Public

LIS has received several reports in recent weeks from users of the Datatel system performing slower than normal. Other Datatel clients have reported the problem to Datatel on AnswerNet and on the Datatel forums. We believe the issues are from infrastructure changes that Datatel is making in preparation for the next version (4.0) of the Datatel User Interface. There has not been any indication that Datatel will put resources into resolving the performance issues on our current version, Datatel UI 2.3.

A concern highlighted in our most recent round of usability testing was the disruption of having to search for the LIS site’s login option when trying to access protected content from a link elsewhere on the site or in an email.

Now, when users attempt to access protected content without already being logged in, they will be directly prompted for their Norse Key login. New visitors to the site who have a valid Norse Key will also be able to login at this point.

Thanks again to all of our usability testing participants for their insightful observations!

Full text of the proclamation (available here ).

Every day, we are inundated with vast amounts of information. A 24-hour news cycle and thousands of global television and radio networks, coupled with an immense array of online resources, have challenged our long-held perceptions of information management. Rather than merely possessing data, we must also learn the skills necessary to acquire, collate, and evaluate information for any situation.

LexisNexis Academic is now available to our users. This database provides full-text access to over 6,000 business, legal and news sources from around the world.

You can find LNA at this link:
http://proxy.luther.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnac... or by searching Encore and Magnus. It is also listed on the Library Research page in the “by Resource Type” pulldown menu under Newspapers and Current News.

As a result of this new subscription we have retired our subscription to Westlaw Campus Research.

The following updates were made to the LIS website over the past week:

• Patches applied to Illiad server OS.
• Upgrades to core and supplementary Drupal modules.
• Added ability to stream local audio (see 40 years ago for an example)

Hoa Nguyen, an outstanding former LIS student worker and 2003 Luther grad, is currently in jail in Elk River, MN after missing a court date regarding her immigration status. She may be deported to Vietnam within two weeks. Hoa married Luther grad Dan Hanson last fall in Minneapolis, and traveled to Vietnam for a marriage ceremony with Hoa’s family in 2009, but was stopped by immigration officials upon her return due to Hoa’s change in immigration status.

In order to make This Week in LIS as useful as we can, LIS has issued a brief survey to recipients asking for their thoughts. Subscribers are encouraged to complete the survey (it shouldn’t take very long). Subscription information and more information about this weekly email newsletter from LIS is available at http://lis.luther.edu/twilis.

LIBRARY PROFESSIONAL STAFF MEETING

September 28, 2009, 9:15 a.m., Hovde

Present: Chris, Andi, Ryan, John, Jane, Lindy, Germano, Rebecca, Rachel.

Loyal Rue came at the beginning of the meeting and spoke on the Film and Visual Media Studies minor proposal. He addressed concerns and sought support from LIS. Discussion followed after he left with the decision Jane would send a written note supporting this.

Andi led discussion on the senior paper/project and library instruction.

Documentation for remote access options has been updated and is available for your reading pleasure.

Citrix – Can be used from your home or office computer through an Internet browser. It uses the applications installed on the Citrix server. See http://lis.luther.edu/learn/citrix.

VPN – Luther’s Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a tool that allows use to access a network share (such as a T drive or your H drive) through an Internet browser. Go to https://vpn.luther.edu and log in using your Norse Key.

Headline of the Week: Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall

Be still sad heart and cease repining;
Behind the clouds the sun is shining,
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life a little rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

   — (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

I’ll admit I’m something of an information junkie (big surprise there I know). Going a few hours without the news feed reader can make me start twitching.