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What Is TIP?

TIP (Topper InfoPortal) is a unique search tool on the WKU home page to streamline and make more productive users' searches for useful information from the Web. It allows WKU and community users to find the very best local, regional, national, and international Web sites in over 30 categories along with the University's and the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual Library's electronic resources and Web accessible catalogs. The fact that library and non-library resources -- funded and non-funded -- are presented in a one-stop shopping interface makes TIP the first development of its kind. It can serve as a model for libraries to become "first portals of choice," providing offerings that both include and exceed those from commercial ISP's (Internet Service Providers). TIP is built upon many successes. Although the online databases are only available to users affiliated one way or another with WKU and KCVL, many other resources, including the online catalogs are accessible to all.

Western Kentucky University is situated on a hill. The WKU community is called the Hilltoppers. Hence Topper InfoPortal.

Tip's Three Components:

Search Functions

These functions are accessible by the yellow buttons on top of the text area. The left button leads to Western Kentucky University’s online catalog and databases. The button in the middle leads to the Kentucky Commonwealth Virtual Library’s nine public academic institutions’ online catalogs and over thirty databases via the WebZ interface. The yellow button on the right takes users to major Internet search engines followed by many others categorized by type.


Our Picks

Accessible from the vertical menu bar on the left of the screen, they consist of over thirty categories such as “Financial Aid & Scholarships,” “Grants & Funding,” and “Computing & the Web.” Each category has about fifteen web links to sites professionally selected by the WKU Libraries Web Site Team, and is grouped into “local/regional” and “national/international” blocks, prominently featuring the university’s resources drawn from its Web sites. For instance, WKU students who look for job opportunities will first find the university’s Career Center, followed by links to nationwide job databases, Occupational Outlook Handbook, interview tips, etc.


Other Library Resources

Accessible at the bottom of the vertical menu bar on the left of the screen is a series of search engines that search the portal, as well as the University’s and the Libraries’ Web sites. In addition, on the far right of the screen on top of the text area of each of the TIP pages, there are two rectangular orange buttons that take users to “Research Guides” created by the WKU library faculty in collaboration with faculty from all WKU’s academic colleges, and to "Other Library Resources," which include indexes to printed and electronic collections in the library holdings, as well as reference sources on the Web.
 

What Is the Difference Between TIP and the Library Homepage?

TIP is a unique search tool complementary to the WKU Libraries' Homepage. While offering a portal, or gateway, to facilitate users in locating all library or non-library Web accessible resources to streamline and make more productive their searches, TIP is not designed to provide routine library information, such as hours, calendar of events, departments & units, floor plans, museum exhibitions, etc. This type of information is available through the Libraries' Homepage.

There are, however, some overlapping elements. For instance, users can access online catalogs and databases, research guides, and library collections from both TIP and the Libraries' Homepage. This redundancy is intentional, designed to provide multiple access points to cater users' diverse preferences. The bottom line is always the same: helping users to find what they want when and where they want it.

Structurally, TIP and the Libraries' Homepage coexist, providing users a round-trip access: they can come to TIP by clicking on the animated TIP logo on the homepage, and go back to it from TIP by using the link "Libraries Home" at the bottom of each TIP page.

Background

The idea of making WKU Libraries' Web site a first "portal of choice" was conceived by Dr. Michael Binder, Dean of WKU Libraries & Museum, in the spring of 1999. Haiwang Yuan, Web Site & Virtual Library Coordinator, began to work on the project with his Web Site Team in the fall of the same year. With the help and support of the Dean and the Libraries' leading body, Council of Library Department Heads, TIP was completed and released to the public on April 12, 2000.

What Others Say About TIP

Keith E. Shafer, Consulting Research Scientist from OCLC, comments, "This looks well thought out and quite extensive. I'm sure it took a good deal of effort to put together. I didn't have the sense that the portals were rehashes of something someone else did. Probably because of the local emphasis. I think this is critical."

Dr. Gay Perkins, Business Librarian of WKU Libraries comments: "The Topper InfoPortal has many topics of interest such as database access, the weather, business, and senior citizens, and is a joy to use. It is very well organized and laid out and should be of great help to those who access our WKU Website."

Health Science Librarian of WKU Libraries, Penny Papangelis, observes, "I was using the Topper InfoPortal (TIP) at the reference desk today. I like it. It is good for finding information."

Faculty and staff rave: "Excellent!" "Nice concept!" "...lots of potential here. (But who knows that better than you and your colleagues in the library?)" and "Just want to let you know: TIP IS GREAT!"

Pamela Napier, Information Coordinator of the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), added a link to TIP on the OSP Web site at Western immediately after its release, as she considers TIP to be a great complement to the OSP site.