NcompasS Increases Library Online Access

As the Pugwash Library celebrates 10 years of successful service, regional libraries and library users across Nova Scotia are taking another step forward.

For the past four years, Nova Scotia's regional libraries have enjoyed the advantage of being electronically linked through the Nova Scotia Provincial Library and EDNet, the wide-area network of the Department of Education and Culture. Today, these libraries are making another leap forward with the launch of Web NcompasS. This new service not only provides access to the collections of the regional public libraries, but also acts as a gateway to other resources, both full text and other information, in library collections.

Web NcompasS is a World Wide Web-based service that provides access to multiple information resources from any computer with a web browser and Internet connection. Users will be able to easily access their local public library from their home, office, school, or from computers at their library. With the aim of having only "one place to look" for materials, users can access information contained in regional libraries, the NOVANET university library collections, materials in the Media Library of Learning Resources and Technology and will soon be able to find material in a variety of Nova Scotia government libraries.

But this is not all that is available from your local library. Public library users are becoming increasingly sophisticated in knowing that the online information provided by their library is both authoritative and current. Yet another milestone has been reached through regional public libraries in Nova Scotia. All 75 public libraries are now providing access to full-text reference databases called the General Reference Centre and the Health Reference Centre.

The General Reference Centre provides articles from more than 400 journals and 15 reference books such as Masterpieces of World Literature. The Health Reference Centre is a similarly impressive resource providing consumer health information on a wide range of topics. A public library user can locate information that will help him or her to better understand a particular health issue. For example, a library user with a rare disease may find the latest research on their topic from such prestigious journals as the New England Journal of Medicine or Lancet.

"How better for Nova Scotians concerned with using resources available to them than to be able to search for materials from the computer catalogue or gather information from respected magazines at the library," said Marion Pape, provincial librarian. "Using computers to access information is becoming increasingly important for people to succeed in their education, careers and to manage their personal needs."

The launch of NcompasS coincides with the Pugwash Library's celebration of 10 years of service from a former CN Rail station.