This is an archive of news items that originally appeared in faculty resource guides for the disciplines listed below.
Architecture — 
Biology & Biotechnology — 
Chemistry — 
Computer Science —
Data Science
Engineering — 
Kinesiology — 
Mathematics — 
Physics & Astronomy
2025 News Items
September 2025
Guide to AI Tools in Library Databases
Many of Gleeson Library's subscription databases are adding Generative AI and other AI tools to help you search, summarize, and analyze the information you find. This new guide identifies the AI tools currently available in our databases, and briefly shows you how to use them.
View AI Tools in Library Databases
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August 2025
Library Budget Cut
The library budget has been cut permanently by more than $900,000. Some the outcomes of this cut include the following:
Personnel
1 librarian and 1.5 OPE staff positions eliminated (all presently vacant).
Collections (Journal and Database Subscriptions)
Several databases, journal packages, and individual journal subscriptions will be eliminated. A full list will be available on our Cancellations and Withdrawals web page later in the fall semester. This list will include:
- AIP: American Institute of Physics Journals (journal package) — includes 11 Physics journals.
- Cambridge Journals (journal package) — more than 400 journals covering a wide variety of disciplines including Computer Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Medicine, and Physics & Astronomy.
- Compendex (database)
- Sage Journals (journal package) — more than 1000 journals covering a wide variety of disciplines including Engineering and Life & Biomedical Sciences.
Please reach out to me if you wish to discuss in more detail our cancellations and their impacts.
View Cancellations & Withdrawals
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New Administrative Position
The library will be hiring for a newly-created administrative position: Director of Operations & Budget.
The two primary areas this new role will be responsible for include Access Services and library-wide budget (non-collections). This position will be funded from one of the two presently vacant Associate Dean lines (or possibly from other vacant lines).
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Scopus AI
We now have access to Scopus AI, a premium addition to our Scopus database subscription. Scopus AI is a generative AI tool that provides topic summaries based exclusively on the peer-reviewed literature (abstracts and metadata from 2003 forward) within the Scopus database. Scopus AI identifies the peer-reviewed sources for the claims in its summaries, and indicates its confidence level in addressing your query.
Tip: Just as general AI tools are not replacements for standard research, Scopus AI is not a replacement for a standard Scopus search and hands-on-review of results; but it can be a useful starting point to explore new or unfamiliar topics.
To use Scopus AI, login to Scopus as usual, and click the "Scopus AI" tab above the main search box.
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July 2025
Change to Video Orders
Starting August 1, 2025 Gleeson Library will only accept requests to stream licensed videos which are available on the following platforms: Kanopy, Alexander Street, and Swank Digital Campus. In addition, the library has adopted a cap of $150 for a one year license or $350 for a three year license per title. While the library is unable to purchase video files and host them locally or add new platforms, we will carefully evaluate requests to purchase DVDs as long as they don’t exceed $150 per title. Faculty must use the Video Request Form to submit license or DVD purchase requests.
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June 2025
Inspec with Full Text.
Our subscription to Inspec—the database covering research in computer science, physics, and engineering—has been upgraded with access to 1,500 full text journals.
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April 2025
New Library Search Interfaces.
Gleeson Library will launch new, more intuitive interfaces for Fusion and EBSCOhost databases on June 16. The update offers improved design, accessibility, and features.
Users must manually migrate any saved alerts and folders. See the Fusion and EBSCOhost Database Updates guide for more information, FAQs, and a link to preview the new interface.
In addition to Fusion, 77 EBSCOhost databases will implement the new interface, including:
- Academic Search Complete
- APA PsycInfo
- Architectural Digest Magazine Archive
- Art & Architecture Source
- Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
- Business Source Complete
- Engineering Source
- Environment Complete
- Inspec
- SPORTDiscus
- Urban Studies Abstracts
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Discarding VHS Collection
Gleeson Library is planning to deaccession our VHS collection of 1,155 items. We are no longer able to support this obsolete format. None of the tapes has circulated in at least two years, some for much longer or not at all.
Please see the list of VHS holdings under consideration for discard. If there are any you feel are essential to retain, please inform your library liaison Randy Souther by May 15.
We are working with the office of Environmental Sustainability to recycle the tapes.
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New database added: JSTOR Global Plants.
Global Plants is the world’s largest database of digitized plant specimens and a locus for international scientific research and collaboration.
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February 2025
New transformative agreement with Oxford University Press, and extended agreements with Cambridge University Press and Springer.
Transformative agreements allow you to publish your articles open access with no fees or reduced fees. Our current agreements are with Oxford, Cambridge, Elsevier, Springer, Association for Computing Machinery, and American Chemical Society.
View our Transformative Agreements
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January 2025
ProQuest Ebook Central subscription ends February 1, 2025
ProQuest Ebook Central is one of our major ebook providers, and its cancellation will affect more than 250,000 titles in our collection.
If you rely on any specific ebook title for assigned readings in your courses, or for your own teaching or research, please check the ebook status below, and notify me promptly ( randall.souther@usfca.edu ) if the ebook is from ProQuest Ebook Central. Gleeson Library may be able to provide alternate access to frequently used ebooks.
See the link below to check the status of any ebook in question.
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2024 News Items
October 2024
Anatomical Models
The library has acquired a 2nd "Full Disarticulated Human Skeleton" anatomical model to help with high demand by students in Anatomy classes.
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September 2024
New Addition: Annual Book of ASTM Standards
We have added the complete 87-volume set: Annual Book of ASTM Standards to our print collections. The set contains more than 12,000 engineering standards.
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New Addition: Engineering Standards research guide
Step-by-step guide for searching and retrieving standards from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, as well as standards from other publishers.
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August 2024
Cancellations and Withdrawals
The library has had to cut more than $50,000 from our materials budget this coming year, and larger cuts are likely next fiscal year. See our Cancellations and Withdrawals page for a partial list of cancelled databases and journals.
See Cancellations and Withdrawals
Important cancellations include:
- Link+ — book borrowing and lending service (books can still be borrowed via our Interlibrary Loan service).
- ProQuest Ebook Central — more than 250,000 academic ebook titles.
- Passport GMID — international consumer and industry market research.
- Credo InfoLit — information literacy tutorials and videos
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New Information Desk in the Library
The library's Reference Desk has been closed, and reference services have been moved and combined with circulation services at the Information Desk at the entrance of the library. Reference librarians will be on-call — just ask at the Information Desk.
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