Tips & Tricks for ACLA Databases and Downloadables

Playlists made simple…

When touting our digital resources to patrons, Freegal is one of the easiest to get excited about. For district libraries, Freegal is still a pretty new service and I notice many patrons are unaware they now have access to it. Recent upgrades also make Freegal an even better resource to highlight in any patron interaction. Mentioning that Freegal requires no software to download and no wait periods is a big plus for patrons, as well. Especially as new CDs in the physical collection often have long hold lists.

Navigation is available in standard English, as well as Spanish, French, and Italian. These options are available at the bottom of the page.

Searching has been made easier, as well. In one search query, an artist and song title can be combined so users can get to content faster.

The home page also highlights popular artists graphically with headshots displayed under the week’s top albums and singles.

There’s also a nice feature that shows our system’s top 10 and the top 10 across the United States. You can find these lists linked under Most Popular at the top of the page.

Also, be sure to check out the Genres page linked from the top of the screen. This really shows how wide-ranging Freegal’s offerings are: from Barbra Streisand to Arabic pop, there are music more than 100 countries represented!

Jeff (South Park)

Continue ReadingPlaylists made simple…

Zinio Updates

Hey Folks,

There have been some recent improvements to our Zinio service that you should know about:

  • Patrons can now link to their previously checked-out magazines without checking out an additional magazine.  All they have to do is click the “start reading” link in the upper-right corner of the library collection page.
  • Patrons may now continue browsing and check out multiple magazine issues before going to their personal Zinio.com account to read them. Previously they had to toggle back and forth for each new magazine.

We’ve also rearranged the Zinio page!  The first 36 cover images are some of the more popular titles. The remaining covers are still arranged alphabetically.

zinio front page

Patrons looking for a specific title can still easily find what they are looking for using the “Title Search” box at the top of the page. This change will allow new users to immediately see the variety of titles we offer.

And lastly, did you know you (and our patrons, of course) can share articles with friends via email using the iPad Zinio app? Here’s how: http://bit.ly/1pakRt7.

Sarah (CLP)

 

Continue ReadingZinio Updates

“Term Clusters” in Academic OneFile…”What the Heck?”

I was searching in Academic OneFile and saw “Term Clusters” on the toolbar. I

said to myself “what the heck is that?”.  So, I experimented, and played around

with it and I have to say I’m still not sure. But I found it interesting, fun, and I

think it can be useful too. When you click on “Term Clusters” a search box

appears for a term to be entered in. When you put in a term a ring appears

accompanied by articles. The following is given on the database to describe the

ring and accompanying articles.

Term Clusters :

  • Inner rings represent popular topics related to the search.
  • Outer rings feature topics related to the inner rings.
  • Use the arrows to see more focused results.
  • Click any term to filter the right-column results. Click an article to view it.

The inner ring’s subtopics  are more germane to the topic, and the outer ring

can be described as being subtopics to the subtopics.  If you go into the Academic

File and click on “Term Cluster” you’ll see what I’m talking about. The example

given is “Alice Walker”. I put in the term “Great Gatsby” and got a ring

accompanied by 210 articles. Other topics I entered where, “World War I”,

“Korean War”, Berlin Airlift”, “Frank Sinatra”, “F. Scott Fitzgerald”,  “James

Thurber”, and the “Great Depression”. I received rings and articles for all of

these topics. Some of the subtopics didn’t apply. For example for “F. Scott

Fitzgerald”, I got “John” for John Fitzgerald  Kennedy for one of my subtopics. I

think  this is because Fitzgerald is in both names, But, I found that most topics

applied.

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue Reading“Term Clusters” in Academic OneFile…”What the Heck?”

Music recording contracts (and other legal forms) made simple

Exif JPEGDon’t have the correct legal form at your library? Use our new county-wide resource Law Depot

Law Depot is a handy resource brought to you by RB Digital who provides OneClick Digital and Zinio magazines.  Access Law Depot through articles.einetwork.net or through the CLP website.  Legal forms are grouped under one of six categories:  Estate, Real Estate, Financial, Business, Family, & Other.  Users fill out legal forms through a wizard-type tool which asks for the state of residence so that the form is then customized as it’s completed.  Law Depot should save your library collection some wear and tear and provide more accurate forms because state laws are taken into consideration.  Customer support is available through live chat, phone and email.  Just think… now your son or daughter, brother or sister, etc. can put out their garage band’s first CD  with the Music Recording Contract. Always look on the bright side of life and legal agreements I say.  But there are many basic forms in this resource: from Last Will and Testaments to Separation Agreements to LLC Agreements.  Law Depot is not a substitute for a lawyer but for many purposes it’s perfectly suitable for creating a legal doc.

Ann
Cooper-Siegel Community Library

Continue ReadingMusic recording contracts (and other legal forms) made simple