TECH NEWS
Seven Tips for a FastStart with FirstSearch
OCLC NEWS
1997 OCLC Interlibrary Loan Enhancements Frequently Asked Questions
For those searching Seattle for federal library information, the FLICC/FEDLINK exhibit booth was the best site. This year, FLICC/FEDLINK staff joined over 6,900 attendees and 500 vendors in Seattle, Washington for the Special Libraries Associations (SLA) 88th Annual Conference, "Information Professionals at the Crossroads: Change as Opportunity." Marking the third year that FLICC/FEDLINK has exhibited at the conference, staff, members, and vendors took advantage of the collegial atmosphere. Since many federal librarians attend this conference, which focuses on the needs of specialized libraries, such as those serving business, government agencies, universities, and museums, FLICC/FEDLINK staff showcased federal library services and promoted the federal library community as a whole.
In addition to meeting with federal librarians, staff also had the opportunity to hear the latest from current and potential FEDLINK vendors. "This was a great opportunity to familiarize the vendor community with the purpose and value of the FEDLINK program to federal agencies and contractors," said Ruby Thomas, head of FEDLINKs Member Services Section. "Our efforts here improve relations with vendors and stress the concept of forming business partnerships. This ensures that the federal community continues to procure information services that meet the changing demands of the information industry. Better yet, it allows us to procure these services more efficiently and cost effectively," said Thomas.
While some staff hosted members and vendors at the FLICC/FEDLINK booth, others took advantage of the training sessions and programs. "The combination of good presentations, programs, and networking really added a personal touch to business contacts," said Ava Everett, OCLC Information Specialist for FEDLINK. "Bill Gates presentation on creating a virtual library was the high point of the conference and extremely helpful." FEDLINK staff were also on the conference agenda, with Erik Delfino, FEDLINK Network Program Specialist, joining speakers from Dialog and Fort Leavenworth for a panel discussion on Training Customers for End User Searching. "There is so much change occurring," said Delfino, "that members and vendors alike are taking a new look at all the services available. This is a great time for FEDLINK to investigate the best products and start negotiations on behalf of our members."
Making contact was truly the centerpiece of the Seattle conference. "It was large enough to meet with a variety of members and vendors, but small enough for personal contact," said David Pachter, FEDLINK Network Program Specialist. "Better communication always enhances the quality of our programs and services. We put that into practice in Seattle," said Pachter.
OCLCs FirstSearch is a powerful tool that increases the availability of reference information,
reduces reference costs, and improves services to users. Using electronic access to bibliographic,
abstract, and full-text information, library users will have the information they need, when they
need it, output in the form they desire. With these seven steps, you can add FirstSearch to
expand the power of your reference collection.
Contact FEDLINK Network Operations at (202) 707-4848 to order FirstSearch. Once your order has been processed, you will receive the following items to help you start using FirstSearch right away:
Once you receive your FirstSearch authorization number(s) and password(s), you are ready to log on to FirstSearch.
Internet access logon
After connecting to the Internet with your agencys general procedures, you can log on to FirstSearch.
Dial access logon
Use OCLC PASSPORT Software or other communications software to connect to FirstSearch. For multidrop dedicated-line access to FirstSearch, you must use PASSPORT.
Use the administrative module to customize and manage your FirstSearch account. Here are some of the options:
| Function | Default Setting | Hint |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Change your user password | Current password | Change at any time to maintain security |
| 2. Change your administrative password | Current password | Change frequently to secure the admin module for use only by the system administrator. |
| 3. Block access to databases | All set to available (A) | Block selected databases (B). |
| 4. Display BYE action | Masked | Display BYE if you want users to log off between sessions. Mask BYE if you want FirstSearch to be available for the next user. |
| 5. Set timed reset ON | OFF | Turn ON if you want FirstSearch to reset to the Welcome Screen after 10 minutes of inactivity. If set to OFF, user starts where the previous user left off. |
| 6. Set the five-minute timeout ON | OFF | Leave OFF if you want FirstSearch to remain on between user sessions. Set to ON if you want FirstSearch to automatically log off after 5 minutes of inactivity. |
| 7. Set ILL access ON | OFF | For OCLC PRISM ILL users who want users to send ILL requests to your ILL Department, set to ON. |
| 8. Set full-text display options ON* | OFF | For users to view or E-Mail ASCII full-text articles online, set to ON. |
| 9. Change holdings display level | Holdings for your state or region (or all if state + region is greater than 20) | Other options: Regional (for holdings of your region) or Group (for holdings of your PRISM GAC group) or display no holdings. |
Searching FirstSearch is easy. Users select a topic area and databases from a menu and follow the online instructions and examples. Additional searching hints are given on each screen. Online help is always just a keystroke away. Users can just type h for general help or type h databases or h labels and select a database name for information about specific databases or searches available for a database.
Your library or institution has one of the following types of searching authorizations:
Annual Subscription--a FirstSearch subscription for specific databases, with unlimited searches for a specified number of simultaneous logons. You do not need to be concerned with counting searches.
Per-Search--FirstSearch in blocks of 500 searche with:
For either type of Per-Search authorization, check in the online administrative module for the number of searches remaining to plan your next order. Logging on; viewing, printing, or downloading records; browsing in a wordlist; viewing limits; using help; and ordering documents from a supplier or through Interlibrary Loan are not considered a search. The following actions are considered a search:
° Set password OFF--if you do not want to restrict full text to certain users.
° Set to Email only--if you want your users to be able to send full-text articles, but you do not want them to view full text online.
° Change the price displayed for full text if you have a subscription to the full text and you want to indicate there is no charge.
OCLCs StartUp Kit includes several items to help make library users aware of FirstSearch and to help them with their information needs:
The FirstSearch Documentation Package also includes items to promote FirstSearch and to make it easier for users to get started using FirstSearch:
There are various methods to orient users to FirstSearch. Some suggestions are:
° FirstSearch flier
° FirstSearch Quick Reference Guide (included in the Documentation Package)
° Using FirstSearch booket (included in the Documentation Package)
° FirstSearch Databases notebook (gives a brief description of each FirstSearch database as well as tips for effective searching).
For additional information on ordering, customizing, or using FirstSearch, please call FEDLINK Network Operations at (202) 707-4848.
(This is another in a series of articles on First Search. The article is based on information from OCLCs web page, which is used with permission.)
OCLC has notified networks that the Workstation Replacement Program will continue beyond the original end date of June 30, 1997 to its new deadline of December 31, 1997.
OCLC has unused workstation credits for the program and believes that there are at least 1,000 workstations that need upgrading to be compatible with OCLC services. Therefore, OCLC will carry over the unused credits and extend the program until December 31, 1997 to support the upgrade of another 500 workstations. This extension of the program will end on December 31, 1997, or when the available credits have been used up by member libraries. OCLC will provide periodic updates to regional networks on the remaining available credits. More details on the overall program will be forthcoming. FEDLINK members wishing to purchase OCLC workstations should contact Claudette Watson at OCLC at 1-800-898-6252, ext. 6177.
On Sunday, June 22, OCLC installed enhancements to the ILL System, including the addition of 12 new fields to the ILL work form, eight of which were patron fields. All of the patron fields were grouped together at the end of the new two-page work form. Most, if not all, of the patron fields will appear on the second screen of the work form.
In addition to the new fields, OCLC also enhanced the ILL System by:
The OCLC ILL Document Supplier Program has a new participant, Ask*IEEE (OCLC symbol A8K). Ask*IEEE provides copies of documents from the IEEE/IEE/INSPEC collection, which contains all IEEE conferences and journals from the 1960s to the present, and IEEE books, INSPEC-indexed material, and IEE-published material from 1993 to the present. More information on Ask*IEEE is available from several sources: see their Name-Address Directory (NAD) record :103176; access their home page at http://www.askieee.com; send email to askieee@ieee.org; or contact them at (212) 301-4100, or fax (212) 301-4090.
OCLC made he FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online service available to libraries June 16. Electronic Collections Online enables libraries to subscribe to large collections of academic journals, from many publishers and disciplines, and access them remotely through a single Web interface complete with cross-journal searching and extensive browsing. Libraries subscribe to the journals of their choice through individual publishers or through participating subscription agents.
OCLC launched the service with 100 journals and is adding more titles as they become available from the 16 participating publishers. Approximately 500 titles are scheduled to be available by the end of 1997. A complete list of publishers and journals, as well as additional information, is available on the services Web site http://oclc.org/oclc/menu/eco.htm.
Libraries first order the service by establishing an access account with OCLC via FEDLINK; then they order journals through the individual publishers or through one of six participating subscription agents: Blackwells, DA Information Services, EBSCO Information Services, the Faxon Company, Harrassowitz, and Swets & Zeitlinger. OCLC expects to add more subscription agents, publishers, and journals in the coming months. "We foresee subscription agents playing a vital role in the licensing and management of electronic journals, just as they have in traditional print journals," said John Barnes, director, Electronic Publishing, OCLC.
Electronic Collections Online is designed to accommodate access and storage of thousands of titles. In future releases, OCLC plans to fully integrate Electronic Collections Online with the OCLC FirstSearch service. Abstracts and indexes on the new service are available in HyperText Markup Language (HTML). Full-text articles are currently available in Portable Document Format (PDF) or, in some cases, HTML. OCLC intends to support data formats later in 1997. Additionally, Electronic Collections Online provides usage statistics at the journal level to help with selection decisions, and an archiving solution that ensures perpetual access for a library to its collection of journals, even if that library discontinues its subscription for subsequent issues.
The launch of Electronic Collections Online comes at the conclusion of a successful preview program, which began in March with nine universities and university systems and nine library consortia participating. The National Agricultural Library and the Smithsonian Institutions Library participated in the program.
"Electronic Collections Online gives libraries the quality and perpetual access they have always received with print subscriptions coupled with the added searching power and space savings of electronic documents," said John Barnes. "Users can quickly search across whole collections of journals for the information they need. The service is designed to assist libraries in continuing their evolution to online electronic information sources."
A pioneer in electronic scholarly publishing, OCLC launched the worlds first peer-reviewed online medical journal, the Online Journal of CURRENT CLINICAL TRIALS, in July 1992. With FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online, OCLC is building on its experience in electronic publishing to provide libraries with a cost-effective way to access, archive, and manage large collections of electronic journals.
1997 OCLC Interlibrary Loan EnhancementsFrequently Asked Questions |
|---|
| Q: WHY IS THE PATRON INFORMATION AT THE END OF THE RECORD? A: OCLC discussed the work form changes with several groups including the Resource Sharing Advisory Committee, the OCLC-Affiliated Network Coordinators, Users Council, OCLC IL User Group, and attendees at a number of regional ILL meetings. In these conversations, users indicated patron information should be kept together, not split into separate parts of the screen. |
| Q: MUST I BE ON THE SECOND SCREEN OF THE WORK FORM TO EDIT THOSE PATRON FIELDS? A: No. Home position editing allows you to edit any work form field regardless of where it falls in the completed work form. To edit a single field: At the Home position, enter the full work form field name, or its abbreviation, enclosed by colons. For example, to add or edit the patron name, type ":pa:Myers, Myrtle" and press <F11>. To display the edited work form, reformat by pressing <F2>. To edit multiple fields: Stack multiple editing commands at the Home position. For example, to edit patron Myrtle Myers name, id, and department in a single command, type ":pa:Myers,Myrtle:id:99999:pd:Resource Sharing" and press <F11>. These editing techniques are explained in section 2.9 of the Interlibrary Loan User Guide. Abbreviations for fields are listed in appendix B of the User Guide; abbreviations for the new fields appear on page five of Technical Bulletin 222. |
| Q: HOW CAN I PRINT A COPY OF THE WHOLE RECORD? A: The command to print a whole record depends on the software being used. To print from Passport for Windows, press <F12>. With Passport for DOS, press <ctrl><F8> to print the first screen. Type "pdn" and press <F11> to page down. Press <ctrl><F8> to print the second screen. |
| Q: CAN I SAVE BOTH SCREENS OF THE RECORD DISPLAY WITHOUT ENTERING THE SAVE SCREEN COMMAND TWICE? A: No. In both Passport (DOS) and Passport for Windows, you must save the first screen, page down, then save the second screen. OCLC is writing a Passport for Windows macro to function as a "Save Record Display" command. It will save any number of screens and return you to the first screen just as the "Print Record" command (F12) does for printing. |
| Q: HOW DO I GET BACK TO MY REVIEW RECORD ONCE I HAVE LOOKED AT A DIFFERENT TYPE OF DISPLAY? A: To return to the review record from the bibliographic or holdings display, type "ill" and press <F11>. |
| NOTE: Technical Bulletin 222 (printed version) stated "incorrectly" that you should type "ret" <F11>. The Technical Bulletin on the Web site and the FTP version have been corrected. Announcements of the error were posted to the ILL Listserv, OCLC System News, and logon messages. |
FEDLINK Technical Notes is published by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee. Send suggestions of areas for FLICC attention or for inclusion in FEDLINK Technical Notes to:
FLICC/FEDLINK: Phone (202) 707-4800 Fax (202) 707-4818
FEDLINK Fiscal Operations: Phone (202) 707-4900 Fax (202) 707-4999
Executive Director: Susan Tarr Editor-In-Chief: Robin Hatziyannis Editorial Assistant: Mitchell Harrison
FLICC was established in 1965 (as the Federal Library Committee) by the Library of Congressand the Bureau of the Budget for the purpose of concentrating the intellectual resources of the federal library and related information community. FLICC's goals are: To achieve better utilization of library and information center resources and facilities; to provide more effective planning, development, and operation of federal libraries and information centers; to promote an optimum exchange of experience, skill, and resources; to promote more effective service to the nation at large and to foster relevant educational opportunities.
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