the Electronic Reserves web page. Following are some FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions) about E-Reserves:

How can I access E-Reserves? First, students must have a Lotus Notes account. This account not only lets you read your campus email, it is also the key to accessing Electronic Reserves and other library resources. A Lotus Notes account ensures that copyrighted material will be available only to College of St. Catherine students, faculty and staff. If you do not have a Lotus Notes account, you may apply for one in Computing Services. Where do I find E-Reserves? You can visit the library's web page at http://www.stkate.edu/library. Just click on Electronic Reserves. Type in your Lotus Notes user name and password and you are on your way to finding material your instructor has reserved for your class. You can search by Instructor, Course Number, Title, or Program. Some department home pages may also have links to E-Reserves. How do I open the file icons once I am in Electronic Reserves? You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view or print material in Electronic Reserves. The computer labs on campus have the Acrobat Reader installed and reserve articles are easily viewed. The files may be very large and take longer to open from off campus. If you don't have the Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by clicking on the Adobe download button. Once you have the Acrobat Reader installed, just double click on the file icon to view the article. Can I still check out articles from the Reserve files via the Circulation Desk? Hard copies of reserve material will continue to be available at the library Circulation Desk. And you can still search CLICnet for Reserves available in the College of St. Catherine Libraries.

More questions? You can email Reserves@stkate.edu or contact Janice Fuchs at x6696/8748.

New Kids' Corner at the St. Paul Campus Library

We know there are many parents of young children in the St. Catherine community, and that childcare is not always available when you need to do research. That's why we established a new Kids' Corner near the Reference area computers. The Kids' Corner has a child-sized desk, two chairs, crayons, paper, books, and toys. We hope this helps keep your child pleasantly occupied long enough for you to get your work done. Donations of crayons, books, or small toys for the Kids' Corner are welcome! As a reminder--Children's books are available for checkout in the Juvenile area on the lower level of the Library.

We do ask the following: * Please do not leave your child unattended in the Library. * Please do not ask the staff to watch your child for you. * Please pick up after your child and straighten the area when you leave.

This summer, the administration found a temporary solution to the space crunch. They approved the installation of 160 sections of compact shelving on the lower level of the building. These mobile stacks move across the floor on raised tracks and store compactly side by side, thereby almost doubling the storage capacity of that part of the library. The original, displaced shelving was relocated to other parts of the building, and together the compact stacks and relocated shelving provide space for an additional 40,000 volumes, or five years of collection growth. This project was completed over the summer, and all that remains is to spread out the entire collection on the lower level to take advantage of the new space.

We would like to thank the Friends of the Library for their faithful and constant support the past two years. Over 175 Friends contributed just over $16,000 to the Library last year. $12,000 is being used to start a new endowment fund to honor Marie Inez Johnson, CSJ, the beloved past library director. This endowment will be used to support the Library and Information Science collections to meet the research needs of future graduate and undergraduate students. The Friends goal is to complete the fund raising for this endowment ($25,000) in two years.

As always, call me at 651-690-6650 or email me at cpjohnson@stkate.edu if you have suggestions or comments.

News from the Minneapolis Campus      Another school year is well underway and the Minneapolis Campus Library/AV continues to be a hub of activity. Improvements in our physical space and in our resources and collections have occurred in recent months. Computers were purchased for the library public area and a new laser printer was installed to speed the printing process. Electronic resources in the health sciences, including the Cochrane Library of Evidence Based Medicine and the Alternative Health Watch database, are available for research. In Audio-Visual Services, additional classrooms are being outfitted with technologies to allow for digital presentations. Our goal is to make teaching with laptops more manageable for faculty. Final touches have been made on the interactive classroom and it has been used for meetings and events across the two campuses and for continuing education courses. In recognition of Banned Books Week, September 26-October 2, the Library staff created a display featuring books that have been recently banned or challenged in libraries in the United States. The theme of Banned Books Week 1999 was "Free People Read Freely."

New Library Staff

I joined the St. Paul Campus Library in July as a part-time reference librarian, the day after I returned from riding my bicycle 500 miles in the Twin Cities-Chicago AIDS Ride 4. Consequently, I haven't been on my bike much since then, but I have enjoyed a ride or two through the leaves this fall (including a spectacular wipeout resulting in nasty case of road rash!). I received a B.A. in History from Gustavus Adolphus College (yes, the tornado college) and my M.L.I.S. from the St. Kate's/Dominican University Library Science program. In addition to helping students at the Reference Desk, I coordinate the Government Documents collection and will begin teaching some library instruction sessions for the Reflective Woman course this fall. I can also be seen using my reference skills at Hamline University's Bush Library. Somewhat hesitantly, I admit that I'm a huge Star Wars fan and sadly, I've only seen The Phantom Menace four times. I live in St. Paul with my husband James and my two cats, Frankie and Pumpkin.

Laurie Halverson--Serials/Cataloging Tech, St. Paul Campus

I was previously employed in the Public Services Department at the Warren E. Burger Library, William Mitchell College of Law. Along with working here at The College of St. Catherine, I'm a student in the Master of Library and Information Science program. I have a BA in Elementary Education, with a concentration in Reading & Literacy. I'm strongly leaning toward becoming a children's librarian. One year ago my husband and I relocated to the Twin Cities from San Antonio, TX. During the summer months I enjoy planting, maintaining, and harvesting our vegetable garden. All of our produce is put to use through either freezing or canning. Since moving back to the midwest I've become a cross-country skiing enthusiast. I've been married nine years to my college sweetheart Kelly.

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