A re-post from the Science Librarians' list - this seems like something we might need to know at some point. -Liz
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Please share this with your constituents who via Beilstein or Gmelin via the client (CrossFire Commander) rather than the web-based version. If you get questions after the 31st about access problems, they may just need to change the host address.
Users who have CrossFire Commander set up with one of the following server host addresses will need to modify their Commander client host setting immediately as we will no longer have access via those servers as of 12/31/07.
crossfire-acad.mdl.com
crossfire.mdl.com
direct.beilstein.com
beilstein.library.wisc.edu
If their settings are for one of the above host addresses, they've probably seen pop-up messages about this when they open CrossFire Commander. In order to have access after the 31st, they will need to switch to the preferred host address for the Elsevier Crossfire server:
crossfire-acad.elsevier.com
To change the Commander client HOST address setting:
Version 7
1. OPTIONS > DEFINE SERVER PROFILES menu
2. EDIT default.prf:
a. Change host address to crossfire-acad.elsevier.com.
b. UNCHECK "Forget user ID/Password for the server".
3. Click OK to save changes and close default.prf.
4. Click on default.prf and click on SELECT.
Version 6
1. OPTIONS > CONNECTIONS menu
2. EDIT default.prf:
a. Change host address to crossfire-acad.elsevier.com.
b. UNCHECK "Forget user ID/Password for the server".
3. Click OK to save changes and close default.prf.
4. Click on default.prf and click on SELECT.
Meghan Lafferty
A new Wufoo mediated literature search evaluation form is ready to go into use beginning January 1st. Information gathered from this ongoing survey will help us evaluate the Bio-Medical Library's mediated literature search service and will be reported twice a year along with search statistics. Searchers should begin to send a link to the evaluation form to patrons along with email delivery of search results:
https://hsllibs.wufoo.com/forms/literature-search-evaluation/
There will be some minor revisions to the mediated literature search request form forthcoming. A check-off for "Purpose of Search" is being added, which will allow us to track statistics reflecting how many mediated searches we do for direct patient care, clinical or management decision making, research or teaching, and papers or presentations. Also being added is a check-off for delivery of search results in Refworks compatible format.
Judy Stanke
Hello again,
Laura in VetMed reminded me of something I had forgotten to mention about Word 2007 and Write-N-Cite. A few times we have had patrons, using Word 2007, who encountered major formatting problems when using Write-N-Cite to format their paper. In turned out they were also using one of the style templates available in Word 2007, and the document wouldn't format correctly until we got rid of the template.
Laura's problem sounds similar:
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I'm a fan of the new version of Write-N-Cite as well, but I wanted to mention something that I noticed when using it recently. I noticed that Write-N-Cite does not like some of the formatting functions and page layouts in Microsoft Word 2007. What I noticed in particular is that once I added a title page to my Word document, I kept receiving error messages or strange looking text when I tried to make changes to my citations or generate a bibliography in RefWorks using Write-N-Cite.
After getting frustrated for 30 minutes, I decided to delete the title page and suddenly Write-N-Cite was working properly again. I am not sure what the technical details are for this problem, but I assume that there is some format function in the Word 2007 title page template that Write-N-Cite recognizes and mistakingly tries to format it into a citation or a reference in the bibliography.
I just wanted to share this information so that others can avoid the 30 minutes+ of frustration!
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So, just remember that Word 2007 templates do not seem to play well with any version of Write-N-Cite. If a patron is having major formatting problems, see if they are using a template and take it from there.
If you figure anything else out, let us all know. Thanks for the info, Laura!
Liz
Hello all,
In last week’s reference training meeting, I mentioned that a new version of Write-N-Cite (WNC), with full compatibility with Vista and Word 2007, has been released in Beta form. I hadn’t actually downloaded it and played with it at that point, and now that I have I’ve found it has a lot of different (and AWESOME) features! Also, it's not just for Vista/Word 2007 users. I’ll give a quick recap below, but I definitely recommend downloading it and trying it out.
Write-N-Cite III is ALSO compatible with Windows XP and Word 2003, so this is an upgrade of interest to almost all users. A notable exception is that there is not yet a Mac version, so Mac users will need to stick with the current WNC release for now.
The citing functionality (inserting the codes into the paper) works the same as the previous version, but there are some significant upgrades in the bibliography feature. The major change is that there is no longer an original and final version of the paper. All the formatting happens in the original document, and you can keep adding citations and reformatting without a problem after you’ve changed the code snippets to citations. It also formats much faster than the previous version.
Another major upgrade is the Edit Citation feature, which allows you to do easily do things that you used to have to use “switches” for – like suppressing an author name, inserting a page number, etc. To use this feature, go to the paper and click on the citation you want to edit, then click the Edit Citation link in the upper right corner of the Write-N-Cite window. Aside from that step being completely non-intuitive, the rest of the process is pretty easy.
Because WNC-III is still in beta, and since we don’t want to make any big changes at the end of the semester when people are in the middle of writing papers, we aren’t planning on doing a big rollout yet. We’re planning on making a bigger splash next semester, but we have mentioned the new version on our website and in the stall flyers, so you should be prepared to answer questions.
Lisa is working on updating the RefWorks step-by-step guide to mention the new version, and we’ll probably develop a WNC-III handout. In the meantime, RefWorks does have a handout detailing the new features on their Write-N-Cite page.
There have been a few isolated incidents of funky stuff happening in 2003 documents when you format using WNC, like the font or alignment of the paper being changed. Overall, though, it’s worked pretty smoothly. RefWorks does recommend users work with a copy of their document, however, so they have something to fall back on in case a major error occurs.
Anyway! Check it out – I think it’s a really exciting upgrade, and makes WNC a lot more user-friendly. You’ll likely be able to figure out everything you need to know by playing with the new version, but let Lisa or me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!
Liz
Even though we aren't offering PowerPoint classes currently, I wanted to pass along that Julie Kelly does offer a PowerPoint Posters class for the University Libraries. This gives our patrons an option if they want to take a class about using PowerPoint to make a poster. It looks like three sessions of the class are scheduled for Spring Semester:
http://www.lib.umn.edu/registration/#eventidXX148
In addition, patrons who want to learn to use PowerPoint might be interested in the University Technology Training Center. They offer short courses in PowerPoint (including PowerPoint 2007, which we didn't offer anyway), and have a PowerPoint resource page too.
Karla