In July, OCLC will add metasearch functionality to WorldCat Local.

WorldCat Local metasearch will enable users to search your library’s collections, library resources in WorldCat, electronic resources from OCLC and other content providers from a single search with integrated search results. In addition, relevancy ranking will feature your library’s resources in results lists.

Learn more about the upcoming addition to WorldCat Local at a webinar on Thursday, June 25 at 1:00 - 2:00 PM Eastern. This program will include a sneak preview of the metasearch functionality planned for July along with overview of OCLC’s plans for future development of the service.

Register here to attend the WorldCat Local metasearch webinar:  https://www3.oclc.org/app/request/bin/request.asp?specialCode=WorldCat%20Local%20metasearch

If you’re a WilsonWeb user, and a MP3 player aficionado (and who isn’t these days?), check out WilsonWeb’s new ReadSpeaker functionality.  This new, free, tool converts HTML files from nearly 20 popular Wilson databases into audio files to either take along with you, or to use as read-along supplements, great for learning or visually challenged users.  To learn more, visit Wilson’s online demo.

Few new databases get the kind of acclaim and enthusiastic response that Teen Health and Wellness has received. It’s been a School Library Journal Top 10 Digital Resource (”A ground-breaking database. … A+. … The front-runner in health information for teenagers and a definite must-have for all high school and public libraries.”), a Library Journal Best Reference Source, and won The Charleston Advisor’s Best New Product, Readers’ Choice Awards. Nylink is delighted to have partnered with Rosen Publishing to offer discounted access to Teen Health and Wellness to New York libraries. Contact us today to get a quote or a trial: 800-342-3353, 518-443-5444, or services@nylink.org.

Sample Emerald Group Publishing’s business and management journals online for free and take advantage of a special offer for the Emerald Backfiles online collection available through May 31, 2009.

Journal of the Week

A good way to sample Emerald’s business and management journals is to take advantage of the Journal of the Week (JOTW) feature that provides free online access to two journals (current and archived issues) each week. Check it out at http://info.emeraldinsight.com/jotw/index.htm.

Emerald Backfiles Special Offer

The Emerald Backfiles online collection is a one-time purchase offering 120 journal titles with more than 68,000 articles in key management disciplines. The Backfiles can be used to complete and enhance a mature collection or provide an introduction to business and management research.

Visit the Emerald web site for features, benefits, frequently asked questions, and sample articles: http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/backfiles/index.htm.

Journal title list:
in PDF at http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/backfiles/pdf/backfiles_titles_list.pdf
or in Excel at http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/backfiles/pdf/backfiles_titles_list.xls

Academic pricing: $18,000 for the Backfiles if ordered by May 31, 2009 (a savings of 25% off the list price of $24,000). A two-payment option is also available with a total payment of $18,500. An annual hosting fee may also apply.

Other Emerald online products available at a discount through Nylink:

Emerald Management Xtra (http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/xtra/index.htm)
Emerald eBook Series (http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/ebookseries/index.htm)
Emerald Engineering (http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/engineering/index.htm).

Contact Nylink at services@nylink.org or 800-342-3353 for more information.

Wilson has announced the addition of nearly 200 new profiles of authors and artists whose recent works have earned wide readership and critical acclaim. More than 2,300 profiles are now available in total.

Like the book series, Junior Authors & Illustrators on WilsonWeb helps young readers learn more about the writers and artists behind their favorite works, and find more titles by them. The database makes an excellent complement to any robust children’s and YA collection, offering biographical information for fans, help with readers’ advisory and acquisitions, career advice for aspiring writers and artists, and diverse coverage by ethnicity, style, and subject matter.

Each profile lays out family background, education, career path, and approaches to art and life. Many feature autobiographical statements written specifically for Junior Authors & Illustrators. Suggested reading lists and web sites offer a starting point for further research. More than 90% of the profiles also feature photographs.

New profiles are added annually. The recent additions include recipients of nearly 50 leading literary awards and honors, from the Aesop Prize to the Americas Award, Caldecott Honorees and Newbery Medalists, School Library Journal Best Books honorees, Parent’s Choice picks and much more. They also reflect the diversity of today’s children’s literature, with profiles of many African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American authors and artists. Also featured are retrospective profiles of some of the most renowned figures in YA and children’s literature, including Roald Dahl, Astrid Lindgren, and Dr. Seuss.

Free trials of Junior Authors and Illustrators are available at any time! Contact services@nylink.org for details.

Join an interactive webinar to learn more about new and recent Oxford electronic resources!

• Oxford Biblical Studies Online
• AMA Manual of Style Online
• Oxford Language Dictionaries Online
• Electronic Enlightenment
• Oxford Scholarship Online

See dates and times for the sessions here (PDF), and RSVP to Taylor Stang by May 6th. Taylor will need your name, title, the name of your institution, and of course your email so that he can send the session URL and password.

For ten successful years, Nylink has partnered with SOLINET and other ICOLC (International Coalition of Library Consortia) members in the national aggregation of LexisNexis Academic, a partnership that has meant savings at times of almost 80% off the list price of that resource because of the 30 information networks that participate.

Nylink knows that your patrons and students rely on the timely and comprehensive newspaper and magazine full text and abstracting in LexisNexis Academic, and we would like to announce some good news about renewal pricing for the 2009-2010 subscription cycle.

Acting on behalf of the networks in the aggregation, SOLINET advised LexisNexis of the impact that the current financial crisis will have on libraries, shared the ICOLC Global Economic Crisis Statement , and asked them to waive their 2.5% annual increase on LexisNexis Academic his year. LexisNexis has agreed to waive that increase on all LexisNexis Web products available through SOLINET, and to use the same FTE as recorded for the 2008-2009 renewal year, (Fall 2007 FTE,which we have on file).  (Please note that if your library’s Fall 2008 FTE is lower than your Fall 2007 FTE, the lower of the two figures will be used for your renewal price.)

Thanks to the efforts of  SOLINET, Nylink will be able to offer LexisNexis Academic to its members this year at $1.89/ FTE, which is $.01 less per FTE than last year’s renewal pricing. Pricing for all other LexisNexis databases, including Statistical, State Capital, and Congressional Universe, will remain at last year’s levels.

Q.   What is the ICOLC Global Economic Crisis Statement?

A.   The statement, which Nylink has endorsed, is intended to help publishers and other content providers from whom consortia license electronic information resources understand better how the current unique financial crisis affects the worldwide information community, and to suggest a range of approaches in the mutual best interest of libraries and the providers of information services. We encourage all information science professionals to read the statement.  

Q.   Does this mean that LexisNexis will not continue to add to and enhance its databases?

A.   Because LexisNexis understands that the purpose of the ICOLC Global Economic Crisis Statement is to reduce expenditures without disproportionate loss of content, they have also agreed to retain their commitment to enhancing LexisNexis Academic, as well as other popular legislative and statistical databases.  

Q.  How do I renew LexisNexis Academic, and my other LexisNexis subscriptions, through Nylink?

A.  If you’re a current subscriber, you’ll use MyNylink, our online portal, to renew this and your other electronic resources subscriptions from Nylink.  In the coming weeks, you’ll get follow-up emails to alert you that your renewals are ready to review in MyNylink.  Our deadline for receiving LexisNexis renewal instructions from you via MyNylink will be April 24.  

Q.  What if I don’t currently subscribe to LexisNexis through Nylink but I’d like to?

A.  Contact Ann Gunning, Reference Services Librarian (gunninga@nylink.org) or Donna Dixon, Director of Member Programs (dixond@nylink.org).

Nylink is pleased to share the news that our partner, Atlas Systems, developers of the Ares e-reserve management system, have recently made it possible to automatically cross-check your permission requests that are stored in Ares with titles covered under Copyright Clearance Center’s Annual Copyright License. To celebrate this expanded copyright management functionality, Atlas has announced a special promotion.  Through August 1, 2009 receive the first year of your Ares software subscription and server hosting at no cost when you purchase or renew your Annual Copyright License. 

Visit www.atlas-sys.com to sign up for a web demonstration of Ares or contact ares@atlas-sys.com for more information.  If you are attending ACRL, you can stop by the Atlas Systems booth, # 435, to learn more about Ares and this new integration with the Annual Copyright License.   

CCC will also be exhibiting at ACRL in booth #519. If you are interested in more information on the Annual Copyright License contact Chuck Hemenway by email at chuck@copyright.com.

OCLC invites interested libraries to a special webinar entitled, “QuestionPoint: Take a Second Look.” This webinar will be held on January 21 from noon to 1 pm, Eastern Standard Time.

QuestionPoint is a unique virtual reference management service that provides tools for libraries to
interact with their users via chat and/or e-mail, in cooperation with a global network of QuestionPoint libraries worldwide. Participation in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative is an additional option, and provides libraries with the ability to provide live chat reference services to their users, around the clock.

OCLC staff will also demonstrate some of the major QuestionPoint improvements, including the chat interface’s new look and feel. They’ll also discuss some special, limited-time offers for new and current QuestionPoint libraries.

This is a free, live web presentation during which attendees can ask questions of the presenter. Register online at: https://www3.oclc.org/app/request/bin/request.asp?specialCode=QP090121

OCLC has released the new NetLibrary Media Center, a full-featured desktop application that allows library patrons to easily search, manage, transfer and listen to eAudiobooks from their local library. The free software application allows users to connect to NetLibrary, and then download and begin listening to eAudiobooks with just one click.

The Media Center combines familiar user functions available from NetLibrary’s Web-based platform to browse, search and check out materials, and adds enhanced features and functionality—such as a full-feature audio player; seamless download to a portable listening device; and other features designed to improve the patron’s experience with NetLibrary eAudiobooks.

In order to provide users with access to the Media Center, libraries will need to complete a Media Center Activation Request and return to NetLibrary. Activation requests are available at:

http://www.oclc.org/audiobooks/media_center/Media_Center_Activation_Request.pdf

OCLC will accept activation request forms through December 31, 2008. As of December 19th, 2008, librarians will be able to turn the NetLibrary Media Center on themselves through the Library Resource Center (LRC). Instructions on how librarians can activate the NetLibrary Media Center through the LRC will be available in the near future.

Additional resources, including an online demo, Media Center brochure and updated eAudiobooks User Guide can be accessed below from the Media Center main page at http://www.oclc.org/audiobooks/media_center/default.htm.