Introduction
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What is Thomson Gale PowerSearch
Features and new design revisions
Advantages of PowerSearch
What are the changes to customers?
How/when this will affect users
What will the new interface/menu look like
Questions & answers
Thomson Gale PowerSearch
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Introduction
Thomson Gale™, a part of The Thomson Corporation, is pleased to
announce a new technology platform that is transforming the way
library users access, find, assimilate, and manage information.
• Our improved delivery platform was developed according to
information gathered from customers.
• Our product development and technology teams discovered that
librarians and users were looking for several ways to improve the
access and research process.
• The future of Thomson Gale’s online products lies with a
complete merger of user interfaces into one single platform with a simple, common look and feel.
Thomson Gale PowerSearch
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What is Thomson Gale PowerSearch?
• Thomson Gale PowerSearch is Thomson Gale’s new superpowered search engine
• Cross-searching capabilities will allow users to access all the
Thomson Gale content in their library’s collection
• Explore one, several or all available databases
simultaneously - while organizing results effectively
• Provides easy access to a solution for managing a wealth of
periodical, reference and primary source information, utilizing a
single system
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What are the features of the new platform?
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A single user interface
Advanced search
Basic search
Breadcrumb navigation
Browse-able indexes
Citation export
Citation generation
Context-sensitive Help
Cross product searching
Customer branding
E-mail
InfoMark Generator
Link to any Web site
Link to WorldCat
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Links to library holdings
MARC records
Marked lists
OpenURL 0.1 and 1.0
Print
Publication search
Quick search
Search history
Search within results
Sorting
• Subject assisted search
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TOC display
Usage: ICOLC, COUNTER
Z39.50 Support
APA, MLA and Z39.80
Citation Export
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PowerSearch Advantages
• Precision searching, combined with powerful recall of search
history and award winning content create powerful system for
novice or advanced researches.
• Consistent presentation and features lessen the learning
curve. PowerSearch is easy to introduce to patrons / students /
staff, simplifies training and support, and is a great choice for
remote and independent use.
• Publication Search feature, as well as links to current Title
Lists from both the common menu and from within the user
environment allow librarians and users to quickly identify
included content and range of coverage in any Gale product.
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PowerSearch Advantages
• PowerSearch and InfoMarks: Tailor Gale content to the
library’s collection. Customize your library's presentation of Gale
content and maximize ease-of-access for your library's local and
remote users.
• The accuracy and convenience of Subject searching via
controlled vocabulary terms. New, user-friendly presentation of
the relationship of Subjects to Subdivisions aids librarians and
teaching staff in delivering bibliographic instruction, information
literacy services, training, and curriculum support.
• Context-sensitive Help feature supports bibliographic
instruction needs, as well as independent and remote usage
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PowerSearch Advantages
• PowerSearch increases ease and speed of research. The
ability to Search and/or Limit by Publication Format, Target
Audience, and Document Type gives librarians & users the
ability to quickly access and identify sources of information
specific to course assignment requirements.
• Consistent citation presentation of publication and source
metadata for all Gale content simplifies bibliographic instruction,
heightens users' abilities to make informed selections, and
simplifies citing.
• How To Cite feature provides assistance to librarians and
teaching staff supporting the needs of students, and offers the
same level of assistance to independent and remote users
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The changes to customers
• We are moving our products to a new ‘user interface’ – which
will be phased by product over two years.
– This will affect the way that your ‘individual databases’ will look
• We are also moving our products to the new Thomson Gale
PowerSearch common menu.
– This will affect the way that your ‘common menu’ will look – this is
the screen that displays your collection of Thomson Gale
databases
• The changes begin in Jan 2005 and will be phased over two
years
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How will this affect our customers?
This will affect users depending upon which Thomson Gale
databases/collections they have access to
• GVRL was migrated to the new user interface Jan 05
• Customers do not have to use PowerSearch immediately, this is
an optional switch-on. Users can still access their databases
EXACTLY as they do now (typically from the library Web
site/portal that describes the database)
• The following slides describe the situations for customers
depending upon the databases they have
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GVRL / eBook customers
• The Gale Virtual Reference Library (2.0) was the first product to
be migrated to the new ‘user interface’ in January 2005.
• At the same time, users who have GVRL and InfoTrac have the
option to switch their ‘common menu’ to the new Thomson
Gale PowerSearch interface. This will allow them to see their
Thomson Gale collection of databases and cross-search their
InfoTrac products alongside their GVRL collection
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InfoTrac customers
• From January 2005 customers have the option to switch their
InfoTrac databases over to the new ‘common menu’ (database
collections page) Thomson Gale PowerSearch
• This will allow users to see their Thomson Gale collection of
databases and cross-search their InfoTrac products alongside
their GVRL collection
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Resource Center customers
• From January 2005 customers have the option to switch their
‘common menu’ (database collections page) to the new
Thomson Gale PowerSearch menu
• InfoTrac and GVRL will be cross-searchable from this time,
however Resource Centers will not be cross-searchable with
the other databases until well into 2005
• The Resource Centers will appear under a separate link to
‘additional databases’ on the Thomson Gale PowerSearch
common menu
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“First Look”
Start page offers you
database search
options for
PowerSearchable as
well as nonPowerSearchable
databases.
Allows you to carry
your search across
other Thomson Gale
databases.
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“Clean, Simple Design”
Simple and consistent
UI design minimizes
product learning curve,
minimizes hurdles for
new product
purchases, lowers
product training and
support burden for our
Customers
Combines the best of
the InfoTrac Web user
experience with the
best of the Resource
Center user experience
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PowerSearch “Search”
PowerSearch “Exposed
Thesaurus” is really smart
and will never lead the user
to a dead end.
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PowerSearch Custom Products
Customers can create and
search custom collections
of journals and newspapers
with their GVRL(eBook)
subscription
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Browse-able Indexes
Helps users easily
navigate through our
vocabulary to find and
search on Gale
terminology
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OpenURL
“This appears to be one
of the best-implemented
linking facilities I have
seen in any journal
publisher or information
aggregator. It's fast, faulttolerant, and gets the user
right to the content.”
Eric
-Eric Hellman, President
Openly Informatics, Inc.
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Inter-Library Loan
ILL with a single click of
the mouse
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Customer Branding
PowerSearch takes
branding to whole new
level
Customers can add up to
five links for linking to
24x7 Help, Student and
Staff Directory, Ref Site,
ILL Form, Catalog,
Mailto, etc.
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What will happen to InfoTrac and existing databases?
• The InfoTrac platform and other Thomson Gale platforms that
customers are familiar with will eventually be phased out as
our databases move over to the new common user interface and
Thomson Gale PowerSearch
• However there will be a ‘transition period’ where
InfoTrac/Resource Centers will run alongside the new interface
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Questions about links to the databases
Will I need a new URL to view my Thomson Gale databases?
• No, any transition will be seamless and URLs will not be
affected
Will my InfoMark Links still work?
• Yes, InfoMark links will still work
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Support materials
Will Thomson Gale be providing new support materials for the
new interface?
• Thomson Gale will be updating tip sheets and navigation guides
during the course of the transition
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Activating the new menu/interface
Do I have to do anything to see the changes?
• The GVRL new ‘user interface’ is now active for all customers
• Other databases will be migrated to the new ‘user interface’ over
the coming two year period
• When customers want to make the optional switch to Thomson
Gale PowerSearch from January 2005, they can contact the
Gale Technical Support Group at:
• Phone: 1-800-877-4253 (press 4)
E-mail: gale.technicalsupport@thomson.com
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