Services of the Tufts University Library Information Processing System (TULIPS) have been significantly enhanced for fall 1998.
TULIPS now features a significantly improved web version of the online catalog. The Tufts Library Web Catalog extends to holdings beyond Tufts by enabling simultaneous searches of a number of area library catalogs and selected databases. The new web catalog also provides the option of merging the results of a multiple-database search into one consolidated listing or looking at the results from each database or catalog separately. This function requires each catalog and database to follow a national standard called Z39.50. As more databases and catalogs conform to this standard, more can and will be offered from the Tufts Library Web Catalog. Users may also sort hit lists (merged or otherwise) according to author, title, subject, material type, date ascending and date descending. Users may review and refine previous searches as desired.
Hours of TULIPS availability have been extended past midnight until 3 a.m. each night. To allow time for back-ups, the catalog will be unavailable Monday through Saturday 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. and Sunday 3 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Remote users can now reach those electronic resources previously restricted to the Tufts network (*.tufts.edu). The Tufts Library Proxy Server authorizes this connection by Tufts faculty, students, and staff wherever they are by checking their records in the patron database and then serving as a "proxy" between their PCs and the resource providers' sites. To use this feature from off campus, you must first configure your web browser (e.g., Netscape, Internet Explorer) to recognize and use the Tufts Library Proxy Server. Directions on how to configure your machine appear on the screen once you type in your Tufts I. D.
MEDLINE Biological Abstracts, CINAHL, PsycInfo, HealthSTAR, AIDSLINE, and three Current Contents databases in the sciences -- this set of databases accessed via the Ovid search engine has been popular for some time in a telnet version on TULIPS. Now users can choose to search these same databases in a web-based format directly accessible among the "Research Tools" posted alphabetically and also by discipline on the Tisch Library website.
These databases are the latest, following those in FirstSearch, to shift to the web while also remaining in non-web versions on TULIPS. Because the web interface is so popular with our users, the aim of the library is to offer as many databases as possible with a web interface.
As reported a year ago in this newsletter, the Tisch Library has been compiling a bibliography of publications by Dr. Jean Mayer, famed nutritionist and tenth president of Tufts. The final result, a listing of over 1000 citations entitled Jean Mayer: A Bibliography, 1948 - 1993, involved digitizing as well as cumulating all previous installments. The library hosted a small reception in May to mark the completion of this project by presenting a personal copy of the bibliography to Elizabeth van Huysen Mayer, the widow of Dr. Mayer. Attending the reception were library and university staff who had contributed to this endeavor over the years.
The bibliography is available and searchable online at http://www.library.tufts.edu/tisch/mayerbib.html. Print copies, classed as RA 784. J4 1997, are now shelved in the circulating and reference stacks and in University Archives. Both scholars and lay persons interested in issues of nutrition and malnutrition ranging from personal to global, as well as in educational and other topical concerns of Dr. Mayer, will benefit from consulting its contents.
The 1997-98 academic year was an active one for the Tisch Library instruction program. Ten members of the reference staff met with over 1600 students, staff and faculty members during course-related sessions and workshops as well as through individual research appointments. Additionally, librarians began visiting teaching departments to share information about collections and reference services and to hear what faculty want and need for their teaching and research.
This year we intend to do more of the same! Our fall calendar of workshops is posted at http://www.library.tufts.edu/tisch/calendar.htm. Three new workshops are open to any member of Arts and Sciences: Full-text Resources, the Web Catalog, and Evaluating World Wide Web Resources.
For more information about the instruction program, please contact Laurie Sabol (x75167 or lsabol@tufts.edu).
On his one-year anniversary as University Archivist here at the Tisch Library, Gregory Colati is pleased with the strides that he and Archives Assistant Sheri Kelley have made in the areas of records management and collaborative research projects within the university. The University Archives webpage, with numerous links including a site map, provides a comprehensive source of information about accessing archival services, policies, and research methods (http://www.library.tufts.edu/archives).
Now that significant progress is being made in organizing the university's printed information, one of the biggest challenges facing Greg is how to capture important university information which is being created electronically. He will be collaborating with other archivists, information systems people, and the record creators to develop a policy for the university's electronic records. pA typical day in the archives is never dull. Recently, Greg Colati met with Classics Professor Gregory Crane, director of the Perseus Project and chief planner for the Center for Humanities and Technology. The two are collaborating on a grant proposal for a digital library initiative. Touring the archives not long ago were English Professor Carol Flynn's students, who specifically wished to gain access to the Bolles collection of London maps. An aim of the University Archivist is to work with members of the faculty to help connect students with archival resources. Greg and Sheri are eager to share their expertise and look forward to meeting with more groups and individual researchers this year.
Anne Sauer began her work in August to process the papers of John Holmes, poet and former professor of English at Tufts. The one-year Project Archivist position was made possible by a generous gift from Winslow Duke (Tufts 1953). Anne will be making the John Holmes papers available through an interactive, multimedia website that will not only highlight the life and work of Tufts' most famous poet, but will be a resource for anyone interested in the study of poetry.
Anne moved to the University Archives from across campus, where she was the Administrative Assistant for the Inter-national Relations program. A graduate of Tufts with a Master's degree in history, she is currently enrolled in the graduate program in archives management at Simmons College.
In recent months the Tisch Library staff has welcomed two new members to its ranks. David Carpenter joined the Cataloging Services Department in May as Library Assistant for music copy cataloging. Recent recipient of a Masters in Music in Composition from the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, David has worked in libraries at Hopkins and at Bates College. In August Mark Humphrey joined the Systems Staff as Library Systems Administrator. Last year Mark worked in Information Technology Services, after previously holding several different positions within Tisch Library. Mark will be utilizing his programming knowledge for data management projects, developing specialized training sessions for library staff, and designing new desktop configurations for public and staff library workstations.
Two staff members have been promoted within a reorganization of Tisch Library User Services. Effective June 1, Laura Walters became Head of Reference and Collections in a merging of the two departments intended to facilitate coordination of outreach to faculty about collections and reference services. Kathleen DiPerna, Manager of Access and Media Services, added Document Delivery Services to the departments reporting to her. Congratulations also to Faith MacDonald, who moved in April from work as a Shelver to become a Serials Library Assistant. In mid-September Paula McGlynn will change positions, moving from Access Services to work with book ordering and receipt in Acquisitions.
Our best wishes accompany individuals who have recently left Tisch Library for new situations. June brought the retirement of Marcella Cogan, a Library Assistant in Acquisitions, after twenty-three years of library service. Another Acquisitions staff member, Patricia Heckbert, a Library Assistant with twenty-four years of service, retired in August. The staff extend their thanks to David McDonald, presently with American Power Conversion (APC) in Rhode Island, for his accomplishments first as Library Director and then as Dean of Information Technology and Libraries in significantly improving services, collections, and facilities for library users.
In the fall of 1993 the first issue of BiblioTech Connections appeared. This issue (15th for that title, 23rd for the full newsletter run) marks its fifth year anniversary. Issues covering the past two years are accessible from the Tisch Library website or directly at http://www.library.tufts.edu/tisch/.
Suggestions and comments con-cerning this library newsletter are always welcome and may be sent to the editor at mgooch@infonet.tufts.edu.
BiblioTech Connections is published three times a year: in the fall, winter, and spring. It is also available at bibliotech.htm
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