Announcements:

Jim:                  In lieu of a forum for next month, R&O is co-sponsoring the workshop and retreat with Jerilyn Veldof. The Academic Assembly lecture will be in G10 Biotech from 9-9:45, followed by an informal talk with Ms. Veldof in Mann at 10 am. Workshop will be at 1:00 in 106G Olin.

Zsuzsa:             A quick Web Vision update – WorldCat Local web site is pretty much put together, and OCLC is working on plugging in Voyager. The team will hopefully be ready for feedback in April. Also, they are currently working on Borrow Direct. LibGuides – There are currently 21 authors of LibGuides, with one of Jill Powell’s guides having 3600 page views. There will be an “Open Mic” session March 11 10:30-12.

Featured Presentations:

“LibX: eXtreme access”

Susette Newberry

‘Library Outside the Library’ (LOL) sub-group of Web Vision Team

Susette began by asking how many present had downloaded and installed the LibX toolbar. Many in attendance have done so. If you haven’t had the chance, it is highly recommended that you do so. It is only a Firefox toolbar (plug-in), for now, though there is an IE version in beta now. It is not just a toolbar either, it allows you to connect to library resources whenever you need them, wherever you are.

The features of the LibX toolbar include:

§         catalog search box in browser

§         off campus access for eXpanded choices

§         full-text access to articles

§         quick links through Google Scholar

Susette then went on to demonstrate the LibX toolbar in action. She demonstrated:

• searching directly from the toolbar and how to build searches
• the Cornell icon that appears in Google results
• when text is highlighted, you can then right-click and have the option to search Cornell catalog or Google Scholar
• cues show up in amazon.com and Wikipedia as well

The LOL group is looking for people to try it out from home. To download it, go to the Library’s new beta software site, CUL Labs.

Question:          Does it work in Safari?

Answer:            Not sure. (After checking into this, Susette replied: “No, LibX does not work in                                    Safari, and I have looked on their web site & found no indication that they are                           currently developing a Safari version.)

Question:          Can you hide the actual toolbar and still have the other features?

Answer:            Yes.

“Wiki, not Wicked!”

Susette Newberry

LOL Group

Presentation slides available at: https://confluence.cornell.edu/display/culvison/Adding+CUL+Content+to+Wikipedia

What is Wikipedia? It is the wiki of all wikis. The official description is – a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. It is collaborative, created and managed by volunteers, closely monitored, and heavily used.

University of Washington’s Lally and Dunford studied digital libraries and Wikipedia, trying to extend digital collections regionally.

Here at CUL, log files were studied for one week (Feb 18-Feb 24) to determine that there were 1266 hits on CUL tracked sites from Wikipedia. One reason is that Wikipedia is ranked very highly in Google search results. Cornell can participate in this global collaborative by building content.

Question:          Which Cornell sites were linked to most?

Answer:            Cornell Copyright site

So what is Wikipedia? It is described by their official policies and guidelines, “The 5 Pillars”.

• Wikipedia is an encyclopedia
• Wikipedia has a neutral point of view
• Wikipedia is free and open to all
• Wikipedia has a code of conduct
• Wikipedia does not have firm rules other than those listed here

What ISN’T Wikipedia?

• Not a paper encyclopedia
• Not a dictionary
• Not a publisher of original thought
• Not censored
• Not a democracy, bureaucracy, anarchy or battleground
• Not the Wild West

Wikipedia presents itself as a “neutral compilation of verifiable, established facts”, discourages bias, has a stringent review/approval process, encourages editors to cite reliable sources, and promotes tertiary source of facts, not opinions.

Wikipedians take their mission very seriously. You must know your wiki-quette. Wikipedians must justify and take responsibility for their edits, follow style guidelines and highlight information, not perspectives. Wikipedians act as watchdogs, and have a mediation/arbitration process for resolving differences of opinion.

Some useful features:

‘History’ tab - see all edits made to a page, as well as the user that made the changes.

‘Talk’ - allows for conversation about the content of the page.

‘Contribs’ – see everything that that user has changed, added, etc.

The CUL pages need expansion, references, etc.

Use Wikipedia. Become an editor! De-lurk and get a user account. Attend the CPD Hands-on Session (April 29^th). Participate in a study.

Question:          What are some problems University of Washington encountered in their usage of                                   Wikipedia?

Answer:            They found their content disappearing because they were signing in anonymously                                    and not being up-front enough about the work they were doing. Once they got                                 their own user account and engaged with the Seattle Wikipedian community, they                had better success. Also, they were perceived as using Wikipedia to forward their                                own institutional program by linking to their own materials. Once they started                                     communicating more with fellow Wikipedians, the value of their additions was                            given greater respect.

Update on the Web Site Redesign

Zsuzsa Koltay

Web Vision Team

Goals of the project include streamlining the site based on key concepts and to focus on user needs. The hope is to have a single search box, make the site visually engaging and that fits in with the Cornell University look.

First, a determination of user needs was conducted. This was pulled together through literature review, CUL surveys and focus groups, the creation of personas based on actual users, log analysis, advice from Student Library Advisory Committee and the Faculty Board, and ClickHeat. ClickHeat is a software that shows where on a page people are clicking based on statistics.

So far the process has been to inventory the current site and develop content categories. The resulting prototype is different from where we started, has a straightforward, simple design, is designed to facilitate key tasks, and incorporates Web 2.0 capabilities (such as LibGuides and WorldCat Local).

The next content and design steps include staff feedback, sponsor feedback, and a new round of user testing.

Featured Database:

SciFinder Scholar

Leah Solla

Coordinator, Physical Sciences Library

SciFinder Scholar is a chemistry-centric database, but touches on many other topics. It is one of the older chemistry databases. It covers Chemical Abstracts, Medline, 94,000,000 chemical compounds, patents, chemical catalogs and regulatory listings.

It now has a new web interface! Cornell is one of the few institutions with access. It is still on a development server. You can access it through the catalog, when you do so be sure to choose ‘SciFinder’ as ‘SciFinder Scholar’ is the link that asks you to download and install a client version for access. When you select ‘SciFinder’ you will be linked to a registration page, where you must register and create an account. You must login with a Cornell domain (cornell.edu) to gain access. Once registered, accept the license agreement.

After doing so, you will be able to search references, substances or reactions. SciFinder has incorporated a smart search system that uses an algorithm to parse your search and guess what you mean. It is a very smart system.

To learn more, attend the workshops coming up in Mann.