What Public LibrariesCan Do
ForSpecial Libraries
Presenting an Overview of Services
By Cathy Balshone-BeczeReference Department
Newton Free Library330 Homer Street
Newton Massachusetts 02459Presented at Congregation Beth Israel
701 Farmington Avenue West Hartford, CT 06119June 19, 2009
How the Public Library Can Help the Special Library
• Ask a question!o Call or e-mail the Reference Department.
Find out what resources are available. In the library Remotely accessible In other collections
Fill out forms for document delivery. Place requests for library materials.
o Use MassAnswers anytime of the day or night from a public library or regional website.
Public Librarians
• Reference, Children’s, Audio-Visual, and Interlibrary Loan Departmentso Help track down an answer or referral o Guide you to sources, find materials o Offer readers advisory serviceo Collect print and non-print materials for all ageso Submit ILL requests; procure materialso Consider purchase requestso Help with electronic searches.o Teach basic computer skills and classes on
topics, such as Genealogy; prepare handouts.
Readers Advisory
• Literary criticism• Author biographies• Try Mendele Moykher Sforim / Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh / Shalom
Jacob Abramovitz / Shalom Jacob Abramowitz Encyclopedia Judaica Biography Resource Center
• Book reviews• Reading lists and guides for Jewish book clubs
o AJL Book Club Reading Lists http://www.jewishlibraries.org/ajlweb/resources/bookclub_lists.htm
o Jewish Book Council http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/page.php?189• Books in a variety of formats and languages• Books for adults, children, English learners• Borrow a book outside of the library, network• Books For You!: Online personalized booklists based on a questionnaire.• Bookletters: Online monthly topical book newsletter
Foreign Languages
• Dictionaries • Books
o Original languageo Translated into another language
• Recorded Books: variety of formats• Collections of Foreign Films• Language Instruction• ESL Program
How to Find a LibraryHow to Share Resources
• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is organized into regions and networks.
• Find a library by region, network, city or town, zip code.
• Libraries joining the public systems include public, academic, school and special libraries.
• Regional membership totals are 1765 librarieso Public 370o Academic 124o School 1023o Special 248
Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC)
MBLC www.mblc.state.ma.usRegional Membership
Eligibility Requirements 605 CMR 7.02
Massachusetts Regional Library Systems (MARLS)
• 6 Regions• Boston (BRLS)
http://www.bpl.org/brls/about.html• Metrowest (MMRLS) http://www.mmrls.org/• Northeast (NMRLS) http://www.nmrls.org/• Southeastern (SEMLS) http://www.semls.org/• Central (CMRLS) http://www.cmrls.org/• Western (WMRLS) http://www.wmrls.org/
About Massachusetts Library Regional/Network Memberships
• Shared Online Catalog• Document Delivery• Interlibrary Loan• Materials Transfer• Database Access• Cooperative Purchasing Programs• Workshops; Training• Technical Assistance
Resource Sharing withMassCat and the Virtual Catalog
• Consider adding your records to MassCat• Fees based upon holdings• Shared cataloging system:
o Match your holdings to records in the catalogo Add new records from OCLCo Use a web-based system and avoid
purchasing software• Virtual Catalog transfers through the regions
MassCat
Online Library Catalogs for School and Special Libraries
• MassCat for all regions except BostonoMember school and special librariesoOptional to participateoState policies about loaning materialsoFee to join MassCat based on holdings;
set-up fees; migration costsoWill generate reports
The Virtual Catalog
Online Library Catalog for the Networks
• Virtual Catalog http://www.mln.lib.ma.us/virtcat.htm
• Holdings of the 9 networks• Select and search one network• Place reserves• Pick items up at a member library
More Benefits
1.Collaborative database purchasing2.Coop membership for discounts on library
supplies and materials.3.Numerous workshops and training
sessions at your regional office or at your library.
4.Free equipment & training: barcodes, scanner, computer with link to the Internet.
The Networks
• 9 networks• 1,700 libraries• Searchable catalogs of more than 400
libraries• Millions of full-text articles• Hundreds of archives and manuscript
collections• Digitized collections
Search for libraries in your network
Massachusetts Library Networks – Boston & West
• Metro Boston Library Network (MBLN) http://catalog.mbln.org/#focus
• Fenway Libraries Online (FLO)http://flo.org/• Minuteman Library Network (MLN)
http://www.mln.lib.ma.us/• Central/Western Massachusetts Automated
Resources Sharing, Inc. (C/W MARS) http://www.cwmars.org/
Massachusetts Library Networks – North & South
• North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE) http://www.noblenet.org/
• Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) http://www.mvlc.org/
• Old Colony Library Network (OCLN) http://ocln.org/wp-public/
• Sails Library Network (SAILS) http://www.sailsinc.org/
• Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing (CLAMS) http://www.clamsnet.org/
Find an Article
• Search periodicals databases for citations.o E-mail to yourself when full text is available.o Request document through Interlibrary Loan
• Some articles may precede 1980 Gale databases or may not be in JSTOR.
• Ask for an obituary from an old newspaper.• Receive articles by fax, by e-mail, or pick up at
your region’s member library.• Articles processed through the Boston Public
Library (BPL).
Delivery Services
• Books, chapters of books or missing pages, magazines, microfilm, microfiche, recorded books on CD or tape, music scores, music CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes
• Delivery to your library or a nearby regional library
• Interlibrary loan (ILL) training and services, e.g. Wellesley Public Library for Minuteman.
Databases
• See what databases are provided oBy your regionoBy your networkoBy your public libraryoThrough statewide database licensing
by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Statewide Database Licensing
Databases Coded by Funding
Try a Database Search
• Encyclopedia Judaica: Online subscription database
• Jewishencyclopedia.com: o free website, based on edition published from
1901-1906 • Try some searches:
o Where and what was the Pale of Settlement?o What is the Zohar? Where can I read it?o Which chronic genetic diseases afflict Jews?
Encyclopedia Judaica search; Change Databases & Cross-search selecting other databases
