Saturday research workshops for grad students-don't miss out! Graduate students are encouraged to attend one or both of the research workshops led by reference librarians on Saturday mornings this fall. On October 18, Nancy Schafer will lead Effective Strategies for Finding the Research Information You Need. For more information or to register, email her at nschafer@odu.edu. Participants and are encouraged to submit topics before the workshop. American FactFinder: Creating Customized Data Sets from Census 2000 is the focus of the October 25 workshop led by Government Information Reference Librarian Janet Justis. Participants will learn how to download census data in a variety of formats for use with spreadsheets and statistical analysis packages. For more information or to register, email her at jjustis@odu.edu. Bargains for you at used book sale Perry Library's annual used book sale will take place in Room 151 at these times: November 5 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM November 6 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM November 7 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM November 8 9:00 AM -12:00 Noon A preview will be open to members of the Friends of the Library from 5:30 PM until 8:00 PM on Tuesday, November 4. Proceeds will fund the library student assistant awards, which are presented in December. Donations of books, videos, etc. may be dropped off at the circulation desk in the lobby any time prior to the sale. New online science journals As a member of the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) consortium, the Old Dominion University Libraries now provide online access to the premier general science journals published by Nature. Nature Nature Biotechnology Nature Cell Biology Nature Genetics Nature Immunology Nature Materials Nature Medicine Nature Neuroscience Nature Reviews Genetics Nature Reviews Immunology Nature Structural Biology Nature Reviews Neuroscience   Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology To get access to any of them, from the library home page, click on Library Catalog, then on Periodicals. Coming soon: LexisNexis Academic Universe In early October, LexisNexis Academic Universe will debut on the ODU Libraries Web page under Information Resources. The highly-regarded LexisNexis resource provides five separate databases: News, Business, Legal Research, Medical, and Reference. A workshop led by a company representative for faculty will be held sometime later this semester. Watch for announcements or call the reference desk at 683-4178 to inquire. Distance Learning Corner Have you every tried to get to one of our library's electronic databases or journals and gotten a message such as, Page cannot be displayed or Document contains no data? It may be because you have a firewall at your place of work, especially if you are located at a military or government location. We will be glad to talk with your computer systems personnel to let them know port numbers we are using. To inquire further, complete the form located at http://www.lib.odu.edu/forms/contactus.shtml. Important treasures from the past Where would you go to find A photograph of the old Ocean View Amusement Park roller coaster? A copy of every doctoral dissertation and master's thesis written by Old Dominion University graduate students? An oral history interview with former ODU President Dr. Alfred E. Rollins? A 1963 volume of The Troubadour, an Old Dominion yearbook? Research materials collected and notes written by Mike D'Orso, author of many acclaimed non-fiction books? Answer: The Special Collections in Perry Library. This area, located on the third floor, houses the University Archives, manuscripts, and books and printed material relating to Virginia and Tidewater History. The University Archives includes the non-current permanent records of the university, theses and dissertations, oral histories, yearbooks, course catalogs, university publications, and photographs of yesterday and today. The Manuscripts Collection contains diaries, letters, legal and campaign files, photographs, and maps that document such subjects as the Civil War, Virginia politics, military history, African-American history, Norfolk urban redevelopment, women's history, and local history. The goal of Special Collections is to preserve and make accessible collections and records of historical importance to the university, region, state and nation. Recently Susan Catlett became the Special Collections Coordinator. She has been employed in the Library since 2001. Formerly she was involved in the establishment of the Centreville Press Archives and the archives of the Francis Land House while a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Alabama. Catlett has a B.A. in History from ODU, a Master of Arts in History from University of Alabama and is currently enrolled in the masters program at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville School of Information Sciences. Contact Special Collections at special@libstaff.lib.odu.edu or by telephoning 757-683-4483.

Library Update is published four times a year by the library for the Old Dominion University community. Its purpose is to inform users of new and existing services, policies and procedures.

Editor: Cynthia Wright Swaine