What’s happening in the library?

Last spring I publicized the National Library (NLB) as a general resource and, in particular, the wide selection of online subscription databases available through the NLB for anyone living in Singapore — whether they had paid to join the National Library or not. We subsequently signed up a lot of our Grade 11 students — in anticipation of them doing Extended Essay research this year in Grade 12.

Unfortunately... over the summer the NLB changed their membership policy. Now foreigners have no option but to pay for Premium Membership (which costs S$ 52.50 to sign up for — and then S$42.50 per subsequent year) to get any book borrowing or digital library privileges.

The good news is that everyone who signed up for FREE digital library membership before the summer is still signed up.

The other good news is that the NLB has improved their search interface. There is a nifty beta release of a one-stop-shopping-search interface. From the eResources tab on the top of their screen, select eSearch & Browse beta (or just click on the words here). Then select eDatabases.You now have the option of entering one phrase and having ALL databases (or all databases in one field) searched.

Give it a try. Go to eSearch & Browse beta — and use this login: max1989 — with the password the very same.

(No, I do not feel guilty telling you to do this — the NLB digital library manager came to the last Singapore international school librarian networking meeting and we complained about the change in policy over the summer — and he professed surprise that it was ever possible to become a Digital Library Member without having paid for any foreign membership. So I sent him this login name/password as proof. Max is my son who is one of those who has never paid for library membership and signed up for the digital library resources last spring. He’s no longer living in Singapore — yet his account is still valid even, after I told the NLB about it, so I see no reason why you shouldn’t use it to check out the NLB Digital Library holdings…)

For example, try entering a search string, e.g., “united world college” (in quotes) — and tick ALL databases to be searched AND select Keyword searches to be used. You can then watch as it collects results in various databases. Wait for the complete list of results to be displayed — then note how it clusters results by sub-topics on the left. (Sorry for the slightly truncated image below… but you get the idea…)

(Did you know Montezuma Castle, the main building of the UWC in New Mexico, hosts a ghost — an opera diva who was a guest at the then-hotel in the 1880s?)

NB: If you try accessing the Digital Resources, but keep getting bumped back to the NLB home page, it probably means they’re doing maintenance. This sometimes happens. Try again later…. And don’t hesitate to come ask me for help if you’re having trouble getting this all to work.