MEMBER LIBRARY WEEKLY BULLETIN
No. 08-15

April 11, 2008

·        ANNETTE BIRDSALL, Youth Services Consultant 

Youth Services

My Schedule
I will be at NYLA/YSS on Thursday and Friday, April 10th and 11th.  If you need storytime extensions, die-cuts or Big Books, please contact Sam at snorton@flls.org.  Marisa x. 26 can be contacted for any other concerns.

Your Free Books
Your $100 worth of free books orders are due by April 18th.  Please remember to identify yourself and your library on your form. 

New Children’s Database Free Trials

Children’s Literature Database

This is a comprehensive database of children’s literature.  I can see many system uses but would like to know what you think.
www.childrenslit.com
 userid is june password: is summer (both lowercase) The trial will be active through June 30.

Bookflix
This database is a similar product to Tumblebooks, but pairs fiction and nonfiction titles for education and broad appeal.

http://bookflix.scholastic.com/freetrial

userid: bookflix, password: class.   This trial is active through May15th.  This free trial can be given out to other

  

Handling Claim Returned Items

Claim returned items and Claim never had items need to be resolved just like your lost items. Items with a status of “claim returned” stay at that status until the item is checked in or deleted. There are a couple of ways you can find these claimed items.

Using the Find Tool

Cataloging/Item Records

In the “By” box, select “Record status”

In the “For” box type in “final” (this will return only item records that have not been deleted already)

Limit by “Circulation Status”

In the “Values” section, select both “Claim Returned and Claim Never Had” (to select multiple statuses, left click on the first one, hold down the control key and left click on the second one)

Using the “Branches” tab, “Unselect all” and select your library

Left click on Search

Your results will display

 

Now you can export these to a record set, print the list, check the shelves, call the patron and if the claimed date is over a year ago, delete the item. It is then removed from the patron’s account but the claim count is retained.

For those of you who want to practice using Simply Reports, this is a good practice report to set up and run.

Here is how you would do it.

Log into Simply Reports

Select the Items tab

Select the Item List tab

 

Highlight and move to the Columns selected for Output section:

  • Item barcode

  • Item assigned collection abbreviation

  • Item call number

  • MARC author

  • MARC title

  • Item claimed date

  • Patron barcode for claimed item

  • Patron full name for claimed item

  • Phone voice 1

 Highlight and move to the Columns selected for sort section:

  • Item assigned collection abbreviation

  • Item call number

  • Patron full name for claimed item

  • Phone voice 1

 Open up the Items general filters section by left clicking on the + sign

  • Check the box for Assigned branch and highlight your library from the drop down list

  • Check the box for Circ status and highlight claim returned and claim never had

Note: to select more than one status, left click on the first one, hold down the control key and left click on the second one

  • Left click on “Submit”

 

Your report will look like this:

 Now you can export these to a record set, print the list, check the shelves, call the patron and if the claimed date is over a year ago, delete the item. It is then removed from the patron’s account but the claim count is retained.

Some dates have been changed for the workshop sessions.

Due to a conflict with the NYSLAA conference, I have had to change the dates for some of the Circ & Holds workshops.

If you have registered already, please note the date change on your calendar.

The NEW dates are:

Trumansburg     Wednesday       5/28/08
McGraw            Thursday           6/12/08
FLLS                Friday               5/30/08 

Candor and Weedsport remain the same
Candor              Monday             6/9/08
Weedsport        Wednesday       6/11/08

Topics covered in the workshop include in part:

Searching tips, new procedures for out of system ILL’s, handling lost, missing and claim returned items, handling sequential holds, placing holds (tips & tricks) and useful reports.

Email or call Jan to register for one of these sessions.

 

I will be away from April 15-21. Please call June Gilligan (ext. 42) with any questions about out-of-system ILLs. I will return phone and email messages after I return on April 22.

 

DELIVERY

FLLS is closed on Friday, April 18; there will not be any deliveries that day.

 

HEARD AT PLA

Cornell University has developed these “Research Minutes” on YouTube to teach students:

“How to Identify Substantive News Articles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAiJL5B5esM and

“How to Identify Scholarly Journal Articles”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDGJ2CYfY9A

 

FREE BOOK – I still have one copy of the book The Long Road Home by Martha Raddatz, donated by the Friends of TCPL. The first library that responds by email gets it.

 

DATABASE TRAINING - Literature & Books databases training will cover the updated Literature Resource Center, Twayne’s Author Series, NoveList, and the new databases from Bowker - Patron Books in Print and Fiction Connection (if they are accessible). 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 Linda B. with questions and Jan to register. Space is limited to ten at each location.

 

DATABASES – FREE TRIAL - BOOKS & AUTHORS       

In celebration of National Library Week, Gale is offering a free trial to Books & Authors http://bna.galegroup.com/, a readers’ advisory database, through the month of April. Some features include:

  • Search by Genre.

  • Results can be revised by target audience.

  • Each title has a short synopsis, links to author information, read-a-likes, and book reviews when available.

  • Who? What? Where? When? feature allows you to construct a search from a predetermined list of possible characters, subjects, locations, and time periods.

 Try it and let me know what you think. How do you think it compares with NoveList?

 DATABASES - FREE TRIAL EXTENDED - CQ RESEARCHER

The free trial for CQ Electronic Library has been reinstated through April 30.  To access the trial of CQ Electronic Library, please link to the following web address:

http://library.cqpress.com/trials

    USERNAME: FLLS

PASSWORD: CQEL

CQ Researcher is the online version of the monthly print version of the same title. It is a searchable database with hyperlinks to related reports and some references. Each issue of CQ Researcher is an objective treatment of one topic and features Pro/Con viewpoints from experts in the field. Recent reports have covered: Preventing Memory Loss; Women in Politics; Gender Pay Gap; Future of the Airlines; and Buying Green.

 

Please take a look at this database and let me know what you think of its contents, ease of use, and usefulness to you and your patrons.

 

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: At PLA in Minneapolis, MN, I attended an Author Luncheon with Louise Erdrich. What is Louise Erdrich’s given name and where was she born?

Karen Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota.1 She owns the bookstore, Birch Bark Books, located in Minneapolis with a focus on books by and about Native Americans.

 1 Contemporary Novelists. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. 7th ed. (2001) p.297-298 [accessed at www.flls.org → Electronic Databases → Literature & Books → Virtual Reference Library]

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Did anyone even notice when violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, dressed in ordinary street clothes, played his $3.5 million instrument with an open case at his feet at a Washington D.C. metro stop during the morning rush hour on January morning for 43 minutes? This was the subject of a 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning article, written by Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post. [Hint – America’s Newspapers database]

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

 

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 04/11/2008