Librarycasting SE

NCBI classes are scheduled during spring break (March 12 - 14)

2007-03-02T01:14:52Z

Several NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) lectures and computer workshops will be held on the MCV campus (Sanger Hall and Tompkins-McCaw Library) during the first few days (March 12 - 14) of spring break. Class titles are listed below below. These classes will be taught by visiting staff from the National Library of Medicine. For complete class descriptions, scheduled times, and to register for the classes, go to the VCU Training website, type "ncbi" (without the asterisks) into the keyword search box, and click the "Search" button to see a listing of all the NCBI classes being offered.

Class Titles:
- NCBI Field Guide Update
- Making Sense of DNA and Protein Sequences
- Blast Quick Start
- Identification of Disease Genes
- Correlating Disease Genes and Phenotypes

Using RefShare to share your citations with students and colleagues

2007-01-16T22:32:32Z

RefShare is a new feature that has recently been added to the VCU RefWorks subscription. It allows you to easily share citations and references online, that you have already imported into RefWorks, with other students and colleagues. Sharing any RefWorks folder containing the references you wish to share is as easy as clicking on the "Share Folder" button for that folder. This creates a unique hyperlink that can be pasted into a web page, Blackboard class page, etc.

A few possible applications for this feature include:
- Shared reference lists for collaborative projects such as research proposals, student group projects, etc.
- Required reading lists for students to view
- Lists of publications for researchers, faculty

Because RefShare is fully integrated with RefWorks, it takes advantage of already-existing capabilities for easy retrieval and organization of literature citations from almost any database at VCU Libraries, and the automatic creation of in-line citations and references in your final Word document. Additionally, RefWorks/RefShare is RSS-capable, and can be used to search and import citations from the VCU Libraries Catalog.

If you would like to know more about RefShare and RefWorks, take a look at some of the video tutorials listed below. In addition, VCU Libraries provides several training workshops throughout the academic year.

(RefShare video tutorials)

(RefWorks video tutorials)

iPod Video Tutorial for NCBI's Cn3D Molecular Viewer

2006-11-08T16:30:13Z

Cn3D is a versatile, free molecular viewer available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The video tutorial (2 minutes, 21 seconds, workstation version) illustrates how to use Cn3D to customize and annotate the appearance of a known molecular structure.

Cn3D has many additional capabilities, which are described in traditional web-based tutorials at the NCBI website.

To download the file for a video iPod: right-click on the first iPod video link immediately below for pc, shift-click for mac
(4.8 MB, 2 minute 3 seconds).

(video for normal workstation playback, 2 minutes 21 seconds)

RSS Feeds for Searches and Citations in Web of Science

2006-10-24T17:42:58Z

You can setup RSS feeds for searches (search alerts) that you run in Web of Science / Science Citation Index. This means automatic updates for specific searches that you have run in WOS. A similar feature is available for monitoring the citation of a specific article by other authors (citation alerts).

For search alerts, access this feature by running the search of interest, then click on the Search History button near the top of the page, then click Save History button . You'll be prompted to login (click the register link to setup a new user name and password). The Save Search History page (for e-mail alerts setup) will appear, enter a History Name and click the Save button; leave the A Server Save Confirmation page will appear with an orange XML button; this is the RSS feed for the search.

Citation alerts work by opening the record for the specific article of interest, clicking the Create Citation Alert button on the right, and login as needed. The XML button for the feed appears in the Citation Alerts Save Confirmation page.

Note that the alerts will also go to an e-mail box, there is no option to only receive the RSS alert.

Fall Workshop: Molecular Structures and Properties - Finding Information

2006-10-23T18:15:19Z

This Thursday, the workshop will introduce three important tools for molecular structure viewing and searching: Scifinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts Service), Crossfire Commander for Beilstein / Gmelin (MDL), and Entrez Structure / Cn3D (National Center for Biotechnology Information). More info ...

Time & Location: Thursday, October 26, 2006, 11:00 - 12:00 noon, Cabell Library 3rd floor instruction classroom.

Chemistry World Podcast

2006-10-23T17:14:54Z

Chemistry World, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, has just started a new podcast this October, featuring highlights from the print/online version...

PubMed News Feeds (RSS)

2006-10-03T20:36:40Z

PubMed makes it easier to stay current with some of its literature and bioinformatics databases by providing several news feeds in the RSS 2.0 format. These feeds, available at the NCBI website, describe the latest enhancements in the PubMed database, the PubMed Central full-text repository, new entries in the Unigene and Homologene databases, etc. There is also a brief FAQ page about PubMed RSS. If you would like to learn more about using RSS to stay current with research literature, there's a video tutorial (3 minutes, 19 seconds) about this topic.

Fall Workshop: Molecular Structures and Properties - Finding Information

2006-08-21T15:38:20Z

This workshop introduces three important tools for molecular structure viewing and searching: Scifinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts Service), Crossfire Commander for Beilstein / Gmelin (MDL), and Entrez Structure / Cn3D (National Center for Biotechnology Information).

Thursday, October 26, 2006, 11:00 - 12:00 noon, Cabell Library 3rd floor instruction classroom
Register

Fall Workshop: Automated Research Updates Using RSS and e-Mail Alerts for the Sciences and Engineering

2006-08-21T15:25:45Z

Journal table of contents, science news, and search results from some databases can be automically monitored using two technology-based techniques, RSS and e-mail alerts. This introductory workshop demonstrates how to do this.

Thursday, September 7, 11 - 11:50 am, Cabell Library 3rd floor instruction classroom
Register for the workshop

Cabell Library Workshop: Introduction to Patent Searching

2006-08-10T22:54:38Z

Cabell Library is sponsoring a Patent Searching workshop on Friday, August 18, 9 - 12:30, in the 3rd floor library instruction classroom. Trainers will be Tom Turner and Chris Black, who are both librarians with the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This introductory workshop is open to VCU librarians and faculty. It is free, and pre-registration is required (contact Renée Bosman at rbosman@vcu.edu or 828-1101).

This workshop will provide hands-on training with free, publicly available databases on the USPTO website, including the PatFT and AppFT databases for issued patent and patent application searches. Training will be at the beginners level and will include a general introduction to concepts in intellectual property protection.

Finding U.S. Patents (screencast tutorial)

2006-06-01T20:53:54Z

VCU Libraries is a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL). This screencast tutorial provides a brief introduction (3 minutes 21 seconds, with audio) to some methods for beginning a search for U.S. patents. Topics covered include:

- Navigating to online patent resources
- Searching using a patent number
- Searching using an inventor name
- Searching using class/subclass numbers and the manual of patent classification
- Finding patent search templates

Presentation on GIS and Public Health Data

2006-05-31T20:52:38Z

Tompkins-McCaw Library is sponsoring a presentation entitled "GIS and Public Health Data: Towards a Better Understanding of the Magnitude of U.S. Public Health Disparities," by Dr. Charles Croner, Geographer and Survey Statistician, CDC, next Wednesday (6/8/06), 10 - 12 noon. This event is open to the public, registration required.

Podcasts from the NIH (National Institutes of Health)

2006-05-19T22:01:15Z

NIH Radio presents recent research findings in a journalistic-news, podcast-ready format. The podcast archive started this past March, and there are currently two episodes a month. The online NIH Radio archive (downloadable mp3 files) began in May 2005.

(for NIH podcasts)

Tutorials for Writing Organic Chemical Reaction Mechanisms

2006-05-17T21:02:28Z

There are several types of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry (SN1, SN2, E1, E2, rearrangements, etc.) A very common assignment in organic chemistry courses is writing reaction mechanisms. Successfull completion of the assignment involves correctly representing the movement of electron pairs using curved arrows. This in turn is built on many foundational concepts (carbocations and carbanions, Lewis structures, Lewis acid-base concepts, formal charge, resonance structures, molecular orbitals, electronegativity, etc.).

Some helpful interactive tutorials for this material (including quizzes to test your knowledge) are available online:

Curly Arrows: An Interactive Tutorial in the Writing of Organic Reaction Mechanisms (Dr. Mary Masson, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Aberdeen): covers substitution, elimination and rearrangement reactions.

Two selections from the Online Virtual Chemistry Laboratory (Dr. K.N. Harrison's research group, Dept. of Chemistry, Oxford University):
Interactive Organic Mechanisms: covers SN1, SN2, E1, E2.
Named Organic Reactions: covers more than 50 reaction mechanisms.

Librarycasting SE

NCBI classes are scheduled during spring break (March 12 - 14)

Using RefShare to share your citations with students and colleagues

iPod Video Tutorial for NCBI's Cn3D Molecular Viewer

RSS Feeds for Searches and Citations in Web of Science

Fall Workshop: Molecular Structures and Properties - Finding Information

Chemistry World Podcast

PubMed News Feeds (RSS)

More Tutorials for Engineering Village (Compendex / Inspec / NTIS

Fall Workshop: Molecular Structures and Properties - Finding Information

Fall Workshop: Automated Research Updates Using RSS and e-Mail Alerts for the Sciences and Engineering

Cabell Library Workshop: Introduction to Patent Searching

Finding U.S. Patents (screencast tutorial)

Presentation on GIS and Public Health Data

Podcasts from the NIH (National Institutes of Health)

Tutorials for Writing Organic Chemical Reaction Mechanisms