Information Technology Services
Penn State’s
Course
Management
System,
ANGEL 6.0:
Library Tools in
ANGEL
ITS Training Services
23 Willard Building
University Park, PA 16802
seminars@psu.edu
http://its.psu.edu/training/
October, 2004
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Table of Contents
Objectives ......................................................................................................................2
Introduction ....................................................................................................................3
Custom Library Guides ..................................................................................................4
Library Reserves ............................................................................................................6
Ask A Librarian .............................................................................................................8
Objectives

Learn about the custom library guide and linking resources

Learn how to connect electronic reserves to your ANGEL course

Learn about library services connected to your ANGEL course
Library Tools in ANGEL
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Introduction
The ANGEL library tools ensure that students have access to appropriate library resources at
their fingertips, where and when they need it. Students always see a Tools tab in their ANGEL
courses. Once they click on this tab, there is a section for Library Tools. Students can come to
count on finding and using the library tools in each course to identify appropriate information
sources. Because of the integration of library resources directly into ANGEL, students will be
less frustrated when searching for information, and more likely to use appropriate scholarly
resources for their assignments.
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Custom Library Guides
This tool connects the student to appropriate library resources.
Librarians at Penn State are subject specialists with responsibilities in collection development,
instruction, reference, liaison to related departments, and are most familiar with the library
resources in their subject areas. The ANGEL Custom Library Guides allow the librarians to
create guides to library resources (appropriate databases, print and online reference resources,
and web sites) that pertain to a particular course and/or department and make them automatically
available to the students through the course via ANGEL. Because students find the customized
library guides on the Tools menu for each course, they can rely on finding their library guide in a
consistent location in ANGEL. They also will begin to see that there are specialized resources
for every subject.
The librarian has the option of linking an entire department (e.g. Dairy & Animal Science, Civil
Engineering, Anthropology, or Music) to a subject guide, or of creating a specific course guide
(e.g. History of Art Education, Communication Skills for Management or Crystal Chemistry).
Our goal is to provide an appropriate library guide for every department. You can request a
specialized guide for your course from your subject specialist librarian if the department guide is
not sufficient. Contact your librarian or email angel_guides@psulias.psu.edu.
What’s in a Library Guide?
Resources appropriate to the subject area are linked from the guide. Guides often include a
section on finding books and articles, as well as library research tips and the contact information
for the specialist librarian. Specialized resources appropriate to the subject are added as needed.
The links from the guides take students directly to the resource without having to navigate
through the complex library web pages. Many library resources now contain online full-text
which enables the student to complete much of their research from their personal computer.
Modifying your Guides
1. Log on to http://cms.psu.edu/ and navigate to your course.
2. Select the Tools tab.
3. Select the Custom Library Guides link under the Library Tools subheading to view the
Custom Library Guide Tool.
4. If a default guide has been created for your department (e.g., Dairy & Animal Science),
you will see a link for the guide. Select it to see a student view of the guide. If no guide
has been created for your department, you may see a campus level guide.
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5. If no guide has been created yet, then no link will be visible. Request a guide by
contacting your librarian or emailing angel_guides@psulias.psu.edu.
6. You can hide a subject guide by clicking the Hide button to its left in the Custom Library
Guide Tool.
7. To re-link a guide, click Show Related Guides in the toolbar and select the Link button
next to the desired guide or click the Unhide button at the top of the list to relink the
guide designated by the librarian as most appropriate. Only one guide can be linked to a
course at one time.
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Library Reserves
This tool makes library course reserves immediately available through a dynamic link to the
online catalog. It is specific to the individual course and must be activated by the course
instructor as listed with the Registrar.
Students appreciate the consolidation of all the resources for a course into one virtual place.
Every extra step they need to do in order to find information for a course becomes an annoyance.
To find reserve readings without using ANGEL, students have to go to the library web site, enter
the online catalog, sign on to the system (authenticate), enter the reserves module, and search for
their course by course number or instructor name. This presents multiple opportunities for failure
and could result in the inability to locate reserve materials. The Reserves Tool in the ANGEL
Library Tools was designed to remove these steps.
Once it has been activated, the student will see a Library Reserves link in the Library Tools
section. When the student clicks on the link, they are presented with a list of their library
reserves. In most cases the links are to online reserve materials that can include full-text, music
and other formats. In some cases there may be a listing of print items that they still need to be
retrieved in the library.
If you put a new item on reserve through the library, it will immediately show up in the reserve
list generated for students.
Creating your Library Reserves Link
Both faculty and students must be registered with the Library to access reserves through ANGEL.
Only the instructor listed with the Registrar can activate the reserves link in ANGEL.
1. Place your materials on reserve with the Library (for University Park see the form at:
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/tas/reserve/ereservesform.htm, for other campus locations contact the
campus library).
2. Confirm that your reserves are available by checking your list in The CAT (search in the course
reserves module by your name or course number).
3. Log on to http://cms.psu.edu/ and navigate to your course. If not already activated, Activate your
ANGEL course.
4. Activate your reserves link in ANGEL. From within the course:
a. Select the Tools tab.
b. Under Library Tools, select Library Reserves.
c. Select Activate to create the link.
d. Select Preview Activated Link to ensure that the link is correct.
5. Repeat this process for each section of any course with multiple sections.
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6. You will only need to activate your course and reserves link once each semester. Reserves added to
your list after you have activated your ANGEL reserves link will automatically be available through
the ANGEL Library Reserves link after processing is complete.
Problems activating your reserve link?
Common Problem - Instructor ID
Only the instructor listed with the Registrar can activate the reserves link in ANGEL.
Occasionally, a reserve link will fail because of incorrect information in the Instructor ID field
in the course General Settings. To correct this, go the General Settings Manager for your
course section and check the Instructor ID field. The field should contain your Access User
ID in all caps.
Common Problem - Some students unable to access course reserves, but others can.
Both faculty and students must be registered with the Library to access reserves through
ANGEL. Each student needs to be registered with the libraries or the course reserves link will
not work for them. Students may register with the Libraries by presenting a valid Penn State ID
and completing a registration card at any Library Lending Desk.
For additional help - Contact angel_reserv@psulias.psu.edu. Please include your Name, Access
ID and Course Number.
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Ask a Librarian
This tool connects the student directly to help in the library.
The Ask a Librarian link is always available for the students to use under their Library Tools
section. It connects them to the libraries ASK! Service (http://ask.libraries.psu.edu), where they
can ask questions about any library research via real-time chat or through e-mail. They can also
see a list of phone numbers and locations of the different Penn State Libraries if they prefer that
mode of access.
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