Need FrontPage or Web Development Training?

MindLeaders classes may be right for you. The OCLC Institute offers Mind Leaders high-quality online technical courses for library staff on a variety of topics. The courses are web-based and provide effective and easy to use, self-paced courses. Courses on Microsoft FrontPage software are available through the MindLeaders Technical Web Development Group of classes.

The FrontPage 2000 Series includes four different courses including: Creating Web Sites, Building Pages, Working with Images, and Adding Spark to Your Site. FrontPage 97 and FrontPage 98 are also included.

The Technical Web Development series offers 120 courses in twenty different series. To view more about the MindLeaders Web Development online courses visit <http://institute.oclc.org/>

OCLC

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ONE-STOP FOR NETWORK SERVICES TRAINING

Now find all of your Network Services training needs from one web page. There is a new link on the Network Services homepage providing links to all types of training provided by Network Services and NEBASE. From this new link you can quickly view the types of training available and go directly to online registration pages. Try the new link "Training" located at: </netserv/netserv.html>

Shannon Behrhorst
NEBASE/Network Services Director
Nebraska Library Commission

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The following workshops have been scheduled. The location and date as well as a description of each of the workshops can be found at </netserv/nebase/oclcworkshopsdesc.html>.  To register for any of the workshops,  please complete the online registration form at </netserv/nebase/oclcworkshops.html#reg>. The workshop fee for NEBASE libraries is $10.  If you are not a NEBASE library*, please check the registration form for your workshop fee. If you have any questions, please contact Jeannette Powell at 402-471-7740 or 800-307-2665 or e-mail Jeannette Powell for registration fee.

*NEBASE libraries are Nebraska libraries who use OCLC cataloging or interlibrary loan services or who subscribe to FirstSearch. Although libraries who subscribe only to FirstSearch are eligible to pay the $10 workshop fee, they must pay by check.

• Advanced OCLC Interlibrary Loan
• OCLC CatExpress
• OCLC Cataloging Micro Enhancer: An Alternative to Passport
• OCLC Connexion: The New OCLC Cataloging Browser Interface
• OCLC ILL Web Interface Basics
• OCLC Union List Basics
• Cataloging Serials

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ANNOUNCING THE FIFTH ANNUAL DATABASE ROADSHOW

Need to brush up on your database searching skills?

Are you a Gate's library accessing the resources through the Nebraska Statewide Database Program for the first time?

If you have questions or would like to learn more about the statewide databases funded through the Nebraska Library Commission, you will want to attend the Database Roadshow 2003. The fifth annual Roadshow will provide librarians with training on four of the databases funded through the Nebraska Library Commission.

Training will cover WorldCat (available via OCLC FirstSearch), Books in Print with Reviews, Wilson OmniFile and Biographies Plus and bigchalk eLibrary (formerly Electric Library). The Roadshow will be divided into four segments, with each focusing on a particular database. During each segment we will discuss and demonstrate a database, and then the class will have hands on time to practice what they learned. Please bring any questions you may have and we will help you work through them during the hands on time. Continuing Education credits of 4.5 hours can be earned by attending the Roadshow.

There will be a one hour lunch break at approximately 11:30. Lunch is on your own.

Alliance - July 30, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm MDT
Alliance Public Library

Beatrice - August 5, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Beatrice Public Library

Norfolk - August 12, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Northeast Community College

Omaha - August 19, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Omaha Public Library, downtown location

Kearney - September 9, 2003- 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Meridian Library System Office

Holdrege - October 2, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Holdrege Public Library

Lincoln - October 7, 2003 - 9:30 am - 3:00 pm CDT
Nebraska Library Commission offices

To attend one of the Database Roadshow 2003 training sessions please register using the online registration form located at: </netserv/roadshow.html>.
 
Class sizes are limited and registrations will be taken on a first come basis.

NETLIBRARY & DATABASE TRAINING HIGHLIGHTS

On March 4 Network Services staff were in Elkhorn for the first of seven scheduled training sessions on netLibrary, Wilson and bigchalk eLibrary. The Metropolitan Community College lab was almost full that day even with the prediction of bad weather. Later that afternoon the snow caused the MCC campus in Elkhorn to close. Even though we had to wrap up the training session thirty minutes early we were able to squeeze everything in our afternoon session. We hope to see many more librarians and media specialist across the state as we continue the netLibrary and database upgrade training this spring.

Classes will be held in the following locations:

• March 25 Ainsworth
• March 26 Tilden
• April 17 Gering - as part of NEBASE Annual Meeting-West
• May 1 Lincoln - This class is full.
• May 20 McCook
• May 21 Kearney

If you are interested in attending either a netLibrary or an Updates on Upgrades class this spring take a look at our online registration form located on the web at </netserv/training.html>.

Shannon Behrhorst
Networks Services/NEBASE Director
Nebraska Library Commission

 

BROWSING PUBLICATIONS IN BIGCHALK ELIBRARY

In the former Electric Library, source lists consisted of nothing more than alphabetical title lists. Coverage start and end dates weren't included, and titles weren't hyperlinked to facilitate searching. In the new bigchalk eLibrary, however, the following functionality has been added to source lists:

• When viewing newspaper, magazine, audio/video, and transcript source lists you can now click on a source title to display expanded coverage information. If you click on the title of a specific newspaper, for instance, you will retrieve an expanded display listing coverage years. Clicking on a specific year will retrieve an expanded display listing months. Clicking on a specific month will retrieve an expanded display listing issue/episode dates. For example, the screenshot below shows an expanded display listing March 2003 issues of the Omaha World Herald included in the database as of March 10, 2003.
  

• After displaying additional coverage information for newspapers, magazines, audio/video clips, and transcripts, you can click on a specific issue/episode date to retrieve all included content from that date. In the above screen shot, for instance, clicking on the "March 04 2003 ; Sunrise" link would retrieve all articles from the March 4, 2003 issue of the Omaha World Herald that are included in the database.
  
  
• When viewing the book source list you can click on a book title to retrieve all included content from that book. It is worth noting, however, that there does appear to be an upper limit on how much content can be retrieved via this method. Clicking on World Book Encyclopedia (2002), for instance, retrieves 400 records, each of which is an entry from the "A" section of the encyclopedia. That means no entries from the "B" through "Z" sections were retrieved.

Note: The expanded functionality described above is not available for maps and pictures.

Susan Knisely
Online Services Librarian
Nebraska Library Commission

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TRIVIA CHALLENGE APRIL FOOL'S STYLE

It's time to stump the Network Services Staff. Do you ever wonder how we come up with the weekly trivia quiz? Want to try and "out trivia" the trivia makers? Well, now it's your turn.

During the first week of April the Network Services staff will accept YOUR trivia questions. Send us your own trivia questions that can be answered using one of the resources available through the Nebraska Statewide Database Program and on Friday of that week we will post all the answers to all of your questions.

Beginning March 31 send your questions to Network Services.

To read more about the Database Trivia or see past questions and answers visit </netserv/trivia.html>.

Shannon Behrhorst
Network Services/NEBASE Director
Nebraska Library Commission

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CONFESSIONS OF A DATABASE TRIVIA ADDICT

1. It breaks up the monotony of Fridays.
   
2. You can never tell when you'll need to know that MC Hammer's real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell.
   
3. It's fun to see who else is playing.
   
4. It provides an opportunity to become familiar with the databases available statewide.
   

The above are four solid reasons for participating in Database Trivia, one of the services provided by the Network Services folks at the Nebraska Library Commission. Trivia questions are posted by NLC staff each Friday morning and corresponding answers are posted that afternoon, complete with a list of "winners" who submitted successful answers. The goal is simple: be the first to answer the question using NLC-negotiated databases.

I will admit, and I know I am not alone, that I am addicted to Database Trivia. Since I have begun playing, the questions have ranged from practical (What is the projected population for the state of Nebraska in the year 2020?), to inane* (Where can you find a list of Super Bowl Results starting with game number one), to arcane (What rural Nebraska publisher has the ISBN prefix of 0-9719030), to downright entertaining (the answer to December 20th's question led to an article diagnosing Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore as suffering from, respectively, comorbid cognitive impairment, chronic dysthymia, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder).

Regardless of the nature of the questions, database trivia allows for "teachable moments" to occur across the state of Nebraska. Answering correctly requires identifying which database you used and explaining your search strategy, which is a perfect opportunity both to exercise your own skills, as well as to see alternate methods of arriving at the same answer. Features of databases are sometimes barrier to access-if the searcher doesn't know how to use the features, the database will not cough up the desired info-and Database Trivia allows us all to put ourselves, and the resources available to us, through their paces. I have found that the more familiar I become with each database, the more efficiently and quickly I am able to locate the information I need.

Database Trivia has become a fondly anticipated part of my Fridays. It's a dark Friday when I am too busy to pay attention to Database Trivia when it hits my inbox. Luckily, if I should happen to miss my weekly fix, past questions and answers are archived at </netserv/trivia.html>.


*No offense intended to sports enthusiasts!

Susan Franklin
RVLS Administrative Assistant and UM-MLIS student

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TWO NEW FEATURES IN BIGCHALK ELIBRARY: AVAILABILITY OF AUDIO/VIDEO CONTENT AND LOCAL CONFIGURATION OPTIONS

On January 15, 2003, the Electric Library database, available at no cost to Nebraska public and academic libraries through the Nebraska Library Commission, was replaced by the new, bigchalk eLibrary database. The bigchalk eLibrary database boasts many new features not previously available through Electric Library, including the addition of thousands of streaming audio and video files and the introduction of a Local Configuration system.

The audio/video clips in bigchalk eLibrary come from over 15 different sources, and include everything from music excerpts to accompany The Hutchinson Dictionary of Music, to historical video clips from the CBS Evening News, to an animated demonstration of artery constriction from the A.D.A.M Animation Library. To fully access the audio/video clips available through bigchalk eLibrary, computers will need the Windows Media Player, Quicktime, and Macromedia Flash plugins.

Libraries can turn access to audio/video content on or off using the bigchalk Local Configuration system. The bigchalk Local Configuration system allows individual institutions to customize certain features and functionality of the bigchalk eLibrary service to meet local needs. Examples of local customization options include the ability to:

• Display or hide Audio/Video content.
  
• Add a home page URL to which users will be returned when exiting bigchalk eLibrary.
  
• Display or hide Web content (e.g., Editor's Choice Websites via Topics search).
  
• Restrict Bookcart administration by username and password.
  

1. Direct URL to login to the eLibrary database: <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com>
   
2. Educator and Administrator Support Page: <http://www.bigchalk.com/go/elibconfig> (information about Bookcarts and the Local Configuration system, including links to Quick Start Guides)
   
3. Local Configuration system login page: <http://library.bigchalk.com/config> (local configuration username and password required)
   
4. Local usage statistics for eLibrary: <http://www.bigchalk.com/reports> (includes local usage statistics for Electric Library prior to the January 15, 2003 cut-off date)
   

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HW WILSON MAKES ENHANCEMENTS BASED ON SUBSCRIBER INPUT

On March 12 Wilson released a number of improvements to the WilsonWeb system based on subscriber input. Here are some of the enhancements that were implemented. The latest information about WilsonWeb interface can be found on the HW Wilson web page: <http://www.hwwilson.com>.

All-Smart Search
The new All-Smart Search will be modified to include, as a final step, only records that contain all the terms you searched for.  When the system was released the final step did an OR search that often resulted in a high number of search results. The All-Smart Search is based on a set of search rules that dictates that the system first looks for the term(s) or phrase as a bound phrase at the Subject level, in the Thesaurus, and in the Title fields, before going on to other parts of the record, including full text. The system will now only return records that contain all of the search terms. When available, a record with your search term as a subject heading always appears at the top of the results. Records with terms found only in the text of the article always follow the subject heading results, and appear farther down in the results set.

Keyword Search
A new Keyword Search was added to the Guided Search Screen. (Please note that the Guided Search Screen is also referred to as the Advanced Search Screen.) A Keyword search will search within the citation fields, including abstracts. It will not search the full text of documents. When multiple terms are entered in one search box a "near" search will be performed. Results will include all of the search terms.

Search Screen Enhancements
A number of Enhancements are planned for the Search Screen. (Please note that the Search Screen is also referred to as the Basic Search Screen.) Users can now search for phrases by enclosing search terms in quotation marks in the Search For box on the Search Screen. The new WilsonWeb automatically performs a phrase search when the All-Smart Search is selected on the Guided Search screen.

Users will also be able to perform Boolean AND, OR, NOT, and IN searches from the Search Screen without using special characters. When the system was released users were required to enclose these operators in brackets. (For example <and>)

Allana Novotny
Internet Librarian
Nebraska Library Commission

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DATABASE ORDER/RENEWAL DEADLINES FOR 2003/2004 SUBSCRIPTION TERMS

Around the Nebraska Library Commission Network Services Department, spring is known as database order/renewal season. To date we have received 2003/2004 pricing for the following databases. Pricing for additional databases is pending.

• BioOne - January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003 subscription term. Mid-term subscriptions are available.
  
• Britannica (Britannica Online, Britannica Online School Edition, Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged Online, Annals of American History Online) - Order/renew by April 30, 2003.
  
• Columbia University Press (Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online, Columbia Granger's® World of Poetry Online) - Order/renew by June 15, 2003.
  
• CQ Press (CQ Researcher, CQ Weekly, Electronic Encyclopedia of American Government, Public Affairs Collection, CQ Insider, CQ Supreme Court Collection) - Order/renew by June 15, 2003.
  
• EDRS E*Subscribe - Order/renew by June 15, 2003
  
• Grolier Online (Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Americana, New Book of Knowledge, America the Beautiful, Cumbre en Linea, Lands and Peoples Online, Popular Science Online) - Order/renew by April 10, 2003.
  
• LexisNexis (Academic Universe, Congressional Universe Base Edition, Statutes-at-Large, Congressional Indexes 1789-1969, Country Analysis, Current Issues Universe, Environmental Universe, History Universe: Access to African American Studies, History Universe: Access to Presidential Studies, History Universe: Access to Women's Studies, Media Analyzer, Scholastic Universe, State Capital Universe, Statistical Universe Base Edition, Statistical Universe ASI, Statistical Universe SRI, Statistical Universe, IIS, Statistical Universe Research Tables, Academic Access) - Renew by April 30, 2003, new orders by May 23, 2003
  
• McGraw-Hill AccessScience - Order/renew by May 12, 2003.
  
• Polling the Nations - Order/renew by June 15, 2003.
  
• Project Muse - January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003 subscription term. Mid-term subscriptions are available.
  
• Serials Solutions - Order/renew by June 15, 2003.
  
• SIRS (Researcher, Discoverer Deluxe, Government Reporter, Renaissance, WebSelect, Interactive Citizenship, What Citizens Need to Know About: Government/World Affairs/Economics, Discoverer WebFind) - June 15, 2003.
  

NEED HELP WRITING A NEWSLETTER ARTICLE ABOUT NETLIBRARY?

Do you struggle to write articles for your local paper or newsletter to publicize your netLibrary collection? netLibrary provides libraries with a number of tools that can be used to promote new or expanded eBook collections. The netLibrary eBook Tool Kit provides libraries with press release templates and customizable newsletter articles. This Marketing and Public Relations material can be found on netLibrary's eBook Tool Kit site at: <http://www.netlibraryebooktoolkit.com/promoting/promote_media.asp>.

Allana Novotny
Network Services Librarian
Nebraska Library Commission

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Publications Index