UMBC's trial access to Oxford Bibliographies Online has been renewed. The trial runs through February 21, 2011.

Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) is a library of disciplined-based subject modules. In each subject module, leading scholars have produced a literary guide to the most important and significant sources in an area of study they know best. The guides feature a selective list of bibliographic citations supported by direct recommendations about which sources to consult. Each topic has a unique editorial commentary to show how the cited sources are interrelated. The citations promote discoverability as they link out to the sources via your library collection or through Google books and more.

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 Drew Alfgren at alfgren@umbc.edu.

The day began late due to ice-encased cars, slippery roads, and a delayed opening. However, the graduate students at UMBC are hard at work and they are putting in the time and effort needed to work on their dissertations.  This morning, students posted and shared their goals and objectives for the week and began to chip away at their respective projects. Dr. Wendy Carter, the Dissertation Coach for the campus, reviewed the goals with the students to make sure that they were measurable and reasonable for the 4-day period of the workshop.

After lunch, Dr. Robert Deluty (Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Presidential Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology, and published poet) gave a talk on working with committees and advisors that was filled with both wisdom and humor.  Dr. Deluty’s message of support for all of the graduate students at UMBC was that often, “nothing is utterly hopeless.” He provided some words and phrases that students can use when talking with their advisors and seeking advice from mentors. He also told students to be sure to seek multiple sources of encouragement and support because a solution can often be found with help of others, whether they be peers, faculty, or administrators.  The afternoon mini-lecture series ended with a great story by newly minted Ph.D., Dr. Adrienne Starks, an alum of the Dissertation House. Dr. Starks discussed her journey and some of the solutions that she used, including resources for an editor and a spa to de-stress!  She has shared them on the Dissertation House’s “Winter Challenge” section of the blog: http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-2011-challenge/

Read more about Dr. Deluty: http://cocreateumbc.blogspot.com/2010/09/real-people-profiles-robert-h-deluty.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wpgAoprz8g

Join us online. You can participate in the Winter Online Challenge regardless of your department, school, state, or country!

Good luck to all who are working on their dissertations.

Due to weather and UMBC’s delayed opening, today’s Dissertation House will begin at 10AM. Campus will open at 10AM today, January 18, 2011.  The DH schedule will be revised accordingly. We’ll look forward to seeing you there. Students joining us online for the Winter Challenge are welcome to begin at anytime! http://dissertationhouse.wordpress.com/blog-online-challenge/winter-2011-challenge/

The following one hour drop in sessions will be held in Engineering 025. DoIT staff members will be available to work one-on-one with with users who show up during the designated times.

Additional dates and times may be added as demand warrants.

The end of the semester is typically a busy time for donations to the archives and Special Collections. Here are a few highlights that have come into the University Archives recently:

UARC 2011-003: President's Office records

This small donation, only .25 linear feet, came from Karen Wensch just before her retirement this Fall. One gem from this donation is a resolution passed in 1992 by the City Council of Baltimore, "in recognition of [Dr. Freeman Hrabowski's] appointment as interim president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County." This demonstrates the relationship between the City of Baltimore and our county campus.

We have a small collection of plaques, honorary degrees, and certificates awarded to Dr. Hrabowski available in our President's Office records.

UARC 2011-001: University Photographs

This beautiful image of the Albin O. Kuhn Library was taken by UMBC's own Tim Ford in the Fall of 2005. Tim is the Manager of Illustrative Services, located in the Biological Sciences building. He has longed served as UMBC's unofficial (and sometimes official) documentarian of campus life and has often worked with campus departments on capturing the events and people that pass through our halls. This image was prepared by Tim as a retirement gift to Pat Cronise, UMBC's former Slide Librarian. If you're looking for historic images of people and places at UMBC, you can contact Special Collections and we can work with you to locate an appropriate photograph within our holdings or from other photograph collections on campus.

UARC Photos-13: University Photographs

While this accession, or group of photographs, is not new to Special Collections, it is being made more accessible because it is being processed. When you process an archival or photography collection, you rehouse, arrange, and describe the collection so that researchers can learn about the materials and locate the items within the collection much easier. Special Collections student assistant Paul Pierson has been rehousing these slides into archival polypropylene sheets and creating a folder listing. These sheets will not off gas or damage the chemical emulsion on the slides. Thanks Paul!

The title image above is from the 1968 Skipjack, UMBC's student yearbook. You can view all of the Skipjack volumes in Special Collections (UPUB S2-001) or browse this volume online.

Happy New Year and welcome back.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to make significant progress on your dissertation then this blog is for you. Dr. Carter believes “a good dissertation is a done dissertation.”  No more excuses; make a plan to finish your dissertation.  Although writing your dissertation can be a lonely process it does not have to be–you are not alone.

We are hosting in-person Winter Dissertation House at  UMBC starting January 18-21, 2011.  We invite you to join us online by taking part in our Winter 2011 online challenge.  We strongly encourage you to participate by daily posting your goals and receiving feedback.