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Forthcoming Changes
August 2011
On August 1, Gale’s PowerSearch will automatically search all “In Context” resources (Biography, History and Science). In addition, the following enhancements will be made:
- Most viewed articles and searches are presented up front
- Additional interface language translation options (Korean, Japanese and Simplified Chinese) and document level translation now includes Traditional Chinese
- Search Assist - a drop down menu of suggested search terms displays as the user keys in search terms to help with search term selection
- Content types will appear to the left, videos on the right
- More search limiter choices
- Results list date limiter
- Enhanced subject guide and publication searching, with additional limiters
- Advanced search will include search assist and more limiters
See the brief overview of enhancements.
July – update
iCONN must postpone the restoration of CINAHL Full Text and ProQuest Newsstand pending resolution of the FY 2012 budget and assurance that the State Library will have the funds needed to restore these resources.
July 2011
If the current budget approved by the Governor stands, we will restore the following resources that had been previously lost due to budget cuts:
ProQuest Newspapers (for all libraries):
- Christian Science Monitor
- Los Angeles Times
- New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington Post
CINAHL Full Text (for academic libraries)
June 2011
ProQuest redesigned the user interface and enhanced the functionality of: ABI/Inform, Hoover's Company
Records, The Hartford Courant, and the Historical Hartford Courant. HeritageQuest was not affected by these changes. In the new interface, users can create their own My Research accounts for bookmarking, tagging, alerts, RSS feeds and setting preferences. Searching now includes auto-complete, spell check, and keyword in context. Search results sets are sorted according to relevance (by default). Other enhancements include article preview, faceted navigation, filtering by date slider, and more. For a more complete list of new functions, visit: All-New ProQuest Platform Highlights for Library Users.
April 2011
Added American Civil War Resources
January 2011
Added links to major repositories of Free E-Books to address the growing demand for e-books at a time when budget constraints preclude licensing the most popular e-Books.
Added the following e-Reference Books:
- Alternative Energy
- Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources
- Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture
- Encyclopedia of Products & Industries - Manufacturing
- Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450
- Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Government and Politics
- Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. History, War
Added the following titles that are part of the Diseases and Disorders Series:
- Acne
- AIDS
- Anthrax
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Headaches
- Hemophilia
- Obesity
- SARS
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases
- West Nile Virus
Due to a recently negotiated exclusive contract between Time, Inc. and another company, the following periodical titles and their back issues became unavailable through iCONN effective January 1, 2011:
- Entertainment Weekly
- Entrepreneur*
- Essence
- Fortune*
- Golf Magazine
- In Style
- Money
- People*
- People en Espanol
- Real Simple
- Sports Illustrated*
- Sports Illustrated Kids
- Time*
- Time Canada
- Time for Kids*
*Full content of these publications, and their archives and images, can be found via their independent websites for no additional charge - see Popular Magazines on the Web. Gale is working to identify ways to facilitate access to this content through iCONN. Further, iCONN will still maintain access to thousands of general interest magazines and newspapers covering the same topics as these publications with more than 3,000 new publications added by Gale in the past 12 months.
October 2010
Added the ability to search all three Connecticut Digital Collections at once
September 2010
Biography Resource Center was replaced by Biography in Context.
Books & Authors was added (it will replace What Do I Read Next? in December).
August 2010
The current History (U.S. and World), and Science Resource Centers were replaced with new versions called U.S. History in Context, World History in Context, and Science in Context.
May 2010
Due to a recently negotiated exclusive contract between Forbes, Inc. and another company, Forbes magazine and its back issues are no longer available through iCONN. You can now access Forbes magazine and many other popular magazines at Popular Magazines on the Web.
January 2010
In accordance with iCONN's license agreement with Gale, the Database Committee selected the following titles to be dropped from and added to our e-reference book collection. The Committee made its decision based on usage and currency.
Dropped
American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the Present
Biology
CDs, Super Glue, and Salsa: How Everyday Products Are Made: Series 3
Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton
Child Development
Colonial America Reference Library
Countries of the World and Their Leaders Yearbook 2010
Crime and Punishment in America Reference Library
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice
Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security
Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders
Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear Through the Ages
Genetics
Harlem Renaissance
International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family
Nonfiction Classics for Students
Psychologists and Their Theories For Students
Terrorism: Essential Primary Sources
The Crusades Reference Library
The Middle Ages: An Encyclopedia for Students
The Sixties in America Reference Library
UXL Encyclopedia of Landforms and Other Geologic Features
UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography
Witchcraft in America
World War I Reference Library
Added
African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience
American History Through Literature 1870-1920
American Home Front in World War II
Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco: Learning about Addictive Behavior
Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library
Encyclopedia of Aging
Encyclopedia of Education
Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed.
Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
Encyclopedia of the Great Depression
Feminism in Literature: A Gale Critical Companion
Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, 2nd ed.
Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia
Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Holidays
Korean War Reference Library, 2v, 2002
Lucent Library of Science and Technology 1
Major Acts of Congress, 3v, 2004
Nutrition and Well-Being A to Z
Plant Sciences
Terrorism Reference Library
UXL American Decades
UXL Complete Health Resource
UXL Encyclopedia of Water Science
Vietnam War Reference Library, 5v, 2001
World of Microbiology and Immunology
January 1, 2010
Due to insufficient funds, the following features were discontinued in reQuest:
- Cover images for books, DVDs and CDs
- Professional reviews (Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Choice, School Library Journal)
- First Chapters and Excerpts
- Tables of Content
- Summaries
- Author Notes
December 2009
iCONN widgets (downloadable) were made available from the main iCONN
start page for school libraries on December 29. The widgets are
customized for elementary, middle and high schools.
Gale enhanced the initial display of search results in PowerSearch by:
- appending text snippets to each citation returned so that users can
more accurately judge which article(s) to select for viewing*; and
- changing the color of citations already selected for full text
viewing so that users don’t have to remember which full-text articles
were already viewed.
*This keyword-in-context feature looks for the first time the keyword appears in the article and shows the first 200 characters from that sentence/paragraph.
Starting December 4, academic libraries can use federated searching on the Newspapers page to search all or any combination of newspapers at the same time.
iCONN widgets (downloadable) were made available from the main iCONN start page for public and academic libraries on December 1.
Resources Removed November 1, 2009 Due to Insufficient Funding:
- News Photos (AP Images)
- Newspapers - Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal*, Washington Post
*The Wall Street Journal continues to be available to academic libraries as part of ABI Inform.
Resources Removed October 1, 2009 Due to Insufficient Funding:
- Boston Globe (all libraries)
- CINAHL Full Text (licensed to academic libraries)
- Westlaw Campus Research (licensed to academic libraries)
iCONN - Next Generation System (July 1 and October 27, 2009)
London Times (Gale)
A direct link to this newspaper (with full-text coverage from July 1, 1985 to the present) was added on September 24, 2009. It is also automatically searched in PowerSearch.
iCONN-branded link to Info Anytime
Gale had recently provided an iCONN-branded link to Info Anytime ("Ask A Librarian") from all search results pages (including "no hits" pages), but we had to remove the link when the Info Anytime service ended (due to insufficient funding).
Changes Implemented On July 1, 2009
"Remember Me" Checkbox on ILL Request Form
A "Remember my information on this computer" check box will be added
to the "Request this item" ILL Request form. When checked, the system will remember the Patron Information (including password) that the patron typed into the form.
Persistent Links to Records in reQuest
Under “What Would You Like to Do Next?” we will add a Link To This Item button. This would create a persistent link to the full record being displayed. The link would enable the system to identify the patron’s library for the purpose of submitting ILL requests. The link can also be copied and pasted into another web site. The link will allow a user to login as a guest and locate the full bibliographic record directly using the link.
E-Mail Records with Persistent Links and Holdings
From the full record display in reQuest, users will be able to e-mail the text of the bibliographic record along with a persistent link to the record. The user will have the option to email the record with or without its associated holdings. The link would enable the system to identify the patron’s library for the purpose of submitting ILL requests.
Spanish Language Classic Menu
A-G will develop a Spanish Language classic menu page that provides links to all iCONN resources that have Spanish language user interfaces. The classic menu page will be linked to from the current classic menu page for public libraries and can be directly bookmarked.
Creating Lists
Patrons can establish a password-protected account where they can easily create lists of items in reQuest they would like to read, have read, or would like to request through ILL. This feature is now available to guest users.
RSS Feeds for specific catalog searches
Users can set up an RSS feed to be alerted of new titles by favorite authors or topics of interest as soon as they become available in reQuest.
Mapping Library Locations Information
Locations information in reQuest will be integrated with Google maps so that users can press a button next to each holding to see that library's location on a map.
Map Screenshots:
An iCONN search box to be added to the elementary and middle school classic menus
The search box will be customized to search only the resources that appear on its respective classic menu.
Screenshots:
Keyword Search Screen - Additional Buttons
Public library users will see a button for HeritageQuest, the most heavily used database in iCONN.
Public and school users will see a button called Popular Magazines that will take them to a page where they can access directly a selection of the most heavily used titles. There will be separate pages for public and school library users.
Screenshots:
Patron Interlibrary Loan Request Tracking
The note “You may track the status of your interlibrary loan request using the ILL Request Tracking option from the Patron Menu” will be added to the “Your Library Loan request has been submitted” page. This will let patrons know about the tracking feature.
New barcode login page
[ Screenshot ]
This re-design was prompted by many users who thought that the current design, though very visually appealing, does not clearly show where to log in.
Improved Keyword and Advanced Search:
In order to simplify the search results that are presented by default when using Keyword Search and Advanced Search, especially for new users, the system now automatically searches and displays results for just three resources that together comprise most of the content in iCONN:
For Public and School libraries:
- General OneFile (sorted by recency) – searches over 25 million articles
- iCONN Newsstand (sorted by relevance) – includes all national newspapers and The Hartford Courant
- History & Science Reference Centers (all sorted by relevance)
For College libraries:
- Academic OneFile (sorted by recency)
- iCONN Newsstand + ABI/Inform (sorted by relevance)
- History & Science Reference Centers + CINAHL with Full Text + Pre-CINAHL + PsycINFO (all sorted by relevance)
The goal is to return all results sorted by relevance. Long term, the goal is to reduce the number of results lists to just one list that presents results from all databases sorted by relevance.
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reQuest - the Statewide Library Catalog:
As shown above, reQuest - the Statewide Library Catalog is no longer searched by default. To search reQuest only, click on Find Books, DVDs and more in CT Libraries (reQuest).
New Classic Menus for Schools:
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These menus replace the previous “one-size-fits-all” school menu that listed all databases. There is a link from each classic menu to the next level classic menu. In addition, the high school classic menu has a search box that allows students to “quick search” (see above) multiple resources at once. We are exploring whether the search box can also be added to the middle and elementary school classic menus. The default menu when using the “Link to Individual Resources” link on the Keyword Search Screen is the High School menu.
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