The Internet Connection (October 1999 Action for Libraries newsletter) By Michael Sauers Hidden Link Valuable New FirstSearch Feature A hidden link is available in the OCLC New FirstSearch service that can be quite useful to BCR member libraries. To find this link follow these steps: Log into New FirstSearch, currently at newfirstsearch.oclc.org/. Click on the News link in the upper-right corner of the screen. Scroll to the bottom of the News document in the pop-up window. Just above the Top menu choice should be a link that looks like a dash (pictured left.) It is actually a hyperlinked space. Click on it. (If you have turned off underlining in your browser, the line may not appear. Move your mouse pointer around that area of the document and watch for your pointer to change. That's where the link is located.) A new window will appear displaying for you the following information: Authorization number The authorization number used by the current user. Login method Manual (autho/password) or IP (IP address filtering). IP address IP address of the computer running this session. Screens viewed Number of FS screens viewed so far during this session. Help pages viewed Number of Help pages viewed so far during this session. Session ID Tracking number assigned by FS for each individual session. Startup page What page is displayed when a user firsts logs in. Search page What search page is displayed by default (basic, advanced, expert). Library code OCLC symbol of the library. Library group code OCLC symbol of the library group. Library state/province State in which your library is located. Does autho have ILL access? True (yes) or False (no). Is ILL enabled in Admin? True (yes) or False (no). Browser information Lists the browser name and version being used in the session. JavaScript enabled? True (yes) or False (no). Screen size Small (640 x 480), Medium (800 x 600) or Large (1024 x 768). Current database(s) The database the user is currently using. Number of selected databases Number of databases user has currently selected. Current topic area Current topic area user has selected. Number of available databases Total number of databases to which user has access. Max DBs for x-db search Maximum number of databases user can search at one time. Full text database? Is current database full text (yes/no). Full text available? Is current database full text enabled (yes/no). Thesaurus What thesaurus does the current database use. ILL supported? Is ILL supported by the current database (yes/no). Library holdings? Are library holdings linked to the current database (yes/no). Related subjects? Are related subjects turned on in the current database (yes/no). What language is set in the session? Displays the language being used in the current session: en (English), fr (French) or sp (Spanish). What is the user's e-mail address? Displays the current user's e-mail address (if known). What logo is being displayed at the bottom of the menu? Displays the URL for the logo at the bottom of the FirstSearch menu (left column).