PolyThinkers Pad

A wide selection of e-books at SpringerLink is now available for the Poly community to use on a trial basis through May 31st. SpringerLink offers journals and books in a variety of disciplines such as biomedicine, chemistry, physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, humanities, and economics. Free access to tables of contents, detailed abstracts and editorial background are available for every publication, and full text is offered for many.

Take a moment to run a couple searches in SpringerLink and see how easy it is to narrow your results to fit your criteria. You can also sign up for alerts on the latest titles in your field. Give it a shot and let us know if you find it useful by leaving a comment below. Your feedback will help us decide whether or not to purchase this resource for the library.

The library’s finals hours period has been extended. On Friday, May 9, the library will be closing at 11 pm. On Saturday, May 10 and Sunday, May 11, it will be open from 10 am-8 pm. On Monday, May 12 and Tuesday May 13, it will be open from 9 am - 11 pm.

Overwhelmed with studying for finals? Good studying techniques and test preparation can go a long way in helping you succeed on your final exams. Study Guides and Strategies is an educational public service web site that offers loads of helpful tips and guidelines to help people study. Here’s a sample of what you can find on the site:

• Overcoming test anxiety
• Anticipating test content
• Studying for math exams

Good luck on your exams!

Starting Wednesday, April 30, the Dibner Library will stay open 24 hours on weekdays until Friday, May 9. On Friday and Saturday nights the library will close at midnight and open at 9 am the following morning. A complete schedule of library hours is available on the library home page.

We know the end of the semester can be a stressful time. Please respect your fellow students by keeping your voices down. Here are some more tips to survive finals.

If you’re in need of a study break, play around in Phun - a 2D physics sandbox. A Swedish computer science student developed Phun for his Masters thesis. The program (which is free to download) lets you flex your creativity and build fantastic contraptions, all while obeying the laws of physics.

Climate change is a huge issue that affects us all. If you’re unsure of your role in the problem (and solution) take a minute to calculate your impact with the carbon footprint calculator. Answer a few questions about your energy use, diet, transportation, and recycling habits and get an estimate of how many tons of carbon dioxide your choices create each year. The web site also provides climate saving tips to help offset your footprint.

source: kingdigitalcomics.com

More environmental resources:

• GreenFILE: environmental database containing nearly 300,000 citations of both scholarly and general interest titles. Full text is available for selected titles.
• Green Living Toolbox: a directory of online resources to help you “go green”
• Earth Day NYC: information on events and resources such as eco-friendly shopping tips, environmental job and graduate program links, and high performance buildings.

[Read more →]

Whether you’re looking for your first position as a new graduate or a way to earn some cash this summer, take advantage of the library’s resources to help you land the perfect job.

The Dibner Library has books to help you with everything from choosing a career path that suits your personality to writing a stand-out resume. Here’s a sample of some of our titles:

• How to win your job search
• How to write successful cover letters
• Help! my job interview is tomorrow!: how to use the library to research an employer
• Studying engineering: a road map to a rewarding career
• Discovering your finance career

To find your perfect job, check out the employment web sites we have gathered for you on the Career & Job Opportunities Guide. And when it’s time for your interview, don’t go unprepared! Research the employer ahead of time using databases like Hoover’s or Business Source Elite. Finally, don’t forget Poly’s Career Services Department. They can offer you one-one-one career counseling and resume critiques. Happy job hunting!

For more funny graphs, check out GraphJam, the latest from the creators of I Can Has Cheezburger?

Have you ever tracked down a book with a great title, certain that it would be relevant to your research, only to be sorely disappointed when you discover a mere five sentences on your topic of interest? Now there’s help! Microsoft Live Search Books offers a neat visual ruler that shows you how often and where your search terms appear in the book:

The green indicates where the search term “robotics” appears in the example above. This is a handy feature that can help you determine if a book is relevant to your needs before you make the effort to hunt it down.

For more help on searching for books online, visit the library’s Online Books Guide.

The patenting of human genes raises all sorts of important questions whose answers will have a growing impact on our lives. Just consider this, one-fifth of the genes in your body are privately owned.

To learn more about this intriguing issue, come to the inaugural Dibner Family Professor of the History of Technology and Science lecture: The CCR5 Gene: A Cautionary Tale about Patenting. The lecture will take place on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 4 p.m. in the Pfizer Auditorium. Join us in the Dibner Library afterwards for a reception with lecturer, Professor Myles Jackson.