Unravel the libraries: General Information Archives

February 2, 2009

MN-CAT now called MN-CAT Plus

MN-CAT (the U of M library catalog) is now MN-CAT Plus

MN-CAT Plus introduces new search functions, images of books, the new "Get it" system and a beta version of an article tab and article search functions.

• MN-CAT Plus, the library’s online catalog, can be searched to find books, journals, magazines, newspapers, maps, documents, CD’s, and videos that the U of M library owns. The online catalog can be accessed at http://www.lib.umn.edu. There is now limited article search functions within MN-CAT Plus, but you may still want to use the journals catalog to be sure to find all available articles.

• Click on the link “In the U of M Library��? to find out if the book has been checked out. In MN-CAT Plus green type indicates a copy of the item may be available, while red type indicates that all copies are currently unavailable.

• MN-CAT Plus DOES NOT search for article titles or article authors. There is a new tab called "articles", but currently it only searches a limited number of article databases.

• Click on "Online Access" to find out if the library owns the full text of an article and it is available online. If you are a U of M student there is no charge to access most articles.

• Not available online? Click on the title, then the library name to find out what issues of a newspaper, magazine, or journal the library owns in print.

• If you find your issue number in either the summary or the description of the record the library does own the article in print.

Posted by Kristina Blasen at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 29, 2009

Unravel the Libraries

The Unravel Workshops consist of three different workshop lasting one hour and fifteen minutes each.

Unravel 1: Orientation to the Libraries & Tour of Wilson Library
This is a very basic hands on workshop designed to highlight services and resources the Libraries offer. It also includes a physical tour of Wilson Library. Students at the end of the workshop are able to:

*Locate resources and services found on the Libraries’ homepage and the Undergraduate Virtual Library page
*Search for specific books and periodicals and identify the library location and call number

Unravel 2: The Research Process - Finding Books and Articles

The Libraries have offered this workshop over a 1,000 times and carefully monitor results of a brief multiple choice test given at the end of the workshop. Students consistently score 80% or better on this test.

Upon completion of this workshop students should be able to:

*Identify appropriate subject specific article indexes
*Effectively search for articles given a specific topic
*Effectively use “Find It��? to locate a copy of a given article
*Identify whether an article is considered scholarly or not

Unravel 3: Beyond the Basics - Advanced Searching

This workshop expands upon knowledge and skills gained in Unravel 2. Participants learn both the art and science of advanced searching techniques. By the end of the workshop they will be able to:

*Construct a simple database record
*Use advanced searching strategies (limiting, truncation, and Boolean operators)
*Construct a coherent search strategy

Posted by Kristina Blasen at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)