Penn State Great Valley Library Blog

The Pew Internet project just released its latest study about generational use of the Internet. It discussed the fact that all generations are using the Internet and larger percentages of older generations are now online than in the past. For the complete report you can go to: http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/275/report_display.asp

Buy-ology – The truth and lies about why we buy
This new book by Martin Lindstrom discusses and analyzes the results of a major scientific study of subliminal advertising. The three year study shatters much of what was long believed by the advertising industry. For example, the study concluded that sex does not sell; health warnings on cigarette packaging increased an individual’s desire to smoke, and despite government bans, we are enveloped by subliminal messages. TVO has given viewers the ability to fast-forward through commercials and marketers have found ways to continue to promote products through product placement in television shows and movies. Lindstrom discusses this as well as consumers’ viewpoint on logos, branding, and advertisements in this fast reading and entertaining book.

Buy-ology – The truth and lies about why we buy is available at the Penn State Library.

The latest Horizon Report (2009) released by the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have considerable impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression within higher education. If you would like to know more and see a copy of the report you can find it at http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2009-Horizon-Report.pdf

For anyone interested in documents from today’s presidential inauguration the following sites will be helpful:

Transcript of President Obama’s inaugural speech http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.politics/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Transcript of the Inaugural poem http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003013281

Updated information on the Obama presidency at http://www.whitehouse.gov

Scholars can now study Hemingway’s life in Cuba – the period not well known to biographers and yet the time & place he wrote his greatest works. The Cuban Hemingway Archive includes: 2,000 documents (manuscripts and letters), 3,500 photographs, and 9,000 books (2,000 with Hemingway’s notes in the margins). This collection is made possible through a joint effort of the Cuban National Cultural Heritage Council and the U.S. Social Science Research Council.

This collection will not be available to the general public, but instead to scholars who submit written request for access. While the materials are currently only available in Finca Vigia, Cuba, they will be assessable at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston by the end of January, 2009.

Just to follow up with December’s Europeana posting, the prototype is now up and running.

As a reminder, Europeana is a digital collection of European culture and heritage produced by the efforts of many European Archives, Research Institutions, and National Representatives. Offering 6 million digital sounds, photos, paintings, maps, manuscripts, books, film material, newspapers and archival papers, Europeana began in July 2007. The beta version is now available with limited user access. The site might not be available during heavy usage time. But if you are closed out, just try again later. The complete, full access site is expected to be completed by 2010.

With more and more newspapers discontinuing print and going online only, it is important to know how easy it is to access some of your favorite newspaper through the library. The newspapers displayed above are examples from the PressDisplay database. The Penn State Library offers this and several other options for news reading:

• PressDisplay – Available each morning, this database offers newspapers from across the country such as the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few. (Note: Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal are not included in this database.) This database provides a realistic view of the printed version of these newspapers and, if your preference is to read a printed version, it can be printed in readable format on legal sized paper.

To locate this database, select PressDisplay from the Penn State Library home page (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul.html) under Databases A-Z
Select News from the top left tabsOnce on PressDisplay home page, look to the left column, under Titles by Country, select USA.

• NewsBank America’s Newspaper Database – Provides access to a wide selection of newspapers from 1990 to date. While this database does include the current edition of Philadelphia Inquirer, it is not presented in the newspaper’s print format. It is available in a category-driven menu format with links to the articles. (Also note, this database does not include the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times.)

To locate this database, select America’s Newspapers or NewsBank from the Penn State Library home page (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul.html) under Databases A-Z

• LexisNexis Academic – Provides access to a extensive selection of newspapers from 1993 to date. LexisNexis does offer a current edition of the New York Times; however, the articles are listed by their titles. This is not a convenient format for simply reading through a newspaper; it is intended for topic searching. The Wall Street Journal is included in LexisNexis, but only provides abstracts.
o For those diligent and green online readers, LexisNexis Academic can be accessed for news reading by following the listed steps:

Select LexisNexis Academic from the Penn State Library home page (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul.html) under Databases A-Z
Select News from the top left tabs
In the Source box de-select U.S. Newspapers & Wires, and scroll down to New York Times (for example) and check in that box
In the Specify Date box select Today
Click on the red Search button.

• ProQuest Newsstand – Provides access to a broad collection of newspapers, as with LexisNexis Academic, it is intended as a searchable database, not as a readable newsprint format. However, it does include the current edition of the Wall Street Journal, but the articles are listed by name.
o Again, for the green online reader, ProQuest Newsstand can be accessed for news reading by following the method:

Select LexisNexis Academic from the Penn State Library home page (http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul.html) under Databases A-Z
Publication Title enter Wall Street Journal, for example
Date Range select On This Date
Enter 01/09/2009, for example

• NewYork Times – If reading the NY Times online is the goal, simply register for free at the New York Times website http://www.nytimes.com/ The Register button is in the upper left corner.

• Wall Street Journal – The Wall Street Journal requires a subscription for online reading. Its current cost is $1.99/week. http://online.wsj.com/public/us