Library Collections

VIVA is making several important changes to its mix of databases. These are based in large part on the result of a recent RFP process.  Some content is merely switching platforms while other changes may have more impact.  Where necessary we are adding local subscriptions to replace heavily used resources.

Being Added – CINAHL full text, EconLit Full Text, Political Science Complete, and SocIndex. All of these are from EBSCO and are now active on our web site.

Cancellations with effective dates – EconLit via Proquest (8/1/15), PAIS (8/1/15), OVID Total Access LWW Collection (8/31/15), ProQuest Congressional (9/30/15), and Sociological Abstracts (12/31/15).

The Web of Science Core Collection has long been an important resource for researchers at Virginia Tech.  This database will become even more valuable with the library’s recent addition of 75 more years of data.  Retrospective coverage now extends back to 1900.  The ability to search and discover earlier papers makes it easier to trace the history of scientific ideas from their inception to the present.  All of this new content is integrated into the same search platform with which users are familiar.  The full file (1900 to present) contains over 32 million citations, with links out to full text sources for most content.

The past two years have involved extensive shifting of our physical collections. In fact, with the removal this week of the last of the regular stacks from second floor, every volume in the circulating collection has now moved! In the process we were able to substantially reduce the physical footprint of the collection. Much of this was done through acquiring digital archives of key journal and book collections along with the move of some low-use material offsite. Lots of people deserve credit for the hard work involved in this effort – from identifying titles, to acquiring or digitizing content, to physically moving and processing the materials.

All this new space has many benefits, both now and in the future. The fifth floor is still very stack intensive, which suits its purpose as a quiet floor. On fourth floor we opened up prime space for student study areas as well as several new offices. On third floor there is a now a spacious area directly below the graduate study room for a possible faculty lounge or for other uses. Changes on the second floor are the most dramatic, with the old wing of the building now open in addition to the new wing we had cleared previously. This again frees up space for students as well as partner groups with which the library is working. Finally moves on the first floor created space for the SCALE-UP Classroom and the new ICAT labs.

We now have access to more than 700 ebooks via the IEEE Xplore Digital Library.  The majority are from 2000 to present but coverage extends back to 1974. About 40 new titles are added annually.  Subjects include circuits, communications, computing, electromagnetics, networking, photonics, robotics, signal processing and much more.  The new ebooks are fully integrated into the IEEE Xplore platform and may be accessed from searches there.

We have just added a subscription to the full collection of online SPEC Kits from the Association of Research Libraries.  These gather information from member libraries on a wide range of policies and practices in research libraries.  Examples of topics covered this year include support for faculty publishing, next-generation learning spaces, digital collections assessment, and open source software.  Many of the kits include practical, real-world examples of the materials and approaches used at other libraries.   All kits from #292 onward (2006 to present) are available on the ARL site.  Older ones are available through the HathiTrust.

In early 2013 VIVA launched a pilot program for Demand Driven Acquisitions of books in STEM-H disciplines.  No new funding was provided in the state budget so the VIVA Collections Committee recommended the program be discontinued.  Records for these items have now been removed from Summon. We have title-level usage data for the program and this has been shared with subject liaisons in the affected areas to help identify titles of potential value to our users.   We are also working to implement a new DDA program locally for these call number ranges.

We have added 8 new subject collections from Wiley that bring us additional journal backfile coverage in several key areas. These include analytical sciences, civil engineering, communications technology, genetics, infectious diseases, mathematics, microbiology, and numerical engineering.  In addition, we have added 13 new online reference works covering a broad range of topics including several in the humanities and social sciences.  All of these resources are one-time purchases and expand our scope of online reference sources.

Every year the Center for Research Libraries lets member libraries vote on new resources to be acquired by the center.  This helps continue to build the value of our institutional membership by adding to the already rich collections offered through CRL.  The results of the purchase proposal program for 2014 were just announced.  Eight new collections will be added and details on each are available at http://www.crl.edu/news/10165

Earlier this year VIVA’s subscription for the MLA database moved to ProQuest.  At the same time VIVA was also able to add access to Literature Online (LION) as well as premium content on the system.  LION combines the texts from works of literature with resources for criticism and reference. A new platform for LION has just been released and may be previewed at http://literature.proquest.com/

Dual access will be supported into the “first half of 2014” to allow libraries time to make the transition off the legacy platform at http://lion.chadwyck.com/

ProQuest has now provided free access for VIVA members to the ebrary Acadamic: Physical Sciences Collection (http://site.ebrary.com/lib/physsciencetitles/) with over 4,500 e-books.  ProQuest has also added complimentary full-text journal collections in seven subject areas including agriculture, aquatic science, atmospheric science, biology, computer science, environmental science and materials sciences.  Together these journal collections represent over 4,000 titles!

Beth Reiten from ProQuest is offering web-based training sessions on these new resources.  Go to https://proquestmeetings.webex.com/proquestmeetings/onstage/g.php?p=ZbIjTrisADk6CUvsMDlLaFJOtfTiiCIpD0ut6BUQGBVhtXvoHx&t=m to sign up.