Activity Details
Title: New York Online Virtual Electronic Library (NOVELny): Database Procurement
Narrative: The New York State Library (NYSL) provided an electronic collection of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, and other databases licensed on a statewide basis for free public access through local libraries and remote locations such as home, school, and office. In 2021/2022, 39.2 million searches were performed in NOVELny databases. This is a 41% increase over the previous year's 27.9 million, and it brings the total much closer to pre-COVID levels. Databases continue to be available through geolocation which allows users in New York to access databases without a username/password or library card. Database selections remained the same in 2021/2022. By procuring NOVELny databases, the State Library ensures that all New Yorkers have access to library resources and quality, authoritative databases and levels the "playing field" for all New Yorkers by permitting individuals to gain access to the same resources regardless of economic, geographic or physical circumstances.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Acquisition
Format: Digital
Quantity
Number of hardware acquired: 0
Number of software acquired: 0
Number of licensed databases acquired: 15
Number of print materials (books & government documents) acquired: 0
Number of electronic materials acquired: 0
Number of audio/visual units (audio discs, talking books, other recordings) acquired: 0
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: No
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 757
Academic Libraries: 196
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 72
Special Libraries: 206
School Libraries: 4061
Other: 0
Activity Details
Title: New York Online Electronic Library (NOVELny): Webinars
Narrative: The New York State Library provided an electronic collection of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, and other databases licensed on a statewide basis for free public access through local libraries and remote locations such as home, school, and office. Part of the contract with the database vendors included providing training in the use of the databases. Gale provided webinars and training covering a variety of topics and library types. Topics included Support Summer Reading with your Gale NOVELny Resources, Get to Know the New York Times Collection from NOVELny, Get to Know NOVELny Resource: Informe Academico and Marketing Your NOVELny Gale Public Library Resources. Customized trainings and webinars were held for the Nassau Library System, Rochester City Schools, WC Bryant High School and Hamburg Public School District. Britannica held 3 overview webinars and one targeted for summer reading. For the 2021/2022 reporting year, 221 library staff attended 21 vendor webinars and customized trainings. Twenty-seven staff from New York libraries also attended 11 other Gale webinars (not specific to NOVELny but covering the same resources). Webinars help the State Library ensure that people have the skills and knowledge to effectively access, use, and obtain information resources regardless of skill level.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Instruction
Mode: Program
Format: Virtual
Quantity
Session length (minutes): 60
Number of sessions in program: 1
Average number in attendance per session: 10
Number of times program administered: 21
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 757
Academic Libraries: 196
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 72
Special Libraries: 206
School Libraries: 4061
Other: 0
Question 1: I learned something by participating in this library activity.
Strongly Agree: 10
Agree: 5
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: I feel more confident about what I just learned.
Strongly Agree: 7
Agree: 6
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 2
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 3: I intend to apply what I just learned.
Strongly Agree: 9
Agree: 6
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 4: Applying what I learned will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 9
Agree: 5
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 1
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Activity Details
Title: New York Online Virtual Electronic Library (NOVELny): Communications
Narrative: Both the library community and the public are kept up to date on NOVELny via the NOVELny website, Facebook page, listserv messages (NYLINE), and fact sheets. Information distributed includes annual announcements of the database selections for the coming year, updates on database features, webinar dates and times, posting of survey results and statistics, and other news as appropriate. To improve the look of NOVELny and help improve access to the databases, the NOVELny logo and website were redesigned in the summer of 2021. The new site is solely for access to the databases; information for library staff was moved to the State Library's Library Development site. During this reporting period, the NYS Library Social Media Team made the decision to combine the various NYS Library Facebook pages into one comprehensive outreach platform. This included folding the NOVELny Facebook page into the NYS Library Facebook page. For this reporting period, 123 NOVELny items were posted to Facebook, compared to 89 in the previous year. Total Facebook reach for the reporting period was 86,614 views and the average views for each post during the reporting period was 704 (both increases over the previous year's numbers). These posts were almost always re-shared to additional social media accounts including the State Education Department and New York State Library Twitter and Instagram pages. Increasing NOVELny awareness and use is vital to improving the ability of all New Yorkers to obtain and use the information resources available on NOVELny.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Content
Mode: Other
Format: Combined physical & digital
Other: Printed communications and factsheets plus listserv and social media messages.
Quantity
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 757
Academic Libraries: 196
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 72
Special Libraries: 206
School Libraries: 4061
Other: 0
Question 1: I am satisfied that the resource is meeting library needs.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Question 2: Applying the resource will help improve library services to the public.
Strongly Agree: 0
Agree: 0
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 0
Disagree: 0
Strongly Disagree: 0
Non-Response: 0
Activity Details
Title: New York Online Virtual Electronic Library (NOVELny): Help Desk
Narrative: The New York State Library (NYSL) provided an electronic collection of books, journals, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, and other databases licensed on a statewide basis for free public access through local libraries and remote locations such as home, school, and office. The New York State Library NOVELny Help Desk registers libraries, assists with some questions, and refers libraries to the individual vendors for technical problems and individual library statistics. Libraries can retrieve their own customized URLs (geolinks) for each of the NOVELny databases through a single website. Help Desk questions are received and answered via both email and phone. Nearly 6,000 libraries are registered for NOVELny. During this reporting period, the NOVELny Help Desk answered 45 telephone and email inquiries. Help Desk operations ensure that all NOVELny users have equal access to library resources regardless of technical or other issues and help improve the user's ability to obtain and use information.
Intent: Improve users’ ability to obtain and/or use information resources.
Activity: Instruction
Mode: Consultation/drop-in/referral
Format: Virtual
Quantity
Total number of consultation/reference transactions: 45
Average number of consultation/reference transactions per month: 4
Partner Information
Organization Type of Partner Organization(s):
Libraries: Yes
Historical Societies or Organizations: No
Museums: No
Archives: No
Cultural Heritage Organization Multi-type: No
Preschools: No
Schools: No
Adult Education: No
Human Service Organizations: No
Other: No
Legal Type of Partner Organization(s):
Federal Government: No
State Government: No
Local Government (excluding school districts): No
School District: No
Non-Profit: No
Private Sector: No
Tribe/Native Hawaiian Organization: No
Beneficiaries
Is the activity directed at the library workforce: Yes
For a targeted group or for the general population: General
Locale
Is the activity state-wide: Yes
Specific Locations: No
Library Types
Public Libraries: 757
Academic Libraries: 196
SLAA: 1
Consortia: 72
Special Libraries: 206
School Libraries: 4061
Other: 0
