Credo: New Reference Database at Lane Library

Lane Library is now offering Credo, a reference database of more than 600 full text reference works from over fifteen disciplines:
Art, Business, Food & Beverage, General Reference, Geography, History, Language, Law, Literature, Medicine, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, Social Sciences, Technology

This is a great place to start your research, where you can get a quick overview of a topic rather than sorting through questionable results from Google or wondering if a Wikipedia entry had been recently altered by a prankster. Credo also offers mind maps, which assist in brainstorming related topics.
 (Below: Mind map for Hank Aaron)

 

After getting background information on a topic, Credo seamlessly connects you to academic databases and other information sources by placing links to the left of your search results. Clicking on one of these links will run the same keyword search in the selected source.

 

Credo is listed among the databases on the Lane Library homepage.

New access to NY Times at Lane Library

image of the digital microfilm collection, as viewed from a computer

Looking to do historical research with the New York Times?  We now have access to digital microfilm through Proquest New York Times Digital Microfilm database, which provides full text/full image articles in PDF format. Using this is similar to reel microfilm, as you get to see the news stories as they were intended.  Viewing the articles presented amidst the editorials, letters to the editor, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, photos, and advertisements can sometimes lead to a greater understanding of the history in that time.  This new resource to Lane Library is a great way to read the story in context to what was going on in the news that day, through the ease of your computer.  

You can access the NY Times Microfilm Database via the Lane Library home page, clicking on the Databases & Journals tab and using the drop-down menu.  

Looking for NY Times articles from 1914-present?
While the ease of use in this database is great, as you can zoom, browse, print or save individual pages, the database only has access from 2008- present (about 2 months behind current date) which does limit its usability.  If you are looking for anything more recent, Lane Library holds the paper format of the NY Times in the reference and periodicals area on the main floor (floor 3) for the past 2 months.   If you are looking for editions older than 2008, you should look to use the microfilm. Lane Library's collection includes NY Times microfilm from 1914- present on floor 1A.  

Familiarize yourself with the NY Times Index
To search the NY Times microfilm collection, regardless of whether you are using digital or regular microfilm, you will want to familiarize yourself with the New York Times Index in order to do a successful search.  You will find the NY Times Index available next to the microfilm on floor 1A for ease of use with the microfilm collection.  

LexisNexis also an option for NY Times articles from 1980-present
To add to your options, there is also access through the LexisNexis database also found on the Lane Library home page through the database tab, then using the drop-down menu.  With this you can do various searches of full-text articles of the New York Times from 1980-present.  This database is updated daily, providing you with immediate access to today's articles.  It also searches NY Times article abstracts from 1969-1980.

If any of this seems daunting, please ask a librarian for help.  We are always willing to walk you through the process and have you researching like a pro in no time. 

Equal Pay in Wisconsin

In honor of Equal Pay Day, here's a guide to research tools for locating information on the status of equal pay in Wisconsin.

Finding Legislative Information

Two weeks ago, Governor Walker signed a bill to repeal Wisconsin’s 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which provided a means for awarding compensatory and punitive damages (in addition to back pay) to employment discrimination victims. The full text of both the repeal and the 2009 Act are available in Wisconsin Legislative Documents, along with related information such as fiscal estimates and voting records.

Finding Income Data

The graph below uses data from the 2010 American Community Survey, which is available in American FactFinder, an online tool for browsing data collected by the Census Bureau. Click on the graph for a bigger version.