Reference Rendezvous (41112; Issue #3)

Reference Rendezvous (32812; Issue #2)

Reference Rendezvous (31412.htm; Issue #1)

Business owners, entrepreneurs, real estate agents, researchers, reporters, students, movers, and job seekers can use your public library’s subscription to ReferenceUSA to access data for many purposes.

Here are a few highlights from the training presented by Scott Lea on Thursday, Jan. 26 at East Shore:

• Is your library’s data correct in ReferenceUSA?  This is a sample file of all data about public libraries in our district that is collected in ReferenceUSA that was downloaded on January 27, 2011.  It looks like some of the data needs to be updated:  Detail2012012721514131 We learned how.   Use the Data Feedback button on the record to provide updates to the information you find.
• You can refer patrons or library staff directly to 800-808-1113 for advanced assistance in using the resource.  A live person will answer the phone from 8-6 Monday-Friday.
• The information in this resource comes from many official sources: directories, census, post office, power companies, trade journals, SEC filings, web mining of data, and more.
• The database is updated on the 3rd Thursday of each month.  There is a last updated on date on each record.  Company news is updated every 15 minutes!
• Job Seekers can use the data to create lists of businesses they may want to work for and to find contact names for human resources or specific departments.  The data can also answer an interview questions such as: “What do you know about our company?”  80% of all jobs are filled without being posted.  A proactive job seeker can find all the companies in a specific industry in a desired geographic area.
• Use ReferenceUSA to generate a marketing list to generate leads.
• Check out the Competitor’s Report: 10 closest geographic locations in your industry.
• TIP:  Don’t use too many categories to limit.  Just use Metro area or State, not both.
• To download or print, select the records.  Public library accounts limit how many records can be downloaded at a time.   Only libraries and government agencies can purchase this product.
• There are great training resources online.  There are some short video tutorials.
• You can also direct customers and staff who assist with advanced research to the online webinars hosted by ReferenceUSA.

Attendees should take this survey to evaluate the training they attended.

When: January 17 from 2-4

Where: ESA (likely meeting room A, could be B or lab–waiting confirmation)

Note:  If you can’t attend in person, tell Carrie and then feel free to phone call in.  We can also set up a conference phone or skype connection if you’d prefer.

Why:  Our group is discussing online resources.   We have most of our discussion and interaction on a wiki, but this is a chance to meet in person. 

Who:  Our committee is composed of representatives from all libraries in our area.  Ask your manager if you can attend/contribute if you have strong opinions about online resources and databases.

Q: How can I return a digital library item early?

A: My first answer is: That depends.

• Audio files can’t be returned early.   I can’t take the time to explain it in detail, but it’s just a part of the business at this time.   (Note: There’s much to learn about .wma and .mp3 files, but suffice it to say that audiobook contnet for libraries in digital format for download from Overdrive is very different than ebook content and need their own set of instructions.)
• If it’s a simple ebook file in epub, pdf, or kindle formats, it can be returned early in a variety of ways depending on which device and/or computer you are using.   You need to read the instructions on every screen in order to be successful. Are you doing that?  Do you read the whole screen and understand the question before you click Yes or No or Accept?  Did you read the terms of use?  Do you know what you signed up for?  The library encourages you to use information and to be aware of your choices.

Kindle Early Return of Library Book

Login to your Amazon account.

Click on Manage Your Kindle

See the title in your library, complete an action from the menu:

It’s returned!   By default, you can keep the title in your library to remind you about it.   Amazon makes it easy for you to buy it if you wanted to access it again or if you didn’t have enough time to enjoy it while you had it checked out for 7 or 14 days.  Maybe you can borrow it again when you have more time to enjoy it, or you can delete it to keep a smaller list.  The choice is yours.  You manage your own account.  Amazon is content you are using their technology and that you’ve agreed to be their customer.

Adobe Digital Editions Early Return of Library Book

Open Adobe Digital Editions.

Go to library view.  

Click on the little arrow on the corner of the book cover or near the title.

Just like with the kindle account, adobe digital editions library keeps expired titles in a list in your library until you delete them, and you can’t access them again without re-borrowing and downloading again.  There’s no option for purchase from within Adobe Digital Editions.

Thanks for learning how to return a library item early.

Tip: It is a good practice to return digital ebooks when you are done.  It will automatically “return” to the library when its license expires, but ebooks on our Overdrive digital platform are just like physical books in that a license is issued for one customer to use it at a time; if there’s a waiting list for your ebook, returning it early gets it in the hands of the next customer on the list faster.

If you have a digital device and want to share tips and screenshots to help other library customers learn how to use it, feel free to share information in the comments below or ask me how you can contribute posts to this blog.   It’s fun and easy.

Take some time to check out these worthwhile training tools.

Database Overview

Database video  Database worksheet

EBSCO Overview

EBSCO video   EBSCO worksheet

Web Searching Tips & Tricks

Web searching tips and tricks video  Web Searching worksheet

There will be lots of information to read and understand to know the full implications of these changes. This page can be used to share local information with staff who can pass it along to customers.

Here’s a re-post of an email I received and shared with a local mailing list:

Overdrive’s Kindle connections are soon to be true for our library as well. I’ll let you know when our site and items are Kindle compatible, but no firm date has been announced yet so I don’t advise sharing it widely with customers at this time. I’ll send more information when our site is scheduled to go-live with Kindle. I’ve sent questions to our Product Support representative about when this will take place. The message below indicates within a week. Relying on Overdrive’s documentation to change before we update any local information is key. The transfer to Kindle seems to be another slightly different process that also involves the customer using their Amazon ID.

To: OverDrive Library & School Partners in the U.S.
From: Steve Potash, OverDrive CEO
Re: Launch of Kindle® Compatibility and OverDrive WIN Initiatives
Date: September 21, 2011
Dear Library Partner,
I am very pleased to announce that, as promised, Amazon Kindle® compatibility with your library’s eBook collection is here. Kindle compatibility is part of the OverDrive WIN initiative, a series of platform enhancements for your library’s Virtual Branch website. These new features are updates to your OverDrive service at no additional cost.

Team OverDrive has been hard at work with technicians at Amazon to make Kindle compatibility a valuable extension of your eBook lending service. This update allows most existing OverDrive eBooks to be read on all Kindle devices or by using free Kindle apps on iPhone®, iPad®, Android™, and other mobile devices. At launch, there will be a small number of PDF titles that are not yet available for Kindle. OverDrive and Amazon are working to reduce this number to achieve greater coverage.

Kindle Launch Plan
OverDrive will be quickly updating all U.S. public and school library partner websites to support Kindle compatibility. Many of you reading this may already have Kindle Books available for lending. We will complete this update to all our U.S. public & school library partner websites within one week.

To reflect these changes, OverDrive will update sections of your library’s Virtual Branch website including the My Help wizard, Help pages, and FAQs with new information about Kindle compatibility. Your users browsing the site will see a message that Kindle is either “Now Available” or will be “Coming Soon.”

User Experience for Kindle Book Users
All browsing, searching, and checkout of eBook titles will remain the same at your library’s Virtual Branch website. When a user checks out a Kindle Book, a “Get for Kindle” link will be presented that opens a new window (or tab) at Amazon prompting the user to login to their Amazon account. Fulfillment will occur at Amazon’s website so your user will need an Amazon account to access the library eBook in the Kindle format. No purchase or credit card is required to create an Amazon Kindle account; users only need to provide an email address.

Once signed in, the user will select which Kindle device or free Kindle app they want to deliver the title to for reading. At launch, browse, check out, and fulfillment of Kindle Books from your library can be completed from web browsers on PC and Mac, iPad, and numerous other tablet devices.

Kindle users will enjoy Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights, and last page read on the Kindle device and free Kindle apps. As with other titles from your digital collection, the eBook will expire at the end of the lending period.

Your library, with the help of OverDrive, will continue to provide technical support for most aspects of eBook lending. Once a Kindle user is directed to Amazon’s website, Amazon will provide technical support for Kindle Book related issues.

Simplified Title Display and Expanded Format Availability

For eBook collection development, in Content Reserve your selectors will now only need to purchase “eBooks”, rather than choose specific eBook formats such as EPUB, PDF, or Kindle Book. Each eBook unit selected will provide your users or students access to all available eBook formats for that title. For example, if your library purchases one eBook unit of The Help, it will be available for borrowing with Kindle, for use on PC or Mac, Smartphones, Sony® Reader, Barnes & Noble® Nook™, etc.

On your library’s Virtual Branch website, all units of eBook titles that your library has purchased in PDF or EPUB will be aggregated into a single total number of copies now including support for Kindle. For example, if your library has three total copies of The Help in any eBook format, The Help will show three copies, available for use with Kindle and all devices that support EPUB or PDF. Your user will choose the format compatible with their eReader or device.

If your library has MARC records for EPUB, PDF, or Mobipocket eBooks in your OPAC, please update the records to simply reference the eBook format.

Streamlining the eBook Experience – Eliminating Mobipocket eBooks
As part of our ongoing initiative to streamline the user experience, OverDrive has ended support for the Mobipocket eBook format which means that this format is no longer available for selection in Content Reserve. For libraries with Mobipocket eBook collections, OverDrive will replace any copies with a corresponding number of units for use with Kindle or other supported reading devices. There will be a very small number of titles that we are unable to replace with other formats. For those libraries affected, we will contact you separately with a report of these titles and issue a full content credit for amounts paid for those titles.

If your library hosts a Customer Support form, references to Mobipocket eBooks should be removed and “Kindle Book” should be added once available at your library’s Virtual Branch website.

OverDrive WIN Enhancements Coming Later This Year
Following the launch of Kindle compatibility, OverDrive will continue adding platform enhancements to streamline the user experience. We are very excited about a new navigation feature called “OverDrive GPS™” (Guided Product Selector). OverDrive GPS will be a user-friendly addition to your library’s Virtual Branch website that simplifies the product selection process by prompting users to ask what they are looking for (e.g., Read eBooks or Listen to Audiobooks) and how they want to use it (e.g., Kindle or iPod®).

Once the user’s GPS is set, all browsing and search activities will display only titles that match their settings. For example, for users who want to “Read an eBook” on “Kindle,” their Virtual Branch experience will display only eBooks that can be read on a Kindle device or with a free Kindle app. It will work the same for those who set GPS to “Listen to an audiobook” on their “iPod.”

There will be no action required by your library to take advantage of the OverDrive GPS feature. It will be added to your library’s Virtual Branch website at no additional cost. To accomplish this and other user-friendly features, OverDrive will streamline portions of your website’s pages with popular shelf carousels for Recently Added, New Releases, Most Popular, and Recently Returned collections. We will similarly provide optimized browsing features for your music, video, and “Always Available” collections for those libraries that offer these materials from OverDrive.

Team OverDrive will continue to update you regularly regarding this next wave of updates as part of WIN. Look for information about these changes, as well as new content and access models, to help make your digital collection the first stop for online readers.

Preparing for the Increased Demand in eBooks – Next Steps for Your Library

OverDrive is committed to streamlining user and staff experiences and continually enhancing the value of our partnership. We expect Kindle compatibility with your library’s eBooks will be a very positive experience. To assist you in promoting Kindle compatibility to your communities and schools, please visit the Kindle Book Compatibility Marketing Kit with print-ready promotional materials, a web graphic, and a press release.

If you have any questions, please follow OverDrive’s Digital Library Blog, Facebook, and Twitter for the most up-to-date information, or contact your library’s OverDrive Account Specialist.

We look forward to continuing this eBook journey with you!

Regards,

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Steve Potash
OverDrive CEO & President

Additional resources:
Amazon’s “Borrow Kindle Books from Your Local Library”

Managing eBook Demand Checklist

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Additional resources:
Amazon’s “Borrow Kindle Books from Your Local Library”

Training to use the sources is available online at  http://support.ebsco.com/training/index.php  or your manager may host a special training session in the future. Sometimes it’s great to just use the resource and learn it for yourself too! 

Examples: 

-Try to use Consumer Reports from your mobile device while you are shopping and want to compare.

-Read an article on ebooks and tell your colleagues what you learned

-Do some research about social media in the workplace

-Learn about a food allergy that you or your child have

Add your own link to search results!

Check out our newest e-Resources, and Go Green with online access to your favorite magazines and articles! 

-EBSCOHost Web — MasterFile Premier:  A general database chock full of journal and magazine articles (both popular and educational), e-books, photos, e-audio books and more. Check out the popular titles, such as American Fitness, Archaeology, Consumer Reports, Consumer Reports Money Advisor, Dirt Bike, Discover, Ebony, Environment, Forbes, Golf Magazine, Hispanic, History Today, Jet, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Money, National Review, National Wildlife, Physics Today, Ranger Rick, Real Simple, Science, Sierra, Southern Living, Sports Illustrated, Sunset, Swimming World, Teen Tribute, This Old House, Time for Kids, Transworld Skateboarding, U.S News and World Report, and so many more! 

-Would you like to check the complete list of magazines or see if there is a particular title? In EBSCOHost MasterFile Premier,

1. click on Publications at the top of the page
2. choose MasterFile Premier (for full list) or one of the Reference Centers (for that subject list)
3. Browse or search the current publications

Help patrons get back to school with great research tools!

Use EBSCO Subject Centers . . . some very cool features – full text, audio and MP3 download features for many books and articles, links to further resources.  Save your searches, email, print, and cite your information.

-Biography Reference Center: Photos, Biography by genre (author, musician, scientist . . . ); search by name, occupation, nationality, etc.

-History Reference Center: Dictionary, Curriculum Standards, full text e-books; videos and historical images

-Literary Reference Center: Literary Glossary, Dictionary & Historical Timeline

-Science Reference Center: Dictionary, Science experiments, Curriculum Standards, browse by subject area

Need help finding what you need?  Call ESA Reference at 717-652-9380 option 4, email or text askalibrarian@dcls.org and Angela, Ann Marie, Ariel, Diane, Kim, Moriah or Ann will be glad to assist!  As always, if you have questions, suggestions or feedback, let us know.

E-books:  EBSCO also has ebooks!  (The Netlibrary links from POWERLibrary were changed to EBSCO ebooks.)  These aren’t the kind that easily download to devices, but they can be emailed in pdf format for use on the go.  The collection contains lots of titles for reference and titles that will be great for some school research. 

iPhone Application :  The free iPhone app allows iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to search premium EBSCOhost database content while on the go.  Have a research assistant with you on your mobile and use it to email or share helpful articles to your customers, colleagues or business associates and partners.
It’s easy to get, but you MUST: Click the link at the bottom of any EBSCOhost page, and then email yourself the key to the app, open the email on your device and get started.

We have just started a trial of some popular products.

If you are employed in our district and are interested in participating in one of our trials to test new databases, send me a note or leave a comment here and we’ll get you access and a copy of our own evaluation form. The trial is open until later in May, so your staff might like to use the resources with customers in real life customer service scenarios.

If you know customers who also use resources regularly that might like to serve on a team that would give feedback on possible new/replacement products, let me know.

Amazon.com

What Should I Read Next?

Gnod.net : Divided into nodes, displays as a cloud.

Bookseer.com : suggestions from Amazon and Librarything

whichbook.net : Sliders help you select by plot topics and themes.

Allreaders.com : not a great site design, but does quick fairly current searches by author, title, plot, setting, character.

bookbrowse.com

Please add more ideas to the list by using the comments area below. :)

Thanks to NWP for adding this suggestion too: www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

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

Read the notes here: February 2010 District Meeting

Next District Library meeting will be on May 19th at SIM–not ESA as was previously mentioned.

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.

Do you take advantage of the opportunity to share quick information about library services while they run in to grab the papers they need?

Libraries can also print and post this flyer near the tax forms. Your library can offer this FREE extra help for your low to moderate income patrons.
Free Tax Preparation Dates and Locations

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has a “My Medicare Preventive Benefits Checklist”, that can be reproduced and given our to your patrons who have Medicare benefits.

This form can be taken on a visit to the doctor or the pharmacist to help your patrons remember what is covered under Medicare and how often they need to be checked by their doctor.

The checklist can help-

1. Increase awareness and utilization of preventive benefits.
2. Encourage beneficiaries to speak to their healthcare providers about the preventive benefits available to them.
3. Encourage beneficiaries to enroll and use mymedicare.gov.

The mymedicare.gov website is an interactive fully functional site for people to use to check on their claims and for reminders of preventive benefits. Each person can request a password that will be used to access their information.

Please feel free to makes copies of the this Preventive Benefits checklist and leave them near the circulation and reference areas for your patrons’ use. Here is the link to this checklist in English

Or if your patrons would like to order their own copy of the checklist or if you need copies in Spanish use -

www.medicare.gov

Scroll down the page to find Search Tools
Click on ‘Find a Medicare Publication’
In the box on Publication page, type in 11308 and click on Go
There are two choices English and Spanish

You can choose to order a copy or print it out.

Thank you, Claudia

Claudia Koenig
Outreach Advisor
Office of Commonwealth Libraries