First you have to find it. Click on www.finditva.org
On the front page choose "Highland County Public Library" from the drop-down box. Then enter your library card number on the next line. If you don't know your library card number you can call the library at 468-2373 or email me at mail@highlandlibrary.com.
The database I usually go to first is "Infotrac Onefile." It's a catch-all database. There are many good ways to search this database.
First, if you want to find as much as you can on a particular topic start with a "Basic Search." This will return results from all the publications they have in the database.
If you want to have more control over your search, choose "Advanced Search." With this search you can limit your search results to full text articles, and eliminate abstracts and citations, if those aren't helpful to you. You can also narrow down the timeframe for your search. You can narrow by Publication Title and other parameters, too.
If you are searching for an article in a particular publication, often the best way to search is by choosing "Publication Search." If you want to browse the magazine by issue, just type the publication title in the top box and search. Once you select your publication from their list it should show you a list of issues for the year. You can look at the drop-down box to see how many years are available. From the same page you can also do a subject search within that publication. You'll see the box for that to the left.
For example: I know that there was an article a while back in Popular Mechanics about stocking up survival gear in case of disaster. I'd like to see that article.
I choose "Publication Search."
In the top box I type in "Popular Mechanics" and click "Search." The search results show Popular Mechanics Magazine. I click on that.
It shows me a description of the magazine. If I hit the drop-down box I can see that they have issues all the way back to 1980. But I don't know which issue I need...
To the left there is a search box. I type in "survival." Then I'm given a list of Popular Mechanics articles relating to survival. I see that the fourth item down is just what I was looking for!
I can choose to look at the article in full text with pictures or in .pdf format. If I choose .pdf then I will see the article exactly as it was scanned from the magazine.
Find It Virginia is a valuable tool to both children and adults. Please take advantage of this wonderful resource being offered through the Library of Virginia and the Highland County Public Library.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Library Board Welcomes Three New Members
Tonight at the Annual Public Library Meeting three new board members were elected. The board welcomes Carol Bandy, Jennifer Cockerham and Lisa Munchel. They'll be joining returning board members Chris Scott, Rhet Wilson, Randy Richardson and Sarah Chaney.
Library board members serve a three year term and act as a governing board for the library. Any library members who paid their $5 dues are eligible to vote in the board member election. Board members are always elected at the public meeting in January.
Library board members serve a three year term and act as a governing board for the library. Any library members who paid their $5 dues are eligible to vote in the board member election. Board members are always elected at the public meeting in January.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Highland County Public Library E-Newsletter January 2008
The library annual public meeting is coming up on Tuesday, January 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Mountain View Room in the library. We’ll dazzle you with a multimedia presentation on the 2007 Year in Review at the Library. We’ll also be electing new members to our board of directors. Anyone who has paid their membership dues this year is eligible to vote. We’re serving refreshments and everyone is invited.
I recently realized that our music CD collection was seriously lacking in bluegrass music. I immediately went shopping and stocked the library with classics from Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys, and the original Carter Family. I also added CD’s of bluegrass gospel and mountain music. For those interested in the origins of bluegrass music I purchased a DVD, “High Lonesome, The Story of Bluegrass Music.”
We recently launched a new blog for the library. For those of you unfamiliar with blogs (short for weblogs) it is an online diary of sorts. I use the library’s blog to post updates on what is happening at the library on a day-to-day basis. I also blog about topics related to libraries in general. The blog allows readers to comment on specific posts so you can provide feedback. We hope to use your feedback to improve services at the library. If you’re interested in an insider’s view of what’s going on at the Highland County Public Library then check out the blog at http://highlanderslovetoread.blogspot.com. You can also find it on the front page of the library web site at www.highlandlibrary.com.
Now that the snowy season is here I wanted to remind you all that even when the schools are closed the library is usually open. The only time we close for weather is when the county offices close or when I absolutely cannot get out of my driveway, which means we very rarely close.
Come by the library check out the newest titles, including Sara Paretsky’s “Bleeding Kansas,” Kay Hooper’s “Blood Dreams,” Leslie Meier’s “The Worst Hard Time,” Douglas Preston’s “Blasphemy,” Geraldine Brook’s “People of the Book,” Minette Walters’s “The Chameleon’s Shadow,” Sue Miller’s “The Senator’s Wife,” Janet Evanovich’s “Plum Lucky,” and Arturo Perez-Reverte’s “The Painter of Battles.” In non-fiction we have Stephen Colbert’s “I Am America (And So Can You)” and Joseph J. Ellis’s “An American Creation: Tragedies and Triumphs at the Founding of the Republic.”
I recently realized that our music CD collection was seriously lacking in bluegrass music. I immediately went shopping and stocked the library with classics from Bill Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, The Stanley Brothers and the Clinch Mountain Boys, and the original Carter Family. I also added CD’s of bluegrass gospel and mountain music. For those interested in the origins of bluegrass music I purchased a DVD, “High Lonesome, The Story of Bluegrass Music.”
We recently launched a new blog for the library. For those of you unfamiliar with blogs (short for weblogs) it is an online diary of sorts. I use the library’s blog to post updates on what is happening at the library on a day-to-day basis. I also blog about topics related to libraries in general. The blog allows readers to comment on specific posts so you can provide feedback. We hope to use your feedback to improve services at the library. If you’re interested in an insider’s view of what’s going on at the Highland County Public Library then check out the blog at http://highlanderslovetoread.blogspot.com. You can also find it on the front page of the library web site at www.highlandlibrary.com.
Now that the snowy season is here I wanted to remind you all that even when the schools are closed the library is usually open. The only time we close for weather is when the county offices close or when I absolutely cannot get out of my driveway, which means we very rarely close.
Come by the library check out the newest titles, including Sara Paretsky’s “Bleeding Kansas,” Kay Hooper’s “Blood Dreams,” Leslie Meier’s “The Worst Hard Time,” Douglas Preston’s “Blasphemy,” Geraldine Brook’s “People of the Book,” Minette Walters’s “The Chameleon’s Shadow,” Sue Miller’s “The Senator’s Wife,” Janet Evanovich’s “Plum Lucky,” and Arturo Perez-Reverte’s “The Painter of Battles.” In non-fiction we have Stephen Colbert’s “I Am America (And So Can You)” and Joseph J. Ellis’s “An American Creation: Tragedies and Triumphs at the Founding of the Republic.”
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Federal Universal Serv Charge
Look at your phone bill. You should see a line with a the title of this post on it. It's one of those charges that tend to annoy people because they have no idea what it's for. I can tell you what it's for...
The money collected through that charge partially funds the Erate program, a program by which schools and libraries receive discounts on telecommunications and internet charges. This library qualifies for a 70% discount, based on the number of kids involved in the free and reduced school lunch programs in our school system. We pay our phone bills up front and then have to apply for a rebate of that 70%.
In any given year we are juggling three applications. One application is for the coming fiscal year, in this case 2008-2009. Our application for the current year is still open because we have to report that we are receiving the services we applied for. Last year's application only recently closed when we received our discount rebate for the completed year 2006-2007. The application process is not much fun, as you can imagine any federal application process would be. But in our case it's worth the work because annually we receive rebates in the area of $1400.
By law, to qualify for this federal funding we have to have content filters on our internet access computers, which we do.
So now you know.
The money collected through that charge partially funds the Erate program, a program by which schools and libraries receive discounts on telecommunications and internet charges. This library qualifies for a 70% discount, based on the number of kids involved in the free and reduced school lunch programs in our school system. We pay our phone bills up front and then have to apply for a rebate of that 70%.
In any given year we are juggling three applications. One application is for the coming fiscal year, in this case 2008-2009. Our application for the current year is still open because we have to report that we are receiving the services we applied for. Last year's application only recently closed when we received our discount rebate for the completed year 2006-2007. The application process is not much fun, as you can imagine any federal application process would be. But in our case it's worth the work because annually we receive rebates in the area of $1400.
By law, to qualify for this federal funding we have to have content filters on our internet access computers, which we do.
So now you know.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tom Camden's Rare Books Program
The program was hosted here at the library last night by the Highland Historical Society. It was a terrific program and I'm glad I didn't miss it. Mr. Camden promised that if seeing some of the books didn't make you tingle then you must be dead. He proved his point with his first book. It was a book that had traveled over on the Mayflower, and then traveled back. He showed us two books from Thomas Jefferson's collection and showed us the markings which Jefferson put on them to mark them as his property. Mr. Camden actually let us hold and examine two books that had belonged to Patrick Henry. We saw a book produced in 1851 by the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. He also brought several miniature books to show us.
It was an entertaining program and it was easy to get caught up in Mr. Camden's enthusiasm for his subject. He told us of an online resource that might be of great interest to local history buffs. The Virginia Historical Inventory was a WPA project in the thirties that documented the buildings in Highland County. Many buildings are included in the inventory which are lost to us now. You can find more information about this resource and search the inventory at the Library of Virginia's web site:
Virginia Historical Inventory.
It was an entertaining program and it was easy to get caught up in Mr. Camden's enthusiasm for his subject. He told us of an online resource that might be of great interest to local history buffs. The Virginia Historical Inventory was a WPA project in the thirties that documented the buildings in Highland County. Many buildings are included in the inventory which are lost to us now. You can find more information about this resource and search the inventory at the Library of Virginia's web site:
Virginia Historical Inventory.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Fundraising Update!
We have achieved our fundraising goal for our 2007 donation solicitation mailing! Whew, I was worried there for a while. In November 2007 we had raised $2000 less than we had by November 2006. I wasn't sure we were going to make it to the necessary $12,000 in local donations.
The money we raise from donations helps us pay for important things like electricity, heat and a clerk to provide evening and Saturday hours. Local donor money also buys books and materials, but no other funds are available for utilities and staff. Donor support is essential to our operations.
Each year as we prepare our budget we anticipate how much we may raise the next time we send out a plea for donations. It's always an "iffy" proposition and in the eight years I've been here we've never been let down. I was sweating a little this year though.
As an aside, we received a substantial donation that was not a part of our donor drive. The board is currently planning how to best use the gift. We have money in the bank and we're not in danger of going bankrupt in the short term. But in the long term we need to build a sustainable source of revenue and that happens to be our local donors. Thank goodness they (you!) continue to support our efforts so generously.
The money we raise from donations helps us pay for important things like electricity, heat and a clerk to provide evening and Saturday hours. Local donor money also buys books and materials, but no other funds are available for utilities and staff. Donor support is essential to our operations.
Each year as we prepare our budget we anticipate how much we may raise the next time we send out a plea for donations. It's always an "iffy" proposition and in the eight years I've been here we've never been let down. I was sweating a little this year though.
As an aside, we received a substantial donation that was not a part of our donor drive. The board is currently planning how to best use the gift. We have money in the bank and we're not in danger of going bankrupt in the short term. But in the long term we need to build a sustainable source of revenue and that happens to be our local donors. Thank goodness they (you!) continue to support our efforts so generously.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
January holiday closings
The library will be closed Friday, January 18 for Lee-Jackson Day and Monday, January 21 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will be open Saturday the 19th from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Library of Virginia Program Wed., Jan 9
The Highland Historical Society with the Highland County Public Library will host a presentation of rare papers, documents and manuscripts from the Library of Virginia in Richmond. Some of the material will relate to Highland County. Mr. Tom Camden, Director of Special Collections at the Library of Virginia, will speak about the rare documents and show examples. The public is cordially invited to attend.
Highland County Public Library
Mountain View Room
Wednesday, January 9
7:00 p.m.
Mountain View Room
Wednesday, January 9
7:00 p.m.
The beauty (or something) of this job
When you come in to work every day you never know what you are going to be doing. You may know what your goals are. You may even have a list. But sometimes the list gets shoved aside when there is a crisis or a patron who needs extra help. Such was the case today.
I have a little list of items I need to accomplish for the IRS, the Erate program and the Library Board. However, the theme of the day was fated to be printers, apparently. Our circulation desk printer is failing on us. My goal was to get the front desk computer to use the laser printer that is on the network. After repeated attempts to make the printer connection I gave up. Now neither printer will print. Joy!
Also, for some reason Quicken will not print to the laser printer in my office. I'm not sure what the problem is there. I checked on the internet and it appears the problem is not unique to us. But it seems to be a Quicken problem, specifically. My interim solution is to save worksheets to Adobe .pdf and then print the .pdf. Not ideal.
So you see, this is not what I had planned at all.
I have a little list of items I need to accomplish for the IRS, the Erate program and the Library Board. However, the theme of the day was fated to be printers, apparently. Our circulation desk printer is failing on us. My goal was to get the front desk computer to use the laser printer that is on the network. After repeated attempts to make the printer connection I gave up. Now neither printer will print. Joy!
Also, for some reason Quicken will not print to the laser printer in my office. I'm not sure what the problem is there. I checked on the internet and it appears the problem is not unique to us. But it seems to be a Quicken problem, specifically. My interim solution is to save worksheets to Adobe .pdf and then print the .pdf. Not ideal.
So you see, this is not what I had planned at all.
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