Research Blog : libraries

Libraries Lend a Hand in Tough Times

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:01:00 GMT

This morning the Today Show ran a segment on the important role libraries play during economic recessions. The current economic downturn is no exception, as the clip discusses.

Here at EVPL we have responded to the recession in many ways. For one thing, we have hosted and are hosting workshops on finding employment. For another we make workstations available at Central Library's Tech Center on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 2 p.m. just for people needing to file their weekly unemployment claims.

What do YOU think the library could or should do to help Evansville residents during these hard times?

Grown-up dollhouses…

SuDocQueen@evpl — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:28:00 GMT

Have you stopped by Oaklyn to check out their Miniatures display yet? Or at least taken a look at the great pictures we have online? I admit I haven’t gotten over to Oaklyn personally, but I have enjoyed looking at the pictures on our website. They reminded me of how much fun I’ve had looking at other miniature collections, like the Thorne Rooms in various museums around the country, Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and the Museum of Miniatures in Carmel, Indiana.

But just as you don’t have to actually go to Oaklyn to enjoy Marian G. William’s Miniature Collection, you can also enjoy other miniature collections through our books. There’s the Period Rooms of Ruth McChesney, Treasures in Miniature, Dollhouses, Miniature Kitchens, and Shops from the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Center, and for a bit of whimsy Fairy Island: an Enchanted Tour of the Homes of the Little Folk.

And if your tastes run more to doing than looking, try these subject searches. An easy start is dollhouses. You’ll find books from A Beginners’ Guide to the Dolls’ House Hobby to The Modern Dolls’ House and The Dolls’ House Wedding Book. Another good search is doll furniture. You’ll get some overlap with your dollhouses search, but you’ll find additional books like 55 Embroidery Projects in Miniature and Simple Country Furniture Projects in 1/12 Scale. If you’re more into making accessories rather than building furniture miniature craft would be the search for you. You’ll get embroidery, cross-stitch, and needlepoint projects as well as learn how to make miniature food.

Consumer Product Safety Commission Announces One-Year Stay on Implementation of Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

Bufkinite@evpl — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:08:00 GMT

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was scheduled to become law on February 10th of this year, and it had librarians all over the country worried, in that it would have required every book in the children's library - and possibly in the entire library - to be tested for the presence of lead.

But on January 30th the Consumer Products Safety Commission released an announcement to the Federal Register staying implementation of CPSIA for one year, until February 10, 2010. Click here to read the announcement.

This give libraries a little breathing room, but only until 2010. We know the books in our collections are safe, and so the American Library Association is recommending that libraries be exempt from this law. Those interested in assisting libraries in the effort to get libraries exepmted from CPSIA's requirements can find more information here.

Library Elf now a paid-subscription service; here's our free alternative!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:07:00 GMT

Library Elf, a free service that library patrons all around the world could use to keep tabs on their & their family's due dates, is no longer free. Check out their announcement here, which details the reasons for the change.

Since Library Elf began, we've been adding features to our own "My Account" section, many of which duplicate Elf's features. This means two things:

The EVPL is not currently planning on subscribing to Library Elf.
You don't need to either!

As long as we have your email address on your library account, you'll receive these email notifications free of charge! Follow these steps to make sure we have your correct email address on file:

Hit up the My Account page and log into your account using your name & library card number.
Click on the "Modify Personal Info" button.
Make sure the "I would like to receive my notices from the library by" option is set to "Email", and ensure we have your correct email address.
Click the "Submit" link.

Once this is completed, you'll begin receiving the following notifications via email:

Hold Pickup Notice: When an item you've had on hold is available at the requested library, you'll receive this notice within 24 hours.
Due Date Reminder: These emails get sent out 2 days before an item is due. A nice reminder to avoid those late fines!
First Overdue Notice: Sent out when an item is 4 days (for feature DVDs & Bestseller Express titles) or 7 days (all other materials) overdue.

Patrons are still free to subscribe to Library Elf's Premium service; however, the need to do so has greatly diminished. Those with Library Elf accounts who will be relying on our own email notifications from now on have been asked to close their Elf accounts; instructions on doing so can be found at http://www.libraryelf.com/FAQ.aspx#closeAcct.

If you have any questions or comments about our email notifications, please post them in the comments section below. Questions, comments, or feedback about Library Elf should be submitted to them. Library Elf is and has always been a third-party company with no affiliation to the EVPL, offering their notification services to patrons at libraries all over the world.

Google Book Settlement May Transform Google Book Search Into Google Bookstore

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:26:00 GMT

The November 3, 2008 Library Hotline has a lead article on a landmark settlement between Google and the Authors Guild (AG) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), two organizations that had filed suit against it over the Google Book Search Project. The details are very sketchy, but "Google has announced that the parties have agreed to expand Google Book Search into what will be the web's largest online commercial book venture. Hotline says "the deal could mean significantly increased access to book content online," but not everyone is happy. Harvard University, for example, has noted that it will not participate with Google in the scanning of in-copyright works, and will continue with its policy of only allowing Google to scan books whose copyright has expired.

On it's web site, Google explains the settlement in terms of what will change and what won't. Access to books that are out of copyright won't change much at all. Access to books that are in copyright but out-of-print, or in copyright and in print, will change from the current "snippet" view to more of what is currently the preview view , where you're allowed to view up to 20 full pages of text, then decide whether you'd like to purchase "full online access" to millions of books. Publishers and authors will have their royalties managed through the creation of a "Book Rights Registry."

You can't, apparently, actually download the titles you purchase - at least not yet - but simply keep then on your "electronic bookshelf" within your Book Search account.

Libraries will be able to "purchase institutional subscriptions" allowing their customers access to the full text of the books on the library's "electronic bookshelf," but there's no information about being able to download or "check out" these ebooks. Public and academic libraries will also be able to offer terminals where users can access the out-of-print books for free. However, an article at Xconomy.com makes the point that, while libraries are supposed to be offered a free, view-only license to Google's digital collections, that the agreement actually "restricts each public library to exactly one Google terminal."

Time will tell whether the proposed model will generate enough money for authors & publishers, or enough interest from the reading & book-buying public. I'm not hopeful, because while I enjoy downloading ebooks to read, maintaining an "electronic bookshelf" on Google's servers as a virtual adjunct to my own print library isn't attractive to me at all.

What do you think?

Early voting at libraries ended October 31 but you can still vote early at the Election Office (or go to your polling place on Election Day)

MediaPhile@evpl — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:18:00 GMT

Friday, October 31 was the last opportunity for early voting at the Vanderburgh County Libraries!

However, early voting for all Vanderburgh County residents continues at the Election Office in Room 214 of the City County Building through Monday, November 3. Hours at the Election Office are these:

Saturday, November 1, 8 am to 3 pm
Monday, November 3, 8 am to noon

A sample ballot is available on the Vanderburgh County Clerk website.

If you are unsure whether or not you are registered, go to the Indiana Statewide Voter Registration System website. Once there you can see the location of your polling place on Election Day as well as driving directions. On Election Day the polls are open from 6 am to 6 pm. You must go to your own polling place on Election Day!

Catalog Your Personal Book Collection Online

HoodooVoodoo@evpl — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:46:00 GMT

If many of you out there are like me, you have hundreds of books sitting on your bookshelf at home in a certain order that only you can keep organized (to a point). Personally, I shelf mine chronologically by author according to genre, but I am very OCD like that. No matter what kind of order you may keep them in, it's still hard to keep track of them all. Also, in case something devastating would happen wouldn't it be best to have a cataloging system listing all the titles you own?

Now you can at Library Thing, an online cataloging site that allows you to enter your collection in a library-type catalog format. Library Thing allows you to catalog up to 200 titles for free, or as many as you like for $10 a year or $25 for life. Library Thing also allows you to catalog with Amazon, the Library of Congress or 690 other world libraries. You can also get recommendations and tag your books, along with checking out other people's tags. To find out more, take the Library Thing tour today.