Free Gale Webinars in June

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Discover how Gale Virtual Reference Library can help drive eBook usage by allowing your library to create your own eBook collection — providing access to reference materials that had previously been available only in the library. You’ll learn how to conduct basic and advanced searches, how to use the document toolbox and how this easy-to-use tool can help users get the most out of eBooks.

June 17, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center

This dynamic online resource of current-event topics gives you the facts, as well as the proponent’s and detractor’s arguments. You’ll learn how to locate position papers on a variety of controversial issues; retrieve and save desired content; generate citations; take quizzes for classroom use; and more.

June 10, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

June 16, 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
June 22, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
June 28, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Paid time and other scheduling arrangements to be made in the branch.  Please contact Christa Werle  (x7160) with any questions!

Free ProQuest Webinars In June/July

http://www.proquestk12.com/downloads/PQbydate_trainingdates.pdf

If you have any questions about which products Sno-Isle Libraries subscribes to, please let me know!

Consumer’s Checkbook

For the past several years we’ve had access to the online Consumer’s Checkbook because we had print subscriptions to the magazine.  That’s about to change.  The publisher, like so many other magazine publishers, will no longer offer the online at no additional cost to the library print subscriber. 

We will be looking at this as a total online product.  Here’s a link to the trial:

www.checkbook.org

Username:  psdlibrary

Password:  access

If our IT assessment is successful, this will be live next month.

RINC Update: THE problem is. . .

There’s a small glitch in the link from RINC to CARL.  For some unknown reason, the search that’s created is including the lead article (A or AN or THE).  A Tech Report has been filed.  Until it’s fixed, please edit the request and remove the article and then do the search.  Also edit to add the ISBN once you’ve verified it in another source, and then SAVE.

RSC Meeting: Federated Search

In an effort to improve the federated search of our online periodical and eRef content, the RSC is considering moving from the SerialsSolutions 360 platform to EBSCO’s Integrated Search platform.

From initial review, it looks like we would have greater flexibility with customization of the search and results interfaces with EBSCO’s product.  Results from our EBSCO resources would also return more quickly, improving the speed of the overall searching.  We can also apply the full-text filter prior to conducting the search with Integrated Search, a feature we have wanted for quite some time.

More new coming on this as we learn more about the products.  A decision will be made by July 1st.

RSC Meeting: Electronic Resource Renewals

At $10.71/search in 2009, the Reference Services Committee decided not to renew LitFinder in 2010.  Alternate free resources, including Project Gutenberg, seem to be meeting our needs in this subject area.

We will be renewing our subscriptions to All-Data and the Historical New York Times.

Next up for consideration?  WOIS.  To make an informed decision, we will ask all staff to evaluate/trial three career products mid-June to mid-July.  Based on feedback we will make a renewal/purchasing decision for WOIS, Job & Career Accelerator, and  Gale Career Transitions.

In June we will also be trialling ValueLine Online.  This fall we will need to make the decision to keep our print subscriptions in some branches or subscribe to the online product and provide access to all branches and remote users.

RSC Meeting: RINC and magazine articles

FYI:  We are now emailing magazine articles that we obtain through interlibrary loan, whenever possible.  Joe is able to scan the articles that we receive in hard copy, as well as forwarding those articles that are emailed to us.  This saves time and postage.

RSC Meeting: RINC

Nancy Messenger and Joe Munson joined us to discuss RINC verifications.  Two topics, use of Google Books and Microfilm, were on the table.  It was decided that:

1. It’s a good idea to look at Google Books if the title is non-fiction.  Although this isn’t required for verifications, it’s sometimes possible to find that little snippet of information that the customer is looking for and print the screen, rather than begin the process for RINC and eventual ILL. 
2. Microfilm of newspapers is one of the top requests in the microfilm format.  Each title request is counted as one RINC, regardless of how many reels of that particular title are sent.  Caution:  newspaper titles can vary, such as the Seattle Times or the Seattle Daily Times.  Although they are the same newspaper, they have different titles and would be considered different requests.

If you have questions about RINC verification, please contact Terry Beck.

Qwidget Removal

In order to maintain our answering ratio to the statewide virtual reference cooperative, we need to either increase our staffing of the service or decrease the number of requests from our customers.  Hesitant to change our staffing of the service until we can be fully in line with our Strategic Planning Service Models, we will remove the Qwidget from our site (pages 1246, 1174 and 2782 & all its sub-pages).

We expect to add the Qwidget back to our site in early 2011.

In the meantime, 24/7 Chat is still available to all of our patrons via the form on our site:

http://www.sno-isle.org/?ID=1176.  This link is found on our Ask a Librarian page.

Please let Christa Werle (x7160) know what questions you have!

ProQuest Training Success

Thank you to our regional ProQuest Trainer, Karen Hinton, and to our 16 reference staff members who were able to attend a training on HeritageQuest Online and Ethnic NewsWatch last Wednesday (5/5) at the Service Center.  Karen has sent on a list of links for more information about these resources.  Please review below and comment if there are other ProQuest products you would like to attend training about.

The database guide for HQO lists search tips by module since each of the six modules in HeritageQuest has different rules; this is a good “cheat sheet” for the desk and you can find that document here http://www.proquest.com/assets/downloads/products/hqo_db_guide.pdf

The best place to find a wide variety of genealogical materials to aid in your ProQuest searches (you’ll find HQO guides here, as well as Ancestry Library Edition materials) is the Genealogy Research Tools page (check out the 2 minute screencasts on HQO and ALE):  http://proquest.com/en-US/promos/ALE/Genealogy_Research_Tools.shtml

You can always find a list of handouts organized by database name on our Training Materials page:  http://www.proquest.com/go/training

A list of our upcoming webinars is available here:  https://proquestmeetings.webex.com/ec0605l/eventcenter/event/eventAction.do?siteurl=proquestmeetings&theAction=listevents_date

And if you’re interested in joining our list for updates about the new platform, you can do that here:  http://www.proquest.com/en-US/promos/feature08_pq.shtml