Word on the Street

Scheduled Maintenance - October 17th

2009-10-14T15:30:00-04:00

A reminder that we'll be performing scheduled maintenance on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM EDT/GMT-5.

We do not expect any disruptions to your service, but please note the work schedule above. If you experience persistent problems during this time, or any issues after our scheduled maintenance window, please email Customer Support.

Updates to The American Civil War Research Database®

2009-10-14T12:25:39-04:00

Already named the "Best Reference Database of 2008" by Library Journal, The American Civil War Research Database® has been updated with 100,000 new data points!

New data recently added to the online collection include:

8,000 soldiers' date or year of birth
4,500 soldiers' birth place
10,500 soldiers' post war date or year of death
15,000 soldiers' burial location
tens of thousands of other new data details about individuals, regiments, and battles
330 new regimental histories
1,200 new soldiers' photographs

You can learn more about the entire collection and other Civil War collections on our Web site. To request a free trial or pricing information for your library, please email sales@alexanderstreet.com.

New content added to Women and Social Movements

2009-10-13T13:54:33-04:00

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 has been updated with a new document project, document archive, and review essays devoted to women and social movements in Canada. The collection now includes 92 document projects/archives with more than 3,600 documents and 150,000 pages of additional full-text documents, and more than 2,060 primary authors.

Additionally, the Scholar's Edition has been updated with the final release of Commissions on the Status of Women between 1961 and 2005. The Scholar's Edition now includes over 90,000 pages of publications by local, state, and federal commissions.

Women and Social Movements in the United States is available to libraries and academic institutions through annual subscription or one-time purchase of perpetual rights. To request a free trial or price quote, email sales@alexanderstreet.com.

(This graph appears in Women and Social Movements in the US: Scholar's Edition)

Open access to American History in Video

2009-10-07T15:02:38-04:00

After receiving rave reviews of American History in Video from Library Journal and CHOICE, we've decided to open up access through November 15th. Freely access the entire collection now at http://ahivfree.alexanderstreet.com.

Since launching in April, American History in Video has grown to include more than 1,500 titles and 500 hours. It will continue to grow to include more than 5,000 complete titles and 2,000 hours of rare newsreels and important documentaries from leading producers such as PBS, The History Channel®, Bullfrog Films, and California Newsreel.

American History in Video is available to libraries world-wide via outright purchase of perpetual rights or annual subscription. All orders received by December 31, 2009 will be billed at the 2009 subscription rates.

If your library would like to request a price quote or extended trial access, please email sales@alexanderstreet.com.

I Love My Librarian

2009-09-24T17:20:19-04:00

There is still time to nominate your librarian for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York/New York Times I Love My Librarian Award.

Nominations will run through October 9 and are being accepted online at http://www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian.

Nominate a librarian in one of three categories: public librarians; school library media specialists; or college, community college, or university librarians. Up to ten librarians will be honored. Each will receive $5,000 and be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by The New York Times at TheTimesCenter in December 2009.

Free trial access during Hispanic Heritage Month

2009-09-10T16:30:46-04:00

In conjunction with Cheryl LaGuardia's e-Views blog on LibraryJournal.com, we are offering free trial access to three of our online collections during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 - Oct. 15).

Enjoy unlimited access to:

Caribbean Literature
Latin American Women Writers
Latino Literature

For access information and login credentials, visit the e-Views blog today.

Library Journal raves over American History in Video

2009-08-26T12:00:55-04:00

Forgive us for boasting, but we wanted to share the Library Journal review of American History in Video. Already hugely popular among librarians, students, and academics, American History in Video is winning over reviewers as well.

“Based on content, design, and price, this product is a solid ten. It tops any other similarly themed resource in its field and, at this price, is an amazing deal. . . . This is a product I wish every library in the United States could make accessible to its researchers, from elementary-school children to history scholars, and everybody in between. Resoundingly recommended.”—Library Journal

You can read the entire review on Library Journal's Web site.

And for those of you who already subscribe, American History in Video just got even better! We recently added 70 new videos, including PBS documentaries Summer of Love, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, and Huey Long.

If you'd like more information, including a price quote for your library, please email us at sales@alexanderstreet.com.

Scheduled maintenance - Thursday, August 20th

2009-08-11T10:30:00-04:00

On Thursday, August 20, 2009, we will be performing scheduled maintenance on all Alexander Street collections. Services may be disrupted sporadically between the hours of 9:00 PM and 3:00 AM EDT / GMT-5.
Please note that maintenance WILL NOT be occurring on August 13th, as previously announced in the July edition of the Product Updates Bulletin. Please adjust your calendars and schedules accordingly.
We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this maintenance may cause. If you have any questions prior to maintenance, or if you experience access problems after the times listed above, please contact Customer Support.
If you are the technical contact at your library and would like to receive email notifications about future service interruptions, please sign up here.

Bookmarks are here

2009-08-10T11:23:06-04:00

Looking for physical marketing tools to publicize your electronic resources? Try our new customizable bookmarks for your Alexander Street online collections.
Bookmarks are great reminders for library patrons that there is a whole world of electronic resources available to them. And in many cases, these resources are available from home.
Each bookmark can be customized with your library or institution name, and detailed instructions for patrons wishing to access your online collections from a home computer. The editable regions can be customized using Adobe Reader.

To see a complete list of available bookmarks, and to download the customizable PDF files, visit http://alexanderstreet.com/resources/bookmarks.htm. We're adding new bookmarks all the time, so be sure to check periodically.
If you don't see a bookmark for a particular collection, or if you have any questions, please contact us.

Search widgets for libraries

2009-08-06T13:11:17-04:00

We're working on several new marketing tools to support libraries and help boost usage. Just released are the embeddable search widgets for select Alexander Street collections.

The embeddable search widgets provide a great way to publicize your online collections, while also allowing your library patrons to quickly search the collection from any page on the Web. Embedding the widget is as simple as copying a few lines of code and pasting it into the HTML code of your Web page or blog. If you're an experienced HTML user, you can customize the widget to match your page's theme. Take a look at The University of Pennsylvania's Music Library Web page for an example of a customized Music Online search widget.

Below is an example of the American History in Video widget.

Alexander Street Press: American History in Video

Search hundreds of hours of newsreels and documentaries in streaming video

Please note, that this particular widget is set up to authorize you based on your IP address. If you are not a subscriber to American History in Video, or if you are outside of your subscribing library's IP range, access will be denied. To enable access from off campus, you'll need to amend the URL in the HTML code with your proxy prefix.
Detailed instructions and HTML code for the embeddable search widgets can be found at http://alexanderstreet.com/resources/widgets.htm.