Tuesday 17 November 2009

A compendium of psychosocial measures

Dear All,

I would like to draw your attention to a new book in the library entitled A compendium of psychosocial measures : assessment of people with serious mental illnesses in the community



This contains information about a range of scales and tests used in the area of behavioural and social sciences in health. (This year there have been many inquiries about locating such measurement tools).

Each scale is summarised in terms of its primary source, purpose, reliability and validity. A brief description of the scale is also included.

I hope you'll find this resource useful.

Cheers,
Kate

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Help is available anytime, anywhere via Adobe Connect

Hi All,

I recently stumbled upon a fabulous piece of software called Adobe Connect.

For those of you who who aren't aware, Adobe Connect allows you to 'share' your computer with other people.

Say, for instance, you were sitting at home and couldn't figure out how to execute a search in Medline. Once upon a time you would have had to either visit the library in person, or contact me via phone or email to discuss the problem.

Now it is possible for Adobe Connect to 'bridge' the distance between you and I! Adobe Connect allows you to see my computer screen on your computer screen in real time and vice versa. This allows me to demonstrate things to you and you to demonstrate things to me. It's even possible to 'control' each others' computers.

Adobe Connect allows me to assist you regardless of where you're located. This makes things much more convenient for both of us!

All your computer needs for Adobe Connect to work is Flash (you don't need to have a personal Adobe Connect account or download the software).

For more information about Adobe Connect, check out this website.

Let me know whether you'd like to test it out!

Cheers,
Kate

Monday 19 October 2009

Update on Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Dear All,

For those of you who aren't aware, Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet is an online portal which connects you to a range of scholarly sources about Indigenous Australians.

It is marketed as a 'one-stop info-shop' that aims to contribute to 'closing the gap' in health between Indigenous and other Australians by informing practice and policy in Indigenous health by making research and other knowledge readily accessible.

To maximise full text access to items, search Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet via the Library's Databases and Electronic Resources Page (browse the alphabetical listings 'A' or 'I'). Searching via the library website takes advantage of our electronic subscriptions.

Cheers,
Kate

Wednesday 7 October 2009

EndNote X3 for Macs now available

Dear All,

As promised, EndNote X3 for Macs is now available to download from: http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/endnote

There are a few other features of ENX3 I should mention (apart from the fact that it's a lot faster than X2):
  • You can use ENX3 with Open Office and Apple Pages software in addition to Microsoft Word
  • You can now create bibliographies at the end of sections/chapters as opposed to only at the end of documents

Cheers,

Kate

Thursday 1 October 2009

EndNote X3 for PCs now available

Dear All,

EndNote X3 is now available to download if you own a PC (the Mac release date is not too far away). Download the updated version here (go to the 'Download EndNote' box).

Some of you may be thinking "why should I upgrade when I've only just become accustomed to using EndNote X2?!" There are a few answers to that:
  • There aren't any major differences between the two versions, except that X3 runs a lot faster than X2 (this is because certain files are no longer part of the software 'package' that is downloaded. If you happen to need any of these files, you can always download them separately.)
  • Libraries created in X2 are compatible with X3
  • It's easy to upgrade -- just follow the links!

If you have any questions about EndNote X3 please contact me: k.masters@library.usyd.edu.au.

Cheers,

Kate