Physics--New Databases by Topic

We have updated the databases by topic page. We have eliminated the catch-all "Science/Technology" and added Physics (it used to be listed with Geology)!

New search engine in beta

Exalead a fairly new search engine from France, introduced in October 2004 (and still in beta) is beginning to get some buzz. "The key factors in evaluating a search engine should include timeliness, ability to handle ambiguity, and plenty of power search tools. Exalead does a great job, at least on two of these three criteria" (read the review)
Also try the advanced search

EEVL Xtra

EEVL: Internet Guide to Engineering, Mathematics and Computing launched a new service called EEVL Xtra which "cross-searches over 20 collection relevant to engineering, mathematics and computing, including content from over 50 publishers and providers," including subject specific content from the hidden web which isn't indexed by Google or Google Scholar. (learn more)

Managing web sites

Bookmark Managers
Having trouble keeping track of interesting web sites? There are a number of free, web-based ways to save and annotate web sites and access them from any computer.
Here are a few we have been trying out:
Furl http://www.furl.net/
del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/
Bookmark Manager http://bkm.sourceforge.net/ (open source tool)
(see more options)

New books on Evolution in the library!

Come check out these new books on evolution, and while you're at it, look at the other books on the new book shelf to pick up some summer reading!


The Behavior of Animals : Mechanisms, Function, and Evolution
QL763 .B39 2005 (4th Floor)

Evolution: the Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory
QH361.L27 2004 (4th Floor)

Evolution in Perspective: the Science Teacher's Compendium
QH362 .E853 2004 (New Book Shelf)

Evolutionary Theory: Mathematical and Conceptual Foundations
QH366.2 .R523 2004 (New Book Shelf, 1st floor)

Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe
QH360.5.C66 2005 (New Book Shelf)

On the Origin of Phyla
QH367.5.V26 2004 (4th Floor)

Speciation
QH380.C68 2004 (New Book Shelf)

"Math is Hot"

The Washington Post ran an article in its Arts & Living section about math. Check it out below:

Count Him In

And check out these books in the Library!

Math and bio 2010 : linking undergraduate disciplines / edited by Lynn Arthur Steen. QH323.5 .M363 2005

Math and the Mona Lisa : the art and science of Leonardo da Vinci / Bülent Atalay. N6923.L33 A4 2004

And look for this title, coming soon:

Mathematical puzzles : a connoisseur's collection / Peter Winkler

IoP papers free for 30 days

The Institute of Physics is now offering free electronic access to most new journal articles for the first 30 days after online publication. This feature is called This Month's Papers and includes over 30 journals. (learn more)

Classic Textbooks in Science-Online

The National Academy of Sciences has started a new series to digitize out-of-print yet classic science texts. The first is John A. Moore's Heredity and Development, Second Edition in both PDF and HTML.

Lemurs & Lions Push Technology Forward

DreamWorks Animation's new film Madagascar includes effects impossible even a few years ago. Due to advances in computer power, file compression and coding, Madagascar's animated animals have a line of computer code for each hair. "Alex, the Lion...had 1.7 million hairs on his head and each one represented a series of 1s and 0s." (learn more)

Ever wanted to look up chemical information on your cell phone?

ACS is making Chem Abstracts available over the airwaves. (Not something the library will be able to provide in the near future, but interesting nonetheless.)

The Chronicle: 5/27/2005: Coming Soon: Doing Research With Your Cellphone

Science and Technology @ MERLOT

"MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students of higher education. Links to online learning materials...along with annotations such as peer reviews and assignments."
Browse or search through chemistry (443), computer science (475), physics (1592), biology (860), astronomy (149), geology (72), engineering (349) and much more.

Open Source Projects top 100,000

SourceForge.net, a repository of Open Source computing projects, has approved and launched over 100,000 projects. These include additions by large organizations such as NASA, Microsoft, Google and IBM (read more).

California Earthquake Prediction Map

USGS and scientists from the Swiss Seismological Service and the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) rolled out an online, real-time earthquake prediction map which shows the probability of an earthquake in the next 24 hours. It is based on earthquake data collected by the California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) and known patterns of aftershocks.

Wikipedia

Have you ever tried Wikipedia? This is a free online encyclopedia--created and maintained by the general public. Anyone can add or change the entries. For this reason, information used for academic research should be verified in another source. But this has also led to its rapid growth with over 560,000 entries since 2001!

Average Journal Prices Soar!

Check out this journal price survey done by Library Journal.

Average Price Per Title by Discipline
Chemistry - $2,868
Physics - 2,719
Engineering - 1,683
Biology - 1,494
Technology - 1,460
Math & Computer Science - 1,267
Astronomy - 1,235
Geology - 1,197
Botany - 1,109
Food Science - 1,107
Health Sciences - 1,081
General Science - 1,059
Zoology - 1,053
Geography - 945
Agriculture - 799

SOURCE: LJ PERIODICAL PRICE SURVEY 2005

Eagles of Santa Catalina May Lose Support System - New York Times

Eagles of Santa Catalina May Lose Support System - New York Times

Read about the current state of the Golden Eagle project on Catalina Island.

In the library:
CSULB students have written 15 masters theses about the flora and fauna of Catalina Island. Do a COAST keyword search on Catalina Long Beach to find them, and come to the library, 2nd floor, to read them.

Or come and check out:
The Golden Eagle by Jeff Watson ; illustrated by Keith Brockie ; with colour plate and landscapes by Donald Watson. On the 4th Floor at QL696.F32 W367 1997

"Seattle leads U.S. cities joining Kyoto Protocol"

132 mayors from across the U.S. are joining a "bipartisan coalition to fight global warming on the local level," including New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. learn more

Late nights @ the Library

To help students with the end of the year rush, the Library will be open an extra two hours until 2:00am on Sundays--Thursdays (from May 8-May 19). The Library has also brought in extra tables and chairs to make room for everyone!

National Geographic's Strange Days on Planet Earth

This companion web site (requires flash) to a PBS/National Geographic four-part documentary talks about global change in many forms including:

1. Invaders: Traces the journey of non-native species and the resulting fall out
2. One degree factor: Discusses how a few degrees of climate change effect species
3. Predators: Explores the crucial role top predators play in an ecosystem
4. Troubled Waters: Talks about the role of toxins in the world's water systems

New Chapters in the Dinosaur Chronicles - New York Times

A look at the new dinosaur exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History.

New Chapters in the Dinosaur Chronicles - New York Times


Come to the library and check out:

Posture, locomotion, and paleoecology of pterosaurs / by Sankar Chatterjee, R.J. Templin.
QE1 .G486 no.376

Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of California / Richard P. Hilton ; illustrated by Ken Kirkland ; foreword by Keven Padian. QE861.8.C2 H55 2003

When life nearly died : the greatest mass extinction of all time / Michael J. Benton. QE721.2.E97 B46 2003

RoboCup: Soccer Playing Dogs?

"Robot dog soccer is one of five games that teams of scholars competed in during the 2005 RoboCup U.S. Open. The aim of the three-day competition...is to develop software for better robots with the long-term goal of fielding a robot soccer team good enough to play a human team by 2050."

Check out Inside CSULB

Did you know that Zahur Anwar, Physics and Astronomy, and Jerry Ball, Mathematics and Statistics and Tulin Mangir, Electrical Engineering, are featured in this month's Inside CSULB ?


Also, check out the review on Oceanographers and the Cold War, available now at the CSULB library!

CSULB Library New Titles List

Have you checked out the CSULB Library New Titles List?

Updated quarterly, it lists new books the library has acquired by subject.

You can also check out the New Book shelves on the first floor of the library and be the first to get your hands on these items.

Science.gov Weekly Email Alerts

Science.gov, "a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. government agencies, including research and development results," has a new weekly Alert service. Simply register and enter your topics/keywords and you will receive a weekly email alert about new content added to Science.gov on your topic.

Wired News: Computers Grade Students' Writing

An interesting tool, let the debate begin!

Wired News: Computers Grade Students' Writing

1905--the "Miracle Year"

As part of the World Year of Physics, learn about the four papers produced in the same year, 1905, by Albert Einstein.

Also listen to, National Public Radio story, How Smart was Einstein?
Also visit, Was Einstein a Space Alien? from Science @ NASA

NASA Science and Technical Information (STI)

NASA STI "helps you locate, obtain, and publish NASA aerospace information and find national and international information pertinent to your research and mission." Includes links to NTRS: NASA Technical Report Server, STAR: Scientific and Technical Aerospace reports and more.

"BitTorrent as friend, not foe"

"BitTorrent has been described as Hollywood's Napster--a sinister software that makes it easy to steal movies off the Internet." This article from CNN describes how the technology of BitTorrent works and how the movie and other industries are responding.
Also see the How Stuff Works: BitTorrent

The New York Times-Science- Chimeras on the Horizon, but Don't Expect Centaurs

A fascinating look at the ethics and implications of stem-cell research and the creation of human-animal chimeras.

The New York Times > Science > Chimeras on the Horizon, but Don't Expect Centaurs

Once again, you need to sign in to NY Times to view the article. If you don't want to create your own account, try www.bugmenot.com

Research Paper Clinics

Sign up or drop by our Clinics to get help with research projects and assitance from the Writers Resource Lab*.
May 4 (Wednesday) 10-1pm
May 5 (Thursday) 11-2pm
May 9 (Monday) 11-2pm
May 10 (Tuesday) 1-4pm

Note: All sessions held in the Spidell classroom, 1st floor of the Library.

*Writers Resouces Lab not available at all sessions, check sign up form.

Google's patents

"Google has filed a patent application, entitled 'Information retrieval based on historical data.' This new patent application reveals many of the techniques which Google uses to rank sites and shows you exactly what you need to do to gain high Google positions."
Learn more about finding patents.