Reference Services http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/ Providing reference referral and training services to all library types across the state of Minnesota en Copyright 2009 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:43:30 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=4.25 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Free Flu Information Resources Both 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).

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/free_flu_information_resources.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/free_flu_information_resources.html Intriguing Websites Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:43:30 -0600 EBSCOhost Mobile is here! 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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/ebscohost_mobile_is_here.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/ebscohost_mobile_is_here.html ELM Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:10:47 -0600 October Reference Notes on Web! 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

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/october_reference_notes_on_web.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/october_reference_notes_on_web.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:36:20 -0600 Historical Minneapolis Tribune and Elm4you.org ProQuest has restored access to the Historical Minneapolis Tribune via the Elm portal, elm4you.org

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/historical_minneapolis_tribune.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/historical_minneapolis_tribune.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:47:57 -0600 Where's the DigRef blog? 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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/wheres_the_digref_blog.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/11/wheres_the_digref_blog.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:16:19 -0600 History Day @ Your Library 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

SPECIAL 2-FOR-1 OFFER!

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!

Please register by October 28

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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/history_day_your_library.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/history_day_your_library.html Conferences Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:57:50 -0600 ContentDM Quick Start & WorldCat Local Quick Start 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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/contentdm_quick_start_worldcat.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/contentdm_quick_start_worldcat.html ELM Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:39:36 -0600 September Issue of Reference Notes Available! 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!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/september_issue_of_reference_n.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/10/september_issue_of_reference_n.html Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:29:44 -0600 Have You Tried Bing? 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?

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/have_you_tried_bing.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/have_you_tried_bing.html Intriguing Websites Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:04:11 -0600 August Issue of Reference Notes is on the Web 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!

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/august_issue_of_reference_note.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/august_issue_of_reference_note.html Reference Services Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:03:46 -0600 50 Things the Internet Killed The UK's Telegraph has a funny and unnervingly spot-on look at 50 things the Internet has done away with. In addition to

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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/50_things_the_internet_killed.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/09/50_things_the_internet_killed.html Intriguing Websites Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:01:29 -0600 ELM / EBSCO Webinars Minitex Reference Services and EBSCO are pleased to offer the following upcoming webinars:

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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/elm_ebsco_webinars.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/elm_ebsco_webinars.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:05:53 -0600 Library rules via movie Making a movie is very easy these days. Here is a great example of rules posted for a library made by Mary Rumsey, Foreign, Comparative & International Law Librarian at the University of Minnesota:Rules for using the Law Library. Mary used xtranormal.com which is a program that allows you to transform your text into a movie - for free.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/library_rules_via_movie.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/library_rules_via_movie.html Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:35:52 -0600 Social Media Revolution

This seems to be making the rounds. It's message is very effective. A lot of stats.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/social_media_revolution.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/social_media_revolution.html Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:57:29 -0600 July Issue of Reference Notes is on the Web Where has the summer gone? July zipped by, but not before we could capture some of the happenings from it for our monthly Reference Notes newsletter. You'll find our highlights from the ALA Annual Conference, including the following stories:

- 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.

]]> http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/july_issue_of_reference_notes.html http://blog.lib.umn.edu/minitex/reference/2009/08/july_issue_of_reference_notes.html Conferences Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:50:17 -0600