Texas, here I come!

I'll be on vacation from Thurs 7/12 - Mon 7/23.

 

Down the blue road by jmtimages, April 15, 2007. Creative Commons License.

I expect to see lots of Texas highway in the  next week and a half. No bluebonnets this time of year, but plenty of skyline!

By the way, if anyone needs library help while I'm out of the office, use the AskUs help desk, phone, and chat service.

New Interface for ProQuest Congressional

ProQuest Congressional (used to be LexisNexis Congressional) recently got a facelift.

I've watched a couple of the introductory videos. Very nice!  But they don't answer some of my basic questions.  For instance "Where's the 'search bill full text by topic' been put?"  This is one of the main needs among NUR 620 students, of which there are several sections each semester.

Since there are other improvements that might help these folks, I'm going to attend a webinar.  Oh, yay.

Worst case scenario?  I point my folks to free bill searching at the Library of Congress Thomas site and leave our fancy-pants PQC subscription to the political science librarian, faculty, and students.

PubMed difficulties-use Ebsco alternatives

PubMed and other NLM databases are running slowly and/or giving error messages.  Apparently a derecho storm hit the National Library of Medicine data center.

No estimate on when PubMed will be back up to speed.  In the meantime, here are some alternatives:

• The health care article quick search - Ebsco widget that searches through Medline (the biggest part of PubMed), CINAHL, Health Source, PsycInfo, and PsycArticles. Linked on welcome page for nursing libguide and other libguides.
• Medline from Ebscohost, if you really want to stick as close as possible to PubMed content and subject headings. Linked in the databases list.

Here's the message that came through a medical librarian listserv:

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) Data Center is experiencing
difficulties due to the intense storm that hit the Washington, DC and
other local areas Friday night and may be temporarily unable to provide
full access to NLM databases and Web sites.  NLM staff are working to
resolve the issue as quickly as possible and appreciate your patience.

The storm, called a derecho, knocked out power to most of Montgomery
County, MD, where NLM is located.

For more information on derechos, see
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm.

Thanks,
Lea