Databases - High Priority Tips and Tricks

Presentation at Staff Development Day 2013

Even choosing which database to use is more challenging than a simple Google search but they can give you what Google can’t. Learn tips and techniques on the road to being a power user for some essential databases. Databases featured include ReferenceUSA, America’s Newspapers, Access Video on Demand, and choice of the class)

All links and hints from the presentation will be posted on this blog.

E. J. Cronin Coordinator Information Services

Access Video on Demand

Think free Netflix for nonfiction - thousands of streaming videos all with public performance rights
That's our subscription to Access Video on Demand.

How are our customers already using it? Here are the top 10 titles from the past year (April 2012 - May 2013)

What topics are they looking for? Here's the latest analysis of what our library card holders are watching.

Top tips:

• Pay attention to whether you are searching by title or by segment in the quick search.
• The search feature is not great so be prepared to try different things and be patient. The company is working on improving it.
• Become familiar with the special collections.
• Use Advanced Search Copyright Date search and choose recent years to eliminate most of the archival collections.  They can be wonderful for some searches but clutter in others.
• Try different sorting options.
• Sign up for an account so you can create playlists.
• Learn how to email links to videos to customers and how they work.
• Learn where the citation information is for each title.       
• Go to the AVOD help center http://avod.films.com/ONDHelp.aspx for short training videos under Quick Guides, How to Tips and much more.
• The AVOD help center is searchable. Look for the search box on the upper left.




Here is some information on playlists from the How to Tips 

Creating a customer playlist

Playlists are associated with personal user accounts. To create a custom playlist, you must be signed in to your user account. If you do not have a user account, you will be prompted to create one.

To create a custom playlist:

Users can add a full title or segments of a title to a playlist.

1. Click on the + icon below the thumbnail image of the video on any browse or search results page. Then choose whether to add the specific title or segment to an existing playlist or to create a new one.
2. Or, from the View Video page, use the Add to Playlist icon to add videos to a playlist or to create a new one.
3. Access all existing playlists from the Playlists tab at the top of the screen.

Tip: It's easy to add more than one video segment to a playlist at once using Add to Playlist below the video player. Press Ctrl or Command while selecting multiple segments to easily add them to your playlist. You can also add segments from different video titles to a single playlist.

To email a playlist:

1. Make sure you're logged into your user account.
2. Click on the Playlists tab.
3. Locate the playlist that you would like to email.
4. Click on the Email icon (pictured below).

This will bring up a pop-up that will allow you to enter the necessary email information.

Note: The email will be sent to the desired recipient from the following email address: email-manager@films.com.

Here's a  Content Widget so you can preview some clips without having to log in with your library card number.

ReferenceUSA

ReferenceUSA is an essential everyday database. Most of the time it is being used much like the white or yellow pages of a phone book to find a particular person or business.  It is capable of much more.

The top tip is to take a few minutes now and then and explore the training videos.
If you'd like to browse the videos by subject go to http://referenceusa-resourcecenter.com/learning-center/sample-video/  Or go directly to ReferenceUSA's Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/Rresourcecenter?feature=mhee

Some favorites video links on advanced uses:

Using the WildCard to Search for People 3 minutes, 14 secs

Finding Japanese restaurants with websites that are not part of a chain 3 minutes, 28 secs

Finding a place to eat while your car is getting its oil change (using radius search) 3 minutes, 50 secs

Using the Radius Tool (with llamas) 3 minutes, 42 secs


If you want just the basics:   Introduction to ReferenceUSA v. 2  7 minutes, 48 secs


There are some good Youtube videos on ReferenceUSA produced by other libraries, too. Search "ReferenceUSA" and library on Youtube to start exploring.
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There are promotional materials and materials to help training customers and staff at the Resource Center: http://referenceusa-resourcecenter.com/about/sample-seach-sheet/

America's Newspapers & America's Obituaries

Webinar presented by Matt Belanger of Newsbank

as part of Staff Development Day 2013

Highlights of Ocean County Library's Newsbank Subscriptions

1) Special Reports in America's Newspapers – up to date topically-arranged global news events from a local perspective.

2) America's Obituaries & Death Notices – 24/7 in-library and remotes access to obituaries and paid/unpaid death notices from 2300+ news sources nationwide.

3) Access World News – search information from any country in the world.  Searches may include people, events, book/movie reviews, historical events, opposing viewpoints, archived weather reports, local businesses, career/job searching, research, etc.

4) America's News Magazines - access 23 popular electronic magazines.

5) Archive of Americana – browse and/or search Trenton Evening Times from 1883-1993.  Access scanned and indexed historical newspapers.

Key Features

1) Personal Accounts – create your own account within the library’s NewsBank subscription to keep records of search history and saved articles for future reference.

2) Email Alerts – receive an email when a topic of interest appears in the news (e.g. name of library, favorite celebrity, research topic, etc).

3) Social Media – share database articles on your social media outlets (Facebook, blogs, Twitter, etc).

4) Direct Links – NewsBank provides direct links to any of the individual sources in your subscription (e.g. local paper, magazine title, state news, etc).

5) Archived News Videos – view archived news videos at Access World News > Source Types > Video

6) Interface – the intuitive and proprietary map interface enables users to change menu options to one of four languages.

Search Tips & Tricks

1) Library Name - performed regular searches on the name of your library in quotes (“Ocean County Library”) to find where it is being mentioned in the news, then share the article on your library Facebook page.

2) Obit* - search obituaries in a particular news source by typing “obit*” in the search field.

3) America's Obituaries & Death Notices – remember to search the text of an obituary to uncover genealogical ties, people who have moved out of state, past employees, or people who have passed away and directed contributions to the library.

4) NJ News – click on the NJ state icon to browse state news.  Browse individual titles or limit searching to a handful of news titles by checking the corresponding boxes

5) Opposing viewpoints – read viewpoints that are 1) from a local perspective, 2) up to date and 3) written for most reading levels. (example: search “gun control” and select Texas and Massachusetts for liberal/conservative perspectives)


Find printable bookmarks, tent cards and signs to promote America's Newspapers, etc. at http://www.newsbank.com/productuse/index.cfm?content=231