Contact: Maridith Geuder
A statewide consortium is providing new ways for libraries to gain access to information resources ranging from the biographies of great poets to current workings of the Mississippi Legislature.
Chaired by Mississippi State University Dean of Libraries Frances Coleman, the effort is called MAGNOLIA--Mississippi Alliance for Gaining New Opportunities through Library Information Access. The electronic address is .
Available both via the Internet and on CD-ROMs, MAGNOLIA participation is free to the libraries. Funded by the legislature, the project is directed by a steering committee made up of public and school library representatives.
Project technical adviser Stephen H. Cunetto said the service "provides direct on-line access to libraries that otherwise might not be able to afford the databases."
Currently, almost 1,200 public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as the state's community colleges, universities and public libraries, are connected, said Cunetto, system administrator for MSU's Mitchell Memorial Library.
"We are encouraging all Mississippi communities and educational institutions to take maximum advantage of the opportunity to add resources that benefit their patrons," he added.
The consortium recently has added several new databases, including "Exploring Poetry" and "Discovering Authors." Both provide comprehensive information about some of the most-studied writers.
Also new is electronic access to the Mississippi Code, which "will allow users to research existing Mississippi laws, as well as to track the progress of bills under consideration by the legislature," Cunetto said.
MAGNOLIA was launched in August. Among the original databases available are:
--Facts on File World News Digest, which covers major events since 1980;
--Newspaper Source, containing abstracts and indexing for such papers as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times;
--Business Source Elite, a gateway to more than 850 specialized publications;
--ERIC, an access to thousands of education-related documents and journals; and
--Middle Search Plus, a connection to more than 160 magazines.
For more information about MAGNOLIA, contact Cunetto at (601) 325-8542 or by e-mail at scunetto@library.msstate.edu.