Paul Newman 1925-2008

A class act and a real cool hand.

Stolen CDs

We have had a rash of CDs stolen from the collection – the CDs are removed from the cases and the empty cases are left on the shelves somewhere in the media room.  Most of the stolen items were hip hop and popular artists, so to combat the theft we have removed these items from the browsable collection.  Their statuses have been changed from “Available” to “See Librarian” and they will be kept on a cart behind the Media Room Circulation Desk.  Patrons will have to request a specific CD and it will be pulled for them by Circulation Staff and immediately checked out to the patron.  They will no longer be browsable.  These CDs will have small green circles on the labels to denote them as a CD from the cart.  When these items are returned, a full-time member of the Circulation Department will change the status back to “See Librarian” and the CD will be returned to the cart down in the Media Room.  Any questions, feel free to ask me.  -Denise

Reference Computer Assistance

The October newsletter is out and we have our first appointment.

The sign-up sheets are in a binder out at the Ref. Desk. At least during the month of October–during the “Pilot program”–the 1/2 appointments are on Monday and Friday nights from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. If we find that people say they cannot make it on those nights, we will expand the program in November to ANY convenient time. It is certainly something we all can do to some degree.

When people call, ask what the general computer topic is they need help with. When we expand the program we can then better match the question with a librarian.

LK

New catalog design!

As of Monday, the online catalog will get a facelift!  All of the same functions are still available, it will just look a bit different.  Here is a link to the new look, check it out:

http://alpha1.suffolk.lib.ny.us:2082/search~S0  This is the Staff WebOPAC link

http://alpha2.suffolk.lib.ny.us:2082/search~S0   This is the public OPAC link

These links are usable, so feel free to do some searches.  Here is a link to the PowerPoint presentation showing where the old catalog things are on the new page:

http://pals.suffolk.lib.ny.us/downloads/CatalogChanges.ppt#257,1,Slide 1

Any questions, as usual, see me.

-Denise

Mythbusters Results

Ever wonder if it’s more fuel efficient to drive with the AC on, or the car windows down? (ep 22)  Wonder if you get wetter when walking in the rain versus running? (ep 1 and 38)

If you don’t have the time to catch up on 7 seasons of mythbusting but are curious which urban myths got confirmed and which were busted, check out the Mythbuster Results.  They have the results of all experiments and a handy search box, too.

Don’t Forget – Everyone Can Post

Don’t be shy.  Everyone who works at the Ref Desk is invited to post here.  It’s not manditory, but try it at least once just to say you did .  If you need a refresher, feel free to ask Lynne, Denise or Jamie.   Start at www.wordpress.com . The username and password are on the reference rolodex under PASSWORDS.  The rest is as simple as using a word processor…almost.

OCLC’s Interesting Book Lists

OCLC, the organization that is responsible for “furthering access to the world’s information” should probably fix the dead links from this page of interesting book lists and update their Top 1000, which is almost 4 years old.  All criticism aside, there is still much that warrants a look from book lovers.   Check out the OCLC top 1000 books (as of 2005) and the factoids about the list as well as which from the top 1000 have been challenged and banned.

New VRC…but some links not working

Currently several VRC databases cannot be accessed by using the “USE IN LIBRARY” link.  These include the Literature Resource Center, History Resource Center, Opposing Viewpoints, Bases de Datos and a few others.  You can still get to these databases by using the “Use Outside Library” link, which requires a barcode and password.  People have been contacted to fix this, but be advised of the workaround just in case repairs are not made ASAP.

Borders Store – New Inventory Search

Borders has revamped their inventory search tool making it simpler.  Find any item with the search box (at top of each page), then on the item page, enter your zipcode slightly below the ADD TO CART button.  A list of stores and availabilities will appear.

Microfilm: La Brea Tar Pits Time??

As we prepare to look at next year’s budget and concerns over keeping rising library costs at a minimum, is it time to stop getting the NYTimes, Wall St. Journal, and Newsday on microfilm????