Reference ServicesBoth Gale and EBSCO have begun offering free, authoritative information on the H1N1 and seasonal flu for both health practitioners and the public. This content is pulled from each vendor's proprietary resources, but is available to all at no cost.
Thanks to both EBSCO and Gale for their quick response to this need. Please share these links with colleagues, family, and friends (and consider plugging Gale's widget into your library's website).
EBSCO is excited to announce that the anticipated new interface for mobile users, EBSCOhost Mobile, is here! The new EBSCOhost application is tailor-made for the smaller screens of mobile devices, and offers the most important EBSCOhost features and functionality, right in the palm of your hand!
Once you have created a profile in EBSCOadmin for EBSCOhost Mobile, this new interface will be available to all users who have access to your account. To help alert your users, there are posters that can be downloaded and printed here. If you need assistance setting up a new profile for EBSCOhost Mobile, please communicate with EBSCO's Technical Support Representatives online at http://support.ebscohost.com/contact/askus.php and allow one to two weeks for setup time.
The *October* issue of Minitex Reference Notes has been published to the web http://minitex.umn.edu/publications/refnotes/
This month we feature the following articles:
*National Information Literacy Awareness Month and National Day of Writing
*ELM Spotlights including Points of View Reference Center & Gale PowerSearch 2.0
*2009/2010 Teleconference Schedule
*WebJunction Minnesota Courses
*Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference Write-Ups
*E-book and E-resource Licensing from NISO
ProQuest has restored access to the Historical Minneapolis Tribune via the Elm portal, elm4you.org
You may have noticed the link for the Minitex DigRef blog is now pointing to Minitex Reference Services blog. In an effort to be more focused of the publications Minitex Reference Services puts out we have merged the DigRef blog with the Reference Services blog. You will still be able to read posts pertaining to Digital Reference, there will be a new category for this. If you're looking for older posts, don't worry. All the content from the DigRef blog has been moved over as well. We will now be able to give a more complete view of what all Minitex Reference Services is about from a central blog.
Teachers and media specialists along with public and academic librarians involved with History Day are invited to attend this info-filled day focused on making the most of library resources for students and teachers working on History Day in Minnesota.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
8:00am - 4:30pm
Minnesota History Center - St. Paul, MN
Two attendees from the same library/organization can attend for the price of one!
If you've already registered, just have your friend write your name in the appropriate box on the registration form - it's that easy!
Also remember that Metronet has Continuing Education scholarships available for members in the 7-county metro area. Scholarships can cover the cost of registration, a substitute, travel costs, etc. Visit http://www.metrolibraries.net/res/continuing-ed-scholarships.html to learn more and download the application form.
Metronet, Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA), and History Day in Minnesota are joining forces to present a conference-style workshop to help teachers and students effectively use library resources. Participants will learn the steps of a History Day project and how it differs from the ordinary research project. Twenty break-out sessions on research, reliable resources, and responsible use of information will provide tools and tips on making History Day a success for students, teachers, and librarians. A special panel of "Innovative Individuals in History" will highlight the day.
Lunch in Café Minnesota and parking are included in the $40 registration fee. Registration deadline is October 28 and space is limited to the first 100 registrations. Online registration can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=YQsX1wwDsRBcFfKaeIb3Aw_3d_3d. Additional information (publicity flyer and sessions/schedule) can be found at www.metrolibraries.net. Questions? Email info@metronet.lib.mn.us.
Metronet and MELSA are state-sponsored organizations that work to bring all kinds of libraries--public, university, school, and special--from around the metro area together to tackle relevant issues and services.
Attention Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota libraries and schools!
More Connections for You
You may have seen the OCLC announcements about two "quickstart" options for libraries:
• CONTENTdm Quick Start and
• WorldCat Local Quick Start
Did you know that most libraries and schools in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota qualify for both of these options because of the Minitex group subscription to the OCLC FirstSearch Base Package, which includes WorldCat? While these services are available at no charge, there may be significant staff time and other resources needed to implement these project-type options.
Continue reading "ContentDM Quick Start & WorldCat Local Quick Start" »
The *September* issue of Minitex Reference Notes has been published to the web http://minitex.umn.edu/publications/refnotes/
This month we feature the following articles:
* ELM and OCLC: More Connections for You
* Curb-Side Service
* Doing it with Drupal
* Bing
...and several other timely and relevant articles!
According to Nielsen, 10% of web searchers have. That doesn't sound notable, but in the world of search engines, cracking into the double digits in market share is quite a feat.
I haven't really given Bing a shot, or at least that was true up until I downloaded Internet Explorer 8. That version of IE integrates Bing a little more into the web experience. One nifty thing about that integration is the ability to search for a highlighted term. Just highlight something on any web page, as though you were going to copy and paste it into Google, and a little blue box appears. If you click it, you get the option of mapping the thing you just highlighted, translating it, or running a web search on it in Bing. Pretty slick, pretty intuitive, pretty surprising that isn't something that's been available for years.
With the large number of people using IE, Bing's chances of continued growth seem strong. Having a fallback from Google isn't a bad idea either, especially for those of us involved in web research. Have you tried Bing? My favorite thing about it is the results page preview pop-ups, which tell you more about a page before you click into it. Do you have a favorite thing about Bing?
The *August* issue of Minitex Reference Notes has been published to the web http://minitex.umn.edu/publications/refnotes/
This month we celebrate the return of students (and librarians) to school with the following articles:
* It's Back to School!
* ELM Database Highlights: Back to School
* Downloadable Slide Presentation to Help Promote ELM to Teachers
...and we also celebrate ELM and the Fall conference season with these
entries:
* Spotlight on ELM - OAISter
* MEMO Conference
* Minitex Reference Fall Conference Calendar
Find this month's celebration in full, along with past celebrations, at http://minitex.umn.edu/publications/refnotes/.
Thanks for reading - and good luck this year!
