Database Notes

Access to Qikan - Chinese Language Magazine Database

You may have noticed Qikan Library on your monthly remote database statistics. Also called Dragon Source, Qikan Library is the Chinese Language Magazine database that is purchased by Boston Public Library, but made available statewide for remote users.

It provides access to over 100 full-text popular magazine publications from mainland China. Subjects include the arts, current events, business, health, children's literature and much more. Most titles are viewable in both simplified and classical viewing styles. The coverage is 2005-present.

Your users can access Qikan remotely with their Public Library card at: http://mblc.state.ma.us/books/magazine/index.php

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EBSCO's Literary Reference Center Access Information

EBSCO has nearly completed the process of setting up our statewide access to Literary Reference Center (LRC), their new and exciting comprehensive literary reference database. LRC “provides users with a broad spectrum of reference information from antiquity to the present day. LRC is a completely full-text database that combines information from over 1,000 books and monographs, major literary encyclopedias and reference works, hundreds of literary journals, and unique sources not available anywhere else.” (from About the Database, EBSCO support file)

LRC is available to all Massachusetts regional member libraries and residents as of September 1, 2007. Each Massachusetts regional member library that has already been set up to access the Thomson Gale InfoTrac and Proquest Massachusetts Newsstand electronic resources should have received information for setting up access to LRC in the form of an email directly from EBSCO. These emails from EBSCO were distributed in batches between August 21, 2007 and August 28, 2007. A small number of libraries were mailed their access information from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners due to the unavailability of current email addresses for these libraries.

If you have not received an email from EBSCO or a letter from the MBLC with Literary Reference Center access information, please contact Lucie Gallagher, 888-326-7772.

Lecture style training for LRC will be held at various locations statewide between October 29th and December 14. Please see http://www.nmrls.org/news/sep07/dbtraining.shtml for more information.

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NetLibrary E-Book Collection Update: Netlibrary is still available in libraries at http://www.netlibrary.com/ as long as they choose to keep is on their website. The collections are not being updated or supported by the Boston Public Library.