Thank you, Kathy, for sharing MAME's concerns. I trust that the Library of Michigan process was open and inclusive and thorough. Now, I am sure many of us are anxious to get to know the new databases that have been selected. I am glad everyone has access to trial the databases now so we can all get prepped for the new resources. We will have to work with all our library partners to get the most out of these new statewide resources.
-Steve
Executive Director
Detroit Area Library Network
"DALNET is a community of libraries working together to provide access to information for research, cultural enrichment, and lifelong learning opportunities."
"Wayne State University is Knowledge, Diversity, Community!"
Sent: Friday, July 20, 2018 6:59 AM
To: michlib-l@mcls.org
Subject: [Michlib-l] 'Mamelist' Discussion: RE: MeL Changes
The https://
It is good to know the above site exists, so that if anyone asks about it you can prepare a reply. But many (most?) of the materials that the group objects to are found in any general library database that has general magazines in it. The state (and libraries in general) provides access to many materials that not everyone likes. Especially for those of us that provide services to children, we have to be aware of what we have access to and ready to provide a thoughtful answer to those who may question the access we provide.
I checked an article listed in their letter earlier and the same articles are in the Gale products. Articles about sex exist in general databases, perhaps with links to porn sites. Some academic articles in academic research journals or even in grocery-check-out-line magazines are useful or entertaining to adults but not recommended for children. Hopefully the kid-specific databases from EBSCO are more "safe."
Here is a little info on how some have dealt with this group:
https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?
They are not just against EBSCO, but ALA, and others, that promote access to material they find objectionable.
EBSCO even made it into their Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
As you may be aware, we recently conducted a large-scale survey of the Michigan library community about MeL database usage. We received 426 responses. One question we asked was: What are the top 3 most used databases by your library/patrons? Here's what library staff had to say:
1. Chilton’s (117 times it appeared somewhere in the top 3)
2. Learning Express (117)
3. Opposing Viewpoints in Context (94)
4. Academic OneFile (87)
5. Britannica school (68)
We decided to cross-reference this in two ways. First, we looked at the total number of full-text retrievals from the MeL databases.
1. BookFlix
2. WorldBook Kids
3. Academic OneFile
4. Britannica Suite
5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context
All 5 of these received over 1 million full-text retrievals for the 2017 fiscal year!
As you can see, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Britannica and Academic OneFile made both of these lists.
Let's look at one other metric and that's the rate at which items were clicked on from MeL.org in the month of September of this year. This is the percentage of outbound traffic from MeL.org.
1. BookFlix (40%)
2. Academic OneFile (6%)
3. Learning Express (4%)
4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context (3%)
5. Chilton’s (3%)
Looking at this list, we can see that Chilton's and Learning Express, two resources rated highly in the survey, come back to the fore. However, by far and away the resource with the highest traffic at MeL.org is BookFlix, an early literacy resource.
Many thanks to Kathy Kosinski, our data analyst, for pulling these numbers together and allowing us to compare and confirm our ideas about database usage with actual usage.
Brought to you by Deb Renee Biggs and Sonya Schryer Norris, Library Consultants at the Library of Michigan
Advocacy Chair, Past-President 2014