Inform Quarterly

              Serving Illinois state employees • Fall 2006
From the
Reference Desk
The INFORM Service surveys sent out in May are in,
and the information is proving very helpful. A few sug-gestions
have already been put into practice. Several of
the surveys requested a wider selection of periodicals.
The Reference staff is currently working on updating
and expanding the periodicals selection to include more
choices with broader coverage of subject fields. A num-ber
of people also asked for an opportunity to review
the periodicals listing on a regular basis and make any
changes. INFORM subscribers now can make changes
annually when the new publications listing is finalized.
There were some requests that could not be accom-modated
at this time, including providing all requested
articles via e-mail. Reference staff has been looking into
various ways this service could be provided; however,
the staff has not yet found a viable means that would
remain consistent and timely and achieve its primary
goal of providing the best overall service possible to its
patrons.
Although the survey is complete, the dialog will not end
there. If you have any suggestions on how the INFORM
service can be improved, please contact us.
To request materials or find answers to your
questions, please contact:
Reference phone • 217-782-7596
Reference fax • 217-524-0041
Map Collection • 217-782-5823
Patent & Trademark Division • 217-782-5659
“Ask the State Library”
www.cyberdriveillinois.com
Access the State Library database at
http://library.ilcso.illinois.edu/isl
Illinois State Library hours:
Mon. – Fri., 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Remote access available for
State Library databases
The State Library offers remote access to a number of databases for state
employees and elected officials. A few are very helpful in locating full-text
articles through a large number of periodicals. To access these items
remotely, simply go to the Reference Gateway page at www.cyberdriveilli-nois.
com (click Departments, Library,What We Have, then Gateway).
Enter your last name and Illinois State Library card number and you can
access most of the subscription databases available at the State Library,
including databases with full text to numerous articles, statistical informa-tion,
dictionaries and much more. A recent addition allows you to search
through multiple databases all with one search.
To receive a new library card or to renew your old one, contact the
Circulation desk at 217-782-7573 or icirculation@ilsos.net. An applica-tion
for a State Library card also may be downloaded at the State Library
Web page.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Three new ISL databases
• CCH Federal Tax Guide — Provides all the information on fed-eral
income, estate and gift, payroll and selected excise taxes found in
the loose-leaf paper editions. Also includes court decisions and IRS
rulings, plus explanations of tax law and the IRC and tax regulations.
• PsychArticles — Full-text articles from journals published by the
American Psychological Association, the APA Educational Publishing
Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association and Hogrefe
Publishing Group. The database includes 58 publications covering
more than 120,000 articles. (Due to licensing agreements,
PsychArticles is not available for remote access.)
• Current Issues: Reference Shelf Plus (H.W. Wilson
Company) — Full-text articles from key publications in the areas of
social science, health, politics, science and other global issues. The
database provides an international reach with balanced coverage of
controversial issues.
State Library tours
State Library reference librarian Sandra Fritz offers custom library tours
for state employees. A tour, which can last as long as one hour or as little
as 15 minutes, includes the Reference Section and Map Department, the
Patent and Trademark office and the library stacks. To schedule a tour,
contact Sandra Fritz at sfritz@ilsos.net or call 217-524-1795.