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The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area has updated its helpful Voters Guide series for the November 2008 elections. Each guide has information about the candidates running for office, voting facts, and other information about the voting process. Two guides are available at the League website:
It's finally here!
The new library space on 4th Floor North is now open.
The new space includes many features requested by students in past surveys:
Some study spaces will be available whenever One Main is open, even if the library is closed.
We wish to thank the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, the Ray C. Fish Foundation, and the Rockwell Fund for the generous donations that made this expansion possible. We also wish to thank President Castillo, Vice President David Bradley, UHD Facilities Management staff, and UHD Information Technology staff for their work in bringing the project from dream to reality. For a look at how their contributions have transformed the library, please see the 4th Floor Construction Slideshow.
The next phase of construction will be a renovation of the 5th Floor. Work on the 5th floor will result in the consolidation of staff offices, the repositioning of book and journal shelves to provide a more rational arrangement and better access for the disabled, more individual study spaces, and a new coffee house. Construction on phase two is expected to begin in 2009.
As the 2008 election season heads into the final stretch, stop by the library for a perspective on past elections through a exhibit of presidential election memorabilia from the collections of Dr. David Fairbanks, Associate Vice President for Policy and Planning. The election exhibit has campaign posters, pins, bumper stickers, and other memorabilia from 20th century elections.
For new perspectives on the current elections, visit our Political Science Databases for new resources from CQ Press. The CQ Press Congress Collection database has analysis of government policy by topic and profiles of current and past members of Congress. See the Congress Collection for profiles of John McCain and Barack Obama with a short biography of each candidate, links to their records on key votes, interest group ratings, and campaign financing information from OpenSecrets. Also check out CQ Weekly for reliable, non-partisan coverage of current political news, or see CQ Researcher for detailed analysis of major public policy issues.
For more sources on elections past and present, check out the Elections link on the Political Sciences Databsaes page. This page features a variety of links on the 2008 elections, such as the University of Michigan's comprehensive guide Election 2008, the CQ Money Line with news and data on campaign finance and lobbying, and OpenSecrets, a standard source for campaign donation information by candidate and by issue. For resources on past elections, see the Living Room Candidate to view campaign commercials from 1952 to 2004, or search Vital Speeches of the Day to find noteworthy speeches by candidates as far back as 1934.
We are pleased to introduce CQ Researcher, one of the best sources for undergraduate research on public policy issues. With an archive of reports dating back to 1923, this collection has broad analysis of contemporary and historical issues. Topics range from perennial controversies like abortion and capital punishment to recent events such as the current financial crisis. Each report has analysis of the background, current situation, and future outlook for a topic, plus pro and con viewpoints, a chronology of events, maps and statistics, and a useful bibliography. Look for CQ Researcher under Find Articles (Databases).
We are pleased to announce the purchase of the NFPA Codes Online database to support students and faculty in the Safety and Fire Engineering Technology degree program. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has been the leading source of codes and standards to reduce fire and other hazards since 1896. The NFPA Codes Online database includes all current codes, plus an archive of previous codes that have been revised or withdrawn. For ongoing access to the database, please see our Fire & Safety Engineering Databases page.
Pop Culture Universe is a new database that offers analysis of popular culture trends from 1900 to the present. With books and encyclopedias published by Greenwood Press, the database has in-depth articles on topics in the arts, business, ethnic cultures, fashion, film, food and drink, literature, music, politics, recreation, religion, sports, television and radio, and technology. An easy-to-use interface makes it possible to find articles by subject, time period, people, and place. Look for Pop Culture Universe in the Find Articles (Databases) section of the library web site.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database is a free web site that offers a wealth of information about the history of the slave trade between Europe, Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and Brazil between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. At the heart of the site, there are three searchable databases: a collection of information about individual voyages of slave ships; an examination of statistics measuring the extent of the slave trade; and a database with information about 67,000 Africans who were brought to the Americas as slaves. Other resources include essays about how historians assess the extent and impact of the slave trade, images, lesson plans, and web links. Look for this database in our History Web Sites and Primary Sources guides.
The 20th edition of the Encyclopedia of Social Work is now available online via Oxford Reference Online. Co-published by the National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press, the new edition offers introductions to major topics in social work, biographies of key figures in the history of social work, and a bibliography of essential readings. To use this encyclopedia and other similar resources, visit the library's Social Work Databases page.
