As she pointed out in a recent report to the Board of Trustees, our print materials number nearly 275,000 volumes. Our online materials, which include over 130 databases, 35,000 full-text journals, and 60,000 electronic books, rival those at local institutions including William and Mary. Through interlibrary loan, our students have access to millions of resources from institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Oxford.

So how do we improve on something that is already excellent? As Dean Baron reflected on her vision for the Library, she recalled a line from a song she remembers singing in church when she was little: “Let your light shine, for all the world to see.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ said, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” She wants the light of Regent University Library to shine even brighter.

What are some areas where Dean Baron’s vision would turn up the power on the Library’s light? She would like to further strengthen collaborative relationships with the schools and faculty, making sure students are aware of and use the excellent resources available. She also is planning to explore new ways of supporting undergraduate and online students, to enhance the services and collections at the DC campus, to increase Library faculty publication of our best practices and research interests, and to delve deeper into the new technologies available for library services and collections, including digital exhibits and information repositories.

Please stay tuned for more information about our plans for shining brighter for students, faculty, and staff.

Back to contents

Smart Searching by Subject

by Harold Henkel, Assistant Librarian

As a reference librarian helping readers find materials in our collection, one thing I have noticed is how few users seem to be aware of the value of subject searching. I suspect the reason for this is the enormous impact on information seeking of search engines and the World Wide Web. Search engines operate by searching Web documents for keywords input by users. Google became the undisputed king of this industry partly through the innovation of factoring into relevancy ranking the number of outside links to each Web site. By ranking relevancy in this way, Google essentially treated the World Wide Web as a giant popularity contest, and its returns on each search matched the users’ idea of relevancy to a degree no search engine had previously achieved.

While this insight helped make keyword searching an efficient tool for many of the most common uses of the Internet (e.g. e-commerce), as a technique for researching the Library Catalog it has serious drawbacks. This is because, so far as library catalogs are concerned, keyword searching is essentially “dumb” searching. When an online catalog performs a keyword search, it simply looks for that word anywhere in the record for an item, even if it only appears as a minor note. What if your keyword is not present in any records because a synonym of it is used instead? In that case, the catalog is of no use to you because all it can do is tell you that no records were found for your search; it cannot point you to another search term.

A much better way of beginning your research is to try subject searching. Subject searching is “smart” because it gives you orderly access to the Library’s holdings on any given topic. Through the use of subheadings, library catalogers are able to break large general categories down into smaller and more specific sub-categories. The result is retrievals with far greater relevancy than any keyword search can achieve. Another incalculable benefit of subject searching is the catalog’s ability to point the user to the correct subject heading for many common synonyms. For example, if we were researching the Apostle Paul’s teaching on justification by faith in Christ, we might start with a subject search of the word justification:

As this screen makes clear, not only has the catalog broken this huge theological concept into to smaller categories, it has even “pointed” us to the heading under which we will find books about Paul’s teaching: in the screen above, number 3 informs us that books on the subject of justification by faith may be found under the heading “Justification (Christian theology).” Finally, by performing a subject search, we did not have to waste any of our time looking at the completely irrelevant results that a keyword search would have retrieved:

Keyword searching can be useful in certain situations. Since subject searches only scan the subject headings of bibliographic records, they tend to find only materials where the terms searched are of major importance in the work (normally an important benefit). However, when seeking information on minor or obscure topics, it is sometimes necessary to use keywords to broaden the search to the entire bibliographic record for any mention of the desired topic. Keyword searching also can be useful when you are looking for a book for which you cannot remember the full title, but only several key words. For more information on the differences between subject and keyword searching, see the helpful table on MIT Libraries’ Information Navigator.

Back to contents

Coming Attraction -- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
by Elizabeth Keen, Assistant Circulation Supervisor

Set aside the second weekend in December -- C.S. Lewis's classic, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is coming to a theater near you, and is sure to offer an enchanting, magical experience combined with a spiritual message of hope and salvation. Before you see the movie, though, check out the book from the library and read it with your family! Need something to occupy your time as you travel for Thanksgiving? Regent also has the Audiobook that was produced by Focus on the Family. And if you can't wait for December 9, then view the BBC's film adaptation of the book, which comes in a set with adaptations of Prince Caspian and The Silver Chair.

Do you want to find out more about the movie? To visit the official movie website, click here -- it's a fun site to explore. You can view the trailer and behind-the-scenes videos, order copies of the soundtrack, and even access some educator's materials that go along with the book and film.

CBN has also gotten in on the action with a website for the movie (click here) that is a paradise for those who are really interested in the spiritual aspect of Lewis's work. There are excerpts from books like The Lion, the Witch, and the Bible by Robert Velarde and Into the Wardrobe by David C. Downing, articles about Douglas Gresham (Lewis's stepson) and Lewis's view of film, tons of Narnia trivia, and links to other interesting sites about the Chronicles of Narnia.

Back to contents

Deeper into Databases

New Database: The Gallup Brain
by Leanne Strum, Ph.D., Coordinator of Technical Services and Systems

Interested in public opinion polls and surveys? Check out the “Gallup Brain.” The Gallup Brain is a searchable, living record of 70 years of public opinion. Inside, you'll find answers to more than 136,000 questions, and responses from more than 3.5 million people interviewed by The Gallup Poll since 1935.

This unparalleled public opinion database also houses Gallup Poll News Service articles, Gallup Poll Tuesday Briefing articles, and Gallup Management Journal articles that feature in-depth public opinion and management data analyses. Replicas of historical news stories and press releases are available as well.

The search engine is flexible and allows you to search as broadly or as narrowly as you need to find what you're looking for in the Gallup Brain. You can search both Gallup questionnaires and documents.

Two Ways to Search

1. Basic Search -- Basic Search allows you to perform simple searches by keyword.

2. Advanced Search -- Advanced Search enables you to narrow your search by exact words and even within a date range.

Results Display

In the Advanced Search area, you can select the number of results you want to display per page, and the order in which the results are displayed. If you'd like the results to display in their own window after you click on a search link, check this option.

Basic Search Tips

1. Keywords
Be specific. For example, if you're looking for information on Richard Nixon, enter "Richard Nixon" rather than "president." The Gallup Brain search engine excludes common words and characters such as "of" and "the."
2. Capitalization
Searches are not case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be read as lowercase. For example, searches for "teenage smoking," "Teenage Smoking," and "TeenAge SMokinG" will all return the same results.
3. Word Variations
To provide the most accurate results, the Gallup Brain automatically searches for derivatives of your keyword(s). For example, if you type the keyword “America,” it will also find “American.” Similarly, if you type “politic,” it will also find “political.”

                          Back to contents

Library Services for Undergraduate Students
by Harold Henkel, Assistant Librarian

What is the Full-Text Journal Title List?

The Full-Text Journal Title List is a list of almost all of the more than 31,000 publications that the Library has access to in full-text. It allows users to search journals, magazines, and newspapers by title. If one of the Library’s databases has the publication in full-text, the full-text journal title list links directly to it within the relevant databases. To access this tool, go to the Databases & Article Searching page:

After selecting the Full-Text Journal Title List, search for the publication that has the article you are looking for. For example, if we needed to find an article in the journal Leadership & Organization Development Journal, we can search by the journal name to see what issues are available in full-text:

Our results indicate not only that the journal is available in full-text, but links directly to the databases that have the articles. These features, combined with an extremely easy-to-use interface, make the Full-Text Journal Title List an indispensable resource and time-saving tool for almost any research project.

Back to contents

Book Spotlight--George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall
Reviewed by Marta Lee, Assistant Librarian

Willard Sterne Randall provides a balanced overview of the life of the first President of the United States in his book George Washington: A Life. Anyone interested in history, government, or leadership will find this book an essential read. Randall presents an excellent overview of the colonial period with in-depth coverage on our Founding Fathers.

Early in the book, Randall addresses how Washington was instilled with a sense of duty and civility in his youth. These character traits aided him throughout his life of struggle and success. Randall weaves a detailed story of historical drama, bringing to life the formation of Washington’s character through hardship and success that ultimately led to his development into one of the most revered leaders in American history.

Washington lost his father at the age of 11 and his older brother to illness while still in his youth. He also endured difficulties with his mother and long periods of time away from his home. His fortune was spent on his military and public service. Despite all of these hardships Washington’s achievements were prodigious. As the family’s oldest living son, Washington inherited Mount Vernon while in his early twenties. He maintained this large family plantation as a working farm using many innovative agricultural techniques. In addition to his farm, Washington successfully pursued many careers during his lifetime: he was a surveyor in the Shenandoah Valley, an army commander, a member of the House of Burgesses, a delegate to the first Continental Congress, and first President of the United States.

Randall brings fresh insight into the story of one of the United States' greatest founding fathers. He combines historical exactness, a lively writing style, and an emphasis on the important factors in Washington’s life that came together to form his character, his sense of duty, and his unique leadership qualities.

Back to contents

Enjoy free coffee & snacks while you study for exams.

Coffee, hot cocoa, and snacks will be served at 9:00 every evening during exam period. Come join us and study your heart out!

Back to contents

Past Issues

Would you like to be notified when new issues of Library Link become available?
Send us an email with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
Please send your comments and suggestions . Your opinion matters!