Library Classes Descriptions
Click here to see classes being offered this quarter.
All classes will be held in the Sherman Fairchild Library Multimedia Conference Room, third floor, Room 328.
For more information send >email to webclass AT library.caltech.edu, or contact Tony Diaz, x6699. (Registration-related questions only).
Business Resources
This class will focus on business research strategies and methods for finding information on companies and industries.
Why you should take this class:
- You are starting to apply for jobs and wonder what companies you might like to work for.
- You have a job interview and want to find out more about a company and its industry.
- You are planning to start your own business and want to do background research on the industry and companies within the industry.
Chemical Compound Data Searching
In addition to SciFinder Scholar/Chemical Abstracts and Beilstein/Gmelin Crossfire, Caltech researchers have access to a wide variety of specialized chemical compound databases.
These databases provide extensive information on: industrial chemicals, enzymes, natural products, stability constants, thermodynamic/spectral data, solvents, polymers and synthetic methods. A comprehensive handout is provided.
Chemical Structure Searching
Searching with chemical structures (both drawn and with templates) for property data and chemical reactions in Beilstein, Gmelin, SciFinder Scholar, and the Combined Chemical Dictionary (Dictionaries of Organic Chemistry, Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry, Natural Products, etc.)
Chemistry Information Resources
How do I choose which database to search . . . Combined Chemical Dictionary, Beilstein/Gmelin, Web of Science, SciFinder Scholar, etc.
What do I do if I don't retrieve enough? Too much?
Session objectives are to learn to make the most of chemistry information tools and services provided by the Caltech Library System.
Copyright for Researchers in Academia
Presented by Kimberly Douglas, Director of the Caltech Library System and Peggy Luh, Office of the General Counsel
In the scholarly community researchers are active authors and readers, producers and consumers. This seminar will discuss the rights and responsibilities of these roles as governed by U.S. Copyright Law. Issues of photocopying, fair use and scholarly publisher copyright agreements will be included.
Crystallographic Databases
Illustrative examples of searching for online crystal structure data are presented, including Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD), Mineralogy Database, ASM Alloy Phase Diagrams Center, Beilstein/Gmelin, SciFinder Scholar, and more.
Depositing Papers in CaltechAUTHORS
CaltechAUTHORS is an institutional repository providing free access to articles written by, with, or in close association with Caltech professorial faculty. Come and see how quickly and easily author postprints (author-formatted, post-peer review and copy-edited) can be uploaded and made easily retrievable by a global audience.
DiscoveryGate (MDL)
A search/display interface to a multi-database collection of more than 20M structures, 11M reactions and 350M calculated and reported physical properties, that includes both Beilstein and Gmelin. Many of the databases can be searched either individually or as a group.
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Are you working on your thesis? Did you know that electronic copies of theses must be submitted? Are you aware of the formatting requirements for theses? You are encouraged to attend a brief overview of techniques useful in the production and publication of Caltech electronic theses. The session will include tips on formatting and submitting, and will touch on intellectual property considerations and access. This class is held on a walk-in basis.
EndNote For Beginners
Are you writing a research paper or ready to start your thesis? Want an easy way to store, manage and search for bibliographic references? EndNote for Beginners may be just the quick start session you need. Learn what EndNote is and the basics of how it can work for you to organize the articles you’re reading and create bibliographies within a word processing document. We’ll cover how to get your references into EndNote and what to do with them once they’re there.
Introduction to Beilstein/Gmelin Crossfire
A review of database content, and a quick comparison with SciFinder Scholar and the Combined Chemical Dictionary. Examples of structure searching and displaying results in Beilstein Commander will be shown. A handout with examples of search and display features will be provided, along with practice structure problems. There will be demonstrations of: Searching with chemical structures (tools, templates, atoms, bonds, rings, groups); displaying compound records (including custom displays and printing); reaction searching.
Lexis/Nexis Academic: A Universe of Social Science Information Resources
The academic version of Lexis/Nexis offers a wealth of social science resources with powerful statistical, congressional, legal, business and full text newspaper databases. The class will survey these features with a special focus on statistical and congressional resources. We'll show you how to:
- Find and create tables from government statistical reports.
- Retrieve Congressional records.
- Find federal laws and regulations.
- Find full text newspaper articles and radio & television transcripts.
Life Sciences Information Resources
Covers various bibliographic databases to consider for interdisciplinary information retrieval related to life sciences, as well as options for automatically updating yourself on new literature on your topic, use of subheadings in PubMed/Medline, and other database functions and features.
Making the Most of Your Presentation
Effective presentation skills are a major asset for engineers, scientists, and other professionals, all the more so in the highly competitive context of the 21st century. Professional presentations hold a persuasive power not found in printed documents or electronic exchanges. Join us for this seminar that presents a five-step methodology that leads to effective presentations, and will address your delivery, design, and visual presentation questions.
MathSciNet
Come learn the ins and outs of MathSciNet. Learn about the Mathematical Subject Classification, as well as other tricks of the trade, and why it’s the best way to search the mathematical literature – Yes! It’s even better than Google!
MathSciNet for EAS
The mathematical literature is not just for mathematicians. Discover MathSciNet
and see how the reviews written by professional mathematicians can help you
find the articles you truly need, that help you solve the some of the complex
mathematical problems in your research.
Online Resources for Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Need quick access to electrical engineering and computer science information resources? Confused about distinctions between IEEE, ACM, NCSTRL and CaltechCSTR? Not sure how or when to access the ACM Digital Library? This speedy session is designed to help all members of the EE and CS communities improve their research skills and expand their access to information options.
Open Access
An overview of the many faces of Open Access. Topics covered will include disciplinary archives, dissertations, institutional archives, overlay journals, born-OA journals, converted OA-journals, Walker-Prosser OA-by-the article journals, and scanned heritage (EMANI, Gallica, ...). There will be a special update on the NIH policy.
Papers for Mac OS X
Do you have dozens of PDF files from your favorite scientific articles scattered on your hard drive? Do
you also try to desperately organize them by renaming and archiving them in folders? Do you run Mac
OS X? Then come learn about Papers, a personal PDF library.
Patents
Hannah Dvorak-Carbone (Office of Technology Transfer) will present a review of the patenting process. This will be followed by a quick review of patent searching, locating English language patent equivalents, legal status issues, and current awareness techniques by Dana Roth.
Physical Property Data Searching
Illustrative examples of searching for physical property data in both print and online resources, including: Landolt-Bornstein, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data, Thermodex, Beilstein/Gmelin and SciFinder Scholar.
Quick Overview of Information Resources
New on campus? Have you seen a listing of the 100+ databases available at Caltech? Updating your CV and need to find a citation? Looking for a proceedings paper? Want to find out if the library subscribes to an electronic journal? Let us show you the most effective ways to use library services and resources! This session is designed especially for graduate students, post-docs and research staff, but all are welcome. Please note: this class is held on a walk-in basis.
Quick Review of HUMSS Information Resources
Review the content and use of the Library's subscription databases most useful for Humanities and Social Sciences. The main emphasis will be on Web of Science, MLA and FirstSearch for locating and verifying journal article citations and books. We will talk about how to identify and access full text e-journals, including JSTOR. There will be extra time for questions and hands-on.
SciFinder Scholar ... it's not just for chemists
SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts Service) is a premier database for science and engineering.
SFS' content and format coverage (journal articles, patents, theses, etc.) will be reviewed and search techniques for topics, chemical substances and reactions will be shown.
Web of Knowledge
This session will provide a wide variety of strategies for searching Web of Science including topic, & author searching, retrieving citing articles, linking to full-text, exporting records directly into EndNote or the new Web EndNote, and creating search and citation alerts.
All classes will be held in the Sherman Fairchild Library Multimedia Conference Room, third floor, Room 328.
For more information send email to webclass AT library.caltech.edu, or contact Tony Diaz, x6699. (Registration-related questions only).