July 15th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A project we’ve been kicking around at my library for a long time is creating some kind of town-wide centralized volunteer listing. The library is a natural place for such a resource, but it’s a big project.
To fill this need, we just launched ChelmsfordVolunteers.org. The end product was not really the goal we set out with - and I don’t think it’s the last version of the resource, either.
Originally, we wanted a tool that would list groups in the area that need volunteers, and also a calendar of upcoming events with volunteer opportunities. We also wanted the local organizations to be able to update their listing and event information themselves, without any library staff intervention.
As part of a grant, a local high school student explored a few different software options. We started with a WordPress version, then a Drupal version, then a WebCalendar version, but we kept running into the same problem: the tool did either the database part well, or the events calendar part well, but not both. Each solution also had other pros and cons, which is why we kept looking at different options.
The current iteration of volunteer listing actually uses two existing tools, which are combined under one domain name (chelmsfordvolunteers.org). From a single web page, we link to each tool, but tried to make it look like it was all integrated together.
The two tools are the Community Information database, which is run by the consortium and is (supposed to) list all non-profit groups in all communities of the consortium. I edited the records of the Chelmsford organizations to make sure they all had a reference to “volunteers,” and these records provide all the contact information for the groups.
The other tool is the Calcium Calendar from Brown Bear. The library has been using this as our main events calendar for years, so it was easy to set up another one just for volunteer events.
Between these two tools, we’ve got both an events listing and an organizations database, although they are not connected. Using Comm Info is nice in that we don’t need to maintain two records for each organizations, but we are limited at the same time to only non-profit groups - which excludes some hospitals and other businesses that offer volunteer opportunities.
Another drawback of the current setup is that the organizations do not have direct access to update their information and events. We set up two web forms to handle submissions and updates, but it’s an extra layer and more of a hassle for everyone involved than it needs to be.
But it works, and it’s better than nothing until we find the ideal solution. So if anyone knows of a tool that will fill this need, or another library doing something similar, I would appreciate hearing about it.
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Posted under Library, Service, Technology | 2 Comments »
April 8th, 2008 Brian Herzog
Last month, EBSCO announced they are making their GreenFILE database freely available at http://www.greeninfoonline.com.
According to the announcement message, GreenFILE indexes scholarly and general interest titles, government documents and reports, concerning the ways humans affect the environment in the areas of agriculture, education, law, health and technology. The database contains nearly 300,000 records, including some full text for selected titles.
I added this database to my library’s online resources webpage, but also wanted some more information. I wrote to EBSCO to ask why they are making this available free, and if they have any plans to change this to a subscription database. Here’s the response I received:
GreenFILE is a free database we provide in an effort to facilitate research and understanding on matters concerning human impact on the environment. We also offer a free database called Library Information Science & Technology Abstracts which features content that is free on the web but for your convenience we’ve created a database for it.
Since no login or IP-authentication is required, this is an easy resource on a timely subject to add to a library’s website. More information from EBSCO and The Ipswich Chronicle.
Also, for those who don’t otherwise use EBSCOhost, this database allows a look at EBSCO’s visual search interface.
Tags: database, databases, ebsco, ebscohost, environmental, free, green, greenfile, libraries, Library, online, public, resource See Also
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January 10th, 2008 Brian Herzog
A few months ago I got an email about a website called Access NewspaperARCHIVE, saying that libraries could signup for free access to historical newspapers, dating back to the 1700s.
Sweet. I’m always looking for good primary source resources, especially online ones (and especially-especially free ones), so I thought I’d check this out. The signup process was a bit odd, having to download and then fax in their signup form [pdf, 418 kb]. I didn’t hear anything back from them for months, so one day I just tried their url again (from within the library) and it IP-authenticated me.
So, I took that as us being signed up, and I started playing. The database is neat, as all the newspapers in there are saved as PDF files (see the 7/29/1895 Sandusky Register). And some are older than I could find in our other available resources, so those are two great things in its favor. However, I did see some drawbacks:
- In-Library use only. And right on the authenticated homepage (the one patrons would see by logging in at the library) is a link to “Sign up for a home account.” Which isn’t expensive, but it’s not free. It’s just a little bit underhanded to give libraries a free account and then use that as a vehicle to sell to our patrons. So, I bypass this page and go right to the Browse page
- No keyword searching. You can only browse by location, date, or newspaper title. Which will be fine for the “what happened on my birthday” questions, or if you were just looking up anything old in your area, but eliminates searching for a topic. And, the browse tool and the results listing are kind of clunky
- No Massachusetts Newspapers. Which is a pain, since I mainly serve Massachusetts patrons. So, I guess no local historical information for me
- Front pages only? For the papers I viewed, it wasn’t the entire paper but just the front page. That’s a pain
- Not high-quality scans. The newspapers are legible, both on screen and printed, but they are just a little bit too bitmapped. And they are images, rather than text-based, which means no copy/pasting
So, my overall verdict is this: it’s an amazing resource for primary source newspapers, and it’s free, so it’s better than nothing. There are some drawbacks, but I am rarely completely satisfied anyway.
Something else I did like was they had a “Questions? Ask a Librarian” link. This is an email link to whatever email address you supplied on the signup form. Which is good, since my patrons using this will be able to write to me, instead of this company.
Anyway, this is available, so I’m going to give it a try. If anyone has experience with this company or database, please comment below and let us know what you think. Thanks.
access, database, databases, historic, historical, libraries, library, newspaper, newspaperarchive, newspapers, primary, public, source, sources
Tags: access, database, databases, historic, historical, libraries, Library, newspaper, newspaperarchive, newspapers, primary, public, source, sources See Also
Posted under Library, Resources | 3 Comments »
April 3rd, 2007 Brian Herzog
I don’t really like being a repeater for products and advertising, unless I think they are helpful. I’ve never used WebFeat before, but from what I know about it, I would love to.
I recently received a marketing email from them, offering a free trial, with a pitch that caught my eye:
…The WebFeat Express 2.0 trial isn’t just a canned demo – you’ll be able to…add your own databases and subject categories…
This is of particular interest to me now. My consortium’s reference committee met last week, and we were told that the directors are looking to cut our database budget. The consortium itself only pays for three databases (NoveList and History Reference Center [HRC], both from ebsco, and Overdrive), and want to do away with one of them.
These are three very different resources, so this alarmed me. So, too, did the way they were being compared to each other. We were given a sheet with the cost for each database, the number of sessions for the Ebsco databases, and the number of audiobooks downloaded in Overdrive. They then divided the usage by the cost, to come up with a per usage dollar figure, and suggested cutting the most expensive one.
The figures came out like this:
| Database |
Total Usage |
Cost Per Use |
| HRC |
3776 |
$6.28/session |
| NoveList |
3697 |
$4.69/session |
| Overdrive |
4342 |
$4.38/checkout |
Now, there’s all kinds of extra information that goes along with this breakdown. But, based on this comparison, it seems like HRC is the most expensive, so we should get rid of it.
My issue with it, though, is that a session is not the same as a checkout. In the ebsco databases, patrons will access the database (a session), search for their keywords (searches), and then read articles (end product). In Overdrive, patrons will access the catalog (a session), search for audiobooks (searches), and then checkout something (end product).
See that subtle difference? In the comparison above, they are looking at sessions in HRC and NoveList, but the end product in Overdrive - the proverbial apples to oranges comparison. To meaningfully compare these three, I think you have to look at sessions across the board, or searches across the board, or end product across the board.
So, they should compare the audiobook downloads in overdrive to the number of articles viewed in the other two - which I think would significantly bring down that cost per use number. This is my statistics rant. Having an undergrad degree in Market Research, I am sensitive to such things.
But back to WebFeat: regardless of the cost per use breakdowns, I think the real problem is that we generally do a poor job of promoting our databases. Most patrons don’t know what “database” means, nor when to use one. And our websites don’t help much. This trial lets us see what searching with WebFeat would be like, with the databases we currently subscribe to.
Which is why a product like WebFeat (and SchoolRooms) is great - it incorporates all of these resources into a patron’s information search without the patron even realizing it. It gives the patron access to information from resources they didn’t know existed, without them having to go out of their way to find it. In the future, I hope library ILS are all designed this way - a single, unified information search.
That should be our bottom line goal, not just bringing down cost per use figures or inflating our database statistics.
database, databases, ebsco, history reference center, libraries, library, novelist, overdrive, public libraries, public library, webfeat, webfeat express, webfeat express trial
Tags: database, databases, ebsco, history reference center, libraries, Library, novelist, overdrive, public libraries, public library, webfeat, webfeat express, webfeat express trial See Also
Posted under Library, Resources, Technology | 1 Comment »
