The New York Library Association (NYLA) will hold the first
annual Empire State Book Festival—a celebration of writers, books, and
literacy—April 9-10, 2010 in Albany, New York. This family-friendly
educational event features author talks, panel discussions and workshops,
storytime for children and the opportunity for attendees to purchase books by their favorite New York authors.
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Posted on behalf of OCLC:
Today, we are announcing important changes to the OCLC NetLibrary Service and to the FirstSearch Service.
OCLC and EBSCO Publishing have announced that EBSCO has acquired the NetLibrary Division. The purchase includes the NetLibrary eBook and eAudiobook platform as well as operations and infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado. As eBooks become mainstream components of a library’s eContent collections, there is increasing value to libraries to be able to integrate eBook acquisitions and delivery with other electronic databases and eJournals. EBSCO will maintain and enhance the NetLibrary platform and will also work to integrate NetLibrary eBooks into the EBSCOhost platform. There will be no interruption in service to libraries.
We are also announcing an important change to our FirstSearch content services. OCLC is transitioning out of our role as reseller of vendor-owned content. Therefore we will transfer or discontinue sale of the vendor-owned databases on FirstSearch when subscriptions have ended. We will instead increase our focus for both FirstSearch and WorldCat.org on providing libraries with access to a rich set of library-owned content and increasing visibility and access to the full scope of a library’s collection. We will work with libraries, publishers and other information providers to expand WorldCat.org as a comprehensive platform for eContent. As a part of this migration, EBSCO has acquired the rights to license a select number of vendor-owned databases that we currently offer on FirstSearch. Our long-term relationship with H.W. Wilson is also changing as we will work together to transition from reselling Wilson databases on FirstSearch to indexing Wilson databases in WorldCat Local over the coming months. There will be no interruption in service to libraries.
For

FirstSearch FAQ’s: http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/questions/

EBSCO News Release: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2010/201015.htm

H.W. Wilson News Release: http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/2010/201016.htm

From the OCLC website:
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 17 March 2010—OCLC and H.W. Wilson will work together to transition library subscriptions for H.W. Wilson databases provided on the OCLC FirstSearch service to the WilsonWeb platform over the next 16 months. Wilson will continue to index many of its databases in WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local, a program that began in 2008.
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From the OCLC website. FAQ from EBSCO

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 17 March 2010—OCLC and EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) have signed an agreement whereby EBSCO will purchase the assets of the OCLC NetLibrary Division and the rights to license a select number of vendor-owned databases currently available through the OCLC FirstSearch service. The purchase includes the NetLibrary eBook and eAudiobook platform as well as operations and infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado.
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That warm March sun sure feels like spring….and before we know it the conference season is upon us.  Here are a couple of events that are happening soon.  Both sound like good opportunities to shake off the winter doldrums and get out of the office.

RIT Future of Reading Symposium

Rochester Institute of Technology, June 9-12, 2010

Come to this symposium with keynotes by Margaret Atwood, award winning author and Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine.

Join us in Rochester, NY for provocative and challenging presentations by world-class authors and experts in writing systems, content creation, linguistics, vision and cognition, typography and visual media that all seek to answer the question:  “How will reading change?”

Register now! $295, includes meals.
http://futureofreading.cias.rit.edu/

For more information about the RIT Future of Reading Conference:
ritread@rit.edu
http://futureofreading.cias.rit.edu/2010/
http://www.rit.edu/news/?r=47378
Future of Reading podcast: http://www.thetigerbeat.com/rss/podcasts/studio86_03-16-10.m4a

The SUNY Center for Professional Development is pleased to offer the following event:

ArcGIS Desktop I: Getting Started with ArcGIS

When: April 8-9, 2010

Time: 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Location: Broome Community College, Binghamton

Objectives: In course exercises involving real-world applications, we will work with ArcMap to visualize geographic data, create maps, query a GIS database, perform spatial analysis using common analysis tools, and solve geographic problems using a systematic approach. Topics will include:

• Basic functions of a GIS
• Exploring GIS Maps
• Exploring a GIS database
• Creating map layouts
• Understanding location
• Understanding raster and vector data
• Acquiring geographic data
• Querying data
• Analyzing spatial relationships
• Solving problems with GIS

Target Audience: If you are new to GIS or an infrequent user of ArcGIS with no GIS background, learn what GIS is and what it can do. Learn the basic functions of a GIS, why a GIS database is powerful, and what coordinate systems and map projections are and why they are important.

Prerequisites: You should know how to use Windows-based software for basic file management and browsing. This course will prepare you for ArcGIS Desktop II: Tools and Functionality.

Facilitator: Stephen D. Smith, ESRI Authorized ArcGIS Instructor and Sr. Extension Associate and GIS Program Leader, Institute for Resource Information Sciences (IRIS), Cornell University. ESRI authorized materials will be utilized. Each participant will receive an ESRI Certificate upon course completion.

Fees

• CPD Member – $630
• Non-CPD Member – $665

CPD Points can be used for payment of this event.

To find out if your campus is a CPD member, view the Campus Contacts list on our website.

REGISTRATION & DETAILS

Visit the ArcGIS Workshop website at http://tinyurl.com/arcgis1 for details and a link to registration.

Or, go to the SUNY CPD CALENDAR at http://www.cpd.suny.edu. Select the event you are interested in for complete details and a link to online registration.

QUESTIONS? Contact the SUNY Center for Professional Development by phone at 315-233-3052 x-112 or email: jmarshall@cpd.suny.edu.

Congratulations to the DIB, which was reviewed by Library Journal. Please see below for the review:

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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:
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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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