CDLINFO LISTSERV, April 12, 2001, Vol.4, No.6
CONTENTS
- Melvyl and Database Transitions
- Melvyl Public Information Page Available
- CDL-Hosted Databases Transition Update
- New Resource Available
- ERIC E*Subscribe
- CDL Users Council Meeting
- Library Staff News
- Joyce Rawlins leaving the CDL
- For More Information
- CDL News
- Contacts for Questions or Problems
- Information about CDLINFO
1. Melvyl and Database Transitions
a. Melvyl Public Information Page Available
A public web page containing general information is now available [http://www.cdlib.org/news/melvyl.html]; feel free to publicize this as the most up-to-date source of information about the Melvyl Union Catalog Transition. It will be updated regularly including for the announcement of a signed contract that is expected shortly.b. CDL-Hosted Databases Transition Update
Test Accounts
Test accounts for possible vendor replacements for the CDL-hosted Databases are now available [http://www.cdlib.org/about/test-accounts.html]. On the test accounts page are links to resources and access information such as passwords and special URLs. In addition, there is a link to an online survey; we are using the survey as a tool for gathering feedback. The survey contains specific questions regarding functionality and ease of use and an open-ended question for more general feedback.All library staff are invited to test the databases. However, due to licensing issues, the tests are not open to the general UC community. For this reason, please do not include a link to the test page from your public web pages, but linking from library staff only pages would be helpful.
We do encourage library staff to get feedback from faculty and students through targeted efforts. NOTE: The test accounts can be complex so faculty and students might need to be walked through the process, especially in the cases where there are complex URLs and passwords.
The A&I Transition Steering Committee (TSC) (members list available at http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlhosteddatabases.html#6) is responsible for coordinating the library staff groups to ensure that staff are informed about the tests.Campus Meetings and Communication
Transition Steering Committee (TSC) members have already begun coordinating meetings with library staff and faculty and graduate students. In addition, CDL staff Laine Farley and Ellen Meltzer have visited, or have plans to visit UCB, UCD, UCI, UCLA, UCR, and UCSF. The meetings have provided a forum for dissemination of information about the database transition process and to address concerns and gather feedback. Excellent questions have surfaced at each of the meetings, and these will be folded into a staff FAQ, similar to the public FAQ [http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlhosteddatabases.html], but with more detailed and library-centric questions. Watch this space for more information!Another goal of the meetings is to provide library staff with information so that they can more effectively initiate discussions with their faculty and students about the upcoming transitions. Along these lines, many campuses have begun announcing the transitions to their campus Academic Senates, to graduate students, to faculty in open sessions and in campus newsletters.
2. New Resource Available
a. ERIC E*Subscribe
On the recommendation of the Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC) and the UC Education and Psychology bibliographers, the CDL has licensed the current years of ERIC E*Subscribe (1996-present) [http://www.edrs.com/Esubscribe] for all campuses. The contract is a joint one with CSU (with UC taking the lead).E*Subscribe provides access to ERIC documents which cover all areas of education, including adult, urban, rural, vocational, elementary, early childhood, handicapped, gifted, and higher education.
The CDL currently provides access to ERIC from Stanford's Folio system via the USE ERIC command in the CDL-hosted databases telnet interface.
In addition, both CSA and OCLC have links to E*Subscribe. CSA allows user to limit their search to only ERIC documents or only ERIC journals. To limit to ERIC documents in CSA's Quick Search add "AND SF=(rie)" after your topic search terms; in Advanced Search, select "SF=" as the index and use "RIE" as the search term. OCLC does not allow you to limit to ERIC documents only.
3. CDL Users Council Meeting
18 members of the CDL Users Council attended the group's annual meeting in Oakland on March 12. This meeting offered a series of informational updates on CDL's governance structure and organization, upcoming changes in the Melvyl Catalog and the Abstracting & Indexing databases, plans for the CDL web site and Directory; other CDL projects (Counting California, Online Archive of California, eScholarship, SearchLight, MyLibrary@CDL), and CDL's evaluation and usability activities. Detailed notes from the meeting are available on the User's Council web page: [ http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/system_services/users_council/]
Library Staff News
a. Joyce Rawlins leaving the CDL
On April 13, Joyce Rawlins is leaving her position at the CDL as Executive Secretary to the University Librarian. She has accepted a position as Administrative Assistant to the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UC Berkeley.Joyce has been with the CDL from its earliest days, in August 1998. Her organizational skills, knowledge of UC procedures, and computer facility were crucial for the successful startup of the CDL. Joyce provided loyal and tireless support to the University Librarian, the CDL Directors, countless systemwide groups and meetings, and many others for nearly three years and we shall sorely miss her.
5. For More Information
a. CDL News
Several items of interest, including "Milestones," "Highlights 1997-1998," "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 "News" 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.
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