<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><span class=""><font size="4">Let's start here: we've gotten a LOT of feedback.</font><br><br>Since February, OPLIN has been gathering feedback on changes to the Ohio Web Library search page (<a href="http://ohioweblibrary.org" target="_blank">ohioweblibrary.org</a>). We started with the OPLIN Content Advisory Committee, then gathered comments at OLC Chapter Conferences. (And BTW, special thanks to everyone who offered comments!) Then last month, we sponsored some special awards at Ohio History Day and got to see the process papers submitted with many of the student projects, which gave us good insight into how students use public libraries when they are doing research.<br><br><font size="4">All of this feedback has convinced us to try some changes to the way we present the Ohio Web Library databases.</font><div><b style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></b></div><div><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">First, </span><b style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">we encourage libraries to grab links </b><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">listed at <a href="http://oplin.org/content/how-link-oplin-databases" target="_blank">http://oplin.org/content/how-link-oplin-databases</a> and embed them in your local "research resources" page (or whatever you call it).</span></div></span><div><span class=""><ul><li><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Greene County does this rather nicely, for example: <a href="http://greenelibrary.info/research" target="_blank">http://greenelibrary.info/research</a>. </span><br></li><li><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">OPLIN will keep our links maintained so they continue to work and let users into the databases, even if the vendor makes changes to their target URLs.</span></li></ul></span><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px"><i>We think it's easier for everyone if all available databases are listed in one place.</i></span></font></div><span class=""><div><b style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><br></b></div><div><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Second, for people not using a library website, <b>w</b></span><b style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">e have built a very different Ohio Web Library page</b><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">, which you can preview at <a href="http://dev.ohioweblibrary.org" target="_blank">http://dev.ohioweblibrary.org</a> before it goes live on <b><i>July 6</i></b>.</span></div><div><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px">This page shifts our approach from federated searching to browsing groups of reference resources available through Ohio Web Library .</span><br></li><li><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px">I</span></font><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">n some categories, where it makes sense and is possible, we still provide a search box.</span><br></li></ul></div></span><div><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:13.3333330154419px;line-height:13px"><i>We'll share the reasons for the shift from searching to browsing in a follow-up message. Stay tuned...</i></span></font><br></div><span class=""><div><br>--<br>Stephen Hedges, Director<br>Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)<br>2323 W. Fifth Ave, Suite 130, Columbus, OH 43204<br><a href="mailto:st.hedges@gmail.com" target="_blank">st.hedges@gmail.com</a> | <a href="tel:614-728-5250" value="+16147285250" target="_blank">614-728-5250</a></div></span></div>
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