How to Help Anyone Use Licensed Databases Instructor: Glenn Johnson-Grau [email protected] An Infopeople Workshop Summer/Fall 2006 This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project Infopeople is a.
Download ReportTranscript How to Help Anyone Use Licensed Databases Instructor: Glenn Johnson-Grau [email protected] An Infopeople Workshop Summer/Fall 2006 This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project Infopeople is a.
How to Help Anyone Use Licensed Databases Instructor: Glenn Johnson-Grau [email protected] An Infopeople Workshop Summer/Fall 2006 This Workshop Is Brought to You By the Infopeople Project Infopeople is a federally-funded grant project supported by the California State Library. It provides a wide variety of training to California libraries. Infopeople workshops are offered around the state and are open registration on a first-come, first-served basis. For a complete list of workshops, and for other information about the project, go to the Infopeople website at infopeople.org. Introductions Introduce yourself to your neighbors Name Library Position Name a database you use and why you like it Workshop Overview Library subscription databases hands-on practice, but focus on teaching users How to talk to users about databases Getting the material in a format useful to the user Acrobat, printing, saving, etc. New and forthcoming developments federated searching and more Using Bookmarks in Class 1. Go to: bookmarks.infopeople.org 2. Look for the licensed_databases_bkmk.html file 3. Click on it so it shows on the screen 4. With the class bookmark file showing in Internet Explorer, click the Favorites menu, choose Add to Favorites… 5. Notice the name in the Name: box so that you can use the Favorites list to get back to the class bookmarks for the rest of the day. Question for the Group When helping a user with a database, are you giving them a fish or teaching them how to fish? What Users Think of Us (If At All) OCLC’s Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources see bookmarks for full report Awareness of library resources low 55% know of online reference works 34% know of online periodicals Usage is lower still 27% use online databases annually 84% begin with a web search engine Database Usage in Libraries The good news Libraries are viewed favorably both physical and online presences Our online resources are “worthwhile” Awareness and usage higher for 1417 & 18 to 24-year-olds 41% of 18 to 24-year-olds use online periodicals annually 13% of over 65-year-old use them People want a “usable answer” - not the best - not the most reliable They are “satisficing”: working for a minimally acceptable result What is a Database? Database organized collection of information made searchable by computer Licensed Database database paid for by the library, made available to users not free web resources How do you learn a new database? What do you need to know? Talking About Databases Users may not understand Library jargon periodical? serial? abstract? Free web vs. licensed databases Which resources to use why isn’t there just one database for everything? Feel the Pain of the User “Most users do not care where the information they need comes from, or who provides it…nor should they have to” – Roy Tennant* And yet we expect users to: ► Know what type of information they want ► Navigate library websites and jargon ► Deal with the vendors’ brand names ► Choose from many databases ► Negotiate the un-Google-like interface *http://infopeople.org/training/webcasts/02-08-05_metasearch.html Ready for Reference Friendly, approachable demeanor Active listening Open and neutral questioning Self-verbalization i.e., thinking out loud Follow-up “Does this answer your question?” Reference Using a PC Assess user’s computer skills Best at user’s workstation make no assumptions get out from behind the desk and let the user drive Behind the desk: co-browsing rotate screen to user, or bring user behind desk Self-verbalize explain what you are doing, where you are going, and why Article Databases What is your library’s main general database? EBSCOhost MasterFile most widely used in public libraries EBSCOhost links platform for databases between EBSCOhost products Gale InfoTrac or OneFile or PowerSearch? Database Features How do you explain: It’s Not Google® boolean Limit operators required by date publication title full text only Database Features: Printing & Emailing Results How do you explain: Print preview? Framed pages? Copying and pasting into Word? Dealing with Acrobat Navigation page by page scrolling jumping to a page thumbnail pages as navigation tool searching in documents Zooming in and out does not change print size tinyurl.com/jh79y Acrobat Considerations Printing always use Acrobat’s print button very important in database interfaces • Ex. EBSCOhost & Gale Saving large file sizes, particularly color docs usually will not fit on floppy drive • some email systems may block large files Reference Databases This is where it gets tricky greater range of products with greater number of interfaces • specialized tools more products = more interfaces = more interface updates Example: Biography Resource Center • Gale database with custom interface E-book Collections What are e-books? Does your library have e-book collections? Have you helped patrons use ebooks? E-book Collections: Library Issues Tradeoffs: convenient but clunky Critical mass of titles necessary 80/20 rule: 20% of titles get 80% of use Best when integrated into catalog 24/7 anywhere access / awkward interfaces rather than another database to search Collections get stale require weeding E-book Collections: User Issues E-books are an alien concept for users. They require: Practice on the interface level with ebook reader Explanation of Digital Rights Management (DRM) Printing, saving, emailing • i.e. “Why can’t I print the whole book?” Often require an individual user account personal email account Federated Searching* AKA Meta or Cross-Database Searching Search multiple sources simultaneously Simplified search interface Results ranked and (usually) deduped Not meant to replace searching specific databases when appropriate *Next two slides adapted from Roy Tennant webcast – See bookmarks Why Federated Searching? “Most users do not care where the information they need comes from, or who provides it…nor should they have to” An interface that minimizes what the user needs to know to get what they want Examples: WebFeat; MuseGlobal Serials Solutions CentralSearch Innovative Interfaces MetaFind Group Discussion How do you or how could you describe federated searching to the public? New Database Features Grouping results by subject, type of publication ex. subject terms pulled from results EBSCO calls it “clustering” Gale OneFile has similar feature EBSCO Visual Search interactive visual map of results by topic • Grokker software Tell us one thing from today that you would share with staff at your library.