History News: June 2007 Archives

The Journal Finder enhancements announced earlier this month are now in place. We hope you'll agree that the new Journal Finder, powered by Serials Solutions, combines a cleaner, more responsive user interface with enhanced search and navigation capabilities.

Serials Solutions is the name of both a company and the e-journals management system used to power the new Journal Finder. Put another way, Journal Finder is simply Temple's branded name for the back-end Serials Solutions management system. For all the geeky technical details read Serials Solutions AMS page. Temple librarians work diligently with Serials Solutions to ensure that Journal Finder provides the most accurate, up-to-date record of the Libraries' serials holdings.

There are two ways to track down journals in the new Journal Finder: Search and Browse. Each of these functions is contained inside its own light blue box on the Journal Finder home page. The Search function allows you to search for a complete or partial title (the default) or for a word or words in any part of the title ("Title contains all words"). You can also search for a title by its ISSN or International Standard Serial Number. The greatly enhanced Browse function, located in the lower of the two light blue boxes, allows you to retrieve an alphabetical list of titles by subject. This can be helpful if you're trying to get an idea of the journals Temple subscribes to in a particular academic discipline, for example archaeology or film studies.

--David C. Murray

The Libraries have acquired four new full-text journal databases, all of which contain significant history content.

Blackwell Synergy - Provides access to 20 history journals including Diplomatic History, Gender & History, Journal of Religious Studies, and The Journal of the Historical Society.

Cambridge Journals Online - Provides access to 26 history journals including Central European History, The Historical Journal, The Journal of African History, and Urban History.

Sage Journals Online - Although known primarily for its science publications, Sage Journals provides access to eight important history journals: European History Quarterly, German History, Indian Economic & Social History Review, Journal of Contemporary History, Journal of Urban History, The Medieval History Journal, Studies in History, and War in History.

History Compass - This "database" is in fact a peer-reviewed journal written by historians with undergraduates in mind. In this regard it is unlike the other databases discussed here, all of which cover multiple journals. What makes History Compass truly unique is the inclusion of little extras such as RSS feeds, lists of most read and cited articles, podcasts, and teaching and learning guides. Cambrdige Journals also has RSS feeds.

--David C. Murray

The Libraries have set up a trial to a new Adam Matthew digital resource titled Slavery, Abolition, and Social Justice, 1490-2007. Clicking on the title link will provide access to the full database for four weeks, or until about July 13, 2007. The database is not yet feature complete; content will be released in three major phases in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Those who tried out earlier Adam Matthew database trials -- Empire Online, Defining Gender, etc. -- will be familiar with the attractive interface and unique blend of primary and secondary-source material.

Note that the "download entire document in PDF" feature won't work during the four-week trial. However, it will be possible to view, print and save individual images from the collections. During the trial period access will be from on-campus only. Please email me with your comments about this or any other history resource.

--David C. Murray

I'm a night owl. OK, insomniac actually. For the sleep-challenged among us there's little to watch on the tube after midnight. Yes, TiVos and DVRs have helped, and IPTV is just around the corner. But back in the early 90s, when I was a grad student at the University of New Mexico, those technologies were still a long way off.

One show that took my mind off the fact that I couldn't sleep was The Western Tradition, a 52-part lecture series covering the entire sweep of Western history from 3000 BCE to the current age and beyond. The series was produced by WGBH in Boston (c1989), and is now available for free on the Annenberg Media web site. The appeal here lies primarily in the person of recently deceased UCLA history professor Eugen Weber. The British-educated Weber delivers up engaging lectures in an over-the-top, highly mesmerizing, English accent. My local Albququerque public TV station would insidiously run these lectures back-to-back, thus contributing to my insomnia. After listening to lecture 9 on The Rise of Rome who could possibly resist lecture 10, The Roman Empire?

--David C. Murray