Tips & Tricks for ACLA Databases and Downloadables

Hoopla Bonus Borrows Coming Soon!

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Thanks to my long list of romance authors I want to check out, I have been what I would consider a heavy Hoopla user this year – and I still forget to take advantage of my bonus borrows! This is a great feature Hoopla offers that your patrons – and maybe staff! – probably need a reminder about.

In the last week of every month, Hoopla offers a selection of titles as bonus borrows. These can be checked out with ZERO cost to the library and, since it counts as a bonus, it doesn’t use up one of the 5 checkout spots. Sure, you’re not able to freely browse – this is a curated collection offered up by Hoopla, but it includes eBooks, audiobooks, comics, TV, movies, and a BingePass, so there’s something for everybody.

So maybe you’re about to go on vacation and want to squeeze in a TV show on your days off. Maybe you’ve got a patron just trying to get a little extra on their summer reading challenge. This month, bonus borrows are available from July 25th – July 31st, so you’ve got time to start spreading the word! If you check out Hoopla’s resource center (an incredible service in its own right that I also forget to take full advantage of!), they’ve got graphics you can post to your social media or display around your libraries.

-Jaime @ Penn Hills Library

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BlueCareer by EBSCOlearning

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Although the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania is around 4%, it’s always a good time for librarians to be aware of information that our patrons can use regarding new or changing career paths.

One such tool is Blue Career by EBSCOlearning. This is an easy-to-use resource that provides information on skilled trades.

Blue Career offers three different ways to explore careers and jobs – exploring, interested, and experienced.

For those exploring Blue Career provides an assessment based on a person’s skills and interests in a fun and interactive way.  

The results will also have the option to explore other trades if the result is not to your liking.

For those who already have an idea of what industry they would like to work in, the “Interested” section is the place to go.

From there Blue Career gives a list of positions available in an industry. From there they provide even more information about the job, like average salary and what skills and education are needed. There is also information on organizations to join, people to follow on social media, interesting blogs and videos to watch.

For those looking with experience and training looking for jobs, they can create a profile to connect with employers.

Tracy – Monroeville Public Library

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Global Records from AncestryLibrary

The available collections from AncestryLibrary are constantly growing. There are more than 11,600+ collections featuring billions of records to explore!

But did you know that there are now more global records than ever before? Users can access records from countries all over the world – from Indonesia to France to New Zealand and so many more.

For example, one of the most recently added collections is the Births, Marriages, and Deaths 1539-1893 from Haute Garonne, France. This collection, all in French, offers full digitized records from the region.

Tables Alphabetiques des Naissances, Mariages & Deces por l’an 1899 (Alphabetical Tables of Births, Marriages & Deaths for the Year 1899)

In fact, many records collections contain untranslated, primary source documents in their original languages – preserving content along with context.

Users have many ways to search and browse these collections. They even have the ability to broadly search by geographic region through an interactive map under the advanced search options. Maybe they know they have family in a small town in France, but using the map, they can protentially see documents from nearby towns which may expand their search.

Collections include not only vital records (birth/marriage/death) but also digitized reference & history books, directories, land records and more.

This ever growing resource is a treasure trove for genealogists, researchers, scholars and anyone who is even a little curious!

– Richelle, Sewickley Public Library

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New “Content Controls” Coming to Libby!

The next major release of Libby will introduce a new feature called Content Controls. Content Controls allow users to configure what library content appears in Libby, for themselves or for their family, based on the intended audience for each book, audiobook, and magazine in the library collection.

🦸 Libby for Everyone works just like Libby does today, with no restrictions by audience except those users manually choose to apply.
🧒 Libby for Kids shows only titles for “juvenile” and “young adult” audiences when searching and browsing in Libby. Users can apply deep-search, sample, and circulation restrictions to young adult titles if they wish.
🧟 Libby for Grown-ups is for people who borrow “general content” and “mature content” titles only. It prevents kids’ titles from appearing at their libraries in Libby. Users who enjoy young adult titles can re-enable that content using a toggle within the preset.

Users can also choose to lock Content Controls with a passkey. To access these options, visit Content Controls in the Settings section of the Menu. The update with these new features is expected the week of June 23!

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

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