ANNETTE BIRDSALL, Youth Services Consultant

***Summer Reading Order Deadline is March 1st! ****  Have you ordered your reading logs? certificates? or prizes from Highsmith yet?

LINDA BEINS, ILL/Reference Coordinator

DATABASE Literature Resource Center

Look at the new interface for Literature Resource Center. There are many more search options and it appears to be more user-friendly.

DATABASE NoveList Enhancements

An updated version of NoveList with a new interface is schedule in March. Go to: http://support.epnet.com/support_news/detail.php?id=434&t=r&page=&private=true for a preview of the new interface and http://support.epnet.com/training/flash_videos/NoveListTourFiles/NoveListTour.htm for a guided tour.

DATABASES Bowker’s Patron Books in Print and FictionConnection are now available to all FLLS member library patrons from their library and home. Go to www.flls.org → Electronic Databases → Literature & Books → Patron Books in Print has more than 5 million fiction and nonfiction titles for adults and children in book, audio, and video formats. Use quick search or browse by subject, author, or award. Results include editorial reviews, cover images, publisher and bestseller information, awards won, and media mentions. Use the Search my Library’s Catalog link to search FLLS holdings. Visit the Fiction Room or the Children’s Room to find favorite series, recurring characters, award winners, and listings of bestsellers by year.

FictionConnection finds titles similar to books you already enjoy or searches for books by topic, genre, setting, character, location, and timeframe.

DATABASE TRAINING The Literature & Books databases training will cover the updated Literature Resource Center, Twayne’s Author Series, NoveList, and new databases from Bowker - Patron Books in Print and Fiction Connection.  We will review features and searching techniques for each database with lots of hands-on practice. This training will be offered regionally on:

• Mon., May 5:  Candor
• Thurs., May 8:  McGraw
• Wed., May 14:  Trumansburg
• Fri., May 16:  FLLS
• Wed., May 21:  Weedsport

Contact Jan to register. Space is limited to ten at each location.

WEBSITES to celebrate Women’s History Month

Contact me if you have trouble linking to any of the following websites:

About.com: Women's History, organized by subtopics, has articles and resources on women in history and today. Among the features is a history of National Women’s History Month.

Distinguished Women of Past and Present created by a biologist, Danuta Bois, has hundreds of biographies of known, lesser known and hardly known women in all areas of human endeavor.  It can be searched through subject and alphabetical indexes.

Facts for Features - Women's History Month (March 2008) from the U.S. Census Bureau offer key demographics that depict women’s status in our country.

Federal Resources for Education Excellence - Women's History Month links to government-funded projects related to women’s history.  Among them is the National Parks Service’s Places Where Women Made History that lists “herstoric” places on the Historic Register

Gale's Women's History Month –Free resources that include activities, web links, a quiz and biographies women who represent the fields of government, literature, social justice, the arts, science and medicine, religion, and sports. It also has a link to a downloadable March 2008 Women's History Month Calendar.

Gifts of Speech, sponsored by Sweet Briar College, is dedicated to “preserving and creating access to speeches by influential contemporary [and not so contemporary] women from around the world.” Read speeches by Helen Keller, Golda Meir, Lucretia Mott, Phyllis Schlafly, Mother Teresa, just to name a few.

Infoplease Women's History Month has history and timelines that relate to women. It includes notable speeches by women 1849-1995, descriptions of Supreme Court cases involving women’s rights, biographies of women in business, religion and government, portraits of all the First Ladies; and quotations by women.

Library of Congress (LOC) - Women's History highlights the many resources on women's history and culture available from its extensive online collections. Among them are: photographs of pro and anti-suffrage parades; portraits of leading suffragettes; digital collections of letters and documents written by and about women, including a petition for bail from accused witches, ca 1692; and interviews with women veterans from World War II through the Persian Gulf conflict.  Their online research guide, American Women: a Gateway to Library of Congress Resources has five essays; each relates resources held in different Library of Congress divisions to an aspect of women's history.

National Women's Hall of Fame in our own Seneca Falls has biographies of the now 226 accomplished women who are the “Women of the Wall”.

National Women's History Month from the U.S. Dept. of Defense salutes the women who have served in the military.

National Women's History Museum has a number of resources to celebrate the accomplishments of women. Among their cyber exhibits are a History of American Women in the Olympics, a History of Women in Industry and Clandestine Women: Spies in American History.

NYS Women of Distinction is the New York State Senate’s tribute to the women who have contributed to NYS. Current honorees actress Maureen Stapleton, astronaut Eileen M. Collins and entrepreneur Rose Know join more than fifty previous honorees who have contributed to the state and nation.

Women's History Hotlist from the Franklin Institute has links to several web resources including America’s Quilting History and Women Artists from Medieval Period to the Present.

Women's History Teaching Resources from the Smithsonian Institute features online exhibitions and websites celebrating women.  It includes a link to the website Innovative Lives which explores the history of women inventors.

Women's Studies Online Resources from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County lists hundreds of websites that focus on women’s studies or women’s issues.

VIRTUAL REFERENCE

http://govtinfo.org Government Information Online: Ask a Librarian (GIO)

An agreement between the U.S. Government Printing Office and a network of 20 depository libraries has recommenced and expanded this virtual reference service. Reference librarians from academic, state, and public depository libraries are available through email and chat services to direct users to information from government agencies, mostly federal, but also state, regional, and local agencies.

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK When was Malcolm X assassinated? Where and when was he born?

Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE on May 19, 1925, was assassinated on Feb. 21, 1965 in NYC.

[Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, available at www.fllls.org → Electronic Databases → General Reference → Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia (EBSCO)]

Thanks Malia for sending in an answer!

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: In honor of Women’s History Month:

1. What did Robyn Smith accomplish on March 1, 1973?
2. Who was the first woman to win the American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award
3. In what year was the Girl Scouts of America formed?
4. When was Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg born?
5. What team won the first NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship tournament game?

[Hint: go to March 2008 Women's History Month Calendar]

Submit your own Question of the Week for inclusion in future FLLS Bulletins by emailing me at lbeins@flls.org!

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.

• Janet Steiner, TCPL, Ithaca
• Kay Zaharis, Cortland Free Library
• Sally Otis, Hazard Library, Poplar Ridge
• Sheila Anderson, Seymour Library, Auburn
• Diane Pamel, Southworth Library, Dryden
• Julia Schult, Groton Public Library
• Beverly Dann, Waverly Free Library

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Last updated 02/29/2008