News & Clues - Autumn 1998

For questions, comments, or article submissions, e-mail to David DeLaurant.

Volume 40, No. 2 Autumn 1998 Published by: San Joaquin Valley Information Service 2420 Mariposa Street Fresno, California 93721 voice: (559) 488-3229; fax: (559) 488-2965

LIBRARY OF CALIFORNIA BILL SIGNED BY GOVERNOR CLA press release California Library Association President Anne Marie Gold announced today that Governor Wilson had signed ground breaking legislation to create The Library of California. SB 409, which was sponsored by CLA and authored by Senator Alpert and Assemblyman Mike Sweeney, establishes a statewide networking system of resource-sharing, communications and delivery for approximately 8,000 of California's libraries. When fully implemented, Californians' will be able to access public, university, K-12, legal, medical and private libraries. The bill appropriates $5 million to fund the first phase of implementation of the Library of California. The spending and growth of the project in future years will be controlled by the Legislature and the Governor. The Governor stated, "California is home to some of the finest public and private library collections in the world. The Library of California will open up these treasures to people of all ages statewide." Senator Alpert, upon learning of the signing, added: "I am thrilled that the Governor signed SB 409. California is home to the Silicon Valley and it is only appropriate that the state take the lead in connecting all our great libraries. This bill ensures that Californians will have access to information at a time when information is critical to our future and growth. Gold stated, "Today's news is very exciting for the thousands of library supporters who worked on the development of SB 409 for more than seven years. Thanks to CLA's members, library professionals and supporters for their assistance in helping us achieve successful passage of this important bill. SB 409 helped forge a first-ever coalition of library supporters from all types of libraries -- academic, special, school and public -- which bodes well for the ongoing development of The Library of California." AWLNET DIRECTORY UPDATES Revised pages for your Directory are attached to this issue, giving the service hours for the Fresno and Madera County Libraries and a corrected map for the Porterville Public Library. In addition, please note that 619 telephone area codes for some Kern County Library branches have changed to 760, including the Boron, California City, Kern River Valley, Kernville, Ridgecrest and Wofford Heights branches (there are some other area code changes on the horizon that you should know about -- check out the separate article on this.) Please also change the Saturday hours for the Kern River Valley Branch to 10-6 and strike out the P.O. Box 2698 line from their address. CALENDAR SJVLS Administrative Council November 6, 1998, 10:00 a.m., at the Tulare Co. Library, Visalia SJVLS Advisory Board November 6, 1998, 10:00 a.m., at the Tulare Co. Library, Visalia SJVLS Circulation Committee November 16, 1998 (tentative, details to follow) SJVLS Automation Committee November 18, 1998, 10:00 a.m., at the Tulare Co. Library, Visalia SJVLS Children's and Youth Services Committee December 2, 1998, 10:00 a.m. at the Tulare Public Library, Tulare SJVLS Reference Committee January 13, 1999, 10:00 a.m. at Tulare Co. Library, Visalia SJVLS Collection Development Committee January 13, 1999, 10:00 a.m., at the Tulare Co. Library, Visalia SJVLS Cataloging Committee date not set Please report all meeting dates, changes and cancellations to Dave DeLaurant at (209) 488-3229. Meeting times and locations are subject to change -- the latest data is available at the following website: http://www.sjvls.lib.ca.us/sjvls/meetings.html VALLEYCAT VIA Z39.50 AVAILABLE FROM CSUF by Mary Ellen Huls Users of the WebPac at CSU Fresno are now able to search ValleyCat with ALIS's Web interface thanks to the recently installed Z39.50 server at SJVLS. Z39.50 is a standard that governs how databases talk to each other for searching. The ALIS WebPac understands Z39.50, and can search our catalog because ValleyCat is now on a server that speaks Z39.50. To see ValleyCat with a totally different look, open your browser to http://www.lib.csufresno.edu. Click on "ALIS Catalog", then click on "Login", and finally, choose "Fresno County Library" from the screen. Please remember to Logoff properly, not just close the browser. Because this is a Z39.50 search, many ValleyCat functions, like placing holds, will not be available. INFOTRAC PERIODICAL INDEXES ON VALLEYCAT by Mary Ellen Huls InfoTrac is a database service provided by the Gale Group (formerly Information Access Company) over the Internet. In October the San Joaquin Valley Library System began subscribing to two periodical indexes through InfoTrac: General Reference Center Gold and Health Reference Center. General Reference Center Gold is a periodical index that provides references to articles in more than 700 general interest and business magazines, many of them full-text. Subject areas include current events, consumer information, arts and entertainment, and business and finance. The full-text of several reference books, including two encyclopedias and collections of short biographies, are also included. Health Reference Center is an index to health-related magazines and journals. It includes the full-text of many articles, informational pamphlets, and medical reference books. Full-text of articles is included for many (but not all) of the magazines and pamphlets indexed. You'll also find some illustrations and photos when accessing InfoTrac through the Web or Windows95 versions. The dumb terminal version does not include illustrations. The InfoTrac databases are accessible via ValleyCat search menus, the Web, or special Windows95 software. The Web version checks the location of the computer before it allows access, a process called IP authentication. Only computers on the SJVLS network can connect to InfoTrac on the Web because of this process. Home users can reach the dumb terminal version by selecting Gateways, then typing EL to access the extended list. A valid library barcode is required to reach the Extended List from home PCs. Coming soon: access to the Web version of InfoTrac for home users. SUNNYVALE & SANTA BARBARA JOB OPPORTUNITIES The City of Santa Barbara is seeking candidates to fill a Reference Librarian position at either the Librarian I ($33,559 to $39,576) or Librarian II ($35,796 to $43,510) levels. Final filing date is 5:00 p.m. October 30, 1998. For further information and an application form, contact the City of Santa Barbara's personnel division -- they didn't provide me with an address or phone number, so they may consider your ability to find this information as a basic job requirement! The City of Sunnyvale currently has three Librarian ($39,508 to $48,023) positions open, in Children's Services, Adult Reference and their Patent Library. The eligible list established by this recruitment will also be used to fill later library vacancies there, so if you like the Sunnyvale area, apply now! An MLS is required, and the ability to communicate in Spanish or specific Asian languages is highly desirable. Final filing date is November 6, 1998. For further information, contact the City of Sunnyvale's Department of Human Resources at (408) 730-7490. MELVYL SEARCHING ON WWW by Mike Drake You may be familiar with MELVYL as the online catalog of the UC libraries. You may have discovered that it is on the web. You may share my opinion that the user interface of the web version is perhaps the best of the online bibliographic databases on the web. You might have even used MELVYL to locate an academic oriented book or periodical at a UC library near you. But, did you know that what was already an excellent resource for locating those obscure periodical titles has expanded beyond the holdings of just the UC and CSU libraries, to include holdings from libraries of all types in the state of California? MELVYL has incorporated the California Union List of Periodicals (CULP) into their periodicals database. Now, in addition to UC and CSU libraries, you can search the holdings of other types of academic libraries, as well as public, medical, law, and special libraries. It is comprehensive. Your search can be narrowed to your region ("Central Valley"). And that is not all. It seems that the record for each periodical will also include links and access information to the online version, if it exists. Begin your search at: 1.Select the Periodical Titles option under Choose a database. 2.Choose Title to search by title. 3.You can limit your search to the Central Valley, if you like, by selecting Central Valley from the list of Locations (scroll to the bottom). REFERENCE LIBRARIANS SOUGHT BY FRESNO COUNTY The Fresno County Library is searching for talented individuals who are interested in providing professional library services to its patrons, to fill two vacant positions. The Librarian I, reporting to Reference Services Manager, will assist patrons in the selection of books and materials; explain library procedures, policies and material organization; answer reference questions; and develop library programs for children and adults. The successful candidate must possess the following: ability to effectively communicate verbally with patrons in person, as well as over the phone; ability to establish and maintain effective working relations with the library staff and volunteers; knowledge of (or ability to learn) automated bibliographic-circulation control system (Dynix), Internet and various reference and office automation software; and the ability to regularly work evenings and weekends. A final filing date for these positions has not yet been announced. For further information about the position and how to apply, contact the County of Fresno Personnel Division at 2220 Tulare St., Suite 1400, Fresno, CA 93721; (209) 488-3364. CALIFORNIA DIGITAL LIBRARY LINKS PUBLIC TO VITAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION The University of California has made it easier for the public to gather facts about hurricanes, earthquakes, water pollution and other important environmental events and issues through a unique environmental information website now available. With the click of a mouse, it is now possible from a single website to gather data on such divergent subjects as the latest weather report in outer space (http://www.sel.noaa.gov/), El Nino, and how to avoid packing bugs home from your latest vacation (http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/pests/). The website, created by the California Digital Library and located at http://www.eip.cdlib.org/, makes available an environmental database of scholarly publications, a selection of digitized unique materials held in University of California libraries and high-quality links to other web-based environmental information. Access to the website is available to the world at large, with 33 demonstration sites in Northern, Central and Southern California highlighting the site and having exclusive access to the scholarly materials licensed from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts. Demonstration sites include public and school libraries and community college libraries, as well as libraries at California State University campuses and state agencies. This project marks the first collaborative effort with the California State Library to build the Library of California, a visionary plan created by a statewide library coalition -- led and supported by the state Library and State Librarian Kevin Starr. As envisioned, the Library of California would enable all types of libraries in the state -- public, private, school and academic -- to share collections as well as collaborate and cooperate in the acquisition and distribution of resources. Legislation signed by Gov. Pete Wilson in September provides $5 million for its continued development. Collaboration in building the Library of California is an important goal of UCÆs California Digital Library, itself a dream of UC President Richard C. Atkinson, who calls it the university's "library without walls." Launched last October, the California Digital Library is building high-quality digital collections. It is also using innovative technologies to blend major portions of the electronic and print holdings of UC's 29 million- volume collections to make them accessible by desktop or laptop computer to students, faculty and the general public. The Environmental Information Project and website is funded by $276,000 in grants from The Library Services and Technology Act -- new federal legislation to promote the innovative uses of technology in the nationÆs libraries. It is the first attempt to bring both these initiatives together to demonstrate the economic and intellectual benefits of collaboration. Organizers are exploring the technological, organizational and financial issues involved in licensing commercially available resources and in converting print materials to digitized form and delivering the electronic content from UCÆs libraries to libraries in the Library of California network. "This is an opportunity to achieve two benefits at once," said Richard Lucier, executive director of the CDL. "First, the project makes available UC's California Digital Library collections to the public at an early stage in its development. Second, this is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with librarians throughout the state to develop new digital collections and services that will benefit all of California." Materials related to fires, floods, water rights, earthquakes and pollution are among those covered by the Environmental Information Project website. More information about the California Digital Library is available from John L. Ober, CDL Assistant Director, Education and Communication at (510) 987-0425, from its website at http://www.cdlib.org/, or from Terry Colvin, UC senior public information representative at (510) 987-9198. AREA CODE CHANGES from Pacific Bell news releases As of Saturday, November 14, 1998, the 209 area code will split on an approximate north-south basis along the Madera County border of Mariposa and Merced counties. The new 559 area code will serve the southern area, which includes most of Fresno, Madera, Tulare and Kings counties, along with very small parts of Mariposa and Kern counties. Cities in the 559 area include Fresno, Madera, Hanford, Coalinga, Visalia, Tulare and Porterville. The northern region that will keep the 209 area code includes Tuolumne, Calaveras and Amador counties, most of Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Mariposa counties, and very small parts of Madera, Fresno, Sacramento, El Dorado, Alpine, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties. Major cities in the northern area include Lodi, Stockton, Modesto, Turlock, Sonora and Merced. Between 11/14/98 and 5/15/99, both area codes will work on 559 area numbers; after 5/15/98, your calls will not go through unless the new area code is used. Prefixes that will work in both codes are: 211, 311, 411, 511, 555, 611, 700, 711, 767, 811, 911, 950, 958, 959 and 976. Changes are also planned for area code 805, with the introduction of a new, yet-to-be-determined area code on February 13, 1999. Final approval on the new area code plan is anticipated November 1, 1998 -- see the following PacBell website for further information:

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