LIBNEWS-L: New Resources and Services at Old Dominion University Libraries

February 6, 2007

* Black History Month Exhibit: "From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in America"
* Database Trial: "Aluka"
* Workshop: "Finding Journals in an Imperfect World" -- February 17 and 22

----------------------------------------------------
==>  BLACK HISTORY MONTH EXHIBIT:
     "FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM: AFRICANS IN AMERICA"

In recognition of Black History Month, the Old Dominion University
Libraries is featuring an exhibit, "From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in
America."  The exhibit will be available through the month of February 2007
in the main lobby of Perry Library. A Web page is also available at
http://www.lib.odu.edu/exhibits/blackhistorymonth/2007.

The exhibit includes photos and textual materials illustrating key moments
in the struggle of African Americans from slavery to freedom. Recognition
is also given to the "Norfolk 17," the 17 African American students who
integrated Norfolk's public schools which were closed in 1958 in defiance
of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

For more information, please contact the creators of the exhibit -- Nakheia
McFarland nmcfarla@odu.edu or Edison Simmons esimmons@odu.edu

-----------------------------
==>  DATABASE TRIAL: "ALUKA"

Aluka is an international, collaborative, not-for-profit effort that is
building a networked digital library of scholarly resources from and about
Africa. The name, 'Aluka,' is derived from a Zulu word meaning 'to weave',
reflecting Aluka’s mission to connect resources and scholars from around
the world....  Aluka will serve the scholarly community by tapping into the
unprecedented capacity of the web to connect those who hold African
collections with those who want to use them.

Content areas currently available are: African Plants; Struggles for
Freedom in Southern Africa; and, African Cultural Heritage Sites and
Landscapes. The digital materials in the African Plants area contain over
280,000 objects in 21 collections, including plant specimens, photographs,
art, reference works, and archival records of historical expeditions to
Africa. The creators of Aluka hope that users of the African Plants "will
envision the potential impact of this concept and visualize how this
approach could be followed to develop collections in a wide variety of
disciplines."

The trial is available through the end of June. Access Aluka through the
library's "Databases" page.

NOTE: Two additional trials are also available:  Patrologia Latina (til
2/7) and ECCO: 18th Century Collections Online (til 2/23)

----------------------------------------------------------
==>  WORKSHOP:  "FINDING ARTICLES IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD"
     -- FEBRUARY 17 and 22

The good news is that hundreds of thousands of journal articles can be
found online through various library resources. As more and more become
available, however, the methods for retrieving them become more varied.
Learn about obtaining the articles through research information databases,
through the library's journal search page, by using ArticleLinker, and even
electronically via interlibrary loan.

As part of the library's Graduate Student Workshop series, "Finding
Articles" will be held on Saturday, February 17, from 11am-noon. Another
session for faculty, staff and graduate students will be held in Room 163
of the Perry Library on Thursday, February 22, from 10-11am.

To register for either session, contact Nancy Schafer at nschafer@odu.edu
or 683-5909

-------------------------------
Next Issue: February 13, 2007
-------------------------------
Find the Libnews-L archives at:
http://www.lib.odu.edu/libinfo/publications/libnews