New and Updated Titles Added to Oxford Reference Online

Several titles have recently been added or updated, such as the Oxford Dictionary of Reference and Allusion, the Oxford Companion to Consciousness, and the Dictionary of Biomedicine. The titles can be searched collectively in the Oxford Reference Online collection.

New Database for Historical Research - European Views of the Americas

The library has added European Views of the Americas, an index of works about the Americas printed in Europe from 1493 to 1750. This index can be searched through the Ebsco search interface.

Library Hours for Christmas Break

Library hours for Christmas break are as follows:

Tuesday, December 14th to Thursday, December 23rd - 9am to 4pm.
Saturday, December 18th and Sunday, December 19th – closed.
Friday, December 24th to Sunday, January 2nd – closed.

Trial Database - Jewish Studies Source

The library currently has a trial to Jewish Studies Source. Jewish Studies Source offers a multidisciplinary view into the study of Jewish civilization from its historical origins to the present. When you access the trial, the link to the database will be on the right hand side of the screen.

JSTOR Now Available to Alums!

The library is now able to provide access to JSTOR for CTU graduates. JSTOR is a collection of online full text scholarly journals; the library's JSTOR collection focuses on theology, religion and the humanities. Please contact Lisa Gonzalez for information on how to access this collection.

Have You Tried the Library Toolbar?

The library toolbar offers shortcuts to library resources, such as your library account, and library catalogs and databases. With one click, you can switch from searching JSTOR to searching ATLA. Check it out by downloading and installing the toolbar in your browser.

Library's WorldCat Online Catalog Available for Smart Phones

The library's WorldCat catalog is also available in a mobile interface. This local version of the WorldCat catalog highlights items owned by CTU, and integrates interlibrary loan requesting for items owned by I-Share libraries.

After Hours Movie Night November 5th

All are invited to attend the library’s after hours movie night on Friday, November 5th at 7p.m. The film will be Tulpan, a film directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy. On the steppes of Kazakhstan, a young sailor returns from the Russian Navy, tries to establish himself as a herdsmen, and win the hand of the only girl around for miles. A brief discussion time will follow the movie.

Cake and Coffee for Theological Libraries Month

Everyone is invited to attend a reception with cake and coffee on Wednesday October 27th from 4pm-5:30 pm. For those who are interested, there will also be time to view the library’s recent book digitization project of items related to Catholicism in Illinois and ask questions.

October is Theological Libraries Month!

In celebration of Theological Libraries Month, we will be highlighting unique resources from the library's collection throughout October. Check out the library's display of items from our Franciscana collection in the library's book display case. A reception for Theological Libraries Month with refreshments will also take place later this month. More information will be posted here soon!

New Feature from Ebsco - Listen to Full Text Articles

You can now listen to a small selection of full text articles from ATLA, CPLI and other Ebsco databases. In order to listen to an article, there must be an HTML full text version of the article; PDF full text articles do not have the listen feature. To use the listen feature, click on the title of the article, and then click on the "Listen" icon on the lower right. This book review on "Pope Innocent III and His World" demonstrates this new feature. You may want to try modifying the listening speed to your personal preference.

Update on Zotero and Ebsco

Zotero has been updated as of September 12, in order to correctly save article citations from Ebsco. Please note, however, that the Ebsco permalinks are not being saved to Zotero at this time. Visit Zotero's translator issues page for more updates.

Attention Zotero Users!

Since Ebsco has made changes recently to its interface, Zotero users will have noticed that the "Save to Zotero" button either no longer appears, or is not functioning. Zotero is working on fixing this problem as of August 9th. Please visit Zotero's known problems page for more information; the library will post a notice on our blog when we hear that the problem has been fixed.

CTU Library's Online Catalog Update

To make the most of the library's online catalog, CTU users should create an account in the VuFind catalog. This account will allow you to place interlibrary loan requests, view your checked out items and renew them, email catalog records, and keep a list of favorites in your account. You can create this account at the login page by filling in the requested information, choosing an easy to remember user name and password, and filling in your library barcode information on the account creation page.

Changes to Ebsco Interface

Since the recent upgrade in the EbscoHost interface for ALTA, CPLI, etc, there are some display issues if you are using Internet Explorer 7 or earlier versions as your browser. In order to view all the screen features, we recommend all users update to IE 8, or use Firefox. Thank you.

I Want You to Know...

The library's online catalog search interface has changed to VuFind. This new online catalog is simpler to search, and we hope it will improve everyone's experience of searching for library resources. If you have specific comments, problems or questions about the library catalog, please contact the library so that we can assist you.

In order to make the transition to the new catalog easier, all CTU library users should create an account at the login page by filling in the requested information, choosing an easy to remember user name and password, and filling in the library barcode information on the account creation page. Once you have created this account, you will be able to place interlibrary loan requests in VuFind, as well as view your account and renew items checked out from CTU and the I-Share libraries. If you have not registered your CTU ID card as your library card in the library, please register in the library before attempting to create a VuFind account.

I Want You to Know...

Several journals from our library have been digitized through CARLI's Book Digitization Initiative. The journal titles, the Franciscan Herald, the Fortnightly Review, the St. Louis Catholic Historical Review, and the Illinois Catholic Historical Review can be found in the Internet Archive. The journals can be viewed in the original scanned version as well as in PDF format, and the full text of the journals can be searched.

I Want You to Know...

There are several trial databases available on the library's trial web page through the end of June. These trials include several video collections and Ebsco's Arte Publico Hispanic Historical Collection. The library would welcome feedback about what you think about the trial databases.

I Want You To Know...

In an effort to constantly improve our services to our students, the library is participating in a survey of seminary student study habits. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey and provide us with your valuable feedback.The survey takes about ten minutes to complete. Thank you!

I Want You To Know...

The library currently has a trial of Ebsco's Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection. This digital collection includes primary and archival resources pertaining to U.S. Hispanic history, literature and culture. Go to the library's trial page to try it out.

I Want You to Know...

The library is giving away flash drives to library users willing to spend 30-45 minutes evaluating the library catalog. Will you consider volunteering to help us improve our catalog? To sign up, ask in the library for more information, or email us.

I Want You to Know...

If you have a Mac and use Firefox, Ebsco has a new plugin you will need to view PDFs from databases such as ATLA. Visit Ebsco's support site for more information about this plugin.

I Want You to Know...

JSTOR has added additional journals to the library's Ireland Collection. The JSTOR collection of full text journals can be searched in their entirety, and the contents of individual journals can also be searched.
New Journals:
Ulster Journal of Archaeology
History Ireland

I Want You to Know...

The library has an additional version of WorldCat.org called WorldCat Local. This version of WorldCat places CTU's library holdings at the top of the search results. A link to order items through interlibrary loan is also available for books in I-Share libraries. To try out WorldCat Local, visit ctulibrary.worldcat.org. On campus users of WorldCat.org also have the option to choose WorldCat Local.

I Want You to Know...

For citation management and to assist you in constructing bibliographies, the library recommends Zotero. Zotero is a free download that functions as an add-on to the Firefox Internet browser. There are a few recommended tutorials on Zotero on the library's tutorial page. If you would like some assistance installing Zotero on your laptop, contact Lisa Gonzalez in the library.

I Want You to Know...

The CARLI consortium has purchased an e-book collection for health and medicine for academic libraries in Illinois. To access the collection, go to SpringerLink's Medicine collection and click on "Books" under Content Type on the right hand side of the screen. Items that are available will have a the check box in front of the item marked in green.

I Want You to Know...

All are invited to attend the library’s after hours movie night on Friday, February 26th at 7p.m. The film will be Tulpan, a film directed by Sergei Dvortsevoy. On the steppes of Kazakhstan, a young sailor returns from the Russian Navy, tries to establish himself as a herdsmen, and win the hand of the only girl around for miles. A brief discussion time will follow the movie.

I Want You to Know...

The library has a trial to the databases Reference Universe and 19th Century Masterfile through February 22nd. You can also access these databases while you are in the library at the University of Chicago. Please try out these databases and let us know whether the databases are useful for your research. Thank you.

I Want You to Know...

J-Term 2010 Hours are as follows:
January 4 - 22
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Closed Sundays
January 25-29
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Closed January 23-24 and 30-31.

Regular hours resume February 1.