What’s New at the GSU Zach S. Henderson Library

The new GALILEO interface (details & tips here) went live a week ago, on March 17.  Here’s a description of some of the new features, from the GALILEO PLANET newsletter.  Our version for academic libraries is known as GALILEO Scholar.  How’s it working for you so far?  Please share your comments here.

In addition to our 211 eAudiobooks, Henderson Library also provides over 33,400 full-text electronic books.  This includes 1841 education-related books from ebrary (quick guide here), 27,441 books on many subjects from NetLibrary (quick guide here), and 33 books on health sciences from Ovid.  These are all accessible via the library catalog (each book listed separately) or via GALILEO (listed under “ebrary,” “NetLibrary,” and “Books @ Ovid”).

Also through GALILEO, but not yet in our catalog as individual titles, are the 3918 eBooks in “EBSCO Book Collection:  Nonfiction,” 176 eBooks in “EBSCO Consumer Health Complete,” and other eBooks which are included in various other databases.

Our eBooks, including our eAudiobooks, are available to any campus visitors; off-campus access is restricted to students, staff, and faculty of Georgia Southern University.  The same access applies to our many other electronic resources.

Please share your comments about your experience with our eBooks!

We are pleased to announce that on Monday, March 17, GALILEO (Georgia’s virtual library) will have a brand-new look. All of the 336 databases currently available will remain in GALILEO’s new interface, which is called GALILEO Scholar. You might have already seen this new look, which has been available for months as a “Preview the new, improved GALILEO!” link within the current GALILEO homepage.

Below are a few tips for using the new GALILEO site effectively.  The links will take you to the actual pages, using political science as a subject example.

Please ask a librarian whenever we can be of assistance. We’d love to help!

1. When browsing for databases by subject (yellow tab), after you choose a subject category, the Subject Search page (blue tab) appears, which only searches the databases available statewide. To see a comprehensive list (relevant to this subject category) including the many more databases funded by Henderson Library, just click on the Articles & Databases tab on the blue/gray bar (after you have clicked on a subject category).

2. The Search page (yellow tab) only searches the databases available statewide. (See #1.)
3. The Databases A-Z page (yellow tab) gives you a comprehensive list of all of our databases, including those available statewide as well as those funded by Henderson Library.
4. The Journals A-Z page (yellow tab) in GALILEO is a directory of electronic journals, but is not as comprehensive as the Electronic Journals A-Z page which is linked from Henderson Library’s website (blue tab at the bottom). Our own Electronic Journals A-Z is still the best place to locate full-text articles when you know the journal title you need.

Here’s a little background on our recent e-journals announcement.  In case you’re wondering how we were able to add 389 electronic journals to our collection in the midst of Henderson Library’s ongoing budget crisis, this might be of interest to you.  (Many thanks to Iris Durden, Serials Librarian, for providing both the work and the information on this achievement!)

Because faculty and students are increasingly expecting resources to be available online, Henderson Library has been constantly evaluating current periodical print subscriptions to determine the best format for delivery of information for the present learning environment as well as for future needs.  The Library provides access to periodicals online through various full-text databases and through individual subscriptions with online access (both free and for reasonable upcharge fees).   The continuing analysis of subscription options for journals and databases is necessitated by ongoing library budget shortfalls, as well as rapidly rising subscription costs and frequent shifts in publishing strategies.

The journal publishing market has changed drastically during the past few years.  Many journal publishers are restructuring their subscription options and charges in a variety of ways.  For example, many publishers no longer offer “free online” with a print subscription, instead charging an additional fee (5-10%) for online access with the print subscription, or offering reduced pricing (compared to print only subscription) for online only access.  If “free online” is offered with a print subscription, access might be for only one person at a time (username/ password required), rather than unlimited simultaneous use (“site license”/IP authentication).

A number of prominent journal publishers have begun pulling their current journal content from aggregated full-text databases and are now offering their periodical titles in their own full-text packages and/or portals.  Examples:  Duke University Press, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, etc.

The economics of the publishing world continue to evolve at a rapid pace.  The recent Harvard decision to adopt an open-access policy for providing free online access to their faculty publications is being widely discussed in academia and beyond.

For further information, please see Journal Pricing from SPARC, the Open Access FAQ from the Public Library of Science, and news on scholarly communication and publishing from SPARC.