Collections: The print collections are not available during the closure.  Online materials can be accessed via any campus computer, or via the proxy server off-campus for current faculty, students, and staff.  We have made special arrangements with our Interlibrary Loan department to permit borrowing items from other libraries even though we already own them.  For faculty and graduate students, the fastest way to get books or articles is to request them through RLCP (loans from Stanford and UT Austin).  Faculty, all students and staff can also place regular interlibrary loan requests.  Instructions for paging materials via the catalogs (Oskicat and Next Generation Melvyl), or placing ILL or RLCP requests are here:  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/sciences/ill

Course Reserves: Course reserve materials for Engineering classes will be held at the Moffitt Library for the Summer Sessions.  Beginning May 23rd, Moffitt Library is open from 9 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday.   Please remember that you have to show your CalNet ID to gain access to Moffitt Library.

To pick up holds: You can place holds on books that are checked out.  The books will be sent to another library you select for pickup and you'll be notified when they are available there for checkout.  The Engineering Library will return to the list of libraries for pickup when it re-opens in August.

To return books: The book return location during the closure is a drop box located just outside the doors of Sibley Auditorium (on the main floor of Bechtel Engineering Center).  It is labeled "Bechtel Engineering Center Library Book Drop".

Help with blocks/bills/etc.: email engi@library.berkeley.edu

Nearby Campus Libraries:

• Mathematics - Statistics (Evans Hall):  11 am to 5 pm, M-F
• Earth Sciences (McCone Hall):  9 am to 5 pm, M-F
• Physics Astronomy (Leconte):  10 am to 5 pm, M-F
• East Asian Library (EAL):  9 am to 5 pm, M-F
• Moffitt Library:  9 am to 6 pm, M-F

Contact Us:

• Jean:  510-642-0634 or jmckenzi@library.berkeley.edu
• Lisa:  510-643-4299 or lngo@library.berkeley.edu
• General questions:  engi@library.berkeley.edu

During the closure the Library's print collections will be unavailable for borrowing.

Finding resources you need during the closure:

1. All online journals, books, reference sources, etc., will be available as usual.  Use OskiCat and  Electronic Journals A-Z to find resources you need.
2. For print materials held at other campus libraries, continue to pick them up at the other libraries and check them out there.
3. For print materials held at NRLF, log on to OskiCat and request them as you currently do.  Articles will be scanned and posted to you via email; books will be sent to another campus library that you select for pick up.
4. For print materials held at SRLF or any of the other nine UC Libraries and found in Next Generation Melvyl, click the Request button, fill in the form and submit it.  Articles requested will be scanned and posted to you via email.  Books will be shipped to UC Berkeley's Interlibrary Borrowing office and you'll receive an email when they're ready to be picked up in Doe Library, Room 103.
5. Current UC Berkeley faculty and graduate students can borrow materials from Stanford and UT Austin through the Research Library Cooperative Program (RLCP).  Books requested through this service will be sent to Doe Library, Circulation Desk for pickup; articles will be delivered electronically.
6. For print materials not found at the above places, please request them using the Interlibrary Borrowing Service Form.

To return books: Use the external book drop located outside the entrance to Sibley Auditorium.  It carries the label "Bechtel Engineering Library Book Drop".

Getting help during the closure: Engineering Library staff will be on-campus in a temporary location and accessible via email.

1. Email Jean, jmckenzi@library.berkeley.edu or Lisa, lngo@library.berkeley.edu with any questions
2. Course reserves information:  email Brice, bsulliva@library.berkeley.edu
3. Send questions to Ask Us
4. More information will be posted about phone service as soon as it's available

Editors:  Jean McKenzie & Lisa Ngo

1.  Library Renovation News

As many of you know, the Bechtel Engineering Center (BEC) will be renovated in the coming year.  This includes a renovation of the Engineering Library and other rooms on the lower lever of BEC.

During the year, library staff will undertake a complete collection analysis in order to identify print materials to remain on campus, as well as those that can be removed from the collection.  This will free space on the mezzanine level to be re-developed for a variety of rooms and areas for study and collaboration.

The priority for materials to remain on campus is:

1. core titles, that is, high usage titles, any age
2. books purchased or checked out since 2001
3. materials used for course reserves, any age
4. materials requested by faculty, any age

The priority for materials to be removed is as follows:

1. journal volumes where we have online access
2. books not checked out since 2001
3. out-of-date reference materials
4. reference materials where we have online access
5. low use materials

If you would like to request that specific print materials remain here on campus, please let Lisa or me know.

We began weekly shipments of materials to the Northern Regional Library Facility (NRLF) in October and will continue these throughout the year.  You can page NRLF materials via OskiCat.  For print materials at the Southern Regional Library Facility, find them in Next Generation Melvyl and use the Request button to request them.  Please let us know if you need help locating anything.

Articles requested from NRLF or SRLF will be scanned and sent to you via email within two working days. Books from NRLF will arrive at the campus library of your choice for pick-up; and books from SRLF will arrive at the interlibrary loan office at Doe Library, Room 133.

2.  New Resources

Continuing the transition to digital materials, the Library purchased several ebook packages and more online journal backfiles during the past year.

Springer Materials:  This is the online version of Landolt-Börnstein New Series.  It also includes the Dortmund Data Bank Software & Separation Technology, a Database on Thermophysical Properties and the Linus Pauling Files, a Database on Inorganic Solid Phases and chemical safety data.

Springer eBooks package:  The 2010 titles were added to our collection of 2005-2009 titles.

SPIE ebooks package:  About 130 titles on optics and photonics.

Synthesis Digital Library of Engineering & Computer Sciences, Collection 4: 125 new titles beginning in January 2011

Wiley - IEEE Press Books:  More than 400 handbooks, introductory and advanced texts, reference works, and professional engineering books.  Major subject areas include communications and networking, electromagnetics, components and circuits, and power and energy.  These titles are full text searchable on the IEEEXplore platform, and the PDF chapters and can be downloaded and read on numerous ebook readers on the market.

The Library also purchased the online backfiles of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers proceedings, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers journals package backfiles.

Access to online resources is granted by a license that sets out the terms and conditions under which we can use them.  In all cases, the licenses forbid programmatic or systematic downloading of articles or chapters.  Please inform new members of your research groups how to use these resources responsibly.  To see the list of activities that are generally permitted and those not permitted, read Conditions of Use .

3.  NSF Requirement for a Data Management Plan

A two-page Data Management Plan must be included in new NSF proposals, beginning January 18, 2011.  Several NSF Directorates, including the Engineering Directorate (ENG) have issued additional guidance for proposals submitted to ENG programs.  More information on the NSF requirement, guidance documents from the Directorates and a Frequently Asked Questions is available. 

4.  Staff News

Fleur Helsingor, our Web Developer, has announced her retirement at the end of January 2011.  Fleur has designed and coded many web pages for us, and made our website both ADA compliant and mobile-friendly.  In addition, Fleur has designed many other library websites, including the Library-wide Collection Development pages.  Fleur was also instrumental in helping to develop and maintain the library's archive of the EECS Technical Memorandum Series.

Blake Lindsey joined us in October as the project assistant overseeing the identification and storage of materials to NRLF.

Fannie Yip and Pati Moran comprise our technical processing unit and Brice Sullivan continues as our circulation supervisor. 

Jean & Lisa

1.  Budget News

The collections budget cut is 14%.  This will be met by reducing the books budget and canceling serials.  Where our journal subscriptions currently include both the electronic and print versions, the print will be cancelled and electronic access retained as the subscriptions come up for renewal.  This applies mostly to journals from professional associations, including ASCE, ASME and IEEE and their British counterparts, ICE/Telford, IMechE and IET.  The Library's purpose is to support current curricular and research needs and we will evaluate potential cancellations beyond those described above in that context.  We expect to have a complete cancellation plan out to you in Spring 2010.

On the positive side, funds are available and you should continue to forward any recommendations for purchases to Lisa and me.  See the Library Collections page for more information.

The most significant cut on the operations side resulted in a 25% reduction in student staffing across the Libraries, which led to the decision to close all campus libraries, except Moffitt, on Saturday for this year.

2.  New Resources

OskiCat:  The new UC Berkeley Library Catalog

Some of the features of OskiCat are:

• Keyword searching across author, title, subject, and more
• Renew items online and manage your account via MyOskiCat 
• Request items checked out to another borrower or stored at NRLF
• Search more libraries including Transportation Studies and WRCA
• Limit results to specific libraries, or Online items
• Find Course Reserves quickly

 

1. Engineering Library Staff
Our newest staff member is Laura Calverley who joined us in August. Laura is the Reference & Outreach Services Librarian, and the selector and liaison to the CEE Department. With this issue, Laura takes over as Newsletter Editor, and she has created its new blog format. Lisa Ngo is the Instruction and Electronic Services Librarian, and selector and liaison to the ME and MSE Departments. I am the Head Librarian, and liaison and selector for BioE, EECS, IEOR, and NE Departments. As selectors, each of us is responsible for purchasing books, journals and other materials to meet the research and teaching needs of College of Engineering faculty and students.

Brice Sullivan is the Circulation Supervisor and manages all the course reserves for Engineering classes. Fannie Yip, Technical Processing Supervisor, and Pati Moran, Technical Processing Assistant, together process all the materials that come into and leave the Engineering Library. Fannie and Brice also work at the reference desk, and Pati works at the Circulation desk. Taking care of all our website development, current serials lists and archiving EECS Technical Reports is our Electronic Resources Specialist, Fleur Helsingor.
–Jean McKenzie

2. Ebooks
Our electronic books collection is growing in leaps and bounds with the latest additions of Ebrary and a UC-wide trial to Springer e-books.

Ebrary is a collection of full-text searchable books with
built-in software tools. It is multidisciplinary and includes titles such as "Java, a Beginner's Guide" by H. Schild, "Organic and Inorganic Nanostructures" by A. Nabok, and "Computational Bioengineering" by M. Cerrolaza. Get started with Ebrary guide

The UC-wide trial to the Springer eBook Collection gives us online access to Springer's extensive digitized collection of scientific, technical, and biomedical ebooks. Springer books are browsable by subject area or full-text searchable. Our trial ends on December 31st, 2008.

Interested in other electronic books? See all our e-books resources online.

3. SciFinder Scholar – On the Web!

SciFinder Scholar is now available to UC Faculty, staff, and students on the web in addition to the client version that many of you are familiar with.

The web version includes features not available in the client version such as "Keep Me Posted", which allows users to set up current awareness searches.

To use the web version, users must first register with a current Berkeley e-mail address. Registration information

4. IM Reference
Participating UCB science libraries are now offering reference services over instant messaging. Chat reference will be available Monday through Friday from 10am-12pm and 1pm-5pm. You can access IM reference through the Meebo chat widget that appears on many of our web pages, including the Engineering Library’s Ask Us page. Additionally, you can add the username “ucbscilibs” to your buddy list on AIM, Google Chat, or Yahoo Messenger.

5. Berkeley Research Impact Initiative (BRII)

The BRII, co-sponsored by UC Berkeley’s Vice-Chancellor for Research and the University Librarian, supports Berkeley researchers who choose to make their journal publications freely available to the public.

BRII covers up to $3,000 of the publication fees charged by open access (OA) publishers (i.e. PLoS, BioMed Central, etc.). BRII also covers up to $1,500 of the “paid access” fees charged by non-OA publishers (i.e. IMechE (PEP), Springer, Taylor & Francis, Wiley), who make articles free to read at the moment of publication.

A list of OA and paid access publishers can be found on the UC Berkeley Scholarly Communication website. For guidelines, questions and application forms, please see the BRII website.

1. Next Generation Melvyl Catalog

Melvyl + WorldCat = Next Generation Melvyl!

The UC Libraries have launched Next Generation Melvyl, a potential replacement for the UC-wide Melvyl catalog. Through a single interface, NextGen Melvyl searches holdings in UCB, all UC Libraries, and libraries around the world (with UCB holdings listed first), as well as UC books digitized by Google, and citations for articles in MEDLINE (PubMed) and ArticleFirst, which includes some physical science and engineering articles. Other Key Points: The current Melvyl Catalog and all its functionality will be maintained and available as usual. See the FAQ for more information. NextGen Melvyl will be available for at least six months and is very much a work in progress as improvements continue to be made. Your feedback during this pilot phase is vital. Please test NextGen Melvyl as frequently and as vigorously as possible, and use the "Survey - Your Voice Counts!" link located in the upper-right corner to give us that feedback.

2. New Resources

Nature: UCB now has access to two new Nature titles, Nature Protocols and Nature Geoscience. In addition, the archive of the flagship title, Nature, is available from 1869. Computing Reviews: This database includes book reviews, as well as reviews of articles from journals and conference proceedings. Reviews are written by experts in the computer science field who have been qualified by the Association of Computing Machinery. You can search or browse the database and find recommendations by Editors, Reviewers, and Readers. Use the UC e-Links button to find the full text of reviewed works.

3. Changes to Resources

Springer Protocols: Formerly called BioMedProtocols, these moved to Springer when it acquired Humana Press. The database is comprised of more than 18,000 searchable protocols in molecular biology and biomedicine from the series Methods in Molecular Biology, Methods in Molecular Medicine, Methods in Biotechnology, Neuromethods, and other sources. Springer's new interface features commenting, video protocols, and the ability to upload protocols.

4. Staff Changes

Lisa Ngo joined the Library in August 2007. Lisa is the Instruction & Electronic Services Librarian and selector for Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering. Pati Moran has been our Technical Processing Assistant since last September and plans to attend library school to study for a master's degree in library science. All of us have just completed interviews of five candidates for a Reference & Outreach Librarian and we hope to have someone starting in time for Fall semester.

5. Ask Us, Recommendations for Purchase, Request a Workshop

• Ask Us
• Recommendations for Purchase
• Request a Library Workshop

— Jean McKenzie and Lisa Ngo

1. New Resources: These new resources are now accessible from all UC IP addresses.

Journal of Fluid Mechanics Backfile
The JFM backfile covers Volumes 1 - 329 (1956-1996). Links from article databases will soon be enabled; in the meantime, you can browse the list of issues. (Scroll down the page to find the volume list.)

Taylor and Francis Journals
The complete Taylor and Francis online journals collection totals more than 1,000 titles in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. UC Berkeley already had online access to the Taylor and Francis journals received in print and this extends our access in all subject areas.

ASM Alloy Phase Diagrams Center
The ASM Alloy Phase Diagrams Center provides access to more than 11,000 binary and ternary phase diagrams and associated phase data for more than 2,400 systems. The collection will be updated to include 10,000 binary and 20,000 ternary diagrams. The first update will occur in September and include nearly 18,000 ternary diagrams.

Nature Journals

Nature Nanotechnology, v. 1 (2006), covers all aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology, including "research into the design, characterization and production of structures, devices and systems that involve the manipulation and control of materials and phenomena at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales."

Nature Photonics, v. 1 (2007), coverage ranges "from research into the fundamental properties of light and how it interacts with matter through to the latest design of optoelectronic devices and emerging applications that exploit photons."

SPIE Journals

The Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, v. 1 (2007), covers the concepts, information, and progress of the remote-sensing community.

The Journal of Nanophotonics, v. 1 (2007), focuses on the fabrication and application of nanostructures that either generate or manipulate light from the infrared to the ultraviolet regimes.

Both SPIE titles are peer reviewed, online-only journals featuring multimedia (video and audio) content; color images; and rapid, article-at-a-time publication.

UCB faculty, staff and students can also access these resources off campus via the Library Proxy Server. These new resources are, or soon will be, in our catalogs and the Electronic Journals A-Z list.

2. Collection Budget: Collection funding for the Engineering Library has been stable over the past year. The Library has had a flat budget for a number of years and has avoided major collection reductions only through a combination of actions, such as favorable consortial licensing, careful stewardship of one-time funding, and the elimination of print versions of commercially-published journals when online access is secured. However, unless the Library Collections budget receives some inflationary adjustments, we will be facing collection cuts in the coming year.  The campus Library system has a new Budget Outlook web page, where you can learn more about these collections issues.

3. SAE Digital Library: UC has encountered licensing problems with the SAE Digital Library, which provided online access to the full text of the technical papers from the Society of Automotive Engineers. It is not clear when or if these issues will be resolved, given SAE's new restrictive license. (UC is not alone in these problems; academic engineering libraries across the country have encountered the same problems and similarly dropped their subscriptions.)

The Engineering Library is committed to working with faculty and graduate students to provide papers as needed. We already own all the papers on microfiche from 1984-2004 (at which point SAE stopped publishing the papers in microfiche). Our microfiche equipment includes the ability to scan and download documents in pdf format. We also have a full set of the SAE Transactions (which includes selected technical papers). We have ordered the 2005 and 2006 papers on CD-ROM and expect to have them installed in the Library within the next week or two, and we are working on a plan to order 2007 papers, as needed, for graduate students and faculty. In the meantime, please speak with a reference librarian if you need help locating SAE papers. More information can be found on the Science and Engineering Libraries News blog.

4. Camille Wanat Retires: I will be retiring July 1, 2007. It's been my privilege to manage the Kresge Engineering Library since 1988.  I will miss working with Berkeley engineering faculty and graduate students on a daily basis; there's something about working with the very best in the field that challenges the library to mirror that excellence. My thanks for your support of library services through the years.

Jean McKenzie will be the Interim Head of the Kresge Engineering Library. She has been the Assistant Head of this library for many years, so most of you are already familiar with her excellent work. She can be reached at (510) 643-5575 or "jmckenzi" at library dot berkeley dot edu.

— Camille Wanat

5. Staff Update: In January 2007, Brian Quigley was appointed to the position of Head of the Mathematics-Statistics Library.  While we miss his services as an engineering librarian, we are very happy that he will continue to be part of the Berkeley campus libraries. Recruitment is in process to fill his former position here at the Engineering Library and we expect to have a new librarian on board this summer. In the meantime, Brian will continue to help out with our reference and instructional services and as the collection specialist for computer science.

6. Ask Us and Recommendations for Purchase

• Ask Us
• Recommendations for Purchase

1. New Online Journals

Biomicrofluidics is a new, open access title from the American Institute of Physics that addresses novel microfluidic techniques for "researchers from diverse fields, including engineering, physics, materials science, chemistry, and biology." Its first issue (Jan-Mar 2007) is partially available now.

Biointerphases began in early 2006 and has three issues out. It is an open access, interdisciplinary journal providing a platform for biomaterials interface researchers from biology, chemistry, physics, and materials sciences communities.

2. Electronic Books Update: The Kresge Engineering Library subscribes to several large packages of electronic books that continually add titles to their collections. Knovel, ENGnetBASE, and Safari are among the largest of these and we thought it might be useful to list some of their recent additions:

Knovel adds newly digitized material, including older classics (about 1,020 titles to date):

• Mobile, wireless, and sensor networks : technology, applications, and future directions. Shorey, Rajiv, ed. IEEE Press, 2006.
• Nuclear chemical engineering. Benedict, Manson, Pigford, Thomas H., Levi, Hans Wolfgang. 2nd edition. McGraw-Hill, 1981.
• Statistical design and analysis of experiments : with applications to engineering and science. Mason, Robert L., et al. 2nd edition. Wiley, 2003.

ENGnetBASE adds newer materials published by CRC/Taylor & Francis (about 625 titles to date):

• Biomedical engineering fundamentals. Bronzino, Joseph D., ed. 2006.
• Multiphase flow handbook. Clayton Crowe. 2006.
• Earthquake engineering for structural design. Chen, W.F., Lui, E.M. 2006.

Safari, O'Reilly computer manuals (about 400 titles currently):

• Programming Python. 3rd Edition. O'Reilly, 2006.
• Google hacks. 3rd Edition. O'Reilly, 2006.

Knovel, ENGnetBASE, and Safari are accessible from all campus IP addresses or via the proxy server. You can view individual titles or search across the entire collections. Thousands more electronic books are accessible from Electronic Books.

3. Retrospective Article Databases: Many article database producers have converted their old print volumes to digital files, making it possible to search for historical material from more than 100 years ago. Compendex, PubMed, and Web of Science have integrated the older materials into the current file; INSPEC has kept the current and historic files separate. Links for all these article databases can be found from our Article Databases page.

Compendex: 1884 - present
INSPEC: 1898 - 1968; 1969 - present
PubMed: 1951 - present
Web of Science: 1900 - present

4. New Services

IM Reference Launches: The Engineering Library recently launched an instant message (IM) reference service. During the semester, we are providing IM reference from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Through this service, you can instantly connect with a librarian who can help answer your library questions. Our screen name is askengi on AIM, Yahoo!, and Google Talk. Add us to your buddy list for easy access! If you do not have IM software on your computer, or you cannot use it for security reasons, try the web-based meebo instead. For more information about IM, see the Doe Library's IM Reference FAQ. You can also still reach us in person, by phone, and by e-mail. See our Ask Us page for more information.

5. Services Update

Expedited Article Requests: Are you in a hurry to get a journal article or conference paper not available at UCB? The Engineering Library offers an expedited document delivery service for faculty, graduate students, and research staff in the College of Engineering. Use our Expedited Article and Paper Request form, and requested documents will usually be delivered electronically (web delivery) in one to three days.

Course Reserves and bSpace: You can link to your course reserve lists from the Web Content section of bSpace, making it easier for your students to find the materials they should be reading. Faculty will soon receive the first call for their Spring Course Reserve lists.

Standards: We subscribe to a few large sets of standards, including those from ASTM, IEEE, and ASCE. However, we will gladly purchase individual standards from other organizations, such as ISO or ANSI, when they are needed for research. Please contact us if you find a standard that is critical to your research.

6. Ask Us (formerly eReference) and Purchase Recommendations: Ask Us | Book Purchase Recommendation Form