Are You Hooked Yet?

I stumbled across this interesting new service today and I thought it might be of interest.

The nation’s first center dedicated to the treatment of internet addiction opened this week.  There is huge irony, of course, if you are learning about it here.  I assume you’d have to be a desperate case indeed if your internet addiction were so strong you’d rather read this blog than get on with your life.

reSTART is located outside of Seattle where many telecommunications and computing companies such as Microsoft are located.  While in treatment, addicts spend 45 days in this residential detox center where they receive counseling and psychotherapy and go cold turkey from the all computing, internet, email, texting and electronic games.

The day I visited their website, yes, irony is abundant in this story, there were 65 other people visiting at the same time.  They also have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Linkedin.  Their website has a lot of information about their program.

Like most recovery programs, restart offers the tool below to help you determine if you might need their services.  Good luck if you do need them.   The fees are pretty steep.  The 45 day residential treatment program is $14,500.

11 signs of Internet addiction

Signs of Internet addiction, according to Hilarie Cash, executive director of the reSTART center for Internet addiction near Seattle. Three of the following symptoms suggest abuse, five or more addiction:

_Increasing amounts of time spent on Internet

_Failed attempts to control behavior

_Heightened euphoria while on Internet

_Craving more time on Internet, restless when not there

_Neglecting family and friends

_Lying to others about use

_Internet interfering with job and school

_Feeling guilty or ashamed of behavior

_Changes in sleep patterns

_Weight changes, backaches, headaches, carpal tunnel

_Withdrawl from other activities

Support Your Library

Those 3 simple words say it all. Despite the fact that library use goes way up during times of economic distress, they often mean financial belt tightening for public libraries. The Irondequoit Public library hasn’t been spared. So, if you want to help support your library we’ve made it easy for you. Click on the Support Your Library button at the top of the library home page and multiple options for helping us are displayed.

The newest option is our Amazon.com Wish List. It works just like a bridal registry. On the Wish List are items the library would like to offer but cannot afford to purchase. If you purchase any item from the Wish list, it is shipped to the library for immediate processing. We then make it available on our shelves for borrowing. If you’d like to dedicate the item to any person or cause such as a memorial to a loved one just let us know your wishes by checking the gift options box before going to the checkout. During the checkout process, type your dedication information in the message box and we’ll do the rest. Your gift to the citizens of Irondequoit may be eligible for a tax deduction.

Thank you!

What do I read next?

Librarians lay it on the line every day. Every day we offer reference desk service where we try to answer any question on any subject from anybody who stops by, calls or emails. We try to provide an answer from a reputable, authoritative source or refer the customer to the next best place to try. It takes a good long while to become confident enough in one’s own skills and knowledge to handle reference desk duty with aplomb.

For many of us the most challenging question a customer can ask is, “can you recommend a good book to read?” We call it reader’s advisory. This has always been a tough one for me. Chances are I don’t know you or what you like. I can’t tell by looking at you what you like to read. I feel like I could undermine your confidence in the library with a dumb answer. I usually try to interview you just to have a shot at giving you a good recommendation. I might ask, “Tell me about the last good book you read” or “who is or your favorite author” and work from there. If we are communicating well I might take a chance and recommend a book I recently enjoyed (see previous posts in this blog tagged “What I’ve Been Reading”).

Where am I going with this? People seem to love recommendations. Consider the success of Oprah Winfrey’s book club. People are willing to give a book a chance if somebody they know or respect has recommended it. As soon as Oprah adds a new title to her book club list our phone starts ringing.

Here at the IPL we have collected all of our online reader’s resources and put them in one place called “For Readers”. Please feel free to explore the links there and, of course, tell us what you think. Please take special note of the IPL staff recommendations hosted on the web site librarything.com and our subscription to the book recommendation database NoveList.

Librarything is a wonderful place where book lovers and readers gather to exchange their views about books. Some represent libraries, some are just readers. If you love reading good books and want to share that enthusiasm with other like you, this is your place.

NoveList is an amazing product that helps you find books to read by determining what you liked about books you have already enjoyed and finding others like them. It also has lists of the winners of all the book awards and prizes and many other features. If you find something you like in NoveList, click on the “Check Library Catalog” button and you can find out if our library carries the item. If you visit from home you may need your library card to log in.

Remember, if you can’t find something you like using any of these online resources you can still stop at the library and talk to us about it. If you enjoy something we suggest, please come back and tell us. Reader’s advisory may be difficult but when we know you liked the book we recommended it is all worth it!

What we do best

Recently a national opinion poll revealed many people don’t realize the extent of the services available from their local public library. The service most overlooked is access to electronic databases. This is unfortunate because databases are one of the things we do best. We’re not talking about what you’d find in Google. We’re way better than that.

Did you know that our customers can easily search, view, print, download or email current and back issues of the Democrat and Chronicle, Irondequoit Post and well known magazines in full text through our NewsBank service? How well known? Do Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Money, Fortune and People qualify?

Did you know that through our databases such as InfoTrac OneFile and Ebsco MasterFILE Select you can easily search, view, email or print millions of full-text articles from hundreds of the best known magazines, journals and newspapers? How well known? How about the New York Times, Washington Post, Consumer Reports to name a few?

An individual would have to pay thousands of dollars for access to the millions of articles represented by the three products mentioned above. Your cost for access through the public library? ZERO. Yes, ZERO. I know, I know. You are asking: “How do they do it? With their shrinking budget how can they afford to deliver such amazing value?”

We do it 2 ways. We use the buying power of the large consortiums of which we are a member such as the Monroe County Library System (MCLS) and the Rochester Regional Library Council (RRLC) and negotiate great deals when we buy as a group. Also, The New York State Education Department negotiates great database deals and licenses them for all public libraries in New York through the NOVEL program.

We believe easy access to magazine, journal and newspaper articles is vital. It is the key to obtaining the latest information on any subject. Google can’t cut it. Many web sites are of dubious origin and contain inaccurate or biased information. Even the latest books have information that is at least a year old. Do you want to make important decisions about investments, health or major purchases using old or inaccurate information? I don’t think so!

To review: All the resources I have mentioned have 3 things in common:

1. They are very expensive.

2. You cannot find them for free on the internet.

3. We provide them free for our customers.

Can’t get to the library? No worries. Go to our website, visit the “Find An Article” page and work from home or anywhere you access the internet. But, have your library card handy. A deal this good is only available to our customers.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you have about this or any library services. Click on “About” for my contact information.

Dodge City Irondequoit Style

The blogosphere can be a rough place. Just take a look at the Democrat and Chronicle’s town blog for Irondequoit. It is a veritable Dodge City of verbal bullets and brickbats flying from every direction. My sympathy to Joanne, the long suffering moderator or any innocent reader who might pop in to see what people in Irondequoit think about current topics. Almost any posting for the last 6 months that includes mention of town government is accompanied by a large number of comments that I have to call both ridiculous and appalling.

Everybody has the right to opine. Blogs are a terrific way to publicly collect and share opinions. They are a great example of how information technology can create completely new ways to communicate effectively. When I first visited I’d spot a blog topic that concerned town government with 50, 100 or 150 comments and I would think that a constructive and informative discussion of the topic was happening. Not anymore. By now I have learned that what is usually happening is a nasty, mean spirited exchange of thinly veiled insults, threats and other weirdness between a handful of folks, many clearly emboldened by hiding behind pen names, who quickly veer off the posted topic and return to a few tired old rants and bitter accusations. Often the commenters have laughable factual errors or gross misunderstandings that all the other cranks who agree with them amplify into fact. Joanne valiantly strives to keep order and a sense of decorum but it is an uphill battle. One can only guess but I can’t see how this wouldn’t make a terrible impression on anyone who reads it.

Yes, there are some folks who try to take the high road. Even some town government staff will occasionally post comments to explain a policy or situation. But the vast majority of comments are from this small group of folks who drag the level of discourse down to the basest level. I can discern no single party or interest group at fault. It seems to come from all portions of the political spectrum but it is truly an unfortunate situation. I haven’t looked exhaustively but I don’t see this volume of downright meanness on the other town blogs. Even a potentially explosive subject like religion and public prayer was discussed on the Greece town blog with much more civility. Why so mean here?

Am I exaggerating? You be the judge. Here are a few examples. You’ll find many more just by looking at the comments attached to town government stories on the Irondequoit blog in the last 6 months or so.

1. On July 21st Joanne posted a query about the dump type area near the I-590 and Route 104 junction. Note how quickly the comments became a series of accusations and attacks. By the evening of the 24th the same few cranks were posting minute by minute insults into the wee hours of the morning despite the repeated requests of the moderator to stop. The next day they started right up again. Childish and useless to anyone seeking rational discourse.

2. How about the comments on this July 5 post about the 4th of July parade? Who knew that the Fairport Savings Bank was a force for evil? At the library we are usually quite happy when we can get a sponsor to help pay for something. This is usually done by giving that sponsor some high visibility as a thank you for the assistance. Again, it doesn’t take long for the same handful of crackpots to start a week long mean fest over a seemingly innocent event.

3. This is my favorite. The feel good news in the July 17th post about the library being awarded a large grant is quickly dampened by the comments which become a forum for the usual grouches. Nothing like accusing the library staff of inventing the roof leak as a publicity stunt to achieve a new low. We actually had a good laugh here imagining ourselves on the roof in the dead of night with our electric drills. The phenomenon of blog anonymity leading to boorish behavior is nothing unusual anymore but this is rock bottom.

The most regrettable thing in this whole bunch of ugliness is that a tool that reasonable people could be using for the rational and constructive exchange of ideas has been hijacked by a handful of unfortunate souls who cannot resist trying to have the last word, no matter how mean it is.

I suppose I could end up regretting this as I might be setting myself up to be the next target. But the library stands for the free and open exchange of information, ideas and reasoned opinion. We also pride ourselves on embracing useful new technologies, like blogs, to achieve that end. Instead, I think you’ll agree that an unprecedented opportunity for using the blog for constructive community dialogue is being missed. I encourage you all to read and post civil and reasoned comments on the D & C Irondequoit blog. Tell us what you think about the community center and library proposal. Maybe we can take back our local blogosphere and still have reasoned and civil discourse.

Read for yourself and please tell us what you think?

More Friday Fun

Here is another fun quiz I stumbled across while helping a customer search for information about historical costume. The magazine Entertainment Weekly has a website ew.com. On it are some pop culture quizes. The one I found serendiptously was “Who Wore That Oscar Gown?”.    If you are an awards show person like some of my friends are, give it a try. If not they have others. Try identifying celebrities from pictures of their mustaches (male celebrities only). Or, look at a picture of a sound stage set and try to name the TV show. Oodles of fun!

Overlooked resources

I have good news! In addition to the traditional items you have always obtained from us, you have free access to a huge amount of expensive, internet based information that cannot be obtained anywhere else. The bad news is that not enough people are aware of these information treasures. If you have a few minutes let me enlighten you. Much of it is information our customers request but often overlook.

Take a look our magazines and databases page. All these links represent easily searched collections of millions of journal articles, newspaper articles and book excerpts in full-text available for printing or emailing. Of special interest to our residents will be the Democrat & Chronicle in full-text, going back to 1999 and the Messenger-Post local newspapers such as the Irondequoit Post going back to September 2006. The other links with the most often requested content are America’s News Magazines and Infotrac Onefile. The entire collection is huge and it will take some time to familiarize yourself with it. But the resources are truly awesome. If you are a student this page is the first place to look for the most recent information available on any subject.

As I said earlier, access to this information is expensive. When you are browsing this collection and see a label that says “NOVEL” you are being alerted to the fact that the New York State Library is helping us pay for this resource. One of the coolest things libraries are doing now is cooperating and using our regional or statewide buying power to obtain access to expensive online information at the lowest possible price. This gives taxpayers the most information bang for their bucks. If we had to purchase this access on our own, half of what you see would not be available. The scope of these resources is so vast that I can’t overstate it no matter how enthusiastic I may seem. Take a look and see for yourself. You can even do it on the internet from home. Keep your library card handy. This service is only available to our customers. Naturally, if you have any questions about any of this just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

What do you know about federal prison?

One of the best things about being a librarian is the interesting subjects we encounter while helping library patrons with their information needs. When we pick up the phone or answer an email we never know where it might lead. Occasionally, we get a tough informational nut to crack and of course the Internet has become one of the most powerful tools on our information toolbelts. One of the great things about the Internet era is how government has used it to facilitate access to complex but useful government information. There are many good examples of this but recently, while aiding a library patron, I came across an excellent one. Forget for a moment that the subject area can be depressing and instead note the excellence of the resource. If you want to see how a well designed website can make accessing obscure and difficult to find government information a snap, visit the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Using their superb website I was able to easily locate exactly what our patron needed. While doing it I was impressed by the whole array of useful stuff I found there. Think about the complexity of a nationwide network of 114 facilities, 35,000 employees and 193,000 inmates. The most impressive feature was regional maps showing the location of each facility in the country with direct links to pictures, descriptions, contact information and visiting regulations for each. Paired with that is the inmate look-up feature which allows users to find individual inmates by name or various identifying numbers. I know where the Unabomber lives, do you?  If you think this isn’t impressive check out the procedure for obtaining this data the old way.  You will also find detailed information about careers, visits, inmate programs, bureau history and lots more. If you need this information it may not be a pleasant situation but having such a useful tool available could make things a bit easier for families, friends, researchers or an incurably curious librarian.

Got the munchies?

Just a quick bit of fun for a Friday. Do you like candy bars? Do you ever really look at them before you munch? We’ll see! The Science Museum of Minnesota has a web site for children called the Thinking Fountain. It encourages children to explore science and technology, invent their own activites and get creative. Here is one of their more interesting and fun ideas. As part of an exercise on using cross section views to better understand some objects in science and nature they invented a candy bar cross section test. The test is simple. You look at a cross section view of a candy bar and try to identify it. Turns out I don’t know as much about candy bars as I thought. Or maybe I’m just too busy gobbling to look. Give it a whirl. When you are done, look at their other cool projects and activites.