Universities that bust paywalls?
kanzure, Wed Jul 25 2007, 04:07AMSo, I have done my research on the sorts of schools that I would like to apply to since it is just about time for me. Originally, I started with the list of 50 schools that had MD/PhD programs as sponsored by NIH, and then narrowed it down to those schools that had good chemical and computer engineering programs, or maybe experimental physics, etc.
However, recently I have found that I would much rather find those universities that bust paywalls. The importance of universities is not only the social environment wherein professors and other experts and peers can be contacted, but the library. These libraries with thousands of journals and tens of thousands of archived subscriptions are really awesomely important. Not to mention the online databases.
What schools are focused on busting these paywalls, like EBSCO, Science Direct, ACS, JSTOR, and all of the many other databases that Google Scholar crawls? What university libraries are the most well funded? Which schools are focused on providing information to their students, rather than enforcing nasty copyright violation policies? Not everything can be accessed through the Interlibrary Exchange after all, right?
BTW, this is a massive cross post, so check out my pub/portal for this thread on all of the other forums.
- Bryan
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Carbon_Rod, Wed Jul 25 2007, 05:18AM
Yawn, What country do you live in? Your problems sound like they are 1/6000000000 of the worlds problems.
Someone please move this to the chatting area....
In some places they have scholarship search engines.
In other places University is free if you are fluent in the language (Germany.)
Where I attended it was expensive, but the board made it very clear at the front door no student would be denied access to higher education for financial reasons (in fact I believe they even offer additional support bursaries if you are a parent etc.)
year 1 & 2 studies can be anyplace,
year 3 & 4 is usually at the same institution for the first degree.
Depending "IF" you make it into the Masters program, your study location could be anyplace (like France for honors physics.)
It is naive to think planning someone's life 5 years in advance will yield anything but a surprise.
Cheers,
Carbon_Rod, Wed Jul 25 2007, 05:18AM
Yawn, What country do you live in? Your problems sound like they are 1/6000000000 of the worlds problems.
Someone please move this to the chatting area....
In some places they have scholarship search engines.
In other places University is free if you are fluent in the language (Germany.)
Where I attended it was expensive, but the board made it very clear at the front door no student would be denied access to higher education for financial reasons (in fact I believe they even offer additional support bursaries if you are a parent etc.)
year 1 & 2 studies can be anyplace,
year 3 & 4 is usually at the same institution for the first degree.
Depending "IF" you make it into the Masters program, your study location could be anyplace (like France for honors physics.)
It is naive to think planning someone's life 5 years in advance will yield anything but a surprise.
Cheers,
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Steve Conner, Wed Jul 25 2007, 11:25AM
Every college I've ever worked or studied at gave me free access to journals behind what you called "Paywalls", through the Athens system. This may be unique to the UK, though. I wouldn't worry about it anyway. I certainly wouldn't worry enough to cross-post it to 100 forums
Steve Conner, Wed Jul 25 2007, 11:25AM
Every college I've ever worked or studied at gave me free access to journals behind what you called "Paywalls", through the Athens system. This may be unique to the UK, though. I wouldn't worry about it anyway. I certainly wouldn't worry enough to cross-post it to 100 forums
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
GreySoul, Wed Jul 25 2007, 01:47PM
...*shrug* as a Fine Arts student I had access to essentially every journal ever published online on any subject through our school library system called LIBROS.
I went to a typical local public university (University of New Mexico) and they offered everything to their students in the way of journals.
If I managed to find one they didn't have access to I could put in a request for access and 9/10 times it would go through.
there were a few they wouldn't pay for - like one-time viewing of ebooks, and such....but any real scholarly journal that was online I could access.
T
As for printed matter... between all the libary systems on campus there was too much - 30-40 years of back issues of important journals, and 5-10 years of less important things. Unfortunetly a fire destroyed a large collection of very old (1800's) sci journals last year.... but they've still got plenty.
...
Ultimately I think it would be a rather silly thing to base a decision on. There are much more important considerations when looking at schools - Location, cost, quality, teach to student ratio - are all far more important than what it, pretty much, universal academic access to back issues of journals.
And if you think you're gonna spend your days reading back issues in leisure ... heh.... you're gonna be waaay too busy to read things on your own :P
-Doug
GreySoul, Wed Jul 25 2007, 01:47PM
...*shrug* as a Fine Arts student I had access to essentially every journal ever published online on any subject through our school library system called LIBROS.
I went to a typical local public university (University of New Mexico) and they offered everything to their students in the way of journals.
If I managed to find one they didn't have access to I could put in a request for access and 9/10 times it would go through.
there were a few they wouldn't pay for - like one-time viewing of ebooks, and such....but any real scholarly journal that was online I could access.
T
As for printed matter... between all the libary systems on campus there was too much - 30-40 years of back issues of important journals, and 5-10 years of less important things. Unfortunetly a fire destroyed a large collection of very old (1800's) sci journals last year.... but they've still got plenty.
...
Ultimately I think it would be a rather silly thing to base a decision on. There are much more important considerations when looking at schools - Location, cost, quality, teach to student ratio - are all far more important than what it, pretty much, universal academic access to back issues of journals.
And if you think you're gonna spend your days reading back issues in leisure ... heh.... you're gonna be waaay too busy to read things on your own :P
-Doug
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
kanzure, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:06PM
I have heard of Athens ... but only briefly. Do they really allow access to most any journal? It sounds like an awesome system. Can you tell me more about it?
That is also interesting. When they did not have the article in LIBROS, would they buy the article from the publisher / database? What was going on there? That must have taken some big funds, right?
Yeah, this is just one factor to consider when looking for universities, I agree. But the library really is an important place, even with the internet today there is still some content "hidden" from the eyes of web crawlers (Google, Yahoo, the Internet Archive's Heritrix etc.). When I look at universities from time to time, I see that they do not all have the same subscriptions to databases. One might subscribe to American Chemical Society while another does not. One might subscribe to the publications of an important medical group, while the next does not. Definitely not 'universal'.
Maybe Athens or LIBROS is the solution. :)
- Bryan
kanzure, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:06PM
wrote ...
Every college I've ever worked or studied at gave me free access to journals behind what you called "Paywalls", through the Athens system. This may be unique to the UK, though.
Every college I've ever worked or studied at gave me free access to journals behind what you called "Paywalls", through the Athens system. This may be unique to the UK, though.
I have heard of Athens ... but only briefly. Do they really allow access to most any journal? It sounds like an awesome system. Can you tell me more about it?
wrote ...
...*shrug* as a Fine Arts student I had access to essentially every journal ever published online on any subject through our school library system called LIBROS. If I managed to find one they didn't have access to I could put in a request for access and 9/10 times it would go through.
...*shrug* as a Fine Arts student I had access to essentially every journal ever published online on any subject through our school library system called LIBROS. If I managed to find one they didn't have access to I could put in a request for access and 9/10 times it would go through.
That is also interesting. When they did not have the article in LIBROS, would they buy the article from the publisher / database? What was going on there? That must have taken some big funds, right?
wrote ...
Ultimately I think it would be a rather silly thing to base a decision on. There are much more important considerations when looking at schools - Location, cost, quality, teach to student ratio - are all far more important than what it, pretty much, universal academic access to back issues of journals.
Ultimately I think it would be a rather silly thing to base a decision on. There are much more important considerations when looking at schools - Location, cost, quality, teach to student ratio - are all far more important than what it, pretty much, universal academic access to back issues of journals.
Yeah, this is just one factor to consider when looking for universities, I agree. But the library really is an important place, even with the internet today there is still some content "hidden" from the eyes of web crawlers (Google, Yahoo, the Internet Archive's Heritrix etc.). When I look at universities from time to time, I see that they do not all have the same subscriptions to databases. One might subscribe to American Chemical Society while another does not. One might subscribe to the publications of an important medical group, while the next does not. Definitely not 'universal'.
Maybe Athens or LIBROS is the solution. :)
- Bryan
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
WaveRider, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:33PM
Dare I say it???
Important things to consider in applying for a university.
Can anyone think of more??
Not that I encourage you to fritter away your university years in a drunken, sex-crazed stupor... Although even Chaucer wrote fondly of the student life 600 years ago....and it's not all that different today!
WaveRider, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:33PM
Dare I say it???
Important things to consider in applying for a university.
1. Easy access to beer.
2. Good pizza place nearby.
3. Comfy (but cheap) place to crash nearby.
4. Comfy chairs in lecture halls (especially for early morning lectures).
5. Pretty girls/good looking guys on campus?
6. Pretty girls/good looking guys in EE dept.?
7. Beer.
8. Music.
9. Computer lab for downloadable music, and dirty movies?
10. Free beer at IEEE, etc. events?
11. Good music venue nearby.
12. Good library with quiet reading room (not for reading, but for sleeping!)
13. Wide selection of other drugs for personal pharmacological experiments...(if that's your cup of tea).
14. Far away from parents.
15. Access to a good curry restaurant nearby (for annoying roomates with the gaseous consequences afterwards).
Can anyone think of more??
Not that I encourage you to fritter away your university years in a drunken, sex-crazed stupor... Although even Chaucer wrote fondly of the student life 600 years ago....and it's not all that different today!
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Steve Ward, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:46PM
Haha, you nailed it WaveRider!
I have to second what GreySoul said... after all your classes and work, you probably wont be reading much on your own in "free time".
I have free access to a whole bunch of article databases, but i hardly ever use it
.
You still never said what country you are in, or thinking of going to school in.
Steve Ward, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:46PM
Haha, you nailed it WaveRider!
I have to second what GreySoul said... after all your classes and work, you probably wont be reading much on your own in "free time".
I have free access to a whole bunch of article databases, but i hardly ever use it
.You still never said what country you are in, or thinking of going to school in.
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
kanzure, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:50PM
My apologies. I am in the United States, and am willing to travel if I must, but I bet that there might be some good options here at home somewhere. Just have to look. :)
- Bryan
kanzure, Wed Jul 25 2007, 03:50PM
wrote ...
You still never said what country you are in, or thinking of going to school in.
You still never said what country you are in, or thinking of going to school in.
My apologies. I am in the United States, and am willing to travel if I must, but I bet that there might be some good options here at home somewhere. Just have to look. :)
- Bryan
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
GreySoul, Wed Jul 25 2007, 05:34PM
At UNM they would consider any journal purchase if requested. Most library systems also participate in inter-library loan programs where you can request material from other schools.
Most publishers, especially those that deal with academic journals, tend to offer very favorable rates to Universities and non-profit organizations, so it's really not as big a deal as you'd think. As for budgets, UNM has a multi-million dollar library budget for them to subscribe to journals and purchase new books.... most large schools do. if your school has over 10,000 students it will probably be able to get any journal you actually need.
At UNM, requests for stuff the library didn't already have usually had to be accompanied by a professors signature that the request was for class.... but once you get in with a prof, they'll sign any request you bring them :P
I suspect they probably spent around a million a year on journals and access to research databases - if not more. that's why you pay tuition (and taxes).
... also, I have to agree with WaveRider - those concerns influenced me more than what journals the school had. :)
-Doug
GreySoul, Wed Jul 25 2007, 05:34PM
At UNM they would consider any journal purchase if requested. Most library systems also participate in inter-library loan programs where you can request material from other schools.
Most publishers, especially those that deal with academic journals, tend to offer very favorable rates to Universities and non-profit organizations, so it's really not as big a deal as you'd think. As for budgets, UNM has a multi-million dollar library budget for them to subscribe to journals and purchase new books.... most large schools do. if your school has over 10,000 students it will probably be able to get any journal you actually need.
At UNM, requests for stuff the library didn't already have usually had to be accompanied by a professors signature that the request was for class.... but once you get in with a prof, they'll sign any request you bring them :P
I suspect they probably spent around a million a year on journals and access to research databases - if not more. that's why you pay tuition (and taxes).
... also, I have to agree with WaveRider - those concerns influenced me more than what journals the school had. :)
-Doug
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
WaveRider, Wed Jul 25 2007, 08:22PM
I went to U of MD for undergrad.. Was a good school for EE (especially EM theory)... When I was there, they had labs where they built tokamaks and gyratrons...really cool (220GHz at 50MW with highly relativistic electron beams).. All those military and spy agencies around Wash. DC/MD/Virginia meant radio engineers were always in demand. (If you like doing that kind of stuff, of course..)
Did a PhD at Purdue... Great school... West Lafayette IN is a bit boring and the weather sucks, but that is an inducement to study..
All unis spend millions on periodical subscriptions.. (Interestingly, institutional subscriptions to ALL the IEEE journals are relatively cheap, at USD35.000 or so a year...)
While you should give thought to where you are going, there is no point..in my opinion...in being overly picky. Best to keep an eye on the budget and what interesting courses they have which may help you along your "life-path"...the rest is up to you. Never forget that having fun is also part of university life. Those that forget this either become incredible lifetime bores or end up committing suicide after their first exam failure..
Good luck!
WaveRider, Wed Jul 25 2007, 08:22PM
I went to U of MD for undergrad.. Was a good school for EE (especially EM theory)... When I was there, they had labs where they built tokamaks and gyratrons...really cool (220GHz at 50MW with highly relativistic electron beams).. All those military and spy agencies around Wash. DC/MD/Virginia meant radio engineers were always in demand. (If you like doing that kind of stuff, of course..)
Did a PhD at Purdue... Great school... West Lafayette IN is a bit boring and the weather sucks, but that is an inducement to study..
All unis spend millions on periodical subscriptions.. (Interestingly, institutional subscriptions to ALL the IEEE journals are relatively cheap, at USD35.000 or so a year...)
While you should give thought to where you are going, there is no point..in my opinion...in being overly picky. Best to keep an eye on the budget and what interesting courses they have which may help you along your "life-path"...the rest is up to you. Never forget that having fun is also part of university life. Those that forget this either become incredible lifetime bores or end up committing suicide after their first exam failure..
Good luck!
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Alex, Wed Jul 25 2007, 09:21PM
Bowdoin College is about 15 minutes away from me. They have a lot of money, and it's apparent when you walk into their library. Rows and rows and rows of journals. Downstairs there are huge archives of bound journals, and finally there is a small room full of microforms. There's a second library with even more journals, and they also have subscriptions to a bunch of online databases. Now, I'm not going to Bowdoin. It's too close to home, and it doesn't offer the courses I'm interested in. However, I can go inside their libraries and read things, make photocopies, and save electronic media to my flash drive — whenever I want.
My point here is that this information is pretty easy to come by. You aren't restricted to your university's library, and as others have said, you can make requests to get journals that are of interest to you. There are plenty of databases that you can search to find journal abstracts, so finding articles in journals that your school doesn't subscribe to shouldn't be an issue.
So... What are your primary university choices so far?
Alex, Wed Jul 25 2007, 09:21PM
Bowdoin College is about 15 minutes away from me. They have a lot of money, and it's apparent when you walk into their library. Rows and rows and rows of journals. Downstairs there are huge archives of bound journals, and finally there is a small room full of microforms. There's a second library with even more journals, and they also have subscriptions to a bunch of online databases. Now, I'm not going to Bowdoin. It's too close to home, and it doesn't offer the courses I'm interested in. However, I can go inside their libraries and read things, make photocopies, and save electronic media to my flash drive — whenever I want.
My point here is that this information is pretty easy to come by. You aren't restricted to your university's library, and as others have said, you can make requests to get journals that are of interest to you. There are plenty of databases that you can search to find journal abstracts, so finding articles in journals that your school doesn't subscribe to shouldn't be an issue.
So... What are your primary university choices so far?
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Coyote Wilde, Thu Jul 26 2007, 02:38AM
Even poor Canadian schools have access to piles of journals, and as said, you're going to be studying too hard to do a heck of a lot of hard reading on the side. Especially in EE, if that's what you're taking-- you're going to want to read about anything but in time where you're not studying your butt off about it.
Carbon Rod is right; your much-vaunted plans will be going out many windows quickly.
I, for example, started at the University of Waterloo, which is one of the best-rated schools for physics (which I was studying) in Canada, a nation I am loathe to leave. The facilities were grand, and the profs wonderful (on the whole, anyway) but-- I wasn't being taught. I was learning. And I could do that anywhere...
Advisors told me the same thing: Undergraduate studies can be anywhere. It's where you do graduate that counts, and even then, if you do good work at a poorly-regarded school, you'll get noticed better than where everyone else is doing work of the same quality.
So my much-vaunted plan of going to UW for 8 years and coming out with a PhD to teach, cunningly decided during highschool, has been torpedoed. I'm going to the local school, Laurentian U, so I can live at home though undergrad and save muchos denieros, and with lower tuition and my parents being more willing to pay for things, I'll end up twenty thousand fewer dollars in debt, projected. This also allows me to stay in the same city as my significant other, which is an important consideration for me. Looking at job prospects for a physics grad, I'll be doing a double major with MechEng and physics to make myself more employable.
And I have very little faith that that plan will last more than a couple semesters.
I'm hoping to keep it to no more than 3 schools for my undergraduate degree, however...
Coyote Wilde, Thu Jul 26 2007, 02:38AM
Even poor Canadian schools have access to piles of journals, and as said, you're going to be studying too hard to do a heck of a lot of hard reading on the side. Especially in EE, if that's what you're taking-- you're going to want to read about anything but in time where you're not studying your butt off about it.
Carbon Rod is right; your much-vaunted plans will be going out many windows quickly.
I, for example, started at the University of Waterloo, which is one of the best-rated schools for physics (which I was studying) in Canada, a nation I am loathe to leave. The facilities were grand, and the profs wonderful (on the whole, anyway) but-- I wasn't being taught. I was learning. And I could do that anywhere...
Advisors told me the same thing: Undergraduate studies can be anywhere. It's where you do graduate that counts, and even then, if you do good work at a poorly-regarded school, you'll get noticed better than where everyone else is doing work of the same quality.
So my much-vaunted plan of going to UW for 8 years and coming out with a PhD to teach, cunningly decided during highschool, has been torpedoed. I'm going to the local school, Laurentian U, so I can live at home though undergrad and save muchos denieros, and with lower tuition and my parents being more willing to pay for things, I'll end up twenty thousand fewer dollars in debt, projected. This also allows me to stay in the same city as my significant other, which is an important consideration for me. Looking at job prospects for a physics grad, I'll be doing a double major with MechEng and physics to make myself more employable.
And I have very little faith that that plan will last more than a couple semesters.
I'm hoping to keep it to no more than 3 schools for my undergraduate degree, however...
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:00AM
Reading huh, that's funny. If you're applying for EE then you will be spending much of your time doing what I do, simulations. Wether MatLab, PSpice, Mathmatica, writing software routines in C++ for robotics, Assembly for uC's (or BASIC, its pretty handy), that's what your future is, software. You won't have much time to read, its basically come to class, absorb, comprehend, and utilize on the spot, no time to 'think' about it.
I don't bother to read much when the instructor gives you notes of the material that he is going to examine you on. Stick to the notes and you won't fail. Read everything but and you're guaranteed to fail, because you didn't study the pertinant information.
Do use Composition Notebooks for everything. You will thank me later for it. After all of your classes you will have an awsome little library that you can go back to at any time, with examples, solutions, and everything. I can go back and look for Control System solutions, Power, Digital filters, its all there in my notes.
As far as articles go, any .edu has access to IEEE articles and I needed access to the articles a handfull of times, but its nothing to worry about, we only got trivial use from the articles.
Anyway, get yourself some cracked copies of the software for your classes and you'll do fine.
Just remember that what you get from college is 50% of what you need, the other 50% is all you, and that's why we're here at 4HV, to get that other 50% edge over the students who don't take that step beyond the classroom.
(I'm trying to contribute my class notes to the knowedge base but im a bit tied up with graduation, but you get the point im sure.)
I forgot to mention that if you can live at home, do it. Dorms are terribly small, food is expensive, the noise is unbelievable, and living with parents is not so bad. I go to CSULB which has a declining EE program, but its close, low competition, relaxed enviornment, and I don't have to work real hard at EE because most of the students don't know anything. So going to a second rate school isn't so bad, just hunker down and knock-'em-out.
Matt
Hazmatt_(The Underdog), Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:00AM
Reading huh, that's funny. If you're applying for EE then you will be spending much of your time doing what I do, simulations. Wether MatLab, PSpice, Mathmatica, writing software routines in C++ for robotics, Assembly for uC's (or BASIC, its pretty handy), that's what your future is, software. You won't have much time to read, its basically come to class, absorb, comprehend, and utilize on the spot, no time to 'think' about it.
I don't bother to read much when the instructor gives you notes of the material that he is going to examine you on. Stick to the notes and you won't fail. Read everything but and you're guaranteed to fail, because you didn't study the pertinant information.
Do use Composition Notebooks for everything. You will thank me later for it. After all of your classes you will have an awsome little library that you can go back to at any time, with examples, solutions, and everything. I can go back and look for Control System solutions, Power, Digital filters, its all there in my notes.
As far as articles go, any .edu has access to IEEE articles and I needed access to the articles a handfull of times, but its nothing to worry about, we only got trivial use from the articles.
Anyway, get yourself some cracked copies of the software for your classes and you'll do fine.
Just remember that what you get from college is 50% of what you need, the other 50% is all you, and that's why we're here at 4HV, to get that other 50% edge over the students who don't take that step beyond the classroom.
(I'm trying to contribute my class notes to the knowedge base but im a bit tied up with graduation, but you get the point im sure.)
I forgot to mention that if you can live at home, do it. Dorms are terribly small, food is expensive, the noise is unbelievable, and living with parents is not so bad. I go to CSULB which has a declining EE program, but its close, low competition, relaxed enviornment, and I don't have to work real hard at EE because most of the students don't know anything. So going to a second rate school isn't so bad, just hunker down and knock-'em-out.
Matt
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Steve Conner, Thu Jul 26 2007, 09:23AM
information on Athens
Waverider:
I know a lot of people like to party when they go to university, but I never really got it, I was too much of a nerd. I didn't really start partying till I graduated.
WTFBBQ? I don't know about you, but I'm here because I like messing around with electronics and sparks and stuff.
Steve Conner, Thu Jul 26 2007, 09:23AM
information on AthensWaverider:
I know a lot of people like to party when they go to university, but I never really got it, I was too much of a nerd. I didn't really start partying till I graduated.
hazmatt wrote ...
that's why we're here at 4HV, to get that other 50% edge over the students who don't take that step beyond the classroom.
that's why we're here at 4HV, to get that other 50% edge over the students who don't take that step beyond the classroom.
WTFBBQ? I don't know about you, but I'm here because I like messing around with electronics and sparks and stuff.
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
kanzure, Thu Jul 26 2007, 03:20PM
UT Austin is near me- and you can go to their ten undergraduate libraries and read as much as you like. Unfortunately they are not as lax on their computer policy as Bowdoin College is. You cannot access their internet infrastructure and you cannot log onto their computers to get papers and save them down on flash drives. And it is really unfortunate- it's hard to navigate the hundreds of years of content they offer without a computer to search the databases.
Coyote Wilde- you made your decision based off of debt? I too would like to come out of school without debt and I would have some big problems if I could not find a way to avoid it.
Nah, I am not applying for electrical engineering. I might be going for chemical and computer engineering. Comp eng is a hybrid between computer science and electrical engineering though, so it's pretty close. Although I have not been able to play around with the mathematics simulation packages you mention, I've had time to play with gnuplot and qalculate and some other algebra libraries. I have also done my fair share of robotics- from the basics with Parallax stamps (haha) to my own MC68HC908QT4 microcontroller to play around with (re: assembly). Also- I've been programming for years and have no plans to stop. However. I also do lots of reading. I think it is possible to read and do programming and simulations etc. I have learned a lot from reading academic papers on computer vision (AI/ANN stuff), for example.
- Bryan
kanzure, Thu Jul 26 2007, 03:20PM
GreySoul wrote ...
if your school has over 10,000 students it will probably be able to get any journal you actually need.
I was not aware of this. Good to know.if your school has over 10,000 students it will probably be able to get any journal you actually need.
GreySoul wrote ...
At UNM, requests for stuff the library didn't already have usually had to be accompanied by a professors signature that the request was for class.... but once you get in with a prof, they'll sign any request you bring them :P
At UNM, requests for stuff the library didn't already have usually had to be accompanied by a professors signature that the request was for class.... but once you get in with a prof, they'll sign any request you bring them :P
Alex wrote ...
Bowdoin College is about 15 minutes away from me. They have a lot of money, and it's apparent when you walk into their library. Rows and rows and rows of journals. Downstairs there are huge archives of bound journals, and finally there is a small room full of microforms. There's a second library with even more journals, and they also have subscriptions to a bunch of online databases. Now, I'm not going to Bowdoin. It's too close to home, and it doesn't offer the courses I'm interested in. However, I can go inside their libraries and read things, make photocopies, and save electronic media to my flash drive — whenever I want.
Bowdoin College is about 15 minutes away from me. They have a lot of money, and it's apparent when you walk into their library. Rows and rows and rows of journals. Downstairs there are huge archives of bound journals, and finally there is a small room full of microforms. There's a second library with even more journals, and they also have subscriptions to a bunch of online databases. Now, I'm not going to Bowdoin. It's too close to home, and it doesn't offer the courses I'm interested in. However, I can go inside their libraries and read things, make photocopies, and save electronic media to my flash drive — whenever I want.
UT Austin is near me- and you can go to their ten undergraduate libraries and read as much as you like. Unfortunately they are not as lax on their computer policy as Bowdoin College is. You cannot access their internet infrastructure and you cannot log onto their computers to get papers and save them down on flash drives. And it is really unfortunate- it's hard to navigate the hundreds of years of content they offer without a computer to search the databases.
Alex wrote ...
So... What are your primary university choices so far?
Heh. I have a big document that shows the top ten or twelve.So... What are your primary university choices so far?
Coyote Wilde- you made your decision based off of debt? I too would like to come out of school without debt and I would have some big problems if I could not find a way to avoid it.
wrote ...
Reading huh, that's funny. If you're applying for EE then you will be spending much of your time doing what I do, simulations. Wether MatLab, PSpice, Mathmatica, writing software routines in C++ for robotics, Assembly for uC's (or BASIC, its pretty handy), that's what your future is, software. You won't have much time to read, its basically come to class, absorb, comprehend, and utilize on the spot, no time to 'think' about it.
Reading huh, that's funny. If you're applying for EE then you will be spending much of your time doing what I do, simulations. Wether MatLab, PSpice, Mathmatica, writing software routines in C++ for robotics, Assembly for uC's (or BASIC, its pretty handy), that's what your future is, software. You won't have much time to read, its basically come to class, absorb, comprehend, and utilize on the spot, no time to 'think' about it.
Nah, I am not applying for electrical engineering. I might be going for chemical and computer engineering. Comp eng is a hybrid between computer science and electrical engineering though, so it's pretty close. Although I have not been able to play around with the mathematics simulation packages you mention, I've had time to play with gnuplot and qalculate and some other algebra libraries. I have also done my fair share of robotics- from the basics with Parallax stamps (haha) to my own MC68HC908QT4 microcontroller to play around with (re: assembly). Also- I've been programming for years and have no plans to stop. However. I also do lots of reading. I think it is possible to read and do programming and simulations etc. I have learned a lot from reading academic papers on computer vision (AI/ANN stuff), for example.
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(I'm trying to contribute my class notes to the knowedge base but im a bit tied up with graduation, but you get the point im sure.)
I would like to see those class notes some time. :)(I'm trying to contribute my class notes to the knowedge base but im a bit tied up with graduation, but you get the point im sure.)
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WTFBBQ? I don't know about you, but I'm here because I like messing around with electronics and sparks and stuff.
The way it should be. :)WTFBBQ? I don't know about you, but I'm here because I like messing around with electronics and sparks and stuff.
- Bryan
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
Steve Conner, Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:08PM
Surely that's just a policy applied to visitors and wouldn't be the case if you were enrolled as a student there. My local uni libraries won't even let you in the door without a membership card.
Steve Conner, Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:08PM
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You cannot access their internet infrastructure and you cannot log onto their computers to get papers and save them down on flash drives.
You cannot access their internet infrastructure and you cannot log onto their computers to get papers and save them down on flash drives.
Surely that's just a policy applied to visitors and wouldn't be the case if you were enrolled as a student there. My local uni libraries won't even let you in the door without a membership card.
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
GreySoul, Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:41PM
So I just found out UNM has a community liaison. You can contact them about getting access to the university system if you live in the area and want access to their library. It's like $35 a year - which covers the cost of your ID card, and some minor infrastructure maintainence
I'd bet most other large public uiniversities have such a system - look for a community resource office...and ask :)
can't hurt.
-Doug
GreySoul, Thu Jul 26 2007, 04:41PM
So I just found out UNM has a community liaison. You can contact them about getting access to the university system if you live in the area and want access to their library. It's like $35 a year - which covers the cost of your ID card, and some minor infrastructure maintainence
I'd bet most other large public uiniversities have such a system - look for a community resource office...and ask :)
can't hurt.
-Doug
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
WaveRider, Thu Jul 26 2007, 08:50PM
Steve...After my receiving my first semester marks, I partied a lot less and studied a lot more (and spent lots of time in the library studying....and sleeping too...it was quieter than my apartment that I shared with 3 boozer housemates! )
Kanzure... If you cannot find papers that you need...sometimes it is possible to contact the authors for preprints/copies... I've done this a few times...many authors are flattered when you contact them, explaining why you are interested in their work and what you need their paper for! Also, you will find that many papers are on the authors' personal websites (persistent google searches will often turn these up..)
WaveRider, Thu Jul 26 2007, 08:50PM
Waverider:
I know a lot of people like to party when they go to university, but I never really got it, I was too much of a nerd. I didn't really start partying till I graduated.
Steve...After my receiving my first semester marks, I partied a lot less and studied a lot more (and spent lots of time in the library studying....and sleeping too...it was quieter than my apartment that I shared with 3 boozer housemates!
)Kanzure... If you cannot find papers that you need...sometimes it is possible to contact the authors for preprints/copies... I've done this a few times...many authors are flattered when you contact them, explaining why you are interested in their work and what you need their paper for! Also, you will find that many papers are on the authors' personal websites (persistent google searches will often turn these up..)
Re: Universities that bust paywalls?
kanzure, Thu Jul 26 2007, 11:56PM
- Bryan
kanzure, Thu Jul 26 2007, 11:56PM
Steve Connor wrote ...
Surely that's just a policy applied to visitors and wouldn't be the case if you were enrolled as a student there. My local uni libraries won't even let you in the door without a membership card.
You're right. But it is still an unfortunate situation for outsiders (like me).Surely that's just a policy applied to visitors and wouldn't be the case if you were enrolled as a student there. My local uni libraries won't even let you in the door without a membership card.
wrote ...
I'd bet most other large public uiniversities have such a system - look for a community resource office...and ask :)
Awesome idea.I'd bet most other large public uiniversities have such a system - look for a community resource office...and ask :)
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(persistent google searches will often turn these up..)
Yeah, I've seen some good papers by searching for "filetype:pdf <some subject here>". Google tells me that I have done over 23,000 queries through their system. And counting. :)(persistent google searches will often turn these up..)
- Bryan
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