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October 2003 Volume 63, No. 2 |
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If you are reading this column, it probably means you have made an investment in your professional development. That is, you are a member of Special Libraries Association. You check the Chapter Web site, read Chapter Notes, belong to the discussion list, possibly even post a notice or two, and may even go to the annual conference. But are you making your investment really work for you? In the next few months Sheryl Rosenthal has plans for us to meet new members at the new City Museum, tour the National Academies and the National Library of Medicine, learn about the National Geographic's new imaging system, discuss the legal aspects of photography and rights management, join SLA President Cynthia Hill for lunch, and celebrate the holidays at the National Museum for Women in the Arts. Check the calendar <http://www.sla.org/chapter/cdc/events.html> for details and dates. If by chance you are saying, "sounds interesting, but..." or "I'm too busy," or "I don't really know anyone," and besides "I feel uncomfortable having to network," see if any of these are familiar:
We usually refer to our programs as meetings, because meeting and talking to fellow professionals is one of their most valuable aspects. When you come to your next meeting, think about some tips that I've found helpful:
It's easy to forget that the best way to get something out of a meeting or organization is to contribute time or energy to it. I look forward to seeing you at our next DC/SLA meeting! |
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DC/SLA Tours the International Spy Museum Although it was a dark, rainy day, nothing, it seems, could possibly dampen the spirits of the 85 excited people who attended the DC/SLA tour of this popular Washington destination, an event arranged by the Military Librarians Group and co-hosted by the Young Professionals Group. According to the museum there are more spies per capita in the US capital than anywhere else in the world. Their exploits and/or misdeeds (one exhibit featured famous American traitors who spied for the other side) are preserved in the fascinating exhibits within the museum. Room after room was filled with librarians who, being the curious and inquisitive people we are, anxiously tested the many spy gadgets. In one room, we put on headphones and eavesdropped on the conversations of people talking in other rooms! At another spot, some of us took turns at computers with satellite surveillance capabilities. You could look at the city of Paris from space and then zoom in to a particular street in the City of Light. One really cool item that attracted the attention of many was the original Aston-Martin driven by actor Sean Connery in the popular 007 "Goldfinger" film. At regular intervals, the machine guns fitted into the front of the car would blaze with staccato fire. Fortunately, there was no live ammo! In other rooms we saw exhibits which served as history lessons on the use of espionage going back to the ancient Greeks. We were amazed by the ingenious ways in which spies hid documents or carried tiny indetectable cameras. And talk about the poisoned umbrellas used by the dreaded Bulgarian Secret Service! One librarian told me, "given how librarians are, we would need several> more hours to really take in the exhibit!" I think many of us were reluctant to leave the museum and the world of spies behind. But several of us did the next best thing:
we went out to dinner together. The
Young Professionals Committee reserved
an entire floor of Gordon Biersch
Brewpub, where 42 DC/SLAers had a
grand time making new acquaintances,
seeing old friends, and celebrating the
end of the week with good cheer. Other
smaller groups of librarians did the same
at the other restaurants recommended by
the Young Professionals Committee. A
splendid time was had by all!
Calling All Librarians Living in the District of
Columbia Once again, the city has delayed spending on infrastructure improvement projects, putting our branch libraries at risk. Although there is a plan to make needed improvements to all of the branch libraries, the Mayor and the City Council have not provided funds in the budget to carry out capital improvement plans. Your help is needed at the Mayor's "Citizen Summit II - Real Challenges, Real Choice," which will take place on Saturday, November 1st, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the New Washington Convention center, Exhibit Hall A, 801 Mount Vernon Place, N.W.
The Mayor's citizen forums provide the Calling All Librarians Living in the District of Columbia opportunity to be heard on the issue of importance of public library finding in the District of Columbia. This day long summit will influence decisions on the District's annual spending priorities and legislative initiatives. Libraries must be represented well in order to be high on the priority list. If you can attend, please register at http://www.citizensummit.dc.gov or call the Executive Office of Neighborhood Action at 202-707-0822. The DC/SLA contact is Donna Scheeder at dscheeder@crs.loc.gov. Please let her know if you can be a part of the DC/SLA contingent. Briefing information will be made available on the DC/SLA website. |
Special Libraries Association assumes no responsibility for the statements and opinions advanced by the contributors to SLA's publications. Editorial views do not necessarily represent the official views of SLA. Acceptance of advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product by SLA.
Subscriptions: Advertising: EDITOR’S NOTE: Materials for Chapter Notes should be sent to the Editor: Cynthia Holt Event announcements should also be submitted electronically to the: Listserv Moderator: DC/SLA Internet Committee: Send address changes for Chapter Notes to: SLA Headquarters |
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Research Tip of the Month: Bookmarklets - Nifty Tools a
Mouse-Click Away I recently discovered the coolest tools to hit my web browser since Google's toolbar (http://toolbar.google.com). They are called bookmarklets -- small prepackaged JavaScript applications that are contained in browser bookmarks, which means you can load them on your browser toolbar so they are just a mouse click away when you need them. If you are proficient in JavaScript, you can write your own; the rest of us will take advantage of the multitude of free bookmarklets available on the web. See the end of this article for pointers to some good collections of bookmarklets. So, what would you want a bookmarklet to do? For starters, you can zap annoying plug-ins and embedded ads; block pop-up ads from appearing when you leave a site; block cookies from a site Research Tip of the Month: Bookmarklets - Nifty Tools a Mouse-Click Away without changing your browser preferences; and stop annoying audio files from playing. (Don’t you hate it when you see a link to something like http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/21/ and suddenly have unexpected music blasting from your PC?) In addition to these nifty tools, you can add bookmarklets to your toolbar that let you switch from one search engine to another, with your search words ported into the new search engine - all with one mouse click. So, for example, if you run a search on AllTheWeb and don’t find what you are looking for, you can click your Teoma bookmarklet and the same search will be executed in Teoma. You know how important it is to search more than one search engine, right? See my July Tip of the Month for a discussion of the lack of overlap among search engines, at http://www.batesinfo.com/tip.html#July2003. Being able to repeat your search in several search engines quickly is a great way of ensuring that you practice good search hygiene and not over-rely on your one favorite web search tool. So, where do you find these bookmarklets? Two excellent web sites to start with are http://www.Bookmarklets.com and http://www.squarefree.com/bookmarklets/. You can also browse the Open Directory Project’s listing of bookmarklets at http://snurl.com/bookmarklet. Look through the descriptions of what each bookmarklet does. If you see one you like, just right-mouse-click on the link and drag it to your browser Links bar (on Internet Explorer) or Personal Toolbar (on Netscape). |
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Research Tip of the Month: What Do You Know? Submitted by Mary Ellen Bates, mbates@batesinfo.com I will never forget the three-day professional retreat for a group of information professionals that I facilitated about a year ago. One of the participants had to keep his cell phone on because his sister was on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and he was her phone-a-friend. I was heartened to learn that a contestant had wisely chosen a librarian as her last resort and, yes, she called him and, yes, he was able to help her answer a question. But of course. That got me thinking about how the rest of us would find an expert on a particular subject, particularly if not under the time constraints of the Millionaire contestants. Where do we go to find the expert on the wind power market in Belgium? Who would know why my iPod can't hold a charge? Where would I find someone who could answer questions about Australian viticulture? Here are some of the techniques I use to find the one person who cares passionately about an obscure -- or not-so-obscure -- topic.
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National Library of Medicine (NLM) Tour and
ToxSeek Demo November 12, 2003 Event: Tour of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) followed by a discussion and demonstration of ToxSeek, the next generation in advanced meta-searching. Speaker: Dr. Tamas Doszkocs, Principal Investigator, Poly-Meta SBIR Project. Tour Description: The one-hour tour of NLM, the world's largest medical library, will feature a 12-minute HDTV presentation, "Expanding the Medical Universe," an overview of NLM programs and services, demonstrations of the Library's databases, and a walking tour of the computer room, reading room and stacks. The tour will also visit "Changing the Face of Medicine," a multimedia exhibition celebrating the achievements of women in medicine, past and present. The exhibit tells their inspiring stories with artifacts, interactive displays and a career resource center. Time: The one-hour tour will begin at 4:00 p.m. The demonstration will begin at 5:00 p.m. Where: If you are unable or do not wish to join the tour, Dr. Doszkocs will be presenting in the NLM Visitor Center, on the first floor of NIH Building 38A (the Lister Hill Center). Cost: Free RSVP: Please RSVP to Sheryl Rosenthal, srosenthal@usnews.com and please specify if you will be attending the tour, the demonstration, or both. Sponsorship: This program is co-sponsored by DC/SLA and the Medical Library Association (MLA). Additional Information: Here are excellent directions (via car, Metro, bus, taxi, train and air!) to the Library at: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/about/directions.htm A good map of the NIH campus can be found at:
htttp://www.nih.gov/od/ors/graphics/ The Lister Hill Center is in the bottom right corner. There is a visitor parking lot ($2/hour) across Center Drive from Building 38A. The Library is approximately 300 yards from the Medical Center station on Metro's Red Line. Updated security information for visitors can be found at:
http://www.nih.gov/about/visitorsecurity.htm |
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