Hello,
This week I am sending along some more information about another library automation program that has been recommended by a retired librarian, Robert Cooper. The letter that follows is the letter he sent to all the unions. One plus is that he has included most of the SDA publications in the database.
If you are interested in the EZcat program, you might go online and request a demonstration. They will send you a tutorial and you can see if this is a program you will like. Mr. Cooper has grants you may apply for which will bring the cost to your school down to about $750 for a $3,000 program. That is a pretty good deal.
For more information please contact Mr. Cooper. He can answer any questions about this program that you may have.
Have a happy holiday and be safe.
Audrey
Mr. Robert Cooper’s letter
I am a retired librarian from Southwestern. While volunteering at our local elementary school I discovered an excellent Library automation program for our school libraries. As a result I now host an EZcat database of 48,000+ entries including most SDA publications. The ip address of the database is reproservsda@76.255.50.1 at port 210 that is importable from the Bookwhere part of the Librarian's Edge program that I understand has been pushed by the NAD education dept. Please notify all your schools of this possibility to assist them in their endeavor to maintain good libraries.
If some of your schools are looking for an excellent library automation program I can highly recommend Book System's Concourse with EZcat. I liked the program so much that I contacted the company and they have agreed to permit our schools to purchase it for $995 if my name is mentioned as recommender rather than the customary price of $3,000. In addition to this an aunt of mine gave me $10,000 to use for $250 grants per school of which I have about $8,250 remaining that I will offer our schools until it is depleted. It's EZcat and Bookwhere can both access my database. This Concourse program is a complete program that does everything needed to run an efficient and user-friendly online catalog as well as reports capabilities making available a breakdown of Dewey classes, yearly inventories, overdue notices, letters to parents, etc.
With the economy the way it is today you may want to encourage your schools to take advantage of the $995 price tag and the grant available while it lasts as so few of our schools and academies can afford to hire professional librarians. Your union and conferences my wish to do what the Southwestern Union and Texas Conference have done which is to each offer schools purchasing the program an additional $100 grant cutting the price for the schools almost in half.
Schools interest in purchasing the program should contact me for more information for the correct procedure in obtaining the $995 price.
Yours for better libraries,
Robert Cooper
(address has been deleted)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Weeding the 100's
Hello,
This month we are going to weed in the 100’s which include Philosophy and Psychology. This is a very small section in my elementary school library. I am using the CREW guidelines for weeding your collection. The formulas for the different Dewey classes are ‘rules of thumb’. This means that you may have a book that might lend itself to be discarded, but it is still being used in your library. Go ahead and keep the book if you want. There are no library police coming to take it away. These are guidelines only. CREW uses an acronym ‘MUSTIE’ that can help decide whether or not to discard a book.
M – Misleading or factually incorrect
U – Ugly or worn and beyond mending or rebinding
S – Superseded by a new edition or a much better book on the subject
T – Trivial – no discernible literary or scientific merit. (Usually was of interest at some point in the past.)
I – Irrelevant to the needs and interests of your community
E – Elsewhere. The material or information may be obtained quickly and easily elsewhere.
101 – Philosophy
Weed based on interest and use.
133 – Paranormal Phenomena
Often these books are high interest and have high usage. Since this section contains books on witchcraft, fortune telling, dream interpretation, and astrology, we will likely not have much of anything in our libraries in this section. I happen to have a couple of books on the Loch Ness monster that we put in this section.
150 – Psychology
You may have some self-help books in this section. Consider weeding them if the copyright date is older than five years. Keep up with television gurus and weed their books when no longer popular or on TV.
160 – Ethics and Morality
Weed books that have a copyright older than ten years or if no longer of interest to your community. Watch for any outdated philosophies on ethics and moral values such as genetic engineering, euthanasia, and sexuality.
This information can be found in CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew . The Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Let me know if you have any wonderful tricks to get students to return books in a timely manner. I’ll compile your ideas and send them out in an email. I’ll use your name along with each idea I receive unless you prefer to remain anonymous.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas you would like to see addressed in my weekly emails. What things are helpful to you? Would you rather have more titles of books or more library management ideas?
Have a great week.
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com
This month we are going to weed in the 100’s which include Philosophy and Psychology. This is a very small section in my elementary school library. I am using the CREW guidelines for weeding your collection. The formulas for the different Dewey classes are ‘rules of thumb’. This means that you may have a book that might lend itself to be discarded, but it is still being used in your library. Go ahead and keep the book if you want. There are no library police coming to take it away. These are guidelines only. CREW uses an acronym ‘MUSTIE’ that can help decide whether or not to discard a book.
M – Misleading or factually incorrect
U – Ugly or worn and beyond mending or rebinding
S – Superseded by a new edition or a much better book on the subject
T – Trivial – no discernible literary or scientific merit. (Usually was of interest at some point in the past.)
I – Irrelevant to the needs and interests of your community
E – Elsewhere. The material or information may be obtained quickly and easily elsewhere.
101 – Philosophy
Weed based on interest and use.
133 – Paranormal Phenomena
Often these books are high interest and have high usage. Since this section contains books on witchcraft, fortune telling, dream interpretation, and astrology, we will likely not have much of anything in our libraries in this section. I happen to have a couple of books on the Loch Ness monster that we put in this section.
150 – Psychology
You may have some self-help books in this section. Consider weeding them if the copyright date is older than five years. Keep up with television gurus and weed their books when no longer popular or on TV.
160 – Ethics and Morality
Weed books that have a copyright older than ten years or if no longer of interest to your community. Watch for any outdated philosophies on ethics and moral values such as genetic engineering, euthanasia, and sexuality.
This information can be found in CREW: A Weeding Manual for Modern Libraries. http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/pubs/crew . The Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Let me know if you have any wonderful tricks to get students to return books in a timely manner. I’ll compile your ideas and send them out in an email. I’ll use your name along with each idea I receive unless you prefer to remain anonymous.
Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas you would like to see addressed in my weekly emails. What things are helpful to you? Would you rather have more titles of books or more library management ideas?
Have a great week.
Audrey
Sdalibrarian.blogspot.com
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
More Christmas Books
Happy Holidays!
More Christmas books this week! Can one have too many of these? I suppose it is possible. I just have so many favorites that I want to share with you.
I had the privilege of hearing Mem Fox read from her book Wombat Divine at the International Reading Association conference about 15 years ago. It is on my must-read list each year. Australian animals are putting on their annual Nativity play and Wombat is finally old enough to be a part of the celebration. He tries out for each part in the play, but is not chosen. The animals are very loving toward him and say “There, there, Wombat. Don’t lose heart. Why not try for a different part?” Finally all the parts are assigned and Wombat doesn’t have a part. You will love the ending. It is divine!
Joe Wheeler’s Christmas in my Heart series are staples in many homes and schools. Joe compiles stories from many years ago into heartwarming books. Many of you likely have these books in your personal libraries or school libraries. Many of these stories are longer and have a higher vocabulary, but you should be able to find some great stories that you and your students will enjoy.
Silver Packages tells the story of a young Appalachian boy who waits for a train that arrives each holiday season filled with packages that are thrown to the children who wait by the tracks. He wants a particular gift, but receives other gifts instead. One time he gets a doctor’s kit and goes on to become a doctor and returns to practice medicine in his home town. Cynthia Rylant retells this classic story very well.
Tamales are a traditional Mexican Christmas dish. Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto is about a young girl helping her mother make tamales for the family celebration. She eyes her mother’s diamond ring and tries it on. Later after her cousins arrive, she realizes that the ring is missing and deduces that it must have come off in the masa mixture. The cousins eat all the tamales trying to find the ring.
Out of Print
The next titles are books that are currently out of print. Not to worry. There are some wonderful used book stores in towns and also online. Make friends with your local used book store and see if they will watch out for certain books for you. If that isn’t an option, then go to Amazon.com, Powells.com, abebooks.com, barnesandnoble.com, alibris.com, or even EBay. I keep a list of books that I want on my Palm and when I am in a used bookstore, I check to see if they have anything from my list.
Tasha Tudor has an enchanting look at life in the early 1900s with her book Becky’s Christmas. Tasha draws from her memories of her family and their celebration to bring us a glimpse back in time to when family members made gifts for each other. If you like this one, see if you can find a copy of Becky’s Birthday for more of the same. You can also try to find The Doll’s Christmas which is a small book that your children will enjoy.
One Winter’s Night by John Herman is the story of a cow looking for a place out of the snow. She travels along and finally finds a barn where she can rest and have her baby calf. The pictures of the cow are done in watercolor and are full page size. But on the text page, there are small woodcuts of a man, a woman and a donkey also traveling to find a place. They meet at the same barn and the woman has a baby. There is one final small illustration that most people miss. It is on the copyright page at the back of the book.
Moses the Kitten and The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot are favorite stories worldwide. The individual books are out of print, but you can get them in the compilation James Herriot’s Treasury for Children.
Max Lucado has three wonderful stories for Christmas. Alabaster’s Song, The Crippled Lamb, and Jacob’s Gift. The books are out of print, but I noticed on Amazon that there are videos or DVD’s of each book. You may find these books in someone’s home, too.
I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do. Have a wonderful week.
Audrey
More Christmas books this week! Can one have too many of these? I suppose it is possible. I just have so many favorites that I want to share with you.
I had the privilege of hearing Mem Fox read from her book Wombat Divine at the International Reading Association conference about 15 years ago. It is on my must-read list each year. Australian animals are putting on their annual Nativity play and Wombat is finally old enough to be a part of the celebration. He tries out for each part in the play, but is not chosen. The animals are very loving toward him and say “There, there, Wombat. Don’t lose heart. Why not try for a different part?” Finally all the parts are assigned and Wombat doesn’t have a part. You will love the ending. It is divine!
Joe Wheeler’s Christmas in my Heart series are staples in many homes and schools. Joe compiles stories from many years ago into heartwarming books. Many of you likely have these books in your personal libraries or school libraries. Many of these stories are longer and have a higher vocabulary, but you should be able to find some great stories that you and your students will enjoy.
Silver Packages tells the story of a young Appalachian boy who waits for a train that arrives each holiday season filled with packages that are thrown to the children who wait by the tracks. He wants a particular gift, but receives other gifts instead. One time he gets a doctor’s kit and goes on to become a doctor and returns to practice medicine in his home town. Cynthia Rylant retells this classic story very well.
Tamales are a traditional Mexican Christmas dish. Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto is about a young girl helping her mother make tamales for the family celebration. She eyes her mother’s diamond ring and tries it on. Later after her cousins arrive, she realizes that the ring is missing and deduces that it must have come off in the masa mixture. The cousins eat all the tamales trying to find the ring.
Out of Print
The next titles are books that are currently out of print. Not to worry. There are some wonderful used book stores in towns and also online. Make friends with your local used book store and see if they will watch out for certain books for you. If that isn’t an option, then go to Amazon.com, Powells.com, abebooks.com, barnesandnoble.com, alibris.com, or even EBay. I keep a list of books that I want on my Palm and when I am in a used bookstore, I check to see if they have anything from my list.
Tasha Tudor has an enchanting look at life in the early 1900s with her book Becky’s Christmas. Tasha draws from her memories of her family and their celebration to bring us a glimpse back in time to when family members made gifts for each other. If you like this one, see if you can find a copy of Becky’s Birthday for more of the same. You can also try to find The Doll’s Christmas which is a small book that your children will enjoy.
One Winter’s Night by John Herman is the story of a cow looking for a place out of the snow. She travels along and finally finds a barn where she can rest and have her baby calf. The pictures of the cow are done in watercolor and are full page size. But on the text page, there are small woodcuts of a man, a woman and a donkey also traveling to find a place. They meet at the same barn and the woman has a baby. There is one final small illustration that most people miss. It is on the copyright page at the back of the book.
Moses the Kitten and The Christmas Day Kitten by James Herriot are favorite stories worldwide. The individual books are out of print, but you can get them in the compilation James Herriot’s Treasury for Children.
Max Lucado has three wonderful stories for Christmas. Alabaster’s Song, The Crippled Lamb, and Jacob’s Gift. The books are out of print, but I noticed on Amazon that there are videos or DVD’s of each book. You may find these books in someone’s home, too.
I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do. Have a wonderful week.
Audrey
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