OPAC Call Slip Bug w/ Newton Faculty DVDs

Eagle Eye Amy B. alerted me to a problem one of her patrons had in requesting something in the OPAC, and, as a result, I've uncovered an odd bug that everyone should be aware of.

If a patron is trying to request a DVD for intercampus loan, through the OPAC, and there is a Newton Faculty DVD holding on the record, there is a small chance that the request will be denied and they'll get that "Your Patron Initiated Request failed" message.

As best as I can tell, here's what's happening. The Newton Faculty DVD location is not available for intercampus loan. (It's Call Slip that's running this.) If Call Slip latches onto the Newton Faculty DVD holding first, instead of seeing that it's unavailable and just rolling over to the next available holding, it's just denying the request.

So, if you encounter a patron having this problem, go into Circulation and place the request for them on the exact item record that they want. That will work just fine. Then, drop me a line with the title you're having problems with and the barcode of the item you placed the request on. I won't bore you with the details, but I believe that part of this problem is caused by the MFHD ID numbers, and I may be apply a little manual fix to make sure that it doesn't happen in the future on that bib record.

I'm going to report this to Ex Libris, but there's no telling when or if they'll fix it. So, just be on the lookout for it and tell me whenever you find an instance of this behavior. Just let me know if you have any questions!

Database assesment tools

JISC Academic Database Assessment Tool -site provides access to detailed information and title lists for major bibliographic and full text databases, and key service information for database and eBook content platforms. Allows to compare title lists, interface features, etc.
E-Reference Ratings - Library Journal rating of electronic resources in 16 subject areas. Rating criteria include scope, writing, design, ease of use, etc.

Library of Congress Subject Heading Change

Thought that you all might be interested in a recent LCSH change that I came across while doing authority control. Alien labor has become the far nicer-sounding Foreign workers. You could subdivide the earlier heading geographically, and that hasn't changed, so you'll see headings like, Foreign workers, Guatemalan -- Nebraska, and so on.

Just let me know if you have any questions.

GSU Copyright Case Development

A very intriguing protective order was granted in the GSU copyright infringement case. The Scholarly Communications @ Duke blog has a glaring typo, but a great summary.

New Systems LibGuide

Hi all. Just wanted to let you know that I've made a LibGuide for systems documents.

http://guides.gpc.edu/systems

You will also be able access the page through the Library Technical Services Department pages, by clicking on any of the "Systems" links. (As soon as I can get them up there.)

The page includes procedures documents and archived reports that were previously on a password-protected page. They contain no personally-identifiable data, so we thought that you all might like to have a peek at them. These reports are updated each semester, the first of the 2009s will be up there soon.

If there's anything else that you'd like to see on this page, please feel free to let me know. Hope you enjoy it!

EBSCO SmartText Searching - GALILEO response

I heard back from GALILEO regarding my previous post. Yes, the automatic switch to SmartText Searching is a new feature in the EBSCOHost databases. Some of us at Clarkston have concerns about this more Google-like search which may retrieve hundreds of thousands of results. The automatic switch occurs when a boolean search retrieves zero results. Our students have enough trouble selecting good articles without having the results multiplied and diluted. I've confirmed with Tessa that this feature can be turned off at individual institutions, so perhaps we should discuss this at our various libraries and then the Reference Committee can decide whether to turn the default off. I think we would still be able to use SmartText Searching (it's an option below the "boolean/phrase" default on the EBSCO search page) but it would not automatically switch.

Ebsco SmartText Searching

Has anyone else observed this "problem" which I blogged on the Clarkston Reference blog today? Here's a link to the post.

GALILEO Database Listings

A while back, someone asked me if there was a way to figure out if a specific institution had access to a specific GALILEO database. At the time, I couldn't find anything, and I still can't find anything that precise. However, I did just run across a page that lists databases and the consortia that have access to them. If you haven't seen it before, it's here.

http://www.usg.edu/galileo/about/inst/db_lists/

It doesn't drill down to the institution level, but it does give you something to go on.

Baker and Taylor and E-books

Baker and Taylor is now offering e-books from Gale. The press-realise is at http://www.ybp.com/newsarchive/0309_gale.html.

New Galileo video tutorials

New Galileo nice and short video tutorials are at http://www.usg.edu/galileo/help/searching/tutorials.phtml. We can link directly to specific tutorials or embed them into LibGuides pages.

Credo Reference Review

Good review of Credo Reference, one of our electronic resources trials, in February 15th's LJ.

ACRL Requests

Hi all,

I am going to ACRL Convention next week, and wanted to offer my "delivery services" (via my suitcase) if anyone needs me to visit any vendors, etc. to bring back information. Also if there are any particular sessions that you've heard about that you want me to try and get to, please let me know. LibGuides is one topic I will be bringing some info back on (at Eva's request), and I'm also planning on going to luncheons with EBSCO and Springer. I'm happy to try to get to anything, so please just email or call.

Let the Trials Begin!

The Electronic Resources selection pages are now finalized.

The official trial period is March 2 through March 31, but some of the trials are already up, and some are ending early. Anything like this has been noted in bold type under the name of the resource.

Please be aware that there are two different pages this year, one for resources with trials.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/db/databasetrials.htm

And one for resources we are considering without trials.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/db/nontrials.htm

There are also hyperlinks on each page, leading to the other one, and separate printer-friendly lists.

It was originally thought that the resources we weren't doing trials of were all ebooks, but some turned out to be databases, so I have noted in parenthesis what is what. (With Credo Reference, I had no idea what to call it.)

We've got a mix of pricing plans this year, subscription and perpetual access (purchase) models, so please pay careful attention to that column. With the addition of ebooks, there are a lot more caveats to consider, so be sure not to miss the "Special Considerations for Some E-Resources" document.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or encounter any problems, and happy evaluating!

GPC Libraries on Twitter and Facebook!

Just wanted to let you know that Clarkston's new Circulation Librarian, Ameet Doshi, has gotten us set up on Twitter and Facebook. If you'd like to check it out, I've put links on the Ask a Librarian page, under "Chat with a Librarian".

I don't know if Ameet needs any help managing these new web outposts of GPC Libraries, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind hearing from you.

Clarkston Water Leak

As you may have already heard, Clarkston has been visited by its now annual water leak. This time it got the circulating stacks, call numbers N through P.

Books that were in that area and not water damaged have been temporarily relocated to trucks on the right side of the aisle. Books that have been too damaged to circulate have been given the location "Clarkston Water Damaged" in the OPAC, which should prevent patrons from requesting them. Eventually, these records will be removed from the OPAC, but we need to leave them in there for the time being to run reports on the damage.

Note: This location will prevent students from requesting these items in the OPAC, but I have no way of preventing librarians and staff from requesting them in the Circulation Module, so please double check the location of any Clarkston book before putting a request on it in the back-end. If the location is Clarkston Water Damaged, please inform the patron that these books have been permanently damaged by a water leak and removed from circulation.

And please let me know if you have any trouble with the OPAC or the back-end not behaving as expected with these items.

Thanks, everyone!

Holds, Recalls, and Call Slips. Oh My!

Hi all. There's been a little confusion of late, about the ins and outs of holds, call slips, and recalls. It is all pretty unintuitive, so I've done my best to break it down here.

Hold = This can only be done by a librarian or certain staff members, through the Circulation module. A hold only works its magic when an item is discharged. That's when that "Item on Hold" slip prints out. So, you should never ever ever place a hold on an item that is not charged. That hold will never announce itself and will expire as the item languishes on the shelf. If an item is checked out, however, and another patron wants it, the hold is the way to go. Pay attention to which kind of hold you place, a title hold (for all items on the title) or a copy hold (for one particular item). Keep in mind a title hold essentially puts a hold on every item, and the OPAC display will reflect such. Also, please make careful note of the expiration date of the hold. It defaults to 10 days after the date the hold is placed, which really isn't very long. The hold could easily expire before the item is discharged, so I'd recommend setting that date at least a month out. [Update: If an item is In Process, a hold can be placed on it, by a librarian or staff member, in the Circulation module. Patrons cannot place holds on In Process items in the OPAC. Never place a call slip or a recall on an In Process item, only a hold.]

Recall = Again, only available to librarians in the Circulation module. This is kind of similar to a hold, except that a recall notice probably prints out for the patron who currently has the material charged, and they may start to accrue fines if they don't return the item by the recall date. (I'd have to really scrutinize the circ matrix to see if that's actually the case.) You can also place a title or copy recall. I don't think that we're really using recall too often, which is probably for the best. I'm not sure how well it really works, and I think the general consensus is that the patron who originally charged the item should have their fair time with it. [Update: Recalls are not currently enabled in Voyager and the Circulation Committee has chosen not to enable them at this time.]

Call slip = Call slip is available to librarians, and some staff members, in the Circulation module, but also to patrons in GIL@GPC. When a patron places a request for something in the OPAC, they're automatically using call slip. Whether from the Circulation module or from the OPAC, you can only call slip items that have a status of "Not Charged." If you try to call slip something that is charged, you'll get an error message. Call slips are automatically copy level actions, you cannot place a call slip for every item on a title. So, call slip should be used for moving specific, and uncharged, items from one campus to another.

A little caveat, don't try to put both a hold and a call slip on the same item/title. If the item is charged, you'll get an error message when you do the call slip, and if the item isn't charged, the hold will cause call slip to lock up, resulting in a cryptic error message. (Whenever you have a call slip that won't fill, it's probably got a hold on it too. Just make sure that the hold and call slip are for the same person, then cancel the hold.)

Nutshell version: If it's charged or has an In Process status, do a hold. If it's not charged, do a call slip. Never, ever do both. In the back end, you may place a hold or a call slip, but patrons requesting something in the OPAC are always doing a call slip.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Update: Mary Ann has graciously shared the handout she's created for Dunwoody's circ and reference desks, if anyone would like to use it. It's a great quick reference.

By Popular Demand: OPAC Tweaks!

As you may or may not know, with the way the server sites are set up, I don't have a lot of direct control over GIL@GPC and one of the things I have no access to is the general design and layout. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't send me suggestions. I do have a man on the inside, who, while very busy, has been gracious enough to make some changes for me that I think you'll all be very happy with.

1.) On the Exact Search page, we now have a little extra clarification for the title and author searches, about last name first name and dropping initial articles. I notice that it's all in bold though, and I'm wondering if it would read better if only the index name (i.e. "Title," "Journal Title," etc.) were in bold. Let me know what you think.

2.) When you have a failed search and get the "No matches were found in this catalog" message, we've now got a note about dropping initial articles and the bullet point about asking a librarian for help is actually hyperlinked to the Ask a Librarian page.

Of course, we'll be getting a brand new OPAC with our Voyager 7 upgrade, which I have every reason to believe is coming up in December, but I'll try to make sure that these tweaks carry over.

Getting the NAC of It

I've been told that everyone might like a little plain English explanation of the Network Access Control (NAC) project being rolled out this week by OIT. Now, I'm no authority on this, but as I understand it, the NAC basically authenticates you on the network, registering your computer's MAC address and verifying that you are who you say you are when you log in to any GPC-owned PC.

In conjunction with this, OIT is installing a little program called the "Cisco Clean Access Agent." It will run in the background and renew your information once your credentials time out. You may have seen this pop up on your desktop and in your system tray recently. The icon is a little green square with a key inside.

If the NAC has been rolled out on your campus, but the PC you are trying to use does not have the Cisco Clean Access Agent yet, you will have to open a browser window and log in there (using the same login and password that you do for email) in order to gain access to the network.

All this is intended to prevent non-GPC folks from hopping on the network without authentication and making mischief. It also allows the network guys in OIT to know what port each user is logging in through. Basically, it's a security measure, and a very good one I'm sure. For the libraries though, it presents the problem of how to provide computer access to community users lacking GPC credentials. I haven't heard a solution on that yet, but I'm sure OIT will work something out for us. Also, I have heard that the initial roll-out on Decatur campus has been a little bumpy, so brace yourselves for students not being able to log into the library PCs, and report these problems to the Help Desk as they arise.

That's the extent of my knowledge, but I'll happily contact OIT for further clarification if anyone wants it.

Delicious anyone?

I don't know how many of us use Delicious for bookmarking, but I've been using it for a little while. I miss the old days of having a collaborative set of bookmarks available at the reference desk. There are times when I just can't remember a website I've used before or I don't have time to weed through Google. So, if anyone is interested...I've created a delicious account for GPC Librarians. I don't want to share the username and password in this public arena, but if you are interested, just drop me an email and I'll send the info to you. I'm also interested in knowing if any of you are already using delicious or another social bookmarking utility at the reference desk.

Solinet Web 2.0 Conference

Solinet is sponsoring a one-day conference "Libraries in a Web 2.0 World"
It'll be held on Wednesday, September 24 in the Clayton State University, Center for Continuing Education in Morrow, GA.

That Which We Call NonPrint, By Any Other Name ...

As you all may know, the NonPrint department is now a part of the Clarkston library, rather than a unit of Technical Services. I’ve just edited all of the locations to reflect this. So, NonPrint Popular DVD is now Clarkston Popular DVD, and so forth. You may still see NonPrint On Order here and there, I can’t change that to Clarkston On Order since that location already exists, but, as we finish up the NonPrint backlog, those will shake out.

Now, these changes merely affect the way these locations display in the OPAC and the staff side of Voyager. The location codes cannot be edited and will remain NPPopDVD, and so forth. I’m fairly certain that the catalogers are the only people using the location codes, but, just in case, I wanted to mention that they’re staying the same.

NonPrint still needs to keep their happening location, NONPRINT CIRC DESK, and their own Callslip queue. But, outside of that, everything that once said “NonPrint” should now say “Clarkston.” If you don’t see these changes in the staff side of Voyager, just close the client and restart it.

Please let me know if I missed anything. Thanks!

Virginia Yawn Is Retiring

Great for her, but very sad for us. Virginia has announced her retirement and her last day will be July 31.

For those of you who don't know her, Virginia is a part-time librarian in Technical Services, and catalogs our sound recordings (which includes music CDs and audio books). She's been with the college for almost 30 years, and we will miss her dearly.

Error Reporting Comes To the OPAC!

Just wanted to let you all know that I've asked the server site to set up an error reporting form in the OPAC and it's now up and running. Just click on the image below for a full screen shot.



Right now, technical restrictions only allow this form to be emailed an internal address, i.e. Jim @ the server site, but he'll forward anything he receives to me and I'll take care of it.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Update: To clarify, this form is to be used for correctable errors, like the wrong class number, no holdings on a bib, "No Information Available" on an item record, something misspelled, etc. Continue to report OPAC bugs directly to me with a complete description (including the date and time you encountered the bug and what you were doing right before), and copy and paste the URL from the page giving you the error.

Meebo widget in library OPAC

I came across an interesting blog post about incorporating a Meebo widget into library catalog "no hits" pages. It seems like a really cool idea that would not only help students with catalog searches but also promote our chat reference.

One OPAC Bug Unmasked

Well, as I'm sure most of you know, we've been plagued by OPAC bugs for a while, and the folks at the server site are as stumped as we are. But, we have had one small ray of light peek through. The bug that causes the Item Status to display as "No Information Available" has been isolated. It is an issue with the current version of WebVoyage, and Ex Libris has been made aware of it. Apparently, it only occurs when you have exactly 15 unsuppressed holdings records (MFHDs) attached to one bib. Click on the image below for an example. (You'll just see one MFHD in this .jpg, not all 15.)


I imagine that this doesn't happen very often, but if you see it, please drop me a line and I'll patch on bubble gum and bailing wire in the back end to make it look purty in the OPAC. And, as always, thanks for your patience.

Free online classes

Interesting free online classes from SirsiDynix Institute

Trends in e-learning: What does it mean for libraries?
May 21, 2008 | 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Beyond Web 2.0: Taking the social read-write Web to the enterprise level
Jun 13, 2008 | 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Here is the link to register.

Weeding reference collection

As I weed Decatur reference collection I keep running in to the same issues over and over again:
- Print reference sources that are now available online (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, Facts-on-File Yearbook): should we replace print with online. Benefits are obvious: we’ll gain space by weeding print volumes; we’ll gain remote access that will be beneficial for both on-ground and distance learning students. Maybe we’ll get students to actually use reference sources because online is always more attractive to them than print. The main drawback of course is the possibility of loosing funding to maintain subscription or publisher going out of business. And the main question is: Do we need to keep the print volumes even if we have full-text online access?
- Print reference sources that have FREE full-text available online. The obvious examples are Statistical Abstract of the United States, Economic Report of the president, Official Congressional Directory, etc. It would be really nice to have links to these free resources in our OPAC. We can all feel better about retaining only current year because it will be obvious for both us and students how to access historical data.
- With those multi-volume monsters like Congressional Quarterly Almanac or Who’s Who maybe we can come up with some agreement about what campus retain historical volumes, so the rest of us can retain current edition only without feeling guilty about it.
I don’t know if any of it makes any sense to anybody, but I would really like to know how other librarians feel about weeding their reference collections and what decisions they make.

Britannica online training

Galileo is offering Britannica online training. Britannica sessions have been tailored for
individual audiences: academic, public, elementary, and middle/high
school libraries. To register for one or more of these sessions, please
visit:
http://www.usg.edu/galileo/help/library/training.

Britannica sessions
April 23, 10:00-11:15 a.m. (Middle and High School)
April 23, 2:00-3:15 p.m. (Elementary)
April 24, 10:00-11:15 a.m. (Academic Libraries)
April 24, 2:00-3:15 p.m. (Public Libraries)

If you have any questions or need more information, please use GALILEO's
Contact Us feature or contact OIIT Customer Services at helpdesk@usg.edu.

Changes to College Web Servers (And What That Means to Us)

OIT split the GPC web server into three distinct servers (www.gpc.edu, facstaff.gpc.edu, and student.gpc.edu) on Sunday, March 30th. This will have no affect on the library webpages, but, if you maintain an individual page, your URL will have changed to facstaff.gpc.edu/~yourname. For example, my webpage used to be:

http://www.gpc.edu/~tminchew

And now it is:

http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~tminchew

You'll need to make the necessary corrections to your links and images within your websites to point to the correct server.

Also you'll need to change the FTP host in Frontpage, Dreamweaver, CoreFTP, etc. from www.gpc.edu to facstaff.gpc.edu.

OIT will be doing automatic redirections until April 29th. Redirections will be discontinued on April 30th. Therefore, any web sites not corrected prior to April 30th may contain broken images and links.

OIT has also prepared a handy document to help us with the transition.

Repeat: This does not affect the URLs of the library webpages, but it may affect links within those pages, so please report anything you see to that page's webmaster.

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

New GALILEO Interface

Reminder that the new GALILEO interface goes live this coming Monday, March 17th.

I've written a little bit about the new interface on the Clarkston Reference Blog (see link on this blog page) trying to encourage input from others about how they plan to teach it either in one on one or classroom settings. So now, I'm encouraging the rest of you to add your input here.

Let the Database Trials Begin! (FY09 Edition)

Hi everyone. I just wanted to remind you that the official trial period for the databases has begun.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/db/databasetrials.htm

I checked them all when I got in this morning, and they all appear to be working properly, except for BioOne. It will let you do searches, and it seems to be recognizing our IP range, but it won't show you the full text of articles. This may just be the way their trials work, but I have a call in to the rep to confirm this.

You will also notice that the Proquest trials have a limited number of logins (700), it should be plenty for the month, but if you see we're running low, just let me know and I'll see if I can get a few more.

If you'd like to offer input on the databases, but won't be able to make the meeting (April 8, 10:00am, JCLRC-2220), please fill out an evaluation form for each database you'd like to comment on and give them to one of your colleagues who will be attending.

Please let me know if you have any questions or problems. Happy evaluating!

AcessScience Demo - Friday, March 7, 2008

Hi all. Our McGraw-Hill rep will be doing a Webex demo of AccessScience on Friday, March 7, 2008 at 2:00pm. It should take about an hour or so, and all interested parties are welcome to take part. Here's the info the rep sent me. Just drop me a line if you need help.
>
>
Topic: AccessScience Demo for GA Perimter College
Date: Friday, March 7, 2008
Time: 2:00 pm, Eastern Standard Time (GMT -05:00, New York )
Meeting Number: 355 016 384
Meeting Password: science

Please click the link below to see more information, or to join the meeting.

-------------------------------------------------------
To join the online meeting
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Go to https://mheducation.webex.com/mheducation/
j.php?ED=106374532&UID=0
2. Enter your name and email address.
3. Enter the meeting password: science
4. Click "Join".

-------------------------------------------------------
To join the teleconference only
-------------------------------------------------------
========================
CALL DATE: March 07, 2008 (Friday)
CALL TIME: 02:00 PM Eastern Time
CALL DURATION: 60
LEADER: CHRIS MCKERROW

Toll-Free Number: 888-323-2712

PASSCODE: 62094

For security reasons, the passcode and the leader's name will be
required to join your call.

-------------------------------------------------------
For assistance
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Go to https://mheducation.webex.com/mheducation/mc
2. Click "Assistance".
3. Click "Support".

Troubleshooting Problems with Off-Campus Database Access

If you get a call from a patron saying that they're not able to access our databases from off-campus, unless EZproxy went down at that very second, it's highly likely that the problem resides with the patron's computer or network, not with us.

Of course, if you get these calls, please feel free to just refer folks to me, by phone or email. But, if it's after my office hours and they don't want to wait to talk to me, first get their contact info so I can get back in touch with them if I need to.

Then, ask them where they're trying to connect from. 9 times out of 10, it's going to be their workplace, so it's probably a firewall thing. Most of the calls I've gotten were from students who couldn't connect from major corporations like Morgan Stanley and Comcast. After consulting with our EZproxy administrator, I learned that, for security reasons, many companies are restricting Internet traffic on anything other than port 80, but EZproxy uses another port, so our databases are blocked. We just have to tell folks that, until something changes, they won't be able to access the database from their workplace.

If they're trying to connect from home, and they're not running some major firewall, the next most likely scenario is that their browser isn't set to accept cookies. Gotta accept cookies for EZproxy to work correctly. Have them set that up and see if it works.

If it's neither of those two things, have them clear the cache and try again. It's highly unlikely that it would go further than that, but, if it still doesn't work it may be a genuine problem with the DB and I'll need to speak to the vendor.

Again, you don't have to do any of this. If it's during my office hours, or they don't mind waiting until I am back in the office, just send them my way, but I thought you all might like a little more background info too.

NetLibrary Issues Resolved!

For quite some time now, we've had issues with NetLibrary not recognizing random computers as logging in from Georgia Perimeter College. GALILEO has contacted them about this in the past, and they claimed to have our complete IP range, so we were all stumped.

Well, Katie at GALILEO gave it another go recently, and it turns out that NetLibrary was was missing one IP address out of our range of IPs. (This most likely explains why the problem was so random.) She has requested that they add the missing IP and that ought to fix it. Yay, Katie!

If the problem should crop up again, Katie has also requested that we submit a comment through the "Contact Us" feature on the GALILEO website, from the machine that is actually experiencing the problem, at the time the problem actually occurred. That way, GALILEO can capture information about the IP address during the session. (Of course, this is good practice for problems you might be having with any GALILEO database. Not sure which databases are GPC and which ones are GALILEO? See my post on that very topic.)

Odd Block Behavior in Voyager

I've learned a couple of things about the way blocks behave in Voyager, and I wanted to share with everyone.

1.) Occasionally, in a patron's web account, you may see that they are blocked, but it doesn't say why. Under the "Patron Blocks" section, it will say "Block Reason," then fail to elaborate. If you come across this, please let me know. (I'll need the patron's name and 900#.) This is a bug, and our server site can often fix it, making the block reason appear.

2.) Patrons will be blocked in their web accounts simply for reaching their charge limit in a particular item type. This is the only way that limits can work in Voyager. Sad, but true. For example, if a student has 3 DVDs charged out (the limit for the GPC STUDENT patron group), they will be blocked in their web account and will be unable to renew any charged items online, regardless of item type. However, they can still request items in the catalog, charge other item types, and staff with Circulation Supervisor privileges in Voyager can renew items for them in the Circulation module. (Unfortunately, I think the system would let them request another DVD, but it won't let them check it out until they return one of the 3 they have charged.)

If anyone has any questions about this, please just let me know.

Database Selection Meeting Tomorrow

The Reference Committee will be meeting tomorrow to compile the list of databases to be evaluated for addition in FY09. You can find the agenda and the database calendar on the Reference Committee website.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/committees/reference/

If you have a database you'd like to be considered for trial, but will be unable to attend the meeting, please email it to the committee chair, Lora Mirza, or send it along with someone from your campus who will be attending.

As always, you can drop me a line with questions, suggestions, etc.

Voyager Upgrade '08

Just wanted to let you know that I've just received confirmation of our Voyager upgrade schedule. The server will be upgraded during the evening of Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008. Which means that, when you come in on the morning of Monday, Jan 7, 2008, the Voyager clients will be down. I'll be working with OIT to remotely push out the upgrade, like I have in the past, and I'm striving for the minimum down-time possible, but just to be on the safe side, please be prepared to be down for the first few hours of the day.

Please remember to leave your PCs on over the weekend, this is crucial if you won't be in on Monday morning. You can log out of your profile (Usually, Start > Log Off > Log Off on XP machines) but the computer MUST BE POWERED ON when I start the upgrades on Monday morning. If it isn't, then I have to get the liaison to power it on, which may involve tracking down office keys, and it always makes for an aggravating morning for everyone involved.

I'd like to issue a hearty thanks to the upgrade liaisons for providing their assistance. They will be visiting you all on Monday morning, letting you know when I'm about to start your campus's upgrade, at which time you'll need to stay off of your computers. When the upgrade is over, they'll let you know and check to see that Voyager was successfully upgraded on your machine. Please report any problems with the upgrade to your liaison as soon as possible.

Clarkston: Amy Yang
Decatur: Adrienne Graham
Dunwoody: Pete Bursi
Newton: Rebecca Rose
Technical Services, Media Services, and NonPrint: Tessa Minchew

If you have any questions about this process, please just let me know.

Update on OPAC Bugs

Hi all. I just wanted to let you know that I've been sending your OPAC bug reports to Bob at the server site, and he informed me today that he's used this info to make a configuration change that he thinks will help with the weirdness we've been experiencing.

If you have the opportunity, please make a note of any odd OPAC behavior you encounter and let me know if you feel like it's gotten better, worse, or (fingers crossed) ceased completely.

As always, if you have any questions, just drop me a line.

GPC Databases vs. GALILEO Databases

Hi all. I've had a lot of questions recently about where to report problems with certain databases, so I just wanted to take the opportunity to review the whole procedure.

Problems with GPC databases should be reported to me, if they're very detailed problems, an email is better. If you just want to say, "Hey, Tessa. JSTOR is down," of course, you can just give me a jingle.

Problems with GALILEO-managed databases should be reported to GALILEO. I am not able to correct problems with non-GPC databases, and don't even have contact information for those vendors, so I would just have to forward your problem report to GALILEO, and that is not GALILEO's preferred method. They want you to report problems directly to them using the Contact Us form at the top right of their webpages. Make sure you report the problem from the computer you're actually experiencing it on. The form will collect information about that computer and your session which could be very helpful to the GALILEO folks trying to diagnose the problem.

Now, how can you tell what's a GPC database and what's a GALILEO database?

If you're on the library website, GPC databases are those listed on the following page (except the GALILEO link, natch):

http://www.gpc.edu/library/articles.htm

Anything not on this page is a GALILEO-managed database.

If you're in GALILEO, GPC databases are those that have the little GPC orb to the right of their names (in the Databases, A-Z list) and state, in red type, "Subscription provided by Georgia Perimeter College."

Please just let me know if you have any more questions about this procedure. Thanks everyone!

NonPrint Recommendations

Hi again, everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Michael and I have been working on a form for patrons to recommend purchases for the NonPrint collection, and it's live now, at the following link.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/
nonprint/nprecommend.htm

If you encounter patrons who might be interested in this, please feel free to refer them to this page. There is also a link for it on the main NonPrint page.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/
nonprint/index.html

Of course, library faculty and staff are welcome to use the form as well, or just send slips directly to Michael if you prefer.

Thanks!

Problems with Opposing Viewpoints

Hi everyone. Just wanted to update you all on some off-campus database access issues. Yesterday, it was brought to my attention that one of our students was having trouble accessing Opposing Viewpoints through GALILEO, from home. He could use the GALILEO password to get in, but was booted out whenever he tried a search, and was then being prompted for a password other than the GALILEO password.

I tried it from home last night and experienced similar results, whether I entered through GALILEO or through the database page on the website. I was booted out after a few clicks and taken to a page with 2 hyper links, one for the library's homepage and one to start a new session. Either link took me to the page prompting me for a mystery password.

Our EZproxy administrator confirmed that it wasn't a problem on our end. I just got off of the phone with Gale tech support and they think that they have corrected the problem, but I'm going to try it from home one more time, just to be sure.

If you hear of anyone experiencing these, or other difficulties with a GPC database, please don't hesitate to let me know and I'll get it fixed as soon as possible. GPC databases are those listed on the following page (except the GALILEO link):

http://www.gpc.edu/library/articles.htm

Anything not on this page is a GALILEO-managed database, and problems with them should be reported directly to GALILEO using the Contact Us form on their website.

Thanks everyone! Please let me know if you have any questions.

IMPORTANT: Change to Voyager Upgrade Date

To accommodate the schedule of my gracious OIT contact, I have to upgrade the Voyager clients beginning around 2:00pm on Tuesday, August 7. Since the server is being upgraded that evening, Voyager will be inaccessible after I do our upgrade. Circulation & Media Services should be prepared to do manual check outs from 2:00pm until closing, and anyone else who has any work to do in Voyager should try to do it before 2:00pm. If you are leaving the office before 2:00pm, please leave your computer on, just log off of your profile.

When you come in on the morning of August 8, our server will have been upgraded and the clients should work just fine. Your upgrade liaisons will be giving you a heads-up before the upgrade begins.

Clarkston: Amy Yang
Decatur: Adrienne Graham
Dunwoody: Carmel Chaille
Newton: Rebecca Rose
Tech Serv, Media Serv, NonPrint: Tessa Minchew

Please let me know if you have any questions, and thanks in advance for your patience during the upgrade.

Voyager Upgrade Date Set

Hi everyone. Just wanted to let you know the date of the Voyager upgrade has been set. Our server will be upgraded on the evening of Tuesday, August 7. This means I will be upgrading Voyager clients on the morning of Wednesday, August 8. This process will work much as it has the last few times. I will be performing the upgrades remotely, and each campus will have an upgrade liaison to facilitate the process and report problems to me. Here are the folks who have graciously agreed to be your upgrade liaisons.

Clarkston: Amy Yang
Decatur: Adrienne Graham
Dunwoody: Carmel Chaille
Newton: Rebecca Rose

I'll be handling the liaison duties for Technical Services, Media Services, and NonPrint.

Remember, when the server is upgraded, the Voyager clients will not work until they are also upgraded to the new version. So, Circulation, especially, should be braced for a little downtime, but I will do my best to turn the upgrades over as quickly as possible, and, on that note, there are a couple of things that you can all do to help me achieve that goal.

1.) This week, your liaison will be checking the IP address of every computer requiring a Voyager client, and reporting that information to me. If you need the client, make sure you make it on this list.

2.) Please remember to leave your PCs on on Tuesday evening, this is especially important if you won't be in on Wednesday morning. You can log out of your profile (Start > Log Off > Log Off on XP machines) but the PC must be POWERED ON when I start the upgrades on Wednesday morning. If it isn't, then I have to get your liaison to power it on, which may involve getting office keys, and always fouls up my workflow.

If anyone has any questions about the upgrade, please just let me know. And thanks in advance for your patience!

Finally Getting Around to Tweaking Blogger

Hi all. Guess you've noticed that things are a little different here. In its recent upgrade, Blogger added a lot of new features that I just haven't had time to take advantage of, but I did get to hack at it a little bit today.

First thing that you will notice is a new template. This one seems to go with the library style sheet a little bit better, and it's available for free through Blogger. So, no coding for me! Yay! Now, in order to convert to it, we did lose a bit of our sidebar content, but I'm not sure how much we were using that anyway. The RSS feeds section went away, but there's a link to an Atom feed at the bottom, which should work fine in most major feed readers.

Is anyone particularly attached to the "Library Blogs" section? I'd like to build it up a bit or get rid of it altogether. Please let me know how you feel about that, and if you'd like to add anything else in the sidebar.

Next, we now have the ability to tag our posts! Blogger calls them "labels" for some reason, but they act like tags. When you are editing a post, you will see a field in the lower right called "Labels for this post." Just type your tags in there, separated by commas. I've gone back and tagged the last few months worth of posts, and will try to tag it back to the beginning eventually. If you click the "Show all" link next to the right of the "Labels for this post" field, you will see the tags that I've already used. Click on the ones you like and they'll appear in the field, no typing. I recommend doing this, so we can class like posts somewhat together.

I can add a category list in the sidebar, and put links to the most used tags, if you all want. However, you can also just click on a tag in any post and see all the posts that share that tags.

I'll try to keep an eye on the new posts, and tag the ones that need it. So, if you don't like tagging, or just don't want to do it, no worries. I'll take care of it for you.

So, tell me how you feel about all this new blogginess, by email or in the comments.

Another Voyager Upgrade On Its Way

Hi everyone. I just learned that we will be upgrading from Voyager 6.2.1 to Voyager 6.5.1, somewhere between Friday, August 3 through Friday, August 10. I won't know the specific date until I hear from our Service Site Coordinator, but I wanted to give you all a heads up.

Most everyone knows the drill by now. The server will be upgraded, usually in the evening, and after this you will be unable to access Voyager from your PCs until I have upgraded the clients. This has to happen on each and every PC that runs Voyager. The last couple of times, OIT has been gracious enough to help me push out a script to each computer, which dramatically reduces our downtime. Otherwise, I would have to drive to each campus, and upgrade each PC by hand, which can take quite a while.

I've also found it helpful to have an "upgrade liaison" on each campus, to check that the script has run correctly on everyone's PC, relay questions, etc. I'm going to be contacting folks about doing that and I'll let you know when we have our victims, *ahem*, I mean lucky volunteers.

For a little more info about 6.5.1, allow me to quote the esteemed Phil Williams. "One of the primary features of this upgrade will be the implementation of the "UB Local Block Policies". The Service Site Staffs will set the appropriate UB Local Block Policy Definitions in accordance with established GIL Express standards. We are anticipating that GIL Express transactions will continue through the upgrade period, however if difficulties do arise a notice will be sent to the listserv and a message will be put on the GIL Universal Catalog web site."

I would advise that everyone read the release notes for this version.

http://download.gil.usg.edu/gold/0605/relnotes.pdf

If, after that, you're feeling especially curious, please feel free to peruse the rest of the 6.5.1 documentation.

http://download.gil.usg.edu/gold/0605.html

Both of these links will ask you for our GIL Knowledge Base username and password (which is the same as the Endeavor Knowledge Base username and password). Give me a call if you've forgotten it.

If anyone has any questions, please drop me a line. And thanks in advance for your patience during the upgrade!

New Committee Page Created

Hi all. Just wanted to let you know that the web pages for three committees have moved from David Free's directory to the main library pages. Please update your bookmarks accordingly.

I've created a directory just for these committee pages. Here is the URL for the index page.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/committees/

David burned a disk of everything for us, but I had to relink a lot of things, so please take a look over your respective pages and let me know if you see any mistakes.

From here on out, you can send your minutes to me and I will post them on the appropriate page.

Thanks everyone.

GPC get-together at ALA?

David Free and I were wondering if anyone else from GPC libraries is going to ALA in June, which is in Washington D.C. If so, it would be fun to get together and have dinner, dessert, or drinks on Sunday evening, June 24th. I think at this point anytime after 5:30 is sounding good. You can post here or email me or David. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. (For those of you who can't make it to D.C. this year, I am planning on taking copious notes so I'd be happy to share with anyone who is interested. Maybe I'll even post something on the blog if there's anything that I think everyone would enjoy reading about).

Rockdale/Newton Becomes Newton

Just wanted to let everyone know that, with their move, the Rockdale campus will now be known as Newton. To that end, I've changed all the instances of "Rockdale" to "Newton" in the Voyager back-end, the OPAC, and on the webpages I have control of. The other webmasters will be changing their pages shortly, if they haven't already.

For those who use the Cataloging module, you will notice that drop-down menus are reading something like "Newton Book," but the location code will still be "ROBook." I'm afraid that Voyager doesn't allow for changing permanent location codes, just the way they display, so we're stuck with this. Those using Acquisitions and Circulation probably won't notice this. I think all you ever see is the display name, which will be "Newton Book," "Newton Reference," etc.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Update: In the OPAC, the Location field of the Narrow My Search limits and in the Quick Limits under the Exact Search still say "Rockdale." Bob Trotter will have to change that and I emailed him on 4/1.

"What Goes Around"

This Chronicle article is well worth a read. It was written by Susanna Ashton, an associate professor of English at Clemson University in South Carolina. Apparently, when she was a Fulbright scholar to the Republic of Ireland, she was surprised with a whopping ILL bill that opened her eyes to how fortunate we all are to have an ILL system in the U.S. that is very low cost, if not free to the user.

The line that promises to leave no dry eye in the house, "The greatest resource sharing our libraries practice is sharing their faith in us."

Oh! I'm verklimpt. Talk amongst yourselves.

Let The Database Trials Begin!

It's database evaluation time, and here is the URL for trial access to the databases under review for 2007.

http://www.gpc.edu/library/technicalservices/db/databasetrials.htm

The review period runs from March 1st to April 2nd, but some of the providers wouldn't run the trials past the end of March. So, if you try to get in after that and are denied, drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

You'll notice that there are three links at the top of the page, one for the procedures and timetable, one for a database evaluation form (graciously created by Sherry), and one for a printer-friendly database list. All these are MS Word documents. I'd recommend printing out the database list while you're looking at the trials, so you'll have it handy for some of the more complex access instructions like the Encyclopedia of Religion.

We want everyone's input, so if you won't be attending the reference committee meeting to discuss the databases, please fill out some evaluation forms and pass them along to your committee rep or myself. And let me know if there's anything else that I can do for you.

Student Email Username and Password Retrieval

In answer to the question that was raised at yesterday's discipline meeting, OIT says that the limit for retrieving a student's email user ID and password is 5 times. After that, a student will need to go to a computer lab where supervisors and other designated employees can obtain the information or contact the Help Desk for assistance. There may be a brief (15 minute) lag time before the student can actually log on to a computer.

Looking for a conference to attend?

I found a handy list of library-related conferences at:
http://homepage.usask.ca/~mad204/CONF.HTM

Blog Upgraded to New Version of Blogger

[Too many upgrades these days for my tiny little brain.]

Well, I've been putting it off, but Blogger finally bullied me into upgrading the blog. You wont notice anything too different on the front-end, but a few added features under the hood including a "Labels" feature which sort of functions like categories, in a less satisfying way. Anyway, poke around and tell us what you think.

One little problem, now that the blog is upgraded, you will have to convert your Blogger account to a Google account if you want to post or comment. It's pretty straightforward. If you try to log in using your Blogger account, it will badger you to convert to the new account before you proceed. Just follow the prompts. If you already have a Google account, you can use that. Or you can create a new one, again, by following the prompts. A word to the wise, when converting a Blogger account and creating a Google account at the same time, you will be prompted for an active email address. Whatever you put in here is what you will use for your login name, so choose wisely grasshopper. You might be able to change it later on, but I'm not sure about that, so why not save yourself the trouble and give it some thought up front.

Creating a Google account through Blogger will not give you access to purportedly life-changing features like Gmail or Google Talk. If you want to sign up for a Gmail account and then use that as your Blogger account, you have to have an invitation from an existing Gmail member. Please email David Free or myself and we'll shoot you an invite. [Update: You can still email David Free or me, we always love attention, but it looks like you no longer need an invite for Gmail. You can just sign up on your own.] Also feel free to email or call us with any questions you may have about this switch.

Upgrade to Voyager 6.2

Just wanted to let everyone know that the server site has informed us that we must undergo another Voyager upgrade next week. Apparently v.6.2 has some needed fixes (see attachment). It has been road tested by the folks at UGA, and passed their approval, so everything should be fine. (I have some hopes that it will help with our OPAC-issues, but there are absolutely no guarantees on that, so keep sending in those problem reports until you hear from me otherwise.)

As of now, the schedule I've been given for the upgrading GPC's server is the evening of Monday, February 26th. This means that when you come in on the morning of the 27th, Voyager will be down on everyone's PC. I am working with OIT to prepare another packet delivery system and we have high hopes that it will work as smoothly as it did last time. If it does, down time will be minimal. If not, I may have to drive to your campuses to upgrade PCs manually. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that it doesn't come to that. I don't want you to experience any more down time than is absolutely necessary.

As I understand it, GIL Express transactions are expected to function normally between 6.1 and 6.2 libraries, so no GIL Express downtime is expected. Please report any problems you might experience.

Thanks in advance for your patience! Hopefully this will be our last upgrade in 2007.

Hello, and wildcard searching

First of all, hello! I am Amy Eklund, one of the new catalogers in Tech Services. I am really glad to be here at GPC and I am really enjoying working here (I started Dec. 1). I look forward to meeting those of you I haven't had the chance to meet yet.

Secondly, I wanted to mention something I noticed while doing a recent database maintenance project. I have been using truncation and wildcard searching in the Voyager cataloging module (which I didn't know was possible until I began working here) and that got me wondering about those capabilities in GIL, as well. So, after some playing around in GIL and reading all the "Help" documentation (particularly the sections on "Searching" and the "Technical Documentation"), I discovered that both right-truncation (using ?) and wildcard searching (using % anywhere in the word) are possible in keyword search and command search in GIL. Truncation is mentioned in the "Help" documentation, but wildcard searching is not. I can see how wildcard searching might be very useful if you haven't been aware of it before, for instance if a patron comes in asking for a book about Powerpoint by "Munson" but they are not sure whether it is spelled "Mansen", "Munson", "Monsen", or "Munsen" (so you could do a fielded keyword search for "M%ns%n" with a keyword search for Powerpoint).

Hope this is useful for you if you didn't already know about it, and happy searching!
Amy

Problems with the OPAC? Part Deux

I'm still working with Bob Trotter on our various and sundry OPAC problems, and he's asked me to give him the full URLs of the oddities.

So, from here on out, report any OPAC weirdness to me as follows.

1.) Copy and paste the URL of the problem page into the body of a plain text email.

2.) Include as full a description of the problem as possible [what problem is occurring (we have three right now), time, date, what kind of search you were doing, did you go in through the Quick Search originally, what you clicked on right before the bug occurred, etc.] There is no such thing as too much detail here. Give me everything you can think of.

3.) Email this to me at tminchew@gpc.edu.

You no longer have to send me printouts, just follow the above instructions.

To recap, these are the three different instances of "weird" OPAC behavior we are working on now:

1.) Sometimes the Item Status in a record display will read "No Information Available" even though there are clearly item records attached, as the number of items will be set. Then the Item Status will revert "Not Checked Out". I'm not clear on whether or not this happens automatically, or if the user has to hit Refresh. On the one instance report I have of it, the item status read one way on one computer, and a different way on the other during the same one minute period.

2.) When leaving search results idle for a little while, then coming back and clicking on the Quick Search link at the bottom of the screen, people are being thrown into a plain white screen containing only the text "lost+found".

3.) After taking some action in the OPAC, people are thrown into a screen entitled "Builder Search". The style sheet changes from our usual blues to reds, and the search itself doesn't always work. The majority of the time folks seem to have been doing an exact search, then left the connection idle for a while, then clicked on New Search, and were thrown into the red screen. However, this is not always the case.

Thanks everyone! Keep these reports coming. Hopefully Bob will be able to figure something out. And please let me know if you have any questions or encounter any new problems.

Pharos

In a recent gen-mail from Keith Chapman, he stated that students can access their printing account either by swiping their card or by entering their official GPC login and password at the print release station. When I asked Barry Bailey about this in December, however, he said students can only access their account by swiping their access card. I checked with Keith about his e-mail and he said his understanding was that, "Dexter's group with OIT is installing a password authentication program on all print release stations." Keith said he thought maybe Dexter hasn't gotten to Dunwoody with it yet. I haven't heard any more updates since then. So, does anyone know about this? Do other campuses have this password authentication program? We need to clarify this because we have had students ask about this (yes, apparently someone actually read the gen-mail).

Problems with the OPAC?

I've gotten a couple of reports about problems with the OPAC since the upgrade. The scenario is always the same, after taking some action in the catalog, people are thrown into a screen entitled "Builder Search". The style sheet changes from our usual blues to reds, and the search itself doesn't actually work. The only option to get the OPAC working again is to completely exit and start over.

I've had this happen to me a couple of times over the years, but not often enough to worry about. After the upgrade, I've had it reported by two librarians on two different campuses, and each says that it's happening several times a week or more. Bob Trotter and I can't seem to replicate it, so there isn't much that we can do right now, and I was just wondering if this is happening to anyone else. If so, please drop me a line and give me as many details as you can (time, date, what you were trying to do in the catalog when it happened, etc.). Thanks!

Sign Up System PPT

At some point in the future, OIT is going to implement the Sign Up PC reservation system on all of the library public access PCs. This is the same reservation ystem used in the student computer labs. Take a look at this PowerPoint from Dexter in OIT to learn more about the system.

Sign Up Presentation (PPT)

The Directors named the following folks to a subcommittee of the Reference Committee to look into common issues such as session length that will need to be decided before the system goes live.

Kip Cates (Rockdale/ Newton)
Carmel Chaille (Dunwoody, Chair)
David Free (Decatur)
Ann Mallard (Clarkston)

We'll briefly discuss Sign Up at the holiday party on Tuesday. And you can contact your campus rep with any questions.

Food (for thought)

Hey everybody,
I know you're thinking, "Pete, it's the holidays; the last thing we want is more food!" Well, the good news is that this food really doesn't have any calories (whether someone sees you ingest it or not).
Actually, I am wondering about how other folks deal with strange/difficult assignments, and I would like to hear some ideas about how others would approach one particular reference question. The question comes to us like this, "So... what does the American Government stand for?" Students have shown us the assignment sheet, and that is exactly how the instructor wrote it. The handout also includes some other suggestions such as talking to friends, family, and veterans of the armed forces to see how they would answer the question. The students are required to cite at least four academic/scholarly sources, but it is not clear what exactly constitutes an academic source. This is for a Political Science class.
How would you approach this question?
Also, how do you generally handle questions that cause confusion or difficulty at the Reference Desk? Do you contact the instructor to discuss difficult assignments? If so, what kind of reaction do you get? Do you share ideas for handling specific problematic questions with others on your Reference staff? What other approaches have you used?
~Pete

Voyager Upgrade Looming

[I sent a message about this to everyone's director, to forward along, but I thought that I'd post it here too, just in case anyone missed it.]

The slot GPC has been allotted for the Voyager upgrade is Wednesday, December 20th, beginning that evening and hopefully ending by the following morning or afternoon.

I'm exploring the possibility of a remote upgrade with OIT, which is very gracious of them. However, if we can't get that working, I'll be manually upgrading every PC running Voyager, just like John did last year, starting December 21st. I will make it my only priority, but even devoting all of my time to it, it may take a while for me to get to every campus, so your patience will be greatly appreciated.

Circulation (for GPC materials) will be down until the machine you run it on is upgraded. GIL Express will be down for the duration of the entire upgrade. This means that all USG institutions must be successfully upgraded before GIL Express service can resume anywhere. The estimate is that GE will be down from December 13, 2006 through January 5, 2007. This service suspension has been discussed at length on the UC/UB listerv, and I imagine that GPC circulation staff are familiar this discussion.

That's about all that I know right now, but if you have any questions, please just drop me a line. I'll keep you posted as more details become available.

GPC Libraries Site Search Up and Running!

From the get-go one of the requests we were hearing for the new web design was a site search feature that covered all the pages (residing in five different directories). This sort of thing was a bit beyond my skills right now, but, fortunately, I recently discovered yet another handy dandy little Google tool called a CSE (Custom Search Engine). After a little poking with an e-stick, voila! We have a site search!

You’ve probably noticed the link appearing in the top gray menu bar on some campuses in late November, a phased roll out, as it were. Well, it should appear on all of the pages now, so if you see a page lacking it, please notify the appropriate webmaster (see the footer at the bottom of the page in question).

So, take our little CSE for a spin, kick the tires, and tell us what you think.

Welcome Amy Eklund!

The last of our new catalogers has arrived! Amy Eklund is a recent graduate of UNT and was involved in some mighty impressive work there. We are quite happy to have her with us, so please pop by and make her feel welcome. Her phone number is #3666, and her office is CL-1204.

EZ Proxy Server down

There is a partial power outage at Clarkston, including C Building where our EZ Proxy Server is located, so we're currently not able to connect to the databases which GPC pays for outside of our GALILEO subscription. These resources include JSTOR, Project Muse, Literature Resource Center and Opposing Viewpoints. A complete list of these databases can be found on the GPC Libraries website, under "Find More Articles".

Tessa has verified that the ez proxy server is currently down, but OIT may be able to have it running later today.

Update from Tessa: Three cheers for OIT!

I just got a phone call from Andrew asking me to test our EZProxy access and it is up and running now. He says that it should be stable from here on out unless the partial power in the C building goes south again. So, if you experience any more connection time outs, it is most likely the fritzy power, which will hopefully be completely cleared up by tomorrow.

Problems with NetLibrary

It has come to my attention that Dunwoody has been having some problems with NetLibrary access. Apparently, NetLibrary will recognize them by IP address on some machines, but not on others. To add to this, whether or not a certain machine recognizes them by IP varies from day to day.

I’ve been in communication with, Katie, our GALILEO rep about this problem and NetLibrary has our correct IP range, so we are all stumped. If anyone else is having problems, can you drop me a line about it? Please give me as much detail as you can, like the inventory number of your PC, time of day, etc. I’ll relate all this to Katie and we’ll see what we can do.

In the meantime, it’s not an ideal solution, but, if you are trying to use NetLibrary and it doesn’t recognize you as being at GPC, move to a different machine and that should work. Sorry about this, everybody.

USG Upgrade to Voyager 6.1

No specific dates for GPC yet, but they're predicting sometime this December and I expect that I'll start working on our individual machines shortly after that. (I have to touch each PC that has the Voyager client.) The Voyager 6.1 documentation has been placed on the GIL Download web site. Remember that access to the GIL Download web site requires our SupportWeb user id and password. If you've forgotten it, drop me an email and I'll send it to you.

The GIL Download site has user guides for each module in Voyager 6.1, but they're extremely long (828 pages for circulation alone). I would, however, recommend taking the time to read the release notes, which are a much more manageable length (9 pages). Some of the highlights are search enhancements in WebVoyage and the Voyager staff interface, improvements to the display and sorting of results lists in the staff interface and the display of results lists in WebVoyage, and ISBN-13 support.

This is the gist of what I know right now, but please feel free to send me your questions and I'll do what I can to get them answered.

Internet Explorer 7- Upgrade NOT Recommended

I figure that everyone saw this genmail, but, with all the computers we have in the libraries, it bears repeating.

As of today, Microsoft will be pushing Internet Explorer 7 as a high priority update through Windows Update. If you have a PC that is set to download and install updates automatically, you'll be getting this new IE and it is not receiving rave reports. As I understand it, this new version is causing some problems with Banner and WebCT, and is likely to cause problems with other Web applications. Now, after speaking with our friendly neighborhood OIT guy, Andrew, I have learned that a script was run last night to connect everyone's Windows Update to a central server at OIT. Updates from Microsoft will go through this server before being released to our individual PCs and OIT will not be allowing the IE7 update to go through at this time. If anyone has trouble accessing websites on a library computer, check the version number of IE as your first troubleshooting step. The new one may have slipped through on that machine and you should call OIT and have it removed. I'd keep a close eye on your public computers in particular, if students are using them for WebCT, Banner, and the like.

I would also advise not upgrading your home PCs to this new IE version just yet. However, if it slips through, I understand that it is a little easier to uninstall than previous versions. Best to avoid all that mess and just not install it in the first place though. Or better yet, use Firefox. I've used it at home and in the office for a couple of years and I'm in love. It's the best-est. Erik Larkin of PC World has written a very detailed review of the two browsers, if anyone is interested.

Net Library Requires a Password for At Home Searching

I thought I would let every one know that Net Library requires a free account and password which you can set up while logged in to GALILEO for home searching. I learned this when trying to read a Net Library book at home.

Ross Singer Does It Again

[This guy is the bomb. We're lucky to have him in Georgia.]

"Ross Singer has won the Second OCLC Research Software Contest with Umlaut, an OpenURL Link Resolver intended to improve access to library collections by contextualizing citations and available holdings more accurately for a given user. Currently running with Georgia Tech's catalog, Umlaut utilizes a host of web services and can take several paths depending on what it finds at various stages."

Welcome Melissa Roberts!

One of our new catalogers has arrived! Melissa Roberts comes to us after several years as Acting Cataloger at the Watson Memorial Library of Northwestern State University in Louisiana. Her phone number is #3667, and her office is CL-1203.

We're very happy to have her with us, so, if you haven't met her yet, please pop in to Technical Services when you have a chance and say howdy.

JSTOR - emailing citations

Several of us have been having difficulty opening emailed JSTOR documents when off campus. Has anyone had success emailing JSTOR citations and opening the entire document off campus? I've followed the directions for emailing citations and can open the email and see the persistent/stable url, but when I try to open the document (off campus) I'm blocked from accessing the full text. I tried opening JSTOR in another window, thinking that might help, but it didn't work. If I'm on campus, I am able to open the document from the emailed citation. Any suggestions?

WorldCat Goes Public

I saw this on the LibRef listserv: WorldCat has gone public. Anyone can now access the complete (unlike access through Google and others) WorldCat database. It features the "beloved"
single search box and includes many personalized elements. There's an article in Information Today discussing OCLC's beta release of the WorldCat database.

ALA Award Winners

gpc award winners!
Originally uploaded by dwfree1967.

This is pretty late news, even by off-line standards, but congrats to Lois, Eva and Sherry on their award for the Library CSI Orientation program. Very cool! They received the award at ALA in New Orleans last month. Thanks to Amy (or Pete) for the photo as I wasn't able to make it to the awards breakfast.

I was able to make it to dinner every night, and here are the photos to prove it.

I have lots more ALA/ New Orleans photos on my Flickr site and more info about the conference on my blog too if anyone is still interested in month old conference news! :)

Electronic Resources @ Georgia Perimeter College

Just wanted to let everyone know that our new databases have been set up in EZproxy and linked from the website. I've tested them from my office and Kathy and I have tested them from home, so we think we're set. If you see any problems, please drop me a line.

When checking the links, I noticed that the coverage dates for the ProQuest Historical Newspapers had changed and I have edited them accordingly. This wasn't one of the pages I took care of in the past, so I don't know how often this coverage expands, but I'm figuring it's fairly regularly. If everyone could be an extra set of eyes for me, and give me a heads-up about changes, I'd appreciate it.

DeKalb Tech Status

As many of you know, DeKalb Tech is opening their own Learning Resource Center on their Clarkston campus in Building A, Room 141. As always, DT students are welcome to use our library, including reference services, the collection and the public computers, but as of June 30, 2006 they are no longer able to check out materials. [Vocational schools are not part of the USG system, so their students can't check out materials through GIL Express.]

The phone number which we've been given: 404.297.9522 x1140 rings at someone else's office and although the library was scheduled to open on Monday July 10, it has not opened yet. We haven't received any additional information from library staff at DeKalb Tech. Until their library opens, any DeKalb Tech student or faculty needing further assistance should be referred to DT's administrative offices at 404.297.9522.

GPC Ad Hoc Website Review Committee

Some of you may have heard that Interim President Watts recently formed an ad hoc committee to begin a website review process. Eva was gracious enough to get me on this committee and I just wanted to give you a brief overview of our work. This committee was not in charge of actually redesigning the webpage, only of making recommendations for the process. However, during the course of our meetings, we saw several examples of what the new GPC homepage could look like. I was iffy about some of the color choices, but that’s not carved in stone, and the designs themselves were very clean and professional. I'm pleased to say that the Libraries featured prominently in the main links in each of these mock-ups.

The committee began meeting on March 30, 2006. I was unable to attend the first two meetings due to prior commitments, but David Free went in my place. (Thanks, David!). The committee was charged by the Interim President to make recommendations to address the following directives:

• Ensure that GPC’s mission and goals are served by its website


• Promote coordination, consistency and cohesiveness throughout the website


• Recommend revisions or updates to the GPC web policy


• Recommend major design, content, or structural changes to GPC’s main web page and those linked directly to it


• Recommend design standards for deeper levels of GPC web pages or sites


• Provide recommendations on web-related issues or disputes

Our 17-page report was presented to Interim President Watts on July 3, 2006. The report contained ten recommendations for conducting the website redesign. On the redesign itself, the framework will be the same as ours, a college “gateway” serving as a door to individual department and/or campus pages.

Of course, there is a lot more detail than this and I’ll be happy to discuss it with anyone who is interested.

GOLD Looking a Little Out of Date?

If you are in the habit of searching GOLD through the GALILEO interface, you may have noticed that it hasn't been updated in a while, since September 8, 2005 to be exact. I have made some calls, and here's what I know at this point.

As some of you may know, OCLC has moved union listing to a new software program, and a new format. They are now using MFHDs, like we do, instead of the old LDRs. This is pretty cool, but the OCLC service that provided that semiannual snapshot of GOLD holdings now has to undergo a major revamp and is on hold indefinitely. It may be moved to another module altogether, but I don't have anything concrete on that. Of course, I will pass along any information that I do get.

In the meantime, you can still use the GOLD interface at GALILEO to search holdings in other libraries, just remember to consult the individual library's OPAC for the most complete holdings information. As always, our OPAC has the most current holdings for GPC. Thanks everyone!

What Are You Reading??

It's about time for the 2nd annual Listen Up! summer reading edition. I'd like to include a little segment on what GPC library workers are reading. So post what you're reading! I'd also love to record you talking briefly (couple of minutes max) about what you're reading or any summer reading recommendations you might have. I can come to you and promise it's relatively painless!

Thanks!

ALA Bound?

If you're going to ALA next week and would like to get together for dinner or coffee or something lemme know. I'll be in NOLA through Monday afternoon. Should be an interesting conference!

LCSH Changes: War and the Environment, How Cheery

Though it's pretty depressing to work on these heading changes, I am still pleased to announce that the LCSH "Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975" has been changed to "Vietnam War, 1961-1975". I imagine that heading stumped many of our younger patrons. It was still going on when I was born and I don't even call it the "Vietnamese Conflict."

I've completed all of the associated changes in GGC's database. GPC has a lot more instances of this heading, many of which I have to change by hand, so you may still see the old heading here and there for a couple of days. I'm plugging away at it though. If I haven't caught everything by the end of next week, you can assume I've missed it and drop me a note.

Another sensible change that I thought you might like to hear about, "Biological diversity" has become the more recognizable "Biodiversity." I have managed to change all of these in both catalogs, GPC and GGC.

RLG to Merge with OCLC

Though I am watching this with interest, I'm not overly concerned about the how-will-it-affect-us issues. It's probably a good thing for us, if OCLC makes good use of RLG innovations like RedLightGreen. Were we RLG members, I'd be more concerned, as it sounds like they are the ones set to be "absorbed." It's not a done deal, the RLG member institutions have to vote on and approve the decision by June 7, but it sounds like it's going to go down.

RLG to Merge with OCLC (InfoToday)
RLG to combine with OCLC Press Release (OCLC)
RLG Proposal to Combine with OCLC FAQ (OCLC)

Date only search

We've been experiencing a problem when we search "on this date" in the Historical NY Times Database (with no search terms). We use this for the assignment in which students are required to find an article on the front page of the NY Times on the date that they were born. This assignment is depressing enough when we think about where we were (i.e. in college, out of college!, etc.) when these students were born, but recently we began receiving an error message and no results. Today (5/8/06) I spoke with someone at the ProQuest technical support, and he said the problem has been reported and they're working on a solution.
In the meantime, he suggested that we use the per cent (%) sign as a wild card in the search box along with the date. I tried this, and it works. Also, Carmel discovered that the date only search works in the Advance Search without anything in the search box.

Historical NY Times Printing

Does anyone else have difficulty printing articles from the NY Times database? When I try to print them, the font is so small it is barely readable. Does anyone know a way to adjust this?

Staff Development Program!

The Staff Development Committee is presenting a program entitled "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Medical Information But Were Afraid To Ask" on Monday, May 15th. Dr. Stephen Koplan of the Dunwoody Campus Library will demonstrate the PubMed database.

The program will take place from 11am-1pm in the JCLRC Instruction Room (2220) on the Clarkston Campus. The committee will provide drinks, chips and sweets but bring your own brown bag lunch!

Please let your campus Staff Development person(s) know if you will be attending by Thursday, May 11.

See you on the 15th!

Henriette D. Avram, Mom of MARC, Dies at 86

With the development of MARC, Avram revolutionized the catalog, and therefore the library. She could have made a name for herself in any field. The library community was extremely lucky to get her, and we shouldn't forget that.

NY Times Obit

The End of the Library World As We Know It

Well, no, hopefully not. But, the report "The Changing Nature of the Catalog and Its Integration with Other Discovery Tools," has put many in the cataloging community all a flutter. Commissioned by LC and written by Associate University Librarian Karen Calhoun of Cornell University, the report (which, I shamefully haven't had time to read yet) advocates cost-cutting and Googlization of library catalogs. Apparently, ditching LCSH is one of those cost-cutting suggestions. Thomas Mann, current LC reference librarian, former private detective, and all-around nerd heartthrob, argues in his critical review of the Calhoun report that ditching LCSH would seriously impact scholarly research. As writing about research is one of the things Mann does best, I tend to perk up my ears when he speaks.

According to the Calhoun report, library operations that are not digital, that do not result in resources that are remotely accessible, that involve professional human judgment or expertise, or that require conceptual categorization and standardization rather than relevance ranking of keywords, do not fit into its proposed "leadership" strategy. This strategy itself, however, is based on an inappropriate business model – and a misrepresentation of that business model to begin with. The Calhoun report draws unjustified conclusions about the digital age, inflates wishful thinking, fails to make critical distinctions, and disregards (as well as mischaracterizes) an alternative "niche" strategy for research libraries, to promote scholarship (rather than increase "market position"). Its recommendations to eliminate Library of Congress Subject Headings, and to use "fast turnaround" time as the "gold standard" in cataloging, are particularly unjustified, and would have serious negative consequences for the capacity of research libraries to promote scholarly research.

Ba-pow!! What did I tell you? Thomas Mann, nerd heartthrob. I want to put a picture of him in my locker.

Now, I realize that I could be accused of a certain amount of self-interest here, but I assure you that isn't the case when I say that I'm standing by my Mann (har har). I can only imagine how cash-strapped LC is finding itself these days, so I certainly understand the temptation to cut corners, but LCSH is just not where to do it. Throw as many Google features as you like into the catalog, I'll be the first one to welcome it, but keyword searching just doesn't replace a standardized vocabulary developed over more than a century.

I know, I know. We’ve all heard the mantra at every conference for the last couple of years. "These wacky kids today don't care about good information. They'll settle for good enough information." But the bigger picture is that there are plenty of people using the catalog who don't want to settle, and they shouldn't have to. The catalog should be able to accommodate all of these searching styles, and, most importantly, it should nurture truly scholarly research, without which we, as a nation, are in really really big trouble.

Will all this bibliographic gloom and doom come to pass? Who knows. I’m hearing quite a few rumors about scary things going down at LC. Some of the rumors are just silly, some are shaping up to be true. I am reminded of a professor in library school, who was fond of pointing out that societies crumble and fall when their ability to produce information far outstrips their ability to access it. In these days of "dumbing down the catalog", drastic funding cuts to education and scholarship, and secrecy trumping open access in our archives and libraries, that little teaching point takes on a disturbing immediacy, doesn't it?

But, don’t worry. I’ll keep enriching subject access until they pry the red books out of my cold dead fingers. (Well, ironically enough, I mostly use the online version now, but that’s not the point.)

GALILEO Quick Search

GALILEO Quick Search
Here are two handouts we have developed to help students, and to help ourselves, with the new Quick Search feature. Please post success stories you have had with Quick Search.

An Introduction to GALILEO Quick Search (for students)

Quick Search 101 (for staff)

Reference Committee Minutes

The minutes from the last Reference Committee meeting, including the database roundup, are available on the committee website.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 2 from 10am-12pm in the JCLRC instruction room.

GALILEO Quick Search Redux

According to GALILEO e-mail the new Quick Search feature goes into production tomorrow, 3/28. Let the fun begin!

Oh, Snap! Britannica v. Nature Smack Down Ensues.

You will recall that, only a few short months ago, you couldn't escape the headlines about the Nature study that claimed that Wikipedia was roughly as accurate as Britannica. It was even briefly discussed on our own humble blog.

Now, Britannica is accusing Nature of taking a little artistic license with their methodology, and it sounds like they've got a point. I was a little suspicious of the methodology from the beginning, particularly since it wasn't made available with the original article. A link to it has now been added to the article, but the Word file seems corrupted and I haven't been able to open it. Regardless, it is sad to think that a respected publication like Nature would game a study like this, but if what Britannica says is true, they have every reason to call foul.

Computers In Libraries

keynote
Originally uploaded by decatur library.

Greetings from chilly Washington, DC. I'm at the Computers In Libraries 06 conference. Been to some great sessions about search engines, wikis, federated search etc. The keynote session today covered current and potential library-esque applications for handheld devices. And just saw Lorcan Dempsey from OCLC talk about some very cool stuff they're doing with WorldCat metadata.

I'll post more details about some interesting stuff when I get back or later on if I get a chance. And the presentations are usually online too at some point. Plus there are several folks blogging the conference in way more detail. Check out the CIL wiki bloggers section for links and more info.

Joy says "hi" too!

LCSH Changes: A Quickie, but a Goodie

I'm guessing that this is probably an oft-consulted subject heading, so you all will be pleased to know that the slightly awkward LCSH "Student loan funds" had become the tidy and trim "Student loans."

Let the dancing in the street begin.

Scopus Trial to Begin This Week

[For those who are unfamiliar with Scopus, it is a large abstract and citation database primarily covering the sciences.]

This news came from Merryll Penson via Kathy Gallo:

"Later this week, Scopus will appear on your GALILEO menus. It will say trial and there will be a link to a feedback form. Scopus is available at all academic libraries with a few exceptions.
At the end of December, 2006 libraries will be asked if they wish to subscribe for 2007.
Libraries would be billed in July 2007 if they choose to subscribe. If they do not choose to subscribe access would terminate in March 2007. "

Addition of Death Dates to Selected Name Headings

I've been meaning to tell you all about this, and just haven't found the time. So, here's the brief version.

On February 6, 2006, CPSO will commence a special project to add death dates to a selected list of name headings. The project is expected to end by Summer 2006.

In a nutshell, LC is now allowing NACO libraries to add death dates to national name authorities with "open" birth dates. So, Princess Diana, and many others, can finally die in our catalog. (We aren't a NACO library, so I won't be able to add these dates, until they are added to the LC or WorldCat authority file.)

If you peruse any of those links, you'll see that it's all a lot more complicated than it sounds. It's going to be an utter nightmare for libraries lacking some form of automated authority control. Even with automated authority control, it's a big job for us. But, we know it's going to be quite the blessing for public services, and we are excited about it. Just think, you'll never again have to hear, "You know Princess Diana is dead, right?"

Now, all that being said, it's going to take a little a while to do all this, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to start immediately. But, as a show of good faith, and since I've just harped on her so much, do a subject search for "Diana, Princess of Wales," and you'll see that I've shuffled off the biblio/mortal coil of poor Princess Di.

If anyone has any questions or comments about this process, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Octavia Butler Dies

Just an FYI. SciFi Writer Octavia Butler died this weekend. Obiturary information can be found at http://www.sfwa.org/members/butler/ . --Alicia