Recently, netLibrary introduced eBook Reader software “that provides the ability to read eBooks offline on a PC, without being actively connected to the Internet.” Both the web and offline versions allow searching within a book, a copy/paste feature, a zoom feature and limited printing. The new eBook Reader software also has an annotation function and a citation and bibliographic reference feature.

Why would academic libraries “collect” digital books?

The short answer is that the promise of digital books seems great despite some of their current limitations. Students and faculty can access this material 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They can use this material in the library, in campus dorms and offices, or in their homes. The freedom from traditional time and location constraints in using library resources is especially important for distance education and non-traditional students. For these students, a trip to the library is not a quick walk across campus; often it is a 40-mile drive. Also, digital books from netLibrary give users powerful searching options within the text of books. For example, library patrons can find a book such as The Religious Right and search the text for “Bob Jones” and find 25 specific hits that help put Bob Jones University and its religious philosophy in context. In addition, college students use the web, like to use the web and need to get good material from the web. The extensive use of full-text periodical sources by students is proof of this. Thus, academic libraries need to provide access to digital, scholarly monographs to keep this form of scholarly communication alive for students. Digital academic books are not the death of books; they may well be the scholarly monograph’s salvation!

What is the Wisconsin Academic Library Consortium?

Twelve academic libraries formed the Wisconsin Academic Library Consortium in January 2000. The original members of the consortium were Carroll College, Carthage College, Edgewood College, Lakeland College, Lawrence University, Madison Area Technical College, Marian College, Marquette University, St. Norbert College, UW Oshkosh, Viterbo College and Wisconsin Lutheran College.

The consortium originally purchased a broad- based and carefully selected collection of approximately 550 monographs. During the summer, the consortium expanded to 47 Wisconsin academic libraries. It is now composed of 13 private colleges and universities, 8 technical colleges, 13 UW colleges and 13 UW universities. Its collection has grown to 1,600 purchased titles as well as almost 4,500 free (non-copyrighted) titles. The collection continues to grow.

Early use figures show that almost 40% of the 1,600 purchased titles have been used at least once. Also, initial indications are that titles in computer science, medicine, health & wellness, and sociology have been most popular. Subjects such as history, economics & business, literature, religion, technology & engineering also receive significant use.

What is the future of digital books and Wisconsin academic libraries?

It is fair to say that this effort is a “pilot” which will give academic libraries a good chance to get some experience with the benefits and limitations of providing access to digital books. In the big picture, the process of “collecting” digital books moves libraries further along the road from managing collections (physical objects) to managing content (information independent of form).

The real unknown about digital books is not if they will happen and be used by students and faculty. It is how will they happen and how do librarians integrate them into traditional collecting practices and library services. This experiment is an exciting and worthwhile effort by academic libraries to leverage buying power to provide students and faculty with the best resources possible now and in the future.

How can UW Oshkosh students, faculty and staff access digital books?

You can access netLibrary from Polk Library’s web pages under the heading “Faculty Research Corner” (http://www.uwosh.edu/library/ faculty.html). From computers on campus, you can find, view or check out books in the “Library Collection,” which is restricted to UW Oshkosh faculty, students and staff. In addition, from on campus computers, you can set up a personal account that allows you to access the “Library Collection” from computers off campus. For more information about how to use this new service, contact Sarah Neises or Cynthia Huebschen.

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Improved Off Campus Access to Library Resources
Sarah Neises

Through a joint project between the library and academic computing, Polk Library has recently implemented a new service called a proxy server, which allows UW Oshkosh faculty, staff and students to access most article databases off campus using a single logon and password. This service marks an important enhancement in the way people can access article databases off campus.

With this new system in place, there is off campus access to databases that have never before been accessible off campus, such as Lexis Nexis Academic Universe and the Web of Science (which includes Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index). Using this single logon and password, users also gain access to familiar databases such as Ebsco, Wilson, and many more. This system was implemented with the assistance of Jim Quackenboss, Academic Computing.

In the past, multiple usernames & passwords were required for off campus access to individual databases. Now when off-campus users click on links to databases on the library’s web page, they will see a page that asks them to log on with their Vaxa email username and a password, which is the last 4 digits of the user’s Social Security number. After entering this information, the user is passed through to the database they need. After logging on, the user can continue to connect to most other library databases without logging on again for approximately two hours. Please note that these databases are restricted to university faculty, students and staff.

The majority of library databases will be accessible through the proxy server, although users will continue to need a separate log on and password for FirstSearch databases due to various licensing and access issues. Please note that your browser must be set to accept cookies for this service to function correctly.

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Hollywood Comes to the EMC!
Susan Kiedrowski & Karen Reiter

Move over Blockbuster Video! The EMC now has all of the Century’s best films! Upon recommendation from faculty and in honor of the changing of the millennium, Polk Library recently purchased almost 200 videos representing the best in filmmaking from the U.S. and around the world.

Two lists were used to determine which films are considered “top-notch.” The first list was the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Films. In a special 1998 edition devoted entirely to movies, Newsweek states, “based on more than 1,500 ballots sent to film notables, the American Film Institute rated the top U.S. movies, spanning a century that saw film evolve into a major American art form.” No matter what your fancy, there is a film for you on this list. If you enjoy drama try (Gone With the Wind), horror (Psycho!), humor (Tootsie will make you chuckle), sci-fi (chill your bones with Close Encounters of the Third Kind), history (remember Patton?), romance (ahhh, Dr. Zhivago) or even cartoons (revisit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)--you will find something on the EMC shelves.

The second list came from the London magazine Time Out. “Directors, producers, actors, programmers and critics were polled to name their top ten films which they felt had been the high points of the last 100 years in world cinema. The resulting list was drawn up from that poll.” This Centenary Top 100 Films list reaches across the globe to bring you such titles as Seven Samurai (Japan, 1954), The Sweet Life (Italy, 1960), Napoleon (France, 1927), Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925), The Piano (New Zealand, 1993), Dr. Strangelove (Great Britain, 1964), Pather Panchali (India, 1955), The Spirit of the Beehive (Spain 1973), Fanny and Alexander (Sweden, 1982), and Pandora’s Box (Germany, 1928).

These and other feature films are housed in the EMC Audiovisual collection under call numbers “PN1997.” Feel free to browse the shelves, or ask at the EMC Service Desk for the complete listing of these fabulous titles. Summaries of the Centenary Top 100 Films are also available at the desk. Questions regarding the ordering and purchasing of these films can be directed to Karen Reiter at 424-3343 or e-mail reiter@uwosh.edu. Now grab the popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the movie!

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Need Details on a Magazine or Journal? Try Ulrich’s!
Cynthia Huebschen

A thorough online source is now available for finding information on periodicals, thanks to a UW subscription to Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory. This is an online version of the multiple-volume set still found in the Reference section of Polk Library and most other libraries. The print edition was heavily used during last year’s project of identifying new periodicals to be added, and we expect that future projects will be made easier by access to the very searchable online version.

Ulrich’s online will provide details on current periodicals, including publisher and contact information (address, phone, email, web site), subscription cost, editor, circulation, where the journal is indexed, whether it is available from online vendors, and its major subjects. Where available, entries will also include a review from the most recent edition of William Katz’ standard Magazines For Libraries.

Entries may be searched using a large number of criteria—title, publisher, subject, keyword, editor’s name, ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), geographic location, cost range, circulation, abstracting and indexing services, and the first year of publication. Users can identify a specific journal, or create a set of titles that match certain criteria, such as ‘all serials on the subject of physics which began publication after 1998.’ To perform a search using these detailed criteria, choose the Search icon in the upper right part of the starting screen.

Ulrich’s may be found on Polk Library’s main Reference page, under the subject headings of “General Information Sources,” “Newspapers and Media Studies,” and “Faculty Research Corner.”

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Accessing Firstsearch Databases... or Why Do We Have All These Passwords?

The Polk Library Faculty & Staff Survey revealed that there remain Library services requiring explanation. This Newsletter will endeavor to address these concerns and queries.

With the advent of the library’s proxy server, passwords have become unnecessary for most of Polk Library’s databases. One which does still require passwords—no less than three different ones—is FirstSearch. This is not expected to change in the immediate future.

When Polk Library began access to FirstSearch in 1995, it was a relatively new service developed by OCLC, the major long-time provider of many services for libraries. The major advantage of FirstSearch from Polk Library’s point of view was that it provided access to a wide variety of databases, any one of which might be too costly, or have too little use, to make it practical for the library to purchase an individual online subscription. Polk Library funded this access from a pay-per-search account; the library pre-purchased blocks of searches, which would be used as patrons accessed FirstSearch. (The cost initially was fifty cents per search; each now costs over sixty cents, with a full-text article equaling five searches). Because we paid for each individual search and article retrieval, the library needed to make certain only authorized users—UW Oshkosh faculty, staff, and students—were using FirstSearch. The authorization and password combination, with a changeable password, permitted the library greater control over the cost and use of this service.

After FirstSearch had been in use at Oshkosh for several years, the UW System became interested in one of the FirstSearch databases, WorldCat. WorldCat, a “union catalog” of items held by libraries around the world, had potential for being of assistance in the UW’s efforts toward universal borrowing—fast and easy interlibrary loan between UW campuses. The UW System therefore began funding a subscription to WorldCat for all UW libraries. Because this was a subscription, funded from a different source, it required a different authorization and password. Shortly after this, due to an agreement with a publisher, OCLC removed from per-search access one of the FirstSearch databases which had been very popular at UW Oshkosh, GeoRef. Polk Library had promised, upon cancellation of the print index, to provide access to the citations contained in GeoRef. This would now require access by a subscription, rather than the per-search account—and yet another authorization and password.

Though the proxy server makes it possible to automate login to most of our online databases, FirstSearch was the only one with passwords which varied according to which database or group of databases a user needed to access. The library could not set a default means of access that would still permit a user to select a different database or group, which is why access to FirstSearch still requires a user, even on campus, to know three different authorizations and passwords, and enter one each time. In recent years OCLC has had to remove a number of attractive databases from per-search access, due to publisher restrictions. The trend appears to be away from FirstSearch as a one-stop source for multiple databases, and toward individual database subscriptions, usually from a variety of vendors. It seems likely that for Polk Library, FirstSearch will become a less important provider of databases, making the need for multiple passwords a problem for fewer users.

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Exploring Librarianship... Winter in July? Try South Africa
Mary Keefer

In July of this year, Chloe Keefer participated in the World Library Partnership program. We share a brief summary of her experience.

It’s winter in July in South Africa and that’s OK with Chloe, the daughter of Polk librarian Mary Keefer. A 2000 graduate from the master’s program at the School of Library & Information Studies at UW Madison, Chloe and 19 other volunteer librarians from the U.S. traveled throughout South Africa to assist in remote schools and public libraries for one month this summer.

Chloe was assigned to a village called Ganyesa, which is west of Jo’Burg. It is near the Kalahari Desert in North West Province of South Africa. The elementary school has 600 children from the village. While there are no textbooks and no school library, there is a book trolley that has some books in the children’s native language, Setswana, as well as books in Afrikaans and English. The few books that are in the school are donated. There are no teacher resource materials for any subject. Although there is electricity in Ganyesa, there is no running water. Children come to school with no shoes in winter and inadequate clothing but shy faces and lots of curiosity in their sparkling eyes. Chloe experienced a third world developing country first hand.

Because of generally poor telephone connections throughout Africa, some of Chloe’s hosts had cell phones that are in widespread use in South Africa. Chloe’s comments about her experience can best be summed up in her words—”I don’t want to leave” and “fantastic”. And, since Ganyesa has winter temperatures that often drop below freezing, Chloe said—”My Patagonia long underwear saved me!”

The World Library Partnership program out of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill selects volunteers and provides training. “The World Library Partnership, Inc. (WLP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building global understanding by promoting literacy, learning and access to information. WLP believes that libraries empower individuals and enrich communities. WLP advocates for sustainable, community-based libraries in developing areas of the world. Volunteers participate in cross-cultural and technical training prior to service.”

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Reserve Desk Copyright Reminder
Eric Graczkowski

The Polk Library reserve desk encourages faculty members who employ reserves to ensure that their materials reside within the parameters of copyright law. Although copyright law and fair use is more complex, the following is a brief overview of expectations related to reserve material submission.

For a single semester, one photocopy of a copyrighted material may be up to an entire chapter, article, or poem in length. For numerous photocopies in a single semester, several other factors must be considered. The number of copies should reasonably accommodate students enrolled in the class. The potential detrimental market effects of the copies, and the copies as a portion of the total amount of assigned materials for a course, must also be taken into consideration.

A longer duration than a semester warrants the requirement for the faculty member placing an item on reserve to independently obtain permission from the copyright holder. It is expected that a copy of the permission letter be submitted to the reserve desk at the time of reservation.

You may contact us at 424-7316 or 424-7314 if you have questions regarding reserve procedures or copyright. Another source for information regarding the specifics of copyright law is the Internet.

Fair use information may be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Homepage http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ and/or from the Stanford University Libraries http://fairuse.stanford.edu/.

Information on obtaining copyright permission from copyright holders can be found at the Copyright Permission Pages at Wake Forest University http://www.law.wfu.edu/library/copyright/ and/or the Copyright Clearance Center http://www.copyright.com/. This is not an exhaustive list but it is a good starting point for anyone interested in learning more about copyright laws or even dusting off a little-used bit of knowledge from yesteryear.

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The Presentations Lab is Now Open
Sean Ruppert

Media Services is pleased to announce that the Presentations Lab is now open. The Presentations Lab is a unique facility providing high-end computers, specialized peripherals, and one-on-one support and consultation to the students of UW Oshkosh. The Presentations Lab offers color and large format printing, negative and slide scanning, CD burning, video editing, web development tools and a number of other services. The Presentations Lab is located in Polk 5, in the basement of Polk Library and open Monday-Friday, 8:00-4:30.

The Presentations lab offers workshops for students. Workshops are always about an hour long and are always free of charge. Please e-mail Sean Ruppert at ruppert@uwosh.edu to reserve a seat.  Workshops will be presented in the teaching labs in Clow (room 238) and Swart (room 229).

The Presentations Lab is more than willing to schedule special sessions in special topics for classes at UW Oshkosh.  Please call Sean Ruppert (x7361) or e-mail (ruppert@uwosh.edu) to discuss setting up a workshop session for your students. These workshops are being presented this next month.

Schedule of Workshops
Dec. 6   Advanced PowerPoint    10:20 AM   Swart
Dec. 11 Giving Good Presentations    4:10 PM   Clow

Advanced PowerPoint
This workshop covers topics including slide transitions, animations, sound, video, and other presentation enhancements. Students who attend this workshop should have already attended the basic session, or have a basic understanding of PowerPoint.

Giving Good Presentations
Knowing how to use PowerPoint often isn’t enough to give a stellar presentation. This workshop shares hints and tips for ensuring your presentation is as informative, entertaining, and to-the-point as you envisioned it. No prerequisites are required.

Plans for next semester include the addition of workshops in Blackboard, Dreamweaver, and PhotoShop. More information can be found on the web at http://idea.uwosh.edu/ruppert.

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Staff News

Sarah Neises and Patrick Wilkinson spoke at the Wisconsin Library Association Conference on November 1, 2000 on “Managing Internet Access in a Medium Size Academic Library.” They described how Polk Library tries to minimize the use of public workstations in the library for email, chat and games and maximize computer use for reference and research purposes.

Karen J. Dunn and colleague Barbara Benisch (UW Madison) presented “Cyber-Plagiarism: Detection and Prevention” at the annual Wisconsin Library Association Conference, November 2, 2000. They discussed issues and addressed queries pertaining to web-plagiarism at University and pre-professional levels.

Mary Keefer was awarded an Academic Staff Development award to attend the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention in Milwaukee, November 16, 2000. Sessions focused on using young adult literature in the classroom, teaching poetry, and reaching the reluctant reader, among other professional concerns.

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Polk Library in the 21st Century

The State of Wisconsin has authorized a Polk Library Study. The purpose of the study is to determine the long-range library needs of UW Oshkosh for the next 10 to 20 years and to develop a preliminary building renovation/expansion program to meet those needs.

The library staff has been looking at these issues and developed a vision statement for “Polk Library in the 21st Century.” You can locate this statement on the web at: http://www.uwosh.edu/library/feedback.html

The Polk Library staff is interested in your ideas. Please take a look at the vision statement. Use the web response form that accompanies the vision statement to tell us what you think. What do you like about the library’s vision? What don’t you like? What is missing that we should include in the study?

If you have further questions, contact Patrick Wilkinson, Associate Director and Chief Operations Officer (Polk Library) at wilkinso@uwosh.edu or 424-2147.

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BookEnds

As the maddening holiday season approaches, Polk Library staff members share a few of their recommendations for an engaging winter’s reading.

Karen Dunn
Greenlaw, Linda. The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain’s Journey. New York: Hyperion, 2000.
Chronicle of one woman’s challenging profession. Readers familiar with the tragedy of the Andrea Gail (Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm) will appreciate the insight granted the commercial fishing industry.

Nixon, Rob. Dreambirds: The Strange History of the Ostrich in Fashion, Food, and Fortune. New York: Picador, 2000.
Charming and touching narrative of memory, place, and natural history—the author’s childhood in a turbulent South Africa.

Marisa Finkey
Carlson, Kimberlee, & Heather Johnson. Dinner and a Movie Cookbook. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1999.
A collection of Claud Mann’s recipes from the TBS program whose hosts prepare a dish related to that night’s movie--try “Carrie’s” Carrie Prom Crisp or “9 to 5’s” Male Chauvinist Pig.  The cookbook, like the program, combines fun recipes with humor, movie trivia, cooking tips and ‘how to get out of doing the dishes.’

Golden, Arthur.  Memoirs of a Geisha. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Incorporated, 1997.
Sayuri recounts her life from being sold in the 1930’s to a Geisha house in Kyoto ‘s Gion District through her training and the Second World War.  A very interesting look into this world, especially if you enjoyed  A&E’s program on the subject.

Jeanne Foley
Bryson, Bill.  A Walk in the Woods:  Rediscovering the Appalachian Trail. New York: Broadway Books, 1999.
Wonderful book on walking the Appalachian Trail.  (Any book of Bill Bryson’s is highly recommended).

Finney, Jack.  Time and Again. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970, 1995 reprinted.
Did illustrator Si Morley really step out of his twentieth-century apartment one night--right into the winter of 1882? The U.S. Government believed it, especially when Simon returned with a portfolio of brand-new sketches and tintype photos of a world that no longer existed--or did it? The illustrations lend credibility and enrich the book, which make it a joy to read, rather than listening to the audio version.

Peck, M. Scott. In Heaven as on Earth: A Vision of the Afterlife. New York: Hyperion, 1996.
We follow the travels of Daniel, a writer and psychiatrist much like Dr. Peck himself, through the realm of the afterlife. From his first consciousness of the little green room...to being on committees!

Eric Graczkowski
Logan, Ben. Land Remembers: The Story of a Farm and its People. New York: Viking Press, 1975.
Go down a trail in the woods of youth. Explore the youthful questions and fears of a farm boy in Wisconsin. Logan writes with small words to create sentimental visions, scents and appreciation. This book can be read in small bits or large swaths, excellent material for mental relaxation.

Vowell, Sarah. Take the Cannoli: Stories from the New World. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
As a “Gen X” writer, her take on everything from God, Sinatra and the Trail of Tears. Vowell explores various experiences she has had with family, strangers in taxis and friends. Turbulence may be a word to classify her style but along with that it is a firm, honest, straight approach. Thoughtful, funny and serious in the same paragraph. A slap in the face writing style.

Cynthia Huebschen
Harris, Thomas.  Hannibal. New York: Dell, 2000.
This was everything I could have asked for (and maybe a little more) in a sequel to Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs.  NOT recommended reading for those who did not like Silence of the Lambs in its book or screen versions.

O’Shaughnessy, Perri.  Acts of Malice. New York: Dell, 2000. 
Although I didn’t know it when I picked up the book, this is actually “the fifth in their series about lawyer Nina Reilly.”  (Amazon)  Based on reading this one, I will go back and read the others.  The book is about a good (Yes, a portrayal of a good lawyer —honest!) female attorney and her efforts on behalf of accused clients.

Zeh, Lucy.  Etched in Stone: Thoroughbred Memorials.  Kentucky: Eclipse Press, 2000.
When I visited Kentucky some years ago, I spent two rolls of film photographing gravestones of famous Thoroughbreds, so I was delighted to see this book published by an acquaintance who is a long-time racing fan and fellow hobbyist.  Lucy does a nice job of briefly summarizing the careers of the famous Thoroughbreds covered here.  If you’ve heard of the likes of Domino, Bull Lea, and Imp, “The Coal Black Lady”, you would probably enjoy this book and its photos.

Mary Keefer (young adult recommendations)
Brooke, Peggy. Jake’s Orphan. New York: DK Inc., 2000.
Tree Smith and his brother Acorn (they don’t know their real names) are orphans in Minnesota in 1926. Tree is “selected” to work on a farm in North Dakota and must leave his brother behind. This is their story of survival, of living on a farm, and learning to trust each other and the adults in their lives.

Aronson, Marc. Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado. New York: Clarion Books, 2000.
The story of Sir Walter and his contemporaries including Queen Elizabeth of England in the late 1500’s. This book gives an easy to read account of the life and times of this famous explorer. Lots of photos and maps.

Ferris, Jean. Bad. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1998.
Dallas liked to “skate”—that means cruise places where she and friends can shoplift and get a rush. There are no easy answers for Dallas once her father no longer wants her at home and she is placed in a rehabilitation center for committing a robbery. The author did a series of interviews with girls in a detention center to make the novel as authentic as possible.

Harry Potter Series—to date there are 4 titles in the series: Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4). New York: Arthur Levine Books, 2000. “While the fun of fantasy might be its otherworldliness, its power lies in the truths it reveals about the real world. So the magical world of Harry Potter, a world of flying cars and dragons, unicorns and magic potions, invisibility cloaks and evil powers, becomes real as readers discover truths about bravery, loyalty, choice, and the power of love.” Great reads even for those of us who may not enjoy fantasy all that much but do enjoy imagination, terrific fun with new words, and a solid plot with lots of action, all within the classic struggle of good versus evil. All four titles are available on audio cassette.

Patrick Wilkinson
Baker, Peter. The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton. New York: Scribner, 2000.
Peter Baker, a reporter for The Washington Post, takes you inside the process of President Clinton’s Impeachment and subsequent Senate trial. He contends that these events were “not so much about sex as it was about power.” He describes the strategies and tactics of all players in this high-stakes, real-life, political drama.

Susan Wood
Harvey, Miles. The Island of Lost Maps: A True Story of Cartographic Crime. New York: Random House, 2000.
A true detective story about cartographomania and and the Al Capone of map theft, Gilbert Bland. A great read for book lovers, mystery buffs, and the true criminals among us.

Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York: Harper Collins, 1998.
When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary requested help in compiling their dictionary, thousands of entries came from Dr. W.C. Minor. When the editors sought to meet Minor, they discovered he was an American Civil War veteran serving a life sentence in Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. This is a fascinating true story about him and the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, Professor James Murray.

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