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Want to learn how BadgerLink can help you, your library patrons or students? Often wonder what BadgerLink has to offer? Need to squeeze learning into an already tight schedule? Ever want to eat lunch with a Badger? Ok, well…we are kidding about this last one… The Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction, Resources for Libraries & Lifelong Learning team, has organized another year of the popular BadgerLunch webinar series to help folks make better use of BadgerLink.
This series of learning sessions will explore BadgerLink’s rich collection of information tools. Each session covers one resource, database, or interface. All sessions are open to anyone who wants to learn. Topics include a description of the information/learning resource, searching techniques, and helpful features. All sessions are Thursdays at noon and last 30-45 minutes. Our Fall 2010 season schedule is below.
Each session is short so please log into the webinar a few minutes early so as not to disrupt the other participants. If you have little experience with webinars, then give yourself some extra time and log in a few minutes earlier.
An archive of previous sessions is found at http://www.badgerlink.net/training.html
BadgerLink FAQ10.7 What is it? How do I get access? ...and, can I get help? Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/38lorml (no advance registration)
10.14 New from BadgerLink: WNA’s Wisconsin Newspapers Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/35y5g6q (no advance registration)
10.21 New from BadgerLink: LearningExpress Library Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/26oo9uv
A Festival of Books and Literature!
10.28 Novelist and Novelist K8 Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/22kzlt2
11.4 Literary Reference Center Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/26kh377
11.11 Humanities International Complete Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/25ghn8q
11.18 TeachingBooks.net Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/2dgh76y (no advance registration)
Stay Healthy with BadgerLink
12.2 Consumer Health Complete Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/2b6eeon
12.9 AltHealth Watch AND Lexi-PALS Drug Guide Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/2bmq8xp
12.16 Business of Healthcare: BusinessSource Premier Register/Attend: http://tinyurl.com/289nuxm
BadgerLink is a project of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning. The goal is to provide access to quality online information resources for all Wisconsin residents.
Three BadgerLunch webinars will be held in March on the topic of Health and Medicine:
March 11 -- Consumer Health Complete
TO REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/yfrztks
March 18 -- Health Resources from Britannica Online
TO REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/960603880
March 25 -- Nursing Collection/AltHealthWatch/Medline from EBSCO
TO REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/yjbbdmt
All BadgerLunch Webinars are Thursdays at noon and last 30-45 minutes. These webinars are free. An archive of previous sessions can be found at www.badgerlink.net/training.html.
March 11 -- Consumer Health Complete
TO REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/yfrztks
March 18 -- Health Resources from Britannica Online
TO REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/960603880
March 25 -- Nursing Collection/AltHealthWatch/Medline from EBSCO
TO REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/yjbbdmt
All BadgerLunch Webinars are Thursdays at noon and last 30-45 minutes. These webinars are free. An archive of previous sessions can be found at www.badgerlink.net/training.html.
If you are interested in history or genealogy, please take a look at our current trial to footnote.com.
A couple of things to note: The site is graphic and photo intense, so trying it during the afternoon slow down might not be the best idea. Although footnote.com has been around for a while, this is a growing and evolving resource. They add about 2 million items a month. At this time they only have two federal censuses online, the 1860 and 1930. I was told that most of the federal census records should be available by the end of the year. So far I find searching a little overwhelming and confusing. I'm not sure if that is because of the sheer size of the database, because I don't know what I'm looking for, or if the database is just not well designed or that the coverage is just very sporadic. I plan to spend some more time exploring before formulating an opinion.
Footnote.com also has a social network component:
Thanks!
Evan
Footnote.com combines original historical documents and personal histories, creating a unique historical and genealogical resource. Footnote.com has a vast array of valuable and unique content consisting of well over 50 million historical documents and imagesFrom inside an OWLS library you should have access just by going to http://www.footnote.com . From inside Appleton Public Library or from home, try http://0-www.footnote.com.www.infosoup.org. The trial should last through the rest of September.
A couple of things to note: The site is graphic and photo intense, so trying it during the afternoon slow down might not be the best idea. Although footnote.com has been around for a while, this is a growing and evolving resource. They add about 2 million items a month. At this time they only have two federal censuses online, the 1860 and 1930. I was told that most of the federal census records should be available by the end of the year. So far I find searching a little overwhelming and confusing. I'm not sure if that is because of the sheer size of the database, because I don't know what I'm looking for, or if the database is just not well designed or that the coverage is just very sporadic. I plan to spend some more time exploring before formulating an opinion.
Footnote.com also has a social network component:
Although footnote.com is a much different type of product than HeritageQuest, given our limited budget I think we have to look at footnote.com as competition for HeritageQuest. While HeritageQuest currently has the federal census records, a core collection of family and regional histories, and a large index of genealogy publications, it is also a static product that is no longer being updated. If footnote.com had the census records would it be a better (or more interesting) resource than HeritageQuest? Our contract with HeritageQuest runs through February 2010. Please take a look and let me know what you think.
Footnote.com creates an environment where members can share their content and insights, ranging from major historical events to personal accounts and family histories. Footnote.com, together with its members, is revealing a side of history that few have seen before.
Thanks!
Evan
The new EBSCO titles are now available from BadgerLink (and access through InfoSoup is working again!). Go to http://0-search.ebscohost.com.www.infosoup.org and take a look. When I'm back from vacation I will begin making individual links on InfoSoup to these resources. Have fun exploring.
> contributed by Evan
> contributed by Evan
As you may have heard, ProQuest will no longer be a part of BadgerLink after July 1st and thus we will no longer have access to Proquest Newspapers, Ethnic NewsWatch, and the Wisconsin Newsstand. I will post a notice on InfoSoup in the coming days. Also, as of July 1, Newsbank will no longer be carrying the Post-Crescent. They sold the rights to the above mentioned Proquest. We are currently negotiating with ProQuest regarding continuing our subscription. I will provide more information as it becomes available.
While we say goodbye to ProQuest, we can say hello to Optimal Resume! Via the jobs grant, we have a one year subscription to this service. Optimal Resume is planning an upgrade for July 3rd, so we will start our contract to coincide with their new interface. If you are curious, you can take a look at https://infosoup.optimalresume.com. Just click on Get Started Today and follow the instructions to set up an account. Once you have created an account you then have access to a wide range of help documents and video. I will let you know when the new interface is up and running. If you have any questions, please let me know.
> contributed by Evan
While we say goodbye to ProQuest, we can say hello to Optimal Resume! Via the jobs grant, we have a one year subscription to this service. Optimal Resume is planning an upgrade for July 3rd, so we will start our contract to coincide with their new interface. If you are curious, you can take a look at https://infosoup.optimalresume.com. Just click on Get Started Today and follow the instructions to set up an account. Once you have created an account you then have access to a wide range of help documents and video. I will let you know when the new interface is up and running. If you have any questions, please let me know.
> contributed by Evan
This has been posted on various lists, but if you missed it, the latest BadgerLink contract will include a significant upgrade to our EBSCO contract. So, while we lose ProQuest Newpapers, we will be adding some new and exciting resources from EBSCO. Of great interest to OWLS libraries will be the addition of Auto Repair Reference Center and NoveList! Other major additions include the Science, History, and Literary Reference Centers. As these become available I will work to incorporate them in InfoSoup. These will also be excellent resources to highlight on your web sites. Here is the complete list as posted by DPI:
EBSCO will be providing an expanded package of databases which nearly doubles the content currently available. Libraries in Wisconsin will now have access to thirty-two EBSCOhost databases, including many new ones that were previously unavailable on a statewide basis. EBSCO will also provide an expanded newspaper package. The package includes the following:> contributed by Evan
Academic Search Premier
Alt HealthWatch
Auto Repair Reference Center
Book Collection: Nonfiction – Elementary School Edition
Book Collection: Nonfiction – Middle School Edition
Book Collection: Nonfiction – High School Edition
Business Source Premier
Consumer Health Complete
Education Research Complete
Educational Administration Abstracts
Encyclopedia of Animals
ERIC
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
GreenFile
Health Source: Consumer Edition
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition
History Reference Center
Humanities International Complete
LISTA
Literary Reference Center
MAS Ultra – School Edition
MasterFILE Premier
MEDLINE
Middle Search Plus
Military & Government Collection
Newspaper Source Plus
NoveList
NoveList K-8
Primary Search
Professional Development Collection
Regional Business News
Science Reference Center
In total, the combined, unduplicated content of this package breaks down as follows:
8,140 full-text magazines & journals (of which, 5,609 are peer-reviewed journals)
1,557 full-text newspapers & newswires (of which, 1,535 are newspapers)
6,755 full-text books & monographs
The above package includes an upgrade to the Premier versions of Academic Search and Business Source; a major newspaper collection (Newspaper Source Plus); the leading reader’s advisory service (NoveList and NoveList K-8); all three versions of Book Collection: Nonfiction; two new health databases (Consumer Health Complete and Alt Health Watch); two new education products (Education Research Complete and Educational Administration Abstracts); high school level science and history resources (Science Reference Center and History Reference Center); an auto repair database (Auto Repair Reference Center), and a pair of literary/humanities collections (Literary Reference Center and Humanities International Complete).
Our contract with the TELL ME MORE (TMM) languages program ends on March 22nd. For a while we were planning on giving it a try for another year. After additional evaluation, however, we came to the conclusion that renewing TMM may not be our best choice. Usage was pretty low, and both patrons and library staff encountered numerous problems getting the program to work. Because of these issues, we have decided to try a new language program called Mango Languages. Mango's main strength is that it is very easy to use. Mango can be used with any relatively recent browser and on any operating system (Mac users could not use TMM). Users only need adobe flash version 9 or higher, which is very common application. Mango is not as comprehensive as TMM -- it does not have speech recognition or writing components, but we believe it's usability is more important. Mango focuses more on everyday conversation. Anyone who has listened to a Pimsleur language tape will recognize the similarity. With Mango we also gain three new languages, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese. We do, however, lose Dutch (although only four people ever tried Dutch on TMM, and I think I was one of those four). There may also be additional languages added later this year. For ESL students, Mango has three programs for learning English for Spanish, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese speakers. More ESL programs are also planned.
Mango will be featured on the InfoSoup home page with a link to our Mango start page at http://info.infosoup.org/mango/
We will leave the TMM link up until the 22nd, with a note about why we are switching to Mango and with a link to Mango.
To use Mango from outside a library one will need a valid library card # and PIN. One nice feature of Mango is that you can use it with our without signing up for an account (although you still need your card # & PIN). If you just want to take a quick look, or don't want to remember yet another password, there is a Skip Login option (once you are on the Mango Languages page, not on the InfoSoup Page) that allows you to use Mango anonymously. If you do sign up for a Mango account, it will keep track of your language lessons.
If you have any questions or if your patrons have any questions, please let me know. I think most users will find Mango a lot easier to use.
Thanks,
Evan
Mango will be featured on the InfoSoup home page with a link to our Mango start page at http://info.infosoup.org/mango/
We will leave the TMM link up until the 22nd, with a note about why we are switching to Mango and with a link to Mango.
To use Mango from outside a library one will need a valid library card # and PIN. One nice feature of Mango is that you can use it with our without signing up for an account (although you still need your card # & PIN). If you just want to take a quick look, or don't want to remember yet another password, there is a Skip Login option (once you are on the Mango Languages page, not on the InfoSoup Page) that allows you to use Mango anonymously. If you do sign up for a Mango account, it will keep track of your language lessons.
If you have any questions or if your patrons have any questions, please let me know. I think most users will find Mango a lot easier to use.
Thanks,
Evan
Evan will be offering training on a bi-monthly basis on a variety of databases and online resources provided to OWLS member libraries via InfoSoup. The first in the series will be "EBSCO and ProQuest" coming up on Thursday, February 19th and Thursday, February 26th. You will have a couple of different options for each class, so you can pick which one works best for you:- Attend online via GoToWebinar.
- Attend in-person at the Appleton Public Library 2nd floor computer lab.
> contributed by Beth
The latest Gale Sizzle newsletter has a post on on a November 9th 2008 article in the NY Daily News where Barack Obama describes how a librarian helped him get his community organizing job in Chicago:
> contributed by Evan
The Mid-Manhattan Library had these books of lists of organizations, and the librarian helped me find these lists of organizations, and I wrote to every organization. One of them wound up being an organization in Chicago that I got a job with.Gale speculates that the reference book referred to could be none other than their very own Encyclopedia of Associations. Which reminds me to remind you that we have an online subscription to Gale's Associations Unlimited which can be found on the Research Tools @ InfoSoup page.
> contributed by Evan
We have an end of year offer to add TumbleReadable and TumbleTalkingBooks to our regular TumbleBooks collection. Since the talking books cannot be downloaded, I'm not sure how much they would be used. The TumbleReadables, however, seem like a natural fit. Here is the description of TumbleReadables:
One thing to note is that not all the titles have audio. The collection includes Read-Alongs and what they call Large Print Online Books. When you see a title, only the ones with (Read-Along) after the title have audio. Many of the text only books will eventually be converted to read-alongs. Take a look and let me know what you think. The login information for each collection is posted on our database trails page.
> contributed by Evan
www.TumbleReadables.com is an online collection of read-along titles for elementary, middle school, and high school students which features adjustable online text and complete audio narration. Sentences are highlighted as they are being read and the pages turn automatically. The collection features chapter books, early readers, YA/Teen Novels, high interest/low level books for both middle school and high school students, plus classics of American and English literature.
Read-Alongs are great for emergent, struggling, and reluctant readers, as well as being an excellent tool for ESL. They are also well received by strong and accomplished readers who are excited to follow along to the narration of their favorite books.
One thing to note is that not all the titles have audio. The collection includes Read-Alongs and what they call Large Print Online Books. When you see a title, only the ones with (Read-Along) after the title have audio. Many of the text only books will eventually be converted to read-alongs. Take a look and let me know what you think. The login information for each collection is posted on our database trails page.
> contributed by Evan
