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).
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.
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
]]>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.
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.
]]> OCLC's CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software can make everything in your digital collections available to everyone, everywhere. No matter the format--local history archives, newspapers, books, maps, slide libraries or audio/video--CONTENTdm can handle the storage, management and delivery of your collections to users across the Web.As a FirstSearch Base Package subscriber, many libraries in the Minitex region are eligible to receive:
• The CONTENTdm software hosted by OCLC
• Three Project Clients for building digital collections
• 10GB of storage for up to 3,000 digital items
If you find that your requirements exceed any of these limits, OCLC will work with you to review purchasing options to continue seamless growth of your collections.
OCLC has created training modules and provided resource information and the form to activate your CONTENTdm "quick start" hosted instance.
1. Attend your free Orientation session
This live, free Web session will teach you how to build your first CONTENTdm collection using your desktop browser. This session also will provide more information about your CONTENTdm "quick start" instance. You'll need a PC and an internet connection to attend. A question and answer period, along with a tour of the online help system, will follow the demonstration.
Register for Tuesday, October 20, 3:00-5:00 pm (U.S. Eastern Time)
Register for Tuesday, November 17, 3:00-5:00 pm (U.S. Eastern Time)
2. Activate your CONTENTdm instance
Are you ready to launch your digital collections? Do you have digital objects and metadata ready to upload to your CONTENTdm Web site? You can get started with CONTENTdm now.
3. Attend a free CONTENTdm Project Client session
After your CONTENTdm instance is activated, you should attend this live, free Web session to learn how to use the powerful client application to load batches of digital items, as well as more complex objects such as postcards, documents and books.
Register for Thursday, October 22, 3:00-5:00 pm (U.S. Eastern Time)
WorldCat Local quick start provides a single search result that delivers your library's resources and those of other WorldCat libraries. WorldCat Local quick start offers libraries:
• Display of a local library's holdings first in search results, followed by the holdings of other WorldCat libraries
• Local branding of a WorldCat search box, URL and user interface
• Links to an existing OpenURL resolver for access from the over 58 million article citations in WorldCat.org to the online full text to which libraries subscribe
• Integration of existing OCLC delivery/interlibrary loan services (WorldCat Resource Sharing, ILLiad)
• Interoperability with a single local library catalog for real-time item availability information and place holds
• Access to the same social networking tools available on WorldCat.org
WorldCat Local provides libraries with the following additional functionality:
• Group-level searching
• Interoperability with a second integrated library system (ILS)
• Additional integration of your library's print, electronic and digital materials, making it an even better way to help users find exactly what they want
Please note: Availability of interoperability features will vary by ILS. Interoperability is available now for most libraries with the following integrated library systems and methods: Ex Libris Aleph (Z39.50), Ex Libris Voyager, SirsiDynix Horizon, SirsiDynix Unicorn and Symphony, Innovative Interfaces Millennium and INNOPAC.
Libraries with other Web-accessible ILSs will benefit from features such as local branding, ranked search results and links to existing services now. Expanded access to real-time availability interoperability will be added in phases, beginning with a prominent link to library catalogs later in 2009 and a method for libraries to create their own interoperability with WorldCat in 2010.
To learn more about how you can make the process as fast and efficient as possible:
• Read OCLC's Frequently Asked Questions document.
• Sign up for one or all of these WorldCat Local-specific Webinars:
o Introduction to WorldCat Local "quick start"
o Ready, set, go! Tips for a successful WorldCat Local introduction
o How to Customize WorldCat Local
o Batchload Solutions for WorldCat Local "quick start"
• Read the OCLC Service Configuration Guide to learn how to configure products and services to which you subscribe on the WorldCat.org platform.
• Take a look at what WorldCat Local looks like and how it's working for Macalester College or the University of Delaware Library. Note: These two libraries subscribe to WorldCat Local. While their sites include some functionality not in WorldCat Local "quick start," they do provide a general example of how the service works.
• Watch a video of implementation and use experiences at active WorldCat libraries.
• Sign up for e-mail updates about WorldCat and related services.
To find out more, visit the WorldCat Local quick start web page: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/worldcatlocal/quickstart/default.htm
What next? Once you've read about the quick start services, watched the videos, taken the webinars, and signed up to undertake a project, please let us know, http://elm4you.org/contact/. We'd love to hear from you. And, if you need some additional help or direction, don't hesitate to ask.
]]>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!
]]>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?
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!
31) Privacy
35) Concentration
32) Chuck Norris's reputation
and
50) Your lunchbreak
...the library-minded among us might be interested to know that the following are now dead:
47) Footnotes
and
18) Authoritative reference works
Good to know. Thanks, Internet.
]]>Overview of Medical Resources
Sept. 15, 2009, 12:30-1:30pm
Sept. 29, 2009, 9:30-10:30am
A thorough overview of the Consumer Health Complete medical resource including key features such as accessing Evidence-Based Reports, reference book content, medical images, animations and video as well as searching a variety of health topics. An overview of additional medical databases AltHealth Watch, HealthSource Consumer Edition and HealthSource Nursing will also be covered.
Points of View
Sept. 16, 2009, 10:00-11:00am
Sept. 30, 2009, 12:00-1:00pm
A detailed overview of an online tool to assist researchers in understanding the full scope of a wide range of controversial subjects and evaluate the issues of yesterday, today and tomorrow. This session will include reviewing key essays (Overview, Point, Counterpoint and Guide to Critical Analysis) on a variety of topics. Advanced searching techniques using lexiles, limiters and source types will also be covered.
Research Tools for Grades K-5 (Searchasaurus / Kids Search)
Sept. 18, 2009, 3:00-4:00pm
Sept. 24, 2009, 3:30-4:30pm
An overview, for teachers and librarians, of the Searchasaurus (designed for pre-K - Grades 3 students) and Kids Search interface (designed for Grade K-5 students). A variety of search techniques using the interface's functionality will be covered including searching by Lexiles, subjects and topics.
Research Tools for Middle and High School (Student Research Center)
Sept. 25, 2009, 3:00-4:00pm
Sept. 28, 2009, 12:00-1:00pm
A thorough overview of research tools for teachers and librarians including Student Research Center (designed for Grade 6 -12 students) and EBSCOhost interfaces. A variety of search techniques including source-type searching and searching by Lexiles will be covered. Key research databases include: Middle Search Plus, MAS Ultra, Science Reference Center, Professional Development Collection, ERIC and HealthSource Consumer will be covered.
Science Reference Center
Sept. 22, 2009, 9:00-10:00am
Oct. 6, 2009, 12:30-1:30pm
This session will take a look at the broad spectrum of reference information from the areas of life sciences, physical sciences and earth & space sciences, including scientist and mathematician biographies, science videos and science experiments contained in Science Reference Center. Conducting advanced searches to retrieve specific information will be emphasized.
To register please go to http://support.ebsco.com/customtraining and select Minitex as Your Sponsoring Group.
This seems to be making the rounds. It's message is very effective. A lot of stats.
]]>- More Effective Online Tutorials
- Who Cares About Privacy?
- Social Learning & Political Engagement
- OCLC Symposium - Leadership Beyond the Recession
- Using Twitter to Enhance a Digital Reference Cooperative Service, and
- K-16 Information Literacy and MN Librarians at ALA
Plus,
- New ELM Databases!
- Consumer Health Information on the Internet
- Metronet Information Literacy Conference
- Multimedia Resources, and
- Upcoming ELM Webinars
Check out our Reference Notes page for this and past issues of the newsletter.