connect icut ’s search engine Volume 11, Issue 2

January 2012

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

New GVRL Interface P.1

Updated Cost Benefit P.1

iCONN Collection Development

P.1

Using Title-Exact P.1

Increased Sort Limit P.1

Classic Menu Updates P.2

iCONN Database Committee Roster

P.2

New reQuest Participants

P.2

February Training P.2

In-District Training P.2

T H E I C O N N T I M E S

r e

New GVRL User Interface iCONN rolled out to all accounts this month a much-

improved version of the Gale Virtual Reference Library

(GVRL) e-reference collection.

The new version features

a more engaging interface

in 34 languages, and new

functionality, including a

multi-page viewer and

the ability to browse and

search across series pages.

It is described and

illustrated in an archived

webinar at:

http://is.gd/bjVQ0K

Increased Sort Limit Coming Soon

This winter, the current sort

limit of 1000 results in the

reQuest catalog will be

increased to 20,000 results.

This change is being made

to improve the relevancy of

search results.

Stay tuned!

Updated iCONN Cost Benefit Statement

iCONN’s Cost Benefit statement was updated to include all the resources that were restored in

iCONN. The total annual cost of iCONN, including the statewide library catalog, is

$2,204,832. If all libraries had to license the same set of resources on their own, the aggregate

cost in FY 2012 would increase to $79,224,937 – a savings of $77 million for the state’s

libraries and municipalities. The statement is linked from the main iconn.org page or can be

accessed directly at http://www.cslib.org/iconnsitemap/documents/CostBenefit.pdf.

iCONN Collection Development Guidelines

Using the Title-Exact Search

Tip: When you have a one word title such as “It”

by Stephen King or “The Help” by Kathryn

Stockett, try using reQuest's Title Exact search in

place of the All Headings search or Title Search.

You are likely find the title you are looking for

among the first few results. Try it out!

The Connecticut Digital Library Advisory Board approved a set of Collection Development

Guidelines recommended by the iCONN Database Committee. These guidelines were devel-

oped to guide the selection of free resources in the Other Useful Sites section of iCONN.

According to the guidelines, the major factors governing selection are the informational and

educational needs of iCONN’s academic, school and public library users, and the need to

complement the licensed resources. The complete guidelines can be viewed at

http://www.cslib.org/iconnsitemap/staff/CollectionDevelopmentGuidelines.htm.

Page 2 Volume 11, Issue 2

The iCONN Times is a quarterly

publication of iCONN—

Connecticut’s research engine.

Find it on the Web at:

http://is.gd/uuzZnu under “Promotional Materials”

iCONN

786 South Main Street

Middletown, CT 06457

(860) 704-2220 or toll free

(888) 256-1222

Free iCONN Online

Webinars:

February 2nd—

Gale Virtual Reference

Library & Ebook

Subcollections

February 6th—

Literature Research & Your

Gale/iCONN Resources

Did you know that trainers

will come to your school to

conduct free training on

iCONN databases?

This option is designed to

benefit all librarians (and

teachers!) in your district.

For more information about

what is required, please go to

http://is.gd/DgqteL.

You may also contact Kris

Abery, Continuing Education

Coordinator, Connecticut

State Library, for more infor-

mation:

Kris.Abery@ct.gov

800-437-2313

February Training Opportunities

New reQuest Participants

In-District iCONN Training

We welcome the following libraries who began participating in reQuest since July 2011:

Middlebury Public Library

Lincoln College - Hartford

Seymour Public Library

Cora J. Belden Library - Rocky Hill

We also welcome back New Haven Public Library who resumed participation in reQuest ILL.

New to ILL is also Case Memorial Library in Orange.

iCONN Classic Menus Updates

The middle school, high

school and public classic

menus ("Resources for

Middle Schools" etc.)

were updated this month

so that most resources

on the page are repre-

sented by icons rather

than by text links.

Resource descriptions

appear as mouseovers

for the icons. We hope

you enjoy using the

these more visually

appealing classic menus.

iCONN Database Committee Roster

The following are members of iCONN’s Database Committee representing academic,

public, and school libraries’ interests:

Laurie Averill, Catherine M. McGee Middle School, Berlin

Caroline Davis, Smith Library, Eastern CT State University, Willimantic

Mary Dixey, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Hartford

Judith Eisenberg, West Hartford Public Library

Mary Anne Mendola Franco, Wilton Library Association, Inc.

Eric Hansen, Connecticut State Library /iCONN

Joy Hansen, Middlesex Community College, Middletown

Jennifer O. Keohane, Simsbury Public Library

Michelle Luhtala, New Canaan High School

Barbara Meagher , Central CT. State Univ., Burritt Library, New Britain

Anne O'Connor, E.C. Scranton Memorial Library, Madison

Keith R. Stetson, DiMenna-Nyselius Library, Fairfield University

William Sullivan, Connecticut State Library/iCONN

Joan Temple, Shepaug Valley School, Washington

Yan Toma, Danbury Library

Kristine Woods, Chippens Hill Middle School, Bristol

Julie Yulo-Medeiros, Cromwell High School