Digital Microfilm of Barrons, HC, NYT, WSJ and Washington Post.

Houston Public Library has switched 5 of its microfilm titles to digital microfilm. The titles that are now available digitally are Barron’s, Houston Chronicle, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. There are links to these titles on the Alphabetical Database list and under the Newspaper subject webpage. Barron’s and Wall Street Journal are also available on the Business and the Investing webpages.

Basically digital microfilm is the same image you would see if you were using physical microfilm and a microfilm reader, but online. The advantage of this new format is that patrons don’t have to come to Central to use the microfilm but can do so from a branch or at their home or office. The other advantage is that unlike the databases we have of some of these titles, digital microfilm has images of everything in the newspaper from cover to cover. This means obituaries and advertisements are included. However, digital microfilm can not be searched as a database would since it is merely a collection of images. You can choose what edition you want to see by selecting the title and the desired date. Our subscriptions start January 2008 and are current. Keep in mind there will be a delay between when the newspapers are published and when they are available in microfilm.


One last note, the fantastic thing about digital microfilm is that it will allow you to find images of obituaries. If the patron has the dates involved you can go straight to the digital microfilm and choose those dates to find the obituary. If the patron does not have dates, search first in the Houston Chronicle database to locate the date of the obituary and then use the digital microfilm.

Adult Summer Reading Program

There will be an Adult Summer Reading Club for our adult patrons this summer.
Here’s the skinny:

· PROGRAM DATES: June 1 – August 1, 2010 (same as “From Fables to Fantasy”)

· HOW TO REGISTER: The registration process is the same for the Adult SRC as it is for “From Fables to Fantasy”.

· HOW TO PARTICIPATE: Participants read books in any format, and enter the book titles read on their online reading logs. (Logging hours is not an available option for Adult SRC.)

Adult Summer Reading Club Random Drawing Prizes:

Random drawings are the only incentives (besides the fun and general feeling of accomplishment). Like the SRP for kids and teens, if participants would like to be eligible for the random drawings, they must include their contact information when they register.

Weekly Drawing: $50 gift card to a local independent bookseller

All participants are eligible for the weekly $50 gift card drawing. There will a total of nine drawings for these completed every Friday during the months of June and July.

Monthly Drawing: Sony eReader, Pocket Edition

The number of entries for the monthly eReader drawing will be based on how many books the patron has entered into his or her online reading log; in other words, the more the patron reads, the better his or her chances are to win the eReader. There will be a total of two drawings for these completed on or about Thursday, July 1st and Monday, August 2nd.

As you might have guessed, HPL staff are not eligible to participate in the Adult SRC. However, adult family members of HPL staff are eligible, and staff are strongly encouraged to participate in Staff SRC. (It’s a lot of fun!)

I hope that helps to answer any questions you may have about the program. There will be some printed collateral and a page on our Website with this information available soon.

UPDATED!!! 290 Expansion Environmental Impact Statement

UPDATED!!! The fact that we have the Environmental Impact Statement for the 290 expanision was in the Leader. We may get multiple requests. I will move it to the central cases and let's hold ID while people look at it

We have received the final version of the Environmental Impact Statement for the 290 Expansion.

I just had a call about it so we may have folks ask for it. It is a reference item and may not be removed from the library.

Tax help after April 15th

If customer call asking about a tax return that was completed by AARP, get a name and contact number and I will relay the information to David with AARP. After Wednesday, April 21st he will release all of the information to the IRS and no longer have access to it and so they should then call the IRS directly.
Telephone Assistance for Individuals:
Toll-Free, 1-800-829-1040
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).

Limiting searches in the catalog

Syma Zerkow sent these out for limiting catalog searches:

Use the keyword search function. Enter words from the book title or whole or part of the author's name along with

1) For the physical audiobook only (no electronic audio books) use:
"and not branch:branchhhou" and limit to audiobooks.
For example, if you enter:
james patterson and not branch:branchhhou

2) To exclude government documents from your keyword search use: and not branch:branchigov
For example, if you enter:
energy and not branch:branchigov

Census 2010

Starting March 19 and continuing through April 19, we will be designated as a Census Question Assistance Center (QAC). All that this means is that Census staff will be on hand during designated hours to answer citizen questions about the Census and the importance of completing the form. Forms are set to be mailed around the beginning of March. Census staff will need a table (either a meeting room table or one of the public tables) so that they can sit and be available for questions.

The QAC hours will be (March 22-April 19)(NEW AS OF 3/11/10!!!!!)
Mondays and Wednesdays 10am-1pm
Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Fridays 3pm-6pm

First day is March 22nd

Patrolling in the after school hours

Please make a point to walk around and check things out several times for each hour that you are assigned to the desk. This is especially true when the kids get out after school.

We don't necessarily want to advertise that Fred is not here, but we do need to be vigilent and make sure everything is safe.

Make sure to do incident reports especially when we kick someone out of the building or there is a disturbance.