Welcome Back

On behalf of the Olin·Kroch·Uris Libraries Reference Services Division, welcome back! While you were on break we made a few changes. As you may already have noticed, Bear Access, the system with which we provide access to a multitude of resources, has changed; buttons for several new tools including Britannica Online have been added. There is also a button located under Internet Library Catalogs for the CUL Experimental WWW Catalog, a Web interface to the online catalog; try it and let us know what you think!

Perhaps the most obvious change has been the relocation of the reference collection and reference desk in Uris Library. A number of years ago we began to experiment with having a reference staff member at a satellite desk in the vicinity of the online catalog computers in Uris' Dean Room, while also having a staff member at the reference desk in the reference room. Over time, it became clear that most students in need of help were at the computers. Thus, we decided to move the reference desk to the site of the satellite service. This shift led to the decision to move the reference collection to the south alcove of the Dean Room. The new location is much closer to the online catalog and other electronic resources as well as to the new reference desk.

The former reference room with its magnificent view overlooking Cayuga Lake has been converted into a quiet study room. It will also house some material, such as Cornell yearbooks and two-day reserve material, which was previously shelved in the south alcove of the Dean Room. In addition, the Loeb Classical Library has been transferred from the ninth level of Uris to this new study room. Like all the other Uris study rooms, this space will house a small set of frequently used resources including foreign language dictionaries, thesauri, and style guides.

Our United Nations documents collection will soon have a new home. For many years this collection was housed in Olin's rare book vault, an area with no public access. When that space was remodelled to create the Electronic Text Center, the UN documents were removed to a temporary location in compact shelving on the lower level of Olin. To enhance public access to this important collection, we will soon house the documents on microfiche in the Olin reference room, the documents on microcard with other microcard collections in the microforms area on Olin's lower level, and the bound paper documents in the vicinity of the U.S. Serial Set and British Parliamentary Papers on Olin's lower level. Unbound UN documents will continue to be housed in a staff-only area near the Olin reference collection; reference staff will page these materials for users.

We have also made some changes to our instruction program. We now offer a two-part series of classes on the use of the Internet. The first part, Internet I: Introduction, introduces novice users to the Internet and the use of Netscape to explore the World-Wide Web. In Internet II: Finding What You Want on the Web, participants will learn about the different Web search engines, their similarities and differences, and their effective use. We will also be offering a two-part series of classes on the creation of Web pages. HTML I: Introduction will cover the basics while HTML II: Intermediate will cover some of the more advanced techniques for creating WWW pages, including using images as links, "mail-to" links, tables, advanced HTML tags, and page design. If you are planning to create your own Web page on the university's new Web server, these classes are for you!

We will also be offering two different desktop mapping classes. In Thematic Maps Using Census Data, participants will learn how to use desktop mapping software to create color-coded or gray-scale thematic maps. Any of the geographically referenced statistics gathered in the 1990 Census can be extracted and displayed visually. You will learn to make maps which show, at the neighborhood level or county by county, subjects such as population density, housing values, median rents, levels of education, ethnic composition, and levels of income. Maps for Publications and Presentations will show participants ways to make maps to illustrate and enhance written and oral presentations. A number of software titles will be demonstrated.

Finally, we welcome requests for course-specific library instruction sessions. Our calendar is rapidly filling; if you would like to schedule a session, please contact Mary Ochs at mao4@cornell.edu or 255-7148. Further information on all aspects of our instruction program can be found at http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/workshop.htm .

As always, we are here to serve you. If you have comments, suggestions, questions, or criticisms, please let us know. I can be reached by phone at 255-3319 or by e-mail at pjc6@cornell.edu. My colleagues join me in wishing you a very successful semester.

Paul Constantine, Head, Reference Services Division
pjc6@cornell.edu

Web Corner: Winter Recreation Web Sites

Winter is here. Time for skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, and sledding. The Web has lots of information and ideas about the where and how of winter sports and recreation for snow- and ice-lovers. The best starting place is the granddaddy site at Lycos: Winter Sports Online, [http://www.lycos.com/special/wintersports/]. Go to sites around the world with information on downhill, telemarque, and cross-country skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding, snowshoeing, luging, dogsledding, skating, hockey, and curling.

Charged, [http://www.charged.com/], although not limited to winter sports, is a good site for action and extreme sports such as snowboarding, ice blocking (riding blocks of ice downhill when there is no snow), and macho figure skating. The January version of the Index to Everything section [http://www.charged.com/index_everything/] features an article rating and describing the top 40 ski mountains for snowboarders.

For an A to Z list of links to winter sports suppliers, magazines. resorts, services, catalogs, and directories, try SnowNet's home page, [http://www.snownet.com/] .

No snow in Ithaca? Find out where to go for snow on the Weather Channel Skier's Forecast, [http://www.weather.com/ski/]. You've got access to current snow conditions and snow forecasts for resorts and ski areas, state-by-state, across the U.S. Enjoy the winter; get out in it. And if you can't, you can always ski on the 'Net.

Michael Engle, Reference Librarian
moe1@cornell.edu

One Step Beyond: Internet Library Catalogs

Among the many changes to the Bear Access menu this semester is the addition of the Internet Library Catalogs button. It connects you to a variety of online resources--both at Cornell and elsewhere--that will help you expand the territory of your research beyond the scope of the Cornell Library Catalog. It offers the following choices:

Center for Research Libraries (CRL). Located in Chicago, CRL maintains large collections of newspapers, document sets, and other obscure materials which few other repositories hold. The CRL button connects you to the Center's online catalog.

Cornell Guest Lectures. Until recently, the Uris Library Media Center was engaged in a project to record and make available readings, panel discussions, and other public presentations given on campus by visiting writers and scholars from all over the world. More than thirty years' worth of audiorecordings available nowhere else make this a unique and valuable resource.

Cornell Library Catalog--Experimental. Yes, it's the catalog you know and love, but with a World-Wide Web interface and some new, exciting features, such as hypertext links to important remote Web sites and search features that allow you to more easily locate periodical indexes, electronic journals, and reference sources at Cornell. This is an experiment, so we'd really like to hear what you think of it.

Cornell Medical Library Catalog. Because Cornell's Medical College is located in New York City, its library holds many items not available here on campus. We can, however, request them through interlibrary loan.

RLIN/Eureka. The Research Libraries Information Network, employing software called Eureka, makes it possible to search the combined holdings of more than 150 large research libraries around the world.

OCLC WorldCat. The Online Computer Library Center's WorldCat contains records for the holdings of more than 17,000 libraries of all types. Like RLIN, it is a good source for information about items you may request through interlibrary loan.

For more information about these databases, click the About Library Resources (Help) button on the Bear Access menu.

Fred Muratori, Reference Librarian
fmm1@cornell.edu

Reference Home Page	Cite and Byte home page	URL:http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/citebyte/cb71only.htm Martha Walker, editor, Cite & Byte [rev. 3/17/97] Amy Blumenthal and Mark J. Mandel, editorial assistants Olin·Kroch·Uris Libraries Reference Services Division
Library Home Page	E-mail the Editor