Instruction and Training Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine

The Library Instruction Program of the Flower-Sprecher Veterinary Library provides a variety of opportunities to help you better utilize information resources, conduct library research, and accommodate your specific training needs.

Training, Classes and Workshops

Campus Training Opportunities

Guides, Subject Guides, Specialized Bibliographies

Consultation

Tutorials

Credit Courses

Training, Classes and Workshops
The Flower-Sprecher Library offers a number of brief workshops on finding information, database search techniques, current awareness, and research skills periodically and on demand.

Reference librarians are also happy to make course and non-course related presentations to your students or group and give personalized demonstrations on finding and using the veterinary medical literature. Sessions can also be scheduled to help students begin a research paper on a certain topic or otherwise design a class that meets your needs. Recent examples of course-related presentations include:

VTMED 635: Introduction to the Professional Literature [of Veterinary Medicine]
Session on veterinary reference tools and electronic resources. (February 2002)

VTMED 733: Selected Infectious Diseases of Swine
Session on finding and evaluating Web-based resources related to swine health and production. (February 2002)

Annual Conference for Veterinarians
Session on Finding Veterinary Resources on the World Wide Web (March, 2001).
Session on New Information Resources for Veterinarians (including E-journal Access and PDA Applications in Veterinary Medicine) (March 2002)

To arrange for training classes, other instruction, or individual assistance, contact the Reference Desk at 607-253-3496 or send e-mail to vetref@cornell.edu.

Campus Training Opportunities
Courses and workshops offered by other campus libraries, such as the Engineering Library, Mann Library, and Olin*Kroch*Uris Libraries, are also open to Veterinary College faculty, staff and students. Topics covered include EndNote, PowerPoint, and others of potential interest. Check the current semester's courses on the Library Gateway under Instruction; Instruction/Workshops/Tours or at each library's web site.

Consultation
In addition to classes and workshops, the reference staff is always available to provide one-on-one, customized consultation, either in the Library or by appointment in your office or laboratory. These sessions can be tailored to your specific needs to help you and your students do better literature searches, find e-journals more easily, help manage journal article citations more effectively, or otherwise get the most from the Cornell University Library's vast resources.

To arrange for a consultation, contact the Reference Desk at 607-253-3496 or send e-mail to vetref@cornell.edu.

Credit Courses
Spring semester, 1 credit. Minimum enrollment 6: maximum enrollment 20. First-, second-, third-, and fourth-year veterinary students. Letter grades only.

"This course introduces veterinary students to the professional and biomedical literature, including development of critical reading skills. Students become familiar with the broad range of professional and biomedical literature and are encouraged to develop a rigorous approach to journal and scientific article review. Secondary emphasis is on developing skills in library and bibliographic search techniques, as well as exploring the use of veterinary-related on-line information."

Beginning in Spring 2004, this course will be re-structured and taught by librarians from the Veterinary Library in conjunction with various faculty members at the College.

Guides, Subject Guides, Specialized Bibliographies
We have produced a number of guides, subject guides & specialized bibliographies that cover a wide range of topics. Print copies are freely available on display racks in the Library near the current journal issues. If there are other topics that would be helpful to you, please let us know.

Additional general and specific guides produced by other campus libraries are available from the Library Gateway under Instruction; Research and Subject Guides, or from each library's web site.

Tutorials
Computer-based tutorials offer another avenue for instruction in searching and utilizing various resources. They can be conveniently accessed from your office to work through at your own pace and schedule. Listed below are some tutorials that you might find valuable for searching biomedical topics.

PubMed MEDLINE Tutorial
(or, go to the PubMed home page at http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/misc/apw3190 and click on "Tutorials" on the left side bar)
(Requires Macromedia Flash 5 plug-in player)

WebSPIRS
for searching Agricola, BIOSIS, and CAB Abstracts
(Requires Macromedia Flash 5 plug-in player)

ISI Web of Science

For more details about our Library Instruction Program, please contact Susanne Whitaker, Veterinary Reference Librarian, at skw2@cornell.edu or 607-253-3499.