It’s been a month already ;-). Here’s what we added this time around: GovInfoNewsletter-Oct
Shawnna

Everyone’s lives may have just gotten significantly better since Google settled its Google Books lawsuit Good news for researchers, but it has sent a potentially harmful precedent vis a vis copyright for digitized materials.
T.

Just a heads-up, I’ve just had two (now THREE) students in looking for
Benokraitis, N. Feuds about Families; Conservative, Centrist, Liberal and Feminist Perspectives (2000) which should be in Reserves. The whole class has to read chapters from this book and write a reaction paper due next week. Someone appears to have swiped/hidden the reserve copy, and the only other copies in BC are on Vancouver Island or Langley (Kwantlen). I told them all to email their instructor. Good luck placating the masses!
Sara

Hi all,
Some of you may have tried the call transfer procedures provided in the Phone Voice Mail Procedure handout. It seems that this procedure (which I inherited from my GAA days) does not seem to work on the current phones at the Reference Desk. Thus, the new procedure for transferring live calls and voice mail messages: Give the patron the appropriate number to call.
Thank you and apologies for any confusion.
Best,
Tara

Like a right foot in a sneaker, this Geography assignment surfaces from time to time. The assignment, entitled Urban Streams: History, Ecology and Memory, requires students to examine a number of maps and atlases and then prepare team reports with maps. The instructor has provided a detailed suggested methodology.
The key cartographic resources required for the assignment are displayed in the map cabinets area under signage. Students may photocopy the materials, but not check them out. Last year we experienced “hiding” of resources, which I hope will not be repeated.
As not all required materials are located in the HSS Map & Atlas area, you may get “known item location” questions at the Desk. Please feel free to suggest additional resources if you wish.
– Tim

This is a stupid question, but here goes- to look at e-books in the UBC catalogue from Books24-7, do patrons need to go through the free registration process (to create a log-on and password)? Rather than using the library barcode and pin? From looking at the FAQs, it seems (obviously) so. I had a confused patron call about it this afternoon, and unfortunately, I didn’t check the FAQs in time. So he’ll probably call back on Monday and ask how to get access to those resources all over again. Hmmph.
But at least I’ll know for next time.
-Christina H

Here’s the latest gripping installment. GovInfoNewsletter-Sept08
This month’s focus is on African sites, Asian sites & glossaries to government lingo. Enjoy 🙂
Shawnna

Hallo,
I emailed Electronic Resources on the weekend about problems with accessing journals in Sage – Irene confirmed that we have lost access to the Sage backfiles, and suggests that we direct people to print versions (or alternate electronic versions) if they’re available.
Also, you may all know this, but the British Columbia Newspaper Index appears to be borked, and has been for some time? I’m guessing that Canadian Newsstand is the closest resource to send them to, or they can check the microf?
Edited to add 05/10/08:
Hurrah, the link to the British Columbia Newspaper Index is all well and happy again, thank you, Irene!
Cheers, Francesca

We seem to get quite a few questions about the schedule for the Faculty of Arts lab in Koerner 216 – students wanting to know when they can get in, etc. The Faculty of Arts website has a link to the schedule here:
http://www.arts.ubc.ca/?id=276&room=Koerner216
And this second link takes you to a listing of all Arts ISIT labs with information about software availability, location, and schedules:
http://www.arts.ubc.ca/faculty-amp-staff/arts-isit/information-technology/lab-bookings.html

Political Science for Dummies
DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.
REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?
SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.
COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.
CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.
BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.
AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.
FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.
JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.
GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.
ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don’t know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.
RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You have some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.
TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two.
You don’t milk them because you cannot touch any creature’s private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.
IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.
POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.
BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow..
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he’s French, other times he’s Flemish.
The Flemish cow won’t share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow’s milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.
FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow..
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can’t figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.
CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.