Audio books

Here is a list of audio books on cassette. (Note that this lists includes interviews and other non-book materials.) Equipment for listening to these cassettes is available for use in Newman Library. Check out headphones from the Circulation Desk.

Book reviews

A book review is an article that is published in a newspaper, magazine, or scholarly work that describes and evaluates a book. Keep in mind while searching for reviews of a book that many books are published each year, only a small fraction of them are reviewed. Reviews are written for different purposes and they will vary in terms of content and depth of evaluation. Since reviews are printed in many different kinds of publications, you may need to search several sources.

Books

Books (also called monographs) is any non-serial publication (not a newspaper, magazine, or journal) about a particular subject, usually written by a single person. While serials are received multiple times (each time a new issue is published), books are received only once (at least until a new edition is published). Scholarly books often include extensive bibliographies. Books can be found in multiple formats (such as audio books or ebooks). The tools used for locating books can also locate manuscripts, or unpublished works. These un-reproduced works are often one of a kind.

Conference proceedings online

Conference proceedings are publications that can include minutes, transcripts, papers, and presentations generated at or for a conference. Papers within the proceedings will be indexes by subject-specific databases, while the proceedings publication, often in book form, will be listed in library catalogs. The Virginia Tech libraries own many conference proceedings, either physically or through online sources; each of these will be listed in Addison. Papers in proceedings not owned locally can be requested through interlibrary loan.

Ebooks

The Virginia Tech Libraries has subscribed to a number of ebook packages, giving us access to tens of thousands of books online. (Since these are paid subscriptions, be sure to use Off Campus Sign In before attempting to connect to an ebook outside the campus network.) All of these packages currently allow reading the ebook through the browser, and a few also allow downloading for offline reading or transfer to another device like a PDA or dedicated ebook reader. Most of our ebooks are formatted as PDFs, and thus require no additional software to view (we note below any exceptions to this rule). All of our ebooks have been cataloged in Addison--any usual search will turn up ebooks in the results. However, the search functionality available at each ebook platform typically allows for full-text searches, which may give more results than searches through Addison.

Ejournals

Manuscripts

Manuscripts are a type of primary source material. As such, they provide first-hand testimony or direct evidence of events and experiences—both public and personal—or, simply of a topic under investigation. They are created by witnesses or recorders who experienced the events or conditions being documented. While primary sources may either be published or unpublished, manuscripts are unpublished primary sources. A manuscript collection may be a single document or a body of documents created by, belonging or pertaining to, an individual person or a family. It may include diaries, journals, letters, correspondence, family papers, scrapbooks, business or other institutional records, legal documents, or architectural drawings. Not restricted to text written or printed on paper, manuscript materials may also include oral histories and photographs. Or, they may be documents that were born-digital.

Maps and atlases

The Map Collection at Virginia Tech, the largest in the State outside of the Washington, D.C. area, is divided into two primary collections. Original historic maps are located in Special Collections on the first floor of Newman Library. A Guide to the Map Collection in the Special Collections Department, Newman Library, Virginia Tech, inventories the collection. The majority of maps are housed in the Map/Atlas Section on the first floor of Newman Library.

Topographic coverage of the U.S. and foreign areas produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, Defense Mapping Agency, Australian National Mapping Agency and others form the backbone of the collection. Other important map series include maps of the Census Bureau, CIA, National Geographic Society, National Forest Service and the National Park Service. The collection is rounded out by an extensive collection of state and city road maps, raised relief maps, reproductions of historic maps and views, and nautical and aeronautical charts.

Several digital mapping resources are available. Software and data for map creation, such as ArcView (for Arc Info formatted data files), LandView (for TigerLine and other U.S. government data files) and Map Expert (for roadmaps of the U.S.), are located at the Library Information and Assistance Desk, Torgersen 3300. Additional digital mapping resources can be found on the Maps, GIS and cartographic data page.

Microforms

Microforms are non-circulating photographic reductions of print materials produced in the interest of saving space,obtaining or preserving rare or heavily used materials, or providing duplicate copies. Newman Library has a microforms collection numbering near 6 million items, including prints of books, magazines, newspapers, and engineering and technical reports.

Movie reviews and criticisms

Movies

The Virginia Tech Libraries own thousands of movies on DVD, VHS, and laser disc. Most are located at the Newman circulation desk; a few are in the branch libraries. Instructors can book a movie in advance to show in class.

Newspapers and current news sources

Newspapers provided by the VT Libraries

• Online Newspapers search for the newspaper title on our Ejournals page
• Newspapers currently subscribed to (in print) by the University Libraries
• Newman Library newspaper guide
• Major and local newspapers on microform/paper/online (PDF) includes online/print/microform access, plus print index information
• Newspaper microfiche with NEWSBANK: coverage from 1976-1998
• U.S. and international newspapers from the Center for Research Libraries (request microfilm rolls through ILLiad for a 3 month loan with unlimited renewals)

Collegiate Times

• For searchable CT archives dating to 1997, visit LexisNexis Academic (to limit to the Collegiate Times, include the phrase AND "collegiate times" as part of your search). You can also search the CT archives (dating to approximately 2003) from the CT home page -- look for the Search box in the bottom right of the home page).
• To search older CT archives, use the Local Newspaper Index. It contains citations to articles from the CT from 1970 to 1998, though the index is not comprehensive.
• Old issues of the CT (from 1970 onward) are available on microfilm at LD5655.V8 V5, or in print in Special Collections.

Patents and trademarks

This list of resources will enable you to retrieve most U.S. patents or trademarks, if you have a specific citation. However, if you have a product idea and want to determine if a similar item has been patented, searching these resources to determine patentability may be difficult. Patent and trademark searching can be very complex, and unless one has experience the results may not be valid.

Pleasure reading books

While the University Libraries at Virginia Tech are primarily focused on serving the research needs of the university community, we still provide a number of pleasure reading books and popular literature.

Primary sources

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or discovery. Primary sources were either created during the time period being studied or were created at a later date by a participant in the events being studied (as in the case of memoirs). Primary sources include autobiographies; letters; emails; diaries; speeches; interviews; laws; treaties; raw data that has been collected; works of literature, art, or music; and newspaper accounts of events by an eye-witness. You should know the name or people or organizations, the dates, and the places involved in your research topic before attempting to find primary sources.

Reserves

Theses and dissertations

A dissertation (also called thesis or disquisition) is a document that presents the author's research and findings and is submitted in support of candidature for a degree or professional qualification. Theses have been published at Virginia Tech since 1903. Theses and dissertations have been submitted electronically since 1996, with most of these freely available online. The Virginia Tech Libraries owns few theses or dissertations published at other colleges and universities; expect to obtain most of these documents via interlibrary loan. In addition to the search tools referenced below, most subject specific databases (like PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, and ChemAbstracts) will provide citations for theses and dissertations in their covered fields.

•More formats

Guides to finding information in additional formats.