Database of the Month: Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Nicholas

 

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts image

Looking for an article comparing and contrasting 2 countries for that Global Studies course?  Having trouble finding scholarly material for GLS102? Worldwide Political Science Abstracts from ProQuest is the database you need. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides indexing and abstracts to over 2,500 journals from 1975-present in the fields of political science, international relations, law, and public administration and policy. A large number of these journals are available in full-text.

This database is the result of a merger of two databases in the year 2000, Political Science Abstracts from IFI/Plenum and ABC POL SCI published by ABC/CLIO.  Since that merger, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts has greatly expanded its international coverage, with around 60% of its journals published outside the U.S.

Some notable subject areas covered in this database are:

  • Comparative politics
  • Electoral systems
  • History and theory of political science
  • Politics and religion
  • Politics and society
  • Politics and communication
  • Politics and law
  • Government/political systems
  • Security and defense
  • Political economy

In addition to scholarly journals, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides access to books, reports, and dissertations and theses. The Advanced Search page in this database will allow you to limit your search to one of these source types.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts is accessible via the library’s Databases A-Z page and the Politics & Government subject page. Please contact the Reference Desk if you have questions or would like assistance using it.

———————————————

Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a database available from the Library’s website, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases), please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact Adam Williams, Research Instruction Coordinator at awilliams@bentley.edu.

How (and Why) to Enjoy Audiobooks

Kimberly 3 Comments

As June is Audiobook Month, I’ve been pondering why I enjoy them so much.

They save time. I can listen to them in the car [commuting or on road trips]; walking my 10,000 steps; waiting around for music lessons and the other kid’s activities to be over; de-cluttering the house; folding laundry and the ever popular, Yard Work. These are all activities that I really don’t like and listening to a book can makes the task less odious.

I listen to all kinds of content: fiction & nonfiction; short stories & full length novels; all types of genres. I try to mix it up. Here are some recommendations from our CD Audiobook Collection:

Fiction:

NonFiction:

You’ll note that when I recommend an audiobook, I’ve included the reader in this blog write up. A good audiobook is all about the reader. A good reader makes the book a great listening experience. Sometimes I’ll explore a book just because I enjoy listening to the reader. Who knew that cholera could be so fascinating! Alan Sklar makes it so in Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map.

CD audiobooks are wonderful in the car and in the house [I play mine on my son’s Xbox] but there are times you just want the tale on something a little more portable so why not try the audiobook content the Bentley Library provides through OverDrive. OverDrive adds hundreds of titles for you to choose from. Just download the free app or stream audiobooks online via OverDrive Listen and away you go on your own device [I use my iPhone, but the files play on many different devices.]

There currently are 403 fiction & 268 nonfiction audiobooks available through OverDrive. Here are a few to start with:

Audiobooks are a great way of refreshing your memory in anticipation of the next book in the series or the next movie release. I can’t wait for the next book in the Lisbeth Salander series called The Girl in the Spider’s Web which will be out in September 2015, so I’m listening to the earlier novels now. The movie, A Walk in the Woods, is also coming out in September, so it might be fun to listen to the book first.

[Audiobook tip: Depending on the content, you might want to pause before going through the drive through. Some clerks can give you interesting looks when certain words or phrases travel to their ears.]

Listening can be a fun family activity especially on a road trip. I wouldn’t recommend all the titles in this blog post as examples of stories to listen to with your kids, but I have listened with my 10 year old to the Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series [Read by Joshua Swanson] and the Harry Potter series [Read by Jim Dale] which are available through most public libraries and the following titles from the Bentley Library: Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West [Performed by John McDonough], The Graveyard Book and Watership Down, both listed above. The choice really depends on the interest and maturity of your kids, but an audiobook can make a road trip much more enjoyable especially when the charge for their electronics fade…

[OverDrive tip: Check with your local public library for additional OverDrive content.]

Well, if you’ve never tried an audiobook, I hope that this post has encouraged you take a chance on one. If you already are an audiobook fan, I hope you enjoy these suggestions. If you have any suggestions of titles you’d like the Bentley Library to consider purchasing, please let us know. Your recommendations and feedback are always welcome. As I am always looking for the next great reader and stories to follow, feel free to drop me a line when you find one. Happy summer listening.

–Kim

kmorin@bentley.edu

Want more audiobook title recommendations? Check out the Bentley Library’s Top 10 listings.

Check Out These New Books, Movies, TV Shows & Audiobooks

Lisa

More than 450 books, DVDs, audiobooks and OverDrive downloadable books were added to the library’s collection last month. Go to the New Books & DVDs page to browse the May new acquisitions lists by subject or format.  When you see something you want, simply hit the “Request” button to place a hold on it. To browse for new eBooks and audiobooks to read on a Kindle, NOOK, iPad, iPod, laptop or smartphone, please visit our OverDrive collection.

Click to view the new acquisitions lists.
Click to view the new acquisitions lists.

Want to be the first to know about new arrivals? Follow us on Pinterest! We pin new popular reading, new audiobooks and new DVDs throughout the month as they are added to the library’s collection.

Click to view our Pinterest boards.
Click to view our Pinterest boards.

Bentley Library Top 10 Books, DVDs & Audiobooks, 2014/15

Lisa

top10-2014-2015

Are you one of those people who looks around to see what other people are reading on the train? Are you curious to know which movies and TV shows your fellow colleagues and students are watching? Have you been considering trying out an audiobook, but would like a recommendation? If so, you will appreciate the 6th annual Bentley Library Top 10!

Every May we query the library’s circulation system to rank the library’s most popular books, audiobooks, DVDs and OverDrive downloadable books based on the number of times they have been borrowed during the academic year (excluding any items placed on reserve for a class). With so many ties in this year’s rankings, you have even more to choose from.

Compiling the library’s “bestsellers” lists is one of our favorite activities; we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Browse the BENTLEY LIBRARY TOP 10 lists for academic year 2014-2015 in the categories of Popular Reading, Stacks (regular book collection), Audiobooks, Popular DVDs, OverDrive Downloadable eBooks and OverDrive Downloadable Audiobooks:

Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Popular Reading Collection

Top 10 Most Circulated Books from the Stacks

  • 1. FLASH BOYS: A WALL STREET REVOLT by Michael Lewis [check availability]
  • 2. VEGAN SOUL KITCHEN: FRESH HEALTHY AFRICAN AMERICAN CUISINE
  • by Bryant Terry [check availability]
  • 3. (tie) GETTING TO YES: NEGOTIATING AGREEMENT WITHOUT GIVING IN
  • by Roger Fisher and William Ury [check availability]
  • 3. (tie) WOMEN AND MADNESS by Phyllis Chesler [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) APPLYING UML AND PATTERNS: AN INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT-ORIENTED
  • ANALYSIS AND DESIGN AND ITERATIVE DEVELOPMENT by Craig Larman
  • [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE: A MANAGERS GUIDE TO KNOWING WHAT THE
  • NUMBERS REALLY MEANY by Karen Berman and Joe Knight [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN STOCKS: A WINNING SYSTEM IN GOOD TIMES
  • OR BAD by William J. O’Neil [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER AND ITS SPECTRUM: A LIFE SPAN
  • APPROACH edited by Eric A. Storch and Dean McKay [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS by Malcolm Gladwell [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) THE MAGICIANS by Lev Grossman [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER by Stephen Chbosky
  • [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) THINK AND GROW RICH by Napoleon Hill [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) THINKING FAST AND SLOW by Daniel Kahneman [check availability]
  • 5. (tie) UNBROKEN: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF SURVIVAL, RESILIENCE
  • AND REDEMPTION by Laura Hillenbrand [check availability]

Top 10 Most Circulated Audiobooks [CD and Playaway]

Top 10 Most Circulated DVDs from the Popular DVD Collection

*Note: the most popular TV series based on total checkouts for all episodes of the series were (1) GAME OF THRONES, (2) HOUSE OF CARDS, (3) HOMELAND and (4) THE WALKING DEAD.

Top 10 Downloaded eBooks (OverDrive)

Top 10 Downloaded Audiobooks (OverDrive)

View previous Bentley Library Top 10 lists:

2009/10   |    2010/11   |   2011/12  |   2012/13   |   2013/14

Enjoy!

On Display: Celebrate National Great Outdoors Month

Kristen

Exciting journeys await you between the covers of the books in this month’s display. Experience the wilderness of Mt. McKinley with Christopher Johnson McCandless, as told by Jon Krakauer in the book Into the Wild. Learn how to make your garden a beautiful oasis with From Yard to Garden: The Domestication of America’s Home Grounds by Christopher Grampp.

Book cover image of "Off the Beaten Path".There are so many wonderful places to visit across the United States; from the mountains of New England to Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Unfortunately travel can be expensive. If you are on a budget, or don’t have a lot of free time, why not check out a book? Travel to some of these wonderful places during your lunch break or while sitting at your local park!

Not a reader? Laugh along with John Candy and Dan Aykroyd in the 1988 comedy The Great Outdoors. Relive childhood memories of summer camp with Wes Anderson’s stylized film Moonrise Kingdom. Experiencing the outdoors doesn’t necessarily mean being outdoors!

If you already have camping plans for this summer, why not check out Campfire Cuisine: Gourmet Recipes for the Great Outdoors, by Robin Donovan or The Great Outdoors Cookbook, by Sunset Magazine, for some inspiration on cooking in the wilderness.

From new and contemporary authors, like Cheryl Strayed, to old favorites like Henry David Thoreau, let the words of these individuals transport you to times and places of great adventure.

Summer is just around the corner!  Everyone is eager to get outside to enjoy some beautiful weather.  It is no wonder that June is National Great Outdoors month!

Memorial Day Weekend Closing: May 23rd – May 25th

Lisa

In flagsobservance of the Memorial Day holiday, the library will be closed Saturday, May 23 through Monday, May 25, 2015.  The library will reopen at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26th.

For more information about the library’s hours, please view the hours calendar.  Have a great holiday weekend!

Writing Center & ESOL Center Open During Summer Session

Lisa

The Writing Center and the ESOL Center are both open this summer and offer their assistance to all Bentley undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in summer session classes. Students are encouraged to make an appointment online at https://bapps.bentley.edu, but walk-ins are also welcome. Both centers are located on the lower level of the library.

The Writing Center
May 18 – August 6

Monday – Thursday: 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Writing Center staff are available to provide one-to-one assistance with writing skills. Students can drop in during open hours, but appointments are encouraged. Schedule an appointment online, or call 781.891.3173 to make an appointment.

The ESOL Center
May 27 – July 29

Monday: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Looking for help with writing, presentations, pronunciation and conversation enrichment? Come to the ESOL Center. Bentley University students whose home language is not English are invited to take advantage of the free tutorial services offered by Bentley’s ESOL Center. All students (including graduate students) can schedule an appointment online, call 781.891.2021 to make an appointment, or drop in to see if a faculty tutor is available.

Summer Session Library Hours

Lisa

The library’s hours during Summer Session I and II are:

Monday – Thursday
8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Friday
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Saturday
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Hours are subject to change on holidays, holiday weekends and when classes are not being held.  The Deloitte Cafe (Einstein’s) has closed for the summer.  For more information about the library’s hours please view our online hours calendar.