Tag Archives: INSPIRE

INSPIRE gets a makeover

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INSPIRE, our statewide collection of databases, is celebrating its 20th birthday, and for a gift, we’ve given its homepage a fresh new makeover.

The new interface is powered by EBSCO Stacks and has a clean “tiled” appearance featuring some of our most popular resources, including:

  • Rosetta Stone
  • Consumer Reports
  • Health and Medicine
  • Test Preparation
  • Current News
  • Historic Newspapers
  • Digital Collections
  • Genealogy

Library users and staff can select one of these pre-selected topics and quickly navigate to that area. These databases will rotate as needed, and we welcome any suggestions you may have. There is also a scrolling menu of other subjects (e.g. biographies, business and student resources) below the tiles.

The search box and results page have not been changed, and you can easily start your search by typing in keywords in the box at the top of the homepage. If anyone prefers the previous interface, that can still be accessed here or by clicking on the TeachingBooks.net and Newspapers.com graphic on the new homepage.

Watch for new “how-to” videos, as well as an updated FAQ page, coming later this year.

INSPIRE is free for use for all Indiana residents, and is made possible by the Indiana General Assembly through Build Indiana Funds, The Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, and in partnership with the Academic Libraries of Indiana.

This post was written by Jen Clifton, Library Development Office. For more information on INSPIRE, visit here or send an email. 

Train the INSPIRE Trainer workshops

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The Indiana State Library Regional Coordinators are hitting the road with a new “Train the INSPIRE Trainer” workshop.

Want to help your patrons get ahead of the curve at work and in the classroom? Need help teaching your patrons about INSPIRE? No idea on how to start? Look no further!  This hands-on training will give you the tools needed to teach your library patrons how to get the most out of INSPIRE – Indiana’s free virtual library. You will be provided with a basic PowerPoint presentation, sample script and lots of tips on how to adapt this presentation for many different groups. We want to empower you to train your patrons and students on INSPIRE.

Prior to the training, It is recommended that you bring a laptop to this training and that you view the new, 32-minute Introduction to INSPIRE Webinar which can be found on our Archived Trainings page. Just watching the webinar allows you to earn 1 TLEU over and above what you will earn by attending the training. The webinar is available for anyone to watch. The trainings (listed below) are 2-3 hours and you will earn 2-3 TLEUs. Please find detailed information on each location by clicking on the registration link.

Join us in 2017 on any of the following dates and places:

  • April 24 – Noble County Public Library (Northeast region) – Register here.
  • April 25 – Monticello-Union Township Public Library (Northwest region) – Register here.
  • May 3 – Monroe County Public Library, Ellettsville Branch (Southwest region) – Register here.
  • May 10 – Shelby County Public Library (Southeast region) – Register here.
  • May 10 – Ohio Township Public Library – Register here.
  • August 1 – Westfield Washington Public Library – Register here.
  • August 10 – Crown Point Community Library – Register here.
  • October 11 – New Albany-Floyd County Public Library – Register here.

This blog post by Paula Newcom, professional development librarian. For more information, contact the Professional Development Office at (317) 232-3697 or email statewideservices@library.in.gov.

INSPIREd cataloging help

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Let’s face it, professional journals are expensive. Really, really expensive. So expensive that most libraries cannot afford subscriptions to these valuable publications. But keeping abreast of the latest professional output is very important, especially for catalogers who must adhere to strict standards and practices.Inspire Large_final-01Here’s where INSPIRE.in.gov can help! Full-text journal access is available for many of the most prominent publications in the field of Library Science. Titles pertinent to cataloging and technical services topics include (but are certainly not limited to):

Cataloging & Classification Quarterly (ISSN 0163-9374)

Library Collections, Acquisitions and Technical Services (ISSN 1464-9055)

Library Resources & Technical Services (ISSN 0024-2527)

Technical Services Quarterly (ISSN 0731-7131)

Library Trends (ISSN 0024-2594)

You can locate these titles by a couple of different ways: You can use the Advanced Search feature to search by journal title by selecting SO Journal title/source from the drop-down menu or you can search by International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) by selecting IS ISSN from the menu. You also can achieve the same results by doing a Publication Title Search from the top menu option.

Additionally, keyword and subject searches can direct you towards full-text articles from other publications. If a full-text option isn’t available for a title you want, remember that you usually can obtain a copy of the article via interlibrary loan.

As always, INSPIRE.in.gov is absolutely FREE to all Indiana residents so take advantage of this resource and keep your cataloging knowledge up-to-date!

This blog post was written by Jocelyn Lewis, Catalogue Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317)232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm.