Budget shortfall: Special Nebraska Legislative Session

Written by Diana Keith, Government Documents Librarian
keithdi@unk.edu

Nebraska’s 101^st Legislature, First Special Session convened in Lincoln on Wednesday, November 4, 2009. The session was called by Governor Dave Heineman to address a projected $334 million revenue shortfall for the fiscal years comprising the state’s current two-year $6.9 billion budget.

News about the special session is reported in the Unicameral Update: http://unicameralupdate.blogspot.com/2009/11/budget-cutting-special-session-begins.html.

The Unicameral’s home page contains additional information about the special session including a current agenda, upcoming agenda, and hearing schedule.  The page has an option to view live streaming video coverage of floor debate and public hearings.

The Governor’s budget recommendations for the special session are available at:  http://www.budget.state.ne.us/das_budget/special09/specialsession09book.pdf.

The State of Nebraska Biennial Budget for 2009 – 2010/FY 2010 – 11, which was passed by the Legislature in August, is at:  http://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/fiscal/2009biennial_budget.pdf.

General fund appropriations and general fund functional summaries can be viewed at:  http://www.budget.state.ne.us/das_budget/bud/miscinfo.htm.

For a report on state government cash and revolving funds see:  http://nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/fiscal/funddescriptions_1109.pdf.

Psychology Department research on display in the library

Written by Greg Anderson, Reference Librarian
andersong@unk.edu

Faculty and student research from the Psychology Department is now on display in the library.

The display highlights student activities, the history of the department, and examples of both faculty and student research.

Display documenting research done by the Psychology Department faculty and students. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Please stop by the library to view the display and learn more about the history and achievements of the Psychology Department.  The display will be up through the end of the semester.

This is the second in what the library hopes will be a regular series recognizing faculty and departments throughout the university. Click here to view the first display on research by the Chemistry faculty.

On a related note, the library congratulates Dr. Richard L. Miller, chair of the Psychology Department, for receiving the prestigious 2009 Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges Professor award.

Now online: Counseling and Therapy in Video

Written by Jon Ritterbush, Electronic Resources Librarian
ritterbushjr@unk.edu

Counseling and Therapy in Video (CTIV) provides access to 285 online videos for the study of social work, psychotherapy, psychology, and psychiatric counseling.  Videos may be browsed or keyword searched by therapy type, subject, and other criteria.  One of the best features of CTIV is the synchronized and searchable text transcript as shown below.

The synchronized transcript within Counseling and Therapy in Video (click to enlarge)

Using the transcript, users may read and jump ahead within a video in these two easy ways:

• Click any word in the transcript to jump to that point in the video.
• Conduct a transcript search in the Search box above the video pane, and use the hits shown in the transcript area to jump to that point in the video and transcript. (Note that you can search the transcript from the Quick and Advanced Search boxes as well.)

Static URLs or persistent hyperlinks are available for each video, perfect for addition to Blackboard course pages.  Users may also create and share their own playlists of full-length videos or video clips within the CTIV site.   Many videos also include teaching guides.  The “Help” page for the CTIV collection provides complete instructions on these options.

This new online resource is available from the Library’s listing of “Databases & E-Resources” in the alphabetical list (under “C”) and under these four subject categories:

• Communication Disorders
• Education (K-12)
• Psychology and Counseling
• Social Work

The  collection is optimized for use with the following web browsers: Internet Explorer 7 or higher or Firefox 3 or higher.  As is the case with YouTube, the free browser plug-in, Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher, is also required to view these videos.

Thanksgiving Day, 2009

Written by Diana Keith, Government Documents Librarian
keithdi@unk.edu

The end of the feast--http://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliehg/ / CC BY 2.0

Impress your friends and family with Thanksgiving delectable facts and figures such as the following:

• President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving in 1863. President Franklin Roosevelt later clarified that the day be the fourth Thursday of the month.

• 271 million turkeys were raised in the U. S. in 2008, for a total of 7.8 billion pounds. The retail cost per pound of a frozen whole turkey in December, 2008, was $1.33. Illinois led the country in production of pumpkins with 496 million pounds.

These facts (and many more) can be obtained from the “Just Released” page of the library’s government document department:  http://www.unk.edu/academics/library.aspx?id=48755.

Happy Thanksgiving!

New Oxford reference e-books

Written by Jon Ritterbush, Electronic Resources Librarian
ritterbushjr@unk.edu

Five new Oxford encyclopedias have been added to the library’s online collections:

• Encyclopedia of Economic History,
• Encyclopedia of the Modern World,
• Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States,
• Encyclopedia of Social Work,
• Encyclopedia of Evolution.

To get to these encyclopedias, from the library home page (library.unk.edu) move the pointer over Research Tools and click on the Databases & E-Resources link. The encyclopedias are listed under “O” and “E” in the alphabetical list, and under the various subject areas. All of these contain hundreds of valuable, authoritative entries on topics in their respective areas, and many entries include valuable bibliographies—lists of other books or articles on the topic.  These e-books may be keyword searched individually by title  or by searching the Oxford Reference Online database which encompasses many more quality Oxford titles.

Interlibrary Loan: End of semester service calendar

Written by Sheryl Heidenreich, Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery Librarian
heidenreichs@unk.edu

Interlibrary Loan & Document Delivery (ILL/DD) obtains books and journal articles not available at the Calvin T. Ryan Library for UNK students, faculty, and staff.  There is no charge for this service.

As the end of the Fall 2009 semester approaches the following ILL/DD deadlines have been established:

• Books – undergrad and grad

Last day to order – December 2, 2009

• Books – faculty and staff

Last day to order – December 9, 2009

• Journal articles – all statuses

Last day to order – December 16, 2009

The ILL/DD home page may be accessed from the library home page (library.unk.edu), by moving the mouse pointer over Services, and clicking on Interlibrary Loan.

Questions and comments about UNK’s ILL/DD service may be directed to 308.865.8721 or loperloan@unk.edu
loperloan@unk.edu.