Fun with Footnote

Footnote.com has been added to our online database collection, and we have eliminated the little-used America’s Obituaries and Death Notices. (Most of the information in the latter is available in other sources that we own, and our current budget situation does not allow the luxury of having both.) Footnote debuted in 2007, and like other databases, digitizes more content each day. It has partnered with the National Archives, and highlights include:

Revolutionary War service records, pensions, and bounty-land applications
Naturalization files for many courts
Passport applications
Civil War widow’s pensions
Historic newspapers

It also allows genealogists and historians to create content and network with each other, is organized by timelines, and has a wonderful image viewer. It is available at Main Library only, stop by the second floor genealogy section and try it out!

A few examples of things I found:

• the above page from the San Francisco Chronicle, which Footnote allowed me to crop and save so I could just get the part about my grandmother, top left


• my great-grandmother's Oath of Allegiance (above center)


• friends' Nebraska homesteading records (not pictured)

Below is the whole article from the Chronicle:
-Barb Smith

Gale PowerSearch Gets a New Look

Gale PowerSearch 2.0 is the Gale database product platform that allows users to cross-search many Gale periodical databases, some of their Resource Center products (for example, Business & Company Resource Center) as well as electronic reference books (from the Gale Virtual Reference Library) using one, simple interface. PowerSearch 2.0, is the latest version of the platform and offers a number of social networking enhancements such as

the ability to create named user accounts, Web 2.0 sharing tools, ReadSpeaker technology, downloadable audio versions of articles in MP3 format, and more. Click here to learn more about the new features of this federated search interface to which we've migrated.

Database Changes -- Part 3

LITERARY RESEARCH BY THE BOOK?....Not anymore! The PLYMC digital library has expanded to include a number of literary reference resources now available 24/7. In addition to Something About the Author, which we've had online since last fall, we and our patrons now have access to two additional literary databases--and the neatest thing is that all three Gale/Cengage databases are cross-searchable.

The Dictionary of Literary Biography Online is the digital version of the standard literary resource for biographical and critical material on the lives, works and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres. All 420+ volumes of the three DLB series--Dictionary of Literary Biography, DLB Yearook and DLB Documentary Series--are included in the database. This is an invaluable source for tracing the work and reputation of an author.

Literature Criticism Online presents the complete literary commentary from two major critical reference series--Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC) and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC). CLC covers current, active authors or those who died after 1999, while TCLC covers authors 1901--1999. This is one of the finest sources to use for commentary on classic and contemporary books, poems and plays.

Use the Gale Power Search link on our database page and navigate down to the Literary Cross Search icon. Coming soon to our digital literature reference collection will be Contemporary Authors--new volumes will be electronic editions. We have not converted our print archive of this series to virtual format, so that series at present is not cross-searchable with these other online literary collections. Remember that you can use Gale's online Literary Index to

find which volumes of Contemporary Authors contain your desired material and then you can pull that material from your print or electronic archives.

There are plenty of self-training materials on the databases to help you familiarize yourselves with these new sources until we can arrange for some vendor training. If you're inclined to do online training, check out the calendar for the July -- September Webinar Training Sessions. However, the Gale Support site offers a variety of other user guides--including guided tours (webcasts), tip sheets, navigation guides and sample searches--for all of their products, not just the literature sources. Check out the Product Information Page at http://support.gale.com. The webcasts are particularly useful. Here's a sample guided tour to browsing the LCO database at http://www.tinygaleurl.com?duci. There are also a wealth of user guides for Something About the Author--so we can all do a little catch up training on our own as time permits.

Database Changes -- Part 2

Researching those Decade assignments just got a whole lot easier with the addition of PCU to our database subscriptions! Pop Culture Universe is a fascinating digital library of information on American and world popular culture--both past and present. Teachers are increasingly using popular culture to engage students in reading, writing and research and this database provides a safe way for students to investigate topics of great appeal without the bias, advertising, suggestive content or questionable authorship of commercial and fan sites. Content includes more than 300 full-text volumes of material. The ABOUT PCU page has a series of 4 short videos on getting started, searching PCU, browsing PCU and search results in PCU. Another value-added element of Greenwood databases is the Skills Center page, where you’ll find tools for both inside and outside the classroom and library. The three areas of the Skills Center are Student Resources, Teacher Corner and Reading Room. Their purpose is, first, to improve students’ research and writing skills and, second, to enhance the value of Greenwood’s databases. Explore the fun inherent in studying pop culture--it'll put a grin on your face. As one of the endorsements on the website said: "Pop Culture Universe. If it’s…Peachy, The Bee’s Knees, Swell, Nifty, Slick, Mean, Smooth, The Most, Cool, Neat-O, Groovy, Far Out, Dyn-o-mite, Rad, Bitchin’, Mint, Stupid Fresh, Dope, Fly, En Fuego, Phat, Off The Hook, Hot, or Awesome…you’ve come to the right place."

Database Changes at PLYMC -- Part 1

I've been updating the database page on the library's website and want to invite you to take a look and (more importantly) begin using our new resources. We had a rigorous spring database preview event this year and I'd like to thank all of you who participated. Your suggestions, opinions and "votes" helped select and deselect databases for our electronic collection. In this first round of additions please note:

Global Issues in Context brings users a balanced assortment of articles, reference materials, original documents, video, audio, maps, images, statistics and more to support their quest for current, authoritative and reliable information on the nations and peoples of the world. Take the Guided Tour and use the Search Tips to learn more about this spectacular resource that will be useful to students, travelers, business persons and all who have an interest in world events.

Our subscription to Global Issues in Context comes with a year's free subscription to the History Resource Center, with its individually or cross-searchable component databases for U.S. or World History.
History Resource Center: U.S. brings together a broad collection of full-text periodicals, reference works, primary documents and scholarly analysis into a virtual library covering the most-studied events, issues and current information about U.S. history. Included are timelines and chronologies and special research guides for students and faculty. History Resource Center: World is a comprehensive collection of full-text periodicals, reference works and primary source documents covering world history topics from pre-antiquity to the present. This virtual library provides credible multicultural, global and research-based content to study world history. It is cross-searchable with History Resource Center: U.S. and like it, has a research guide for students and faculty. There is an extensive section of Help Using History Resource Center available on both databases.

I'll be reporting on more changes in upcoming blog posts, but in the meantime...Have at it!

--Diane

Free Resources from Gale Cengage During March for Women's History Month

Get to know the women who've changed our world....

Resources abound on this Gale database dealing with women's history that is free during the month of March to celebrate WHM. Find activities, biographies, featured titles, links, quizzes, and a timeline that goes to 2008. Also included is a special resource--Women's Rights on Trial, a source that contains 101 key trials of historical importance to American women since the settlement of the colonies. Find new biographies of the women on the campaign trail in 2008, as well as new biographies of the women who took the 2009 National Women's History Project honors. Check back each week for a new women's history quiz. All in all, a great resource for students and teachers, check out Women's History Month so you're ready for those March assignments.

Remote Access Now Available for Several Databases

Long-awaited remote access is now available for PLYMC patrons to several of our proprietary databases. American National Biography, Salem Health, Salem History and World Vital Records can now be accessed from the comfort of home. If you haven't checked out these databases yet, now is the time to do so--there is great information in them to recommend to your patrons.