 |
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
Home | Search | Browse | About IPO | Staff | Links |
|
Internet Success Stories from the Lewis & Clark Library System Edited by Jan Eakins Jones Introduction Libraries are rapidly changing. The impending global changes, political, economic, social and technological forces are having a direct major impact on all types of libraries. High speed changes and skyrocketing costs do not have to uncontrollably propel us into the 21st century. Librarians must reexamine their priorities in light of the current changes and work together to maintain and strengthen the quality of library services that people in our communities expect and deserve. It is impossible for each of us to "have it all." We must expand ways to share knowledge, ideas, resources and expertise. The leadership provided by Lewis & Clark Library System's consulting and continuing education and training programs have provided the gateway to access a wealth of resources not available to us just a year ago. A HISTORY OF INTERNET SERVICES AT LCLS Bill Stevens GateNet Manager, LCLS The Lewis & Clark Library System has offered library automation to member libraries for many years. In Fall 1993, the system determined there was a growing need to provide access to resources found on the Internet for the membership. To help meet that informational need, the system was able to obtain a $19,000 grant through the Illinois State Library to provide Internet access for all member libraries. These grant funds enabled Lewis & Clark Library System to purchase and install TGV's MultiNet software on their central site LLSAP computer in December 1993. This software added Internet services to the LLSAP computer and used the system's existing digital connection to Data Research Associate, Inc., the system's automation vender, to provide Internet access for the membership. We took advantage of the Internet connection to give our member libraries seamless access to ILLINET Online and later OCLC FirstSearch by making these services available as menu options on the LLSAP. Gopher, E-mail and Lynx were added via the LLSAP's menus to give the membership Internet access via the LLSAP's menus they were accustomed to using already. Training for all members began once the Internet functionality was working correctly. Initially we trained members on E-mail, Listservs and Gopher, then added Lynx when it became available over the LLSAP network. The following summer the system used $30,000 of its own "Live and Learn" funds to upgrade a major portion of the LLSAP telecommunications to digital 56k circuits from their analog lines. In December 1994 we opened computer training facilities in the newly remodeled LCLS headquarters. This gave us networked access to the LLSAP and the Internet from all computers in the headquarters. With the opening of the remodeled headquarters we now had graphical access to the Internet using Mosaic and Netscape besides the older character-based protocols of Gopher and Lynx. Training for members on the newer graphical Internet tools began immediately and was an immediate success story. Our only problem was in keeping up with the demand from our members for training and in keeping our workshops current in the fast-changing Internet arena. It had become very apparent that providing access to digital resources would be a critical factor in the long term success or failure of libraries. To meet this challenge, LCLS began the next phase in the upgrade of our telecommunications network. With help from the Illinois State Library's $51,000 "Live and Learn" automation grant we began in Spring 1996, the process 127 of installing networked personal computers at member libraries. These funds purchased frame relay equipment for use in member libraries to provide networked LLSAP and/or Internet access in the libraries. Members are now beginning to put networked personal computers out for patron use to search for digital information on the World Wide Web. THE FUTURE IS NOW Jan Eakins Jones Two short years ago when I came to the Lewis & Clark Library System as the Skills Development Consultant, the message was clear that library systems were changing. The fact that LCLS had hired a consultant to be in charge of managing continuing education and training activities marked just one of the significant changes made to improve professional development for our member libraries. Executive Director Margaret Stefanak spoke that year to the System Board of Directors, the staff, and to the member librarians about the future of library services within the Lewis & Clark Library System. She had a theme of 10 truisms; I call it the LCLS Vision. The major points she made were: 1. The world is rapidly changing. An example is the first year I taught Internet classes. Gopher was the theme, and we slowly learned to burrow into gopher holes for information. We now cruise the Information Superhighway at dynamic speeds! 2. Library Systems are evolving. We certainly have seen evidence over the past three years with budget cuts, the system realignments, and the growth and development of new partnerships. 3. Member libraries are changing. They must be responsive to future needs by redistributing budgets to provide access to information in different ways. The Frame-Relay Network now provides members with a graphical interface to the Internet. 4. Training and technology will become more important. Technology is the future... and participation in continuing education and training activities continues to increase each year. 5. We should expand alliances and partnerships. Through cooperation and collaboration the members have shown that they can do great things. Experimentation in the use of technology is healthy, and open communication and sharing of ideas will continue to be paramount. We now have links to other libraries and their resources on our Web page and a direct link through our Gateway Circle menu. A partnership with the St. Louis Metropolitan area libraries is budding. 6. We should seek opportunities to increase PR. The ISL and ILA public relations programs are great resources for PR. LCLS now has a display that is showcased at various library conferences and events. 7. Planning is essential. Know where you want to go. In the technological arena it will be the same. The long range plan of LCLS will ensure that our members are empowered to face a future as a strong, dynamic team. 8. It is essential to be involved—network, collaborate and share. The new technologies will provide an easier way for us all to communicate and be informed. Members who attend programs must continue to share highlights, handouts and tips for implementation of ideas. 9. Policies and procedures need to be updated. We will need to develop acceptable use policies for information technology.. .what is the impact of other policy information that we may have to consider??? 10. Know you can always call the system for support. LCLS continues to be a reliable source of information and support for all of our multitype members. INTERNET OR...NOT? Tom Mitchell O'Fallon Township High School In mid-October 1995, the administrative assistant to our Principal, Dr. Doreen Klages, came to the library with a grant application in her hand. As soon as she gave it to me I knew I was in trouble. It was due to be submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education on Oct. 27, 1995, a whole two weeks away, plenty of time! So, in two weeks we had to decide on what to do, make a budget to do it, write the grant proposal, and make it convincing in order to get the grant awarded to us. Actually, there were two grants included. One was a $5,000 grant to get training and buy some minor equipment; the other grant was for an upward limit of $25,000 and was to be matching funds. To make a long story short, everything did get done on time; most of it written, budgeted, justified and sweated over by yours truly, I never saw anything worth much that was done by committee. We did get both grants, and the second one yielded us approximately $19,000 for Internet connectivity. 128 The project we chose as our Internet Classroom Project was EnergyNet. You could choose a pre-established project or make up your own. Choosing an established one was the easiest thing to qualify for the grant. Students take an energy audit of their schools, find ways to reduce waste, and present their findings to their local school boards. One of the teachers actually doing the work in class and I attended a training session in Springfield in November. Currently, we are in the throes of wiring our classrooms from the hinterlands of the school back to the library, which is the "hub" of this project. Well, you didn't think I'd do all the work on this and then let them put everything in the main office, did you? Two of our Science/Technology classes are currently busy building envelope data, Internet data, making calculations, etc. So, the upshot of all this is if it had not been for a willing (is that what they call me?) librarian, O'Fallon Township High School might not have had Internet capability throughout the building (and let's not forget Lewis & Clark Library System, who are providing our link to Cyberspace). Although not all the problems have been resolved, we are trudging forward to solve them all even as we speak. If you want any of the gory details, please give me a call at O'Fallon High School, (618) 632-3507 during the business day; or you may e-mail me at tomm@apci.net. So, do we have Internet throughout the school? ...Not...YET. IT'S THAT VISION THING
Deborah Owen Sometime during the long, cold winter, one of the Fairview Heights' aldermen, Scott Rich, and I got into a discussion about connectivity. We found that we shared many of the same concerns about how we could possibly use the Internet to our mutual advantage. Mr. Rich was very interested in what Lewis & Clark Library System was doing with the new Frame-Relay Network and urged me to set up a meeting between Bill Rodgers, Bill Stevens, the local schools, the library and the city. It was his belief that if we could all share the cost of a T-1 line, all our institutions could benefit without the costs being excessive. It was also his desire to set up a home page for the city that would have links to all of us as well. A lot of excitement was generated that day and all of us went back to our institutions to think about it. There also were a lot of hurdles that needed to be cleared. For one, we discovered that Fairview Heights and most of Southern Illinois has very little fiber optic cable. We also hit a snag with the schools, who were very hesitant to commit dollars to any project until they saw what the state politicians were going to delivery. Some of the schools have no networked labs or Category 5 cabling in place, many have very old computers that are incapable of receiving the World Wide Web. To date, very little has happened to move the project off square one. The city remains committed to building its home page, and an Internet server for the library was funded for this fiscal year. Mayor Gail Mitchell and Mr. Rich have also promised to find funds to upgrade the library's service to a T-1. At the very least, the city will have a home page to help sell the idea of an interconnected community to the chamber of commerce, the school boards and to other city departments such as the police. The bottom line? Start talking to your city and school officials. Bring in the Chamber of Commerce or other business groups and start dreaming and making wish lists. You may find that there is a lot more common ground amongst you. ONE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN ON THE NET
Kathy Bouman, Reference Librarian A year ago I primarily searched Gopher to do Internet reference. I tried to learn as many menus as possible and where information was located. I knew I was supposed to do Veronica searches to find keywords in Gopher menus, but most searches were unsuccessful. Gopher Jewels is a fine attempt to organize information by subject area, but there are still no pictures. In the past year searching the World Wide Web has replaced my Gopher searches. Keyword searches really work now. There are various addresses that support searches; I tend to use Yahoo! since I can always connect to it. Simple type keywords in the subject box and click on "search." Yahoo! searches titles and text of Web sites for the keywords and provides a list of other sites containing them. Just click on the appropriate title(s). I still start many reference questions with a paper search, partly because I do not have fast desktop Internet access. A quick search in the World Almanac is quicker than the Internet for some searches. Sometimes I combine paper and Internet searches. Patrons needing city information from titles like the Places Rated Almanac can now also visit the home page of the relevant city and get real estate, business and historical information. Sometimes, however, I can only find the information on the Internet. I found the address of the company that makes American Girl Dolls on the Internet with a simple Yahoo! search; I could not find the company in the library's paper sources. Yesterday, 129 we printed out the Unabomber Manifesto for yet another member library. Yahoo! also attempts to classify Web sites into 14 main categories, such as Arts, Business and Economy, Entertainment, etc., and further subcategories much like a library classification scheme. As librarians know, working through categories and subcategories often identifies subject matter more effectively than keyword searching. In addition to Yahoo! there are other places to search on the Web, such as Alta Vista, Lycos and Inktomi. They retrieve somewhat different lists of sites from keyword searches. Steve G. Steinberg's article, "Seek and Ye Shall Find (Maybe)," explains the theory behind these different "search engines." This article appears in the May 1996 (or 4.05) issue of Wired. Even with keyword searching capability, I still feel overwhelmed because many specialized sites have their own sophisticated organization. I would like to spend a minimum of an afternoon on Law on the Net maintained by the Saint Louis University Law School. On May 1, 1996, the Illinois State Library presented a videoconference on electronic access to government It can also be reached via telnet for libraries using older machines (like my reference desk computer): swais.access.gpo.gov. When I was in library school, law and government docs were specialized electives. I also did not worry about evaluating all or even a significant percentage of the books described in the current edition of Guide to Reference Books, because the library school library did not have them. But now Law on the Net, GPO Access, and half a million (Steinberg 110) other sites are accessible on the Web. If you are Type A, you need to know them all. AS THE WORLD (WIDE WEB) TURNS: MY LIFE WITH THE INTERNET
Susan Kulasekara, Adult Services Librarian As the reference librarians in our system prepare themselves for the coming of full Internet access, one question (among many) comes to mind: how will having the Internet on our desktop affect our daily lives? I am lucky in that shortly before Hayner was hooked up into our system's new Frame-Relay Network, my husband and I subscribed to full Internet access at home. I was then able to discover first-hand what the World Wide Web could do for both personal and professional life. When the time came for my PC at Hayner to be hooked up to the new network, I was ready. Getting started at home was not an easy process, First, we had to download Netscape, a software tool which lets you browse the Internet. When the people from LCLS hook you up, they will save you the trouble by installing Netscape on your computer. Or, if your computer comes with Windows 95, you can use the Microsoft browser called Internet Explorer, which comes pre-installed in Windows 95. I use Explorer at home and am satisfied with it so far. When we finally got everything up and running at home, we had the entire internet before us like a foreign country, with no tour guide. Fortunately, from working at Hayner I was able to get the Web address of a site called Yahoo! Yahoo! is a kind of search engine, or index to the Web if you will, that allows you to look up World Wide Web sites by subject or keyword. You can look up everything from tourism in Jamaica to the St. Louis Blues home page. (Believe me, I've done both!) There are other search engines besides Yahoo!; some examples are Alta Vista, Lycos, and InfoSeek. Whichever you use is a matter of personal preference. Once you're connected to the Web, you start looking out for useful and/or fun Web sites. You'll find them everywhere, including television (in fact, if you watch an NBA game, you can see the NBA Web site address advertised in huge letters in the stadium). I found one of my favorite sites in Newsweek—it's called Search.com, and it's a search engine of search engines. In other words, if my husband wants to look up stock quotes, Search.com will give him a list of all the search engines that allow him to do so. It then lets you search those engines right from its own page, rather than having to go to the actual search engine's page. You can even personalize the Search.com page so that your favorite search engines come up every time you use it. Another incredibly useful site was given to me by a friend (and he's not even a librarian!). This one is called Switchboard, and it actually lets you search for addresses and phone numbers of people and companies all over the U.S. If the person or company you're looking for is in a U.S. phone book, you'll find it in the Switchboard database. Now we can all get rid of those shelves and shelves of outdated phone books in our libraries! After using the World Wide Web for a few weeks on a regular basis, my husband and I are both comfortable with it. So, by the time LCLS came to Hayner to hook us up to their Frame-Relay Network, I was more than ready. Getting hooked up at work was much 130 easier than at home, the gang from LCLS took care of everything for us! Obviously, not everyone has access to the Internet at home. Even if you don't, we are living proof that with a few hours of practice you can pretty much teach yourself to use the World Wide Web. I recommend that you spend some quality time with your computer and search whatever subject interests you, not necessarily a library-related one. You don't even have to be a librarian to be able to figure out how to search the Web. World Wide Web sites mentioned:
Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com REFERENCES RESOURCES ON THE NET Jan Eakins Jones The Internet provides a wealth of resources to help you with reference questions at the information desk. A few of my favorites are: Internet Public Library Contains reference, youth and teen divisions, classrooms, and an exhibit hall. Internet Public Library/Reference Center Contains general reference, science, environment, education, government and law, health and nutrition, social issues services, news, entertainment, humanities. Internet Public Library/Ready Reference Center http://ipl.sils.umich.edu/ref/RR The IPL Ready Reference Center is a collection of resources with the needs of the Internet community in mind. Sites are chosen to help answer specific reference questions quickly and efficiently. The basic for inclusion in this list is ease of use, quality and quantity of information, frequency of updating, and authoritativeness. (has keyword searching capabilities) The Virtual Reference Desk/Perdue http://thorplus.lib.perdue.edu/reference/index.html List government docs, info technology, dictionaries and thesauri, phone books and area codes, maps and travel info, science data, time data, zip codes, and other reference information Gopher Jewels Contains a catalog of many of the best Gopher sites by category. Galaxy http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy.html A guide to worldwide information resources provided by Trade Wave Corporation. Business and commerce, engineering and technology, leisure and recreation, medicine, reference, sciences and social sciences. Yahoo!: Reference http://www.yahoo.com/Reference Categories of acronyms, calendars, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etiquette, flags, journals, libraries, maps, measurements, postal info, standards, etc. The Public Service Librarian's Professional Guide to Internet Resources http://kl2.oit.umass.edu/libguide.html A compendium of listservs, current awareness services, library catalogs. Internet lessons, subject guides, multipurpose sites for librarians, answers from the experts, book reviews and literature, bookstores and other vendors, copyright, censorship, citing electronic resources and so on and so on and so on!!! The Electronic Newsstand The ultimate magazine site with the largest collection of magazine resources available on the Web. Contains links to 2,000 magazines! STUMPERS—THE ULTIMATE REFERENCE RESOURCE
Anita Castagna, Back-Up Reference Librarian As Back-Up Reference Librarian of Lewis & Clark Library System, I have found STUMPERS to be one of my most valuable resources. STUMPERS is a Listserv; it is a resource for reference questions. It is used to ask questions that you have not been able to answer elsewhere. STUMPERS was created in 1992 by a student of Rosary College's Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
To subscribe:
To ask questions after you have subscribed:
If you subscribe to the list you may have up to 100 postings a day because there are more than 900 131 members on the list from the U.S., UK, Europe and other countries. The general idea is that you post your question, everyone on the list looks at the question and determines whether they have an answer to the question. Sometimes people may not know the answer but suggest where it may be found. Usually there are a number of responses to your question. I use STUMPERS often even if I haven't asked a question. I need to check it a few times a week to clear the screen. I also look for questions that I can answer easily so that I can make my contribution to the list. Here are some examples of the questions I've asked on STUMPERS from questions I have received. 1. What is the German version of Happy Birthday? 2. What is the history of the candy cane and how did it get to be known as a symbol of Christmas? 3. How do you play the game Washer? (As far as I know there are no written reference sources to this question. I receive a number of different answers as it seems that in different parts of the country it is played slightly differently.) 4. How do you make a Moravian star sculpture? (A librarian from a public library in North Carolina was able to fax me six pages of instructions. I also got many more responses telling me which books I may find it in.) STUMPERS is a wonderful resource although it can be time consuming as it is so heavily used. I think it worth exploring to see if it can be of benefit to your library. How to Locate Stumpers-L on the Web Note: "The Stumpers-L electronic mail list official home page is located at http://www.cuis.edu/ ~stumpers/intro.html. It is sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Rosary College. Stumpers-L was founded as an e-mail-based resource in which reference librarians can help each other find the answers to difficult questions. The Stumpers-L home page contains information about the Stumpers Archives, a place to point and click to search the archives and stumpers FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions). THE TOUCH
Barb Driesner, Youth Services Librarian We all remember the "Reach Out and Touch Someone" campaign. Internet allows us the opportunity to reach out and touch more people than we could ever imagine possible. For instance, having the ability to reach out and touch more than 700 Youth Services Librarians on a daily basis. On PUBYAC, a Youth Services oriented listserv that I have subscribed to for the last year. Youth Librarians from Guam to Puerto Rico, Canada to Australia, check in each day for discussions on library issues, procedures, program suggestions, controversies, and the ever present stumpers. I admit that I have become a PUBYAC junkie. Each day sparks discussion on some new and timely topic (Disney Trivia) and how others are dealing with these topics in the real world. I'm hooked on the information that is being exchanged. Recently, debate ran hot and heavy about a preteen development book. It's Perfectly Normal. Discussion was not just based on the merits of the book since many librarians already had purchased this title, but the controversy shifted to whether to place the book in the juvenile, young adult or adult collection. Comments on both sides of the issue helped many of us clarify the access question in terms of having a book in the right place for the right person. Subscribing to a Listserv is time consuming, and I do get behind in reading each day's digest with some 20 or so individual postings. However, PUBYAC is also time saving for me because I have access to posted bibliographies that I would not have found the time to compile, as well as readers advisory, and review suggestions that will enhance my library's collection. Thanks to Shannon VanHemert, the listserv manager, PUBYAC runs very well with nary a hiccup. Anyone wishing to sign on need only send an e-mail message to: listserv@nysernet.org. Then on the message line type: SUBSCRIBE PUBYACFirstname Lastname. New Listserv and Web sites concentrating on youth topics are spinning out daily. I am in awe at the growth of useful technology available. Having access to so much information and to so many options at the touch of a key is like attending a daily professional seminar without wasting the travel time and expense. This ability to communicate with others across the world is often mind boggling, and yet it is right there at our fingertips. The Lewis & Clark Library System staff under Margaret Stefanak's leadership has provided us the link to Internet services to take us into the next century of global technology. We now have the ability to reach out, which gives us all the opportunity to be in touch. 132 A SCHOOL LIBRARY'S SUCCESS WITH POSTCARD GEOGRAPHY
Donna Meyer LM_NET, a Listserv for librarians, leads to geography project at Whiteside School in Belleville. Postcard Geography provided the names and addresses for classes across America. As participants joined the list, their school name and address became part of the Postcard Geography. The list was continually updated by Kathy Weil from Oklahoma City (Dimplesue @aol.com). The fourth graders at Whiteside sent postcards of Belleville's fountain on the square. The hardest part of the project was waiting for responses. Then the postcards started arriving! Students stapled a large wall map to the bulletin board in the main hallway. The colorful postcards from across the country appeared with connecting yam markers. Our fourth graders discovered the location of states, interesting places and penpals. EXIT RAMP FROM THE INTERNET
Linda J. Harris, Director My experience on the Internet has been an evolutionary one. It began about a year ago with text-based lynx access. It was difficult but exciting to access information stored on computers all over the world. When my husband entered the MLS program at the University of Missouri last summer, we were introduced to life on the World Wide Web. A magazine and a book from our library began my husband's adventures with HTML. He created a home page for himself on the Web. In my surfing experiences, I discovered that a few libraries in northern Illinois had home pages. It didn't take too much persuading to get my husband to create a page for our library. That home page and its several attachments have been evolving for about six months. Until recently it lived on the server at the University of Missouri. I am now learning the simpler HTML coding and have made a few additions and changes to the page. My reason for wanting a page initially was to provide an exit ramp from the information superhighway to give my library and my community a presence on the Web. It was an attempt to tell people around the world (wishful thinking) about our library and our community. On April 16, we began offering in-house public access to the Internet (that is a subject for another article). Our home page now serves as the starting point for patrons to surf the net. We are creating bookmarks to assist them with those searches. We will be adding links in the future to take them to sources of a reference nature. Eventually, I want to create places for each department of the library similar to the Internet Public Library or the Washoe County Library. I have been advising the city administration for several months that they need to create a Web page for the city. This assignment has now been handed over to an intern from SIU-E who thinks that I am the city's Internet guru. Given how little I really know out of all there is to know about the Internet, I think we are in big trouble. LOVEJOY LIBRARY'S WEB PAGE
Julie Hansen, Humanities & Instruction Librarian It is the subject of books, articles, comic strips and mass media advertising. The Internet, the "Information Superhighway," has found its way into our everyday lives. The Internet, the world's largest computer network, provides almost instant access to electronic information around the globe. What seemed like a dream to computer and information specialists just a few years ago, has become a reality. Sound recordings and visual images have joined the millions of print items that can be retrieved through this amazing global network. From viewing a print copy of the new Shakespeare elegy or photographs from outer space of a newly discovered solar system, to reading the latest stock market reports or listening to the sound of George Gershwin playing "Rhapsody in Blue," the possibilities for resources shared through the Internet seem limitless. Searching for information on the Internet has been made easier through the use of tools like the World Wide Web. With links identified on Lovejoy Library's World Wide Web page, SIUE patrons now have easy access to both global and local resources. ILLINET Online is consistently ranked as the number one link on the library's Web page. Our patrons are becoming adept at using the World Wide Web to search Lovejoy's holdings and to identify materials in other libraries in Illinois. They are enhancing their work by using this link to initiate interlibrary loans from 44 ILLINET academic libraries. Students and faculty are also given the opportunity to begin their research with electronic access to library collections within the region and throughout the world with links to other libraries from our Web page. 133 Another important link on the Lovejoy Library Web page is to the OCLC FirstSearch database. Support from the Illinois State Library has made it possible for current SIUE students, faculty and staff to search OCLC's international library catalog and 13 databases, covering the journal literature of many disciplines. They are able to research databases like: ABI/ INFORM, EconLit, ERIC, MEDLINE, MLA, and Periodical Abstracts not only in the library but from their personal computers, computer classrooms, and labs throughout the campus. Full text retrieval of articles on screen or via e-mail for several of the FirstSearch databases is a special enhancement that has made a positive impact on our changing learning environment. "Project Muse" is a new link on our Web page. Developed by the Johns Hopkins University Press and provided to our users with assistance from the State of Illinois, "Project Muse" enables SIUE patrons to read electronic versions of more than three dozen journals in the social science and humanities disciplines. Although the library subscribes to many of the titles included in the project, "Project Muse" enhances our access to these resources. For example, SIUE patrons may read the electronic version of "Submachine Guns and Electronic Schoolmarms: A True Crime Western," by V. Wagner, published in the Summer, 1995 issue of Modern Fiction Studies on their personal computers. Working in computer classrooms or communicating through e-mail sessions, faculty and students can read and discuss journal literature together. Onsite visitors to the library also benefit from "Project Muse," as electronic access to these journals is ensured when the print versions of them are unavailable. An important link on the library's Web page is to the Internet search tools that serve as indexes to resources on the World Wide Web. Some, like the Federal Web Locator are specialized in their coverage. Others, like Yahoo and Lycos, provide subject and keyword access to the many documents are stored on the world wide computer network. Whether searching for images by black artists in the collections of the National Museum of American art, the latest information on dinosaurs of the Jurassic period, or the weather forecast for Tokyo, Japan, global resources are just a click away. Averaging more than 800 accesses a week, Lovejoy Library's Web page serves as an important link to local resources as well. Information about library hours, our calendar and library staff are easy to find on the Web. Links to the e-mail address of library staff and departments have been created and patrons can contact us by sending e-mail messages directly from our Web page. We are also using the Web page to support library activities on campus. After our participation at the Employee Benefits and Health Fair we created a link on our Web page to all of the health and fitness Web sites that we demonstrated. University staff members who want to follow up on our demonstration can access those sites simply and easily form the links on our Web page. Questions about borrowing materials, example: who is eligible?; what can you borrow?; how long can you use it?;—are addressed in a link to "Frequently Asked Questions." When Lovejoy Library does not have the material they need, SIUE patrons use the forms on our Web page to send requests for books and for journal articles to our Interlibrary Loan Department. The e-mail format provides an easy and accurate means for patrons to communicate their research needs. The use of interactive forms and electronic communication through the library Web page will make our local resources more accessible and "user friendly." Inventories of unique collections like the Jazz Archives; the manuscripts and photographs of the University Archives and Research Collections; the Audio Visual Services film and video catalog; and the Course Reserves list will soon be linked to the Web. Working on personal computers as they develop their course syllabi, SIUE faculty may use the links on the library Web page to schedule audio visual equipment and materials for classroom use. In addition to reserving equipment and materials, SIUE faculty may also use a simple interactive form to communicate their instruction needs to our staff. Whether it is a general orientation to the layout of the library building or advanced techniques in electronic database searching, help through the Web is only a click away. Lovejoy Library's World Wide Web address is: http://www.library.siue.edu/. Come visit us and explore the possibilities of this global information network. Other LCLS Member Home Page Addresses OTallon Public Library http://www.w3biz.com/ofallonJl/OFLIBTXT.HTM OTallon Township High School St. Elizabeth's Hospital Health Sciences Library THE OTHER BEST-KEPT SECRET
Kay Pile, Librarian The Mercantile Library may be the best-kept secret for book lovers in St. Louis, but I like to think of the 134 Law Library here at the Madison County Courthouse as a pleasant secret for people researching legal issues. The library is open to the public and supported by a fee on all case filings. The library is distinguished by its CD-ROM collection, bankruptcy cases, federal cases, Illinois Administrative Code, Shepard's Citations, etc. There are two terminals; one computer is equipped for online research using Westlaw and the Internet. The Internet is a fantastic resource for the legal field with nearly instantaneous reporting of cases, legislation, law journals and attorneys' own Web pages.Supreme Court cases (from 1990 to present) are available within hours, and syllabi of new decisions can be e-mailed automatically at no cost to subscribers. Illinois cases should be available soon. Of course THOMAS keeps everyone up-to-date on national legislation. Springfield does not have a similar service yet. One local attorney, John Delaney, has a home page with interesting links to all kinds of non-legal places. Problems include the absence of archival materials and questions on citing materials. You will love the audio ditty at the Emory Law School home page. The West Legal Directory can help find an attorney. I got my library Christmas decoration ideas from the AALL home page: stringing up old CDs—not exactly Martha Stewart but, hey, recycled! Basic Legal Citations Table of Contents http://www.law.cornell.edu/ citation/citation. table.html Guide to Legal Resources/Kent U http://www.kentlaw.edu/lawnet/ lawlinks.html GPO Access on the Web Fed Reg etc http://thorplus.lib.perdue.edu:80/gpo The House of Representatives - Internet Law Library WWW Virtual Library: Law/International and Environmental Law http://www.law.indiana.edu/law/intenvlaw.html Code of Federal Regulations http://www.pls.com:8001/his/ cfr.html Legal Information Institute Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy American Association of Law Libraries http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/aallnet/aallnet.html Big Ear: Current Legal Resources on the Net
http://barratry.law.cornell.edu: 5123/notify/
buzz.html Bill's Law Library
http://www.io.org/~j gcom/librlaw.htm Controlled Substances - Uses and Effects
http://www.wellesley.edu/Personnel/
AdminHandbook/drugchart.html Delaney's Home Page http://home.stlnet.com/~reywal/ Ihome.htm Faxon's List of Links for Librarians http://www.faxon.com/Internet/LibGuide/ Moreinfo.html FedWorid Home Page FindLaw: Internet Legal Resources Internet Legal Resource Guide http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/ -juris/ IRS The Digital Library http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/plain/cover.html LawLinks: The Internet Legal Resource Center The "Lectric Law Library's (TM) Entrance Library of Congress http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/aboutlc.html Lovejoy Library (SIUE) Lycos, Inc. What's Hot http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/lycos250/hot-government.html Morris Library Catalog - Illinet Online http://www.lib.siu.edu/hpage/ Morris.Library. Catalog.html National Criminal Justice Reference Service http://ncjrs.aspensys.com:81/ncjrshome.html The New York Times on the Web New York Public LibraryNOCALL/SCALL Internet Buddies ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/lo/Loftus/buddies/faq/ hot.html Quote, Com http://www.quote.com/cgi-bin/quote-form SEC EDGAR Database http://www.sec.gov/edgarhp.htm Supreme Court Decisions http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct United States Code http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit http://www.law.emory.edu/7circuit Ten Most Wanted Fugitives http://www.fbi.gov/toplist.htm TimesFax 2 http://nytimesfax.com/altfax.html West Publishing: West's Legal Directory (WLD) 135 WashLaw WEB - Washburn University School of Law http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw.html Yahoo: Government: Agencies: Census Bureau http://www.yahoo.com/ Government/Agencies/ Census_Bureau FROM OUR NEIGHBORING LIBRARIES IN MISSOURI... THE WESTPLEX INFORMATION NETWORK CONNECTS ST. CHARLES COUNTY RESIDENTS TO EACH OTHER AND THE WORLD
Jan Bardon On March 29, 1995, the Westplex Information Network or WIN officially went online as the largest community information network in Missouri. Along with four other governmental entities, the St. Charles City-County Library District designed and set up this system which provides access to community information and the Internet for St. Charles County, Missouri residents. By March 29, 1996, the one-year anniversary of WIN, nearly 10,000 St. Charles County residents had signed on as registered WIN users. Anywhere from 100 to 150 new WIN applications are still being processed by library staff each month. Basic WIN services are available free to all St. Charles County residents and business owners. These services include access to: community information, e-mail, the Internet, open telnet, open ftp, discussion lists and EBSCOhost. St. Charles County residents who do not have a computer in their home can come to any one of the eight branches of the St. Charles City-County Library District and use public access computers with Netscape browsing software.
In late 1995, registered WIN users were offered the option of SLIP/PPP access. A SLIP connection, combined with the necessary software, gives WIN clients access to graphics on the community information network and the Internet. This service was made available at a cost of $72 per year. (Basic text-based lynx services are still offered free of charge.) "We tried to make SLIP affordable to everyone," said Audrey Bangert, coordinator of Management Information Services for the library district and WIN board member. SLIP services have proven to be very popular with WIN users. "Now that SLIP is available, modem pools fill up regularly. Forty-eight new modems currently on order will be devoted entirely to serving SLIP customers," said Bangert. In addition to processing all WIN applications, the Library District also serves as the WIN "help desk." Callers leave messages in voice mail and receive quick responses to their questions from the reference staff at the Spencer Road Branch Library. WIN continues to develop and change. New means to enhance the network and keep up with current technology are continuously being explored, and improvements and changes are made regularly. "The St. Charles City-County Library District is proud to be a charter member of the sponsoring organizations that developed the Westplex Information Network," said Library Director Carl R. Sandstedt. "Community information networks such as WIN are changing the way libraries provide information as well as dramatically increasing the amount of information that a library can offer to customers." The St. Charles City-County Library District has helped make sure that St. Charles County residents are connected to their community and the world through the Westplex Information Network. AT HOME ON WIN
Jan Bardon The Westplex Information Network (WIN) is the community information network that connects St. Charles County residents to each other and the world. The St. Charles City-County Library District uses WIN as yet another way to meet the information needs of the residents of St. Charles County. WIN allows the library district to provide St. Charles County residents access to unlimited amounts of information right at home and opens up new information resources in the library. To help WIN customers find the information they need, library staff members have organized and designed a variety of Library District home pages. The local history and genealogy home page not only includes numerous pertinent Internet sites, but also features text of many St. Charles City-County Library District genealogy and local history resources. This page has opened up the Library District's genealogy and local history collection to the world. (Local History & Genealogy—www.win.org/library/services/ Ihgen/cinmenu.htm) Government Documents and GIS home pages point to Internet sites put together by federal and state government. Sites are organized by topics to help WIN users find the information they need. (Government Documents Information— www.win.org/library/matls/govdocs/homepg.htm (GIS information—www.win.org/library/services/ gis/gishp.htm) At several libraries throughout the district, staff members have organized and assembled 136 branch and department home pages. These point to ready-reference Internet sites. (Ready reference sites, www.win.org/library/intres/irr/readyref.htm) Tools for Internet searching is a very popular site put together by library staff. (Internet searching— www.win.org/library/intres/searches/ searches.htm) Staff members are also encouraged to put together personal home pages featuring their favorite sites and facts. Being on the Westplex Information Network opens up information avenues in the library that would otherwise not exist. A customer's request for extensive information on the topic of early Chinese mathematicians was found quickly on the Internet. "A few years ago, your normal popular library could not have provided a customer with this type of information,"said Spencer Road Branch Manager Jim Brown. "With Internet access, now we can." Creating the information for the Library District's portion of WIN is an ongoing project constantly under construction. Menus and home pages are improved and enhanced regularly as technology changes. The final goal is to provide the information that will best meet the needs and interests of WIN users. Check out WIN at http://www.win.org (for browsing) or telnet://telnet.win.org to login as a guest. TRAINING TO SURF
Jan Bardon Just over a year ago, the Westplex Information Network (WIN) was born. This community information network connects St. Charles County, Missouri residents to each other and the world. As a founding member of WIN, the St. Charles City-County Library District, along with other sponsoring organizations, has helped to design and maintain this network. The job did not end when WIN came online, it was just beginning. The library district, along with other WIN sponsors, now shares the responsibility of helping St. Charles County residents utilize WIN to its fullest extent. This is being done by organizing and conducting WIN training programs.
As part of this effort, library district staff serve on a team that offers a variety of special WIN training classes at locations throughout St. Charles County. Classes include a Beginners Session, an Advanced Session, and SLIPP/PPP using Netscape. Beginning training sessions include a demonstration of WIN, instructions for composing, sending and reading e-mail, an overview of managing personal files on WIN and a brief introduction to the Internet and EBSCOhost. Advanced sessions cover special features of e-mail, more details on the Internet and advanced techniques for managing files, an introduction to Public Square and a discussion of downloading and printing files from various locations. SLIP/PPP sessions cover the set-up and use of Netscape Personal Edition. In addition to these programs, several other classes are offered exclusively at the library. "Searching the Internet" provides information for adults on finding information on the Internet. There is also an opportunity for some hands-on practice. Young adult library customers can learn how to surf the Internet at a program called "Surf's Up." This program is for library customers age 12 to 18, and includes a demonstration followed by a hands-on session. Young adults can also swap new Internet sites, funny stories and topics by joining the "Cybernauts Club," which meets once a month at the Spencer Road Library. Unlimited information is worthless information if it cannot be accessed. The St. Charles City-County Library District and other WIN sponsors are committed to helping St. Charles County residents get the information they need. Check out WIN at http://www.win.org (for browsing) or telnet://telnet.win.org to login as a guest. TRAINING AND CONTINUING EDUCATION... THE STEPS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS Jan Eakins Jones Remember when we were going through the Planning and Role Setting document? The hardest thing for us to do was not writing our own plan, but in deciding what our mission and roles were to be. Many of us struggled to decide what they were NOT going to be able to do well, and many decided, in spite of it all, that they were going to have an elaborate mission statement and adopt more roles than they were really able to deliver service well on at best. In other words.. .they still wanted to be everything to everyone. It is a problem that has been addressed by many professional articles. Think about how Internet strategies are linked to your libraries' purpose and answer the true/false questions: Please put a "T" or "F" next to the following statements: INTERNET CAN PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING: 1. Links to lifelong learning 2. Provides maximum access to information 3. Tie into the restructuring/team/ collaboration model 4. Improves communication/increases opportunities to network 137 5. Brings in exposure to others' ideas 6. Provides a way to let go of paper 7. Provides increased CCD opportunities 8. Provides timely, accurate information 9. Changes the way you look at problems 10. Promotes multi-type cooperation 11. Provides value added services 12. We CAN be everything to everybody... we MUST learn to manage the CHAOS INTERNET SUCCESS SHORT STORIES... I've answered two reference questions on the Web so far today! First, someone wanted to know the dates of the summer Olympics, so I found the home page for the Olympics. The second was a patron wanting the address for a girl's school in England—and the school had a home page! She said she's been working on this for 10 years. (Thanks Hayner PLD) A patron needed to find information on the Illinois Goals 2000 and the Federal Education Goals. A quick check of the Illinois State Board of Education home page referred to the goals: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ illgoals.html. World Class education for the 21st Century Illinois Goals included the Vision and Mission Statement, the Illinois Goals and Related National Goals. (Thanks Jerseyville PL) "Teachers, I received this e-mail message today from my listserv, and I thought I would pass it on to those who are interested or like to surf that information highway." From Luann Toennis: February is Black History Month. Here are some Internet sites you can check out in your search for resources to help your students.: The Martin Luther King Home Page: http://www.emich.edu/public/nasa/martin.htm An anthology of picture books devoted to black culture: http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/soecial/kav/afro.html A complete directory of black-related sites: http://www.iqc.apc.org/africanam/africanam.html A directory for African studies from the University of Pennsylvania http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African-Studies The Universal Black Pages from Beorois Tech: http://www.patech.edu/boss/blackpages.html Essays about slavery written by students in Jeff Prudhomme's fifth-grade class at Virginia L. Murry School in Ivy, VA: The Buffalo Soldiers on the Western Frontier, an introduction to the contribution black soldiers made to the taming of the American West: http://www.horseworld.com/imh/bof/buftoc.html (Thanks Althoff Catholic HS) "I had a lady who needed some information on a fertility clinic in San Francisco. She heard it on CNN but couldn't catch the doctor's name and/or telephone number. When I spoke to her I had a feeling I would find something on the Internet but couldn't remember where. Later in the day I remembered that we had the address to CNN Interactive, looked it up and, bingo, the news article was there. It helped in that it gave the news article, along with the doctor and clinic's name, but what a find! This is neat. As I can see the sky's the limit as far as information goes." The information sheet Karen referred to was "Keeping Up to Date With Internet WWW" available from LCLS headquarters. (Thanks Belleville PL) A patron wanted TEXT of Title IX, so we would know what really was covered, limits, etc. Various glancing references (we are, after all, talking 25-year-old law here) and rather complicated-to-sort-through references Internet until we found the U.S. Code number and section (in book Redress for Success), then lawlib on Internet gave original text, path through offshoots, etc. (Thanks Louis Latzer MPL) A patron wanted published verification/corroboration/quotable sources for current (apparent/alleged) switch over from wood to plastic pallets for meat shipments (prepackaged units to grocery stores) because of new FDA health standards. (Hard to remember exact course of search but enough-like) Patron had done catalog and Infotrac search with nothing coming up. We found FDA/USDA addresses/phone numbers in reference books in case we would need to contact them directly for information. Found pallet-supply sources in Thomas Register, ditto need. Found terrific possible listings in BusinessLink with references for both pallets and 1993 Model Food Code. Also telnetted listings in from US Government Gophers to and through FDA/USDA. ILLINET book possible sources via the HACCP reference from previous two sources. The patron had sufficient information with periodicals here and printouts so we did not need to order those. (Thanks Louis Latzer MPL) A patron wanted information on what started as "rights of ex-convicts" (IL Revised Statutes on parole/ probation, etc.). It turned out to mean partly as versus rights of the community to know about the presence of ex-cons. Established subject phrases via Infotrac?RG/CD Bases, both BusinessLink and NYTms to major area of Community Notification 138 (Law/s) (with rechecks Ex-convicts, Rights of and Right of Privacy, etc.) With some additional finds in FastDoc/ArticleFirst. The patron (who had access to IlRevStatutes and WashLaw, yet still requested our search skills) had sufficient information with references and routings for his own follow-up for class project/paper. (Thanks Louis Latzer MPL) ONLINE SERVICES SAVE THE DAY
Dave Burgett As the statistics at the system may have indicated, we at Bond County High School are relatively heavy users of LCLS online services! We hit rather heavily ILLINET Online. I'll just mention a couple of success stories that quickly come to mind. ILLINET Online and OCLC/FirstSearch— Our Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus class was assigned to write research reports on the following topics: Linear programming, general topology, Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, the golden section, analytic gaming, geometrical probability, Iconoclasm, math in nature, etc. Needless to say, I hadn't even heard of most the preceding math terms so we went into ILLINET Online and found a large number of books. Other databases used included FirstSearch's ArticleFirst and FastDoc. These two sources uncovered about 47 citations (most in "full text"). Fortunately, the books from ILLINET Online and professional journals from the FirstSearch hits provided more than enough material for all the students in the class. Had we relied on just the holdings within our own library or even the available library collections within the Greenville community, the AP math students would have been "out of luck"!!
FirstSearch/ERIC databases—Our school district is tentatively planning to go to a "Block 8" schedule, whereby any given class would meet for a two-hour time slot but only once every other day. Many of the school districts in the Chicago suburban area have already gone to such a schedule for their high schools. Our high school principal, Mr. Donald Dillon, asked that I try to obtain as much background material dealing with the "Block 8" schedule as possible for both the administration and board to review. I found five works from ILLINET Online, six from WorldCat, and 37 citations from ERIC on OCLC's FirstSearch. Again, needless to say, the online services saved the day as we didn't have any books on the respective topic within our "professional" collection and wasn't able to find anything in EBSCO, which merely searches for articles in general periodicals. INTERNET IS A SUCCESS AT CARROLLTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Jan Jungk In the Carrollton School District we use Internet both at the high school and the grade school. The elementary school at Carrollton School District uses Internet service to order books for research. Students use Internet to find information as well. The students sometime find it difficult to remember how certain sites were located and get back to them. In spite of this, students and staff are becoming more interested. Several elementary-level staff members communicate daily via e-mail. This is quite popular and there is more and more use of e-mail at our school. During the school year, the high school library has relied heavily on the FirstSearch databases. We have made extensive use of the FastDoc database to locate information for Problem Solving Classes, Rhetoric Classes, Biology research and background information for grants. Selected articles are sent by e-mail and downloaded to disc from which students can print or select information they need. Because our small budget could not support the purchase of so many current scholarly publications and books, this service has been a definite bonus for our library and education program. Additionally, when our students access these databases to research topics, they have the opportunity to fine-tune their search skill using technology in a real world context. This helps prepare our students for locating information on their own. A Genealogist's Great Find! The road to a genealogist's heart may be through WorldCat. A genealogist who visits the library came in with a few titles of genealogy sources she was interested in locating. We could not find the sources in ILLINET, but a search on WorldCat turned up the titles and a list of libraries that owned them. Although the books were not available for interlibrary loan, our genealogist was happy to find some eastcoast libraries that owned the books. She was going to visit family in that area and planned to stop and examine the relevant materials. (Thanks Edwardsville PL) History of Editors of a Periodical It appears that some of the cataloging for items in WorldCat is incredibly detailed, if not obsessive. We were able to track down the names of editors of a periodical from the turn of the century. We also found some good information regarding its merger with other periodicals over time. (Thanks Edwardsville PL) 139 FirstSearch Saves Time (and Money) At Hayner, the WorldCat database has been very useful to us as OCLC members. When a patron requests a book from us that we can't find in GateNet or ILLINET, we look it up in the WorldCat database and get its OCLC number. Then when we dial into OCLC to request the book, we save time (and money) in the OCLC database by typing in the OCLC number. LCLS members who do not have an OCLC membership can still benefit by getting the bibliographic citation and OCLC number to facilitate locating materials and then requesting through ILL. (Thanks, Hayner PLD) Locate Materials in Foreign Languages A German patron who is staying in another library district came in wanting to know how he could get hold of popular literature in German, particularly books by Stephen King. I looked up Stephen King in WorldCat and, using the LIMIT feature, narrowed my search to books in German. I was then able to print out a list of Stephen King books in German, and the patron could have his home library order the books for him. (Thanks Hayner PLD) WorldCat and Serendipity A patron wanted a copy of the poem "In the Lure of the Tropics" along with the poet's name. We searched multiple editions of Grangers and did the kind of search that we would generally do on something that is obscure and hopeless. One reference librarian typed in the title of the poem in WorldCat, a real off-the-wall search since WorldCat is a book and periodical database,not a poem finder. We got four hits. We searched the complete records for the first three hits and found nothing. When we looked at the fourth record in the notes area we found that the name of the poem and poet were printed on the container. When we checked the owning libraries, we found that three Illinois libraries owned the sound recordings. We chose Sangamon State's library to contact, dialed into ILLINET Online and found the call number for the sound recording by typing in clang of the yankee reaper, the sound recordings titles. We called the interlibrary loan librarians at Sangamon State and explained that we did not need to borrow the entire sound recording, but we needed a copy of the poem from the record jacket. We faxed her the ILLINET citation and call number and she faxed us the poem in 20 minutes. The reason we were able to find the poem in the title in WorldCat is that the cataloging in WorldCat is much more complete than in ILLINET Online; in fact it is downright obsessive! The patron was delighted with the poem text. His dad had recited the poem from memory. The patron wanted to publish the poem text and poet's name in the local newspaper to commemorate the first anniversary of his father's death. WorldCat had the information that he needed to fulfill this man's wish. (Thanks Lewis & dark Community College) And There's More... Just wanted to let you know that we had many success stories in OCLC FirstSearch! These are just a couple... A patron called wanting to know what day American Indian Day fell on. We looked in the Almanac, Chase's, World Book and quite a few other book sources and couldn't find anything. I went into OCLC Education/Government then into the GPO, typed in American Indian Day and came up with one document proclaiming American Indian Day to be May 13th. Our patron was very happy. The second success story dealt with the mother and aunt of a Greenville student who was trying out for a scholarship offered by a Swiss organization in Chicago. She had to answer a page full of questions relating to the Swiss culture and history. The one on which we couldn't seem to find anything was "Who is Claude Nicollier?" Again, we tried quite a few book sources and could not come up with anything. Cerridgwyn went into the New York Times, typed in his name and came up with quite a few articles. We found that he was a Swiss astrophysicist on the Hubble Repair crew. When we found this out as well as a date, we were able to find other sources elsewhere. We called our patron and they couldn't thank us enough for our help. (Thanks, Louis Latzer Memorial PL) * Jan Eakins Jones, Human Resources Consultant, Lewis & Clark Library System, Edwardsville. These articles were originally published in the May 1996 edition of The Expedition, the quarterly newsletter of the library system. A version of another article in the newsletter is being published in the Illinois State Library special report series. Vol. 3, Issue 1. The article by William J. Rodgers is about the library system's frame relay network. 140 |Home|
|Search|
|Back to Periodicals Available|
|Table of Contents|
|Back to Illinois Libraires 1996|
|