Hello OHIO WEB LIBRARY

Today marks the end of an era. As of 8:00 a.m. tomorrow public access to online databases and other information provided by OPLIN will appear at the Ohio Web Library site: http://ohioweblibrary.org/. The website http://www.oplin.org/ will morph into a support site for librarians with "information you will need about OPLIN products, services and support...where a new layout and design and a very handy search box to help you find exactly what you need."

Here is a screen shot of the new public page:

At this new site will be most of the databases we've come to rely on with the following changes:

While the relevant links on the PLYMC web site have been updated, many of the new links don't go live until tomorrow so they have not all been tested. If any links do not take you to the source you expect please send an e-mail explaining the problem to lberger@libraryvisit.org.

Database Changes Coming

In the Ohio library world July marks the season of change. OPLIN is introducing some new databases and one of our longtime databases, EBSCOhost, is getting a makeover.

The links to the new OPLIN resources are not yet available, but EBSCO has a beta preview available on their website that will allow us to become familiar with the new interface before it goes “public” to our patrons. To get a head start on how to use the new design click on the Test Drive link on your EBSCOhost New Features page from its link in the upper right corner of your EBSCOhost screen.

The new search interface is cleaner and more streamlined

By clicking on the Advance Search option, however, you get access to limiting options that permit you to refine a searrch and locate the most appropriate materials for a particular inquiry

The interface is not the only new feature with EBSCOhost 2.0. To be prepared when the update goes live learn more about the upcoming changes to the EBSCO interface by visiting the EBSCOhost 2.0 Preview Page for details and screen shots on the functionality of the redesign, and the EBSCOhost 2.0 Support Center to see the new user guide and relevant FAQs.

New look and functionality for Biography Reference Bank on WilsonWeb

Biography Reference Bank has a bright new search interface and now provides links to articles from all Wilson sources with biographical information as well as data licensed from other publishers.





Information from the important reference works Facts About the Presidents and Speeches of the American Presidents is incorporated into the appropriate biographical entries as downloadable PDF files. There are more images in the database with a nifty new image viewer that frequently offers several image options for an individual as in the case of Teddy Roosevelt:

Investigate the new interface - here is a link to a handy one-page summary of the enhanced site.

Remote access available to DemographicsNow

• One of the newer online databases available to patrons of PLYMC is DemographicsNow, a resource that offers a variety of ready-to-use reports and maps based on U.S. Census data for the state of Ohio, including current year and five-year projections. Information organized by DemographicsNow can be used to help individuals, organizations, and businesses evaluate the risks and opportunities of a particular location before undertaking any variety of projects or endeavors.
  
  Some categories of information that can be incorporated into DemographicsNow maps and reports include:
  Age
  Businesses
  Consumer expenditures
  Education
  Employment
  Housing
  Income
  Population
  Race and ethnicity
  Retail sales
  
  DemographicsNow reports are formatted in html, but can be saved from within the program as a PDF, Excel or Word document; reports and maps can also be printed or e-mailed from within the program.
  
  PLYMC cardholders outside the library can access DemographicsNow, but there is currently no provision for remote authentication through the library’s web site. This means that a PLYMC staff member must provide the patron with the username and password. The username and password is available in the Premium Databases link on the Staff Page.

Magill's Medical Guide Goes Digital

The 4th edition of Magill's Medical Guide has arrived in the Information Services Department and is also accessible online from all computers, staff and public, in our library system. Magill's Medical Guide covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders.

• Virtually all of the content in Magill’s Medical Guide is available, including illustrations and sidebars, indexes, appendixes and other back matter.


• Cross-references in the form of “See Also” boxes link directly to appropriate articles.


• Key terms, used in the body of articles, link to a complete “Glossary.”


• Citation information is included for each article.


• Content can be e-mailed using the send feature from staff computers only; patrons can print from public access computers or can save articles and searches to personalized logon areas for later retrieval.

The direct link to this new resource is http://www.health.salempress.com/ There are links on the Electronic Resources page, the Health and Medical Databases page, and there should be a link from Millennium soon.

Remote access to business databases

This year the ability to connect by remote access to two more of our online business databases comes just in time for Christmas! Thanks to new contract provisions and the assistance of TechSupport we now have links on our Electronic Databases page for D&B Million Dollar Directory and Standard & Poor's Net Advantage. This means that PLYMC patrons will be able to use the full functionality of both online sources from their home computers and can research those investment decisions any time, night or day.

D&B Million Dollar Directory provides basic information on approximately 1,600,000 U.S. and Canadian leading public and private businesses, with sales greater than $1 million or more than 20 employees. Company information includes contact details, key officers, company profiles, executive biographies, number of employees, sales, links to websites, employment trends, and facility details.

Standard & Poor's Net Advantage is a comprehensive, professional source of investment information and analysis on companies, mutual funds, market opportunities, and financial trends. This product pulls together, in one online database, information from the following S&P publications:
· Bond Guide
· Corporation Records
· CreditWeek
· Dividend Record
· Earnings Guide
· Industry Surveys
· Mutual Fund Reports
· The OUTLOOK
· Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives
· Security Dealers of North America
· Stock Guide
· Stock Reports.

Most of these sources were formerly available only at the Main Library and larger branches – now they are available at any PLYMC location or by remote access from home, school or work.

Facts on File now includes video presentations

Facts on File recently added videos to several of its component databases. PLYMC subscribes to three of the four: American History Online, Modern World History Online, and African-American History Online. Many of the videos consist of old newsreel and television footage and cover social, military, and political events of the 20th century and beyond. Check out the "Video Phone of the Future" in American History Online or "Marian Anderson Performs at the Lincoln Memorial" in African-American History Online. Videos link to related records in the database and offer an additional view into the past. These videos do not require download and can be viewed in full screen mode as well as in the traditional Flash format - they should prove popular with students who want to add an unusual element to a presentation.