Category: Resources – Online Resources    

Read this message from Susan Pannebaker for reference when considering electronic resource purchases.

To the POWER Library community,

Below is a restatement of a message which was sent to all libraries in February as a reminder that subscriptions to some POWER Library databases will end as of June 30.

Here is a list of the current resources available through the POWER Library interface and when the current contract for each ends.

NoveList and NoveList K-8 June 30, 2010
SIRS Discoverer June 30, 2010
Wilson Biography Bank June 30, 2010

ABI Inform December 31, 2010
AP Multimedia Archive December 31, 2010
Auto Repair December 31, 2010
Consumer Health Complete December 31, 2010
Contemporary Authors December 31, 2010
Infotrac Newsstand December 31, 2010
Wilson Web December 31, 2010

The results of this year’s budget process will guide the decisions to be made regarding databases for 2011, and we will let you know about those decisions as soon as the information is available. In the meantime, vendors of the databases which will no longer available after June 30
may be contacted at the addresses provided below if you are interested in direct subscriptions. In some cases discounted pricing will be provided to Access PA/POWER Library participants.

EBSCO
Please contact: Jillian Cole at EBSCO Publishing to subscribe to NoveList: jcole@ebscohost.com or 800-653-2726 Ext. 2599

ProQuest
Please contact: Mike Chmelewski, Sr. Field Account Executive at Proquest to subscribe to SIRS Discoverer: mike.chmelewski@proquest.com or 800-521-0600 x2524; also, Sharon Dugan, Inside Account Executive, sharon.dugan@proquest.com or 800-521-0600 ext 7208

Wilson
Please contact: Jo Seik, Sales Representative at Wilson to subscribe to Wilson Biography Bank: jseik@hwwilson.com or 800-367-6770 x 2274

Check out the chart that compares services:Library Journal article about downloadable audio.

Readers:
When customers ask you about the different ereaders, this site is a resource to direct them to for explanation of ereaders and some comparisons of features: ereaderresource.com Check out the basics for an overview.
Also please remember that anything with a screen with text or pictures can be used as a reader. Those popular apple products, mobile phones, netbooks, laptops, desktop computers, and even television (hooked up to your computer) can be a reader for content produced in digital format. Those may not give the “reading” experience or have the awesome e-ink, bookmarking, note-taking, portability, or size features, but there is a way to read the content if you have a computer and access to the internet.

As of the day of this posting, the public libraries in the three county Capital Area Library District do not offer any commercial service for downloading print ebook content to the popular e-readers, however, full text versions of many novels and works of reference and nonfiction are available online through Netlibrary, one of the resources in POWERlibrary. If you have your library card handy, login to see what is available: ebooks from Netlibrary

Listeners:
Library customers do have access to a public library sponsored collection of downloadable audiobooks at http://capitalarealibrary.lib.overdrive.com/

The OverDrive service just released an app for the iphone so users can skip the download to their personal computer and just download direct to their iphone. Let me know if you like it. App store: Overdrive
There is a mobile version of the site for those with other smart phone operating systems.

Digital media is changing the way content is provided in all parts of the industry. What should libraries do about it?

Comments always welcome; suggested solutions to meet short and long term needs will be applauded.

What will the impact of ebooks be on reading?
Here’s one way to think: Publishing and Books in 10 years
Here’s another: Killing bookstores?
Evolution of the book: Link to a fun timeline history

What do you think?

The official word from Office of Commonwealth Libraries announcing the resources that will be available in POWER Library Network 2010 is posted below for your reference. Please note that access to some EBSCO resources will no longer be available as of January 31. Try to make local changes to your websites and printed materials accordingly.

For our district, rest assured that the CALD Electronic Reference Resource Committee is hard at work to prioritize subject areas for electronic resources so we can make smart purchase decisions to supplement the state provided databases with local resources selected to best meet our library user needs. The committee will be taking a critical look at what resources we want to replace from the information providers that are not a part of the current state contract, including EBSCO, Oxford, and all of the others, but with a finite budget, there will be limits to what can be provided.

Look forward to the deployment of the new resources for POWER Library Network 2010. Be sure you think ahead to budget some staff time to get familiar with the state provided resources so we can promote the new 2010 offerings to our patrons.

January 28, 2010
Dear Library Community:
With this message the Office of Commonwealth Libraries is announcing the resources that will be provided under the POWER Library Network for 2010. This is the package of resources as of today, January 28, 2010.

POWER Library Network 2010
General Periodical Resources (H.W. Wilson)
Newspaper Resources (Gale)
Business Resources (ProQuest ABI Inform)
Contemporary Authors
AP Photo Archive

The detail on the content of the new resources will be announced next week. Any additions to this package will be announced as decisions are finalized.
Contemporary Authors and AP Photo Archive will continue to be available uninterrupted. Work is underway to make the technological connections to begin access to the announced content as quickly as possible.
The Office of Commonwealth Libraries regrets the inconvenience and anxiety this change and interruption in offerings will undoubtedly cause.

Below is the message sent by Susan from Office of Commonwealth Libraries about the coming changes to POWERLibrary.
Be sure that your library’s reference staff are prepared to explain changes to POWERLibrary.
The CALD Reference Committee is working on ideas for how we can determine which resources we will consider for purchase with local funds, but many of decisions will wait until the state announces the plan for POWERLibrary in 2010.

December 22, 2009

Dear Library Community:

I am writing to update you on the status of the POWER Library.

The contracts for the POWER Library databases will expire December 31, 2009. The Pennsylvania Department of Education issued an RFP for POWER Library Databases, and the proposals are currently being evaluated by agency staff. Our goal is to complete the selection process in time for the POWER Library continues into 2010 without interruption.

Because of the reduction to the Library Access line item in the 2009-2010 budget, the scope of the RFP was limited to the following categories:

• General full-text periodical database
• Newspaper index
• Business Reference
• Combination of the above databases
Within the current the economic conditions, we are hoping to continue to provide high quality databases of general interest to the public at large and to our K-12 students in particular. However, it is reasonable to expect most subject specific databases will no longer be available after December 31, 2009.

We have heard from all types of libraries about the importance and value of the scope of POWER Library offerings. We will seek to make additional databases available as options and opportunities present themselves.

Thank you for your input and your support of the POWER Library.

Susan Pannebaker

It was a pleasure hosting training sessions for OverDrive.
The service seems very easy to use from a patron perspective.

Here is the login information for Capital Area’s Virtual Branch website.

It is LIVE! Your library will soon put a link on your main website in order to provide access to the resource to your patrons.

URL: http://capitalarealibrary.lib.overdrive.com

To try the service at your library, if you are just sampling, please use the Always Available title collection for trying.

You will be able to check out titles using your own library card.

All titles will be returned to the collection prior to your site going live.

DIGITAL LIBRARY 101:
In Digital Library 101 we walked through the patron’s experience of browsing, selecting, and downloading titles. We also looked at a demonstration of burning a title to a CD and transferring to a portable MP3 / WMA device.

LISTEN TO A RECORDING OF CAPITAL AREA’S WEDNESDAY MORNING DIGITAL LIBRARY 101 SESSION:
Listen to the Recording here

ACCESS A COPY OF DIGITAL LIBRARY 101:
This is a PDF copy of the online training that was presented to 4 audiences: Digital Library 101

The presentation can be viewed and printed using Adobe Reader 5.0 or higher.

If you’d like additional training, just ask. Carrie, district consultant, can bring the training to your next staff meeting or host another session just for you.

Order 1 copy of the new Ask Here PA poster (unveiled at recent AccessPA trainings) and a supply of bookmarks to promote PA’s 24/7 question answering service for FREE at: http://www.askherepa.org/promotions.htm

An Introduction to Library Databases from Mary Hollis, Reference Librarian, of the New Cumberland Public Library.

Mary Hollis taught a basic class on Library Databases and she has provided this handout information for anyone interested to view.

Please visit the following document for this information:
CCLS Library Databases Introduction