April/May 2004 (Volume XI, No. 4)
Published: April 22, 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Rather than put a trademark symbol at every occurrence of trademark names, we state that we are using the names only in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringements of the trademark.
36,000 eBooks on your desktop with netLibrary 2004
The 2004 version of netLibrary is here, and the UT Southwestern library’s collection of netLibrary eBooks now exceeds 36,000. The netLibrary eBook collection includes medical, scientific, computer, and reference titles in either the UT System Libraries Digital Collection, the Texas State Library Collection or various public domain titles.
Based on recent usability testing and customer feedback, netLibrary’s Web site has been re-engineered to provide improved reliability, greater performance, a more intuitive interface and non-English language capability.
The new streamlined interface not only looks good, but it features 50 percent fewer graphics for faster page loads. It also opens eBooks directly through the search results page. Plus, bookmarks, notes and the eBookshelf have been consolidated into a single location. Linked subjects in eBook's bibliographic information now provide sideways searching for related titles within a subject (click on "Show Details.")
The new Reference Center feature allows you to search or browse reference resources, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, directories, handbooks, thesauri and more.
To use this resource, go to http://www.netlibrary.com, or use the link from the library's home page at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library. You must be using a computer located on the UT Southwestern campus or at one of the affiliated institutions located near campus (Parkland Health & Hospital System, Children's Medical Center at Dallas, Zale Lipshy University Hospital, or St. Paul University Hospital) to register for free access or to preview the books.
Book previews are available in 15-minute increments; after 15 minutes of inactivity, an eBook is released and may be viewed or checked out by another user. Once a user’s account is set up, books may be accessed from our collection from on- or off-campus and checked out for the full viewing period (up to 24 hours).
Electronic interlibrary loan
Now you can get it online even if our library doesn't have the electronic journal. Through ILLiad, the library's interlibrary loan service offers the convenient option of having articles delivered to you electronically.
Expect electronic articles to be available on your virtual desktop days sooner than a paper photocopy would arrive on your real desktop. Note that electronic delivery is available only for those items that are delivered to us electronically from the lending library.
You will be notified by e-mail when the document is ready for viewing, and it will remain accessible for a one-month period. To view, download, and print these articles, Adobe® Reader® software must be installed and configured to work with your Web browser. (Note: Download a copy of the software from Adobe's Web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.)
To sign up for ILLiad or to request an article through ILLiad, click on "Interlibrary Loan Request" under "Library Services"on the library’s home page at http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library. Specific questions about electronic delivery should be referred directly to the Interlibrary Loan office at 214-648-2002.
Get control of your Ovid password
In March the UT Southwestern library implemented a series of enhancements to the Ovid login page (http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library/ovid/ovidlogin.cfm) giving library clients greater control over Ovid account passwords.
Users logging in for the first time from the library’s revised Ovid login page are required to:
- Provide a valid e-mail address
- Select a new Ovid password
By providing this information, you will now be able to control your password and bypass library staff assistance.
The e-mail address will be used to provide account and password information directly to you. Once the information has been provided, you will then be able to:
- Change your password
- Request a temporary password if you forget your current one
Note: If you change your e-mail address, contact the library as soon as possible to update your information to ensure you continue to receive notifications.
If you have any questions about these changes, contact Laura Wilder at laura.wilder@utsouthwestern.edu or Jon Crossno at jon.crossno@utsouthwestern.edu.
Improve presentations by selecting the “best” fonts
An often overlooked aspect of preparing slide presentations is font selection. It is easy to use the default fonts and then focus on creating other dazzling effects. But if your message is important, the fonts you choose are as well. Not all fonts are effective from one venue to another. Following some simple guidelines can increase the effectiveness of your slide presentations.
Serif fonts
Often text uses a serif font because it easier to read on paper. Serif fonts, such as the popular Times New Roman, have fine lines that extend from the ends of letters.
Some presenters use a serif font because it is familiar; however, serif fonts are not as effective for computer slide presentations. Serif fonts often look washed out when projected to a screen.
Sans serif fonts
The other type of font is sans serif which is typically blockier and without the fine lines extending from the ends of each letter. San serif fonts have consistent thickness which helps give them a clearer image on the screen. The most common sans serif font is Arial, which also makes it one of the most recommended fonts.
Arial is a safe font choice to use because it can be found on most Windows and Macintosh.
More presentation font facts
- A character one inch high equals 72 points (pts). Use the 72-pt size sparingly even in title slides.
- In printed text, the most common font size used is 10 or 12 pt. However, for slide or video presentations, body text should be no smaller than 20 or 24 pt.
- Avoid using all capital letters because it reads slower and takes more space on the slide. To emphasize a word, try using a different color.
- Avoid using more than two font styles per slide. Multiple fonts can slow and distract readers.
- Develop an attractive format and stick to it. Determine the font, size and color for titles and body text and use throughout. The title and body text fonts should complement each other. This enables the audience to follow the message more effectively.
- When adding clipart, animations or transitions, also consider font selections. If your words are important, they should be easy to read.
OLDMEDLINE added to Ovid
Medical literature indexing now goes back to 1951 with the addition of OLDMEDLINE to the list of available databases in the Ovid database system.
This file, which includes 1.5 million citations originally printed in hardcopy indexes published from 1951 through 1965, serves as a complement to the more recent MEDLINE files. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) plans to continue extending coverage back in time.
OLDMEDLINE may be searched simultaneously with MEDLINE using Ovid's ability to search five databases at once. However, a separate search strategy may be necessary to retrieve relevant citations because of the following differences between the databases:
- The original subject headings assigned may not match the MeSH vocabulary currently used in MEDLINE.
- OLDMEDLINE citations were assigned fewer subject headings; approximately two to six per citation. To get the best results, a search should employ synonyms for medical terms.
- Check tags, such as human or animal or age groups, were not used. Using them as limits is not recommended.
- Abstracts are not available as a source of keywords.
The file may also be searched as a subset of PubMed. For complete details see the NLM article at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/techbull/so03/so03_oldmedline.html.
For free assistance in searching OLDMEDLINE, MEDLINE, or PubMed, contact the library at 214-648-2003.
Preventing plagiarism
Plagiarism is a serious concern for faculty members and students nationwide. In a recent survey (http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism_stats.html), 54 percent of students admitted to plagiarizing from the Internet. The wealth of electronic information can make this temptation overwhelming.
When authors plagiarize, they represent work done by others as their own without crediting the source. This applies to both written and verbal presentations.
Official UT Southwestern policy on scholastic dishonesty appears in the UT Southwestern Handbook of Operating Procedures (Section 3.3.2.3.10). View the policy at http://www8.utsouthwestern.edu/vgn/images/portal/cit_56417/35/29/144012Chapter3StudentPolicies.pdf.
The library has a number of resources to help authors accurately cite resources used in publication:
