Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Databases

Mobile Databases Page

Introduction

Mike Waldman and I completed work on the new LibGuide that will connect users to the subset of library databases that are optimized to work on mobile devices (by way of shorthand, we’ve taken to calling it the mobile databases page). Over time we expect to add more databases as more vendors offer mobile-optimized interfaces. The easiest way to find the page is by going to the Databases page, which now features a mobile phone icon and a link to the page near the top.

About the Databases

  • Two types of mobile interfaces: (1) web pages specially designed to render well in mobile phone browsers (2) apps that the user must download and install
  • Major vendors that offer mobile options: EBSCO, Wilson, LexisNexis, OCLC (for WorldCat.org)
  • Major vendors that don’t offer mobile options: Factiva, ProQuest
  • Many vendors who don’t have mobile options are working on ones now
  • Vendors that offer mobile options that we decided not to use (because they are inadequate): Gale
  • Authentication for mobile web interfaces go through EZ Proxy just like our other databases
  • Authentication for apps require different (read: clunky) ways of authenticating (such as launching the app while on the campus wireless network so it can be “registered” or “tethered”)

How the LibGuide Displays on Regular Browsers and Phone Browsers

  • If you are on a mobile phone and go to a LibGuide, the LibGuides server will be able to tell that you are on a phone and give you an alternate version of the page that is slimmed down and has a different URL from the regular version of the page.
  • The mobile version of any LibGuide collapses a multi-page guide into a single page.
  • Each page in the regular version of a LibGuide becomes a box on a page for the mobile version that can be opened and closed.
  • The links to the new mobile databases page on the library will point to the version that is optimized for mobile viewing
  • URL for the mobile optimized version:
http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/content_mobile.php?pid=222624
  • URL for the regular version (note that the mobile version above has “content_mobile” as part of its URL):
http://guides.newman.baruch.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=222624

Design Process for the LibGuide

  • Three rounds of usability testing with students generated lots of changes over time
  • Some changes suggested by the testing were counterintuitive to us but were what worked best for the students (e.g., rather than organize the databases into broad subject groups like “humanities,” “social sciences,” etc. we learned that students more readily grasped what subjects would be in what category if we offered a cluster of subjects (instead of “social sciences” we have “Psychology, Sociology, Communication”).

New Interface for ProQuest Databases

Today we switched over to the new ProQuest interface. The look of this new interface is a lot cleaner and lightweight (this seems to be a mini-trend, as the new Factiva and Passport GMID interfaces feel lighter, too).

What’s New Here?

  • PAIS International is now in ProQuest instead in CSA
  • Links to SFX now include the “Find It” icon instead of just text
  • A “Figures & Tables” search in some databases
  • A “Data & Reports” search in ABI/INFORM Global
  • Historical and non-historical databases can be searched together

Bugs/Quirks

  • If you are looking at the item record for an article where there is no full text, you’ll see two “Find It” icons (see this example). ProQuest told me that they are working on this problem.
  • The link to our Ask a Librarian service went from the top right of the page in the old interface to the bottom right of the new one (but we now can have an icon instead of just a text link).
  • Please contact Mike or me with any problems you find in the new interface.

Fixing Links in LibGuides

The new interface has a new base URL (search.proquest.com). Using a find and replace feature in LibGuides, I was able to update some but not all of the links in LibGuides that went to the old interface (the search and find only works in certain kinds of boxes in the LibGuides system). Please check any links in your guides now to make sure they point to the new URLs.

New Database: GenderWatch

You’ll now find a listing for GenderWatch on the databases page and on the LibGuides page that has canonical links you can re-use in your own guides. Here’s a description from ProQuest about this database:

With archival material dating back to 1970, GenderWatch™ provides authoritative historical and current perspectives on the evolution of gender roles as they affect both men and women. GenderWatch supports gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) studies; family studies; gender studies, and women’s studies with a unique interdisciplinary approach. Combining more than 200 academic, gray, and popular literature titles, GenderWatch provides researchers with more than 100,000 articles on wide-ranging topics like sexuality, religion, societal roles, feminism, masculinity, eating disorders, day care, and the workplace.

The 200+ titles featured in the GenderWatch database offer unique, distinctive voices seldom heard in mainstream media. Sometimes outspoken, always informative, the collection represents multiple viewpoints from a wide variety of publications. From scholarly analysis to popular opinion, GenderWatch encompasses three decades of gender studies. Titles include: The Advocate, Columbia Journal of Gender and Law, Divorce Magazine, off our backs, Transitions, and many more.

Subject coverage

Women studies
Men’s studies
Evolution of the women’s movement
Transgendered community
(Changes in) gender roles
Femininity
Gender differences
Gender equity
Gender identity
Gender studies
Masculinity

EBSCO Databases and Chrome Browser

Michael Waldman and I have confirmed that Ebsco will support the use of the Google Chrome browser for accessing full-text articles beginning in the Fall, 2011. Here’s the link that tells the tale from Ebsco:
http://support.ebsco.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=25&t=h

So, users accessing our Ebsco databases to get full-text articles will have some difficulty. Particularly for chat reference assistance, bear this Chrome browser issue in mind.

Introducing Mintel Oxygen and Global Market Navigator

Adding to the market research reports found in such databases as MarketResearch.com and Euromonitor, we have acquired Mintel Oxygen.

Mintel Oxygen reports and news commnetaries cover the UK, Europe, US and international consumer markets in such industries as food, beverage, apparel, beauty and personal, retail, travel and more.  Rather than provide a broad overview of such markets, Mintel reports are distinguished for offering insights on niche markets which are often difficult for researchers to obtain, let alone carve out.

As a complementary product, Mintel Global Market Navigator (GMN), offers ready access to global industry data and country socio-economic information in downloadable formats for users to easily grab and incorporate in their reports.

Please share these widely with Baruch faculty and students global consumer market and industry data or country socio-economic information.

Introducing eMarketer

eMarketer is an aggregator of marketing research related to online marketing and e-commerce.  Information from different sources is evaluated by a process through which such information is weighed and analyzed.  By distilling thousands of facts and opinions into comprehensible reports and comparative estimates, eMarketer gives users the most complete view of the digital world available.

Global, current and projection information is available on such topics as Advertising & Media Usage, B2B, Consumers & E-commerce, Demographics, Email, Industries, Mobile, Online Searching, Social Media, and Video in the form of reports, articles, interview, virtual roundtables and webinars.

As seems to be an increasing trend among many new database platforms, all information is easily downloadable in useful formats such as xls, pdf and even charts.

Training sessions will be organized in the fall semester 2011, but I encourage you to familiarize yourself with this new database and consider it when making recommendations to students/faculty interested in online marketing and e-commerce.

Trial of Euromonitor’s Passport Dashboards



I’m delighted to announce that Euromonitor International has unveiled a new tool called Passport Dashboards. This is a trial with our account and feedback should be sent to me and/or Michael Waldman.

 

What are Dashboards? Dashboards are an interactive extension of the data contained in Passport GMID.  Dashboards allow users/students to visualize the socioeconomic, demographic and industry data in Passport GMID.

 

You can access the Dashboards one of two ways.  First, you can locate Dashboards on the main toolbar next to Countries & Consumers.  The Dashboards can also be found on the individual pages of the Industries and Countries & Consumers tabs.

Baruch also has temporary access to our Passport Industrial reports.  The Industrial reports examine the industrial makeup of 9 of the largest economies in the world.  The reports are astonishingly detailed as we break each economy into 177 industry sectors that comprise total GDP.  Sectors are classified according to ISIC Code.  Topics analyzed include industry attractiveness, buyer & supplier power, the competitive environment, the role of imports & exports, etc.

You can locate the Passport Industrial reports under the Industries tab.

Thanks for your feedback during this trial!

 

 

 

Roman Numerals in Page Navigator Feature of Ebrary

I recently noticed that an ebook that is required reading for a class this summer, the Gower Handbook of Internal Communication, shows something very odd in the page navigator part of the ebrary interface (see my annotated screenshot): instead of Arabic numerals you see Roman ones. This is not normally the case, as can be seen in this screenshot I took of a page in another book we have in ebrary, The Accidental Billionaires.

This problem has been reported to Mike Waldman. Support at ebrary has been notified. If you notice this problem occurring in any other title in ebrary, make a mention of here in the comments for this post.