National Library Week (April 6-12).   Calendar of Events.

Central Library News:

*Focus on Faculty Series:

Presenter: Dr. Craig A. Depken, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Economics-College of Businessll

When: April 16, 2003: 12:15pm-1:15pm
Where: Parlor on the 6th Floor of the Central Library Building.
The Library will provide complimentary finger sandwiches and soft drinks.

The Economics of Sports Arenas: A Property Rights Approach

The standard approach in the economics of sports arenas focuses on the public benefits of a publicly funded venue, including job creation, economic growth, increased tourism and civic pride. However, academic studies consistently show the public benefits of sports arenas may be greatly overestimated, thereby casting doubt on the economic justifications for publicly funded arenas. Notwithstanding this evidence, cities continue to provide millions of dollars for new stadium construction.

This discussion outlines the traditional benefits and costs of public stadium funding and then considers an alternative approach that focuses on those who hold “property rights” to the monetary benefits of a new stadium. Data from professional baseball during the 1990’s are used to illustrate the approach.

• For more information, visit: http://www.uta.edu/depken/main.shtml
• For more information, contact Tommie Wingfield, phone: (817) 272-2658.

Presenter:  Dr. Paul Medley, Assistant Dean of Science & Adjunct Professor of Biology

When: April 30, 2003: 12:15pm-1:15pm
Where: Parlor on the 6th Floor of the Central Library Building.
The Library will provide complimentary finger sandwiches and soft drinks.

An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Tool for Interdisciplinary Research

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a computer-assisted process designed to acquire, store, display and analyze spatial data and their attributes. The ability to analyze multiple data layers over space and time is what distinguishes GIS from simple desktop mapping and standard database applications. GIS makes possible the automation of activities involving geographic data such as digital map production, area and distance calculations, elevations, route planning, vehicle tracking, traffic management, as well as carry out complex spatial modeling. GIS incorporates knowledge from multiple disciplines such as geography, geodesy, cartography, computer science, mathematics, statistics, etc., and is truly a powerful interdisciplinary research system. This talk will introduce basic concepts of GIS and present specific research applications where GIS has been used as a problem solving tool.

• For more information, visit: http://cos.uta.edu/gis/

*GIS Workshop Series - Central Library, Room 510
     These are free and open to every faculty, staff, and student. An entire GIS project will be completed by the participants of the workshop. The only prerequisite is a basic comfort level working with computers in a PC environment.

GIS Lab Hours in Room 510 - Tuesday - Friday 4:00 - 5:30 and Saturday 12:00 - 8:00

Circulation Corner: 

Interlibrary Loan form now Online ONLY!  

UTA Interlibrary Loan Online is a web-based system that lets you manage your Interlibrary Loan transactions from wherever you have access to the internet and a web browser.  Registration is required and only takes a few minutes.  For more questions regarding ILL Online click here:  Interlibrary Loan Online.

With ILL Online, you can:

• Log in to see your private Interlibrary Loan transactions
• Request materials that aren't available from the UTA Libraries
• Edit or cancel requests that you've made
• Check the status of your requests
• Update your contact information and other account information
• Find out if your ILL requests have arrived before we notify you (We'll still notify you using the method you specify in your ILL Online account profile.)
• Get your articles online if you've authorized electronic delivery of online articles
• Reinstate ILL requests that you had cancelled
• See a history of the requests you've made, cancelled, and received. These will be the requests you made after you started using ILL Online.

Congratulations!!:

UTA ENGINEERING STUDENT NOMINATED FOR INTERNATIONAL SPORTS AWARD

The greatest athletes in the world-including Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Serena Williams and former UTA All-American wheelchair basketball player Paul Schulte-have been nominated for a 2003 Laureus World Sports Award by a panel of more than 400 sports journalists in 70 countries.  Schulte, a mechanical engineering senior at UTA, has been nominated to receive the "World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability" award from the Laureus World Sports Awards. A guard on the UTA Movin' Mavs wheelchair basketball team between 1998 and 2002, Schulte was named "Player of the Year" by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association, was placed on the NWBA's All-American First Team and All-American Academic Team, and was a co-recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. He also led the Movin' Mavs to the 2002 national championship. As a member of Team USA at last September's Wheelchair Basketball Gold Cup in Japan, he was voted the tournament's best player after scoring 32 points in the title game and leading USA to the World Championship. Former Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses will announce winners of the Laureus Awards May 20 in Monaco. For more information on the awards, go to <http://www.laureus.com/awards/index.php>.  
[UTA Today - 4/4/03]

Database Information: 

New:   RAND Texas

     An online source for Texas and U.S. statistics. Contains more than 80 databases, ranging from industry employment to immigration to school test scores. Much of the data is available at the national, state, county, city, and zip code levels. All of the data is updated on a regular basis. Major categories covered include: business and economics, health and socioeconomic data, population and demographics, government finance, education, census.

Spotlight:  Factiva.com

     Dates of coverage vary by title. Updated daily. Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher (Windows) or Internet Explorer 5.1 or higher (Macintosh) required. Factiva.com combines the Dow Jones Interactive and Reuters Business Briefing databases, offering the latest news from these leading business resources. Business and finance are covered in over 8,000+ sources from 118 countries and 22 languages. And with more than 120 continuously updated newswires, Factiva provides breaking news from around the world. Key newspapers include:The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Financial Times, Handelsblatt, Les Echos, South China Morning Post, Australian Financial Review, etc. Business magazines include: The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Finanz & Wirtschaft, Satellite News, BusinessWeek, and more.

**Send comments about the databases to: Antoinette.

Engineering News:
For specific library news relevant to Engineering subject areas, click on the department.

Engineering and Computer Science Databases. This link provides information to subject databases, internet resources and guides & bibliographies relevant to each engineering discipline. 

What's New @ IEEE for Libraries, includes information about new journals, conference proceedings, and other IEEE features.

Exhibits:

  Current exhibit:       April's exhibit, "SciFi in Cinema" reflects the American Library Association's National Library Week theme of "Films @ Your Library."

For previous exhibits, visit the exhibits online. 

Instruction Info:

Reference Corner:

Reference Source Spotlight:

McGraw-Hill illustrated telecom dictionary
Jade Clayton
TK5102 .C57 2001 

The McGraw-Hill illustrated telecom dictionary contains over 3300 entries covering all aspects of the telecom industry.  Nearly 500 of the entries are illustrated with a diagram, chart, or picture. Many of the remaining 2800 entries refer to an illustration elsewhere in the book. This dictionary is intended as a reference for established professionals in the IT and telecom industry, as well as newcomers to the field.

Science News:
For specific library news relevant to Science subject areas, click on the department.

Science and Mathematics Databases.  This link provides information to subject databases, internet resources and guides & bibliographies relevant to each science discipline. 

Staff News: 

Congratulations to Jim Collins, LAIII Reference Assistant.  His 1997 Master's thesis from UTA, Characteristics and origin of the Cedar Hill bentonite bed, lower Austin Chalk, Dallas County vicinity, was referenced in a recent publication.  Title of reference publication:  Geology of the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex and Local Geologic/Meteorologic Hazards, by Donald F. Reaser, Pearson Custom Publishing, 2002.

Barbara Howser & Jason Neal, attended the ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries) Conference April 9-12, 2003 in Charlotte, NC.

Antoinette Nelson, attended and served on the Display & Safety Board of the ExxonMobil Texas Science & Engineering Fair held April 10-12 at the Arlington Convention Center.  The Fair was hosted by UTA's College of Science.  EMTSEF info.

Previous Issues:

December 2001