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What's
New > News Archive
Announcements
New Electronic
Resources
Selected
new titles in print
Something to think
about... Why are we still buying books?
Jafet Library's
Archives & Special Collections Department
After twenty five years of fruitful and faithful work at the University
Libraries, Ms. Asma Fathallah decided to retire on November 1, 2003.
During her period of service, Ms. Fathallah has been in charge respectively
of the Reference and Cataloging Departments and since 1991 has been responsible
of the Archives & Special Collections Department. All through, she has
shown great initiative and provided exceptional finest service with new
and challenging ideas.
Asma has been an asset to Jafet Library, as all colleagues and researchers
will testify. Her integrity and honesty in handling and safeguarding the
Library's rare and valuable collections were beyond reproach. She will
be best remembered for her launching of the University Archives' Program
and her contribution to the digitization of rich collections, manuscripts
and documents that can be viewed and enjoyed today on the Libraries' webpage.
The Library Administration is thankful to Asma for her outstanding professional
contribution as a Librarian and with all the Library staff wish her good
luck for many years to come and all the success in her new life.
Ms. Nadine Knesevitch will assume the responsibilities of the Archives
& Special Collections Department until the appointment of a new Librarian
in Charge.
New Electronic
Resources
RefWorks
The University Libraries have just purchased a useful software called
RefWorks.
Basically, this is a citation manager that also doubles up as a database.
You can search it, list your sources then request to have them organized
for your bibliography, according to international and well-recognized
styles of citation such as APA, Turabian, MLA, University of Chicago
etc. So it can be used for a very short term paper as well as for
a thesis or a faculty scholarly publication.
The database is equipped with a very easy step-by-tutorial that takes
little time to go through. It is also remotely accessible from any
computer on campus and from home.
How to access it?
- Go to the AUB University webpage
- Click on University Libraries
- Under Electronic Resources menu, click on E-Reference
- Scroll down the list to RefWorks.
LexisNexis
Academic
The University Libraries is now subscribing to a very well-known database
called LexisNexis, Academic
Many students and faculty are familiar with it, and have used it before
in universities abroad.
It provides searchable access to full-text current news, business and reference
information going back 20 years:
- More than 350 newspapers – US and international
- Over 300 journals and 600 newsletters
- Multi-lingual news sources
- Broadcast transcripts
- 50 wire services
- 400 policy papers
- Company financial information, SEC filings and reports
- Industry and Market News
- Medical News
How to access it?
- Go to the AUB University Webpage
- Click on University Libraries
- Under Electronic Resources menu, click on Databases
- In the alphabetical list, scroll to ‘L’ and select Lexis-Nexis
Something
to think about... Why are we still buying books?
About Books and Libraries
“Again, lest we become confused and forgetful, the function
of a great library is to store obscure books. This is above all the task
we want libraries to perform: to hold on to books that we don’t want enough
to own, books of very limited appeal… A book whose presence you crave
at your bedside or whose referential or snob value you think you will
need throughout life, you buy.
Libraries are repositories for the out of print and less desired, and
we value them inestimably for that. The fact that most library books seldom
circulate is part of the mystery and power of libraries. The books are
there, waiting from age to age until their moment comes. And in the case
of any given book, its moment may never come – but we have no way of predicting
that, since we are unable to know what a future time will find of interest.”
(Adapted from an article written by Nicholson Baker in the New Yorker).
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