Departments
Newsline
Newsline is compiled by Kathie Felix
LIBRARY AUTOMATION
Dynix Rolls Out
Horizon Web Reporter
Dynix debuted Horizon Web Reporter for library report generation. Powered
by the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform, Horizon Web Reporter provides
a range of standard reports, including reports for circulation, acquisitions
budgets, serials collections, and collection development. Each standard report
can be modified and saved for future use with a Web or desktop client. Ad hoc
reports can be created without requiring the user to learn the underlying Horizon
database table structure. Users can create and save new reports without knowledge
of SQL programming. Once reports are saved, they are available for sharing
with other branch or peer libraries. As a key security feature, Horizon Web
Reporter offers role-based reporting, allowing directors and system administrators
to control access to selected reports and data. Users access only data appropriate
to their job needs.
Source: Dynix, Provo, UT, 800/288-8020; http://www.dynix.com.
Three New Sirsi Unicorn Products
Sirsi announced the pending release of three new products: Director's Station,
WorkFlows 2004, and the Collection Exchange module for the Unicorn Library
Management System.
Director's Station, a turnkey package, provides a customized view of library
activities and operations, allowing library executives to analyze trends, pinpoint
problem areas, and identify opportunities. Features allow users to activate
automated alerts, chart data and trends, conduct natural queries, and build
dynamic reports.
WorkFlows 2004, the staff client for Unicorn, will offer more streamlined
screens with additional customization features and optional Unicode compliance
(enabling users to store and retrieve all international character sets). WorkFlows
2004 Circulation and Cataloging modules will be available in the new version
of the staff client later this quarter. The updated Acquisitions modules and
Serials Control and optional Unicode compliance features will be available
in the third 2004 quarter, concurrent with the general release of Unicorn 2004.
Later versions of WorkFlows 2004 will include updates to the Materials Booking,
Accountability, Request System, and Outreach modules.
The Collection Exchange module for Unicorn is designed to improve management
of materials that rotate among libraries participating in a shared library
system, helping libraries provide a quality assortment of materials and resources.
The Collection Exchange module will be available with Unicorn 2004 in the summer.
Source: Sirsi Corp., St. Louis, 800/325-0888; http://www.sirsi.com.
YOUR DIGITAL LIBRARY IEEE Adds New Search Tools to Xplore Update
IEEE announced an update to the IEEE Xplore online interface, Xplore 1.6,
which is powered by Verity, Inc.'s K2 search technology. The update includes
new search tools and cover-to-cover editorial materials. Search terms are highlighted
in all search results, and secondary searches may be conducted within the results
of primary searches. A new subscription icon identifies the papers to which
subscribers already have full-text access as well as the papers that are available
outside of their subscriptions. Beginning with content published in 2004, Xplore
will include cover-to-cover material from select periodicals. Users will see
links from tables of contents to items such as letters to the editor, editorial
board listings, and calls for papers. Advertisements included in the print
publication are not yet available online. A new Rightslink icon in all Abstract
Plus records allows users to obtain article re-use permission. The Rightslink
Permissions system handles the entire transaction outside of Xplore. An HTML
full-text content option is available for select issues of IEEE Spectrum Magazine
and The Proceedings of the IEEE. The HTML option includes abstracts, article
outlines, images, tables, and linked references.
Source: IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 800/678-4333; http://www.ieee.org/onlinepubs. Ingenta Launches Unified Alerting Service
Ingenta introduced a unified alerting service that searches and delivers
alerts across all of the content available via http://www.ingenta.com and http://www.ingentaselect.com,
including 6,000 electronic full-text and 20,000 fax and Ariel-formatted titles.
Managed through a single Web interface, the service is available via institutional
or individual user license. The new administration module enables librarians
to view the number of registered individuals, and to add and delete users.
A 1-month free trial is available.
Source: Ingenta, Inc., Providence, RI, 401/331-2014; http://www.ingenta.com.
xreferplus Integrated with SFX and MetaLib
xrefer announced that its xreferplus service has been fully integrated with
Ex Libris' SFX and MetaLib systems. The companies' mutual customers will be
able to incorporate xreferplus into their online offerings. The service offers
access to online ready reference content for library holdings searches. In
addition, users can link to a definition or other ready reference content (full-text
articles, abstracts, or other resources) while searching in any OpenURL-enabled
database.
Source: xrefer, Boston, 617/426-5202; http://www.xrefer.com. EBSCO Has New E-Journal Order Services
EBSCO announced new measures to help expedite the e-journal ordering process.
EBSCO's Publisher Services department now collects the required registration
numbers for customers from publishers, to keep customers from having to search
for registration numbers to verify e-journal subscription information or to
gain access at publisher Web sites. After determining which publishers require
registration numbers, Publisher Services targets any new order that requires
a registration number, obtains the number from the publisher, and e-mails the
number to the appropriate library staff member. For expedited e-journal delivery,
Publisher Services has made arrangements with more than 400 publishers and
fulfillment houses to accept orders via e-mail. The department also can handle
e-journal registration processes and communicate a library's IP address updates
to publishers.
Source: EBSCO Subscription Services, Birmingham, AL, 205/991-6600; http://www.ebsco.com.
Ex Libris Unveils MarcIt
Ex Libris announced the release of MarcIt, the company's MARC enhancement
service. With MarcIt, SFX or MetaLib/SFX customers can use the holdings information
in their SFX KnowledgeBase to generate an enhanced MetaLib journal list or
MARC records for inclusion in their bibliographic catalogs. Users have access
to the extensive file of bibliographic serial records that Ex Libris maintains
for the automatic upgrade of electronic journal holdings in A-to-Z title lists
and library catalogs.
Source: Ex Libris (USA), Inc., Boston, 866/232-0202; http://www.exlibris-usa.com.
OCLC Debuts Hosted Group Catalog Service
OCLC introduced a managed service that enables consortia to create group
online union catalogs, and to offer resource sharing and reference services
through a single, locally customized interface. OCLC will create and host a
catalog based on member libraries' holdings listings in OCLC's WorldCat bibliographic
database. The service permits a library patron to search local branches for
an item, and to expand the search to encompass the broader consortial region,
or even the full WorldCat database, if necessary. Libraries that do not use
WorldCat for cataloging can batchload records into the database to provide
their holdings data for a group catalog. The service also offers customization
options, such as the ability to brand catalog content with separate logos for
a consortium and each of its member libraries.
Source: OCLC, Inc., Dublin, OH, 800/848-5878, 614/764-6000; http://www.oclc.org.
NEW/ENHANCED DATABASES
New and Updated ProQuest Products
ProQuest has announced the release of two new products: the Twentieth Century
Drama database and the Film Indexes Online portal. The Twentieth Century Drama
database includes 239 plays by 25 authors from Britain, Ireland, and Australia,
covering many key moments of innovation and revolution in modern theater. When
complete, the database will contain 2,500 plays in English, and will cover
the history of modern drama from the 1890s to the present day, all in searchable
full-text format.
Film Indexes Online, a new portal for subscribers to the American Film Institute
(AFI) Catalog and Film Index International, provides cross-searchable access
to information on American and international films released from more than
170 countries since 1900. The portal was created in partnership with the American
Film Institute and the British Film Institute.
In addition, ProQuest announced two product updates. The third release of
American Drama 17141915 includes the leading post-Civil War playwrights,
and brings the online collection to more than 1,100 dramatic works from the
colonial period to the beginning of the 20th century.
The pending third edition of Literature Online will include streamlined navigation
and an interface redesign more tailored to the needs of library users and administrators.
ProQuest based enhancements on feedback from librarians, faculty members, authors,
and researchers. Literature Online upgrades include Quick Search for cross-searching
the full database; durable URLs for easier bookmarking; a My Archive feature
for saved searches and course-pack building; automatic citation support for
future availability of complex search results; precision searching with Early
Modern Typographical Variants; more flexible wildcards; clearer TOC search
options for 120 full-text journals (comprising 16,000 current literary works
and 78,000 critical articles); e-mail alerts on database content additions;
and user-specific help areas for librarians, academics, and students.
Source: ProQuest Information and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI, 800/521-0600; http://www.il.proquest.com. Thomson Gale Expands and Updates Its InfoTrac Product
Thomson Gale introduced a new InfoTrac product—InfoTrac Religion & Philosophy.
The new database features a custom selection of more than 250 magazines and
academic journals covering religion, philosophy, and the related areas of archaeology
and anthropology. The database is designed to support the study of theological
approaches to social issues, and examination of the effects that religion and
philosophy have had on culture—including literature, arts, and language—throughout
history. Coverage begins as early as 1980 for indexing, and 1983 for full text
of some of the periodicals.
Thomson Gale also announced InfoTrac updates. License agreements will add
more than 500 new titles, including 60 new Spanish-language journals, to Gale's
two Spanish databases Consulta and Informe. In the past 2 years, coverage of
full-text periodicals in InfoTrac has grown by more than 1,300 publications.
Gale's partnership with Ingenta has provided access to 5,000 electronic journals
within an integrated results list.
Source: Thomson Gale, Farmington Hills, MI, 800/877-4253; http://www.gale.com. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Releases New Version of IDS
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) announced the release of version 6.4
of its Internet Database Service. The major upgrade in the new release is a "Remove
Duplicates" feature designed to streamline results in searches of multiple
databases. A Remove Duplicates button has been added to the search results
screen. Clicking on this button will initiate deletion of duplicate records
in the search results. The new search results screen will display both the
original number of records found and the number of records remaining after
removal of duplicates. The new release is provided to subscribers at no additional
charge. No reloads of software are necessary, and login links, usage reports,
and other customized features are unaffected by the update.
Source: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Bethesda, MD, 301/961-6700; http://www.csa.com.
EBSCOhost Databases Gain Full Text
EBSCO Publishing expanded its license agreement with Springer-Verlag to bring
the full text of 187 journals to the EBSCOhost online databases, including
the Academic Search and Business Source product lines. The agreement allows
EBSCO to electronically distribute Springer's journal content to educational
institutions, libraries, and other research facilities around the world. Among
the newly included journals are Animal Cognition, Clinical & Experimental
Medicine, Decisions in Economics & Finance, European Journal
of Orthopaedic Surgery & Trauma, Heart & Vessels, International
Journal of Clinical Oncology, Mineralogy & Petrology, Mycoscience, Ocean
Dynamics, OR Spectrum Quantitative, and more.
Source: EBSCO Publishing, Ipswich, MA, 978/356-6500; http://www.ebsco.com.
USEFUL TOOLS
Sirsi Joins Blackwell's Book Services to Simplify Processing
Sirsi Corp. formed a partnership with Blackwell's Book Services to improve
work-flow in acquisitions and cataloging processes by integrating Sirsi's Unicorn
Library Management System with Blackwell's services through Sirsi's 9XX Loader.
Through Blackwell's Web site, librarians can order materials and download bibliographic
records in one step, and then upload the data into Unicorn.
Source: Sirsi Corp., St. Louis, 800/325-0888; http://www.sirsi.com. Dialog Upgrades NewsEdge
Dialog announced a series of upgrades to Dialog NewsEdge, its industry-specific,
personalized current-awareness and news-alert service for corporations. The
updates are designed to improve information sharing within subscribing organizations.
Upgrades include improved methods for printing, saving, and sharing multiple
retrieved documents; a new "shared user" feature that allows multiple users
within an organization to access document sets without disrupting automated
ongoing search queries set up and managed by a single authorized user; and
highlighting of search terms within retrieved documents.
Source: The Dialog Corporation, Cary, NC, 800/334-2564; http://www.dialog.com. MuseGlobal Provides New Personalization Features
MuseGlobal, Inc. announced the release of an optional MuseSearch product
that permits extensive customization, down to the level of the individual metasearch
user. The base MuseSearch product offers customization to the user class/department
level; the new version permits capture of individual user preferences for personalized
interface, search source selection, and metasearch functions. The user can
directly set attributes, such as the number of results returned for each source,
the number of results displayed per page, the de-duplication algorithm, and
the method of sorting. Users can hide or show any sources in the MuseSearch
interface, narrowing down a large set of sources to only those of interest. "Personal
Access Controls" can be entered to search sources that require an individual
username, password, or other information. Three access types are supported:
CGI Script, HTTP Authentication, or Proxy Authorization.
Source: MuseGlobal, Inc., Salt Lake City, 801/208-1880; http://www.museglobal.com.
Copernic Technologies Unveils Copernic Meta
Copernic Technologies announced the launch of Copernic Meta, new search software
that, according to the company, can scan multiple search engines in less than
a second directly from the Windows desktop toolbar or an IE browser (similar
to features that will be contained in the next version of Windows, slated for
launch in 2 years). With Copernic Meta, users can metasearch the Web for better
search results; search directly from any application by pressing the Windows
key and "S"; start a search on any word in a Web page by depressing "Alt" and
clicking on the word; define keyboard shortcuts to query a specific search
engine; add search engine and information resources; locate search keywords
in results pages; and search for images, audio, multimedia, news, and more.
Source: Copernic Technologies, Inc., Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada, 418/527-0528;
http://www.copernic.com. Inmagic Introduces Profiler Current-Awareness Tool
Inmagic, Inc. launched Profiler, a current-awareness and alerting tool for
automated information distribution. Developed by Trimagic Software of Sydney,
Australia, Profiler is available in two versions. Inmagic Profiler Standard
runs on the Windows platform and allows a content manager to set up profiles
for individual users, specifying e-mail addresses for delivery of alerts. Inmagic
Profiler Enterprise is Web-enabled and, in addition to capabilities offered
in Windows, allows end users to create and edit their own profiles, and to
retrieve their alerts, typically from the organization's intranet, at the click
of a button via a browser interface.
Source: Inmagic, Inc., Woburn, MA, 800/229-8398; http://www.inmagic.com.
NEW BOOKS
Information Today Publishes New
Edition of Fulltext Sources Online
Information Today, Inc. (ITI) announced the release of the January 2004 edition
of Fulltext Sources Online (FSO), a comprehensive directory of periodicals
accessible online in full text through more than 25 aggregators. FSO is
published twice yearly, in January and July, and lists more than 21,000 titles
organized alphabetically by publication. Each entry lists the aggregator, online
databases in full text, and dates of coverage. Separate indexes for subject,
language, and location searches are included.
Subscribers to FSO receive access to the "Private Zone," a hyperlinked
list of publications with free archives available on the Internet. FSO is available
in a print version, an online edition, and for license electronically. The
online version includes the same information found in the print version, as
well as hyperlinked URLs and the option to limit searches by location, language,
or aggregator.
Source: Information Today, Inc., Medford, NJ, 800/300-9868; https://www.infotoday.com. CONTENT/LINKING
AGREEMENTS
WilsonWeb Databases Link to Ingenta Full Text
H.W. Wilson announced that access to Ingenta is available via WilsonWeb's
WilsonLink service. WilsonWeb customers can click from article citations on
WilsonWeb to the full text on Ingenta at no additional charge, using the SFX-powered
OpenURL linking technology integrated into WilsonWeb. WilsonWeb database subscribers
who have not enabled free subscriber access on Ingenta can also purchase individual
articles from Ingenta for a fee. Ingenta offers access to nearly 6,000 electronic
full-text titles and millions of articles from scholarly and professional publications.
Source: H.W. Wilson, New York, 800/367-6770; http://www.hwwilson.com.
ProQuest Extends Dow Jones Agreement
ProQuest announced a new long-term agreement to distribute content for Dow
Jones & Co. The new contract with the New York-based media company extends
a 1997 pact. The agreement includes distribution of the following Dow Jones
titles electronically and on microform: The Wall Street Journal, Barron's,
The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Far Eastern
Economic Review, Central European Review, and The Wall Street Journal Classroom
Edition. ProQuest features the Dow Jones publications in ProQuest Newsstand,
ProQuest Historical Newspapers, and the ABI/INFORM business database suite,
among other offerings. As part of the new deal, Dow Jones will participate
in the perpetual access program of ProQuest Historical Newspapers. With this
new program, libraries will be able to purchase perpetual access to significant
portions of The Wall Street Journal in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers
product, in addition to the program's subscription options.
Source: ProQuest Information and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI, 800/521-0600; http://www.il.proquest.com.
CONFERENCES
Infonortics Search Engine Meeting
Set for April at The Hague, Netherlands
Infonortics announced that its ninth Search Engine Meeting will be held April
1920 in the Crowne Plaza Promenade at The Hague in The Netherlands. The
annual meeting returns to Europe after having been held twice in England and
six times thereafter in the U.S. Natural language processing pioneer Karen
Spärck Jones of the U.K.'s University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory
will deliver the opening keynote on quantity versus quality of results, focusing
on the relation between data retrieval research and Web engine practicalities.
Stephen Arnold, president of U.S.-based Arnold Information Technology, will
offer a second-day keynote on new search technologies applicable to "social
software" (SMS, MMS, blogs, newsgroup postings, grassroots news publications,
and other content distributed via specialized development and syndication tools).
In addition, Donna Harman, head of The Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) for
the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will update
attendees on all TREC tracks, including two new ones; David Evans of Clairvoyance
Corp. will chair a panel discussion on The Multilingual Web; and other speakers
will address issues pertaining to search subtleties, middleware, text and XML
querying, and faceted navigation. The meeting will be preceded on Sunday, April
18, by two half-day tutorials on support vector machines for text management
and social network content search, retrieval, and data mining.
The meeting fee is  895
(approximately $1,126) and includes the 2-day meeting, two lunches, the meeting
cocktail and dinner, and all breaks. Limited academic rate registrations are
available at  595
(approximately $748), and the rate for the pre-conference tutorials is  350
(approximately $440) per attendee.
Source: Infonortics, Tetbury, U.K., 011-44-1666-505-772; http://www.infonortics.com.
ITI N.Y. Conferences, Expo Slated for May
Information Today, Inc., (ITI) revealed plans to host three simultaneous
2-day conferences— Enterprise Search Summit '04, Streaming Media East,
and WebSearch University—May 1112 at the Hilton New York in Manhattan.
Targeted to IT and content managers, information and knowledge architects,
and Web publishers and developers, Enterprise Search Summit '04 will tackle
the complexities of managing and integrating structured and unstructured content
from myriad sources, with a focus on issues such as taxonomies, categorization,
and classification as they relate to internal search and findability.
Streaming Media East will offer private, government, and academic sector
attendees multiple conference tracks covering business applications, implementation
strategies, and projected trends for streaming technologies. It will also feature
an exhibit hall showcasing demonstrations of the latest industry solutions.
And in sessions conducted by experts such as Gary Price, Greg Notess, Mary
Ellen Bates, and Ran Hock, WebSearch University will provide librarians, competitive
intelligence specialists, market researchers, and financial analysts with opportunities
to go "beyond Google" and learn new search tactics and strategies based on
engine upgrades, evolving algorithms, and awareness of where and when to look
for specific information.
ITI will conduct pre-conference workshops on Monday, May 10 for both its
Streaming Media East and WebSearch University events.
ITI CEO Tom Hogan, Sr., concurrently announced that the company's InfoToday
Conference and Exhibition (formerly the National Online Meeting), a May tradition
for the past 24 years, will skip 2004 and be relaunched in 2005 as a major
national and international event.
Source: Information Today, Inc., Medford, NJ, 800/300-9868; https://www.infotoday.com.
RESEARCH TOOLS
Thomson ISI ResearchSoft Retools WriteNote
Thomson ISI ResearchSoft announced WriteNote 1.6, the latest version of the
Web-based research and writing service that complements ISI ResearchSoft's
EndNote, ProCite, and Reference Manager student and professional publishing
and bibliographic management tools. The WriteNote upgrade supports popular
Web browsers and word processors across Windows, Macintosh, and Linux platforms,
enabling Internet Explorer, Mozilla, and Microsoft Word users to leverage its
reference capture, Web page annotation, and automated bibliography formatting
capabilities. Working solely within the browser, WriteNote 1.6 users can now
capture and organize references in a personal library of unlimited size; import,
via filters, references from more than 250 online content providers; store
references in any language through Unicode support; create, via any word processor,
bibliographies complete with in-text citations; and format bibliographies using
more than 700 publishing styles.
Source: Thomson Corp./ISI ResearchSoft, Carlsbad, CA, 760/438-5526; http://www.isiresearchsoft.com;
http://www.writenote.com. ATLA Preservation Catalog Online
The American Theological Library Association (ATLA) launched its new ATLA
Preservation Program Catalog Online (APCAT). The new database resource includes
more than 32,000 entries of monographs and serials titles preserved during
the past 50 years of the Association's preservation activities. Access to APCAT
is available at no cost, and allows the user to search by multiple search fields,
to download and/or print citations, and to directly order microfilm or microfiche
from the collections.
Source: ATLA, Chicago, 888/665-ATLA; http://www.atla.com.
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