Reference at Newman Library

Tag: New Interfaces

New Interface for the Statistical Abstract

Proquest has recently revised the interface to the Statistical Abstract of the United States, making it easier to use. The abstract is a good source for federal statistics that cover a wide range of subjects at the national, regional, and state levels. It’s also useful for determining which agency or department in the government is responsible for publishing a given statistic. Citations with links back to the original sources make it possible to uncover additional data (in particular, for smaller geographic areas like counties and places).

The interface gives you the ability to browse by subject and to drill down to individual topics, which mimic the chapters and tables that appear in the print edition. Alternatively you can search by keywords or phrases across the current or previous Proquest editions of the abstract. Even though the abstract is from 2015 and the first Proquest edition is from 2013, many of the tables contain historic data that stretch back several decades. After doing an initial browse or a search you have the ability to filter the results by date, source, and subject term. Tables can be downloaded in a presentation-friendly PDF format or a data-friendly Excel format.

stat_abstract_interface

The Statistical Abstract was an annual publication that was previously published by the Census Bureau. After over 130 years of continuous publication, the Census Bureau terminated the program for the sake of short-sighted budget cuts. The 2012 Abstract was the last public edition. Proquest acquired the rights to publish the abstract and it has been a proprietary, subscription-based product since 2013. Our subscription includes both the electronic (available via our Databases page) and print (Reference HA 202.A4) editions from Proquest. The Census Bureau still provides access to the older editions they published on their website at http://www.census.gov/prod/www/statistical_abstract.html.

New Interface for S&P NetAdvantage

We just switched over this morning to the new S&P NetAdvantage interface. There’s a new URL for the database, too (I updated the URL in the databases list, which should push out to any mapped links you’ve added to your research guides).

One very confusing thing about the new interface is that by default it doesn’t say “NetAdvantage” on it. To get around that, we used the admin options in the database to add a navigation button to the interface that says “NetAdvantage.” Clicking that button just takes you back to the home page for the database interface.

S&P NetAdvantage--new interface--custom nav button

If you have any tips about navigating the new interface or about content and functionality that we didn’t have in the old interface, please add them as comments to this blog post.

New Interface for Statistical Abstract of the U.S.

On June 1, ProQuest will switch to a new interface for the Statistical Abstract of the U.S. According to ProQuest’s announcement, we can expect the following changes:

  • Responsive design providing a smooth experience on any device from laptop to mobile

  • A cleaner and more readable interface for a faster, more enjoyable experience with better in-line preview for tables and an improved document view experience

  • A reorganized screen with the more heavily used features easier to find and use

  • Enhanced after-search experience leaving the entire left side navigation for filtering and refining results, and putting the Table of Contents up near the search box

Gale Interface Changes Coming on April 2

Gale is making a number of interface changes launching on April 2 that will:

  • make their interfaces more unified in appearance
  • be more accessible to searchers using assistive technology
  • offer a responsive design that works on all screen sizes

You can preview the changes ways:

  • on a special set of pages on the Gale site detailing the changes with screenshots
  • live in a preview mode in selected Gale resources (look for the “TRY NEW EXPERIENCE” icon in the top left corner)

Gale Virtual Reference Library--launch the new interface

This interface update will only affect a third of the databases we get from Gale:

  • Academic OneFile
  • Gale Virtual Reference Library
  • General One File
  • General Science Collection
  • Health Reference Center Academic
  • Infotrac Newsstand
  • New York State Newspapers
  • Opposing Viewpoints in Context

New Look for OneSearch

Today, the CUNY Office of Library Services rolled out a new, fresh look for the OneSearch interface with the following changes:

  • More white space
  • Less cluttered text
  • Options within the search facets on the search results page are now collapsed until you click the + icon
  • When you open up a search facet, you see a handful of options within that facet and a “show more” link. When you click “show more” the additional options are now shown on the same page instead of in a pop up window.
  • Links for the e-shelf, my account, and sign in have moved from the top right to the far left just above the search box
  • The advanced search page now has three boxes instead of five and a cleaner look
  • There’s a new “Browse CUNY Catalog” link on the right side of the main navigation bar

Future enhancements that are likely to show up in the coming weeks:

  • New source type icons that will appear to the left of every item in your search results
  • Clearer display of the help options on the sign in page.

New Interface for ScienceDirect

Today, ScienceDirect has gone live with a new interface. Here’s what Elsevier highlights as the biggest changes:

Thoroughly user-tested, ScienceDirect has been upgraded to make it easier to find relevant articles and books, read an article online, discover open access content and export to Mendeley.

The new release has four key upgrades:

  • A simplified user experience, with less visual clutter and improved design
  • Better visibility of open access content
  • Quicker discovery of relevant ScienceDirect content from search engines
  • Seamless export of citations and full-text articles to Mendeley

A note about Elsevier’s spotlighting Mendeley: Elsevier acquired that citation management system a year ago, which is why they’re focusing on it here. Export to Zotero and RefWorks are equally easy to use.

Revised Faculty Page on Library Site

A new version of the faculty page on the library website launched today. With the help of Wayne Cheng from BCTC, Arthur, and Alexa Hagen, a library school intern who has been working with me, we drafted and tested the new page with substantial feedback from the people who’ll use it the most: our faculty. During the user-driven design process, we:

  • analyzed comments from faculty in a campus-wide survey that asked about library services and resources
  • gathered suggestions from the members of the Committee on the Library via a survey and a meeting
  • tested the redesign with 6 faculty members (all three schools were represented) and incorporated additional tweaks to the redesign based on test results

It might be worth alerting faculty or departments you work with about this redesign. The testing revealed that faculty found it easier to complete tasks with this new page and, thanks to the increased browsability of the page, they learned about services and resources previously unknown to them.

If you have suggestions for pages or common library tasks that might merit this kind of usability treatment, let me know so we can work together.