MEMBER LIBRARY WEEKLY BULLETIN
No. 07-18

May 4, 2007

I will be out of the office (in Italy) from April 25 – May 13.  I will return to work on May 14, 2007. Please contact Kate at x.47 if you have any questions regarding puppets, die-cuts, big books, or storytime extensions.  Please contact Marisa at x.26 if you need any other help while I am away. 

 

Playaway Follow-up 

I have received many queries about the cost of and battery size required for Playaways, so I thought I’d let everyone know what was what.

Units range in price from $35.00 to $60.00 with a couple at $80.00.  They take AAA batteries.  My apologies for not including this information in what was sent to you. 

Please continue to ask if you have any more questions.

 

The New York State Library/Division of Library Development, in conjunction with the Four County Library System, is sponsoring a workshop devoted to the Public Library Construction Grant Program.

The workshop will focus on the application process as well as the legal and regulatory framework of the program in general.

Applications for both the $14 million and $800,000 construction programs for 2007-08 will be available online on the New York State Library website in mid-May. 

DLD will announce their availability at the time of posting.  The deadline for submission of applications to FLLS will be August 3, 2007.

Any public library interested in submitting an application for a construction grant award in 2007-08 is encouraged to send at least one individual to the workshop.  There is limited seating so early reservations are encouraged.

I will be attending the workshop on June 8, 2007 in Sidney, NY.  Please contact me ASAP if anyone from your library is interested in riding with me, so I can make reservations. There is room for four (4) passengers in the System vehicle, first come-first serve.

*** Friday, June 8, 2007
       10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
       Sidney Memorial Public Library
       8 River Street
       Sidney, NY 13838 

If you would like to drive yourself, for information to reserve a seat, or for directions, please contact Paul Golaszewski at the Four County Library System at pgolaszewski@4cls.org. 

Thank you.

 

I still have not received the Polaris 3.3 new parameter form from Homer, Interlaken, Lodi and Moravia. Please return it to me ASAP.  It’s the bright yellow one that went out on April 18th. If you’ve misplaced it or have questions about it, feel free to give me call. Thank you!

 Polaris Tip of the Week

A patron wants to read the latest book by James Patterson and doesn’t care if it’s regular print, large type, paperback or a Book on Tape. Whichever item is available first fills the hold and the system automatically cancels the rest. This is called “Grouping Holds” and this is how you do it.

Using the Find Tool in Patron Status, find the patron’s record

Click once on the Place Hold icon   

 

The Hold Request screen displays

Click once on the Find Button in the Bibliographic section to search for a title. 

 

In the search results window, select multiple titles using the CTRL or SHIFT key.

 

Press Enter

These multiple titles will now appear in the Hold Request window as seen below

 

Click once on the Save button  to save the request.

In Patron Status, select the Requests screen

Select the titles you want to group together

Left click on the Add to Group icon

As you can see these four items have now been grouped together as indicated by the letter A

 

Whichever item is checked in first will fill the hold, and Polaris will automatically cancel the rest.
To remove an item from the group, highlight the item and simply left click on the Remove from Group icon

  

DATABASE – Training

Ways Your Library Can Serve Local Businesses and Job Seekers

June 28 (System Meeting) 
            9:30-11:30 am (Sign-in and coffee beginning at 9:00)
            TCPL Borg Warner Room
            RSVP by June 19 (273-4074 or lbeins@flls.org)

Larry Carey, Adult Services Librarian at TCPL, and I will demonstrate how ReferenceUSA, Business and Company Resource Center, and other resources can be used by patrons who are looking for employment or starting a business.  

 

DATABASES – RosettaStone

Contact me for additional RosettaStone Quick Start Cards in English and Spanish, brochures and bookmarks.

 

DATABASES - Trial

We have been given a trial until the end of May 2007 to three databases from ProQuest (the distributor of HeritageQuest):         

ProQuest Obituaries
            eLibrary
            NewspaperDirect PressDisplay

To log in:        http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=2262728

Password is   flakes3.

Try them and let me know what you think about their usefulness and usability.

 

DATABASES – Troubleshooting 

On the right hand side of every E-Source page, at the bottom in the green area, is a drop-down box - Problems accessing databases which offers solutions if you are having problems accessing the databases. Click on the ▼ to open up the box.

 

 

 

WEBSITE – You may be able to find your town pictured on postcards from the early twentieth century on the website Penny Postcards from New York, part of USGenWeb [http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ny/ppcs-ny.html ]. The website, arranged by county, has beautiful cards representing sites in Auburn, Cortland, Fair Haven, Groton, Homer, Ithaca, Moravia, Port Byron, Seneca Falls, Trumansburg, and Waterloo.

 

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK Please find a full text article about food safety that appeared in a peer-reviewed publication within the last year. Julia, TRU, searched the General Science Collection database and sent in the first citation from a list of several results (see below). Also searching MasterFile Premier yielded 20 full-text peer reviewed articles published since April 2006.

 

 

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK The 100+ passengers who set sail from England in December 1606 were seeking gold, silver, and adventure. They arrived on the Virginia shores on May 14, 1607 and founded the “James Towne” colony.                                                          

 

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of this event (along with Queen Elizabeth), try these questions:

1.   What year did Jamestown end its reign as Virginia’s capital?

2.  What crop finally put the Jamestown colony in the black?

3.   Who was the leader of the Native American tribes living in the Jamestown area?

4.   What year were the first African Americans brought to the Jamestown colony?

 Many historians labeled Jamestown a ”fiasco” and described the initial colonists as “soft-handed English gentlemen [who] were more interested in pursuing profits than in tilling the soil [and] wasted valuable time seeking gold when they should have been hoeing corn1. The archaeologists working along the James River has yielded results that are challenging earlier thinking. You can read a fascinating description of these new findings in:

1Sheler, Jeffery L. “Rethinking Jamestown”, Smithsonian, Vol. 35, Jan. 2005, p. 48-55.

http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2005/january/jamestown.php [access from MasterFile Premier or Grolier Online – Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (GME) Web links]

  

The following write-up was to be in the spring issue of the FLLS News, but due to a miss communication, was omitted.
  

The Library Expo sponsored by the Lodi Whittier, Interlaken Public and E.B. Ford Libraries was a huge success from the perspective of both exhibitors and visitors.  There were 21 exhibitors and over 100 visitors throughout the day on Saturday, Feb, 10th.  The food served by the Lodi Fireman's Auxiliary was delicious as was the freshly made ice cream prepared by the Cayuga Lake Creamery.  Three licensed massage therapists gave relaxing back massages while visitors sat in a specially designed chair, small cakes could be individually decorated, creative drawings were produced with artist, Ann Knight and animal tracks were identified with members of the National Forest staff.  Bio-diesel and alternative energy information was shared by folks who drive vehicles that run on vegetable oil. Solar and wind power ideas were discussed with folks who practice homesteading and sustainable farming activities.

Sheriff Deputies took photo identification pictures of children and the Lion's Club provided a vision screening for young children.  Other exhibitors demonstrated beekeeping equipment, blacksmith and wheelwright tools, household cleaning products made with essential oils as well as using the oils for maintaining your health.  Starting a search for your family roots and other historical material was explained by Noel Clawson of the Lodi Historical Society and Lodi library trustee, Julia Clawson.  The Interlaken Historical Society also had a variety of interesting materials on display including a working fanning mill which many visitors enjoyed operating.

Needle workers demonstrated and taught the art of quilting, knitting and crocheting and visitors were able to take home a sample of their work.  Paul Kehle , a professor at Hobart-William Smith College in Geneva demonstrated the use of Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) devices used in a project to locate old growth trees in the local National Forest.

The library corner had a comfy rug, rocking chair and throw pillows to encourage children to come and read books provided for all ages as well as materials explaining services available at our area libraries.  Jackson, the trained R.E.A.D.dog, listened very attentively as children read and showed picture books to him. If a visitor wanted to look for more information on any topic displayed at the event, each exhibitor had a suggested reading list provided by the three area library directors.   A computer connected to the internet was available for visitors to learn how to order books and other materials located in any FLLS library from their home computers or make searches of interesting topics on huge data bases.  This was an educational event to showcase area resources and connect visitors to the vast services available at our area libraries.  Fundraising was limited to used books for sale and donation jugs at the exits.

This was an event that brought out many community residents on a cold day in February, gave them the opportunity to learn about many areas of interest and to visit with their neighbors.  Enough interest was expressed that a similar event is being scheduled for July 2007 using outdoor space to accommodate more exhibitors and activities for families. Come join us next time.


The Circle of Friends Book club has been together for 3 Years. On the Anniversary month the members donated a book to the library. This year they donated "Bleeding Heart" by Ian Rankin. They meet on the third Thursday of the month at 1:30 at the Library. They are always looking for new members. The present members are Bettina King, Martha Cherwak, Doris White, Hilde Maxsom, Jean Simmons, and Sally Limoncelli.  Next month they will be reading and discussing Can't Wait To Get To Heaven by Fanni Flagg. 

 

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