• Reminder:  FLLS will be closed on Monday, May 26^th for Memorial Day.
  
   

• JAN AGUIRRE, Specialist & Training Coordinator

What does it mean when an Item Record has a record status of “provisional”?

 

This means that when the item record was created, it was assigned the SAME barcode as an Item Record that already exists. You cannot have two item records with the same barcode. When you try and save the second one, a message pops up alerting you that a duplicate barcode has been use and in order to save the record it will be given a status of “provisional”. Do NOT save the record. Cancel this step and assign a NEW barcode to this item.

 

 

Provisional records do not display in PAC and do not allow holds. To find provisional records assigned to your library, use the Find Tool.

Using the Find Tool

·         Cataloging/Item Records

·         This brings up the Find Tool

·         In the Object box, select Item Records

·         In the By box, select Record Status

·         In the Type box, select Exact match

·         In the For box, type in provisional

·         Limit to your library using the Branches tab or the Limit by option.

·         Press Search

 

The Item Records displayed will need to have their barcodes replaced with a new one. Once this is done and the record saved, the record status of the item will change to Final.

 

• LINDA BEINS, ILL/Reference Coordinator

 DELIVERY

There will not be a delivery on Monday, May 26. FLLS will be closed in recognition of Memorial Day.

 

RECYCLED REFERENCE Let me know by June 5 if you are interested in one of the following titles:

• The Foundation Directory (2007) 3 vols. [includes Part 2 and a Supplement]

• The Foundation Directory (2006) 1 vol.

 

DATABASES - Patron Books In Print

I have Patron Books in Print posters for anyone who would like one.

 

DATABASES - Health & Wellness Resource Center

Take a look at the new Health & Wellness Resource Center homepage with an enhanced search box, health news stories, and a drug and herbal remedy/symptom search tool. Sign-up at www.gale.com/webevents to participate in a free Webinar on Wednesday, 6/11 or 6/25, at 2 pm.

 

WEBSITES – Several different resources that appeared on Library Journal’s Best Reference 2007 (April 15, 2008). 

• Factcheck.org, http://www.factcheck.org/, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, monitors the accuracy of politicians’ speeches, interviews, press releases, debate statements, and political ads.

• Fuel Economy.gov http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ helps consumers make fuel economy decisions as it relates to vehicle purchases, tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles, driving tips, alternative energy, etc. It includes links to find the lowest gas prices in the area http://www.newyorkstategasprices.com/.

• Landmark Cases of the Supreme Court http://www.landmarkcases.org/ features fifteen Supreme Court cases and accompanying teaching materials and activities to help teachers work with students to understand the significance of these milestone legal decisions. This website was created and developed by lawyers and a team of high school teachers.

LAST WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: David Baldacci has another New York Times best seller. Name three Author Read-alikes for readers who may be waiting to read his newest book The Whole Truth.

 

George Willkens, MOR used the list of David Baldacci Read-alikes on  http://www.rolling-meadows.lib.il.us/Readalikes.htm from Rolling Meadows Library in Rolling Meadows, IL. It included: William Bernhardt, Stephen Cannell, Joseph Finder, Vince Flynn, John Grisham, James Grippando, Brad Meltzer, Kyle Mills, and Robert K. Tanenbaum.

 

Below is a typical Author Read-alike from the NoveList database. The Author Read-alikes, written by librarians, discuss the appeal factors of each author and suggests authors whose plots, characters, and/or writing styles share those features.

 

David Baldacci
by Joyce Saricks

 

Genre: Suspense

If the goal of Suspense Stories is to raise our blood pressure with fast pacing, intricate plots, twists and double crosses, David Baldacci's novels, except for atypical coming-of age story Wish You Well, help set the standard for readers. Suspense builds in his edge-of-the chair accounts of sympathetic heroes and heroines in jeopardy, threatened on all sides, and struggling to survive. Dirty dealings, often featuring the Mafia or government bad guys, abound, and while political intrigue and corruption are usually elements, the novels may also feature financial manipulation, abuse of power, and corporate corruption.

As do all Suspense Stories, Baldacci's offer their share of occupational details -- of politics or government usually -- as well as multiple, intertwining plot lines that keep readers riveted to the page. As with the novels of fellow-Thriller-writer John Grisham, one of the strongest appeals of Baldacci's stories is that we readers know that they will end satisfactorily. Although we do not know how he will arrive at the solution, we know that the outcome will suit us, that the good guys will be rewarded and the bad caught and punished, even if perhaps not within the limits of the law. Needless to say, revenge is a popular theme, as are secrets, sometimes hidden for a long time, and sometimes simply to be uncovered by the hero and reader.

The typical Baldacci hero is honorable, even if the outside world does not always think so. The villains are always bad, even though they may be originally perceived by characters and readers as good; their evil natures and methods emerge as the story progresses.

Last Man Standing makes a good introduction to Baldacci's writing. Web London, member of an elite FBI rescue squad, freezes up during an assignment and thus is the only survivor of an attempt to wipe out his team. He looks to the drug dealers to discover who is responsible for this setup, but soon, he uncovers a conspiracy very close to home in this intricately plotted, fast-paced tale of deceit and corruption

Read-alikes:

Like Baldacci, James Grippando writes high energy Suspense Stories featuring corruption and conspiracies, although these are also more violent. Likable characters put in difficult situations fill his complex, intricately-plotted novels. Try Found Money, a fast-paced, compelling tale of failed dreams and found money.

Screenwriter Stephen Cannell's Adventure/Suspense/Thrillers may be told in more slapdash prose than Baldacci's, but there are often similar themes -- conspiracy and corruption -- and the pacing is every bit as page-turning. The Plan, his first, involves the Mafia in the Presidential race.

It's hard to believe anyone who has read Baldacci has overlooked John Grisham, but on the off-chance we find such a reader, we should not forget to make this link. The Firm, with its naive hero placed in a tight situation with the Mafia at his heels, makes a good suggestion for fans of tense, fast-paced, suspense-building stories. Grisham will appeal especially to those who prefer less graphic violence than Baldacci.

Although this stand-alone title is a departure from his series characters, Michael Connelly's Void Moon makes an interesting suggestion for Baldacci's fans. This story features a female burglar, tricked into returning to rob the casino where, last time, she lost the love of her life. Again, the crux of the story is the way in which the likable character copes with her desperate situation, and all the details -- of the crime and casino security -- and the pacing keep the reader fascinated and turning the pages.

If the reader praises the political machinations of some of Baldacci's thrillers, Kyle Mills makes an excellent suggestion. In Free Fall, for example, suspense builds as a rogue FBI agent discovers that a conspiracy to change the outcome of the Presidential election hinges on some J. Edgar Hoover-era documents, uncovered and then stolen by an ex-climber and now in the hands of another climber, a female friend. Whom to trust and what is in the documents are just two of the questions that propel hero Mark Beamon on his search.

Joyce Saricks is the Literature and Audio Services Coordinator for the Downers Grove Public Library in Downers Grove, Illinois, and the author of Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (ALA, 2001).

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION OF THE WEEK: In which of Lewis Carroll’s novels does the nonsense verse “Jabberwocky” appear? What is a “portmanteau” word? [Hint: try the database Literature Resource Center]

 

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

• Seymour Library, Auburn

The Seymour Library/AUB listing in the FLLS Directory currently gives Mary Popvich's email address for local history and genealogical inquiries. For all future inquiries, please use localhistory@seymourlibrary.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 Mikkelson, Seymour Library, Auburn
• Diane Pamel, Southworth Library, Dryden
• Beverly Dann, Waverly Free Library

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Last updated 05/27/2008