Religion: September 2005 Archives

In order to encourage input from students, faculty, and staff, the library has just opened up a Trials page. This page will provide links and instructions for accessing databases that librarians are evaluating for possible purchase. Feedback from the Temple community is strongly encouraged. There is such a proliferation of databases and other electronic resources these days that it is important for us to get as many views and opinions as possible when considering purchases. The link to the Database Trials page can be found on the top of any of the database lists.

Once on the Database Trials page, make sure to check whether a special user name and passord is necessary, which you'll find right under the link to the trial.

So go to the Database Trials page and take a look at the new electronic resources we're considering. If you have strong feelings about any of these resources, click on the feedback link at the top of the page and tell us what you think.

--Fred Rowland

Writing a dissertation or a thesis? Need to find out who has published what in your area of interest? Got a brilliant idea and wondering whether someone has already stolen your thunder? Want to know a faculty member's history as a dissertation advisor? You need Digital Dissertations!

The Temple University Libraries has switched from Dissertation Abstracts to Digital Dissertations, a change in databases that will make your searching of the dissertation literature much faster and more efficient. Most importantly, in Digital Dissertations Temple dissertations from 1997 to present are available in full-text!!

Here are some other important features:

• 24-page previews of thousands of recent non-Temple dissertations
• indexing back to 1861
• you can search for the faculty advisor to each dissertation
• lengthy, detailed abstracts that are searchable
• Temple full-text dissertations are a great source for current bibliographies.

Check it out. You might be one step closer to that vaunted PhD. Digital Dissertations is accessible from any of the database lists on the library homepage. By the way, you can borrow non-Temple dissertations using the Thesis Request Form. Also be aware that Digital Dissertations is soon changing its name to Digital Dissertations and Theses.

--Fred Rowland