250 New Audio eBooks
On April 15, 2010, the Library began offering a new collection of downloadable audio books via Ingram’s eAudio Book Platform courtesy of the NCLive consortium. The initial collection contained 750 titles, focusing primarily on language learning, history, biography, and classic literature. The eAudio content is downloadable to either an iPod or MP3 player, and playable on a PC or Mac computer.
On Friday, May 14, the library added the second installment of downloadable audio books to it’s new collection. As with the previous installment, the new titles were made available with an LSTA grant from the State Library of North Carolina. The new titles include approximately 250 new titles, as well as additional copies of previously of audio books, bring the total number of titles to just under 1000 and the number of copies to about 1300.
Each audio book user will need to set up their own personal “bookshelf” within MyiLibrary, which functions much like a shopping cart. After adding items to their bookshelf, patrons can then download their audio book and listen directly from their computer, or add it to their iPod or MP3 player.
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New Database Interfaces
Now that the semester is over, here is a chance to examine two databases of long standing that have recently received face-lifts. LexisNexis has for the past two years been developing a whole new look to its Academic line of databases. Books in Print is employing Acqua Browser, a popular interface seen in many public libraries.
New LexisNexis Interface
The first thing you will notice about the new LexisNexis interface is that the standard Easy Search has all the basic search boxes front and center. Easy Search is no longer a stripped down version of Power Search but a flexible tool in its own right.
What LexisNexis use to look like.
You will also noticed that LexisNexis has moved all the major navigation to one place. The former interface placed its major items (News, Legal, Business, and People) along the top of the screen, leaving Easy Search and Power Search along the side with miscellaneous links. The new interface places all the searches along the side. The types of searches have increased and each is easily found with the sliding menu bar. Choices now are News, US Legal, International Legal, Companies, Subject Areas, and a comprehensive list of Sources.
LexisNexis now makes it easier to limit search by providing a menu that allows one to limit by subject category, source type, publication, industry, company, geography, and language. The experience is a clearer, easier, and more powerful way to find what you need.
Books in Print has done more than simplify its search interface. Besides the Aqua-Browser relevance cloud on the left-hand side the the screen, there are a wealth of ways to limit your selection from the right-hand menu. Once you find just the book you are after, you have a wealth of information. Not only do you get bibliographic and publisher information, but review and chapter snippets.
miscellaneous
Tags: Books in Print, LexisNexis
New Audio eBooks Available
The Library has now added 750 audio eBooks to its collection. These eBooks are part of the Ingram (MyiLibrary) eAudio Book collection. The audio eBooks are available from the Library’s Databases, Articles, etc. page. These eAudio books can be downloaded to an iPod, any MP3 player or to one’s PC or Mac. Although anyone can search the collection, one must create a [free] username and password to borrow an audio eBook.
Borrow is the operational word here. One may borrow 5 audio eBooks for 7 days. Just like any physical book or CD that one might borrow from a library, once an audio eBook is borrowed, no one else can use it. Unlike a physical book, one does not have to worry about returning an audio eBook. Once the borrowing period is reached, the audio file is erased and becomes available once again for someone else to borrow.
As mentioned above, Ingram eAudio Books can be played on an iPod or any MP3 player. Ingram also offers a free MP3 player for the PC that will automatically queue up the audio eBooks you have borrowed.
New Resources Added to the Online Catalog
A few months ago the library announced that over 350 ebooks from Ingram’s MyiLibrary collection were available through the Databases, Articles, etc. page of the library website. MyiLibrary joined netLibrary, the Gale Virtual Reference Library, and ABC-CLIO eBook Collection as resources available to students, faculty and staff 24×7 from any computer on the Internet.
Now MyiLibrary eBooks can be found on the library’s online catalog, just like the other eBooks in the library’s collection. One may even limit one’s search to eBooks by using the “Limit to:” drop down menu below the search field and selecting “eBooks.” Now one not only doesn’t have to remember four different databases to find an eBook, but one can search for eBooks on a single familiar interface.
One of the special features of MyiLibrary books is that it does not require a special reader be installed on your computer. For instance, most netLibrary eBooks require that one have the Adobe Reader installed, though some eBooks require the DjVu reader from Lizard. All of these considerations are handled by MyiLibrary itself. The disadvantage of such a system is that you must use the MyiLibrary controls to move from page to page. The advantage is knowing that it does not matter what, if any, reader you have installed on your computer.
Campus Study Locations and ReFuel Exam Breaks
Need a place for individual or group study during exams? There are plenty of places across campus that can seat from one to one hundred people – check out the Location Availability Chart for full details. Please keep in mind that Wingate is now under 24 hour Quiet Hours through the end of exams on May 4th.
Need to take a break from studying? Refresh your mind and spirit at one of the ReFuel Exam Breaks – there will be ice cream on April 28th, pizza on April 29th, and a cookout and pool party on May 2nd.
The Ethel K. Smith Library wishes everyone a successful exam week and a happy and safe summer!
Library Books Due
All library books are due on or before the last day of final exams (May 4). Books not returned by that date will be declared to be lost. If you have a book that has been declared as lost, you will find a charge to replace the book on your account with the Business Office.
Final Exam Hours
The Library will be extending its hours of operation for final exams. The schedule is as follows:
- Tuesday, April 27 (Reading Day): 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Wednesday, April 28-Friday, April 30: 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Saturday, May 1: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Sunday, May 2: 2:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Monday, May 3: 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
- Tuesday, May 4: 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Starting May 5 and continuing until Summer Session I, the Library will work on an 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. schedule Monday-Friday and will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Tags: Hours
Periodicals by Title List Mantenance
The Periodicals by Title list will be unavailable on Saturday, April 24, 2010 from 11:00 p.m. to 11:15 p.m. due to necessary maintenance.
Individual and Quiet Study Rooms Available at the Library
Need someplace quiet to study? The Ethel K. Smith Library has the solution!
Individual and quiet study options available at the Library include:
15 individual study carrels in the Quiet Room located off the Mezzanine on the 2nd floor. No key is necessary.
Seven two-person individual study cubicles located off the AV Hallway on the 1st floor. Keys for these rooms are available for checkout at Circulation.
For more information about the Library, just Ask Ethel or call the reference desk at 704-233-8097. It’s always a great day at the Ethel K.!
Celebrate National Library Week with the EKS Library
Celebrate National Library Week (April 11-17, 2010) with the EKS Library. The American Library Association (ALA) has been celebrating National Library Week since 1958 to endorse the importance of libraries in their respective communities.
To join in the festivities, the EKS Library will debut a series of ALA READ posters at this week’s Faculty/Staff lunch featuring local Wingate University faces such as Megan Wood, 2009-2010 SGA President (at left). Posters will then be on display in the EKS Library.
For more information about ALA’s National Library Week, please visit: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/pio/mediarelationsa/factsheets/nationallibraryweek.cfm.
