Friday, September 23, 2005

NPR Transcript

Yesterday I wrote about the Bird Flu news story on NPR. I checked LexisNexis before 9AM. The transcript for Morning Edition hadn't been posted yet. I checked Lexis Nexis today and yesterdays Morning Edition transcript was posted! It had been posted by 10AM yesterday.

It's interesting to read the transcript- listening provides one set of facts, reading confirms or corrects what was "heard".

To get to Lexis Nexis in GALILEO
GALILEO
....Databases A-Z (tab at the far right next to the K-12 triangle)
......Jump to L (#93 in NMTC GALILEO)
.........Select Lexis Nexis
...........To find NPR transcripts:
..................Click on the Guided News Search tab
.....................Select News Transcripts in Select News Category
.....................Select National Public Radio Transcripts in Select News Source
.....................Enter a search term
.....................Narrow to a specific date range
Click Search

The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Bird Flu

Listening to NPR news in the morning gives me something to think about. This morning there was a story about Bird Flu (Avian Flu).

I went to Access Science @ McGraw Hill in GALILEO for information about Bird Flu. Some information is available.
I went to Lexis Nexis hoping I could find the transcript for this mornings NPR story (it wasn't posted as of 8:10 AM). I did find 101 articles about Bird Flu (Avian Flu) listed for the past week in Medical News. You might find the transcript later today.
A Google search for "Bird Flu" turned up the CDC (Center for Disease Control) and WHO (World Health Organization) sites at the top of the list.

Lots of information available- what will you do with it?

The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Happy 10th Birthday, GALILEO

Dear GALILEO Users,

Today we celebrate GALILEO's 10th Birthday! ...

When GALILEO was launched on September 21, 1995, it was an early leader in providing centralized access to a specialized collection of full-text resources. Today, users' expectations have increased along with the volume of information available on the Internet. GALILEO users want
GALILEO to be simpler to use --- this message comes through in user comments, survey results, usability tests, and in feedback from librarians. "Why can't I search everything in one search?" is a common refrain. The Google experience has shaped user's expectations for accessibility and convenience.

Georgia librarians have been involved in a variety of product review,
investigation, and discussion activities over the past several years in
order to determine how the GALILEO infrastructure should be changed to allow multiple approaches for libraries to position content and access in the most effective way.

Specific goals and technologies have been identified to upgrade
GALILEO's existing functionality. Additional product review, approval by participating consortial communities was received and a final proposal was then presented to and approved by the GALILEO Steering Committee in June 2005. and the approval of a three year implementation and cost proposal by the GALILEO Steering Committee in June 2005.

The planned GALILEO Upgrade will use four new products:
* EZproxy (http://www.usefulutilities.com/)
* WebFeat (http://webfeat.org/)
* SFX (http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/sfx.htm)
* MetaLib (http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/metalib.htm)

The Upgrade will provide the following enhancements:
* A single search box to search across multiple databases simultaneously
* The ability to link from a citation without full text to an
article in another database that does provide full text
* Journal lists for all the titles in GALILEO databases
* Interfaces with a customized look and feel for each user community
* More customization of menus
* Access to content and features from library websites, online
courseware, campus portals, and other environments that better
meet user needs
* Enhanced opportunities for user personalization

The GALILEO Upgrade is a complex project that will be implemented in phases over the next three years.

Federated searching will be provided first within the existing GALILEO system through the WebFeat federated search service, followed by linking through the SFX product and additional remote access support from the EZproxy product.

These initial deployments will be made available first for review and feedback
by the GALILEO Reference Committee and then for general review in the GALILEO demonstration system via announcements to the GALILEO listserv
prior to being moved into production. Subsequent phases will involve
community working groups in the development of customized interfaces,
also involving an additional product, MetaLib, for the academic library
community infrastructure.

You can keep up with the projects and plans for the Upgrade through the
GALILEO listserv as well as the project website http://www.usg.edu/galileo/about/planning/projects/upgrade/. As features become available, training sessions will be offered to assist librarians and library staff in understanding and utilizing new tools and techniques. GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online was named for GALILEO to evoke the concept of learning and discovery. As this project evolves, we will all learn about targets and sources; users perceptions, expectations, and use; and integration with other technologies. These tools are not perfect, but they will support our efforts to better connect the user with the information needed at the time of need. Because GALILEO represents so many different type and size libraries and user constituencies, vendors will be very interested in GALILEO's experiences, as they work to improve these tools.

As in the past 10 years, GALILEO will continue to grow and change to
meet user needs and to complement the services provided by Georgia's
Libraries. Thanks for your support, encouragement, and for all the
feedback and work you will do over the next years to effectively serve
our users.

Happy Birthday GALILEO!!!!

Merryll

P.S. Information sessions are being scheduled that are open to anyone
in the GALILEO communities who wants to learn more about this exciting
new project to "Upgrade GALILEO for the 21st Century." These sessions
will be offered via webconferencing and conference calls given the
desire to limit travel because of the high cost and potential shortage
of gasoline. Announcements about the projects will be made to this list
as well.



--
Merryll S. Penson
Executive Director, Library Services
Office of Information and Instructional Technology
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
2500 Daniells Bridge Road
Building 300
Athens, GA 30606
706-583-2007 (voice)
706-583-2294 (fax)
Merryll.penson@usg.edu
http://www.galileo.usg.edu
http://gil.usg.edu


The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

GaCollege411

In GALILEO there is a link to GaCollege411, a site put up by the state to help Georgia students (and their parents) prepare for college.
On this site are practice tests for the SAT, GRE, and Compass and Asset tests.

GALILEO
…tab for Georgia (4th tab from the left)
…..Georgia A-Z (down at the bottom of the drop down tab)
……GaCollege411 (#13 on the list) also can be reached through http://www.gacollege411.org/
Right hand side is a button for College Test Prep (4th button down)

You can take practice tests at home by going through GALILEO or directly to the GaCollege411

The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.

Monday, September 19, 2005

Talk Like a Pirate

On LM_NET, Karen DeFrank reminded us that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day Ahoy, ye maties!!

When you go to the site you'll find an advertisement for a new book: Pirattitude! : So you wanna be a pirate? : Here's how! - John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers.

Book Index With Reviews in GALILEO has information on this title.
World Cat in GALILEO tells you which library owns the book- if you'd like to borrow it through InterLibrary Loan (just ask your librarian).

The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.

Google searches Blogs

Last week Google introduced a new search feature- Blog Search . Of course, I looked for North Metro Technical College and View From the Library.

Yes, someone has mentioned this blog in their blog. They did have a concern about searching in Encyclopedia Britannica for a specific date (it was an August blog on Women's voting rights). I learned something from their entry- EB has a "This day in history" link (far right side of the screen in a yellow column) which can be searched by date!

Now you know and so do I!

The password for home use of GALILEO is available to the citizens of Georgia from your librarian. Some resources noted in this BLOG are only available to NMTC patrons.