Cover Story

Enriching SUNY Library Collections

Features

Federated Search

EBSCO Survey

SUNY Business Intelligence Initiative

SUNYConnect Updates

How to Contact Us

Linkable Links

Union Catalog Stats
The SUNYConnect Union Catalog saw 710,913 bibliographic records added in 2008. As of Jan 5, 2009 there are 15,049,848 record in the union catalog representing holdings from 60 SUNYConnect libraries.

ALEPH Service Pack
A schedule has been established and the work begun on applying Ex Libris software patches to the SUNYConnect LMS hosted sites. The coordination and implementation of this for nearly five dozen libraries is a service provided via OLIS and ITEC. Campus contacts have received specific information on the schedule for work to be done on their development systems, timing and steps needed to be sure any edited tables are available, and production system schedules. The tasks for the 56 sites are scheduled to be completed by February 20, 2009.

LitFinder
Gale/Cengage Learning has made their LitFinder resource freely available to SUNYConnect libraries for all of 2009.

"LitFinder is international in scope, covers all time periods, and contains a wealth of primary literature content, including more than 126,500 full-text poems, 850,000 poem citations and excerpts, 5,000 full-text short stories, 2,800 full-text essays, 1,800 full-text speeches, and 1,000 full-text plays. LitFinder also includes biographies, work summaries, photographs, and a glossary. A subject navigator provides over 10,000 subject headings, and basic and advanced search modes allow users to search by keyword, author, subject, work title, work date, nationality, gender, timeline, and more."

The resource should already be appearing within your menu of Gale databases. A resource-specific URL is also available. You can contact OLIS for LitFinder pricing.

• Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
• Gale Virtual Reference Library (hosting fee).

EBSCO Offer -- POV database and Academic Search Complete
EBSCO is offering an upgrade to the suite of SUNYConnect databases. The addition would be the Points of View Reference Center and Academic Search Complete.

The upgrade from Academic Search Premier to the "Complete" version involves some "1500 additional scholarly journals and monographs...Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 6,100 full-text periodicals, including more than 5,100 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 10,100 journals and a total of more than 10,600 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc."

"Points of View Reference Center is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 250 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument),counterpoint (opposing argument), and Critical Thinking Guide."

The EBSCO offer represents as little as 20% or less of the costs for these databases/upgrades on a retail, per-campus basis.

ALEPH on Angel
SUNYConnect LMS training is online. In an effort to provide training on an as needed basis for new
staff and as a refresher, OLIS staff have created ALEPH training in the Angel course management system. "Introduction to ALEPH" and "A Librarians’ Guide to the ALEPH Web OPAC" are currently available. Next in line is "Sandbox". The roll-out schedule and course catalog for the Angel-based ALEPH training can be found in the OLIS Documents area. Check with you campus contact for course login information.