[I wrote this column just after returning from the ACRL national conference
in Denver. While there, I prowled the exhibits, looking for the newest
products and technologies.]
Tools
- First place in the Cool Tools category goes to Ex
Libris for two innovative products. Picture this: Erica heads
to the library late on a Sunday evening looking for some articles for
a paper. She has no clue which database to choose, but fortunately her
library has MetaLib, a meta-search engine for remote and local databases.
She types her keywords in the box and gets a list of citations from
all of the relevant databases her library has access to. From here,
she can link to the full-text articles, find out if her library has
the item, perform related searches, or even search the web using SFX's
context-sensitive reference linking.
- Second place is awarded to Paratext for
their forthcoming Reference
Universe, a web
database that highlights appropriate print reference tools in
your library's collection. Expected release date is June 2001,
right before ALA.
Trends
- Digital libraries: digitization, data conversion services, mass
storage facilities, and managing access to digital collections
- 1mage and Apex will do this and more.
- Pay-per-view: free to search, but you
pay for what you take. SciBase, for example, allows you to search
over 20,000 scientific journals, but viewing the full-text will cost
you. ebrary adds an interesting twist by allowing you to search for
and view full-text, but you pay to download or print a portion.
- E-Journal aggregator
aggregators: TDNet, SerialsSolutions and
JournalList want to
help you organize and manage your e-journals regardless of where you
get them from.
- Plagiarism detectors: probably more useful for academic libraries,
but Turnitin.com is one of a number of services turning up that
allows instructors to check student papers for plagiarism.
Treats
- eGems: this software allows you to build a personal
library of digital gems, complete with information about the source.
- Four collections of primary source documents from Alexander
Street Press:
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries, Colonial-1950
- The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
- Exploration Narratives:
Ecnounters with the New World
- American Film Scripts Online
I saw the women's letters and
diaries demo'd, and these folks have put a lot of thought into the design
of the interface.
- GrantsNet: free, searchable database of grants,
fellowships, training opportunities, education programs and more
in the biomedical sciences and undergraduate science education.
- Merriam-Webster lets you add a button to your browser toolbar to give you direct
access to their dictionary on the web. Just highlight a word on any
web page, then click on the Dictionary link to look it up. Slick!
- National
Women's Health Information Center: an excellent, reliable resource
for women's health information. A project of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health.
Published in NewBreed Librarian, volume 1, number 2, April 2001 -
archived at
<https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/dspace/handle/1794/1071>
(web links have been updated where applicable; expired
web links are shown in bold)
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