New research databases gateway

A new Electronic Resources Management (ERM) system has been launched as a gateway to UFV’s Research Databases. This new system provides many new features, such as enhanced subject tagging for databases, an integration of licensed and open access databases, the ranking of databases as “Best Bets”, and the ability to choose databases based on content type (journal articles, book reviews, etc.) and resource type (streaming video, full text database, etc.)

Find the perfect research databases for your topic...

1. Use the pull-down list to retrieve a list of relevant databases for the subject area, including a ranked list of "Best Bets"
2. Browse an alphabetical list by clicking on the first letter of a database name ... or click on "All" to see the whole list
3. Type in part of the database title, or a keyword describing the database

Library systems unavailable Sept. 19

A scheduled power outage on Sunday, September 19, 6am to noon, may result in the library's web site being unavailable. During the power outage, however, you may still be able to access some library resources through our Guides to Research and our Research Databases (although access to any databases requiring authentication may be limited). But all of the free databases will be available.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

New to the U?

Welcome! Find out where to get your student ID card and U-PASS, and about all the things you need to know to get started as a student at UFV: health & dental coverage, books, computer labs, financial aid, parking, and where to kick back and just relax. Visit http://www.ufv.ca/library/newtotheU.htm.

Exhibit launch September 15: Legacy of Residential Schools

Join us at the Chilliwack Library, September 15 @ 2pm, to unveil a poster about the legacy of residential schools. Sponsored by the Library and Aboriginal Access Services, the celebration will include drumming, singing, and refreshments.

Eddie Gardner, the facilitator of the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Support Program for Stó:lõ Health Services, who has been serving Aboriginal people in various capacities across Canada for 35 years, will sing an honour song to recognize the good work that was done in creating this poster. He will also speak about the resilience of First Nations people, the healing that needs to be done, and the reconciliation we all need to work towards.

Mr. Gardner, who is also the Head Elder for Skemcis Medicine Lodge Society, said he is pleased with the good work UFV is doing and feels "the poster is a positive step towards bringing out the truth about a dark era of our history."

From Guides to Libguides: New & improved

Check out our new & improved guides to research - we've added loads of new features, including RSS feeds for continuously updated content, search boxes into our library catalogue and databases, an opportunity to provide comments and feedback, and more!

Changes to the research databases line-up

Since 2008, the UFV library has benefited from government funding for a database collection, known as the Undergraduate Foundation Collection (UFC). The UFC databases were shared by K-12, public and postsecondary libraries. This funding has now ended and the UFC has moved to a library-sustained model.

Two databases from this collection will be continued: Academic Search Premier and Business Source Premier. A number of other databases will be discontinued. As of July 26, the following links will be removed from our web site:

1. Masterfile - Covers all subject areas, with a public library focus. As an alternative, use MAS Ultra, Academic Search Premier, or Canadian Business and Current Affairs
2. Kids Search - For Grades K-5
3. Novelist and Novelist K-8 - Reader's Advisory tools; try the Readers Advisory Link Farm for help finding good reads in your favourite genre
4. Canadian Reference Centre - Canadian information from magazines, newspapers, reference books, with a public Library focus. Use Canadian Business and Current Affairs or Canadian Newsstand as an alternative
5. Consumer Health Complete - As an alternative, use Health Source: Consumer Edition

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we welcome your feedback and comments. If you need assistance with using our research databases, please Ask a Librarian.

Hey... what happened to Database StartSearch?

If you're accustomed to using Database StartSearch to search multiple databases at once, you're probably wondering what happened to it.

The software we were using, dbWiz, was developed by the library at Simon Fraser University. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, they have decided not to continue developing this software, and it will not longer be available for use in the very near future.

But the news is not all bad...

We are in the process of upgrading our current Guides to Research, as well as developing a number of new ones, using software (called Libguides) that allows us to integrate database search boxes directly into the guides. We can configure these search boxes to search several databases at once, and the benefit of this is that the databases you're searching are the ones that are most relevant to the topic or discipline covered by the guide. Some of these new guides are available now, and all of our current Guides to Research will be converted to this new format and software by September.
As always, we are here to help you with your research ... just Ask a Librarian.