Online Research: MET’s Virtual Library

(March 19, 1998) – Following a year of restructuring, the Ministry of Education and Training’s Online Research unit is providing a wider range of services to MET staff. What was formerly known as MET Library was challenged to design a service that would better meet the ministry’s growing need for timely and accurate information. The result was a blending of traditional functions with cutting-edge technology to provide increased capacity for information retrieval and improved turnaround time.

What services can ministry staff expect from the redesigned Online Research unit?

Using a unique on-site research collection of significant education publications, staff can:

• borrow virtually every document published by the Ministry of Education and Training, as well as those put out by the former ministries of Colleges and Universities and Skills Development
• borrow the reports of various educational research bodies such as CMEC and OECD
• obtain must-read books, such as Tom Peters’ newest title The Circle of Innovation, that shape current thinking and influence policy makers
• check out the 150 journal subscriptions on a variety of education and management subjects
• consult copies of government bills, telephone directories from across the country, Statistics Canada publications, daily newspapers and clippings packages, and general reference tools such as almanacs, dictionaries, and government directories.

Access to Online Research’s intranet page at w3.edu.gov.on.ca:8080/online lets staff:

• access a list of journals housed in the unit as well as links to Internet versions of journals not housed on-site
• review electronic tables of contents for select journals as a means of easy environmental scanning
• study lists of conferences of interest to the education and training community
• search the catalogues of other libraries, such as OISE/UT
• obtain statistical information from various organizations
• have full access to the library’s database catalogue of paper publications (available soon)

Ministry staff may borrow books and articles not owned by Online Research and access the collections of other libraries. Staff can now:

• order articles from electronic journal article delivery services, often with a 24 hour turnaround time
• request books and articles from other libraries
• obtain authorization to access to the premises of restricted libraries
• request customized searches for information from one of over 1000 online and CD-ROM databases to which Online Research subscribes (e.g., ERIC, Business Periodicals Index, Computer Select, MEDLINE, various full-text newspapers)

“We’re happy to assist staff with their research needs,” says Simon Loban in Online Research. “We can provide complete searching and document delivery services, assist staff in improving their own searching skills, or help them define and develop their information requirements.”

“We can also meet with your branch or unit to provide an overview of our services upon request.”

For more information, please call (416) 325-2665 or e-mail Simon Loban or Rebecca Beausejour.