Databases

Gale LegalForms

Have you ever had a patron inquire about legal forms? Well, there’s a database for that! Gale LegalForms connects patrons to the Pennsylvania Legal Form Library and offers access to a wide variety of templates.

front page of Pennsylvania Legal form library

Patrons can browse by category or search for a specific form needed, and all forms are easily available and specific to Pennsylvania. For most topics, there are also multiple forms to choose from, allowing patrons to find the one that best suits their needs. The documents come in MS Word format, allowing patrons to easily edit them. Best of all, there are no fees!

Erin Weaver, Bridgeville Public Library

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New Novelist user experience incoming!

Starting June 16, Novelist will transition to an updated user interface. The new design will furnish patrons with an improved experience while still providing library staff with the same in-depth richness we depend on for our work.

Please click here to read an overview of what this is going to look like, as well as learn more about what you can do to manage your own Novelist account ahead of the transition. 

One big change for staff that I’d like to highlight is how folders will be reconfigured. The folders function in Novelist is useful for managing book groups, outreach, lists, special projects, and so much more, so it’s important to make sure your folders and data are ready for the transition before the 16th. 

If you have books, lists, and articles saved to the “My Folders” option, that material should migrate automatically and be stored under the new title “My Dashboard.” 

However, if you have Search Alerts set up, those will not migrate, and you will have to re-create them in the new My Dashboard section. Take note of what Search Alerts you have and be ready to set those back up after the transition. 

Additionally, if you have any folders under the “My Custom” function, you will have to download that data and add it manually after the transition.  Have this done before June 15th, otherwise you may lose the data. 🙁

You can click here for detailed instructions on how to manage both Search Alerts and My Custom folders for the transition.

Novelist is also providing training sessions on June 17 from 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM, and on June 26 from 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM. If you can’t make either of those times, register anyway, and you’ll be sent a recording of the session to watch when your schedule allows.  

Click here to register for the June 17 session. 

Click here to register for the June 26 session. 

You can also take a look through the user guide for the New Novelist Experience below.

This is a lot! Let Mary P. know if you have any questions. Onward, Novelist!

-Mary Phillips – Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

NoveList-NavigatingTheNewExperience-TutorialDownload
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Beyond Mango

We all know Mango Languages is fantastic. If you don’t, you can get up to speed here. But did you know about our other language learning tools? 

Let’s say you want to learn some Greek, so you head over to Pimsleur, a trusted name in quick and impactful language instruction for over 60 years. The Greek program alone is $19.95 a month! The Pimsleur method is effective, of course, but you’re going to be spending more than $20 getting the hang of the language. 

If you are set on Pimsleur, you can head over to Hoopla, where “each lesson provides 30 minutes of spoken language practice, with an introductory conversation, and new vocabulary and structures.”

In fact, Hoopla has a fantastic array of Pimsleur options, including English instruction for native speakers of a variety of other languages (English for Arabic speakers, English for Norwegian speakers, etc). 

You don’t have to limit yourself to Mr. Pimsleur, either! Hoopla has lots of options for audiobook language learning.

And it’s not just Hoopla. And it’s not just Greek! You can find similar content in our Libby collection. 

You can also head over to Udemy for language instruction!  

Whether you want to brush up on a new language in time for an upcoming vacation, or you have new neighbors who speak a language new to you, there are so many ways our eResources can support your language learning goals.  

-Mary, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 

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