Reference at Newman Library

Year: 2013

LexisNexis has a new interface

LexisNexis launched today their new search interface.

Some of the enhancements include:

  • A simple, streamlined design
  • A more intuitive place to start your research
  • One-step search capability
  • Improved options for advanced queries

Here is some material that LexisNexis has put out to help with the transition:

Please let me know if you encounter anything that does not work.

New wiki page: Databases Overview

We are launching a new page in the wiki called Databases Overview. This page is intended to highlight any unusual features from our databases as well as keep track of any issues that have been reported and may not have been yet resolved. We hope this is helpful in doing some initial troubleshooting during reference interactions.

The page features a table with a row for each database and columns with the following key information:

Login from ref desk staff

Do we have to log the user in using passwords that we maintain or can the user go straight to the database via a link on the databases page.

Concurrent users

Can an unlimited number of people use this at the same time or, if there is a limit, what is that number?

Browser restrictions

Which, if any, browsers you must use.

Visitor access

Beyond the core  Baruch community (current students, faculty, and staff) can others use it (Baruch alums, other CUNY students, other CUNY faculty, other visitors)?

Current status

If a problem has been reported to me or Stephen, there will be a note here about it. If you encounter a new problem, feel free to edit the respective cell – Stephen and I are notified when this page is updated. Please make sure to write your name and date so we can follow up if there are other questions (of course, you should always feel free to email or call us as well).

As problems get fixed, we will move the note over to a page in the wiki for that particular database so we can keep a record of problems that have cropped up in case they appear again.

Related blog posts and wiki entries

If there are any blog posts about this database in the reference wiki, there will be a “Blog” link here that will find all the posts tagged with that database name. If there is a page in the wiki for this database, there will be a “Wiki” link as well.

This new wiki page should be the first place to go when you suspect there might be an issue with a particular database.

If you encounter a problem that is not under “Current Status” it may be useful to read through the blog posts or the wiki pages for that database – often the same problem repeats itself and a solution that worked in the past may still work. Still, do let us know of the current problem so we can resolve it more fully.

I welcome any feedback about this new page.

Trial: ProQuest Research Companion

Through January 5, we have a trial to an interesting database: ProQuest Research Companion. It’s a set of interactive tutorials for students to help them learn how to find, evaluate, and use information. Since we have this trial for a limited time, please try to take a look at it as soon as you can and send Mike your feedback (or post them as comments here). A link to the database is on the “Trials” tab of the “Databases” page. I’m thinking that even if we decide to take a pass on this product, it might be a source of some good ideas about techniques and approaches to teaching information literacy.

Social Explorer Login and Blackboard

We just learned that if a student is in Blackboard and then clicks the “Baruch Library” tab so they can navigate to our databases page and launch a database, they will be unable to launch the premium version (the paid version we subscribe to) of Social Explorer. Here’s a screenshot of the scenario:

Social Explorer--Blackboard problem

If student reports this problem, suggest that they open up a new browser tab or window and use that navigate to the Databases page on the library website before trying to launch Social Explorer.

Trial: Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management

Through December 21, we have access to a CUNY-wide trial to the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. A link to it can be found on the “Trials” tab of the databases page. Please share this with departments you work with if it’s relevant and direct anyone interested in providing feedback to the form linked to on the “Trials” tab.