Library Quarterly Report FY18 Q1: July-September 2017

Library Databases Grow and Evolve

This quarter saw unusual levels of change in the library's subscription databases. While those databases do change from time to time it is unusual to have so many and such significant changes in a single quarter. Here's a summary of those changes:

Books24x7
The Books24x7 database underwent a radical change in terms of interface, content and even access. The new interface is cleaner and less overwhelming to VDOT employees. New content includes more video and audio book resources. Most importantly a new "Single Sign On" feature means that VDOT employees accessing the resource from their work computer are automatically authenticated and automatically recognized. While Books24x7 has always been popular, the result of the improved new resource has been record levels of use. To help library patrons we created this Books24x7 Quick Start guide...

Business Source Corporate Plus
The big news regarding the library's subscription to the business database Business Source Complete is that we've upgraded our subscription to include thousands of new journal articles in the resource Business Source Corporate Plus. The EBSCO interface remains one of the library's most intuitive and easy-to-use resources. To help our users we hope to create more guides that reveal some of the amazing business content this resource holds, like this Harvard Business Review: Top 25 Articles guide, one of the most popular guides we've ever created.

Compendex
Compendex (one of the most authoritative databases for literature in engineering and the applied sciences) was also overhauled with a whole new look and feel this quarter. There are no fundamental changes to the search functionality, but the site has an updated look and some new features, including:

Quick access to your ‘Search History’ at the bottom of the search page
Briefer records on the search results page to make them easier to scan
A ‘refine results’ column that fits more easily on one screen

New Library Assistant: Haddis Abebe

The VDOT Research Library typically has at least one student assistant on staff. This quarter we were fortunate enough to be joined by Haddis Abebe. Haddis is a graduate student at the University of Virginia studying Structural Engineering. Haddis will be working primarily in the library's Loans department, but he will also be assisting with library circulation and helping answer basic questions about library lending.

Library Quarterly Report FY18 Q1: July-September 2017

Contact the Library:

Social Media:

Visit the Library: