CDLINFO LISTSERV, February 27, 2003, Vol.6, No.4
CONTENTS
- CDL Database Transitions
- Transition Steering Committee (TSC) Decommissioned
- New Services Available
- New UC-eLinks Services
- New "Ask-A-Librarian" Links in Gale's InfoTrac Databases (Frank Gravier, UCSC)
- New Resources Available
- Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890 - 1982
- Synthesis and Synlett Journal Archives from Thieme Publishers Now Available (Christina Keil, UCSD)
- Reporting Critical Operations Down
- The Online Archive of California (OAC) Enhanced "Especially for Archivists" Site
- For More Information
- CDL News
- Contacts for Questions or Problems
- Information about CDLINFO
1. CDL Database Transitions
a.Transition Steering Committee (TSC) Decommissioned
The Transition Steering Committee (TSC), which served in an advisory role for the A & I journal article database transition, completed at the end of 2002, had its last conference call on February 25, 2003, and has now been decommissioned. The committee has completed its charge: [http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/a-i-trans/aicharge20501.html]
Many thanks go to the following members of the committee who served for either a full or partial two-year period:
Peter Brueggeman (UCSD)
Jayne Dickson (CDL) )
Andrea Duda (UCSB)
Mary Engle (CDL)
Min-Lin Fang (UCSF)
Laine Farley (CDL A&I Transition Project Manager)
Cheryl Gomez (UCSC)
Gabriela Gray (UCLA)
Mary Heath (CDL)
Robert Heyer-Grey (UCD)
Patricia Iannuzzi (UCB)
Ellen Meltzer (CDL)
John Ober (CDL)
Cathy Palmer (UCI)
Margaret Phillips (UCB)
John Tanno (UCR)
Margery Tibbetts (CDL)
Beth Weil (UCB)
Sherry Willhite (CDL)
Stefanie Wittenbach (UCR)
Issues related to the transitioning databases will now be handled initially by the Resource Liaisons (http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/liaisons/liaisons.html) for each database. Depending on the nature of the issue, CDL staff may also be involved.
2.New Services Available
a. New UC-eLinks Services
Two new services will be added to the UC-eLinks pop-up window as of March 3,
2003:
1. Need Help? Ask a Librarian
2. Report problems with UC-eLinks
From campus IP addresses, users are taken directly to that campus’ "Ask a Librarian" email reference, online chat or similar services web page when clicking on "Need Help? Ask a Librarian." This service enables users to contact a librarian for more reference help while in the act of doing their research. For example, users might have a question about how to find more information on their topic than they are currently finding. The "Ask a Librarian" link provides them with the opportunity to ask their question.
Users having problems specifically with the linking technology, UC-eLinks, will now be more easily able to report specific problems, and the CDL will be able to better track them. By clicking on “Report problems with UC-eLinks,” users are taken to a pop-up window where they are asked to describe their UC-eLinks problem, and for their name and email address. The citation information for the item from which users initiate the feedback will be automatically included with the comment, which will come to the CDL.
These two new services will be added to the three existing linking services: linking to full electronic texts, linking to catalog holdings, and linking to Request (interlibrary loan).
The Tools and Services Working Group had previously identified Ask-a-Librarian as a potential new service and the Transition Steering Committee recommended that it be added when some of the transitioning database vendors were unable to provide it from their interfaces. (See the article below in which Gale has implemented an Ask a Librarian feature in InfoTrac.) A UC-eLinks project team has been set up to oversee the implementation details of future UC-eLinks enhancements and campus instances, and the Tools and Services Working Group will continue to solicit comments on future enhancements in order to develop guiding principles.
a. New "Ask-A-Librarian" Links in Gale's InfoTrac Databases (Frank Gravier, UCSC)
Starting Monday, March 10, 2003, UC users of Gale's Expanded Academic ASAP, National Newspaper Index, and the Computer Database will have an easy link to their campus library's reference librarians. Gale is the first vendor to provide this service from their interface in the way that meets UC libraries' needs for flexibility.The InfoTrac interface will now provide an "Ask-A-Librarian" link at the top of the InfoTrac Web pages. The link will be campus specific since each campus has its own account for Gale databases. So, for example, patrons using UC Santa Cruz's InfoTrac databases will be able to contact reference librarians at UCSC, just as UC Riverside patrons will be able to contact UCR librarians.
Services available through "Ask-A-Librarian" links vary at each campus. Some provide an opportunity to use the campus's virtual reference service, while others allow patrons to ask questions by email.
Questions about this service or other aspects of Expanded Academic ASAP, National Newspaper Index and the Computer Database can be directed to the CDL Resource Liaison for these databases, Frank Gravier, at gravier@ucsc.edu.
3. New Resources Available
A list of recently added content is always available at: http://www.cdlib.org/news/whatsnew.html
a. Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890 - 1982
Readers' Guide Retrospective [http://uclibs.org/PID/21386]
was previously announced in CDLINFO last spring
<http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlinfo/cdlinfo050902.html#2>.
At that time, the
database included files from 1963 to 1982. The database is now complete and
includes files from 1890 to 1982.
Readers' Guide Retrospective provides searchable access to more than 100 years of citations from 512 leading U.S. magazines -- valuable reference for students, journalists, educators, historians, social scientists, writers, business researchers and others.
From the wreck of the Titanic to Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon; from the Charleston craze to the Sharon Tate murders; from Pearl Harbor to the Bay of Pigs -- Readers' Guide Retrospective provides a record of an entire century of popular magazine coverage, and a reflection of America's evolving attitudes and culture.
Features Offered:
--Search the equivalent of 44 printed Readers' Guide cumulations (including 19th Century Readers' Guide 1890 -1899).
--Search by author, title, subject, keyword, journal, or year.
--Updated, uniform subject headings allow searching by familiar, contemporary terms. Original subject headings are also featured, for historians, sociologists, linguists, writers, and others interested in the way issues of the day were framed.
--Entries link to page images from original Readers' Guide volumes, allowing users access to "see" and "see also" references and the complete hierarchy of subject headings and subheadings.
--Seamlessly combines with contemporary research databases. Search Readers' Guide Retrospective simultaneously with other Readers' Guide databases on WilsonWeb, or with any other WilsonWeb database.
--Order actual articles through links to the Infotrieve online document delivery service or through your interlibrary loan service. Even finding articles on your shelves is easy -- with periodicals holdings messages linked to your OPAC.
b. Synthesis and Synlett Journal Archives from Thieme Publishers Now Available (Christina Keil, UCSD)
The UC Chemistry Librarians, under the leadership of Christina Keil (UC San Diego), have negotiated an agreement with Thieme publishers that will allow all UC campuses to have online access to the journal archives of two important chemistry titles: Synthesis and Synlett.
Funded by the CDL, the Synthesis and Synlett archives provide access to over 15,000 articles. These journals consistently rank amongst the top 20 organic chemistry journals, covering many aspects of chemistry including medicinal, biological, organometallic and related disciplines.
Synthesis (1969-2002: ) http://uclibs.org/PID/11377
Synlett (1989-2002): http://uclibs.org/PID/11378
4. Reporting Critical Operations Down
Occasionally critical CDL applications, such as UC-eLinks, Request, or the Melvyl catalog, go down on the weekends. If this happens while you are working at a public service point, it is very important that you call to report the problem. No one is monitoring email for this kind of occurrence on the weekends.
You can either call the UCOP Data Center directly at 510-987-0363, or call the CDL Helpline at 510-987-0555, where a voicemail message will refer you to the UCOP Data Center phone number after hours. The UCOP Data Center has a list of CDL contacts who can troubleshoot these applications on the weekend, and they will call them. When speaking to the Data Center, please include your name, campus, phone number and the name of the application that is down. If you are calling from a reference desk that you'll soon be leaving and another colleague will be replacing you, please leave a note for your colleague. A CDL staff member may call you back in order to obtain additional information for troubleshooting purposes.
(For similar emergencies Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm, call the CDL Helpline directly. Telephone, rather than email, is the most efficient way to report emergencies to CDL staff.)
5. The Online Archive of California (OAC) enhanced "Especially for Archivists" Site
The Online Archive of California (OAC) has enhanced "Especially for Archivists," an information resource available at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/about/forarchivists.html
This site provides information and "building blocks" for OAC Contributing Members to assist with creating EAD encoded finding aids and digital content for publication in the OAC. The resource also provides information about OAC polices including collection development, members benefits, and copyright.
New enhancements include:
1) OAC Best Practice Guidelines for Digital Objects (OAC BPGDO) Version 1.0 http://www.oac.cdlib.org/oac-bpgdo/OAC-BPGDO-md1a.html . Developed by the OAC Working Group, the OAC BPGDO states functional requirements and standards to be used by organizations and individuals planning to contribute digital objects to the OAC.
2) Guidelines for applying to become a new contributing member of the OAC http://www.oac.cdlib.org/join/
3) Selected Online Resources for Digital Objects http://www.oac.cdlib.org/dig/ This section includes information on managing digital projects, selecting materials for digitization, copyright issues, a range of available metadata and encoding standards, digital object management tools, and courses and training available to develop and implement digital projects.
6. For More Information
a. CDL News
Several items of interest, including "Milestones," "Progress Reports," "What's New," and previous issues of CDLINFO are posted on the CDL web site (http://www.cdlib.org/) under News and Developments. Please share news of this resource with your colleagues!Remember also that reports, working documents, and status information of particular interest to library staff, are all available at http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/.
b. Contacts for Questions or Problems
If you have problems accessing or using the system or have questions, including questions about the status of electronic journal collections and Internet resources, you can contact CDL staff in one of the following ways:- For immediate assistance, call the CDL Helpline at (510) 987-0555. Callers with TDD equipment, please call 1-800-735-2929 in California for the telephone relay operator.
- Send an e-mail message to cdl@www.cdlib.org.
- Click on "What's New" at http://www.dbs.cdlib.org/ (also known as http://www.melvyl.ucop.edu) for information about system outages, problems with particular databases, the status of a resource, etc.
For information about whether your UC campus has access to a particular electronic journal or Internet resource, contact your local collection development officer.
c. Information about CDLINFO
CDLINFO is designed to inform UC Librarians, and the UC community, about the progress of the CDL, policy issues under discussion, and newly available electronic resources. We hope that subscribers from the UC libraries will pass on selected information from the newsletter to faculty, staff, and students on their campuses, as appropriate. More complete information about the CDL, as well as the Directory of Collections and Services which leads to digital resources, is available at the CDL website at http://www.cdlib.org.Eligible subscribers: UC library employees
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