CU's MyLibrary is personalized web interface to networked resources

MyLibrary is a new service of Cornell University Library (CUL) that makes finding and using library materials easier than ever. MyLibrary is a web-based platform that allows patrons to work more easily with the library's growing network of electronic resources. It also will notify students and faculty members of new acquisitions in their fields of interest.

There are more than 4,000 databases, online journals and other electronic resources currently available through the Cornell Library Gateway www.library.cornell.edu, the pathway to Cornell's online catalog and diverse networked electronic holdings. However, most students and researchers use only a small number of these resources in their work. Even after one finds the most applicable resources, it can be difficult to remember how to locate them again. Enterprising users can "bookmark" electronic resources using their web browser, but these bookmarks are only accessible on one computer, which may not be the one they are sitting at when they need to find the link to that specific material. Another problem is that new materials are constantly being added to Cornell's collections, and it has been difficult for the library to keep researchers informed of acquisitions on a regular basis.

Now, using MyLibrary http://mylibrary.cornell.edu, students and faculty members can create their own personalized web interface to the Library Gateway. Using the "MyLinks" component, users can easily build their own space on a CUL computer server, choosing the electronic resources they use most often from the Library Gateway and elsewhere and placing those links on a personal web page.

For example, a student working on African-American literature could review the electronic journals and databases under "Literature and Linguistics" in the Library Gateway. She might choose the Modern Language Association bibliographic database and the full-text journal Callaloo. She could also select the 19th-century African-American Women Writers electronic text collection and the Literary Resource Center bio-bibliographical research database, and then add links to other relevant web sites on the Internet. MyLinks users can update and access their pages from any computer with an Internet connection (access to each person's page is protected, of course, by password). Every MyLinks page provides one-click access to CUL's online catalog as well as its reference and help services.

But that's not all. Members of the campus community who want the library to notify them when new resources in their field are added to the collection will soon be able to set up a research profile in MyLibrary. Thus, a faculty member in nutritional sciences who is working on food labeling can create a profile by providing keywords to define the fields of study in which he is interested. When the notification service -- to be called "MyUpdates" -- is operational later this semester, he will be alerted automatically when new electronic resources are added to the Library Gateway and when new print acquisitions are listed in the online catalog.

MyLibrary has been developed by a cross-campus team of librarians led by Holly Mistlebauer from Mann Library. The group includes John Ferreira as primary systems analyst, Adam Smith, Daniel Smith, Noni Korf Vidal, Angela Horne, Suzanne Cohen, John Saylor, Bob Kibbee and Tom Turner.

Future plans for enhancing MyLibrary include adding a wide range of personalized electronic services from tables of contents to immediate contact with a subject specialist. For now, faculty, students and staff can enjoy access to a personal space for acquiring links to frequently used resources.

For more information, contact Holly Mistlebauer at hlm7@cornell.edu or Bob Kibbee at rk14@cornell.edu.