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Vol. 23 No. 1 — January 2003

The GeoLib Program of Florida Resources and Environmental Analysis Center (FREAC) at Florida State University (FSU) was awarded a National Leadership Grant for Libraries in the Research & Demonstration category from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

In this 2-year demonstration project, the GeoLib Program, partnering with FSU's Information Use Management and Policy Institute, will develop a nationwide public library database system linked to a digital base map. The database, which will include data sets from the U.S. Census and the National Center for Educational Studies, will provide consolidated information on public libraries nationwide and make this information easily accessible over the Internet. According to the announcement, the data will allow public library researchers and managers to provide the best services and materials for their diverse customer groups.

With the database developed through this project, public librarians and policy-makers will be better able answer these questions: Is the library providing the right balance of library services in light of changing populations? How can public libraries bridge the digital divide through the provision of equitable access to the Internet? What are the effects of poverty on library services? An advisory committee will assist the research team and guide the project. 

Source: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 850/644-2007; http://www.geolib.org.

NTIS Technical Reports Available Online

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) has announced that its Virtual Library Initiative has a new Web site, http://www.ntis.gov. NTIS maintains and disseminates scientific, technical, engineering, and related business information by or for hundreds of U.S. government agencies and worldwide sources. The collection contains nearly 3 million documents spanning more than 350 subject areas, and many of those items will now be available directly from the Web site. According to the announcement, approximately 1,000 new items are added each week, and many are available only through NTIS.

Visitors to the Web site can now execute searches of the database from 1990 to the present and link to the full text of documents on the Web, for free. They can also download any document in electronic format; downloading up to 20 pages is free, and 21 or more pages costs $8.95 per report.

Source: National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, 800/553-6847, 703/605-6000; http://www.ntis.gov.

Your Digital Library

ABC-CLIO Announces E-Book Program

ABC-CLIO has announced the launch of its e-book program. More than 150 titles were to be released in fall 2002, all with unlimited, simultaneous access for library patrons.

ABC-CLIO's policies allow multiple users within an institution to access e-books at the same time, either on-site or remotely. All titles published from 2000 forward are available as e-books. According to the company, beginning this month every forthcoming title published will be available simultaneously in both print and e-book formats. For a free preview, go to http://ebooks.abc-clio.com.

Source: ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA, 800/368-6868, 805/968-1911; http://www.abc-clio.com.

Axonix Launches Video On Demand Server

Axonix Corp. has announced the availability of SuperView, its new video server appliance.

SuperView is the size of a home VCR and plugs into any Internet-ready network jack. Libraries can load hundreds of videotapes and DVD discs into the SuperView, and anyone with Internet access can use a standard Web browser to call up a movie or lecture to watch, any time. Besides offering VHS- and DVD-quality video to many users simultaneously, the SuperView eliminates the need to purchase multiple copies of videos, television sets, and VCR/DVD players. SuperView also reduces the total cost of ownership because it is not necessary to check out and track videotapes and discs.

According to the announcement, SuperView is a completely integrated video server appliance—it does not require users to purchase, install, or support any additional hardware or software. It is available for purchase starting at $3,595 for the desktop version and $3,995 for the rackmount model.

Source: Axonix Corp., Salt Lake City, 800/866-9797, 801/521-9797; http://www.axonix.com.

LanSchool Offers LanSchool Monitor Tool

LanSchool, Inc. has announced LanSchool Monitor, which works like a security camera for computers. It displays a thumbnail view of students' computer screens on one central monitor computer.

Internet filters sometimes allow inappropriate sites through. With LanSchool Monitor, students are aware that their online activities are being viewed, so they will be less likely to visit inappropriate sites. LanSchool Monitor checks every student's computer in a random order. Every few seconds it takes a screen shot and displays it as a thumbnail on the librarian's computer. The librarian can generally determine from the thumbnail view if a student is using the computer in an inappropriate way. LanSchool Monitor also allows librarians to show an individual's Internet history, send a text message to a user's screen, and force a user to log out if necessary.

LanSchool Monitor is available at the company's Web site. The price for each monitor console is $395. LanSchool Monitor can display thumbnail views of up to 144 computers. A 166-MHz Pentium processor or faster running Windows (95/98, ME, NT, 2000, XP) is required.

Source: LanSchool, Inc., Orem, UT, 801/319-6365; http://www.lanschool.com.

Profession Building

LITA Seeks Applicants for Scholarships

The Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), a division of ALA, has announced that it is now accepting applications for four scholarships. The deadline for applications and supporting documentation is March 1, 2003.

Scholarship amounts range from $2,500 to $3,000 and are aimed at helping those who seek entry into the library and information technology field. For the specific requirements for each scholarship, as well as applications and instructions, see http://www.ala.org/work/awards/scholars.html. Candidates must illustrate their qualifications with three letters of reference and a personal statement. Economic need is considered when all other criteria are equal. Winners must have been accepted to an ALA-accredited master's of library and information studies program.

All applications, references, transcripts, and personal statements must be received no later than March 1. The winners will be announced and introduced, if present, at the LITA President's Program at the ALA Annual Conference in Toronto.

Source: Library & Information Technology Association, Chicago, 800/545-2433 x. 4269; http://www.lita.org.

CILIP Features 21 New Training Courses

The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) Training & Development program has announced the publication of its new Training Directory. The organization has planned 66 different learning opportunities, all of which are designed to equip library and information professionals with the skills, knowledge, and expertise they need to deliver cutting-edge, innovative, and effective service to users.

Of the 66 courses, 21 are completely new and focus on unmet and emerging training needs in the profession. Three of these new workshops that touch on the current topic of knowledge management are Knowledge Management: Basic Concepts for Workplace Libraries, Classification in a Knowledge Management Context, and People Skills for Knowledge Management. To help information professionals raise their profiles within their organizations, CILIP is offering a series of new marketing workshops: Selling the Benefits of Library and Information Services in a Cost-Conscious World; Connections, Not Collections: Demonstrating the Impact of Your School Library; and Creating Strategic Marketing Plans to Build Better Public Libraries. In the area of training users, new courses include Advanced Teaching Skills, Managing Staff Development and Training, Learning About Learning, and Teaching Effective Use of the World Wide Web. Other new courses that enhance existing skills include Research Skills, the Moving on in MARC series, and Essential Law for Library and Information Workers.

Details of all of these courses are on the Web at http://www.cilip.org.uk/training. To obtain a copy of CILIP's 2003 Training Directory, send an e-mail to training@cilip.org.uk or visit http://www.cilip.org.uk/training_events/order.html.

Source: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, London, 011-44-20-7255-0500; http://www.cilip.org.uk.

New/Enhanced Databases 

Derwent Innovations Index 3.0 Makes Debut

ISI has announced the release of Derwent Innovations Index version 3.0.

A component of the ISI Web of Knowledge, Derwent Innovations Index is a Web-based patents resource from Thomson ISI and Thomson Derwent that merges the Derwent World Patents Index with the Derwent Patents Citation Index. Updated weekly, the Derwent Innovations Index covers 11 million basic inventions from 40 patent-issuing authorities, dating back to 1963.

Version 3.0 offers several enhancements. Cited Patent Family Search allows a user to expand a cited patent search to all the members of the patent family. Technology Focus enables users to determine whether a document outside their core area of technology is of interest. Equivalent Abstracts is a function targeted to end-user scientists or engineers who need detailed summaries of patents, free from legalese. In addition, links have been expanded to include Esp@cenet and Delphion.

Source: ISI, Philadelphia, 800/336-4474, 215/386-0100; http://www.isinet.com.

Grolier Online Rolls Out ADA-Compliant Versions of Its Encyclopedia Databases

Grolier Online has announced that it has begun to roll out versions of its encyclopedia databases that are fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In producing ADA-compliant databases, the company conforms to Level AA of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative, which advocates a strong degree of usability for people with disabilities. 

The Level AA standard of compliance provides for a variety of accommodations, including limited use of graphic buttons and text alternatives for every graphic image that browsers can display or read. In addition to incorporating as many ADA-compliant features as possible into the regular, or graphical, versions of the databases, Grolier Online is also providing text-only versions, which include graphical material such as photographs and illustrations, but omit video, animations, and sound.

In summer 2002, Grolier Online introduced ADA-compliant versions of its Encyclopedia Americana and the New Book of Popular Science. The company is in the process of creating ADA-compliant versions of its other encyclopedia databases, including Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, due out in May.

Source: Grolier Online, Danbury, CT, 800/621-1115; http://go.grolier.com.

R.R. Bowker Partners with ebrary to Create a New Library Research Database

R.R. Bowker has announced that it will begin selling a customized Bowker­ebrarian research database to libraries.

The new database, accessible from booksinprint.com and globalbooksinprint.com, will provide simultaneous, multi-user access to a searchable collection of full text from more than 13,000 books and other authoritative content derived from 130 publishers. It integrates with a library's existing ILS system and can be used to search by keyword or phrase through dictionaries, encyclopedias, Web sites, and other reference materials.

In addition to the new research database, Bowker will also make available to its booksinprint.com and globalbooksinprint.com subscribers the capability to freely view the full text of titles available with ebrary's PDF-based technology. From the title record in booksinprint.com and globalbooksinprint.com, users will see a button to view the full text where available. However, to conduct actual research using a wide range of electronic resources, users must separately subscribe to the new Bowker­ebrarian research database.

Source: R.R. Bowker, New Providence, NJ, 888/269-5372; http://www.bowker.com and ebrary, Mountain View, CA, 650/ 230-0700; http://www.ebrary.com.

JSTOR Releases Its Sixth Journal Collection

JSTOR has announced the release of its sixth journal collection, Language & Literature, a compendium of 47 titles spanning many literary cultures, including those from China, Germany, Africa, and the U.S. The Language & Literature Collection adds 1.4 million new pages to JSTOR's electronic archive of scholarly journals.

Developed in conjunction with the Modern Language Association through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Language & Literature Collection offers insight into linguistics; comparative literature; and literary history, theory, analysis, and scholarship. The collection also includes core journals in the newer fields of literary criticism that have emerged over the past 30 years. In addition to English, the collection includes articles in other languages such as Arabic, Italian, and Russian.

Many of the journals are multidisciplinary in nature. For instance, the French Review has provided reviews and analysis of the Cannes Film Festival since the 1980s, and the Journal of African Cultural Studies explores the visual arts in addition to the written and oral traditions of Africa. The collection expands on the 13 language and literature titles that are already available to JSTOR participants through the Arts & Sciences I Collection; 34 of the titles are completely new to the JSTOR archive.

Source: JSTOR, New York, 212/229-3700; http://www.jstor.org.

ProQuest Adds Early English Titles, Full Text from Kluwer, and Tribune Newspapers

ProQuest Information and Learning has announced an agreement with the National Library of Scotland to add 2,350 newly identified works to the Early English Books microfilm collection and the Early English Books Online database.

The Early English Books microfilm collection gives users high-resolution images of the original material in a compact format for scholars who are unable to study online. Early English Books Online reproduces the works directly from the microfilm, offering immediate access to the material over the Web by page images, downloadable in PDF. According to the company, future initiatives call for full-text encoding of 25,000 works, enabling scholars to search and browse through the complete text in ASCII format.

In a separate release, ProQuest announced an agreement with Kluwer Academic Publishers that will bring the full text of 125 business and economics journals to the company's ProQuest online databases, including the ABI/INFORM business periodicals database.

Current coverage, including both indexing and full text for the titles, will appear in such databases as ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/
INFORM Research, ABI/INFORM Complete, and ProQuest 5000. Key titles include Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Consumer Policy, Journal of Economic Growth, and Journal of Risk and Uncertainty. In addition, the agreement grants ProQuest the rights to digitize full-run backfiles of several titles to distribute as part of the ABI/INFORM database.

Also, ProQuest announced a long-term content distribution agreement with Tribune Publishing. Under the terms of the agreement, ProQuest will digitize historical news content from Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times and will distribute more recent content from all 11 of Tribune's daily newspapers.

ProQuest will digitize the complete historical backfiles of Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times from their first published editions in 1847 and 1881, respectively, and will make both article and full-page images available to users.

Source: ProQuest Information and Learning, Ann Arbor, MI, 800/521-0600, 734/761-4700; http://www.il.proquest.com.

H.W. Wilson Introduces New WilsonWeb

H.W. Wilson has announced the launch of an entirely new version of its WilsonWeb database service. New features include extensive integration with existing Web-based content and services, multiple search and display options, database-specific subject thesauri, new customization options for both administrators and users, and a simpler but more capable interface.

New to WilsonWeb is WilsonLink, SFX-powered software that provides access to full-text articles, in addition to the full text delivered by Wilson databases. If the full text of a cited article isn't available on WilsonWeb, users can click the WilsonLink icon for an automatic search of the library's other open-URL-compliant databases, no matter what the vendor. Also, WilsonWeb now features a new search technique based on proprietary search rules that transparently employs Wilson's indexing expertise. A dedicated subject thesaurus for each database supplies the correct terms for any subject and also suggests broader, narrower, and related terms to help the user find the exact information required.

To accommodate a wide range of requirements, the new WilsonWeb allows administrators to customize the interface by renaming buttons and toolbar text, adding library logos, and linking to other library Web pages. Administrators and users can also customize the way that results are displayed. In addition, administrators have more precise control of user access to the WilsonWeb databases and more in-depth evaluation data on how they are being used.

Source: H.W. Wilson, New York, 800/367-6770, 718/588-8400; http://www.hwwilson.com.

Elsevier Releases New Version of EMBASE

Elsevier Science Bibliographic Databases (ESBD) has announced the release of an enhanced version of EMBASE.com. Version 3.0 of ESBD's Web initiative features enhanced functionality and expanded linking capabilities, according to the company.

EMBASE.com allows users to search more than 15 million EMBASE and MEDLINE bibliographic records simultaneously using a sophisticated and intuitive search interface. Linking enables users to move from bibliographic records directly to the full text of the cited articles from multiple STM publishers.

The Quick Search function has been redesigned to offer novice users more flexibility and ease of use. A wider range of limit options allows easier retrieval of relevant documents. Users can now search records from a combination of EMBASE and MEDLINE records, or from EMBASE only, or choose from a variety of publication types, languages, medical disciplines, age groups, and animal study types. Users also have the option to limit searches to only those records added within a specified number of days. Experienced searchers can take advantage of new Advanced Search features, such as the ability to use new pull-down field indexes and searchable lookups to pinpoint specific authors, device or drug names, and manufacturers, and add them to their queries.

Also, EMBASE.com has extended its reach to full text by offering DOI (digital object identifier) linking to the full text from more than 100 publishers through CrossRef.

Source: Elsevier Science Bibliographic Databases, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 011-31-20-4853507; http://www.elsevier.com/locate/esbd.

Dialog Adds Sci-Tech and Business Content

The Dialog Corporation has announced that it will be adding or enhancing at least 10 scientific and technical files of content.

New files to be added or enhanced include market research from Adis International; evidence-based journals from BMJ Publishing; Catfile Plus; Controlled Trials Register; HealthScout; national patent databases from Germany, France, and the U.K. (provided in native language with integrated English-language machine translations); Regulatory Affairs Journal from PJB Publications; and an expanded version of ToxFile. In addition, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, currently available on Dialog DataStar, will be made available to Dialog users this year. Also, the IMS R&D Focus file will be enhanced with images, and American Medical Association journals were to have been launched on Dialog DataStar by the end of 2002.

In a separate announcement, Dialog reported that content from Business Monitor International (BMI), a business and economics publisher specializing in global emerging markets, is now available through ResearchLine, the market research collection on the Dialog Profound online service.

BMI is a print and online publisher of specialist business information, offering a range of weekly, monthly, and quarterly information services on global emerging markets. Its reporting and analysis cover political risk, finance, macroeconomic performance, outlook and forecast, industry sectors, and business operating environment issues in key markets in Asia, Latin America, emerging Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Source: The Dialog Corporation, Cary, NC, 800/3DIALOG, 919/462-8600; http://www.dialog.com.

Factiva Releases an Enhanced Factiva.com

Factiva has announced several content and functionality enhancements to its flagship Factiva.com product, a Web-based service that provides tools for researching and monitoring global news and business information.

This release includes the ability to research company information worldwide from D&B and Investext. The News Page feature now allows users to browse a specific selection of influential newspapers and magazines instead of having to search multiple Web sites. Spanish- and Italian-speaking users will find a new interface that caters to their needs for local language content and usability. Also, a new search screen provides point-and-click access to indexing terms for precision searching.

Source: Factiva, Princeton, NJ, 800/369-7466, 609/627-2000; http://www.factiva.com.

Automation

Ingenta Offers Advanced Deposit Accounts

Ingenta, Inc. has announced advanced deposit account functionality on ingenta.com in order to allow library services to offer greater account control and more organizational tools through which to track patron spending.

According to the project manager, the deposit account service allows users to purchase articles on ingenta.com that an institution does not subscribe to, using specific funds. Users can also access full-text subscriptions for free, with limits on spending as set up by a designated site administrator.

Advanced deposit accounts have annual fees and allow for more sophisticated account management with the following options: Master and sub-accounts allow funds to be deposited into a single account and to "trickle down" to multiple sub-accounts. Single-item cost caps designate the maximum amount, per single article, that the institution is willing to fund. The time period spending limit allows the administrator to select a time period during which a group of authenticated users is allowed to spend a specific amount. The number-of-items cap limits the number of articles purchased by a single patron at any one time. The cost centers function links users to a particular cost center. Also, administrators can receive monthly user reports by e-mail, which detail all article expenditures, directly from Ingenta's library customer service team. 

Source: Ingenta, Inc., Cambridge, MA, 617/395-4000; http://www.ingenta.com.

New WebOPAC Server Software Released

Book Systems, Inc. has announced the availability of its new version 6.0 of WebOPAC, the company's Web-based library access software. WebOPAC gives users access to the library 24 hours a day.

According to the announcement, this new version of WebOPAC is faster; works on most popular platforms, including Linux; requires only one setup operation for all of the OPAC computers through the organization; and offers themes for holidays, seasons, special occasions, etc., with high-quality graphics. Also, WebOPAC version 6.0 can be fully integrated with Book Systems' Concourse and eZcat software programs.

The OPAC offers a variety of fully configurable search options, including a customizable Visual Search. With WebOPAC, Book Systems can design a custom look for your library, or you can create your own or choose from one of many preconfigured styles. Using the product's Report Wizard, administrators can create reports such as List of Patrons, Accession List, List of Titles, Titles Sorted by Author, Shelf List, List of Overdue Items, List of Reserved Items, Customized Catalog Report, Subject Headings, Holdings Summary, and Collection Aging Reports.

Source: Book Systems, Inc., Huntsville, AL, 800/219-6571, 256/533-9746; http://www.booksys.com.

Sagebrush, ITI Create Complete MARC Suite

Sagebrush Corp. and Information Transform, Inc. (ITI; MITINET/marc Software) have announced a partnership to cooperatively provide the Complete MARC Suite to K-12 school libraries. This new offering combines both companies' products to assist librarians in enhancing and maintaining library collection data.

The Complete MARC Suite integrates Sagebrush's AchieveMARC Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts! enhancement service with ITI's MARC Mechanic custom data cleanup service and MARC Magician software. The Complete MARC Suite provides libraries with a complete solution for cleaning up collection records, enhancing records with additional data, and maintaining quality data on an ongoing basis.

The Complete MARC Suite is currently available from both Sagebrush Corp. and ITI.

Source: Sagebrush Corp., Minneapolis, 800/533-5430; http://www.sagebrushcorp.com and Information Transform, Inc., Madison, WI, 800/824-6272, 608/270-1774; http://www.mitinet.com.

Web/Search Tools

Copernic Upgrades Its Search Software

Copernic has announced Copernic Agent, the latest version of its Copernic 2001 product. Copernic Agent is integrated search software that enables users to search, manage, analyze, and track information on the Web.

Copernic Agent comes in three different versions: basic, personal, and professional. All three versions are available from the company's Web site and offer several new features and improvements, such as monitoring Web pages for changes; improved tracking and notification of new search results; intelligent summaries of search results; a redesigned user interface; seamless integration with Microsoft Internet Explorer; filtering of results by language, domain, status, etc.; improved removal of irrelevant and duplicate pages; improved searching for keywords within found pages; redesigned search categories; improved automation of search operations; and the ability to create custom search categories.

According to the company, Copernic Agent Personal and Copernic Agent Professional offer access to more than 1,000 specialized search sources, allowing users to better target their queries and obtain results that are more precise and up-to-date.

Source: Copernic, Sainte-Foy, PQ, Canada, 418/527-0528; http://www.copernic.com.

Inmagic Offers DB/Text WebPublisher PRO

Inmagic, Inc. has announced DB/Text WebPublisher PRO, a read/write, XML-enabled, interactive Web publishing solution. 

WebPublisher PRO and the DB/TextWorks software provide a fully integrated database system with the capability to store, search, and obtain information (text, multimedia, and images) on the Web. According to Inmagic, DB/Text WebPublisher PRO provides all of the advantages of Web interactivity at an affordable price, allowing customers to create and deploy databases of various types and formats to the Web. WebPublisher PRO includes an XML forms library, making it easy for nontechnical users to publish their databases interactively on the Web by offering a set of preprogrammed templates for Web queries and reports.

Through the use of XML, HTML, and SOAP, DB/Text WebPublisher PRO is fully open and standards-based, providing users with the capability to publish content to the Internet via a Web browser, edit records in a browser, create interactive forms with third-party tools, customize reports to the Web site design, and tightly integrate DB/Text textbases with other applications.

Source: Inmagic, Inc., Woburn, MA, 800/229-8398, 781/938-4442; http://www.inmagic.com.

Content Management

Endymion Announces the Mambo! Portal

Endymion has announced the availability of the Mambo! Enterprise Navigation Portal. This product is built on a navigation engine that enables users to easily navigate large databases—unstructured or structured—without the need for extensive corporate application development or end-user training.

According to Endymion, Mambo! is as intuitive to use as a simple search tool, yet enables complex research to be completed quickly through advanced knowledge management capabilities, including indexes, iterative navigation, and relevance ranking. Mambo! provides access to a wide range of disparate sources, including external syndicated unstructured data such as libraries and abstracts, and internal unstructured data such as presentations, PDF files, Web pages, and e-mail. It also integrates existing document management systems and provides access to structured data from sources such as SAP, Oracle, Siebel, and PeopleSoft.

Designed for scalability, Mambo! utilizes dynamic load balancing to support hundreds of concurrent inquiries and access to millions of pages. It automatically locates and extracts information enterprisewide based on actual terms and phrases residing within documents, and delivers the "best pages" through its user interface. Also, it eliminates the need to characterize content into pre-existing classification schemes.

Source: Endymion, Oakland, CA, 510/563-4100; http://www.goendymion.com.

Factiva's Fusion Tool Makes Its Debut— Enhances Business Info Using a Taxonomy

Factiva has announced Factiva Fusion, a content enhancement tool that categorizes and creates relationships between business content sets according to a taxonomy. According to the announcement, it offers a single search mechanism and entry point to all information stores for knowledge-intensive organizations.

Instead of searching multiple internal and external systems, customers using Factiva Fusion can integrate internal content such as research papers, presentations, proposals, and customer records with Factiva's news and business information and other external content, including public Web sites. Factiva Fusion structures content for accurate retrieval and contextual integration into portals, intranets, and other business applications, and Factiva's Professional Services staff members work with customers to tailor Factiva Intelligent Indexing. The solution does not seek to replace existing portals, intranets, and content management systems, but to complement and enhance their performance by consistently organizing the content within those repositories. Also, with Factiva Fusion's developer's kit, companies can invoke Web services to supply enhanced information that supports specific job functions.

Additionally, Fusion incorporates an editorial interface for content collection and taxonomy management, and a predefined search interface for out-of-the-box access to unified content. Factiva has strategic partnerships with application providers such as Microsoft, IBM, and Plumtree, making it easier to integrate complementary technologies from various vendors.

Source: Factiva, Princeton, NJ, 800/369-7466, 609/627-2000; http://www.factiva.com.

PSM's Online Guides Help Researchers Navigate Its Vault of Primary Documents

Gale imprint Primary Source Microfilm (PSM) has announced the PSM Online Guides, a free service located at http://microformguides.gale.com. PSM's Online Guides allow users to search digitized guides to a single PSM collection, browse collection guides by subject area, and perform full-text searches across multiple collection guides, as well as to download collection guides.

According to Gale, over the past 37 years Primary Source Microfilm has built one of the world's most important microfilm libraries of significant resources in such fields as history, literature, fine arts, social science, women's studies, and more. While a printed guide does accompany each collection, the enormous size of many collections often limits their usefulness. With PSM's Online Guides, librarians can perform a full-text search or choose a search by title, author, publishing information, or subject, making it easier to find collections that contain appropriate research material.

Creating online guides for PSM's entire vault is expected to take 2 years. Guides will be added to the site as they are completed.

Source: Gale, Farmington Hills, MI, 800/444-0799, 248/699-4253; http://www.gale.com.

Linking Agreements

EBSCOhost Offers Bidirectional Linking

EBSCO Publishing and MDL Information Systems have completed a collaboration to provide bidirectional linking between the EBSCOhost search interface and MDL LitLink Servers. This new feature will enable researchers to link from citations in other desktop applications to the full text in EBSCOhost databases to which their libraries subscribe and from citations in EBSCOhost databases to full text in other sources.

LitLink Servers are software programs that link literature citations from a variety of desktop applications to journal articles, patents, and other documents. When you select a citation, LitLink Servers' dynamic linking system uses the citation as input and automatically retrieves the corresponding document. When searching an EBSCOhost database, the interface searches the full text not only within the database, but also within a library's e-journal subscriptions (through EBSCO's Electronic Journals Service or CrossRef) and its online catalog. If full text cannot be located in these resources, the results list can then indicate EBSCO CustomLinks from the relevant citation directly to the full text through LitLink or other linking servers such as SFX or Link FinderPlus, or to various document delivery services or interlibrary loan systems.

Source: EBSCO Publishing, Ipswich, MA, 800/653-2726, 978/356-6500; http://www.epnet.com.

ISI Creates Links to IEEE Full-Text Articles

ISI and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) have announced a linking agreement that will provide subscribers to ISI Web of Knowledge and IEEE subscribers with links to the full text of articles from IEEE journals and conference proceedings.

Once the links are in place, subscribers to IEEE publications online and ISI Web of Knowledge will be able to link from ISI Web of Science and ISI Current Contents Connect to IEEE engineering and computer science journal literature and to proceedings information from IEEE-sponsored conferences. IEEE full-text documents are hosted and delivered by the IEEE Xplore platform. Implementation of the links was expected at the end of 2002.

IEEE is a nonprofit, technical professional association of more than 377,000 individual members in 150 countries. IEEE produces 30 percent of the world's published literature in electrical engineering, computers, and control technology, and holds more than 300 conferences annually.

Source: ISI, Philadelphia, 800/336-4474, 215/386-0100; http://www.isinet.com.

CrossRef Improves Its Reference Linking System, Expands Publisher Memberships

CrossRef, a publisher collaborative initiative that enables researchers to navigate online journals via digital object identifier (DOI)-based citation links, has announced the launch of version 2.0 of its metadata database resolution service, as well as an expansion of its publisher and affiliate memberships.

Version 2.0 uses a scalable architecture and current Web technologies, resulting in more resolved queries and expanded reference content. Due to the system's "fuzzy" logic, there has been a significant increase in positive query results, according to the announcement. Version 2.0 also supports the new CrossRef XML Deposit Schema, which provides a more robust vocabulary for journal metadata and conference proceedings. 

In addition, CrossRef's membership base continues to grow with 152 publisher members, representing over 6,400 journals and almost 5 million records. A linking solutions partner agreement was signed with Fretwell-Downing for its plans to integrate CrossRef into its Z PORTAL product for libraries that will automatically build links between citation information and digital content. ProQuest will support linking to the full text via CrossRef, and will be beta testing dynamic retrievals using CrossRef's new system. Project Muse, which offers subscription access to the full text of more than 200 scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences, has announced its plans to actively participate in CrossRef beginning this year.

Source: CrossRef, Burlington, MA, 781/295-0072; http://www.crossref.org.

Swets Blackwell, ABC-CLIO Link Services

Swets Blackwell has announced that ABC-CLIO will link its historical abstracting-and-indexing databases Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life with SwetsnetNavigator, Swets Blackwell's e-journal access service.

With this new agreement, users of the ABC-CLIO databases who also subscribe to SwetsnetNavigator will have direct links to more than 70,000 journals through both short and long abstracts. Libraries with subscriptions to Historical Abstracts or America: History and Life that also participate in SwetsnetNavigator will automatically see links.

Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, established in 1955 and 1964 respectively, are research tools for students, scholars, and historians. They contain abstracts of journal articles and book reviews pertaining to the history of the world, with more than 16,000 new abstracts added to each database every year.

Source: Swets Blackwell, Runnemede, NJ, 800/645-6595; http://www.swetsblackwell.com.

Infotrieve and IoPP Sign Linking Agreement

Infotrieve has announced that it has created a new linking partnership with the Institute of Physics Publishing (IoPP). This collaboration allows customers to link from references in the IoPP Electronic Journals service to Infotrieve's document delivery services.

The Institute of Physics is an international professional body and learned society, established to promote the advancement and dissemination of a knowledge of and education in the science of physics, pure and applied. The Institute of Physics Publishing produces research journals; graduate-level texts; and popular science books, magazines, and reference titles.

Source: Infotrieve, Los Angeles, 310/234-2025; http://www.infotrieve.com.

New Books

New Neal-Schuman Titles Address Hot Issues

Starting and Operating Live Virtual Reference Services: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (ISBN: 1-55570-444-1, $59.95) offers a blueprint for implementing this new service. Authors Marc Meola and Stan Stormont, the minds behind Temple University's real-time virtual reference desk, cover the steps that are key for successful virtual reference services. They also present five service models, with strategies and tips for each.

In The Librarian's and Information Professional's Guide to Plug-Ins and Other Web Browser Tools: Selection, Installation, Troubleshooting, by Candice M. Benjes-Small and Melissa L. Just (ISBN: 1-55570-441-7, $45), librarians will learn which plug-ins are best installed on public workstations, which best meet different staff needs, which to use on a library Web site, and which are most likely to cause problems. Nineteen of the most essential plug-ins are covered. System requirements, strengths and weaknesses, installation instructions, troubleshooting tips, and special benefits and applications for libraries are discussed.

Using Microsoft Access XP: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians, by E. Sonny Butler and Timothy R. Napier (ISBN: 1-55570-442-5, $49.95), is an easy-to-follow guide that will walk librarians through the newest version of Microsoft Access, from starting the program through putting Access-created files on a Web page. Written especially for librarians, the guide explains how to create and manage various types of resources using Access. Librarians will also learn how to design and use tables, update records, sort and filter data, query the database, create and use switchboard and other forms, conduct advanced queries, create macros, and secure and share databases.

Source: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., New York, 212/925-8650; http://www.neal-schuman.com.

O'Reilly Covers HTML, Windows XP, Linux

Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference, 2nd edition, by Danny Goodman (ISBN: 0-596-00316-1, $59.95), contains all the knowledge needed to create sensible single- and cross-platform Web applications. It is for any Web content developer who wants to use DHTML to add sophisticated features to Web pages and enhance the experience of site visitors. The new edition has been updated to cover the latest specifications, including HTML 4.01, XHTML, CSS Level 2, DOM Level 2, and JavaScript 1.5, as well as the latest browsers—Internet Explorer 6 (Windows), Internet Explorer 5.1 (Macintosh), Netscape Navigator 6 and 7, and Mozilla 1.0.

Windows XP Annoyances, by David A. Karp (ISBN: 0-596-00416-8, $29.95), is for XP users who are tired of the platform's quirks and enigmatic settings. It offers solutions, tips, workarounds, and warnings that enable readers to both customize and troubleshoot Windows XP.

Building Secure Servers with Linux, by Michael D. Bauer (ISBN: 0-596-00217-3, $44.95), focuses on the most common use of Linux—as a hub that offers services to an organization or the larger Internet. The author offers practical advice on how to think about threats and risks, how to protect publicly accessible hosts via good network design, and how to harden a fresh installation of Linux and keep it patched against newly discovered vulnerabilities.

Source: O'Reilly & Associates, Sebastopol, CA, 800/998-9938, 707/827-7000; http://www.oreilly.com.