BBC College of Journalism, Berg Fashion Library, and Oxford Bibliographies Online are new databases from Oxford University Press that will be launching soon, and available at a discount through Nylink. Here’s a preview of what these databases will offer:

BBC College of Journalism (spring 2010) – Over its 80-year history, the BBC has earned an unmatched, global reputation for its journalism. For the very first time, the learning and development materials created for its journalists are being made available outside the BBC. The BBC College of Journalism includes hundreds of videos, audio clips, discussion pages, interactive modules, and text pages covering every aspect of TV, radio, and online journalism. The subjects covered range from craft skills (e.g. writing or directing video) to subject briefings on critical events and topics such as climate change and the conflict in the Middle East, to the many ethical issues now facing journalists.

Berg Fashion Library (summer 2010; http://www.bergpublishers.com/) — The Berg Fashion Library is a cross-searchable online portal that incorporates a full range of resources essential for anyone working on dress or fashion from a broad range of disciplinary bases – anthropology and material culture, art history, theatre studies, history, sociology, cultural studies, human geography, folklore, and fashion studies. Content includes the online edition of the soon-to-be-published 10-volume reference work, the Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion.

Oxford Bibliographies Online (spring 2010; http://aboutobo.com/) – OBO is a library of authoritative, discipline-focused, online guides to the essential literature in subjects across the humanities and social sciences. Each module is a dynamic bibliographic tool containing a hierarchical body of interwoven entries designed to help students and scholars move through the most important scholarship, commentary, and resources in a specific area of research. Subject modules available at launch: Classics, Criminology, Islamic Studies, and Social Work. Modules to be released later in 2010 and beyond include Public Health, Business Management, Philosophy, International Relations, Linguistics, and Education.

Look for future announcements from Nylink as these new databases are launched! In the meantime, please feel free to contact us with questions at services@nylink.org.

Amy Springer, a Government and Business Information Librarian, who blogs at Ch-Ch-Ch Changing Librarian, has graded several frequently used library database interfaces according to their visual appeal and perceived interest to users.

She has a good point; library databases should now be a little flashier. Is the predominant lack of images and use of white space supposed to signal that the researcher is doing serious work? As expensive as these databases are, they tend to look… inexpensive. The way that they are presented on the screen does not effectively communicate their value. It would be easier for libraries to justify their subscriptions to these resources if a casual user or viewer would see a little more than some words and seach boxes on a page.

Bring on the images, graphs, and colors! Other useful features might be sample searches, citation tools, and citations. The experience of searching a database could then have a context that references the research process and the products of that process.

If you have a concern about continuity, note that a significant and growing percentage of library user populations have come to expect change in this environment, and what could be perceived as stability could also be seen as stagnation.

What is your paid database design pet peeve?

Encyclopedia of Africa, Oxford Companion to the Book, and Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome are the latest additions to Oxford Digital Reference Shelf (DRS). DRS e-books are purchased individually for a one-time purchase price with an ongoing annual hosting fee. Introductory pricing is available through March 31 for Africa and Greece and Rome, and through April 30 for Companion to the Book. 

To learn more about these and other DRS e-books, go to http://www.oxford-digitalreference.com/title_list, and sign up for a trial at https://ams.oup.com/user/drstrial.pfm.

Many ways to save on purchases of  Oxford Digital Reference Shelf e-books! In addition to introductory pricing for new titles, a Nylink discount is always available for the purchase of any DRS e-book. And, libraries that own the print edition of a DRS title can deduct 50% of the print list price off the e-book purchase price. Libraries that maintain a subscription to Oxford Reference Online (http://www.oxfordreference.com/pages/intro) do not pay the annual hosting fees for any DRS titles they’ve purchased. And volume discounts are available if 7 or more DRS titles are purchased at the same time.

DRS purchase prices vary by e-book, with cost additionally determined by institution type and size, and eligibility for various discounts as described above. Please contact Nylink for a quote at services@nylink.org.

Dates: Wednesday – Friday, August 4 – 6, 2010

Host: United States Military Academy Library, West Point, NY

The Eastern CONTENTdm Users Group Planning Committee is accepting proposals to present a pre-conference workshop, conference talks, and/or panel discussions at its 2010 Annual Meeting being held this August at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Please consider participating as a speaker or part of a panel discussion. Proposals are due by June 1, 2010.

More information about the conference is available on its website, http://www.libraries.psu.edu/ecdmug
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Albany, NY – February 17, 2010 – Nylink is pleased to announce a new partnership with OHIONET to offer True Serials™, a comprehensive serials holdings maintenance service, to information organizations, to their member libraries.

OHIONET will offer billing to its members, while Nylink will host and administer True Serials.
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Librarians have largely embraced gaming as an important mode of instilling various literacies, but we may need to devote more resources to developing our own understanding of the usefulness of games. Note the extent to which games and virtual environments are being used to enhance skills across a surprising spectrum of professional and service careers.
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J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye: Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations

Edited by Harold Bloom
Chelsea House Publishers, 2009
Product ID: 274103

The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular and influential coming-of-age novels ever written, and its 17-year-old protagonist, Holden Caulfield, has become an icon of teen angst. The full-length essays in the March eBook of the Month provide a critical look at this classic by J.D. Salinger.
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This morning, Bill Drew re-tweeted about an opinion piece from Newsweek, originally published in 1995, from Clifford Stoll, and reprinted in its entirety at the blog Three Word Chant . Copyright issues aside, this mildly curmudgeonly piece about "this most trendy and oversold community" makes some spectacularly wrong predictions, but manages to nail some of the issues that we’re still grappling with 15 years later.
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Below are a few conferences that are coming up in the spring.  There is a wide range of events out there.  Why not attend a conference that is outside your usual milieu?  It is a great opportunity to make new contacts and possibly create exciting new collaborations!
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NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES DIVISION OF PRESERVATION AND ACCESS

Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions help small and mid-sized institutions, such as libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities, improve their ability to preserve and care for their humanities collections.  Awards of up to $6000 support preservation related collection assessments, consultations, training and workshops, and institutional and collaborative disaster and emergency planning. Grants cover consultant fees, workshop registration fees, related travel and per diem expenses, and the costs of purchasing and shipping preservation supplies and equipment.
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