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Full-Text Articles in Library and Information Science
Encyclopedia.Com, Sue Polanka
Encyclopedia.Com, Sue Polanka
University Libraries' Staff Publications
Fall is in the air-football, back-to-school activities, pumpkins, and the annual Reference Books Bulletin "Encyclopedia Update." This year we get to highlight a new encyclopedia. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, acquired HighBeam Research in December 2008, and with that acquisition, the ownership of a fabulous URL EncycLopedia.com, a free resource with more than half a million entries on a variety of topics. The best part? The information is from vetted reference sources. In fact, more than 200 dictionaries and encyclopedias are used to verify content on the site, with many more to follow. This is great news for librarians and …
Reference Universe, Sue Polanka
Reference Universe, Sue Polanka
University Libraries' Staff Publications
One of my favorite things about being a reference librarian is me reference collection. I love perusing the subject encyclopedias for unique content and enjoy watching my collection grow, both in prim and e-book formats. However, I find it difficult to keep up with the resources in this valuable collection. Luckily, I found a tool that not only helps me remember these great tides but unlocks them for me, exposing articles and ideas I may not have considered. My tool is Reference Universe, from Paratext, an index for the articles inside the reference collection, providing access points not found in …
E-Book Usage Data, Sue Polanka
E-Book Usage Data, Sue Polanka
University Libraries' Staff Publications
I hear it all the time from a variety of librarians: not going to invest in e-books until I know they will get used." In fact, I hear it most from school librarians who are low on budget and don't want to invest in e-books without proof: from someone else's school system, that the investment will payoff. Luckily, usage data is available for e-book publisher and aggregator products, and this data can be mined in a variety of ways to determine use of the product or particular titles.
Patron-Driven Acquisition, Sue Polanka
Patron-Driven Acquisition, Sue Polanka
University Libraries' Staff Publications
Patron-Driven Acquisition (PDA) is an e-book business model introduced by NetLibrary almost 10 years ago. The model was slow to develop over the years but has experienced a resurgence with programs from NetLibrary, Ingram Digital, and EBL. PDA stems from two traditional collection development principles—purchasing titles based on patron suggestions and establishing approval plans. The primary differences are that PDA is a business model strictly for e-books, and final selections are made by the patrons.