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News from South Carolina's Virtual Library


Special Announcement Edition - Spring 2012
scdiscus.org 
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Exciting Announcement!

 

The South Carolina State Library is pleased to announce that a great new mix of electronic resources will become available statewide in the DISCUS collection on July 1, 2012. The new mix of products is a result of an extensive evaluation project conducted during much of 2011. Following is information provided early in the process.  

 

DISCUS - South Carolina's Virtual Library periodically evaluates the current and evolving needs of the three communities served: K-12, public libraries, and college/university libraries. The process is guided by the DISCUS Program Goals and Vision to establish priorities for the selection of online library resources for statewide licensing. Funding has not been increased. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine needs and explore a possible re-mix of products to provide the best set of resources for the dollars available. This process will also include a review of the current content offerings. Resources selected for the new DISCUS collection will either continue in place or be licensed for use as of July 1, 2012. All current DISCUS resources have been licensed through June 30, 2012 to avoid major changes during the school year.

 

The evaluation project included focus groups, product trials, and user feedback on over 50 products. The new collection will add much needed content in a variety of areas. DISCUS collaborated with the Partnership Among South Carolina Academic Libraries (PASCAL) to provide this richer array of resources.

 

Beginning July 1, 2012
New Line-Up of DISCUS Resources
The following currently-provided products will remain in the DISCUS collection.
  • Biography In Context
  • Britannica Online
  • Career eBook Collection
  • CultureGrams
  • Escolar
  • Ferguson's Career Guidance Center
  • Kids InfoBits
  • LearningExpress Library
  • Nursing Resource Center and Nursing & Allied Health Collection
  • Opposing Viewpoints In Context
  • World Data Analyst 

These products will be new additions to the collection.

  • Bloom's Literary Reference Online
  • BrainPOP Jr.
  • Credo Reference

This entire package of products provided by EBSCO will be added to the collection.

 

EBSCO Product List 

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Prepare Now with Previews and Training
Do you want to become famWoman Using Computeriliar with the new resources so that you can "hit the ground running" when they officially become part of DISCUS on July 1st?  Previews and training are the keys!

As time allows, explore the content and functionality of the new resources via the live product previews.

Training opportunities are being planned and posted on the DISCUS Training Tab.  You're likely to find an option to fit your time, location, and desired training format.

 

Questions, Questions
A change of this magnitude to the DISCUS collection is likely to generate numerous questions and concerns.  Please consult the DISCUS website to learn more about the transition as it unfolds. 

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In This Issue
Exciting Announcement
New Line-Up of DISCUS Resources
Prepare Now with Previews and Training
Questions, Questions


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DISCUS will be represented at this upcoming event!

DISCUS logo
  South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL) Conference,
March 14-16, 2012

   

 

 



DISCUS is a service of the South Carolina State Library.