Statewide database changes (effective July 1, 2008)

See the list of new links you should be using here

The State Library of Ohio Board has approved a request from the Libraries Connect Ohio partners (OPLIN, OhioLINK, INFOhio, and the State Library) for the first year of an intended five year Institute of Museum and Library Services LSTA grant to purchase databases for the Ohio Web Library. LCO has already been using LSTA funds for the past five years to purchase databases to enhance the basic EBSCO databases, demonstrating the efficiency of purchasing a collection of databases centrally instead of individually. The hope has been that state funding could be secured to augment or replace the LSTA funding, but that has not happened, and LCO requested an additional 5 years of LSTA funding to maintain the Ohio Web Library.

This renewed request for LSTA funding was a good opportunity to review the selection of databases in the Ohio Web Library and make changes to keep good databases at good prices in the collection. A task force of fifteen librarians and additional staff members from OPLIN, INFOhio, and OhioLINK convened this winter to select those resources that best serve the interests of the LCO community as a demonstration project in support of our long term goal to fund a broad, robust Ohio Web Library collection.

As a result of the committee's work, the selection of databases in the Ohio Web Library (what you may think of as "OPLIN" databases) will be changing a little beginning July 1. You should keep these changes in mind as you plan your database purchases and review the databases on offer through OHIONET's Public Library Database Preview.

Here is the new line-up of Ohio Web Library database purchases:

• Access Science will be replaced. Starting July 1 the Ohio Web Library will include Facts on File's Science Online instead.
• Encyclopedia Britannica will be replaced. Starting July 1 the Ohio Web Library will include World Book instead.
• Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated will be upgraded to Wilson Biography Reference Bank. American National Biography will not be continued.
• Learning Express Library will be upgraded to include the Learn2 package of computer training.
• EBSCO MasterFILE Premier, Newspaper Source, Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, Regional Business News, Student Research Center, and Consumer Health Complete will continue as before. Public libraries will also have access to NoveList through OPLIN.
• NewsBank newspaper package will continue as before.
• Oxford Reference Online Premium will continue as before.
• The ART Collection will continue as before.
• The American and English full text literature collections continue as before. (LCO actually owns this content now.)

Aside from these changes to the Ohio Web Library collection, OPLIN will no longer provide access to Ohio Capitol Connection. We plan to provide a special search of the ohio.gov domain, where many government documents are freely available, but we can no longer afford to purchase Capitol Connection. We encourage libraries to get in touch with the vendor to inquire about individual subscriptions, since the freely available documents on the web do not include much in-depth information, such as legislative staff directories. For information about subscribing to Capitol Connection (or Ohio News Wire), please contact Steve Marks, smarks@rotundainc.com, 614-227-5820. [Note: We are negotiating with the vendors to be able to continue sending a limited number of copies of the Hannah Report and the Gongwer Ohio Report to libraries by email.]

If you have any questions about the changes to the databases, please contact OPLIN Support: