If you are a Graduate Student at UMBC, and if you are working on your  graduate school courses, proposal, or dissertation, then this event is for you!

The on-campus setting provides Dissertation House participants with productive and rewarding scholastic engagement. Students who participate in this program will spend each day thinking, writing, and sharing ideas about their doctoral dissertations. Students will learn effective time-management skills; learn how to set small manageable goals, and will meet with a dissertation coach in one-on-one consultations to discuss and address obstacles that might prevent them completing their degrees.

This is a weekday (9 a.m. – 5 p.m., non-residential) commitment set for the week of Tuesday, January 18 – Friday, January 21, 2011.

Applications Due:  Friday, December 10, 2010

RSVP on MyUMBC and follow directions for the application: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/promise/events/5126

The Library is currently testing several eBook platforms. Please check them out and complete our online survey to let us know what you think.

We currently have access to the following platforms:

ebrary Academic Complete
Ebrary Academic Complete is a multidisciplinary digital library with more than 47,000 titles. Subjects covered include Anthropology, Business & Economics, Computers & IT, Education, Fine Arts, History, Language & Literature, Law, Life Sciences, Medicine, Physical Sciences, Psychology, Religion, Social Sciences, and Technology. Content includes handbooks, e-books, manuals, reports and other authoritative documents.

Trial runs through December 8, 2010.

MyiLibrary
MyiLibrary provides desktop access to over 235,000 eBooks. Subjects covered include: Philosophy, Psychology, & Religion; History; Geography; Anthropology; Social Sciences; Political Science; Law; Education; Music; Fine Arts; Language & Literature; Science; Medicine; Agriculture; Technology; Military Science; Naval Science.

Trial runs through December 15, 2010.

EBL Ebook Library
EBL offers content across all subject areas, with an initial focus on recent titles - most specifically in the areas of Science, Technology and Medicine (STM). EBL features more than 100,000 titles from hundreds of academic publishers.

You must create a free account from a valid UMBC IP address in order to access the EBL trial.

Trial runs through December 15, 2010.

Springer eBooks
The Springer eBooks trial provides access to over 20,000 eBook titles (2005-2010 copyright only) in twelve subject collections:
* Behavioral Science
* Biomedical and Life Sciences
* Business and Economics
* Chemistry and Materials Science
* Computer Science (including the highly regarded Lecture Notes in Computer Science)
* Earth and Environmental Science
* Engineering
* Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
* Mathematics and Statistics
* Medicine
* Physics and Astronomy
* Professional Computing and Web Design

Titles include textbooks, reference works, monographs, and book series. All titles are fully searchable and hyperlinked.

Trial runs through December 31, 2010

NetLibrary
NetLibrary provides online access to thousands of scholarly books and reference works. Subjects include: computer science, business, international relations, education, environmental science, psychology, civil rights law and history.

UMBC currently has access to a selection of books specifically chosen by Maryland Academic Libraries. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL).

For off-campus access, please login via VPN first (http://vpn.umbc.edu). Then follow the link under "News & Events" on the library homepage. For more info on remote access, see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/services/remoteaccess.php

Please check out these trials and then take our online survey.

UMBC now has trial access to the Morningstar Investment Research Center.

The Morningstar Investment Research Center is an all-inclusive investment research database designed specifically for libraries. It features data and analysis on over 11,000 international and domestic stocks, 24,000 mutual funds, and more than 1,000 exchange traded funds.

The trial runs through December 10, 2010.

For off-campus access, please login via VPN first (http://vpn.umbc.edu). Then follow the link under "News & Events" on the library homepage. For more info on remote access, see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/services/remoteaccess.php

Feedback is encouraged. Use the form below or send directly to Drew Alfgren: alfgren@umbc.edu

UMBC now has trial access to the three AAS Historical Periodicals collections through Dec.24.

EBSCO has partnered with the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) to provide digital access to American periodicals published between 1691 and 1877. In total, more than 6,500 periodicals will be available, eclipsing all other online resources in this area. The collection is divided into three series:
Series 1 presents over 500 titles dating from 1691 through 1820.
On campus direct access: Series1

Series 2 presents over 1,000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837.
On campus direct access: Series 2

Series 3 presents over 1,800 titles dating from 1838 through 1852.
On campus direct access: Series 3

The databases can also be accessed through the EbscoHost platform. Access any Ebsco database, click on "Choose Databases." The three AAS databases are at the end of the list and may be searched individually or in combination.

For off-campus access, please login via VPN first (http://vpn.umbc.edu). Then follow the link under "News & Events" on the library homepage. For more info on remote access, see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/services/remoteaccess.php

Feedback is encouraged. Use the form below or send directly to Drew Alfgren: alfgren@umbc.edu

A three-day digital storytelling workshop for faculty will be held at UMBC on January 19, 20 and 21, 2011. Staff from the UMBC’s New Media Studio will conduct the workshop, during which participants will learn about the digital storytelling process while creating their own personal story.

Bringing together writing, photography and audio, the digital storytelling process facilitates the telling of personal and reflective stories in the form of digital movies. Through the process of producing their own digital stories over a three-day period, workshop participants gain insight into potential application of this approach in their own teaching. Here are samples from last years’s workshop.

There are a limited number of seats available for faculty from other area institutions. The fee for non-UMBC faculty will be $500. If you are interested in reserving a seat please contact Bill Shewbridge at shewbrid@umbc.edu . Preference will be given to those who have not taken one of our workshops before, however alumni are welcome to join us if space is available.

UMBC now has trial access to Springer eBooks. The trial runs through December 31, 2010.

NOTE: Trial access is only available for 2005-2010 copyright Springer eBooks from all collections.

The Springer eBooks trial provides access to over 20,000 eBook titles in twelve subject collections:
* Behavioral Science
* Biomedical and Life Sciences
* Business and Economics
* Chemistry and Materials Science
* Computer Science (including the highly regarded Lecture Notes in Computer Science)
* Earth and Environmental Science
* Engineering
* Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
* Mathematics and Statistics
* Medicine
* Physics and Astronomy
* Professional Computing and Web Design

Titles include textbooks, reference works, monographs, and book series. All titles are fully searchable and hyperlinked.

For off-campus access, please login via VPN first (http://vpn.umbc.edu). Then follow the link under "News & Events" on the library homepage. For more info on remote access, see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/services/remoteaccess.php

Please let us know what you think. Leave a comment or send your comments to Janet Hack at jhack@umbc.edu.