As you may recall, this year we received an increase in funding from the Mississippi Legislature in support of the MAGNOLIA project. Our appropriation was increased from $1,000,000 to $1,350,000 allowing us to fully cover the cost of the databases. This also provided us with some extra funding to use to spend on another product for this year.

After reviewing the survey results, we found that libraries were very satisfied with the EBSCO products and there was strong support for retaining OCLC WorldCat/FirstSearch. With that information, we decided to move forward with retaining both EBSCO and OCLC WorldCat/FirstSearch databases. In years past, the University Libraries provided funding in support of OCLC WorldCat/FirstSearch. With the additional funding from the Legislature, the cost of OCLC will be paid from the legislative funding.

After reviewing the list of databases recommended, we asked vendors (e.g. Cengage/Gale, Proquest, World Book, Britannica, EBSCO, Gale, Infobase) to provide quotes for a variety of databases with the understanding we had limited funds ($82,240) available. After reviewing the products and quotes, the Steering Committee selected Britannica School provided by Britannica Education, a division of Encyclopedia Britannica. This resource will be made available to the K-12 schools/libraries and Public Libraries and includes Britannica Fundamentals (Pre K – 2); Elementary school version (grades 3-5) and the Middle school version (grades 6-8). Due to limited funds, we were unable to expand the access to other library types. This new resource will greatly assist our Pre K-8 grade students, early learners and public libraries who support these students with a resource developed specifically for this age group.

Access to Britannica has been setup on the MAGNOLIA website for the Public Libraries and K-12 schools/libraries. Britannica will distribute a press release regarding the new partnership and has already developed some resources for you to learn more about the new products. For more information about Britannica Schools visit the MAGNOLIA website and https://britannicalearn.com/access-information/mississippi/.

Thank you to everyone who completed MAGNOLIA surveys in May and June. This feedback greatly assisted us with the evaluation of our current databases and with the selection of new databases. We also very much appreciate libraries throughout the state who providing funding over the years in support of MAGNOLIA. We could not have sustained MAGNOLIA without your support.

Thanks again for your input and support of the MAGNOLIA project. Please let us know if you have questions regarding this update.

Sincerely,