NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2011-2

FEATURED RESOURCE

Many accomplished information seekers have long known the breadth and depth of information available through the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). For decades, though, the difficulty of navigating that complex, even arcane information world proved at best daunting. In the mid-1990s, GPO launched GPO Access as the first step in expanding its mission to provide electronic access to Federal Government information (ever wonder how many hours per year a particular type of aircraft engine is run in U.S.?). GPO has now begun to roll-out its second generation system known as F-Dsys (and, yes, NOTES does know what it stands for ~ Federal Digital System) with completion scheduled for mid-2011. Here are some key enhancements:

• Easily search across multiple publications or collections of Government publications from a single search box.

• Perform an advanced search against robust metadata about each publication from a single advanced search page.

• Construct complex search queries using advanced Boolean and field operators.

• Refine and narrow searches by applying filters, sorting search results, and searching within search results.

• Retrieve individual Government documents and publications in seconds directly from each search result.

• View more information about a publication and access multiple file formats from a “More Information” Web page that is available from each search result.

• Access metadata or information about Government publications in standard formats such as MODS and PREMIS.

• Download content and metadata packaged together as a single ZIP file.

• Browse for a specific Government publications and browse within the publication using its table of contents.

• Utilize enhanced help options including context specific field level help and a searchable online help system

To learn more about F-Dsys visit http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/home.action.
BROWN BAG BOOK TALKS

Well, if you weren’t in Special Collections, 12:30 to 1:30 on last Tuesday, you missed it!! Yep, you missed Ramsey Library’s first Brown Bag Book Talk of the spring semester and the chance to hear Dan Pierce wax poetic on “The Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France.” Not only did you miss Dan’s (of History Channel fame!) presentation, but you’ll never know if white lightning was really served.

It’s not too late, however, for the second talk of the semester. Please join us and encourage your students to participate in Laura Hope-Gill’s poetry reading and slide show “The Soul Tree: Poems and Photographs of the Southern Appalachians,” Ramsey Library Whitman Room, 12:30 – 1:30, Tuesday, February 8.

Visit the full schedule at http://toto.lib.unca.edu/programs/brownbag.htm
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