Digital Library News Update (4)

 

What’s in it for You?

 

September 2008

 

The Digital Library is made up of many different pieces.  While we have been putting the infrastructure in place for a new Integrated Library Management System (ILMS), we have begun implementation of several new tools to improve your search and discovery experience. This alert provides a brief explanation of some of the pieces and also serves as a first alert for the NAME THE DIGITAL LIBRARY contest.

 

You can actually search a beta version of the basic new online catalog (OPAC) now. The new OPAC will provide you with value-added functionalities such as book covers, table of contents, professional and community reviews and ratings, suggestions on related resources and a feature to enable retrieval of course readings by professor or course name.  The test database, with a subset of the catalog, is available to try at http://dl-preview.smu.edu.sg

 

You may not know which database to search to find information about your topic and would like to search across several databases at one time.  A tool called “Research Pro” has a simple interface that will allow you to do that. You view the most current articles from each database and each article links to more details like an abstract with options for full text.

 

Another new feature is being added to database searching  called "Find it @ SMU Library"  Currently available in  Ebsco & Proquest,  It makes checking for full text much easier and can even bring you to the article with just a few clicks.

 

Discover more with Encore! You may not even care if you get a book or a journal article or a website. Search across library collections and link out to selected databases for full text articles using one simple interface.  An interesting feature of Encore includes searching by user-created subject headings

 

The SMU Institutional Repository (IR) will provide a set of services for the acquisition, organization, preservation and dissemination of SMU’s intellectual output and institutional records.  Materials will be organized and described by applying standard and consistent “metadata” based on international standards. By placing your papers in the IR, your works will be searchable and discoverable by others over the world-wide web. Where permission is granted by the copyright owner, the full text of the paper may be viewed or downloaded. A prototype system will be launched in December.  For more information on IRs, refer to DL Alert 3, Concept Paper on Open Access and Institutional Repository

 

We will officially launch the Name the DL contest in the next DL Alert.  We will also send out announcements as these tools are ready for testing.