New Look for Electronic Services
Electronic access to the University Library has changed considerably this fall. All of the electronic catalogs and databases which the Library provides can now be reached through Oriel, the new campus Windows menu system. To access Library Services, click on File, Open Domain, and choose Library Services. In addition, the online catalog may be accessed from the Quick Applications icon bar at the top of the Oriel screen. It's the icon which resembles a card catalog drawer.
The online catalog has a new look. At the welcome screen you may access the UW Stevens Point Library's collection by typing in "uwsp" (no quotes) and pressing enter. For access to the collections of other UW libraries, type "for" (no quotes) before pressing enter. For access to some periodical indexes (see below for explanation), type "index" (no quotes) and press enter.
To provide greater service to more people whether the computer they are using is Windows or DOS, the Wilson indexes, Readers' Guide Abstracts, Applied Science and Technology Index, Art Index, Biological and Agricultural Index, Business Periodicals Abstracts, Education Index, Essay and General Literature Index, General Science Index, Humanities Index, and Social Sciences Index are all available but only through the "INDEX" selection in the Library's online catalog. These indexes are licensed through a UW System agreement with the H. W. Wilson Company. Because of this license agreement, the computer system will prompt you for an identification number. Just type in your campus I.D. number from your new I.D. card preceded by an initial 0 (zero). Hint: If you mistype the number, press enter and try again. When using the online catalog or the Wilson indexes through the online catalog, please exit the software by holding down the control key and pressing "d" (no quotes) twice. For those who do not yet have Windows computers, you can access the Library's online catalog and the Wilson indexes through the Library Services menu in the DOS campus menu system.
The Library is in the process of transferring additional databases into Oriel. Those currently available include Carl Uncover, Computer Select, Congressional Information, Duckdata (a database of waterfowl information), ERIC, Expanded Academic Index, FirstSearch, Government Publications Index, Lexis/Nexis, MLA Bibliography, Newspaper Abstracts, Nursing and Allied Health, PhoneDisc, PsycLit, Statistical Masterfile of U. S. government statistics, Stevens Point Journal Index, UWSP Pointer Index, Water Resources Abstracts, Wildlife Review/Fisheries Review, Wisconsin Law (WisLaw), and WisPop (Wisconsin population statistics).
The online catalogs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, State Historical Society, and Portage County Public Library are also available.
Licenses. A few more words about licenses. In many cases the Library purchases database access for a certain number of simultaneous users. At this writing:
- Computer Select and MLA Bibliography are each licensed for one (1) simultaneous user
- Newspaper Abstracts, Nursing and Allied Health, PsycLit, and Water Resources Abstracts are each licensed for four (4)
- ERIC for eight (8)
- Wildlife Review/Fisheries Review for ten (10)
What this means is if all licenses to a given database are in use, you will not gain access until someone using that database exits. Therefore, it is imperative that all users exit the database software properly. If you just walk away without exiting, the computer which tracks licenses notes that database as still in use and thus denies access to the next user.
And a word about the Library Services icon group and the Internet Services icon group. If either or both were installed on your computer last year BY A MEMBER OF THE LIBRARY STAFF, you may now delete them. Those groups have been superseded by Oriel.
If you have questions about any of these services, please contact Arne Arneson or Patricia Paul.