New computers

We now have new computers in the library for reader use. They have access to OLIS, the internet and all the usual electronic resources as before, but also have Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access) and EndNote installed. It is not possible to save anything to the hard drive however, so you will need to bring your own USB drive if you need to save things. If you don't have a USB stick and need to save something temporarily (eg, to email it to yourself or to transfer to your own laptop), we have a couple that we can lend you - please ask at the staff desk.

The only computer that hasn't been replaced yet is the one attached to the microfilm scanner - this is due to a problem with incompatible hardware which should be fixed shortly.

VHL on LibraryThing Local

As readers of this blog will know, the VHL has been on LibraryThing since November, adding our new acquisitions each month. I don't know how many of our readers are LibraryThing users (or Thingamabrarians, as I believe we are referred to) but I am a huge fan of LibraryThing. I have my personal book collection on there too (for which I either hang my head in shame or proudly proclaim my geekiness, depending on how you view such things), and I am loving the new developments they are constantly bringing out. The latest of these is LibraryThing Local, which basically adds listings of libraries, bookshops and literary festivals to LibraryThing, searchable by location. You can find the VHL here, and you can add us as a favourite library on your LibraryThing profile. Or even befriend us as a fellow Thingamabrarian!

(and a reminder, we're available to be friended on del.icio.us and Facebook too, if anyone feels so inclined...)

Footnote.com - digitised material from NARA

Footnote.com contains 4.5 million pages of material that has been digitised in a partnership with NARA. Oxford doesn't have a subscription, but even without a personal or institutional subscription you can freely access much digitised NARA material:

• American Colonization Society papers
• American Milestone Documents (incl. e.g. Gettysburg address 1863, 1890 Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 1954 McCarthy, etc.)
• Ratified Amendments to the US Constitution
• Domestic Letters of the Department of State, 1785-1865
• Brady Civil War Photos
• Lincoln's Assassination Papers
• Pennsylvania Archives
• Southern Claims Commission
• George Washington Correspondence
• Constitutional Convention Records
• Continental Congress papers
• Foreign Letters of the Continental Congress

If you want to make use of the annotation, commenting, sharing and saving features, you can create a free account.

New books for February

The list of new books received in the library during February is now available on our website and LibraryThing page.

Travels in the W & SW - microfiche list continued

For anyone tracking our progress with the online list of uncatalogued fiches in the Travels in the West and Southwest collection, we have just hit our limit of 250 items on the list. We have therefore started a second list for the remaining fiches which can be viewed at: http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/vhllib/lists/54202. Both are linked to from our website.

WISER sessions coming up

WISER Social Sciences: E-books.
Monday 3 March 2008 (week 8), 12.30 -1.30 Social Science Library IT Room, Manor Road.
An overview of the ebook packages that are currently available and how to access them. This session is aimed at students, researchers and academics considering using e-books to resource their courses. There will be time for hands-on practice.
Kate Williams and Hilla Wait.
No need to book.

WISER General: Theses and dissertations.
Friday, 7 Mar (week 8), 12.30 -1.30, OUCS, Banbury Road.
This session offers guidance on finding theses, both those held in Oxford University Libraries and those from other institutions in the UK and abroad. It will demonstrate how to exploit the main sources of information for theses and dissertations: OLIS; Index to Theses (UK andIreland); Dissertation Abstracts International (America).
Mat Andrews and Rob Wilkes.
Book at:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/courses/detail/TFZ4

Full programme at: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/training
All enquiries to: usered@ouls.ox.ac.uk

Travels in the West and Southwest - list of uncatalogued microfiches now available

Last year, we found a large set of microfiches from the Travels in the West and Southwest collection which had been purchased back in the 1970s and had never been catalogued. We purchased catalogue records for approximately half of the fiches in the summer and loaded them into OLIS, but were unable to obtain records for the rest. It may take us a while to get these catalogued, but we have just found an interim solution to make a list of the titles available for browsing so that these fiches are accessible. We are using My WorldCat to create an online list which is available for viewing at: http://www.worldcat.org/profiles/vhllib/lists/52208. It may take us a couple of weeks to get all the titles on there - if you are keen to follow our progress you can even subscribe to the feed and be notified of our progress as we add more!

Once we have completed the list, we will put the fiches out in the drawer at shelfmark Micr. USA 454 (with the catalogued ones), and be able to add the titles to our subject and title lists.