• PLEASE NOTE: 

This is a reminder of the planned power outage at FLLS, next Tuesday, April 29, 2008. 

Weather permitting, NYSEG will cut our power to System Headquarters at 7:00 AM.  We have been told that the outage will last approximately 4 hours. Since we won’t have power in the morning and we do not exactly know when the power will be turned back on, the System will be closed all day. 

Our phones will be out until the power is restored so you won’t be able to call us.  As soon as our servers are up Rex will notify the libraries by sending out an email to the FALCONS-L (Falcon’s list-serve) and a memo by Fax. 

Remember, this project is contingent on the weather in Ithaca and could be rescheduled at the last minute.  If it is rescheduled, Rex will send out notification by email to the FALCONS-L and by Fax. Obviously, if this work is rescheduled, FLLS will be open and delivery will take place as usual.

Thank you for your patience in this matter.

• JAN AGUIRRE, Specialist & Training Coordinator

POLARIS “TIP OF THE WEEK”

If both Polaris and the Internet are down and you have to revert to a manual system, one way to handle this is to scan both patron barcodes and item barcodes into Notepad or Word. Once Polaris is back up you can manually enter the patron barcode and item barcodes or copy and paste them into check out.

Remember that patron barcodes begin with a “D” and item barcodes begin with an “A,” this makes for a natural delimiter between the two so you can tell the difference. 

To do this, open up either Word or Notepad. 

Note: There is an automatic return in the barcode scanner so you will not have to press return on your keyboard in order for the cursor to move to the next line.

Scan the patron barcode. Scan the Item barcodes

D0001354711
A20503194982
A20509120892
A20507498087

Once the session for this patron is finished you can press enter one more time to create a space between this patron and the next.

When Polaris is back up, copy and paste the patron barcode from your Word or Notepad document into the Patron barcode box in Checkout.

Next, copy and paste the item barcodes into the Item barcode box.

•  MARISA IACOBUCCI, Adult Services Coordinator

“Coaching for Performance” with Ted Baumhauer * (see note below)

May 22, 2008, 9:00am – 4:00pm

Supervisors help employees reach their potential by giving effective feedback and encouraging involvement in work process improvements.  High performance supervisors develop the coaching skills of their whole team.

Coaching and providing effective feedback are essential skills for supervisors today.  The feedback process energizes and empowers employees and teams to reach higher levels of productivity and achievement.  This workshop will focus on direct, one-on-one coaching and how to transfer this talent throughout your group to achieve more consistent training, results, and higher productivity.

* I would like to encourage all member libraries who are interested in attending this workshop to sign up as soon as possible.  Due to the nature of the grant this is funded by, member library staff from the Southern Tier Library System, the Four County Library System, South Central Regional Library Council members and human service agencies are also invited to attend.  With a limit of 35 participants, this narrows your chances of getting a spot.  I took this class at the last NYLA conference and highly recommend it.  Please sign up soon! 

• LINDA BEINS, ILL/Reference Coordinator

DELIVERY

If FLLS closes on Tuesday, April 29 because of a power shutdown, there will not be any deliveries that day.

DATABASE TRAINING - Literature & Books databases training will cover the updated Literature Resource Center, Twayne’s Author Series, NoveList. Because of accessibility issues we will not be able to cover Patron Books in Print and Fiction Connection. We will review features and searching techniques for each database with lots of hands-on practice. There are still some seats left at each of the training sites:

      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 – ReferenceUSA  - New Features

 

 

In Custom Search, you can now search by Brands and Products to find the parent company and search for businesses that have 800 phone numbers.

 

ReferenceUSA has also added a Guided Search feature which allows you to revise your search criteria to broaden or narrow the search and reports the number of results as you change criteria. This is helpful to the new entrepreneur looking for vendors or the job hunter searching for perspective employers.

 

 

Another change is that the radius for finding other businesses has increased to 150 miles; it had been 20 miles.

 

 

WEBSITE - Library of Congress

"The Library of Congress has opened a new interactive Website, http://www.loc.gov/experience, as a companion to a high-tech exhibit designed to give visitors a close-up view of some of the institution’s treasures.  For example, a copy of the Gutenberg Bible is in a glass case at the library, but the new Web site will let users flip through the book and zoom in on its pages virtually."

[LIBREF-L@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU]

 

LAST 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.

 Gene Weingarten reported that a hidden camera recorded only 27 of the 1,097 metro passengers who hurried by the musician gave a total of $32.17.¹ Bell’s usual performance fees come to $1,000 per minute. There was never a crowd of people listening. Bell said, “It was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me.”

 ¹Weingarten, Gene “Pearls before breakfast - can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let’s find out.” Washington Post, April 8, 2007, p w10.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans turned out to demonstrate concern for the environment at the first Earth day. What former senator was instrumental in establishing Earth Day?

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 04/25/2008