CFLC Chronicles: Halloween Tricks & Treats

Happy Halloween!

First, the treat: Be sure and check out the Google Halloween greeting. If you miss it today, the Google holiday and event logos can be found later on here. Enjoy!

Now, the Halloween sort of trick: CFLC has been visited by connectivity gremlins most of the past week. (This includes both Web page and e-mail issues.) If you are trying to connect to the CFLC Web pages, you may for the short-term have to use the IP address instead of "cflc.net" in the URL. Here is what should definitely connect: http://65.41.132.135/.

SUBJECTS: BLOG BUSINESS; CFLC CHRONICLES

Friday Fun Things: NPR Audio Post

In honor of the FACRL workshop held today (see this post), this week's Friday Fun Thing is a very brief library-related audio post from NPR. It's worth a couple of listens--once to get to the punch line, as it were, and once to listen again once you know the subject being discussed. Enjoy!

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

FACRL Workshop

Demoing the blog at the workshop...

Reference Riches: Tuesday's Tool

This is the first entry in an attempt at a weekly Internet reference resource offering. Please feel free to send in suggestions for great - or even just favorite - resources to feature here.

Given the events to come this week, today's sites are Halloween-related. From the CFLC workshop Holiday Use of the Internet come these fun Halloween pages. Halloween history and traditions are also covered, as are Halloween sites specific to children, Halloween stories and crafts, Halloween health and safety, plus much more. (Go to "Edit" in your browser window, choose "Find in this page" and then search for "Halloween" as a word; you'll find loads of entries to inspire and entertain.)

Boo!

EDITORIAL ADDITION 10/31: Happy Halloween! The CFLC site has been visited by ghosts and goblins and creepy crawlers playing tricks with connectivity all week. Here is an alternative IP address that will get you to the Holiday page if the above link does not function. Thanks to Rochelle at Tinfoil + Raccoon for the catch! Be sure and check out the latest entry in the Carnival of the Infosciences there.

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

Blog Business: Audioblogging Demo

This is a post created with Audioblogger in preparation for demonstrating that feature at the annual fall workshop of the Florida Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries, E-Merging Technologies @ Libraries, in Orlando on Friday, October 28, 2005. Hope to see you there!

SUBJECTS: BLOG BUSINESS; WORKSHOP WEALTH

CFLC Chronicles: Friday Fun Things

Here's a fun thing to "check out," as it were...

The Librarian's Book Club is a group to read and discuss books that are about libraries and the library profession. Every two months the Librarian's Book Club will select a new book to discuss. All you need to do is get yourself a copy of the current book and subscribe to the discussion list... (Note: Although this book club discussion group is focused towards librarians, we welcome members that are not librarians.)

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

ALA Assortments: 2006 Annual Conference

American Library Association (ALA) President Michael Gorman announced today that the 2006 ALA Annual Conference will be held in New Orleans. See the full press release here.

SUBJECTS: ALA ASSORTMENTS

CFLC Chronicles: Disaster Preparedness Handbook

From the SELA list comes notification of a new disaster planning handbook. For those interested in this, also watch the CFLC training schedule for upcoming sessions of CFLC's workshop Safety, Security, and Preparedness for Libraries and learn how to plan to keep your library ready for whatever disasters or emergencies might come.

A new resource from the Heritage Emergency National Task Force identifies federal funding to help make an emergency plan, buy disaster supplies, or train staff for next year's hurricane season. Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions provides information on 15 federal grant and loan programs to help cultural institutions and historic sites prepare for and recover from disasters.

Before and After Disasters was produced by Heritage Preservation with support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts. Before the guide was printed, the Task Force made it available electronically as a Hurricane Resource to help victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These resources are located at http://www.heritagepreservation.org/
PROGRAMS/TFHurricaneRes.HTM.

The programs described in Before and After Disasters help nonprofit arts centers, archives, conservation and historic preservation organizations, historical societies, historic sites, libraries, museums, and theaters, among others.

Before and After Disasters is an updated and expanded version of Resources for Recovery, last issued in 2000. The new booklet covers programs for planning and mitigation as well as recovery. The agency profiles contain information on eligibility and funding levels and include practical examples. A selection of on-line resources helps institutions find professional conservation expertise for their collections and the communities they serve.

Up to 50 copies of Before and After Disasters can be ordered at no charge from the FEMA publications office. Phone 800-480-2520 and ask for FEMA publication #533. The 32-page booklet can also be downloaded from Heritage Preservation's Web site at http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PDFS/Disaster.pdf.

The Heritage Emergency National Task Force has helped to make disaster preparedness and response a higher priority for cultural heritage organizations across the country. The Task Force - an initiative of Heritage Preservation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency - is a partnership of 40 government agencies and national service organizations. Learn the latest information on hurricane recovery efforts and find valuable disaster resources at the Task Force Web site, www.heritageemergency.org.

Questions? E-mail TaskForce (at) heritagepreservation.org or call 202-233-0800.

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES; TERRIFIC TIPS; WORKSHOP WEALTH

CFLC Chronicles: Friday Fun Things

For an interesting exploration of a little-advertised librarian sub-culture, check out The Bellydancing Librarian (and her gallery of photos). Give a broader read to the wonderful list on her page of Web sites belonging to "other fabulous, stereotype-smashing librarians."

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

OCLC Oddments: Resource Sharing Request Searching Enhancements

From the OCLC Resource Sharing List:

OCLC is pleased to announce that enhancements to request searching were installed on Sunday, October 9. Searching requests in Request Manager can now be accomplished more efficiently using a variety of methods:
* Keyword
* Phrase
* Truncation
* Exact Match

The searching process varies for different search types. These procedures are outlined in full in the online Help files and in online documentation at
http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/resourcesharing/
using/searchrequests/default.htm.

Please note: this enhancement does not include searching of archived requests as previously announced. Archived request searching will be installed at a later date to be announced as soon as that information becomes available.

SUBJECTS: OCLC ODDMENTS

Terrific Tips: Web Pages that Attract

In various workshops (particularly the Technology Updates and the Boomers & Gamers sessions), attendees have been discussing ways to make library Web sites more active, interactive, and changing to make it worth the users' while to return regularly.

Here is a good example from one library, the Greene County (OH) Public Library, that has done just that. Go here to see their monthly triva contest, which encourages patrons to use their subscription reference databases to find the answers.

Another example is for those of you having trouble attracting teens to your Web sites -- but only if you want to be jaw-droppingly jealous. Check out the AXIS blog for teens from the Ann Arbor District Library. You don't have to go very far back into the blog to discover individual posts that have *hundreds* of comments!

SU BJECTS: TERRIFIC TIPS