[Michlib-l] Announcing a New Michigan eLibrary (MeL)!!

[BiggThomas, Deb (MDE)]

Good Afternoon!  The Library of Michigan is pleased to announce a "soft launch" debut of the new and improved Michigan eLibrary, Monday, June 2, 2014.  For the next 2 weeks, you can check out the "new" MeL from the link found on the current MeL homepage, http://mel.org.

Besides an amazing new "look and feel" for the website, we have implemented a discovery service, so you will see a search box on both the MeL homepage and also on the Michigana homepage.  Using the search box on the MeL homepage, you will access MeLCat, selected MeL subscription eResources (databases), curricular content/websites from the Michigan Online Resources for Educators (M.O.R.E.), MeL gateway websites, and selected digital Michigan history projects.  Currently, not all of the databases and their content are included in the discovery search; for a list of those that are not now available for discovery, please see the alpha-list in MeL Databases and look for the red asterisk.   Using the search box on the Michigana homepage, you will discover the content of many of the digital history collections which have been harvested for inclusion in MeL.

We have also redesigned both MeL Kids and Teens Gateways.  At MeL Kids, you will see to our new mascot, "Brookie" and his pal "ReadIt" who will introduce young MeL users to resources that can help them be successful in school and have fun too.  MeL Teens is just, well....cool!

The MeL Teams at the Library of Michigan and the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services have been working on this redesign for well over a year with Innovative Interfaces Inc., http://iii.com/ and EBSCO EDS, http://ebscohost.com/discovery for the discovery service and with Strudell Studios, a division of Courtland Consulting, http://www.strudellstudios.com/index.php for the website design.  It has truly been a process and a work in progress, but it is time for a debut!

During the next 2 weeks, we ask that  you check out and use the new MeL, and if you would, let us know what you think.  A wise woman once quoted from Voltaire that "The perfect is the enemy of the good.", and while we would never claim perfection, we do think that MeL 2014 is a vast improvement on what all Michigan residents have used and benefited from these many years. You can contact me, or my colleague Sonya Norris, norriss2 at michigan.gov<mailto:norriss2 at michigan.gov> with your comments, critiques, etc.  The MeL Team will continue to work to make sure that the new Michigan eLibrary continues to grow and responds to user's needs, so we know you'll be watching!

We plan to say good-bye to the current MeL which has been in use since 2008 on June 16, 2014.  An official press release will be forthcoming.  Many thanks for your support and promotion for the Michigan eLibrary, a service of the Library of Michigan!

Kind regards,
Deb


Deb Biggs Thomas, MA AMLS
Michigan eLibrary & Outreach Coordinator
Library of Michigan/Michigan Dept. of Education
702 W. Kalamazoo St.
Lansing, MI  48909
Phone:  517-373-4466
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Visit MeL at:  http://mel.org<http://mel.org/> and on Facebook at:  http://facebook.com/mel.org
The Library of Michigan is pleased to share a new video series highlighting Michigan libraries and how they are making a difference in their communities.  To experience Michigan libraries in a new light, visit http://brightside.cedam.info/ and watch the 21st Century Libraries episode.



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