Tennessee Newspapers now part of TEL!

According to a message from the Tennessee State Library and Archives on December 3, the four metropolitan newspapers from Tennessee are now part of the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL). The news release from TSLA follows:

We now have full-text access for the four metropolitan Tennessee newspapers for all Tennessee residents! The Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL) now provides full-text content of Chattanooga Times-Free Press, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), Knoxville News-Sentinel, and The Tennessean (Nashville).

You may go to the Tennessee Newspaper Collection from the Tennessee State Library and Archives Web site located at www.tennessee.gov/tsla and click the link in the "News and Updates" section. Soon the TEL access link will be moved to a central TEL Web portal that is presently under development.

To go directly to the Tennessee newspapers:
http://infoweb.newsbank.com?db=NEWSBANK&s_sources=cusBucket1

If you are asked for a password, it is the same as the password for TEL. (Call your local TN public library if you don't know the password!)

PACHUG Phase II Computers have arrived!

The long-anticipated new public access computers have been arriving all week around the Fort Loudoun region. These new computers, made possible through the 2nd phase of the PACHUG program (Public Access Computers Hardware Upgrade Grant), are funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Library Foundation. The schedule for installs has not been formalized yet, but expect installs to occur between December 7 and Christmas. In all, the member libraries of the Fort Loudoun region will be receiving 132 new PACs. Thanks, Bill and Melinda!

E.G. Fisher Public Library uses Blog to Keep Patrons Updated

The E. G. Fisher Public Library in Athens, Tennessee, has just announced their new library blog which will be used to keep patrons and other interested persons in what is going on in their library. The blog is in addition to their library website. We just had a look at the blog and it is fabulous! Check it out at:
http://fisherlibrary.blogspot.com
Their website is also worth a look:
http://www.fisherlibrary.org

Community Enhancement Grants - Round 3

The third round of grant awards for the Community Enhancement Grants were announced by the Tennessee Department of State on November 19. The award listing can be found at:
http://www.state.tn.us/sos/grants/CEG.20071119.xls
A few libraries are included, but none from the Fort Loudoun region.

December's Regional In-Service Training Announcement

Topic: Focus on Copyright Issues and Ethics
Date: Friday, December 14, 2007
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Place: Fort Loudoun Regional Library Center, Athens
Trainer: Jennifer Cowan-Henderson, Director, Upper Cumberland Regional Library, Cookeville

Deadline for reservations: Thursday, December 13, 2007. Make reservations by calling 1.800.624.1982 or emailing lynette.sloan@state.tn.us

How might your library be affected by copyright law and ethics?
How can it affect your library's website?
How can it affect your library's programs?
How can it affect your library's services?
How can it affect your library's marketing?

Jennifer will be covering various aspects of copyright laws as they deal with libraries, including public domain, how long copyright lasts, permissions, fair use, copies, and infringement.
In the afternoon, Jennifer will be addressing ethical issues in libraries, in a humorous, but educational way.

Reference Service Resources on the FLRL Wiki

Check out http://flrlwiki.pbwiki.com

We have been adding some reference service resources to the FLRL wiki over the last few days. We are constantly on the lookout for new authoritative websites and free databases that can help our public libraries answer reference questions from the public.

We learned about some of these new resources in a program at the September 2007 conference of the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL) in Columbus, Ohio. The program was entitled, "Important Online Databases for Small Libraries, Free and Fee", and was presented by Bob Flatley of the Rohrbach Library, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA.

If you haven't had a chance to review our Reference Resource Links pages on the FLRL wiki, we encourage you do so as soon as possible. We will continue to add new resources as we find them.

The Reference Resource pages are located at: http://flrlwiki.pbwiki.com/Reference+Resource+Links

If you know of some great authoritative websites that we might be missing, just let us know. We will be happy to add them as resources.

Happy Thanksgiving - And Don't Forget the Salary Survey!

The Fort Loudoun Regional Library Center in Athens will be closed on Thursday, November 22 and Friday, November 23, 2007, for the Thanksgiving holiday. The staff at FLRL has a lot to be thankful for this year, especially our hard-working, dedicated library directors, staff, and library trustees throughout the region. We hope that all of you and your families have a fulfilling (and filling!) Thanksgiving.

To our member library directors: Don't forget that the annual salary survey forms are due back to FLRL by November 28 (next Wednesday - a week from today). These forms were emailed to all library directors a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't submitted your library's survey, please do so as soon as possible. As always, thanks for your cooperation.