• KAREN CREENAN, Executive Director &

• MARISA IACOBUCCI, Adult Services Coordinator

 Advocacy Now!

The New York State Budget Process has begun.  Governor Pataki proposed level funding (no increase) in his Executive Budget in January.  If libraries are to see an increase in New York State Aid we must persuade the Senate and Assembly to add library funding to their budget proposals.  Things are moving very quickly in Albany.  The Senate and the Assembly will be finalizing their budget proposals by the week of March 13th.  They need to hear from their constituents that more funding for libraries and library systems is essential. 

We have received no increase in NYS funding since 1998 and actually saw a decrease in funding in 2004.  Inflation since 1998 equals 19.8%.  To make matters worse, the last actual increase for libraries should have been received in 1993.  Meanwhile, NYS Aid for other types of education during this period has increased in record amounts.

We need library advocates to contact their legislators between now and March 13 and urge them to include more funding for libraries and library systems in their budget proposals. 

There are several ways to contact your elected officials.  The link to the Contact Your Elected Officials button on NYLA’s website is: http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=1166.  It is very easy to go to the site, click on a button and contact your official.

I encourage you to use the NYLA Online Advocacy Center to send a fax to your state legislators free of charge.  Also on the NYLA Advocacy Page are Legislative Priorities, Sample Letter, and helpful charts/graphs, etc. :http://www.nyla.org/index.php?page_id=514.

Now is the time to contact your legislators!  More information will be forthcoming.

and

LOBBY DAY 2006 IS TUESDAY, MARCH 14

Even though the New York State Legislature is preparing their budget now, our annual Lobby Day is still important.  FLLS will be traveling to Albany on that day and we encourage as many of you to attend as well.  Contact Karen Creenan or Marisa Iacobucci and watch you e-mail for details.

 

• ANNETTE BIRDSALL, Youth Services Coordinator

Youth Services

Today is the deadline for your Janway order if you are ordering through FLLS. 

Annette will be on vacation from Feb. 20^th -24^th.  There will be no youth news or deliveries of special storytime items such as big books, die-cuts, puppets etc. until I return.  Thanks for your understanding. & I’ll see you all on March 23^rd for the summer reading system meeting.

 

• JAN AGUIRRE, Specialist & Training Coordinator

 Saving User Defaults - Find Tool/Options - Allows you to set up the Find Tool with settings set to YOUR specifications - Open the Find Tool, set up YOUR most frequently used search criteria, i.e. always search BIB records by ISBN, always search Item Records by Title. Under Options, select "Save as User Default" - This must be done in each Find Tool and is specific to the user name and login.

 

• LINDA BEINS, ILL/Reference Coordinator

 The Invisible Web

“No matter how good you are at using Web search engines…there are valuable resources on the web that search engines will not find for you …. These resources, often referred to as the ‘Invisible Web’ include a variety of content“

(Hock, Randolph The Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook, CyberAge Books, 2004. p.21).  

You can access these resources if you know the URL but they are “invisible” to search engines. As you might expect, inventive people have created directories of these invisible resources. Among them are Freepint.com  and CompletePlanet (Ctrl+click to access).

Freepint.com recently indexed a number of 2006 Winter Olympics web resources. 

Among the more unusual are an Interactive Olympic Events Guide (demonstrates 

the equipment, scoring, and moves of several winter Olympic events) and 

Wheaties Olympians - Where are they now? (provides current information about the 

15 Olympians who have appeared on the cereal box).

Included in the Invisible Web are commercial databases, such as those provided by FLLS (Novelist, Business & Company Resource Center, etc.) They are well organized, frequently updated, and available to library card holders from remote locations.

 

Recycled Reference Books

• Magazines for Libraries: 13^th Ed. (2004)

• Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists (2005, 4 vols.)

• Physician’s Desk Reference 59^th Ed. (2005)

• Ulrich’s Periodical Directory 42^nd Ed. (2004, 4 vols.)

• Weiss Ratings’ Guide to Property and Casualty Insurers (Fall, 2005)

 

• LIBBIE MESSINA, Director, Lang Memorial library, Cato 

Please note:  New Hours:  The Library is now open from 9:30 am - 8:30 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Our new Children’s Librarian is Karen Perry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• Directors’ Advisory Council (DAC) members: 

If you have any questions or concerns regarding FLLS library service, you are welcome to contact a DAC member from the list below. 

Beverly Dann, Waverly Free Library
Janet Steiner, TCPL, Ithaca
Judy Barkee, Ulysses Philomathic Library, Trumansburg
Kay Zaharis, Cortland Free Library
Lois Maki, Newfield Public Library
Mary Frank, Peck Memorial Library, Marathon
Sally Otis, Hazard Library, Poplar Ridge
Stephen Erskine, Seymour Library, Auburn
Susan Robey, Groton Public Library