• CAROL HENDRIX, Administration

Last call for newsletter articles.  Please email your articles to chendrix@flls.org by November 19^th.

 

•  MARISA IACOBUCCI, Adult Services Coordinator

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will be out of the office beginning Friday, 11/16 and will be back in the office on Tuesday, 11/27.  Have a great holiday!

 

•  ANNETTE BIRDSALL, Youth Services Consultant

Annette will be out of the office beginning Monday, 11/19 and will be back in the office on Wednesday, 11/28.

 

 Polaris “Tip of the Week”

 Bypassing a hold for another libraries patron because the item is damaged or unavailable.

 If when checking in an item you decide you do NOT want to send the item out to fill a hold, whether it’s because the item is damaged, too new or something else, simple follow the onscreen prompts.

 Answer NO to the onscreen prompt to “transfer for hold”

 

 Answer YES to reactivate the hold for the patron

 

 The item status now changes from Transferred to In-Transit or In depending on who owns the item.

You can now change the circulation status to In-Repair, Withdrawn, Missing, etc. If the item has a status of In-Transit, you must check it in before changing the status.

 

If you discover the item is damaged AFTER you check it in and it’s then linked to a patron to fill a hold, simply check the item in again, follow the prompts as suggested above and change the status.

 

•  LINDA BEINS, ILL/Reference Coordinator

I will be out of the office from Friday, Nov. 16 through Tuesday, Nov. 20; there is a small possibility that I will also be out on Nov. 21. Just in case you need a reminder, there will be no deliveries on Thursday and Friday of next week. Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

DATABASES – Rosetta Stone Reminder

Rosetta Stone Ltd. will discontinue online access to their product beyond the end of our current contract which ends January 31, 2008. This decision was made by Rosetta Stone, not FLLS. We truly regret the loss of this very popular learning tool and the inconvenience this will cause all of our patrons.  

 

DATABASE Trial – TeLL Me More ^®

TeLL Me More ^® currently provides interactive online instruction for patrons wanting to learn English, Spanish (2 forms), Italian, French, German, and Dutch and plans to add Arabic, Japanese, and Chinese in their next version. It is different from RosettaStone and has its own advantages and disadvantages. We would really like your feedback. I will be happy to explore this product with you after Thanksgiving. Give me a call! 

To access the database, visit http://c03.tellmemorecampus.com , then use the following usernames and password:

Username:    FLLS1
Password:     FLLS1      

Username:    FLLS2
Password:     FLLS2      

Username:    FLLS3
Password:     FLLS3      

 

For a brief instructional presentation: click here.  

If one of the username/password combinations is in use, try another. This is the only way they could set up the trial. If we decide to purchase the product, each patron will be able to set up their own login using their library card number and a password of his/her choosing.  You may not be able to try the speaking modules because your computer might have to be configured differently.  You will still be able to evaluate a good portion of the database.

I distributed a four-page Quick Start Guide at the Falcons meeting; if your library was not represented there, look for it in your delivery.

 

DATABASES – NOVELny Database Training Webinars 

The New York State Library is pleased to announce that online training sessions (“webinars”) for the EBSCO Publishing content included in the NOVELny will be offered at no charge to all types of libraries. The webinars, conducted by EBSCO Publishing, will be scheduled on a monthly basis starting in 2008. These one-hour sessions will offer librarians and library staff members the opportunity to learn about databases (and database interfaces) available for children, young adults and adults as part of the NOVELny pilot project.

Emphasis will be on Science Reference Center, the newest database to NOVELny, and webinars will cover features and functionalities common to all EBSCO databases. Also featured will be NOVELny promotional materials available from the NOVELny Web site (novelnewyork.org) and free training resources available from EBSCO’s support site (support.ebsco.com).

The first two webinars are scheduled for January 11, 2008 (Friday) at 1:00 pm EST, and February 19, 2008 (Tuesday) at 2:00 pm EST.

Pre-registration is required.

To register or request further information on the webinars, contact David Fiske at the State Library, Division of Library Development by calling 518-486-4857 or by email at dfiske@mail.nysed.gov.  [NOVEL-L@listserv.nysed.gov]

  

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK   Who is Edward Brooke?

Malia, FLLS, responded that Edward Brooke was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the U.S. Senate. He represented the commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1966-1978. Although born in Washington DC, he began his law practice in Boston after graduating from Boston University’s law school. He had some unsuccessful attempts at political office, but was then elected Massachusetts attorney general in 1962 and reelected in 1964 by the largest margin received by any Republican in the state's history.¹

¹ Lindsey, David. "Brooke, Edward William ." Encyclopedia Americana. 2007. Grolier Online. [Accessed through www.flls.org → Electronic Databases → General Reference on 11/15/2007]

NEXT WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK:  Vaccinium macrocarpon is part of many people’s Thanksgiving meal along with turkey and stuffing. What is it?

 

•  REX HELWIG:  Computer Network Services Manager

With the launch of the Digital Download on Overdrive your library may want to publicize this new service by adding the graphic with a link to the FLLS download site like we have on our home page.  We have already done this on all of the member library home pages that we maintain.  The graphic and link is a great way to advertise the new service and give the patron an easy path to it.  If you bring up our home page at http://www.flls.org and right click on the Download audio books graphic and left click on “Save Picture as” and save the   icon_overdrive.gif   file on your computer.  If you maintain your Web site on our server then the  icon_overdrive.gif  is already in your images folder.  The URL for the FLLS Digital Downloads that you will want to send to your Web master along with the graphic file is http://flls.lib.overdrive.com.

 While we on the subject of putting links on the homepage, most already have a link to the PowerPac Web Catalog.  Another one you may want to include is a direct link to the Electronic Databases portion of the catalog.  The link for this is somewhat unique for each library so if you are interested send me an email and I will send it to you.  If we are maintaining your Web page then it is already in place.