Online Library Learning Center [http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/]

This site provides tutorials on the following:

• The nature of information, how information about a topic develops and grows, and how understanding this can help you with your research (Unit 1)
• Developing a research question and understanding the research process (Unit 2)
• Identifying the needed research tools for your task (Unit 2, 5, 6, 7)
• The physical library -- how it's organized (Unit 3)
• Databases and catalogs -- how they work (Unit 4)
• Using GALILEO for locating periodical articles and other materials (Unit 5)
• Using GIL for finding books and other library materials (Unit 7)
• Tips for searching the Internet (Unit 7)
• Copyright, style manuals and citing sources (Unit 8)
• Evaluating sources (Unit 9)
• Information for Distance Education Students (Unit 10)

Census 2000 [http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/govdoc/]

Ingram Library's Government Documents Department and GALILEO have created links to the U.S. Census Bureau's website American FactFinder. As census data is released, it will be posted on a state by state basis at this site. Here you can access available census information in either map or table format, as well as the Bureau's press releases, which provide a summary of census data by state. There is also a chart showing projected release dates for subsequent census findings.

Georgia's population data was made available on March 22, 2001.

Path to the Government Documents Department link
          From the Library's Home Page, click on Government Documents under Research.

          The link to American Factfinder is on the Department's Home Page.

Path to GALILEO's link
          From the Library's Home Page, click on GALILEO in the menu bar. Then click on either Government Publications or All Databases in the subject category list on the left side of the page. Finally click on Census Data in the alphabetical listing of databases on the right side of the page.

          At the next screen, click on the American FactFinder link, which will be listed among other demographic sources on the page.

Posted April 9, 2001

netLibrary [http://www.galileo.peachnet.edu]

You can link to "netLibrary" from either of the GALILEO database categories "FullText Books" or "All Databases". Once you have found a book which interests you, whether by a subject search or by an author or title search, you have three options:

• to "preview" the book for 15 minutes
• to "check it out" for a two-hour time period
• or to download it to your own computer or electronic book-reading device. (Note: it is not possible to download files from "netLibrary" to Macintosh computers.)

These online books are available to all the institutions in the University System of Georgia as well as other educational institutions, so a book can be "checked out" for only two hours to allow others access. If no one has a hold on the title, you can then check it out again.

The texts offered in this database are accessible from your home computer or anywhere in the world, but you must create your account at a computer based in the Library or on the campus network. Just click on "Create Account" at "netLibrary's" home page and follow the directions. (You can "preview" books without an account, but an account is required to "check out" books.)

If you have any questions about "netLibrary" or any other library resources, contact the Reference desk at x6495 or fill out an electronic reference form (ASKAL) from the Reference link on the Library's home page (http://www.westga.edu/~library).

Digital Reference Service [http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/ref/]

Anyone can post a question to the librarians at UWG through the "Ask A Librarian"electronic reference service. "Ask a Librarian", a link at Ingram Library's Reference Service Home Page [http://www.westga.edu/~library/depts/ref/] provides an electronic form for questions, which can be submitted online from home, dorm, or office. [Another electronic reference service link is available on the GALILEO Home Page and various other GALILEO screens.] If your question cannot be answered by librarians using the resources of Ingram Library, and the user's time frame permits, the question may be referred to a statewide network of university librarians.

In most cases, the extensive library resources available to librarians in the University System of Georgia should be more than adequate to come up with an answer. Students will benefit from the expertise of USG librarians at the various institutions who may have unique electronic databases at their disposal as well as the extensive traditional collections of reference materials, books, periodicals, and other publications accumulated at those libraries often available nowhere else but in print format.

In the near future, yet a third level of reference service will be available. A group of international libraries will handle the most esoteric and obscure questions. This Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) will be comprised of the Library of Congress and the national libraries of Canada and Australia, as well as some 60 other institutions. The electronic forms and the routing algorithms for CDRS are currently being beta tested. The service is expected to be available to the general public in June 2001.

Education Complete (Journal Index Database) [http://www.westga.edu/~library/databases.shtml]

Primary Subject Area:

Education

Access:

"Databases and GALILEO" from the Ingram Library Homepage (http://www.westga.edu/~libarary)
Available On- or Off-Campus

Summary Description:

Contains more than 550 titles on education--including primary, secondary, and university-level topics--with nearly 300 in full text. Includes the indexing and abstracts from H.W. Wilson's highly regarded Education Abstracts, plus many additional titles.

This comprehensive resource incorporates every education and education-related title in our ProQuest databases--ProQuest Education Plus, ProQuest Professional Education, and ProQuest Research Library. Of the 550 journals indexed and abstracted, more than 300 are provided in full text. The database includes not only the standard journals for educators at all levels but also periodicals for professionals in related fields including AIDS education, human development, child abuse, and developmental psychology. A complete title list is avai lable online.