Have we got (world) news for you!

Just one website again this week, but it’s another biggy. Sorry, biggy is not big enough – it’s a hugey!

At a newsstand (not) near you

What happened about that plan for teachers – did the unions go for it? Hang on, I’ll just check today’s Daily Telegraph. Did the police give the green light to taser guns? I’ll check it out in The Times. But since we’re talking about the Sydney Daily Telegraph and the Waikato Times, I either need to get out of bed and visit newsagents on another continent, or else use Library PressDisplay.

You might quibble about this. Hang on, you might say, I’ll bet those newspapers have got websites – I’ll get the dirt on teachers and tasers from those. You probably could, but what you couldn’t do is see the story, and the rest of the paper, exactly as printed, with all the rest of the stories, the adverts, the gossip, the crossword… start to get the picture?

Library PressDisplay carries newspapers from around the world in facsimile form, complete from cover to cover. They tend to pop up on the site before the print versions hit the streets of Sydney or Waikato or wherever. And if you’re feeling so lazy you can’t even be bothered to read the paper, a nice electronic lady will read it to you (it’s a bit fiddly – you hover the cursor over the article until a little toolbar appears, and then hit the musical notes icon). So far, the nice lady only reads from selected newspapers.

This is not the easiest website in the world to navigate. You have to use the buttons and arrows on the site itself; using the Internet Explorer toolbars confuses it. To get the most out of it, you need to spend a few minutes delving into its hidden recesses. But what a payback! Lovely clear graphics, a very sophisticated search function, and a two-month back file.

Mind you – although a drift through the newspapers of the world can reveal the differences between cultures and countries, it can also throw up a depressing number of similarities. So when you find a newspaper which isn’t covering economic problems and global warming, make a note of it. You’ll want to call again.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "News & magazines" Library Press Display is a Key Link. This is a Westminster Libraries Exclusive Resource; outside the library, you will need your library card number to log in)

Next time on Web Treasure Hunt…

You may have noticed that Westminster Libraries have taken out subscriptions to rather a lot of newspaper databases recently. We think they’re all great, but they do have a tendency to hide behind mysterious names which tell you very little. So next week’s Treasure Hunt will be a survey of where to go for what. The monkeys are already doing the typing (and reading the newspapers, natch).

Pics: sumadjinn, cynwulf / morguefile.com

World domination bid

Just one Gateway website this week. Down in the world of searchable databases, something very strange is happening – strange, that is, in a good way.

Looking over the fence

When the provider of one of our Exclusive Resources claims to have revolutionised their search engine, we adopt a suitably sceptical facial expression and give it a go.

What is usually on offer is an improvement in the way you can drill down into the content of the database concerned. When Credo Reference told us they were proposing to let us search other companies’ products, we gulped and tried to look extra mean and cynical. We were wrong to scoff.

When you select Credo Reference from the Gateway, firstly you get one of our own pages describing what Credo consists of (it’s a lot); click the logo to reach the super search engine. Enter a search terms (I always use "sausages" – I’m just like that). Back come 328 hits, with an analysis by type or date on the left, and the search term in context on the right.
So far so normal. It’s just a list of source titles, but the point is that these are as likely to be in Oxford Reference or Gale Virtual Reference as they are in Credo itself. It's searching, Jim, but not as we know it.

Of course, if you find that Credo’s way of presenting other people’s stuff is not to your taste, you can always search the other sources directly; they are, of course, all Exclusive Resources available to Westminster Libraries cardholders. But it’s got to be worth trying a single search first.

So far, Credo have announced no plans to invade Poland, but it can only be a question of time.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Dictionaries & encyclopaedias" from "Quick reference" at the top. Here you will find Credo Reference.)

Magnificent meedja

Yet another new Exclusive Resource this week – and a fun one at that – together with a well-informed media watchdog.

Mirror by express delivery

When we try to find new goodies to add to our Exclusive Resources for library members, we are getting used to finding fantastic products which are undersold by less-than-exciting names. UK Press Online is no exception.

What this bland façade luckily fails to hide is a wonderous interior: here we can see every edition of the Daily Mirror from 1903 (the newspaper "for gentlewomen") until yesterday. In full-colour facsimile. Fully searchable. Pretty darned impressive, eh?

But it doesn’t stop there. Look in this other corner, and here is the Daily Express from 2000 to date; there the Sunday Express; and over there the Daily Star. Starting to get the picture? It’s huge.

Don’t just think news. Think sport, fashion, gossip, adverts – all the things that go to make up our real lives. If you think I’m getting carried away here, you are right: I’m getting carried away on a sea of colourful pictures and colourful prose. Dip in soon; you’ll enjoy yourself.

UK Press Online is an Exclusive Resource: outside a Westminster library, you will need your library card to log in.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "News & magazines". UK Press Online is a Key Link.
For the time being, the link is to our very own Exclusive Resources page, targeted on the "ukpressonline" logo; just click this to start your adventure.)

A stern examination

Media Lens Is not everybody’s cup of tea. You could quite easily get turned off by their own words: "Media Lens is a UK-based media-watch project, which offers authoritative criticism of mainstream media bias and censorship." How worthy is that?

But although they are not strong on jokes, they do get contributions from heavyweight writers – writers who often can’t get a hearing in the aforementioned mainstream media. With Media Lens providing a bit of intellectual rigour, and Private Eye taking the p*** out of the same targets, it makes the press and the broadcast media a bit less all-powerful, which is good, isn’t it?

(From the Gateway to websites, select "News and magazines" Media Lens is a Key Link.)

It’s finger-plucking good!

A new jewel in the Westminster Libraries crown of Exclusive Resources (we pay the dosh, you get the benefit), and cool links for kids. The common theme is music.

Much more music

If the title Music Reference Online stirs your blood, you’ve probably got strange blood. But take a peak beyond the pedestrian name and it all gets a lot more interesting. At the moment, when you click on the Gateway link, you go to another Westminster Libraries page, and then on to one of four separate resources. We are promised that the provider (Alexander Street Press) will have their own Music Reference Online home page by the Autumn, with the ability to search everything together.

So, what have they got? For classical, the line-up includes Baker's Dictionary of Music, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music. I had not heard of these Baker people, so I asked around, and it seems that Baker’s is big. Their books are authoritative and accessible. Sorry about the long words – Baker’s is "v. good", as Bridget would summarise.

The African American database is also big; not only that, it’s still growing. A search here will drill deep into a vast array of books on the subject, from general surveys of sources to up-close-and-personal accounts of composers and musicians.

As with Baker, so with Garland. You want the lowdown on World Music, you go to Garland. It’s organised geographically (Africa, South America, etc.) but the usual rules apply: if you’ve got a search term, perhaps a name, search the whole thing with one click.

The Classical Scores Library to me is just a vast collection of squiggles – beautiful squiggles, but without meaning. But if you’re into this stuff, you’re going to be pretty pleased to get this bumper bundle (8,000 scores) in one place. And even I recognised that the range, from Chamber Music to Opera, is impressive.

Music Reference Online is an Exclusive Resource: outside a Westminster library, you will need your library card to log in.

(From the Gateway to websites, select "Music". Music Reference Online is a Key Link.)

Blow it or hit it!

If your interest in music is homework-related, or if you know a youngster who wants a bit of fun with music, try the Gateway’s unruly sibling, Webtastic. The Webtastic Music links include, of course, the BBC (rafts of good things as ever, attractively presented), a great kids’ website from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, an intro to reading music, and some terrific musical games.

Get crooning or strumming or clapping or…

(From the Gateway to websites, look for the Webtastic box at the foot of the page. There is also a link to Webtastic Music from the Gateway’s own music page.)

Pic: MarcoMaru/morguefile.com