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Fall brings enhanced BISON
In places of higher learning, the beginning of the fall semester holds the promise of renewal and innovation. The University Libraries' Web development team is marking the start of the academic year by reorganizing and enhancing BISON, the Libraries' Web interface at http://ublib.buffalo.edu.
Accordingly, BISON users no longer need to "drill down" to find our UB-specific "how to do library research" tutorial known as the "Research Assistant," or our up-to-date and highly selective listing of "Web Search Engines," or our virtual bookshelf of "Web Reference Sources." We've also added more links to UB pages, such as "UBlearns," the "UB Class Schedule," "UB Computing Alerts" and, of course, "MyUB."
Fall semester enhancements include our improved "Search Site" page, which uses the Google search engine to identify material in BISON, and a new page developed specifically "For UB Alumni and Visitors." At the "New Books & More" link, BISON users will find a database of material recently acquired by the four units of the Arts and Sciences Libraries, complete with a "browse by subject area" feature.
At the request of our student clientele, Libraries' system staff worked diligently over the summer to create a more accessible collection of online course reserve readings. Now, with just a click on the "Course Reserve Material" link, students will find themselves at a "user-friendly" form that fast-tracks them to the articles and book chapters they are required to read. (Books that must be checked out at library public-service counters are listed as well.)
In order to help quench the insatiable demand for access to electronic journals subscribed to on behalf of our faculty, staff and students, UB Libraries' cataloging and acquisitions staff have teamed up with a West Coast company, "Serials Solutions," to extract records from our catalog and our full-text database vendors to provide our first-ever comprehensive e-journal directory, complete with a description of the years covered for each. We expect the "Serials Solutions solution" will improve each semester, with the expectation that broad subject access will be provided in the not-too-distant future.
Finally, UB librarians celebrate our scholarly community and the world of the printed word with our newly developed database, "UB Faculty & Alumni Book Authors." This database, one of the first of its kind in academic "virtual libraries," represents collaboration between the University Libraries and the University Bookstore. While many of the books can be purchased in the bookstore, we who are in the book-lending business are pleased to note that we include library "call numbers" for each title. Users can search by author, book title or academic department. Though still a work-in-progress—UB authors and their books are being added daily—this database merits a look.
Questions or comments regarding the Libraries' new BISON main screen can be directed to the Libraries' Web Team at libweb@acsu.buffalo.edu.We would be delighted to hear from you.
—Gemma DeVinney, University Libraries