Facts, Films, and Streaming Jazz:  New Databases at JMU Libraries

by Jody Fagan

Exciting new resources are being added to JMU Libraries’ electronic collections this Fall, and there’s something for everyone!

A collection of full-text databases from EBSCO called the “Premier Package” will add even more online scholarly journals and magazines to JMU’s online collections.  The flagship of the product, Academic Search Premier, contains nearly 4,700 publications, including more than 3,600 peer-reviewed publications.  Academic Search covers every subject, and as such is similar to InfoTrac OneFile and WilsonWeb Omni Mega – but surprisingly, over 75% of its title coverage is unique among these three. 

Similarly impressive is Business Source Premier, which contains full text for nearly 8,200 serials, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed business publications.  Business Source Premier also contains market research reports and other business information.  The Premier Package also contains several subject-specific databases.

For researchers who need dissertations, JMU Libraries now has access to Dissertation Abstracts with Digital Dissertations database, published by the same company that microfilms them, ProQuest.  This has almost every dissertation published at a U.S. university since 1997 in full text.  Since dissertations often have only one copy, these materials were previously difficult to access, especially for students who cannot always afford to wait (even a few days!) for Interlibrary Loan.

Do you like the Internet Movie Database but want more information?  Two film sources previously in print, the American Film Catalog and Film Indexes International are grouped together in Film Indexes Online, which provides a wealth of information about films, including references to scholarly reviews.

Uh-oh!  You’ve got to give a speech on Friday about the Estate Tax – but you know nothing about it!  You’ve got to use reliable sources: where can you turn?  Well, the new Facts.com Reference Suite (a.k.a. Facts on File) would be a great start. All kinds of information on current events and issues & controversies are found here, including charts, timelines, topic overviews, and links to further readings – all organized into a coherent whole!  

Although not as glamorous of some, the United Nations Common Database is an exciting addition in that it provides historical, worldwide demographics, including social dimensions such as occupation, education, and religion.  Students needing to compare other countries or examine a single country across time will now have a wealth of online information at their fingertips rather than buried in numerous, scattered reference books.

Finally, the streaming jazz: Naxos Music Library joins Classical.com as an online collection of streaming audio.  Naxos includes not just Jazz and Classical, but also World, Folk, New Age, and a collection of Chinese music.  Create a playlist of music from other countries; of movements from your favorite Mozart symphonies; or mix and match.  Just don’t forget to log off when you’re done; we can have only 10 simultaneous users.

The extravaganza of new databases doesn’t end here: as we license more resources, they will be posted and publicly announced to academic departments and the library web site. A full and up-to-date list of new databases can be found at http://www.lib.jmu.edu/databases/newdatabases.aspx

Any comments or questions?  Feel free to email Jody Fagan, Digital Services Librarian