October Free ProQuest Webinars – Genealogy

HeritageQuest Online (HQO) Census, PERSI, and Serial Set
Join us for the premier of our new 1-hour HeritageQuest Online (HQO) Census, U.S. Serial Set, and PERSI (Periodical Source Index) content webinar! Combining digital, searchable images of U.S. federal census records with the digitized version of the popular ProQuest Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content, HeritageQuest Online (HQO) is an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical and historical researchers. With coverage dating back to the late 1700s, researchers can find their ancestors, trace their paths across America, and learn what life was like in the areas where they settled. Join an online session with one of our trainers to get an introduction to the three collections, the search options for each or to refresh your awareness with a brief update.

HeritageQuest Online (HQO) Books, Freedman’s Bank, and Revolutionary War records
Combining digital, searchable images of U.S. federal census records with the digitized version of the popular ProQuest Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content, HeritageQuest Online (HQO) is an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical and historical researchers. Join a 1-hour session with one of our trainers to get an introduction to three of the six collections, the search options for each or just to refresh your own awareness of these fascinating sources.

HeritageQuest Online (HQO) Coffee Break
This month’s 30-minute Coffee Break will discuss the U.S. Serial Set records as an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical and historical researchers. This course covers content, functions, and features of the specific collection, as well as tips for using HeritageQuest Online (HQO). We will also try to answer any questions and show you how to access support, including tutorials, help pages, and documentation.

Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) U.K. & Ireland Focus — More than just North American coverage!
One of the most important international genealogical collections available today, Ancestry Library Edition (ALE) contains thousands of databases and billions of names. It has unparalleled coverage of the United States and the United Kingdom, including census, vital, church, court, and immigration records, as well as record collections from Canada and other areas. Join a 75-minute online session with one of our trainers to get an introductory overview of the platform and database or to just to have a refresher. This course covers content, functions, and features of, as well as tips for using Ancestry Library Edition (ALE).

USER TIP OF THE MONTH:
HeritageQuest Online — Locating Maps Using the Census Browse

Every genealogist struggles with the following challenge at one time or another: You finally find that elusive ancestor on the census, just to lose the trail on the very next census, only to find him or her later in the neighboring county in the same house! How do you know when county boundaries have shifted? Use the Browse option in the HeritageQuest Online Census collection!

• Simply go to the Census tab and then choose the Browse option.
• Then select the year and state for the Census of interest.
• To the right of the state drop-down menu you will see the “View State Map” link; clicking this link will open a new window with a printable PDF state map from the Census Book with both modern and census-year specific county boundaries.

Losing Print Resources

It is never easy to lose a print resource and some of our patrons can take it pretty hard. Additionally, telling them that it is available online often only adds to their frustration.

As librarians, we understand all factors involved:

• The online version is available at all our branches and in most cases at home for our patrons.
• Being good stewards of the public funds we don’t want to pay for a print AND online version.
• Some publishers are ceasing to publish in print so we have to purchase the online product.
• Online products are updated more frequently, which means better information than the print version.
• The online version can’t be stolen or vandalized

If you are helping a customer who is frustrated with the loss of a print resource turn the exchange into a sales pitch for library services. If you sense that the customer is not ready to learn to use the online resource, offer to do it for them.

Turn this into an opportunity to build a connection with your customer. Tell them that you would be happy to print out whatever they need for them. Give them your business card. Tell them about the Book A Librarian service. Make it a regular date!

Don’t be too quick to slip into Library Literacy mode and “enable” them with User Education. Let that come with time. Start off by offering to do it for them.

In my experience library customers like to have a point of contact, someone they know and who knows them. Once you have that familiarity with a customer, once they have seen you do it for them a few times, they might just be ready to learn to help themselves.

 

New GVRL Interface Coming Soon

Based on feedback from librarians and patrons, we took the best features from GVRL, added amazing upgrades, and put it all together in a new, eye-catching package.

User Interface-lift
Your users will see a UI that looks like their favorite websites.

• Book covers grace the homepages, browsing is easier and more intuitive, and the entire interface is available in 35+ languages.
• User-focused navigation encourages researchers to stay longer, search deeper and find what they need faster.

And once they find the eReference they want, users can enjoy multi-page viewing for the “book” experience, text-to-speech technology in 19 languages, text translation into 13 languages, and plenty of Web 2.0 share tools.

There will be a quick migration.  I will share more information as it is announced.

The new edition arrived and we want to circulate the old one…

Sound familiar?  As we get ready to enter the 4th quarter of 2011, you are probably already seeing some 2012 editions of reference books arrive in your library.  What do you do in the world of Polaris?  Here’s the procedure–send the reference copy in to SRV for review with a  note telling me that you’d like to circulate this book.  I’ll review it with the Adult Non-Fiction selectors and we’ll take it from there.

Please remember, it’s not enough to just cover up the REFERENCE label, there are cataloging steps that must be done in order to make that item circulate.  And catalogers are the only ones who can get in and “touch” those catalog records to make that happen.

 

Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center Training – 10/7, 12pm

Training Opportunity:  Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center

Whether you want to take up a new hobby or follow a creative passion, Hobbies & Crafts Reference Center has it all!  Your patrons will benefit from the “How-To” videos and can explore new project ideas such as creative knitting, fine modeling, or collecting.

Also featured is the ability to browse through over 1,200 reference books and magazines, as well as thousands of recipes from various health organizations, and tips for entertaining.

To learn more about this database, please sign up for a free online training session on October 7 @ 12:00 pm PST.   To sign up, go to http://training.ebsco.com and  sort by topic or by date to locate this class and register.  If you cannot attend this session, it will be recorded and will be available at the training site (see URL above) after Oct. 10^th.

Free Webinar from Job & Career Accelerator

Join us for a free webinar! September 21, 2011 2:00 p.m. EST

“Finding Available Jobs & Internships: Target Your Search!“ With Career Management Expert Heather Huhman Today’s job market is undoubtedly competitive. Learn how to stand out in the sea of competitors, and land jobs and internships with Heather’s expert strategies! The expert tips and tricks Heather covers in this special presentation will help job seekers get hired. You’ll learn: How to create a successful job search plan Where job seekers should really focus their efforts The best way to connect with target companies And much more! Don’t miss this chance to help your patrons and students work towards their goals!

Register here today: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/661269673 Please send your questions, comments and feedback on the webinar series to: webinar@learningexpressllc.com. *After registering you will receive a confirmation email from gotowebinar@citrixonline.com containing information about joining the Webinar. System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer Space is limited! Reserve your Webinar seat now at:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/661269673 The Job & Career Accelerator™ team at LearningExpress, LLC The Fast Track to Getting Hired!

Historic Topographic Maps

The loading of the more than 200,000 historical maps to the USGS Store has begun, and there are currently 90,000 GeoPDF maps available to download and view. The number of available files, at different published scales, will continue to grow throughout the next year.  Washington is one of the states whose maps are now available.  Begin at:

http://nationalmap.gov/historical/

Warning:  these are HUGE files and very slow to load.  But very interesting!

AtoZ Databases Trial September 2011

Considering an alternative/competitor to Reference USA, we have a trial of A to Z Databases for the month of September.  Please test it out as you would use Reference USA and reply with your feedback by 9/30/11.

 

• URL:  www.atozdatabases.com
• Click on Admin Sign In link (3^rd column) on the bottom of the page
• User name: cwerle@sno-isle.org
• Password: reference

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

August GVRL Top Ten

And the top ten are:

1.  IQ and Personality Tests 2007
2.  Business Plans Handbook
3. How to Be an Even Better Manager 2008
4. Dutch Oven Cooking: For Outdoor Enthusiasts 2008
5. Immigration 2008
6. How to Master Psychometric Tests
7. Working Americans 1770-1869 v9 2008
8. Poetry for Students
9. Encyclopedia of Small Business, 3rd ed.,
10. Handbook of Physics 2002

New ProQuest Platform Trainings – It’s Worth Knowing the Features

Please take the opportunity to attended a recorded or live session of these topics:

• Introduction to the New ProQuest Platform: recorded, live: September 14 and September 19
  Learn how users will be able to search, find, use, and share their research in exciting ways. We will also answer questions and show you how to access support, including tutorials, help pages and documentation.
• K-12 Introduction to the New ProQuest Platform:
  recorded, live: September 15, September 22, and September 27
  See also the new webinar: K-12 ProQuest Administrator Module below.
• Advanced Searching: Beyond the Single Search Box:
  live: September 8 and September 29
  This session covers:
• Advanced Search, Command Line, Look Up Citation, and Find Similar search forms
• Identifying relevant subject terms with ProQuest Smart Search
• Locating appropriate subject terms using the Thesaurus
• Formatting a search using field codes, proximity operators and special characters
• Creating a marked list and viewing selected items
• Support and tutorials
• Questions

RECOMMENDED: Familiarity with the new ProQuest platform basic search features or prior viewing of the Introduction to the New ProQuest Platform session.

• My Research: recorded, live: September 9, September 12, and September 19
  See how the powerful My Research tool—now on the new ProQuest platform—allows users to create a profile within their institutional account to save and organize search strategies and references, create and save RSS feeds, email alerts, tags, and shared lists.
• My Research & RefWorks: Perfect Together live: September 13, September 14, and September 30
  This session covers:
• Using My Research and RefWorks together
• Managing folders
• Simplifying direct exports from ProQuest
• Syncing RefWorks with My Research
• Support and tutorials
• Questions