Reading History feature is live on our OverDrive site!

With reading history, patrons can see which titles they have already read from a certain author or the last book they read in a series.

HOW READING HISTORY WORKS

Titles are automatically added to the History page (under THREE BOOKS OVERDRIVE ) when borrowed. Each title on the History page is marked with the date of the loan or the date it was manually added. At launch, patrons will see an empty history until they borrow a title, or manually add one.

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If a title is borrowed more than once, it will appear in the history multiple times.

ADDING TITLES MANUALLY

To manually add a title, select THREE DOTS OVERDRIVE from a collection or search results page, then Add to history. Patrons can add titles they read before the start of the history, or titles read from other sources (print, purchased, etc.).

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REMOVING TITLES

To remove a title, go to History under My Account, select THREE DOTS OVERDRIVE for that title, then Remove from history. If a title listed more than once is removed, all instances of that title are removed from the history.

IMPORTING YOUR RATED TITLES

If patrons have any rated titles, they can be added to history using the Add rated titles button. If a rated title is already in history, it will not be added again.

OPTING OUT OF READING HISTORY

A patron can choose to opt out of maintaining their history from Settings under My Account. If a patron opts to display their history again at a later date, they will only see titles added from that point forward.

~ Hilary Lewis Lackner, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Continue ReadingReading History feature is live on our OverDrive site!

Gale Legal Forms for your Legal Needs!

If your patrons need some help in legal land then Gale Legal Forms is where you will want to lead them!

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Gale Legal Forms offers forms for wills, power of attorney, landlord/tenant, divorce and dissolution, leases, sale of property, employment, and more.

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Gale Legal Forms also provides forms customized to Pennsylvania state law, and includes forms drafted by attorneys for particular legal matters.

The search function allows you to search through three different resource types: Definitions, Law Digests, and Legal Questions and Answers.

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The main page of Gale Legal Forms also has an extensive list of main form categories and allows you to choose a category and then narrow from there into a subcategory to search for you form.

At the bottom of the main page you will also find a list of sample searches – so searching yourself may not even be necessary just take a look at the sample searches and see if your form is there!

Now that you know more about Gale Legal Forms you can better assist your patrons when they are dealing with legal matters!

-Adrianne

Northland Public Library

Continue ReadingGale Legal Forms for your Legal Needs!

Zinio – For Magazine Lovers

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With Zinio, patrons can instantly access and download the newest magazines with their library card.   There are over 40 genres and 200 titles, along with Bookazines, and there are no holds, waiting or limits.  Now that Zinio is RB Digital Magazines, navigation and use is so much smoother.  Here are some features that make Zinio a great resource:

  • Patrons can instantly read all current and back issues of full-color magazines on their computer or mobile devices.
  • With mobile apps, patrons can download and read magazines on 95% of mobile devices, including Apple, Android, and Kindle Fire.
  • There is easy browsing and checkout – patrons can browse the collection by newest issue, keyword, genre, and even language.
  • Patrons can check out as many issues as they want and keep them in their account as long as they want.

As autumn approaches, people are cooking more.  Zinio‘s cooking-themed magazines will be of particular interest.   Here are some magazines you can refer to patrons.  They can also spice up their menus with information from Beer Connoisseur and Wine Spectator magazines.

These are just a few of the many magazines available.

The Digital Resource Committee held staff training on databases and downloadables around the county in 2017.   Information on using  Zinio is outlined in the video below (go to the downloadables section).  Watch the video if you need a referesher.

The County Downloadable & Streaming Resources e-tips guide also gives basic information on Zinio.

Zinio is a broad, rich resource.  Lets get our patrons to use it.

Lisa, USC Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue ReadingZinio – For Magazine Lovers

Digging into Database Content

Most of us are generally familiar with how a database works, how to perform a simple search and download an article. But do you know which sources of information make up those results pages?

All of that information is readily available for you to discover, if you have the time.  Having an idea of some of the most common magazines, reference sources, and journals make up the database content might make answering patron questions easier.  Having that information will allow you to recommend more appropriate resources to assist in research.

MasterFile Premier title sources can be downloaded as Excel or HTML files from here: https://www.ebsco.com/products/research-databases/masterfile-premier . Included in the information is data on the start and stop date of full text data, web publishing delay information (embargo), and PDF availability.  This can be helpful, especially for patrons doing research with a specific publication target date.

Let’s take a look at how our patrons are using specific resources. In 2017 these magazines/journals are included in the most downloaded in Allegheny County:

  • Consumer Reports
  • American Record Guide
  • Knight-Ridder Business Newsfeed
  • Library Journal
  • Consumer Reports Buying Guide
  • USA Today
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Talent Development
  • New Yorker
  • Christian Science Monitor
  • Time

You can find title lists for other resources as well.  To find title lists for Gale products like US History inContext, Literature Resource Center, or Opposing Viewpoints inContext scroll to the bottom of the page after you are inside the product and click on “About…”.  On the about page you will find title lists available.

Dustin/ Lynne, Sewickley Public Library

Continue ReadingDigging into Database Content