The Library Toolbar: Libx PSUL

Here’s a new gadget that can be best summed up with an old-fashioned word: nifty! What is it? The Library Toolbar is a customizable plugin that you can easily add to your Firefox browser. After a couple of clicks, the Toolbar, like the one shown here, will install at the top of your browser:



The library toolbar (also known as LibX) integrates access to our own Libraries electronic resources into the Firefox browser. Users no longer need to open another browser, or find their way to these resources. They are visible and available for use anytime, anywhere. From the Toolbar, users can step out to The CAT, WorldCat, or Google Scholar. Just type your search terms in the Toolbar’s search box, and away you go to the resource of your choice. The toolbar also:

Facilitates full text access to PSU’s online journals.
Places "Get it @ Penn State" buttons on websites like Google Scholar and Wikipedia to guide you to the complete article.
Adds the PSU logo on web pages like amazon.com to help you check the libraries’ holdings.
Provides support for off-campus access.

Where is the plugin? Look on the right side of the Libraries home page, in the Get Help column. Click on this menu choice: Tools and Widgets. There, you’ll find the installation link and directions.
The best way to get to know the Library Toolbar is to play with it. You’ll see that it is very robust. For instance, you can search The CAT using Keyword, title, author, subject, journal title and ISBN/ISSN, or a combination. For all details, be sure to read the Features text on the installation page.

When will the plugin be included on the Libraries’ image? Libx PSUL will be added to the staff image this year. Following review by Libraries personnel, the next step is to discuss its addition to the public image. It is already available on the Tools and Widgets menu for staff and public users to individually install.

LibX was developed at Virginia Tech. Our local Penn State Libraries version was adapted by our Web Tools & Discoverability Team: Emily Rimland, Janis Mathewson, Binky Lush, Cheryl McCallips, Al Williams and Dan Hickey.

hulu: TV, Your Way

Hulu.com launched in March 2008,with this simple agenda: Watch your favorite videos right from your browser, anytime, for free. With full episodes of TV shows both current and classic, full-length movies, web originals, and clips of just about everything. What's not to like?

Hulu users access premium streaming videos when (24x7), where (just provide browser) and how (full screen or pop-out) they want it from such entertainment giants as: NBC Universal, Fox, ABC and Disney. There's a rich array of TV channels, in categories such as Food, Sci Fi, Music, Horror, Reality, News, Sports, Politics and Sci/Tech, and an ever-growing list of popular movies, documentaries and trailers. Need that social network fix? No problem! Go ahead and share your favorite videos via email, embed full-length or program clips into your own web pages, join discussion groups, and/or write reviews.

Who pays? Advertisements, video streams from partner websites and from the embeddable Hulu video player provide revenue.Hulu focuses on streaming videos, and does not currently offer commercial-free downloads for purchase.

Hulu management believes that users want to consume media on their own terms: easy to use and consumable when, how and where they want it. Following that strategy, Hulu is dealing with its main competitors... the Piracy Bad Boys ....by providing access for free to content that it knows users want to see. Smart, very smart.