AARP Tax Site

Anyone know who to contact if you want to become an AARP Tax Site? Thanks in advance!

Problems with holds email notifications

I'm just curious.

Has anyone besides us here at Larchmont noticed a spate of patrons coming in saying they got an email stating their item was sent back, but they never got an email stating their item had arrived?

If so, what have you done about it? We've forwarded the information to westlynx, but haven't got much of a response.

Liam the Larchmont Librarian

Strategies to assist patrons find jobs

Strategies to assist patrons find jobs

Remember the reference interview
Use referrals to assist patrons

Learn Technology
Use word processing for resume templates, cover letters
Use to establish free email accounts
Use to create e-resumes
Cybersafety

Enhance Library’s job information resources
Use merchandising
Use new titles to enhance old titles

Develop Resource Guides
Use workshop’s information to design guides specific to
your Library’s communities

Start a binder
Use articles of interest and agency information

Think Creatively
Use assessment tests and other “less obvious” sources to
help patrons find jobs in new places

Keep “old school” strategies
Use daily newspapers and telephone book
Use staffing services
Use career coaches
Use print sources like,
JIC Binder, Career Guide, OOH, O-Net, What Color is
Your Parachute? Sweaty Palms
NETWORK!!!

Assisting Patrons with Job Searches

Assisting Patrons with Job Searches
Prepared by Sharon Rothman, Business Librarian @ White Plains Public Library

Library Resources

NYS Library
Job and Career Information in New York’s Public Libraries
http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/libdev/outreach/careers.htm

New York Public Library
Job Search Central provides up-to-date information for anyone interested in looking for a job, researching careers, or exploring a career change. This includes materials on different careers, resume writing, job search strategies, and self-exploration
http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/mml/jic

Queens Library
Information about the Library’s Job Information Centers and includes list of Internet sites by subject
http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?page_nm=Job+Information+Resources

Brooklyn Public Library
Education and Job Information Center collection of books and resources, guides
http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ejic.jsp

Westchester Library System
Online resources include Firstfind and Librarians’ Best Web Picks
http://www.westchesterlibraries.org/node/7

Mid-Hudson Library System
Quick answers
http://midhudson.org/answers/Job.htm

White Plains Public Library
Center for Business, Jobs & Nonprofits
http://www.wppl.lib.ny.us/collections/cbjn/index.shtml



Referrals

GovBenefits
Official benefits website of the U.S. government, with information on over 1,000 benefit and assistance programs
http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal

NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
Answers to NYS programs and benefits. Available in Spanish
https://www.mybenefits.ny.gov/selfservice/

One-stop Employment Centers
Wide range of services aimed at all persons seeking employment
http://www.westchestergov.com/onestopemploymentcenter/

Unemployment Insurance Benefits Online
Links to Workforce sites, forms & publications and Worker Protection. Available in Spanish
https://ui.labor.state.ny.us/UBC/home.do

United Way
For help with food, housing, employment and more
http://www.211.org/

VESID (vocational and educational services for persons with disabilities)
http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/do/home.html

Veterans
Priority of service for veterans and their families
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/VETs/VETINTROPAGE.shtm

WEBS Career Counseling
Specialized programs with trained professionals to guide persons in their career path
http://www.westchesterlibraries.org/node/66





Education/Certification/Training

Putnam/Westchester BOCES
Provides educational opportunities in the Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES or using the OLAS (On-Line Application System for Educators) one can search New York State
http://www.pnwboces.org/Employment.htm

Office of the Professions/ NYS Education Department
Provides a summary of the requirements for licensure or certification, as well as links to one or more required application forms (in PDF format) that may be printed
http://www.op.nysed.gov/proflist.htm

CitizenGuide: Career/Employment
NYS all-in-one resource for information on career choices, employment opportunities and licensing
http://www.nysegov.com/citGuide.cfm?superCat=36&content=main

Job Boards

NYS Job Exchange
Contains just about everything
www.americasjobexchange.com/ny

Work Tree
Boasts to be better than Monster
www.worktree.com

Local

www.BigAppleHelpWanted.com
Available in Spanish
www.GoliathJobs.com
Connects job seeks to employers via school and alma maters
www.HudsonValleyHelpWanted.com
www.WestchesterCountyJobs.com
www.FairfieldCountyJobs.com
www.RocklandCountyJobs.com
www.PutnamCountyJobs.com

(Experienced) Help Wanted

Career Overview
Info on changing careers
www.careeroverview.com/career-change.html

Encore.org
Connects job hunters in the second half of life with “work that matters”
www.encore.org

RetirementJobs.com
Connects older workers with companies and positions that match their skills and desired lifestyle
http://retirementjobs.com

Workforce50.com
Job board with positions offered by employers specifically seeking mature workers
www.workforce50.com

Youth

www.jobcorps.com
www.CollegeGrad.com

Other General Information Resources

Librarians’ Index to the Internet
Dozens of high-quality websites carefully selected, described, and organized by librarians
http://lii.org/pub/topic/jobs

Susan Ireland’s E-Resume Guide
Gives info on how to prepare, post, and email your resume www.susanireland.com/eresumeguide/index.html

http://freeresumesamples.org/
http://cover-letters.com/
http://howtointerview.com/

Periodicals - disappearing & changing pub frequency

Just found out from periodicals vendor that Mad magazine will become a quarterly, after April issue, and, I was not aware, that U.S. News & World Report went monthly. Don't know what's happening next, but if anyone has any idea, please let me know. - Pat H./KAT

WLS Adult Services Meeting, 6/23/09 - Topic TBA

Folks, you might wish to contact Rachel about a topic for this meeting. I won't be here for it - I'll be in sunny Italy. - Pat H/KAT

Read any Good Books lately - April edition

Read with a book group in Somers - A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest GAines (THE BIG READ). That was a good book and I listened to the audiobook version, read by Jay Long, which made it really come to life. Its a book that speaks both of the black experience during Jim Crow years in the south, but also speaks to a universality of finding out who you are and not who people think you are and should be. Read last year's BIG READ - Their Eyes were Watching God by Hurston and that was one book that keep me glued to it until I finished it. Good book, no matter if its about blacks, whites or chartreuse. Gaines book is very good, but Hurston's was fantastic. Anyone read any of her other books? OR read any good books lately, Pat H/KAT ;-)

Poem Round Robin

This is fur fun & relaxation; think like a cat.

If you wish to add on to this poem or even create a whole new one that people can add on to, please do. This is one that I have been trying to make into something other than a fun 2 or 4 liner. Please help! - Pat H./KAT

Two Cats have i
who don't see eye to eye

They wander by
With tails held high



Another version to work on (by a brother poet):

Two Cats have i
Who don't see eye to eye
Sometimes they make me crossed "I"'d.

They wander by
With tails held high
And I wonder why

They understand I
I comprend them not
I play with them
And they playing me.

Program Idea for Quadricentennial

If anyone has to plan a program for the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial, I just had Richard de Koster come from the Constitution Island Association do a talk on the Warner Sisters of Constitution Island. They were young ladies whose father lost everything in the financial panic of 1837 and they had to leave NY society and move to their home (supposed to be a vacation home) on an island in the Hudson. The older girl was devastated; the younger one loved being outdoors. As they grew up they began to support their family by farming, gardening, and writing and became very popular writers-almost as popular as Dickens and Harriet Beecher Stowe in their day.
He gives a nice talk about the sisters, about the history of Constitution Island, the house and gardens. You might be pleased. If you wish more info, go to http://www.constitutionisland.org/or contact me. Sara Rodgers

Westchester Library Association Conference May 8

Go to http://www.westchesterlibraryassociation.org/

Google in the News - Privacy Issues

A privacy advocacy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to pull the plug on Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and the company's other Web apps until government-approved "safeguards are verifiably established."
If the FTC grants the request, hundreds of millions of Internet users would be unable to access their e-mail or documents until the agency's formidable collection of lawyers in Washington, D.C., became satisfied with the revised applications. The outage would extend to businesses that pay for access to Google Apps.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center submitted the far-reaching request to the FTC in a letter from its director, Marc Rotenberg, on Tuesday. It argues that a formal legal injunction halting all Google cloud-computing services pending formal government approval is necessary to "adequately safeguard the confidential information" of users.

Click on link for entire article
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10198740-38.html

Computer Usage Policies - formal & informal

How should Computer Usage Policies be changed? What do you want to see in such a policy?


Is the computer/internet usage policy readily available - at public computer locations, reference desk, circulation desk, anywhere else?


Do any libraries have ANY policies on a webpage in their website?





I have provided sample/model policies & KAT's 2002 policy for discussion purposes. If you also wish to provide a copy of your policy, please do so.





I recently ran into a problem that I find troubling. A patron registered for a PC and then, when his/her time was up, would not get up from the chair. I won't go into how our interaction proceeded, but let's just say very unsatisfactorially. This person was just plain determined not to get up. What to do? Call police? Threaten to call police?





Does anyone have a security policy?





ALA GUIDELINES


http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=otherpolicies&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=13098





New York State Library


http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/policy/inetpol.htm





New York Public Library


http://www.nypl.org/pr/pubuse.cfm





New Jersey State Library


http://www.njstatelib.org/LDB/E-Rate/ufiliup.php





Jasper Public Library


http://jaspertx.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7&Itemid=25





Keen Public Library


http://www.ci.keene.nh.us/library/kplint.htm

KAT policy

Kindle vs. Sony Reader

Hi all,

I am considering purchasing either the new Kindle, or the Sony E-reader and was wondering if anybody and any comments on either. Would appreciate any input...

Thanks!
Valerie
Somers

Read any good books lately?

Really, has anyone read any good books?

Which Almanac is Best

Reference librarians - which almanac is the most useful:
Times Almanac
World Almanac

Are there others that are more popular or useful? Is there an electronic almanac thats dependable? Or have people forgotten about almanacs - will they go the way of printed newspapers?

Very, very rarely, almost never are the almanacs even touched.

Pat H.
KAT

Kindle v. 2.0 vs. Downloadable Audiobooks

I understand that Amazon's Kindle v. 2.0 has the ability to convert text into audio using a computer voice. That is intriguing. Will this be the wave of the future? Are any libraries seriously considering to purchase Kindle? If so, how will they be used - loaned out, put digitized reference books on Kindle, download newspapers/magazines? The Kindle sounds very versatile.

Please "comment on" this posting, so that we can keep all Kindle interactions in one thread, instead of creating numerous threads.

I know that somehow we will discover all the "do-dads" that come with blogs. Can't wait to find out more.

Twittering Libraries

Thank you Liam for setting up this blog. As far as Twitter goes, I use Twitter all the time, both personally and for the library. We are also using Delicious Bookmarks, Shelfari and Facebook (see our homepage at www.somerslibrary.org.) So far, the response has been great! Let me know if you need any help.
Valerie
Somers

I want to add my thanks to Liam for getting this started. I have been thinking about using Twitter. I would appreciate help or comments from anyone on the blog who is using it for their library.

Mary

Thanks, Liam

Thank you, Liam, for taking the time to create this blog. It will be wonderful to share ideas and learn from other Westchester librarians! Your time is really appreciated!
Trish - Mamaroneck

Thank you.

Thanks, Liam. I'm looking forward to future posts and hope that the blog will enable us to discuss library issues in an informal way.

Marianne

Great Idea!

I think that this blog will be a great way to share ideas on all areas related to adult services and thank you to Liam for getting it going. One thing that I am interested in is if anyone has done or is planning on doing a public program on using the Internet to find jobs, job training, resume help etc. If anyone has done a program and has links to good sites and would post it to this blog that would be great!

Thanks,
Shelley

Hi

Hi everyone. Thanks, Liam, for following through on the blog idea. I hope we can use this for professional sharing and for fun. I have a lot of book lists I would be happy to share. I would also like to share or compare notes on doing book displays and evaluationg programs or people who do programs for the public libraries.
Sara

Welcome Everybody!

I think I invited everyone on the list.

This blog can be viewed by anyone, and they can comment on a post. However, only people whose address was on Pat H.'s email has the power to originate a post. Once I figure out how to delete my earlier posts I'll do so (I only said I could do it. I didn't say I was an expert). They are somewhat germane but not collegial enough, I think.

Liam