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OPAL Updates and Tips

OPAL Update October 30, 2020

by Heidi Beke-Harrigan on 2020-11-04T20:14:00-05:00 in Communities of Interest (COIs), EBC, EBSCO, EDS, Full text finder, OCLC, Sierra | 0 Comments

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Plan for the Second Half of Your Fall Semester

Several OPAL libraries have indicated a planned switch to remote learning during the latter part of the semester (Thanksgiving-January). It's not too early to think about your library's plans and how that will affect circulation and notices in terms of due dates, fines etc. There are a variety of approaches available, from manually changing and extending due dates to adjusting the hours open/days closed table or changing loan rules. The best solution for your institution will depend on the complexity of your loan rules, auto-renewal status, maximum renewals allowed and other factors. Please reach out to opalhelp@ohionet.org if you have questions or would like to discuss options.

This is also a good time to make sure that your current hours open/days closed information is correct into the new year and make any updates.

OhioLINK is also asking you to submit the dates your library will be closed for holidays or winter break through their service form

Please include Veterans Day (Nov 11) and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Jan 18). You only need to submit one ticket for all dates. 


Quick Start Guide to New EBSCO EDS

If you are curious about some of the upcoming features and functionality of the new EDS interface, the Quick Start Guide provides details and a closer look.

EBSCO has also just launched a new training portal called EBSCO Academy eLearning that is accessible from within EBSCOConnect. This will replace the existing wiki and provide an integrated learning portal across EBSCO products and services.


Circulation COI Update

The Circulation COI held their fall meeting recently. Check out the Circulation COI page for a summary. Thanks to Collette Knight (Defiance) for editing the student manuals to meet accessibility standards and updating the Cleanup Instructions (In Transit & Returned Too Long) on the OPALCirc webpage and to Laura D'Amato (Mount Union) for helping update the information on the onboarding page. 

Please remember to update the COVID-19 spreadsheet if you have any changes such as campus or library status, building access or quarantine times. The spring meeting will be held April 21, 2021.


New EBC Knowledge Base Package for Holdings Management

The knowledge base package for the new EBC is now ready to select in EBSCO’s Holdings Management. Look for Electronic Book Center (OhioLINK). To maintain access to all EBC content in Full-Text Finder, your library should keep both the old and the new EBC knowledge base packages enabled as OhioLINK continues to transition to the new EBC platform.

With e-book usage up, just a reminder that the OhioLINK Ostaff pages contain important information about active and inactive e-book packages such as title lists, package history, access information and terms of use (including ILL). Inactive packages are those to which new content is not being added, but content may still be accessible according to the terms of each contract.

Similar information is also available for databases and e-journals. Explore all the details on the Ostaff Electronic Holdings page (log-in required).


New Innovative Training Portal

Innovative has launched a comprehensive training and support libguide, which provides access to training videos, webinars, documentation, Supportal, the Idea Lab and more all in one place. No more hunting the obscure corners of Innovative's website to find these things!


Moving Toward EBSCO Automated Record Loading via OCLC Collection Manager

For some time now the presence of older NetLibrary collections (OhioLINK and indivdually purchased) in the shared catalog have affected our ability to make full use of the automated EBSCO record delivery possible through OCLC Collection Manager. As a result, anyone purchasing individual e-books from EBSCO has had to manually catalog those. We have begun the process of working with individual institutions to enable record loading and fix EBSCO feeds. This involves significant catalog clean-up, along with the careful evaluation of records for each affected institution. Please continue to catalog individually purchased EBSCO titles manually until we contact you and work through the remediation process.

If you anticipate adding any new collections to the catalog or decide to purchase individual e-resource titles from a vendor, please contact opalhelp@ohionet.org to develop a workflow and record delivery plan. Details about OPAL record loading can be found on the support page. 


Display Your Holdings Embargo Information in EBSCO Full-Text Finder

If embargo information isn't currently showing up with your holdings details in Full-Text Finder, this is a customization that you can request from EBSCO to provide clarification to users.


Nexis Uni Security Certificate Warnings

If you receive a security warning when accessing Nexis Uni through EZproxy, please ensure that the originating product URL that you have for Nexis Uni is: http://www.nexisuni.com not https://www.nexisuni.com. Places to check include your database A-Z list, libguides, website etc.


Meetings, Events & Resources:



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