Author: Patti Avellanet

Apply by 3/31 for the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Do you work in an academic or health sciences library in the United States? Are you an early- or mid-career librarian? Are you looking for sources of funding for a conference you’d like to attend in late spring or summer?

If the answer to all of those questions is yes, please consider applying for an APA Librarian Conference Travel Award. There’s still plenty of time to get your application package together!

This program has a rolling deadline, and the next one is March 31. Submit your application for a conference taking place from May to August 2019. This includes – but is not limited to – LOEX 2019, the Medical Library Association Conference 2019, ALA Annual 2019, the ACRL Immersion Program and Teacher Tracks, and the APA Annual Convention.

The award is intended to help defray conference-related expenses for librarians with less than 15 years of experience after receiving their MLS/MLIS. One cash award is distributed three times each calendar year, and the application cycle opens and closes on a rolling basis. At this time, we are not limiting the conferences that are eligible for travel award funding. Applicants should identify the conference that best meets their professional needs, and explain how attendance will support their current duties and future goals.

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New Terms & Other Updates to the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms®

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

We recently released an update to the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms. The Thesaurus provides precise and consistent terminology for searching all APA research databases. We added 305 new “preferred” Index Terms and approximately 70 new non-postable or “use” references*.

Each item in the APA databases – journal articles, books and book chapters, dissertations, and more – is represented by a record that is indexed, or tagged, with Index Terms from the Thesaurus. The use of a controlled vocabulary allows someone searching a database to quickly find all items about a specific concept — such as Animal Behavior, Marginalized Groups, or Prescription Drug Misuse — no matter what terminology or keywords the authors used. 

Reflecting emerging areas, technologies, and social issues as well as changing nomenclature, this updated vocabulary will provide users with more targeted and efficient search and discovery. Additionally, we added new terminology in the expanding areas of psychological assessment, psychometrics, and research methods. You can view more details on our web page, What’s New in the 2019 Update, including a link to the full list of new and updated Index Terms (PDF, 135KB).

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APA Librarian Conference Travel Award: Reflections from the Fall 2018 Recipient on the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

Sigrid Brudie, MLIS of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) received the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award in the fall of 2018. She used the award to defray the cost of attendance at the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association’s (PNC/MLA) annual conference in Spokane, Washington in October. As one of only a handful of medical librarians in Alaska, APA was pleased to help Sigrid pursue this especially valuable opportunity for professional development, networking, and serving the field of librarianship.

Patti Avellanet of the Customer Engagement team for APA’s Databases & Electronic Resources recently talked with Sigrid to get her impressions of the conference. The following transcript of their conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and context.

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HTTPS Support for APA PsycNET beginning January 17

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

On January 17, 2019, the APA PsycNET platform will be upgraded to HTTPS. This enhancement provides our customers with improved security, and current platform users should not see any changes in functionality.

Although APA will implement a permanent redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, institutional subscribers using a proxy solution may need to adjust their configurations to ensure continued access to the APA PsycNET platform. All users should update links or shortcuts to reflect the HTTPS protocol.

What You Need to Know
The move to HTTPS will require about an hour of downtime on January 17, 2019 during which the APA PsycNET platform will be unavailable. Details about this maintenance window will be posted on the platform approximately one week ahead of the release.

To transition your institutional logos for co-branding, move the files for your institutional logo, link resolver, and/or ILL icons to a secure server and then update these image URLs in the APA PsycNET Admin Center (admincenter.apa.org).

The stanza for EZproxy and information about WAM configuration are included below. If you need additional assistance, please visit the Proxy Server Configuration page on the APA PsycNET Help site or contact us.

EZProxy Configuration
If your library uses EZProxy for authentication, it will require an SSL Configuration. Below is the updated stanza for APA PsycNET:

Title APA PsycNET (updated 20190117)
URL https://psycnet.apa.org
HJ content.apa.org
HJ doi.apa.org
HJ my.apa.org
HJ proxies.apa.org
HJ psycinfo.com
HJ psycnet.apa.org
HJ psyctherapy.apa.org
HJ psyctherapyalpha.apa.org
HJ search.apa.org
HJ www.apa.org
HJ www.psycinfo.com
HJ https://psyctherapy.apa.org
HJ https://psyctherapyalpha.apa.org/
DJ apa.org
DJ psycinfo.com

Configuring Web Access Management (WAM)
If your library uses WAM, please  coordinate with your campus IT department to ensure your proxy has access to a security certificate. Note that your security certificate must include your proxy URL, which may be different from your campus website address. For WAM configuration, please use the following APA PsycNET URL: https://psycnet.apa.org.

There’s still time to apply for an APA Librarian Conference Travel Award! (November 30)

Posted on by Patti Avellanet in For Librarians

If you’re an early- or mid-career librarian working in a U.S. academic or health sciences library — and still looking for funding sources to attend a valuable conference next spring — we encourage you to submit an application for the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award!

Through November 30, we are accepting applications for conferences taking place from January to April. This includes – but is not limited to – the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, ALA Midwinter, Electronic Resources & Libraries, Code4Lib, and the Annual Conference on the First Year Experience. The award recipient will be selected in early to mid-January.

This award is intended to help defray conference-related expenses for librarians with less than 15 years of experience after receiving their MLS or MLIS. One cash award is distributed three times each calendar year, and the application cycle opens and closes on a rolling basis. At this time, we are not limiting the conferences that are eligible for travel award funding. Applicants should identify the conference that best meets their professional needs, and explain how attendance will support their current duties and future goals.

Please see the website for more details on eligibility, deadlines, and application materials. Applicants should note that the essay is the heart of the application and make a compelling case for attending the conference selected. The essay should describe what the applicant expects to learn, and how this knowledge will impact the work the applicant does with, or on behalf of, students, faculty, and other constituents.

Questions about the APA Librarian Conference Travel Award should be directed to librariantravel@apa.org. Please help us spread the word by sharing this information with any colleagues and friends who may be eligible!