The Access PA News will be going on haitus for the months of June, July and August, with publication resuming in September.

The Access Pennsylvania will continue to work through the summer to make improvements to all systems and services. Special announcements will be posted during the summer months when necessary, and all postings will be available on the Access PA web site.

Please continue to contact Access Pennsylvania via email at support@hslc.org with any questions.

CONTENTdm

Access PA manages a statewide digitization service on behalf of Commonwealth Libraries using the CONTENTdm software product licensed through OCLC. The service permits the storage and retrieval of digitized collections created by libraries and other entities located throughout Pennsylvania. Primary focus is on collections of interest to the citizens of Pennsylvania. In cooperation with other Pennsylvania agencies including Commonwealth Libraries, PALINET and PALCI, HSLC/Access PA is working toward a unified approach to digitization in Pennsylvania. Commonwealth Libraries has produced a draft Statewide CONTENTdm Guidelines document and a draft Statewide CONTENTdm Application form. Both documents are now available on the Access PA web site on the Information for Libraries page, and comments on the CONTENTdm Guidelines document are welcome. Inquiries and applications are also invited.

Online Registration for Access PA Database Fall 2006 Training

Online Registration for the Access Pennsylvania Database Fall 2006 training continues. For a complete list of training sessions, click on the link labeled Access Pennsylvania Database Fall 2006 Training, located on the home page of the Access Pennsylvania Database web site (http://www.accesspa.state.pa.us).

The Access Pennsylvania Database Fall 2006 training sessions will consist of 3 all-day Beginner sessions and 20 all-day Refresher sessions, with continental breakfast and lunch provided, FREE OF CHARGE. Sign-in will begin at 8:15am, with all sessions beginning promptly at 9am and ending at 3pm. It is recommended that librarians and support staff that have never received formal training attend a Beginner session which will cover only Access Pennsylvania Database systems (and will not include POWER Library). The Refresher sessions are for experienced users and will include an update on the Access Pennsylvania Database systems in the morning and an update on POWER Library in the afternoon. You must attend both the morning and afternoon parts of the Refresher training session.

School librarians attending either a full-day Beginner or full-day Refresher session will be eligible to receive Act 48 credit. You must attend for the full day in either case to receive any Act 48 credit (i.e. there is no credit for partial attendance, and you may not share attendance with another staff member.) Public librarians and others should contact their library administration to determine how to report their continuing education activity.

Once you have decided on a session, click on the links labelled Click Here for Training Registration. Make sure to read the instructions provided on each page of the Registration program as you move through the process. Keep in mind that the deadline for registering is one week before the scheduled class, however space is limited and seats will be filled on a first come basis.

Libraries that have the Millennium system, either directly from Innovative Interfaces, or through Access PA, have the circulation status of their holdings displayed in the Access PA catalog. For example, connect to the catalog and select the NEIU (northeast) region (Susquehanna, Lackawanna, and Wayne counties). Click on PUBLIC LIBRARIES. Search the title, The Da Vinci Code. Click on the first of the three results and select the book. It will indicate that 5 libraries (i.e., public libraries in the region) hold the title. Click on 5 ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA DATABASE LIBRARIES have this item. You will see the circulation status (including holds information) displayed in the catalog for the Susquehanna Co. library system's copies of the book.

If your library uses the annual full file replacement method to keep your library's holdings updated, you know that the file(s) that are FTPed to Brodart must include your library's 6-character Brodart Book Vendor Code. The Access PA Participant Directory includes the 6-character Brodart Book Vendor Code of each library.

To locate your library's 6-character Brodart Book Vendor Code, visit the Access PA Database website and click on the link labeled Information for Libraries. Along the left-hand side of the resulting page you will see a link labeled Participant Dir. You may search for your library's listing by name or 5-character III-VDX code.