MCLS is pleased to welcome Sean Cwiek as our new MeL Systems Specialist. Sean hails from Plymouth Michigan, where he worked as a page and then reference assistant at Plymouth District Library. In 2010, he graduated from the University of Michigan-Dearborn with a double major in Economics and Psychology. Sean has worked as a small …Read more »

EDIT: This position has been filled. The Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) is searching for a dedicated and creative problem-solver to join the team that supports and develops the Michigan eLibrary (MeL). We are looking for someone who is knowledgeable about web technology and interested in furthering the goal of seamless access to the …Read more »

The March issue of MCLS News is now available online.  See the March issue for information on upcoming special programs and workshops and updates on group purchasing, NCIP for Evergreen, and more. For links to back issues of MCLS News and to subscribe or unsubscribe from MCLS News email list, see our MCLS News page.

In July 2011, MCLS began working with an independent software developer, Library Technology Consultants, to create an NCIP responder for the Michigan Evergreen system. This development is designed to provide several benefits to MeLCat libraries using Evergreen. The LTC team has successfully implemented patron authentication via NCIP. Once moved to the production server, patron authentication …Read more »

MeLCat, Michigan’s statewide resource-sharing system, is seven years old today! Happy Birthday, MeLCat! Over the past seven years, MeLCat has grown to include 415 libraries of all sizes and types – academic, public, school, and special – that reach urban and rural communities across Michigan. During that time, MeLCat has received 4,389,407 requests and has …Read more »

For the second year in a row, MeLCat requests have exceeded one million!  On December 6, MeLCat statistics showed 1,016,147 requests and 913,303 fills (for a fill rate of almost 90%). Congratulations to the hard-working staff at all MeLCat libraries! “It’s clear that Michigan residents find great value in the MeLCat service as the use …Read more »

MCLS presented the last of our series of two-hour online sessions of “What’s New with MeL Databases” yesterday.  We recorded the final session and have posted it online for Michigan school and library staff to view. The session runs two hours and covers: Nursing Resource Center Small Business Resource Center Opposing Viewpoints in Context eLibrary …Read more »

The November issue of MCLS News is now available online.  See the November issue for information on upcoming special programs and workshops and updates on group purchasing, OCLC, MeL, Michigan Evergreen, and more. For links to back issues of MCLS News and to subscribe or unsubscribe from MCLS News email list, see our MCLS News …Read more »

Electronic Resources Management Initiative (ERMI) Elements are 29 data elements mapped from electronic resources licenses for inclusion in a subscribing library’s ERM system. To assist Michigan libraries in updating their ERM systems, we have posted the ERMI license element worksheets for the new line-up of MeL Databases on our web page at: http://mcls.org/cms/sitem.cfm/databases__econtent/databases_/ (scroll down …Read more »

State Librarian Nancy Robertson sent out the following message today regarding changes to the MeL Databases: Dear Michigan libraries, After lengthy contract negotiations on issues unrelated to pricing, NewsBank and the State of Michigan could not reach agreement on the wording of the contract. Since the State of Michigan has boilerplate requirements that must be …Read more »