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June 30, 2008

Database Changes Coming July 1

Beginning July 1, several OhioLINK databases will be replaced with new resources. The affected databases are funded in whole or in part through an Institute of Museum and Library Services LSTA grant awarded by the State Library of Ohio, and are available to all Ohioans through Libraries Connect Ohio (LCO). LCO is a collaborative effort of OhioLINK, OPLIN, INFOhio, and the State Library of Ohio. Libraries Connect Ohio is constantly striving to provide the strongest portfolio of research resources possible within budgetary limitations to serve the diverse lifelong learning needs of all Ohioans.

What’s Changing?

  • Biography Reference Bank will replace American National Biography. Biography Reference Bank provides biographical information on approximately half a million people, from antiquity to the present, along with thousands of images.
  • Consumer Health Complete (an EBSCOhost database) provides convenient access to easily understandable health and medical information including medical encyclopedias, popular reference books and magazine articles.
  • Science Online will replace AccessScience. Science Online presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive definitions, essays, diagrams, biographies, and experiments.
  • World Book Web (includes World Book Dictionary, World Book Atlas, World Book Advanced, World Book Kids, and Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos) will replace Annals of American History, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, Encyclopaedia Britannica School Edition, Enciclopedia Universal en Español, and World Data Analyst. World Book Web is a suite of online research tools that delivers encyclopedia articles, primary source collections, educator tools, student activities, pictures, audio, and video, complemented by current periodicals and related Web sites.

In addition, OhioLINK will not be renewing its subscription to Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals and Bibliography of the History of Art. Some OhioLINK member libraries may continue to subscribe to the cancelled resources individually. Please contact your library with any questions.

Posted by at 11:48 AM

June 26, 2008

Getting Ready for a Big Test? Practice Online.

Get ready for your next big test or job interview with LearningExpress Library. LearningExpress features online, interactive practice tests for the: ASVAB, Civil Service Careers, GED, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, PPST Praxis I, TOEFL, U.S. Citizenship and much more. LearningExpress' online, interactive practice tests offer instant scoring, detailed answer explanations, and a personalized analysis that identifies your strengths and weaknesses in each major content area so you'll know how to prepare.

LearningExpress also includes courses, career building tools, writing aids and helpful e-books.

To use LearningExpress Library, you first set up your own individual account. If you are off-campus, use the OhioLINK remote authentication proxy URL (or your institution's off-campus access method) to connect to LearningExpress, create an account, and then log into LearningExpress with your individual username and password.

LearningExpress Library is available to all OhioLINK users and all Ohioans as part of the Ohio Web Library.

Posted by at 04:46 PM

June 16, 2008

New Digital Videos Covering Architecture, the Environment, Foster Care, Physicians Assistants and More.

Want to learn more about a particular subject or a future career? Need a video clip to show in class or spice up a presentation? OhioLINK's Educational Films & Documentaries collection offers more than 2,200 digital, educational videos that you can stream or download from your desktop to show in class, link to from course pages and utilize for research. New videos, on a wide variety of topics, are regularly added to this growing collection.

Some of the newest digital videos include:


Battle of the Brains: The Case for Multiple Intelligences
(BBCW Production, 2007, 50 minutes)
For decades, IQ tests have been the gold standard for measuring intelligence. But is one standardized test really adequate for every taker? This program advocates a different approach, creating an array of unusual challenges to assess brainpower and positing an argument for the interplay of multiple intelligences. Assisted by the insights of Harvard's Howard Gardner and experts using brain scanning technology at UC Davis' M.I.N.D. Institute, the program brings together a group of obviously bright and talented people and presents them with trials of all shapes and sizes. The results establish the validity of measuring not just what people know but also the equally important ways in which they exercise their practical, creative, emotional, and kinesthetic IQs.


Environmental Issues and Human Impact
(Cambridge Core Science Series: GeoBasics, Cambridge Educational Production, 2006, 22 minutes)
This video looks at urgent environmental concerns facing planet Earth and what people can do to repair the degradation humans have caused. Air and water pollution, the effects of pollution on health and the environment, deforestation and loss of wetlands, ozone depletion and global warming, and the negative impact of agriculture, construction, and recreation/tourism are discussed. The program ends with anti-pollution initiatives like recycling and greater energy efficiency. The key message? Individuals can make a difference!


Families First
(Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 90 minutes)
Foster care in America, which was designed as a last resort for families in trouble, has become a commonplace experience for many children today. In this program, Bill Moyers examines a growing national movement that has achieved success in keeping troubled families together through the innovative strategy of working with them in their homes. Modeled after a 1974 pioneer project called "Homebuilders," this approach is known as "family preservation services" (FPS). In the program, we visit with families throughout the U.S. as they deal with personal crises that threaten them with the loss of their children to foster care. Their stories, and the stories of the caseworkers who help them learn the skills they need to stay together, offer a candid look at one of our society's most distressing problems, and at a promising approach to coping with it.


Frank Gehry and Alvar Aalto: Ideas and Influences
(Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2006, 31 minutes)
Celebrated architect Frank Gehry lives and works in Los Angeles--a world away from Finland, where his idol, the late Alvar Aalto, created stunning additions to the urban landscape and helped originate Scandinavian modernism. This film studies parallels between the two creative giants, examining their respective styles and documenting an in-depth conversation about Aalto between Gehry and architect Juhani Pallasmaa. Several works are discussed--including Aalto's Saynatsalo Town Hall and National Pension Institution, and Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall--while commentary from L.A. Philharmonic conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen further illuminates Gehry's ideas.


Intelligent Design vs. Evolution
(ABC News, 2005, 22 min.)
Confronting one of the most complex and potentially divisive issues on the American cultural landscape, this ABC News program examines the intellectual and political forces that support the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. The video focuses on the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that has generated widespread enthusiasm--and criticism--for making I.D. part of science curricula. Also featured is an in-depth debate between George Will and Cal Thomas, two conservative commentators who differ on whether a non-testable, quasi-religious belief should be promoted in biology courses. The result is an effective springboard for class discussion on an extremely challenging topic.


Madeleine Albright: Fighting Genocide in Kosovo
(Women of Destiny, Lessons in Leadership series, Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2005, 40 minutes)
For former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the war in Kosovo was both political and very personal. This program focuses on how America's first female Secretary of State built national and international consensus against Slobodan Milosevic to derail his agenda of ethnic cleansing in the wake of the failed Rambouillet peace negotiations. Albright also discusses the shaping of her values through both her early years of life in the Europe of Hitler and Stalin and her family losses to the Holocaust. Positive comments on what it was like to be a high-ranking woman in the male-dominated world of politics and diplomacy round out the program.


Physician Assistant
(Series: Meridian Allied Health Series II, Meridian Production, 2008, 23 minutes)
Although it requires far less time and training, the job of Physician Assistant brings with it many of the challenges and rewards of being a doctor. This program explores the responsibilities of the Physician Assistant, the skills and personality traits needed to become one, and the financial and personal advantages that most people in the position enjoy. Including interviews with both young and veteran P.A.s, the program describes their rigorous training and their typical duties, such as performing preliminary exams for the supervising physician and providing diagnoses or prescriptions with no help from a doctor. The opportunity to work in a variety of clinical settings and help patients of all backgrounds is also emphasized. Students are urged to get started early by taking the right high school courses and volunteering at clinics and hospitals. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. Correlates to national and state board certification standards.


The Power of Art: Bernini
(Simon Schama's The Power of Art series, BBCW, 2006, 52 min.)
Although rendered in stone, the sculptures of Gian Lorenzo Bernini convey a sense of weightlessness perhaps unequalled in the history of Western art. This program illustrates Bernini's nearly miraculous ability to turn marble into a vessel of rapture, both spiritual and sexual. With The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa as his principal focus, presenter Simon Schama examines numerous works by the prodigious artist—David, Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Proserpina, Bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, Bust of Constanza Bonarelli, and more. Schama also addresses the failure of Bernini's bell tower at St. Peter's Basilica and recounts the fierce rivalries and amorous misadventures that shaped the sculptor's life and career.


Santiago Calatrava
(Films for the Humanities & Sciences Production, 2007, 25 minutes)
A bridge that brings to mind a harp. A transportation hub reminiscent of a dove. Winner of the IAI Gold Medal as well as the Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts, Santiago Calatrava is celebrated for harmoniously combining sculptural architectural elements with rigid principles of engineering. This program showcases some of Calatrava's most popular projects as it tracks the career of an architect/engineer who is also a skilled artist.

The Educational Films & Documentaries collection is available to all students, faculty members and staff at OhioLINK member institutions. The videos are available for viewing and downloading (for temporary storage only) from on or off campus. Free software from RealNetworks is needed to view these videos. The current version of this software, called "RealPlayer," is available.

Looking for more digital videos? Try these other OhioLINK resources:

Posted by at 03:41 PM

June 09, 2008

Heading Home for Summer? OhioLINK Delivers.

summergirl.jpg

Ah summer, time to hit the beach, travel to parts unknown, and grab every possible minute of sunshine. But if your summer plans also include doing research, please remember that you can have your OhioLINK books and other library materials delivered to any participating library, including two public libraries, Cuyahoga County Public Library and Westerville Public Library.

Here's how:
1. Request an item from the OhioLINK Library Catalog.
2. Select your institution. Enter your name and ID.
3. Select a pickup institution (any participating library of your choice) from the list.
4. Select a pickup location at the pickup institution.

You'll need to take your library card and a picture ID (for some people these are one and the same) with you when you pick up your requested materials.

And whether you're leaving the state this summer or not, you still have millions of articles, 36,300+ e-books, 3,000 digital videos, online practice tests and much more available to you anytime, anywhere from OhioLINK and your library. All you need is your name and ID information to access OhioLINK online.

About the image: Little Girl at the Beach, a photograph by Ernst Niebergall, is part of the Lake Erie's Yesterdays collection. The collection is available in the OhioLINK Digital Media Center.

Posted by at 03:58 PM