The librarian is: BLOGGING | Journalism Library, Columbia University

CLIO is Columbia’s library catalog. A journal title search will tell you which journals we receive, print or electronic versions.

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/ There are not as many bells and whistles in PubMed, and it doesn’t automatically link you to full text of journals, as the OVID interface does.

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

Web of Science (access restricted to current Columbia affiliates) is a workhorse database which compiles bibliographic citations to articles across all disciplines (including the sciences). Using Web of Science, you can find out how many times a particular article has been cited, which is an important measure of its impact.

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 Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal is brand-new, with a first issue expected in April 2006. Watch their site for more details…

Facts of Life is a series of issue briefings for health reporters, brought to you by the Center for the Advancement of Health, a nonprofit which translates the latest evidence-based research on health, health care, prevention and chronic disease management for the general public.

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 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.

Friends of Columbia Libraries is sponsoring a talk and book signing by Charles C. Mann, science journalist and author of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. Event takes place in the World Room at the Journalism School, at 6 p.m. on Weds., Nov 16.