Cyber Security Tip: Create Strong Passwords

 

Caption: A word cloud display of the most common passwords used.  Please note some of the words displayed may be inappropriate or offensive to some readers.

 

October is National Cyber Security Month, and an important part of practicing safe online habits is to pick strong passwords!  Often times, people fall into the trap of selecting generic words, such as password, 123456, and 12345678.  Here are some guidelines for selecting strong and secure passwords:

  • Length. Make your passwords long with eight or more characters.
  • Complexity. Include letters, punctuation, symbols, and numbers.  The greater the variety of characters in your password, the better. But remember:  password hacking software automatically checks for common letter-to-symbol conversions, such as changing “and” to “&” or “to” to “2.”
  • Variation. To keep strong passwords effective, change them often. Set an automatic reminder for yourself to change your passwords on your email, banking, and credit card websites about every three months.
  • Variety. Don’t use the same password for everything. Cybercriminals steal passwords on websites that have very little security, and then they use that same password and user name in more secure environments, such as banking websites.

Please visit UAH i.t.solutions to learn more about practicing safe cyber security habits.

History Database trials

We have a one month trial to the following history databases through EBSCOhost, check them out and let us know what you think!  This trial will expire November 4, 2012.  Here’s some more information about each one:

Gateway to North America: People, Places, and Organizations of 19th-Century New York from the New-York Historical Society, features over 1500 residential and business directories, organization records, urban guidebooks, and other sources rich in names and places that present a history of the people of New York City from the late eighteenth through the early twentieth century. New York was long the country’s focal point of industry, trade, commerce and immigration, and this collection features materials that track the city’s inhabitants over time and place, where they lived, where they worked, and what they did. It also includes residential, trade, and occupational directories, membership lists for churches, professional groups, philanthropic and governmental institutions, ethnic organizations, and leisure clubs.

Revolutionary War Era Orderly Books from the New-York Historical Society, represents a collection of over 30,000 pages of historically unique material from more than 200 orderly books spanning from 1748 to 1817. The collection includes both British and American orderly books, a form of manuscript journals kept by military units containing their orders from higher-ranking officers in addition to other information essential to military operations, dating from the French and Indian War through the War of 1812, with the bulk representing the activities of American forces during the Revolutionary War.

African American Archives provides over one million pages of original historical documents pertaining to the African American experience over several centuries, and is richly-detailed with narratives and quantitative data alike. The earliest materials in this collection come from Essential Records Concerning Slavery and Emancipation from the Danish West Indies (1672-1917).   There are several other slavery-related collections, including letters, account books, annual reports, and news clippings. Files contain detailed narrative accounts of subjects’ activities and include information about families, occupations, and general activities. There are also related manuscripts from the American Colonization Society, an organization best known for its role in establishing Liberia, a colony in Africa for free people of color from the United States.

Please contact us at 256-824-6529 or email us at erefq@uah.edu if you want the login information for these database trials.

 

New Databases for Fall 2012!

We have added three new databases to our collection, all of which offer access to premiere resources in the sciences, engineering, and humanities.  Here is some more  information about what each database can offer you in your research:

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is considered a cutting-edge publisher of aerospace books and journals, as well as the leading source of the aerospace industry archives dating back to the early 1900s.  In the past 80 years they have published almost 200,000 technical articles as well as 300 books on leading topics in the aerospace industry.  On their site, you can browse through their multitude of journals, books, meeting proceedings, and standards on the latest research in air and space history.

Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains scanned images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America from 1473-1700.  The subjects in this collection range from English literature to music to science. We here at Salmon Library provide access to all four of their collections, which contain key documents from the English Renaissance, the rebirth of classical humanism, the English Civil War, the Restoration, as well as British daily life from the 16th and 17th century.

Science is the world’s leading journal of scientific research, global news, and commentary.  Browse through their collections on the life sciences, physical sciences, as well as in policy, business, and the philosophy of science.  As of July 2012, Science had an impact factor of 31.2 and a five-year impact factor of 32.45.

New Faculty Library Orientation This Thursday August 30, 2012

Are you a new faculty member at UAHuntsville, and want to learn more about the library and its services?  We’re here to help!  Come by lab 210 at Salmon Library on August 30th.  We will be conducting two identical sessions, one at 10AM and the other at 12PM, so please attend a time that is most convenient for you.  Each session should last no longer than an hour.  Come learn more about our databases, your subject specialists, how to request an interlibrary loan, where to schedule a library instruction session and much more!  It will be a brown bag lunch event, with light snacks and refreshments provided.  We look forward to meeting you!

Here are directions on how to get to Salmon library.  If you are unable to attend either session, please make sure to visit our faculty handbook or call us at 256-824-6529.

Trial Access to Business Resources OneSource and U.S. Consumer/Lifestyles available until October 1st

Trial access to ReferenceUSA’s OneSource and U.S. Consumer/Lifestyles is now available and will run until October 1, 2012.

OneSource provides in-depth information on over 18 million global companies and over 22 million global executives.  Through this database, you can access executive biographies, international company profiles, financial information, corporate families, industry research, news, and corporate filings all in the ease of one streamlined business resource.

U.S. Consumer/LifeStyles is a database that contains information about 203 million U.S. consumers that will help you conduct market research.  This tool allows you to identify a target market for a product, study the demographics of a community, and research consumer demand for a new business.  Detailed demographics on consumers include age, marital status, children, ethnicity, political party, income, and years in home, amongst many more.

To access both of these trials, visit our Database A-Z list and click on ReferenceUSA.  You will find them both under “Available Databases.”  Please direct any questions or feedback regarding this trial to http://libanswers.uah.edu or give us a call at 256-824-6529.

New Books for 2012

Come by Salmon Library to see what new books we’ve gotten in this year!  On the new books library page, you can see our newest additions available in both print and electronic format, as well as what has been made available thanks to generous donations from the Humanities Endowment Fund and the Mrs. Edna Trout Franz Fund.  You can also browse through the latest popular fiction books we have available for reading in our coffee shop area.  We’re excited to add these items to our collection, and hope you enjoy browsing through our newest additions!

For more information, please visit this page:  http://libguides.uah.edu/newbooks_2012

Trial to EBSCO Historical Manuscripts Collections until June 4

 The library is very excited to announce a trial to the EBSCO Historical Manuscripts Collections available now until June 4, 2012.  This trial includes access to the following archives:  African American Archives, World War II Archives, and the U.S. Bureau of Investigation Case File Archives.   You can navigate between each of the EBSCO Historical Manuscript Collections through the dropdown menu at the top center portion of the screen.

For more information about each of the archive collections, including title lists and content descriptions, please click on the below links.

African American Archives

African American Archives provides over one million pages of original historical documents pertaining to the African American experience over several centuries, and is richly-detailed with narratives and quantitative data alike. The earliest materials in this collection come from Essential Records Concerning Slavery and Emancipation from the Danish West Indies (1672-1917).

U.S. Bureau of Investigation Case File Archives

U.S. Bureau of Investigation Case File Archives covers case files from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which until 1935 was called the Bureau of Investigation (BOI). With over 2.2 million pages of original historical documents, the archives provide a fresh insider’s perspective to the history of this time period.

World War II Archives

World War II Archives contains over half a million pages of original historical documents compiled from collections at the National Archives, offering a wide range of materials chronicling events during the Second World War, providing an in-depth perspective of military activities while also documenting the lives of individual military personnel on land, in the air, and at sea.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this trial, please let us know at http://libanswers.uah.edu.

IBISWorld Industry Research Trial until March 7

Until March 7, 2012, we will have trial access to the IBISWorld Industry Research Database.  To gain access to their reports, you simply need to visit their Website at www.ibisworld.com (campus access only).  

Trial Access Includes:
–Core NAICS US Industry Market Research Reports- Over 700 Industries in the US Economy covered
–iExpert Summary- Quick look of our Industry Research Reports w/ prep questions
–Business Environment Reports- Over 300 External Environment Report
–Risk Rating Reports – Risk of operating in an industry in upcoming 12-18 months
–Global Industry Research Reports
–China Industry Research Reports
–UK Industry Reports

About IBISWorld:
Since 1971 IBISWorld has provided thoroughly researched, accurate and current business information. Today, IBISWorld employs a team of dedicated expert analysts that researches economic, demographic and government data so you don’t have to. We provide your organization with valuable insight into America’s 700+ industries, so you can make better business decisions, faster.

IBISWorld’s unrivalled range of industry analysis is available online whenever you need it. Whether your company requires a better understanding of market conditions and forecasts; whether you need a clearer picture of a supply chain, or whether you need to keep abreast of competitor activity in your industry, IBISWorld’s comprehensive reports will keep you informed.

Please send any questions or feedback to http://libanswers.uah.edu/.

Introducing MEDLINE Complete from EBSCO until March 31

MEDLINE Complete offers 1,864 Full Text Journals right now. In December 2012 they project over 2,000 Full Text Journals.

MEDLINE Complete is now the largest full text companion to the MEDLINE Index, offering full text for almost 40% of the journals indexed in MEDLINE.

Content information and title lists are available here:  http://www.ebscohost.com/academic/medline-complete

Trial access is available through the end of March here.

Questions or feedback?  Let us know at http://libanswers.uah.edu/.

SAGE Reference ebook trial until March 20, 2012

Now until approximately March 20, 2012, UAH faculty, staff, and students will have access to a SAGE Reference ebook trial.  If you are interested, simply call us at 256-824-6529 or come by the Reference Desk at the library to get the login information for this trial.  Once you have the login information, you will go to this link http://www.sage-ereference.com/login and enter the username and password.

Subject areas include Business &  Management, Communication & Media Studies, Economics, Education, History, Politics & International Relations, Psychology, Science, Philosophy & Theology, Sociology, among others.

The SAGE Reference ebook collection is comprised mostly of encyclopedias and handbooks.  You can browse titles without logging in here:  http://www.sage-ereference.com/PublicBrowseTitles

Questions?  Contact us at http://libanswers.uah.edu/ or give us a call at 256-824-6529.