Database Tips: Where did my My NoveList account go?

EBSCO released the new interface for NoveList and NoveList K-8 this week. Here is a preview if you don't subscribe. If you do subscribe, the "Tour NoveList" link on the main page provides training materials and a video tutorial.

Now that NoveList is on the EBSCOhost platform, you may have noticed that your My NoveList account, if you have one, is missing. The personal accounts for NoveList have now been combined with My EBSCOhost accounts. So, if your NoveList lists or searches aren't now appearing in your My EBSCOhost account (as is the case with mine), you can log in to your My NoveList account by adding "~1" to the username for your My NoveList account.

For example:
Username: jsmith
Password: books2008

will now be

Username: jsmith~1
Password: books2008

I spent some time over the last two days recreating most of my lists in My EBSCOhost account because I didn't see an easy way to move them over. However, it was a good exercise in getting to know how the new interface works. This also means you won't have to keep track of separate accounts for My EBSCOhost, My NoveList, and My NoveList K-8 since they will now all be in the My EBSCOhost account.

Database Tips: Browser Toolbar for EBSCOhost

Browser Toolbar for EBSCOhost
http://support.epnet.com/knowledge_base/detail.php?id=2393

EBSCO offers a browser toolbar for both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Both versions provide a simple search box to start a search in the EBSCOhost platform. EBSCO warns that the toolbars are in Beta - but what isn't these days? ;-) I suspect off-site users may have some authentication issues depending on how your authentication is set up, but it's still a neat little tool.

Vendor News: Good News for History Buffs

EBSCO Publishing and ABC-CLIO Reach Historic Agreement
http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=366&t=h

EBSCO Publishing and ABC-CLIO have formed an alliance. "EBSCO has acquired two of ABC-CLIO’s renowned databases, Historical Abstracts (HA) and America: History and Life (AHL), and will distribute eight additional award-winning history databases in addition to ABC-CLIO’s online history eBook collection, History Reference Online."

Database Tips: EBSCO RSS Feeds

I had every intention of blogging about the news when EBSCO announced that it would allow RSS feeds for its alert services, but, alas, I didn't. However, I now can attest to the value and ease of this service.

I decided that I wanted to receive alerts when several library and technology journals were issued. Since I have Google Reader as my feed aggregator and I have a MyEBSCOhost account set up already, it made it pretty easy to get this going.

Here are the steps:

1) Log in to Academic Search Premier (for me, this the database that has full-text access to most of the journals I wanted)

2) Click the Publications link

3) Browse for journals

4) Click the desired journal title

5) Click the Journal Alert link

6) Log in to MyEBSCOhost (if you haven't already)

7) Mark options, but choose "No e-mail (RSS only)"

8) Click "Save"

9) The confirmation screen will provide a URL that can be pasted into any RSS reader

Now I get notified whenever these journals are added to Academic Search Premier. I can read through the titles and sometimes abstracts and decide what to read further. It's a happy thing!

Just as an extra tip, you can also set up search alerts and be notified when an article matching your search criteria is added. You just have to run an Advanced Search on the topic, then click the Search History/Alerts tab, click "Save Searches / Alerts," then check that settings you want, click "Save," and you are good to go!


So, what are some things you've saved or would like to save? Do you have some particular searches or journals that yield helpful articles?

Vendor News: EBSCO and the 508 Compliant Interface

For those of you who must deal with accessibility issues with library interfaces, EBSCO is making it a little easier for you.

EBSCO's Advanced 508 Compliant Interface
http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=362&t=h

Just as an added bonus, here is nice website with a great deal of information about Section 508:
http://www.section508.gov/

Do any of you have accessibility stories to share about your library's website? I'd love to hear them!