2011 Prize Winner Joshua Dill

The University at Buffalo Libraries, in cooperation with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, are pleased to sponsor the 2012 Undergraduate Research Prize.

The Prize recognizes students who produce significant academic inquiry requiring use of information resources, the University at Buffalo Libraries and the collections. Undergraduate research conducted by individual students or by student teams is eligible.

• Research in all disciplines is eligible for the Undergraduate Research Prize

• Submissions must document use and application of library/information resources in any format (online, print, Web, media, etc.)

• Research conducted in full or part during the period from January 2011 – February 2012 is eligible

• Research projects can be presented in any format (print, web-based, media, database, art works, etc.)

• Prize winning research will be featured on the UB Libraries and Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Web sites and honored at the Celebration of Student Academic Excellence on April 4, 2012

One $500 prize will be awarded.

For more information and/or to apply, please visit: library.buffalo.edu/research-prize.

The application deadline is March 2, 2012.

[The following post was written by Lindsay Marlow, a graduate student within the Department of Library & Information Studies.]

Often students are asked to write on polarized or highly controversial issues that have multiple perspectives.  An excellent place to obtain useful information on these types of topics is the Opposing Viewpoints database.  Social issues are examined in a myriad of ways and access to viewpoint articles, overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles are provided.  This is a great source for students and faculty alike to delve into the dichotomy of social issues.  Opposing Viewpoints can also be used to conduct research, develop presentations, or prepare for debates.

When you access the Opposing Viewpoints database, you will notice a menu bar at the top.  The last selection titled Resources contains three tutorials that will greatly assist students and faculty in using the site to find current information on some of the hottest social issues affecting our world today.

Here is an image from the homepage in which you can see the Resources tab:

Once you click Resources you will find several groups of links to assist you.  The tutorials are located under the General heading.  This screenshot shows the three tutorial links:

The first tutorial “Navigating the Homepage” illustrates the features available to explore on the Opposing Viewpoints homepage.  “Searching” depicts the various searching methods available and the different types of results you can obtain.  “Topic Pages and Documents” highlights the different ways you will encounter information and details the links to additional content.  Each of the tutorials presents a visual walkthrough of the site, highlights important features to aid in research, and is concise.

If you need help using Opposing Viewpoints or any other library resources, please do not hesitate to Ask a Librarian.

What is the melting point of Nylon 6?

What is methyl ethyl ketone peroxide used for?

What equation is used to determine Coulomb’s law of force?

These were some of the questions thousands of students worldwide set out to answer in this year’s Knovel University Challenge as they competed for prizes while learning how to use the Knovel database as a research tool.

To qualify, students had to belong to an institution that subscribes to Knovel and answer three questions correctly to be placed in a random drawing. Knovel received 12,000 entries from over 5,600 students at 600 schools in 93 countries.

UB students participated in record numbers this year and carried off two of the 18 prizes, including the contest’s top prize, the Grand Prize iPad2, which was awarded to Rahul Thakkar, an undergraduate in his senior year at UB double majoring in mathematics and electrical engineering.

Vivek Kamath, a graduating Master’s student in computer science, was one of eight winners of Knovel’s “contest-within-a-contest.” The “contest-within-a-contest” rewards outstanding participation at universities with 100 or more correct entries.  Vivek’s prize?  An iPod nano.

Knovel helps students find answers to technical and scientific questions from reliable sources. The database contains over 1,000 handbooks and textbooks. Knovel is just one of several hundred databases that the UB Libraries provide to students, faculty, and staff, who increasingly rely on these resources for class assignments, research, and teaching.  They are available 24/7, wherever library users have access to a computer.

You can read the Knovel press release announcing the winners on Knovel’s website:  University Challenge Breaks Participation Record Again. While on the Knovel site, you can check out a complete listing of all the winners.

[The following post was written by Peter Rogers, a graduate student from the Department of Library and Information Studies.]

Ironically, in today’s information-rich world, it can sometimes be very difficult to stay on top of topical news which is important to us.   In my case, I want to keep up with the latest information and most recent news about environmental issues, and I know that environmental concerns are important to many other people who may also have trouble keeping in the environmental news loop.

Fortunately, there are a number of web sites which specialize in environmental news, information, and commentary.  They also generally offer free daily emails with headlines and links to stories.  Here are three of my favorites:

Environmental News Network, http://www.enn.com/
ENN started as a news aggregator, collecting environmental news from a wide range of sources.  It continues to do this, but it also does some original reporting and hosts press releases from a wide range of environmental groups.  You can subscribe to a daily email through a box on the upper left hand corner of ENN’s home page.

Environmental News Service, http://www.ens-newswire.com/
ENS does original reporting and has a very strong international focus along with a US-specific AmeriScan section.  ENS has a partner service, World-Wire, http://world-wire.com/ , which hosts international press releases, though these are not always on environmental topics.  You can subscribe to a daily email at http://ens-news.net/lists/?p=subscribe&id=8

Grist,  http://www.grist.org/
Grist is oriented more towards commentary and advocacy, and it also aims to be more entertaining, humorous, and fun than ENN and ENS.  It has its own writers and describes itself as a “magazine” rather than news network or service.  You can subscribe to a daily or weekly email through a box on the upper right hand corner of Grist’s home page.

I hope that one or all of these helps you with your daily environmental news information needs.