National Indian Law Library August 31, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Reference Work, Top Web Sites, Uncategorized.Tags: native americans, indian law, tribal law
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The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and West, a Thomson Reuters business work to improve access to Native American tribal law available through NARF’s National Indian Law Library (NILL). Selected tribal law content will be editorially annotated by West for Westlaw and will be cross-linked to court opinions and other law on Westlaw when available. Unannotated tribal law will be freely available through the NILL website. Select materials may also be published in West print products and law books.
Content includes tribal codes, ordinances, constitutions, and intergovernmental agreements.
Find Newspapers, Magazines & Journals August 11, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in New Databases, Reference Work.Tags: electronic journals, full text, Serial Solutions
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We have a development site for our new product from Serial Solutions – Find Newspapers, Magazines and Journals. We still need to get the linking turned on in the databases and the MARC records loaded into the catalog for all our electronic subscriptions. This site is good if you already have citation information and need to know which database to find the full text or to see which of the databases index a specific title. The first step of this project is just the electronic content. For the second step I would like to see the print and microfilm holdings included. Would you also like to see this content?
Note: not all of our databases are listed here as some of them contain only ebooks and not articles. Please do not use this for a list of databases, if you do you will be missing some.
You are welcome to give it a try and feel free to make any comments you like. I’ll keep you updated on a launch date for the patrons.
WebFeat Tweaks June 12, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Databases - Updates, Reference Work.Tags: federated search engines, webfeat
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After reviewing the usage of our federated search – WebFeat the Virtual Library made a few minor tweaks to help improve the results patrons get when they use it to search the databases.
- Changed the ranking of articles to Relevancy ranking from grouped. (This was done to both Kids and Adult webfeat). Previous results we presented by database groups. This grouping was random as it depended on how fast the database responded to the query. Our current Library Catalog uses relevancy ranking so now it will more consistent as well as providing the information the patron wants without having to do so much digging. Depending on the search this usually brings the most recent articles to the top of the list. A good example to try is Sonia Sotomayor searching Magazine and Journal articles and Newspaper and Current Events.
- Changed some of the default selections under the subject headings. Patrons should notice a better refined results set.
- Added and deleted a few databases from the Subject areas.
- Encyclopedia Articles – WorldBook was added
- Informacion en Espanol – added Hispanic Saber
- Something Good To Read – added Read the Books and Reader’s Advisor; NetLibrary eBooks deleted.
- General Reference – Added Historical Statistics of the U.S. and Discover
- Arts & Entertainment – added Credo Reference, OverDrive Movies and Music links; deleted Crossword Puzzle Solver (found in Credo Reference)
- Careers and Education – added Gale Virtual Reference Library
- History – added American Revolutionary Digital Archives, Slavery Digital Archive; deleted Proquest Obits.
- Lands and Culture – added African American Experience and Daily Life Through History; deleted the CIA World Factbook, State Geography, Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia of States and Encyclopedia of Nations (these are found in the Gale subcollection of Society and Culture so they were being searched twice.)
- Literature and Poetry – deleted netLibrary and Readers Advisor
- Science and Technology added InfoTrac OneFile and Today’s Science; deleted New Book of Knowledge
Hopefully, these refinements will make it easier for patrons to find what the information they are looking for in the databases.
Searching the Deep Web May 26, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Reference Work.Tags: Deep Web, Internet Searching, Invisible Web
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Experts say search engines such as Yahoo! and Google only pick up about 1% of the information available on the Internet. The rest of that information is considered to be hidden in the deep web, also referred to as the invisible web. So how can you find all the rest of this information? This list - 100 Useful Tips and Tools to Research the Deep Web offers 100 tips and tools to help you get the most out of your Internet searches.
Resume Writing April 3, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Databases - Featured, Featured InfoGuide, Reference Work.Tags: InfoGuides, job hunting, jobs, resume writing, vault career library
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After reading the article Downturn Puts New Stresses on Libraries this week in The New York Times I thought today would be a good time to remind staff about a couple of online resources we have which could help patrons looking for jobs.
- Resume Maker - this “database” allows patrons to write their resume and store it online. What’s really nice for those who want to submit a resume online it puts in the correct format.
- Vault Career Library - offers tons of advice on finding jobs, interviewing and writing resumes.
- InfoGuide – Jobs and Careers
March is Women’s History Month February 27, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Featured InfoGuide, Reference Work.Tags: holidays, Women_in_history
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Be sure to checkout the ideas and resources for Women’s History month available on The Librarian’s Brain. Upcoming articles will cover Women’s History resources and March Holidays around the world. Also remember the library’s InfoGuide Women’s History.
Reference Search Engine for Patrons February 26, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Reference Work.Tags: reference, search engines
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There is a group in the NewYork area which is working on a concept for a grant to build a “search engine” which will search vetted websites. This search engine could then be embedded into library websites, catalogs, blogs, etc. The mission of the project is to build an application which will “find credible information in the digital age”. View a short video for additional information about the idea.
They are looking for letters of support for their grant. If you would like to learn more about Reference Extract please visit the website. There is a sample letter there for you to follow and/or you can leave your comments about the project.
A Must Read for All Public Service Staff January 26, 2009
Posted by virtualnotes in Reference Work.Tags: public service, reference service
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David King makes a great point on how libraries are answering patron’s questions. Read his article:
Web 2.0 Success Story December 20, 2008
Posted by virtualnotes in Reference Work.Tags: LibraryThing, web 2.0
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Just thought I would share with you this interesting story from Dr. John Jaeger, Reference Librarian at Dalla Baptist University:
One of our librarians, Scott Jeffries, shared this success story related to using LibraryThing. I thought you might like to see it as well.
Last Friday, I received a call at the reference desk from a student looking for a book. The problem was that this student did not know the title of the book or the author. All she could tell me was the book was a collection of letters between a London antiquities dealer and an American writer and that they discussed literature and building a collection. I made a couple of rudimentary attempts while she was on the phone but I was getting no where. I told her that I would have to call her back after I searched a little more. I thought this might take some time but I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to locate this book.
Here were some of the terms I punched into Google and Amazon to try to locate the book – London literature antiques dealer collection writing letter. All of these terms will trigger many results dealing with antiques and shops and purchasing and dealing but I was getting no where near a book that resembled the one I was looking for. The closest I got was a book called Letters from London but this was not the correct book. My search in WorldCat was giving me incorrect results as well. I was getting frustrated and was about ready to call this student to let her know that I couldn’t distinguish which book she was looking for until I thought I would try one more thing. (more…)
