Friday Fun Thing: Unshelved

If any of you have not yet encountered the library-related comic strip Unshelved (formerly Overdue), I recommend a look! If you're new to the series, start with the primer to meet the somewhat quirky staff and patrons of Mallville Public Library.

A favorite recent strip involves the Internet; the week of October 24 dealt with an interesting cataloging conundrum involving a graphic novel (use the > button at the bottom to go to the next of the six on the topic); and Sundays since mid-August have been full-color strips featuring The Unshelved Book Club, a mini book discussion. And, oh yes, you can subscribe to the strip via an RSS reader. Enjoy!

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

Tuesday's Tool: Find-A-Human

This week's Tuesday Tool is Find-A-Human: IVR Cheat Sheet, a list of verified methods for getting around companies' IVR (Integrated Voice Response) systems to talk to a human being.

Janet Miller, Reference Librarian at the Mims/Scottsmoor Public Library (Brevard County, FL), who posted this reference for the Ask a Librarian list includes the advice, "Notice the upper right corner where you can choose different views (e.g., by category or all in alphabetical order). " Data can also be downloaded, notifications and subscriptions are available, and volunteers are encouraged to participate and add to the database.

Very useful; it's been added to the CFLC Reference Desk under Consumer Information and Directories. Thanks for the heads-up, Janet!

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

CFLC Chronicles: National Young Readers Day

National Young Readers Day is Tuesday, November 8. The day was originally "created by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in 1989 as a way to celebrate literacy in schools." Though this post is almost a day late and a dollar short, this Web site (actually part of the BookIt! program's site) provides Starter Kits and ideas for promoting the day.

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES