Resource Sharing

Drum roll, please: new resources are now available in BadgerLink! We appreciate your patience as we rolled out these new resources after completing the BadgerLink Request for Bid procurement process over the summer. Without further ado:

Britannica Digital Learning has added Britannica Library, a comprehensive reference and learning resource for children and adults. Similar to Britannica School but suitable for public library patrons, this edition offers 3 distinct interfaces and reading levels in one site. Britannica School will continue to be available through BadgerLink.

EBSCO will now provide 7 new, upgraded resources.

• AutoMate: Authoritative and up-to-date service and repair information for thousands of domestic and international vehicles. This resource will be replacing Auto Repair Reference Center.
• Children’s Core Collection: Reliable guides to help librarians with collection development and maintenance, curriculum support, readers’ advisory and general reference for preschool-6th grade. This resource will be replacing Book Collection Nonfiction: Elementary School Edition.
• Middle & Junior High Core Collection: Reliable guides to help librarians with collection development and maintenance, curriculum support, readers’ advisory and general reference for grades 5-9. This resource will be replacing Book Collection Nonfiction: Middle School Edition.
• Senior High Core Collection: Reliable guides to help librarians with collection development and maintenance, curriculum support, readers’ advisory and general reference for grades 9-12. This resource will be replacing Book Collection Nonfiction: High School Edition.
• Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text: Database providing cover-to-cover indexing, abstracting and full-text for key library and information science periodicals. This resource will be replacing Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts.
• MasterFILE Complete: Popular full-text magazines, reference books and other sources from the world’s leading publishers. This resource will be replacing MasterFILE Premier.
• Teacher Reference Center: Research database for teachers providing indexing and abstracts for more than 220 peer-reviewed journals.

We will be removing access to Auto Repair Reference Center, Book Collection Nonfiction: Elementary, Middle & High School Editions; Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts; and MasterFILE Premier after October 5, 2018.

Newspapers.com Library Edition World Collection and U.S. Newsstream should be ready in the coming weeks. We apologize for the delay.

To be notified when the remaining new resources are available, sign up for email alerts. We welcome all feedback and questions, so please contact us!

Guest Post by Maureen Welch

I encourage all libraries to share their collections as freely as possible via interlibrary loan, but not everything is available to travel. Due to age, rarity, or a patron's deadline, sometimes finding a digital alternative is the best way to provide excellent library service. Plus a great internet search engine is immensely helpful for verification.

Here are a few ways the IFLS Library System has filled area ILL requests when getting the physical material wasn't possible or would have exceeded our cost limit.

Internet Archive & Internet Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive is a treasure trove of public domain materials, but I have also found its Internet Wayback Machine very useful. Recently, a patron requested obituaries from an out-of-state newspaper which was not easily available, but Ancestry Library Edition had citations in their U.S. Obituary Collection which included website addresses. Those URLs were no longer working, but when I pasted them into the Internet Wayback Machine, I found the full text newspaper available. A few snips later, the patron had copies of the obituaries requested.

HathiTrust Digital Library
For any titles and periodicals with a copyright before 1923, I check both the Internet Archive and HathiTrust. Beyond public domain materials, limited view items can help with verification as well.

FamilySearch Research Wiki

Genealogical materials are a challenge for any ILL librarian but more & more of these sources are being digitized. I use Google a lot but it has led me to the FamilySearch Research Wiki often enough that it's now in my bookmarks. One example was the ability to find online records for a Norwegian parish.

OverDrive MarketPlace

Many libraries consider purchasing new print items that their patrons are requesting, but you may also want to check for availability through OverDrive MarketPlace. IFLS has purchased an ebook through our OverDrive Advantage account to fill a request because it was less expensive than the combined costs of an out-of-state library charges and postage. Since the patron was comfortable with the ebook format, it was a win/win solution for everyone including the additional patrons who have checked it out.

For additional resources, the Wisconsin Interlibrary Loan Guidelines includes a document with a list of Open Resources for ILL

Please do share your collections because items sitting on a library's shelf are not serving their purpose. And remember to explore or ask your ILL guru for alternative sources as needed.

Written by:  Maureen Welch, Indianhead Federated Library System

There is a new document available for WISCAT users in the ILL section of the Documentation Google folder, titled ILL - Blank & Multi-Copy Requests. This document describes the scenarios for using the blank or multi-copy request features, as well as how to use them. 

As a reminder, this folder is accessible in the menu bar when logged into a WISCAT staff account, as shown below:

If you're looking for instructions or information on a topic that isn't covered in the Documentation folder, please Contact Us!

Written by Gail Murray, Resources for Libraries & Lifelong Learning

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) recently completed a Request for Bid (RFB) procurement process working through the Wisconsin Department of Administration as statutorily required. The process was designed to maximize DPI’s buying power by selecting the lowest-cost bidder that could provide a product that best meets rigorous mandatory standards for electronic content in 13 separate Collection areas.

DPI recognized the total cost of the Collections might exceed the current BadgerLink budget and for the first time, the RFB included a clause allowing municipally funded library organizations to purchase selected Collections the DPI could not. Bidders were informed the price they provided for any Collection could be shared with those municipally-funded library organizations to make it easy for them to make purchases without having to conduct separate investigations and negotiations.

The subject areas to be included in Collections were determined with input from the Wisconsin library community. The community also provided input to the mandatory specifications for Collections.

DPI is signing contracts for all but two of the 13 separate electronic Collections included in the RFB. Public, school, or academic libraries may collaborate to identify a municipally-funded fiscal agent to purchase those two other Collections. If a statewide consortial purchase is made through this process, the DPI BadgerLink team is willing to host and provide technical support to the two additional collections on the BadgerLink website.

DPI is NOT licensing the following two Collections:

Collection 11: Full text Works of Literature
Vendor and product selected: Cengage Learning (Gale) - LitFinder
Price specified for the initial two-year (FY19 and FY20) contract: $52,000

Collection 12: Language Learning Resources
Vendor and product selected: Recorded Books - Transparent Languages Online
Price specified for the initial two-year (FY19 and FY20) contract: $69,000

Any library organization interested in learning about responses submitted by vendors not selected for any of the Collections included in the RFB should contact Martha Berninger (martha.berninger@dpi.wi.gov or 608-224-6161).