The librarian is: BLOGGING | Journalism Library, Columbia University

The Journalism Library Blog has MOVED! This site is no longer being updated as of July 2009. Come find us at our new location:

https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/journalism

See you there!

Want to be the first on the scene? Use Gothamist Maps to get a snapshot of police, fire & rescue activity around the 5 boroughs (e.g. “Plane Crash into Building, East 72nd St & 1st Ave”). Then race over there to get the story. Are you witnessing something as it unfolds? If so, you can also contribute to Gothamist’s map.

Check out Free Government Info.

This is a site (started by a few librarians) which tracks threats to government information’s freedom from “many economic and political forces,” and is also involved in raising public awareness about the importance of this type of information.

Darfur talk at Columbia, Wednesday March 8.

Sometimes, you’re writing a trend story and want some quick facts to plug in. Sometimes, you’re casting around for a story idea.

In both cases, Research Alert, a publication searchable via Factiva, provides quick and convenient access to useful stats taken from market research reports (which are generally not available for free on the web).

To search Research Alert, connect to Factiva (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) and plug in the following publication code in the search box:

rst=RSAL

After this, type and, then include keywords related to your topic, e.g.:

rst=RSAL and clothing

Here is an excerpt from a search result:

Big and tall men find best fit online.(notices)(Brief Article)
6 January 2006
Research Alert
10
ISSN: 0739-358X; Volume 24; Issue 1
English
Copyright 2006 Gale Group Inc. All rights reserved.

Frustrated by not being able to find clothes that fit them in stores, many big and tall men are turning to the Internet (33%) and catalogs (17%) for clothes that fit them, according to The NPD Group. Major complaints about the shirts available in stores include length too short (54%), sleeves too short (42%), tight necks and shoulders (38% each) and tightness across the chest (33%). Pants are often too tight in the waist (35%) and thighs (30%). [Clothing/Accessories]

General Science Full Text: (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) A multidisciplinary database that indexes articles in general science periodicals back to 1984 (with full text available from 1995 on for selected titles).

PsycINFO: (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) The premier database for literature in psychology and related disciplines, PsycINFO includes references back to 1880.

MEDLINE: (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) The premier database for finding research articles in the biomedical sciences. Columbia offers students and faculty access to Medline via the OVID interface, which has a more sophisticated search mechanism, and which makes locating online full-text versions of articles indexed in Medline simpler, via Columbia’s “e-Link” feature.

Medline is also accessible free to the public via PubMed, at http://www.pubmed.gov/

Scientific American Archive Online: (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) The full text of the magazine, with images, archived back to 1993.

Ig Nobel Awards: Given each October by the publishers of the science humor journal, Annals of Improbable Research. Note that these awards generate a fair amount of media interest when they are announced, so if you find something you’re interested in writing about, do find out if and where it was already covered!

Science Libraries at Columbia: The science libraries at Columbia are: Biological Sciences Library, Chemistry Library, Engineering Library, Geology Library, Geoscience Library (at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory), Health Sciences Library (at Health Sciences campus, 168th St.), Mathematics & Science Library, Physics & Astronomy Library, and the Psychology Library.

The Basics: phone numbers & addresses
I wish I could tell you we had some super-duper special people-finder tools. But we don’t. Here are some decent free sites instead.

New Yorkers and where to find them
Looking for interesting New Yorkers to profile? Here are a few tips.

Finding experts
Preparing a Roundtable discussion? New York City is full of experts, but how to find them?

Consumer Watch

Bonus resources we talked about during the session:
AP Photo Archive
Archive.org - online archive of multimedia content

The World Health Organization has posted a guide (in PDF format) on covering the flu pandemic. This 24-page handbook provides basic background info on influenza, information on flu research and public health issues, and a section on the role of science journalists in coverage of the pandemic.

Just when you thought the Internet couldn’t possibly bring you another cool and free thing, it’s Symbols.com - the Online Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms! You can search the site, browse by graphical element or word, or just look at a random symbol if you prefer…

As you scour the city for your stories and come across the one that’s compelling enough to write for your Master’s project, here are some suggestions of places to do your research:

Finally, please don’t hesitate to email me for more guidance if you need it, or to set up an appointment for a research consultation - I am more than happy to help!