CDLINFO

a. MLA’s Retirement from SilverPlatter

It was announced in the October 25, 2001 issue of CDLINFO that Ovid was the new vendor selected for the MLA Bibliography.  There will be an overlap period running from January 1 through February 28, 2002 during which there will be native (vendor site) versions of MLA running on both Ovid and SilverPlatter.  There will also be a Z39.50 CDL-hosted version running through February 28. After that date, the Ovid (native) version will be the sole interface of MLA

a. Jason Newborn and Margaret Tapper Join the CDL Request Team

Jason Newborn and Margaret Tapper will join the CDL Request Team working 25% time for one year. Jason is on loan from UC Davis where he is a member of the ILL management team; he has extensive experience with ILL/ILB operations and with automation of their operational functions.  Margaret is on loan from UC Irvine where she is a Programmer/Analyst in the Library Systems Department; she brings with her knowledge of ILL automation and very strong analytical and technical skills.

They will be working on the CBS Implementation (see CDLINFO Vol.4, No.20   <http://www.cdlib.org/news/cdlinfo/cdlinfo110801.html#3> for more information).  Their responsibilities will include providing ILL expertise as well as a campus perspective to the design, plan, and implementation of aspects of the Request service.  They will be working with campus ILL units throughout the UC system to assist staff in configuring systems specifically for local operations and in adjusting workflows to take advantage of system functions.

We want to thank both UC Davis and UC Irvine for this contribution to the co-library efforts.  The addition of Jason and Margaret to the Request Team will benefit us all.

b. Felicia Poe Joins the CDL

Felicia Poe will join the CDL on December 3 as the new Service Design Analyst in the Digital Library Services Group.

After completing her Master of Information Science degree at Indiana University, she was the project manager and information architect for the Indiana University Web Team where she led the redesign of the IU home page and admissions sites.  Most recently, she has been working with the California Supreme Court Judicial Center Library to redesign the user interface for their new web-based library catalog.  These accomplishments are built upon a decade of experience in the Information Resources Department of the Morrison & Foerster law firm in San Francisco.

There is a new release of IEEE Xplore.  The new feature that will be most useful to our users is the capability for email alerts. Other highlights from this release are:
articles accepted for future publication
extended objects with some articles
OPAC linking
a new feedback form

You can find the full release notes at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/lpdocs/epic03/Releasenotes.htm

Below is a list of recent Resource Liaison appointees. Resource Liaisons are responsible for researching, reviewing, and monitoring their assigned resource(s) in order to maintain quality service to users.  More information about the Resource Liaison program is available at: http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/liaisons/.

• Chicano Database: Rafaela Castro (UCD)
• Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology and Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry: Cory Craig (UCD)
• Mary Ann Liebert Journals: Anne Prussing (UCSD)
• Royal Society of Chemistry journals: Christina Keil (UCSD)

Sixty UC Library staff, including campus Evaluation Liaisons, members of the Melvyl Education/Usability and Services Transition Teams, some SOPAG and Associate University Librarians for Public Service attended two Usability testing workshops hosted by the CDL at UC Berkeley on November 5 and UC Irvine on November 7.  The workshops were led by Jerilyn Veldof, User Education Coordinator, and an expert on usability testing, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.  Attendees at the workshop learned not only the theory of usability testing, but were able to actually practice what they learned by conducting tests with UC Berkeley and Irvine students.  Some attendees have reported that they have already put into practice what they learned at the workshops, and we also hope to use attendees’ skills for conducting usability testing on the new version of Melvyl.

Many people helped make the workshops a success:

From the CDL-Juanita Jones, Angela Rowen, Rosalie Lack and John Ober
At UC Berkeley-Brian Quigley, Patty Iannuzzi, Isabel Stirling, Willyce Kim, Victor Edmonds, Obie Greenberg, Alberto Sifuentes, and Victoria Williams.
At UC Irvine-Michelle Byerly, Rick Zwies , Susan Lessick, and Library Administration.

a. Nature

CDL is now providing access to Nature, the Nature Research journals, and the Nature Reviews journals for all UC users.  For over 130 years Nature has been one of the pre-eminent scientific journals; the CDL is especially pleased that we have finally reached closure on this license.  The decision to license Nature was a long one, involving negotiation regarding such issues as price, coverage, and perpetual access.  In the end, due to intense interest on the part of the campuses, the CDL agreed to a license without perpetual access.  We will continue to work on ways to provide the necessary continuity for these important titles.

Included in the package are:
Nature
Nature Biotechnology
Nature Cell Biology
Nature Genetics
Nature Immunology
Nature Medicine
Nature Neuroscience
Nature Structural Biology
Nature Reviews. Genetics
Nature Reviews. Molecular Cell Biology
Nature Reviews. Neuroscience
Nature Reviews. Cancer
Nature Reviews. Immunology

For more information please see: http://www.nature.com/nature/.

b. Additional Content from MIT Press

The CDL has negotiated full text access for all UC Libraries to the MIT Press online journals that are not included in either CogNet or Project Muse.  Titles included in this package are:
American Journal of Bioethics
Evolutionary Computation
Global Environmental Policy
Grey Room
International Organization
Journal of Architectural Education
Journal of Economics and Management Strategy
Journal of Industrial Ecology
Leonardo Electronic Almanac
Markup Languages
NBER Frontiers in Health Policy Research
NBER Innovation Policy and the Economy
NBER Macroeconomics Annual
NBER Tax policy and the Economy
Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Reflections: the SoL Journal on Knowledge, learning, and Change
Review of Economics and Statistics
Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and econometrics

Full text access for both these newly licensed journals and the CogNet journals is available through CatchWord. At http://www.catchword.com, click on Online journals, then browse “Subscriptions” by “Publisher.”

The Transition Steering Committee, Users Council, and associated Resource Liaisons have been notified of the availability of the following databases and asked to begin testing. Other library staff may also try the databases, but public access is scheduled to begin in January, 2002.  The Transition Steering Committee is meeting on December 3 to discuss what must be in place and the exact dates for public access.

a. PsycINFO and PAIS via CSA Available for Testing

PsycINFO and PAIS via CSA are now available for testing by campus library staff.  You may access these databases from the SFX Prototype test page: http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/a-i-trans/sfxtest.html (click the “CSA Site” link)

At the CSA site, choose Alphabetical list (in order to see the list of CSA databases), then click “quick search” or “advanced search”, you will then have access to PAIS and PsycINFO, as well as others.   Reference and instructional staff and collection development specialists can begin getting used to the interface, and preparing instructional guides to these versions.  The test accounts are not intended for open access at in-library terminals.  The public version of these databases will be available via CSA beginning January, 2002.

(As a reminder, PAIS via FirstSearch, will be retired on January 17, 2002.  PsycINFO will remain in its CDL-hosted version through 2002, unless there are changes unanticipated by the CDL.)

There are guides to CSA features, such as Alerts, on the Adaptable Outreach and Instructional Materials page: Http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/comm/outreach/.

The PAIS International database contains references to more than 460,000 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, Internet material, and more from 1972- present.

PsycINFO provides access to international literature in psychology and related disciplines.  The database is enriched with literature from an array of disciplines related to psychology such as psychiatry, education, business, medicine, nursing, pharmacology, law, linguistics, and social work.  Nearly all records contain nonevaluative summaries, and all records from 1967 to the present are indexed using the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms.

b. Ovid Test Site Available

BIOSIS Previews, Current Contents, Ei Compendex Plus, INSPEC, and MLA International Bibliography via OVID are now available for campus library staff testing at this site: <http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&Mode=ovid&PAGE=main>.

Once you enter and open a database, you can find detailed help via the Help button on the upper right hand corner of the screen.  Reference and instructional staff and collection development specialists can begin becoming accustomed to the interface, and preparing instructional materials to the Ovid versions of these databases.  By clicking on OpenLink (SFX), you will find a separate window that opens and takes you either to a link for the full text version of the article, or to a link to the Melvyl catalog, for a link to the catalog record.  Eventually, there will also be a link to the Request service for interlibrary borrowing.

The public version of these databases will be available via Ovid beginning January, 2002.  Ei Compendex will be retired from SilverPlatter on December 31, 2001 and from Ei Village June 30, 2002; MLA will be retired from SilverPlatter as of March 1, 2002. BIOSIS, CC, and INSPEC are scheduled to be retired at the end of 2002, unless there are compelling reasons to do so earlier.

Lately, there has been a lot of behind-the-scenes activity in the Request project.  The RFP for consortial borrowing system (CBS) software, issued late in 2000, has culminated in a contract with Fretwell-Downing for their VDX application.  Implementation is planned to begin some time in December.  The Team would like to especially thank Gail Nichols (UCD) and Marlayna Gates (UCSB) for their participation on the CBS RFP Bid Evaluation Subcommittee and their invaluable contributions to that process, and Bernie Hurley (UCB) for his extremely valuable participation in the contract negotiation procedures.

The contract signing represents a milestone for the project and has occasioned some change in membership of the Request Project Team.  Karen Butter (UCSF), whose skilled leadership shepherded the development of the RFP, the evaluation of bids, and the negotiation of the contract, is leaving her role as Project Leader with the completion of the software acquisition process.  Mary Heath (CDL) will succeed Karen as Project Leader.  Tammy Dearie (UCSD), who has functioned as the ILL expert for the Project since its inception, is passing this role on to Claire Bellanti (UCLA).  Fortunately, Tammy’s interest in the Project will keep her on the team, and we are fortunate to have two such knowledgeable experts to help us move forward in this next phase of the Project.

In order to fully facilitate campus involvement in the CBS implementation and to disseminate expertise about the system more broadly, the Request Project Team has expanded its membership by adding two more campus members for the next year.  Jason Newborn (ILL at UCD) and Margaret Tapper (Systems at UCI) will join the team beginning this month.  The level of expertise and local operational perspective that they bring will complement the Team’s existing knowledge.  Margaret and Jason will work closely with Claire Bellanti and with the ILL units in their respective regions.

Current plans call for the CBS to be implemented across the system in three sequential stages during the first few months of 2002.  ULs are confirming which implementation stage will work best for their campus.  The timing for these stages is not yet firm.  For information, updates and time lines for the CBS implementation, and a FAQ on the functionality of the CBS, please visit the Request web site (http://www.cdlib.org/libstaff/sharedcoll/pir/).

Training on VDX operations will be held in three separate sessions that parallel the three-implementation stages.   The training for each group will be held shortly before implementation begins for that group.

In related news Claire Bellanti (Chair of the Desktop Delivery Subcommittee) reports that all campuses, with support from Resource Sharing funds, have now purchased scanners for use in Desktop Delivery.  In most cases the scanners are installed, and in some locations campuses are beginning to install software to facilitate posting to the web.  Campuses may choose to wait for the Desktop Delivery component of VDX in order to begin the service.   RSC-IAG has prepared policy and procedural recommendations for RSC discussion.  These recommendations will help campuses provide consistent Desktop Delivery Service when the software is ready.

a. Cambridge University Press

[Note: The Cambridge University Press (CUP) web site has been experiencing technical difficulties; CUP is working to resolve the issue]

Full-text access for all campuses to the full collection of Cambridge University Press online journals is now available.  The number of journals is expected to reach approximately 140 by the end of this year.  This package is the next in a series of packages negotiated with the intent of adding content of interest to faculty and students in the subject areas of Social Sciences and Humanities.

General information and a list of the Cambridge University Press journals is available at:
<http://journals.cambridge.org>.