In celebration of National Library Week (13-18 April), Gale is offering free access to some of its electronic databases. Take a look and let us know what you think!Gale’s free National Library Week access includes the following resources: Academic OneFile, Biography Resource Center, British Library Newspapers, Gale Directory Library, Gale Virtual Reference Library, General OneFile, Health & Wellness Resource Center, History Resource Center: U.S., History Resource Center: World, Literature Criticism Online, LitFinder, Literature Resource Center, Nursing Resource Center, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center: Critical Thinking, Popular Magazines, PowerSearch, Science Resource Center, Small Business Resource Center, Sources in U.S. History Online: The American Revolution, Sources in U.S. History Online: The Civil War, Sources in U.S. History Online: Slavery in America.

Books and Authors (GALE): Offers browesable menus and advanced visual search technology that can help you discover authors and literature to match your interests! Be sure to try the who/what/when/where browse option! You can access it via the link above or also go to our Trial Databases page.

“The National Archives and Footnote.com are working as partners to bring unprecedented access to selections of the vast holdings of the National Archives. Learn More.

This non-exclusive agreement, beginning with the sizeable collection of materials currently on microfilm, will enable researchers and the general public to access millions of newly-digitized images of the National Archives historic records on a subscription basis from the Footnote web site. By February 6, the digitized materials will also be available at no charge in National Archives research rooms in Washington D.C. and regional facilities across the country. After an interval of five years, all images digitized through this agreement will be available at no charge through the National Archives web site.”
-http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2007/nr07-41.html

The two organizations also worked together to develop the Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial. You can search or browse for names on the wall. Linked to each image, is information about the person’s service. The site is web 2.0 capable in that it allows members (there is a free level of membership) to attach comments or tributes to a particular person’s record.

If you are looking for a general list of foreign language materials available through CLICnet, try this tip:

In the keyword search box enter “lang***” with the *** being the appropriate language code from this page. Take a look at the screenshot below for an example using the code “spa” for Spanish language materials.

For a limited number of foreign languages, you can use the dropdown box of choices on the advanced search screen. This method works only in combination with other search terms (i.e. when you are looking for foreign language materials on a specific topic or when you are looking for a specific item).

The Minnesota Digital Library is pleased to announce that people may now comment on the images in our “Minnesota Reflections” collection. The MDL designed a wiki site that allows us to provide this resource. Look at a photo, map or document, click on the “comment on this item” and leave your comments.

We are looking for public support in providing information on the items in our collection and we would like people to ask questions and share stories.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Visit Minnesota Reflections ( http://reflections.mndigital.org/ )

• Search for items you want to view.

• When you are looking at an individual photo, document or map, you will see a button in the blue menu bar above the image. The button is red with yellow type.

• Click on that button and you will go to a wiki page. From there, comment as you like on that particular object.

No registration is required. We do ask people to focus their comments on the item in the collection.

The Minnesota Digital Library will monitor comments. This is still a prototype service. We are still designing it and answering questions about how to share the information people provide.

If you have general comments, suggestions or insights to offer regarding the Social Side of Reflections, please send them to Marian Rengel, MDL outreach coordinator (mrrengel@stcloudstate.edu).

Thanks for helping the MDL with the project and have fun.

APA has recently published a supplement to the 5th edition of the Publication Manual. The supplement is called the APA Style Guide to Electronic References. The library has purchased an electronic copy available for Concordia use. This new supplement is available here. From this page, choose “Concordia access” and sign in using your network username and password (the same information you would use to access our databases).

We have added to our collection of Gale Virtual Reference Library titles. Access these titles by choosing Gale Virtual Reference Library from one of our databases pages:

American Decades Primary Sources , 10v,  2004
Business Plans Handbook , Vol. 10,  2004
Encyclopedia of Communication and Information , 3v,  2002
Encyclopedia of Education , 2nd ed.,  8v,  2003
Encyclopedia of Human Geography , 2006
Encyclopedia of Management , 5th ed.,  2006
Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America , 2v,  2004
Encyclopedia of Religion , 2nd ed.,  15v,  2005
Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders , 2v,  2003
History Behind the Headlines: The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide , 6v,  2003
Mathematics , 4v,  2002
New Catholic Encyclopedia , 2nd ed.,  15v,  2003

Take a look at MedlinePlus’ latest development, the Go Local feature. Using My Health Minnesota–>Go Local, Minnesota residents can access a free, online directory of health care services and providers throughout Minnesota, including clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, health screening programs, etc. The site also offers a help sheet that explains in more detail how to use this resource. This resource is a joint project of the National Library of Medicine and the Health Sciences Libraries of the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic Libraries, and the MINITEX Library Information Network.

Each year, Minnesota librarians nominate state publications (e.g. websites, reports, reference guides) to be included on the MN Legislative Library’s Notable State Documents list. Take a look at this year’s list! http://www.leg.state.mn.us/webcontent/lrl/mndocs/best2007.pdf