Welcome Back!

A hearty welcome to those of you who are new to Cornell as well as to those of you who are returning! I hope that your summer was enjoyable. We have been quite busy in your absence. You will notice, for example, that in order to better meet your research needs, all of the computers in the Olin gallery and the Uris Dean Room are now Web-capable. Additionally, all the machines in the Olin stacks are also now Web-capable. We have added many new databases to the Cornell Library Gateway and many new books to our printed collection.

We are here to meet your research and information needs whether you present them in-person, over the phone (255-4144), or via e-mail. Additionally, we provide a research consultation service for those of you about to embark on major projects. Please come by the Olin or Uris reference desks for further information on any of these services.

One of our most important services is instruction. The Reference Services Division offers a variety of educational opportunities for students and faculty. Last year, we presented 342 sessions to 4,995 participants. A large number of the classes we teach are for courses offered as part of the Freshman Writing Program. We also offer sessions for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses. We present these sessions in either our comfortable lecture/demonstration classroom in Olin Library or our state-of-the-art, hands-on electronic classroom in Uris Library. To schedule a session contact our Instruction Coordinator, Tony Cosgrave, at 255-7148 or via e-mail.

As a division, we exist for you, the users of Olin, Kroch and Uris Libraries. If there is anything we can do to assist you or your students, to make your research more productive, or to develop new programs or services of interest to you, please let us know. Feel free to contact me at 255-3319 or via e-mail. For further information about our programs and services, please inquire at the Olin or Uris reference desks or check the Division's Web site.

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

Our Instruction Program

Library instruction has a rich tradition in the Olin Kroch Uris Libraries. And like so much else here at Cornell, it has changed dramatically over the years, continually evolving and incorporating the newest resources and technologies. The state of constant change in which we currently live increases the value of the instruction the library offers.

Patrons are constantly faced with the challenge of learning new technologies and interfaces to resources. Library instruction can ease the burden and help to level off the learning curve. The OKU Libraries' instruction program is multi-faceted, incorporating a variety of programs addressing a wide range of needs and interests across the Cornell community.

Freshman Writing Seminars:

The Cornell University Library is the first contact many freshmen have with a large and complicated academic research library. Hundreds of students enrolled in Freshman Writing Seminars benefit each year from our instruction program. During a fifty-minute session in our hands-on electronic classroom, we give the students an overview of the library system, explain library research methodology, and provide a hands-on experience with the Library Gateway, the Cornell Library Catalog and appropriate periodical databases. Each student also receives a bibliography of reference materials relevant to a specific library assignment. The library assignment is designed by the writing seminar instructor and the librarian and is intended to introduce the student to basic reference tools in the subject area of the seminar.

Upper Division Students:

Many juniors and seniors at Cornell are reasonably comfortable using the libraries, but there are times when a new course demands the use of unfamiliar resources that can be frustrating to even the most sophisticated library user. Census material, government documents, complex databases, and microforms are among the sources that can cause difficulties.

For students needing such materials, we offer a more advanced form of instruction keyed to the specific needs of the course. We might discuss, for example, using LEXIS/NEXIS Academic Universe effectively for legislative research or finding archaeological site material.

Upper division students are also more focused on a specific discipline and can benefit from an advanced orientation to the literature in their field. This type of instruction can be particularly useful for honors students.

International Students Program:

Many of Cornell's international students come from countries with library systems totally different from our own. We have, for many years, provided instruction to international students in the use of the Cornell Library. In addition to explaining some of the more basic concepts of the Cornell Library Catalog, reference materials, and serials locations, this program also includes general information on libraries in the United States.

New Technologies:

Reference staff are continuously experimenting with new information technologies. We offer workshops in using different technologies available on the Internet, and we also are incorporating the use of Internet resources into our regular instructional sessions, where appropriate. If you are interested in exploring the use of new information technologies in your course, please contact us to discuss the possibilities.

This semester we plan to offer a new workshop using EndNote, a bibliographic utility, which features a direct connection to a variety of library catalogs and makes it easy to import records into a database. And we will continue to offer our Internet Workshop Series, which includes classes on how to find what you want on the Web as well as the very popular four-part series on HTML and Web page creation. The HTML classes are held in the Uris Library Electronic Classroom, providing hands-on opportunities for active learning.

Consultations:

In addition to classroom instruction and workshops we also offer one-on-one instruction in the form of consultations. This service is designed for anyone starting or working on a major library research project, including undergraduate honors students, undergraduates with major term papers, graduate students beginning work on their theses, and faculty.

Our current instruction schedule is listed on the Web. At the conclusion of the fall orientation program we will post the Internet Workshop Series schedule here. Our departmental World Wide Web site provides electronic access to library skill guides and bibliographies, as well as links to worldwide Internet resources.

If you have any questions about our instruction program or would like to schedule a class or a consultation, please don't hesitate to call me at 255-7148 or e-mail me.

Tony Cosgrave,
Instruction Coordinator
ajc5@cornell.edu

Changes in Periodical Indexes Over the Summer

The beginning of fall semester is a good time to review the changes in our periodical indexes implemented over the summer. Each spring the companies that market these indexes announce their price changes and improvements, and library staff decide how to provide maximum access to the indexing and full text of periodical articles. Here are some of the key changes for this year with specific examples.

Indexes are moving from text-only interfaces (Telnet/TN3270) to Web interfaces. Three important databases are now available online with a Web interface only: Periodical Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts, and PAIS International. Although other versions are still listed in the Gateway, clicking on those versions takes you to a link to the remaining Web version. Hint: To speed up the search process on the Web, try turning off Auto Load Images in Netscape's Preferences. OCLC Web databases now use a faster, low-graphics mode.

More full article texts are available online. In the new ProQuest Direct Web version of Periodical Abstracts, access to the full text of journal and magazine articles is integrated with the search results. The full text of a significant number of articles can be viewed using a link on the results screen. In addition, articles from a number of academic journals are available by the journal title through the Library Gateway. Search a subject (e.g., history) in the Gateway and click on "[Full-Text]" to limit the results to journals.

The Library Gateway vs. Indexes linked to the Catalog. The Library Gateway contains entries for all the networked periodical indexes available at Cornell. The Database Selection Menu for the Cornell Library Catalog also lists "IND Indexes Linked to the Catalog" below CU and BOOKSOUT. The subset of indexes that have links to holdings in the library catalog are listed under IND. Foremost among these indexes is PsycInfo. Note that Periodical Abstracts is no longer available on this menu. To find additional indexes not listed under IND, search the Library Gateway.

Some stand-alone, CD-ROM-based indexes are moving to networked Web versions. The last ten years of indexing for the citation indexes (Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science) is available in networked Web versions. Dissertation Abstracts from 1861 to present and NewsBank have moved from CD-ROM to the Web. America History and Life, Historical Abstracts, and Philosopher's Index will be moving to networked Web versions in the future.

Hardware and software implications. Web-based indexes and full-text resources require Netscape or Internet Explorer Web browsers, preferably version 3 or higher. Faster computers speed the processing and display of incoming Web pages. Public computer equipment in the libraries has been substantially upgraded to accommodate the changes.

Help is available. As always, we welcome your questions at the reference and information desks as you navigate the networked resources available through the Library Gateway.

Michael Engle,
Reference Librarian
moe1@cornell.edu

Library Computer Workstations Upgraded

Over the summer we made several changes to our public computer workstations here in the OKU Libraries. We added new high-end equipment in our Reference areas, shifted faster computers to the Olin stacks, and replaced all of our older public use Apple LCIIs in order to provide enhanced access to the Library Gateway's Networked Resources and to better position ourselves for the advent of the Digital Library. With this move all of our library kiosk workstations are Web accessible.

The first thing you will notice is that there are now Windows-based PCs mixed in with our familiar Apple Power Mac machines. We have added 22 Compaq Deskpro 2000 computers as our public workstations in Olin Reference, replaced Power Macs in each of the stack levels of Olin and Kroch libraries, and provided a selection of both PCs and Power Macs in the Uris and Kroch Asia reference rooms.

Printing procedures are evolving, but students should have access to both Net-Print laser printing and free dot-matrix printing from most of our new PC workstations and VendaCard laser printing from others. Printing from the Reference Power Macs remains unchanged. Please consult Reference Skill Guides 9 and 9A for detailed information about printing from this equipment.

Since 1987, the year before the online catalog was inaugurated, the OKU Libraries have gone from having no public computer equipment to now having 154 workstations for our users. These machines are distributed throughout the three buildings and offer a variety of services and functions from multiple locations: library kiosks with access to the online catalog and the Library Gateway, CD-ROM workstations for working with specialized databases and other digital resources, electronic mail and E-Reserve terminals, Olin information kiosks, the Electronic Text Center, the Tower Room computer lab, and the Uris Electronic Classroom.

Please let us know if you have any questions about using our new computers. We hope you will now find a computer platform in the libraries that meets your needs.

Lance Heidig
Reference Librarian
ljh5@cornell.edu

Reference Home Page	Cite and Byte home page	URL:http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/citebyte/cb84.htm Martha Walker, editor, Cite & Byte [rev. 9/17/98] Amy Blumenthal and Mark Siegal, editorial assistants Olin·Kroch·Uris Libraries Reference Services Division
Library Home Page	E-mail the Editor