Need a one-stop place for campaign information? Try CQ Moneyline

Whether you are writing a paper on election politics or simply following your candidate’s campaign trail, our recent database acquisition, CQ Moneyline, provides you with objective, timely and comprehensive information on all aspects of the political fanfare: campaign finance lookup, candidate disclosures, party expenditures, 527 groups, election contributions, lobbying activities, etc. With campaign donation and expenditure data dating back to the 1979-80 election cycle, CQ MoneyLine helps you analyze the flow of money through the political system.

Feel free to contact the political science librarian Yuan Zeng with questions about this resource.

Searching the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Have you ever wondered what happens to the unpublished records of the United States federal government? The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the organization that preserves and makes available the records of the United States Federal government slated for permanent safekeeping. If you’re new to archival research in general, take a look at their guide to getting started. To dive into finding records, try one of the below three routes:

• Archival Research Catalog (ARC): This online catalog of NARA’s nationwide holdings is 56% complete at the series level. ARC allows you to search for archival materials at NARA or browse selected topics or figures (i.e. African Americans). See the How to Search in ARC guide for instructions.
• Access to Archival Databases (AAD): AAD gives access to records in a small selection of historic databases preserved permanently in NARA. Approximately 475 data files are available, and can be searched or browsed by category. Recent highlights include Kurt Vonnegut’s WWII Prisoner of War record.
• Browse by Topic: Just curious? See some pre-selected government records into frequently-searched categories like aviation, Holocaust-era assets, or space.

Don’t forget that you can get to NARA in more locations than just the Washington, D.C. corridor. A network of regional archives and presidential libraries also serve the public with records available for research.

Night Owl: An Evening at MSEL

Some nights are slow for we few, we happy few, reference librarians at MSEL. But February is almost over and y’all are gearing up for mid- and end of semester papers, so boy was I busy last night.

Here are just a few of the questions your fellow students asked. Keep ‘em coming!

Continue reading Night Owl: An Evening at MSEL…

March ‘08 RefWorks Webinars

RefWorks has begun offering complimentary online training webinars for current subscribers. If you have an active JHED ID and password, you are a current subscriber!

Four March sessions - two on fundamentals and two on more advanced features - are mentioned below. Note that course enrollment is limited and registration is required. RefWorks says that additional dates and courses will be added on an on-going basis.

Visit http://www.refworks.com/content/webinars/default.asp for more information, including sign-up information for webinars in Spanish and French.

Continue reading March ‘08 RefWorks Webinars…

Reference Sources for Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, the library is highlighting selected titles and resources from our General Reference Collection. Please check out the display on the shelves to the left of the Reference Office. There, you’ll find titles like African American Leaders of Maryland: a Portrait Gallery, Civil Rights in the United States, Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration, and Black Women in America. Want an up-to-date biography of Barack Obama? Look him up in Biography Resource Center. Each month, we’ll be featuring titles we think you should know, so feel free to pull them off the shelves and browse them!

Bits and Bytes Workshop Series: Intermediate Photoshop Tips

The Bits Bytes Workshop “Intermediate Photoshop Tips,” offered this Thursday (2/21) at 1pm, will feature techniques that will help you save time, make more detailed images, create custom text headers, and increase your ability to make selections. This workshop is not limited to intermediate users of Photoshop so if you are just starting out, Reid Sczerba, the instructor, will help fill the blanks along the way. Reid welcomes suggestions for additional features to discuss, time permitting. Feel free to make suggestions now by leaving a comment on this blog entry. If you’re faculty, keep in mind you can always contact the Center for Educational Resources to help with your educational needs. To register for this or other events, go here.

New Computer Manuals Just In

Are you someone who appreciates books with titles like “Hacking Exposed!” ? Have you been wishing for a manual about Mac OSX Leopard? Are you getting into Photoshop but need some tips to help out?

On C-Level is the library’s collection of computer manuals, for everyone from beginners to the advanced user. Check out some of these 2008 titles, now on the shelves:

• Master Visually Dreamweaver CS3 and Flash CS3 Professional
  (TK5105.8885. D74 K564 2008)
• Beyond Bullet Points: using Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 to create presentations that inform, motivate, and inspire
  (HF5718.22. A87 2008)
• Adobe Photoshop CS3 how-tos : 100 essential techniques
  (T385.O793 2008)
• Digital modeling of material appearance
  (T385.D6824 2008)

You can check out books in the Computer Collection (just before the stairway on C-Level) for two weeks, with one renewal. But remember that there are many more manuals on the regular shelves that you can have for much longer.

Way Back Machine

Ever had need for information from a Web page (or entire site) that has been taken down? Need to review past manifestations of an existing site?

The Internet Archives™ Way Back Machine might just have what you’re looking for.

Instead of inputting keyword or subject search terms, type the URL for the Web page you are seeking in the Way Back Machine search box. Next, click “Take Me Back.”

After processing, you’ll likely see a results list identifying dates the site was recorded. These links connect you to the site’s historical content. Dates when changes were made to the site are also noted.

Although not exhaustive in scope, the Way Back Machine offers a way in which you may access information that has been removed from the open Web, in addition to documenting the changes made to a Web site over time.

The Internet Archive also has a host of other features in addition to the Way Back Machine, including video, music and other audio, and digital texts. Explore!

Harvard and Open Access

If you are interested in the Open Access movement, you’ll be interested in the latest news from Harvard. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences has voted unanimously to allow Harvard to make their scholarly articles freely available online. The articles will be added to Harvard’s institutional repository. There are a lot of details to work out yet, including copyright issues and the procedure faculty will have to follow if they want to opt out. Following on the heels of the NIH mandate to publicly post articles created with NIH funds, this makes the Open Access movement much more visible.
There is a JHU group that deals with these issues. See the Scholarly Communication Group web site for more information.

You Decide? Election 2008 Resources

While many Hopkins students and faculty have already voted in their home states by absentee ballot, those of us voting in Maryland venture to the polls tomorrow to cast our ballots.

Only 4 years ago that Howard Dean was lauded as the first presidential candidate to use the internet to mobilize voters and raise funds.

Well, that was then and this is now. Each candidate has a strong online presence (complete with homepage, Facebook groups, YouTube commercials, etc.), and more and more people are turning to the internet to stay informed and to get realtime information about candidates. If you haven’t made your decision yet … or you have and just want to keep yourself in the loop on where all of the candidates stand on crucial issues, check out some of these websites.

FactCheck - Thank the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center for this wonderful site that evaluates the accuracy of the claims made by candidates.

Indecision 2008 - It is no news to anyone that the many voters under 35 get a good deal of their political news from the “Daily Show.” This Comedy Central site accumulates video clips, interviews, and other resources to keep voters informed and laughing.

The University of Michigan Documents Center: Elections 2008 - University of Michigan’s megasite is pretty amazing. Offering insight on where to find background information on voting, specific presidential and congressional candidates, and policy issues, this site is a “must visit” for the savvy voter.

Politifact - Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times joined forces to create this site which uses scorecards and factsheets to keep tabs on claims made by candidates. I adore Politifact’s Truth-O-Meter, which may have you singing a chorus of “liar liar pants on fire” as you watch the evening news.

Project Vote Smart - Vote Smart provides trusted and up-to-date information about elected officials and political candidates. A non-partisan organization, Vote Smart is a great place to find reliable research that’s not mired in partisan politics.

Happy voting!