Summer hours begin today and the library is ready to help you get through the term. In case you forgot, we have a host of new computers set up with some new software available, 3D printing is now available, and we’re available to help you with pretty much anything during business hours. Faculty, let us know if our top-flight instruction team can help out with an instruction session or module, contact us if you need to set up course reserves, or let us know if we might help with anything else. One last note: as regulars know, the temperature in the library is less than compliant with the seasons, so you might want to bring an extra layer in case the A/C is too much to handle.
See you soon!

Summer Hours:
Mondays – Thursdays: 7:45 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Fridays: 7:45 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturdays: CLOSED
Sundays: 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Image Credit: flickr user LOLren (CC BY 2.0)

Now through April, we’re running our Annual Survey. This is a great opportunity to take five minutes and let us know what we’re doing well, what we’re doing not-so-well, and what we can do to make the library meet your needs and expectations. If that’s not reward enough, if you’re on the fence as to whether or not taking the survey is worth your time, let us entice you with the chance to win a Google Nexus 7 tablet. Each survey participant may enter for a chance to win after taking the survey. Bonus!

Go ahead, take the survey right now why don’t you?

This is what happens when we don’t get your input. Just look at poor Beverly. Look at her.

It’s been a long time coming, but we are very excited to announce the launch of our newest digital collection, The Hood-Williamson Digital Collection on Serpent Handlers of Southern Appalachia.  The Hood-Williamson archives, held in the Special Collections of the library, is a very important and unique collection of primary source videos documenting the serpent handling churches of Southern Appalachia.  The videos see quite a bit of in-house use from researchers and we field many requests from researchers all over the world who are interested in the collection.  Until this point however, we have been unable to offer any remote viewing options to the global audience for this collection.

The launch of the online collection will be completed in installments, the first of which is now live and available for use.  As the collection statement indicates, the full collection will “consist of a range of the available materials covering several years of services at each church and all of the interviews Drs. Hood and Williamson conducted.”  This initial installment includes 4 church services from the legendary Jolo, West Virginia Church of the Lord Jesus and 6 interviews with serpent handling practitioners.  The digital collection will grow over time to include around 40 church services (in their entirety) and  35 interviews with serpent handling practitioners.

We highly recommend using either the Google Chrome or Internet Explorer browser to view the videos.  Selecting another browser may result in significant playback delays. 

We would love to hear your thoughts on the collection via email at archives@utc.edu or by giving us a call at 423-425-2186.

This post was previously published on the UTC Special Collections blog.

During February, UTC Library is experimenting with trials of two databases – one geared toward Engineering students and the other toward Accounting students.

Currently, the UTC Library subscribes to Compendex via Engineering Village; however, low usage and high costs to subscribe are making it necessary to review whether Compendex is the best choice of online database for the UTC Engineering Department. In preparation, the UTC Library has been reviewing available and applicable online resources for engineering with the idea that a competing product will be trialed alongside Compendex so that both resources can be compared. Inspec, via Engineering Village, has been chosen for trial and review.

Title: Inspec
Coverage: Abstract and Indexing (no full-text)
Description: Inspec is an engineering and computer science literature database from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (UK). It contains 13 million records from nearly 5,000 journals and 2,500 conference proceedings. While Compendex covers all of engineering; Inspec focuses on physics and computer science in addition to engineering. There is about a 25% overlap between the two resources. Inspec is hosted on the Engineering Village platform. Read the information sheet for additional information.
Take the Survey: Inspec vs. Compendex

The UTC Library has been asked by faculty members in the College of Business to review CCH OmniTax Library for possible purchase. Currently, the UTC Library subscribes to tax and accounting data and research via Thomson Reuters RIA Checkpoint. Because these two products, CCH OmniTax Library and RIA Checkpoint, overlap in content in many areas, the library is conducting a comparison review of both products in February 2013.

Title: CCH OmniTax Library
Coverage: Comprehensive
Description: The CCH OmniTax Library is a powerful compilation of top-rated research materials that includes CCH’s current and archival Federal and State Tax Reporters. OmniTax features include: IntelliForms, Tax Thesaurus, Tax Rates and Tables, Depreciation Toolkit, Business and Tax Preparation Calculator, Citator, IRS Actuarial Finding Tool, and Multistate Quick Answer Charts. Read the information sheet for additional information.
Take the Survey: CCH vs. RIA

We’re also reviewing our ICPSR subscription during February. Read the ICPSR information sheet here. Please provide feedback regarding ICPSR at this survey link.

Access these databases through this Database Trials page or our main Articles & Databases page. And – we need your feedback! After you’ve explored the databases, please take our brief surveys. Tell us how you felt about the experience.

Join us Tuesday, January 29, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Raccoon Mountain Room of the UTC University Center for a lecture by author Sybil Baker. Baker is a UC Foundation Assistant Professor in the UTC Department of English and author of three books of fiction with The Life Plan (2009), Talismans (2010), and Into This World (2012) as well as all kinds of other fiction and non-fiction. Baker will speak about research for her latest book and offer her perspective on living abroad and writing about other cultures. Copies of her work will be available for purchase following the lecture. This event is free, open to the public, and refreshments will be provided. We hope to see you there!