November 2006 Archives

In September, we communicated plans to release a New Features page in EBSCOhost, along with additional enhancements. In just a few days, the page and new features will become available to you and your users.

For a reminder on the features and their functionality, please see this top story. (If you cannot use the embedded link, please copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=272&t=h)

Please visit EBSCO's Support Site (http://support.ebsco.com) for information about new features, to search among our thousands of FAQs, download Macromedia Flash tutorials, Help Sheets and User Guides, or communicate with our Technical Support staff at any time, using our EBSCO Support Form.

Gordon Macomber, President, Thomson Gale, shared the following letter with us. MINITEX licenses statewide access to Thomson Gale’s K-12 suite of resources and the Spanish-language Informe! database available to you through Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM).

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November 7, 2006

To our Valued Customers,

It has always been our policy to communicate openly with our customers and business partners. We value our relationship with you and wish to personally share the following information.

Thomson Learning’s parent company, The Thomson Corporation, has announced plans to sell its Thomson Learning business, which includes Thomson Gale. Thomson Learning is fully committed to the library and learning space and, as such, no longer fits with The Thomson Corporation’s long-term strategy of providing business professionals with electronic solutions.

Thomson Gale has been and continues to be a world leader with exceptionally strong offerings, a talented workforce and a focus on customer satisfaction that is the foundation of all that we do. While it’s too early to talk about who the likely buyer of Thomson Learning will be, it is not too early to say that this move will enable us to focus exclusively on more fully serving and satisfying our customers’ needs and wants.

You may be wondering if and how this decision affects your business with us. While we do not have all of the answers right now regarding what business processes may change, we assure you that customer satisfaction has been, and always will be, our top priority.

We are committed to keeping you up to date. To that end, we will provide you with additional information as ongoing decisions are made.

We appreciate your continuing support and confidence in Thomson Gale through this transition and invite you to contact me or any of my colleagues directly should you have questions.

Sincerely,
Gordon Macomber
President, Thomson Gale

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EBSCO has sent this reminder so that you will not be caught off guard.

Last November, EBSCO increased EBSCOadmin password security by adding a secret question option to your EBSCOadmin passwords, and increasing their complexity, in order to protect the integrity of the administrative module you use to customize your users' EBSCOhost search experiences. The new passwords were set up to remain active for a period of one year, which for many of you will expire on November 30, 2006.

To update your EBSCOadmin password before it expires, please log in to your EBSCOadmin account and update the EBSCOadmin password for each administrator who has EBSCOadmin access. (Please note: This does not apply to the passwords used to access EBSCOhost.)

Also, make sure that there is a current email address listed for each administrator for your account. To check this, from the Utility Toolbar, click the EBSCOadmin Security Link. This will show any administrators on the account and their email address. If the email is blank, please make sure to enter this.

For instructions on how to change your password, please refer to this FAQ.

If you have already updated your EBSCOadmin password(s), please ignore this reminder.

Please join me and Tim Peters of CPERS in wishing Chris Kline all the best as she begins the next step in her library career! Chris will be joining the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Memorial Library, staff as head of licensed resources. Her last day with MINITEX was Friday, November 10.

Chris was a tremendous asset to our CPERS program and to MINITEX. Her superb professional skills will be sorely missed. During her 1 ½ years as an Electronic Resources Librarian in CPERS, she made significant contributions to the program and our libraries. Notably, she introduced the ELM Portal templates to schools and libraries, began generating reports from the CPERS Cost Savings Database, headed the Cooperative Collection Management project, conducted an eContent survey, and put together a number of new offers for electronic resources. Her commitment to the profession and to our participating libraries has been outstanding.

Tim and I will bridge the gap between Chris’ departure and the arrival of Ed Keane, our new Electronic Resources Librarian, who will start after the New Year. Chris has notified many of you regarding upcoming renewals. Please respond RUSH with your decisions to renew or cancel.