To verify your version number, go to Help on the software toolbar and choose About OCLC Connexion Client. For more information about client 1.60 and to download the software, please see www.oclc.org/connexion/interface/client/enhancements/recent.htm.

Please note: If you use the Web-based Connexion browser interface, you can ignore this message. This applies only to users of the Windows-based Connexion client software.

The focus of the new BCR Web site is you, our users. A BCR Web Usability Group composed of staff from member libraries guided us in the redesign. The new site reflects their requests for more ease of use and better navigation. Find everything that's already available on the current Web site, but find it easier and faster.

Check it out. Here's what you will find:

• Dropdown menus are available at the top of every page, making it easy to get from one page to another and always know just where you are.
• Menus down the left-hand side of the page make navigation through each section fast and easy.
• BCR's address and phone numbers are readily accessible at the bottom of every page.
• Help boxes with staff photos and e-mail addresses top most pages so you know immediately who to contact with questions and how to get hold of them.
• Still stumped? Check out the Stumped? box in the bottom left-hand corner of each page. Ask a question or make a suggestion about how we can make the Web site even better. We'll get back to you as quickly as we can.

A new feature is the Member Library Focus on the front page. Each time you return to the front page, the photo of a different BCR member library rotates through. We would like your library to join the rotation. Please send an electronic photo of your library to Lisa Holmberg at lholmber@bcr.org. Include the name of the library, your institution and the city and state in which it is located.

BioOne earlier completed a retrospective assignment of Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) and deposit of those DOIs with the CrossRef system for each full-text item in the service. As part of this project, BioOne implemented Forward Linking to other articles — both inside and outside of the BioOne service — that reference the articles in the database. The combination of improved reference linking and Forward Linking is anticipated to enhance the usability of articles and searchers' ability to find articles in the BioOne service.

In principle, Forward Linking is similar to reference linking. However, rather than pointing to articles that were referenced or citations to previous work, Forward Linking provides links outward to articles published after the article currently being read, and which have cited the article the user found. The link to articles citing a particular article is available on each of the article full-text pages by selecting See Articles Citing This Article in the Contents box to the right of the article text screen.

This enhanced functionality is provided to publishers and users at no charge. BioOne is absorbing the fees on behalf of participating publishers for deposit and registration of the DOIs. In addition, BioOne provides the setup and coordination fees for the Forward Linking program centrally. Management of the DOI service is provided by participation in CrossRef, a nonprofit industry organization that provides the infrastructure for assignment and coordination of reference linking.

For further information on joining the BCR BioOne group subscription, contact Laura Chittivej (lchittiv@bcr.org).

Spell Checker is especially helpful with searches for the name of a person or company. Even the latest names in the news, and far-flung people, places, corporations, slang and jargon are referenced. Clicking on the Spell Checker suggestion launches an automatic search.

Spell Checker makes for a more user-friendly interface, ensuring results for all searchers. The new feature is especially helpful for users whose primary language is not English.

Questions? Contact BCR's Karen Graham, kgraham@bcr.org.

Current Issues: Reference Shelf Plus builds on the convenience and accessibility of the popular Reference Shelf book series. Free 30-day trials will be available to reviewers and librarians. For pricing information or to order, contact BCR's Karen Graham (kgraham@bcr.org). For more information on the database itself, visit www.hwwilson.com/refplus/.

Issues covered in Current Issues: Reference Shelf Plus are selected to meet the needs of school and university researchers, and reflect modern concerns and controversies. Users are presented with 30-plus articles per topic from respected magazines and journals. Feature articles, editorials, scholarly papers and more are included. Authoritative Web sites are highlighted, including links to primary sources. The database also links to relevant biographies from the acclaimed Wilson biographical reference Current Biography.

Current Issues: Reference Shelf Plus will cover some 80 topics by year-end — global climate change, torture, physical fitness trends, doping in sports, ethics in business, globalization, HIV/AIDS, homeland security, immigration and emigration, international disaster relief, the Internet, the paranormal, space exploration, U.S. and the Middle East, youth gangs and many more. It will grow by 20 topics each year thereafter. The database will also cover the topic of the National High School Policy Debate each year.

• Historic Documents online (the entire series 1972–2005)
• Congress & the Nation (the entire series 1945-2004)
• Washington Information Directory
• Politics in America
• Political Handbook of the World
• Vital Statistics on American Politics
• Supreme Court Yearbook

The Political Reference Suite treats the books as a single, cross-searchable resource. Librarians can limit searches to specific title(s) or search the spectrum. Each title features Intelligent Browsing tools that allow for each unique online edition to be searched by information type and not limited to a keyword search.

Sign up for the trial.

If you have questions or would like a quote, please send an e-mail message to BCR's Lisa Holmberg, lholmber@bcr.org

Flash Chat is a way of interacting with patrons that closely emulates the face-to-face, in-person reference interview. The Flash Chat Quick Reference and the online Help describe how to utilize Flash Chat for maximum effectiveness. The Reports in Ask Quick Reference documents the administrator reports available to librarians who utilize the Ask a Librarian module. The Administrator Setup Guide provides all the information needed by the administrator of a library or a library group preparing to use the QuestionPoint service.

To access the QuestionPoint Documentation page, click the Documentation link on the right side of the My QuestionPoint page (My QuestionPoint is the starting point for every QuestionPoint session). Or, click the Documentation link on the support page at www.questionpoint.org/.

Contact BCR's Regan Harper, rharper@bcr.org, for more information.

BCR's discounts are offered in cooperation with Information Today, Inc. Staff from BCR member libraries may attend using BCR's group registration rate of $245 (regular price is $399) for the three-day event. Also available are discount prices of $169 (regularly $199) for the Internet@Schools conference and $275 (actual price is $429) for the Internet Librarian general conference/Internet@Schools combo package. No discount rates are available for pre- or post-conference events.

For more information about the conference see Information Today's Web site: www.infotoday.com/il2006/. A PDF registration form can also be found there. Please do not register online. This could prevent you from receiving your BCR discount rates.

The main attraction of the new site is the WorldCat search box. Web users can now search the entire WorldCat database with the method most familiar to them: simple keywords. As in Open WorldCat, each linked result leads to a Find in a Library information page. From there, users can enter geographic information such as a zip code or other postal code, receive a list of nearby libraries that own the item and link directly to a library's online catalog record to initiate circulation activity or access electronic content. Users can also create their own WorldCat account and add book reviews, table-of-contents information and notes to many WorldCat items, helping to personalize their library search experience.

However, for a user to be directed back to your library, your library must have a current subscription to the WorldCat database on OCLC FirstSearch. Your library's holdings must also be maintained on the cataloging side of OCLC. There are no additional charges for WorldCat.org.

From WorldCat.org, Web individual users or staff at organizations can easily download and install the free, WorldCat search box to their respective personal or commercial Web pages, allowing even more people to discover library content through WorldCat. Libraries and other groups inside and outside the OCLC cooperative are encouraged to add the box to their Web sites. We believe that sharing the ability to search for library materials to as many other sites as possible will help increase the awareness of libraries as primary sources of reliable information and helpful personal assistance.

To try the new WorldCat search box and download the box to your own Web site, visit the site at worldcat.org/.

Heather Clark, BCR member services librarian, is conducting a special information session on the new WorldCat.org interface from OCLC. Join her on August 25, 2006, from 1-2 pm MST to find out just how this FREE interface can be used to search WorldCat for anyone with an Internet connection. WorldCat.org is an exciting development that will make library collections more broadly accessible on the World Wide Web. Features include "FRBRized" results displays, user contributed reviews and a downloadable search box you can add to your library pages. Clark will review the details and test out the functionality in this free session in the interactive BCR WebLive classroom.

Contact BCR's Heather Clark at hclark@bcr.org for more information.

• Export in CatExpress now works the same as export on the Connexion browser Cataloging tab, with files being retained for 30 days after download.


• CatExpress subscribers can use Export options in Preferences to set a default file name for export files and to choose to compile export files by institution symbol or by individual authorization number. All other cataloging users retain the full range of Export options.


• You now can use $t and $k in field 852 and field 526 when editing your records.


• You now are taken directly back to the search screen after a successful Save to Catalog action.

• Users can now link directly to the administrative module from WorldCat Resource Sharing to edit ILL settings.

• Persistence of Constant Data is now optional.

• Users now have the ability to link by ISSN to a local e-serials database to FirstSearch serials records and other print serial records.

• The administrative module has been rebranded "WorldCat Services Administrative Module," and the label linking to the “ILL Policies Directory” has been changed to “Policies Directory.”

Representatives from the delivery industry will provide an overview of industry trends, veterans of the RFP and contracting process will provide tips, participants will explore different funding models for sustainability, and innovators will talk about their cutting edge solutions. In addition to formal presentations, there will be ample time for group discussion on creating best practices and possibly experimenting with linking existing regional couriers into larger delivery networks. The conference conveners hope to publish a monograph through ASCLA after the ymposium that includes articles based on the presentations and outcomes from the meeting.

Register now at the symposium Web site: www.clicweb.org/couriersymposium/ and pay with either a credit card or follow up with a check. A link for online hotel registration is also available from the site.

For more information, contact Valerie Horton, CLiC executive director, at vhorton@clicweb.org or see the CLiC Web site at www.clicweb.org/couriersymposium/.

The workshop topics to be covered are as follows:

• Day 1: Understanding users and usage
• Day 2: Practical collection and repository management
• Day 3: Gluing systems together to make your collections accessible

For more information on the sessions to be held each day, go to www.niso.org/news/events_workshops/Collections-06-wkshp.html. You will also find a link to the registration form there.

Scheduled speakers include:

• Marshall Breeding, director for Innovative Technologies and Research for the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University
• Denise M. Davis, director, Office for Research & Statistics, American Library Association
• Peter Shepherd, project director, Project COUNTER
• Adam Chandler, information technology librvice president, EBSCO Information Services
• Herbert von de Sompel, Digital Library Research & Prototyping, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Research Library
• Karen Coyle, Digital Library Consultant
• Mike Teets, vice president, OCLC Global Product Architecture

This will be an interactive workshop and attendance is limited to 120 participants. Early registration is encouraged.