More Fun with Flickr & Picnik

Picnik, the online photo editing software just went from handy and entertaining to darn right addictive! You can now create multi-photo collages from photos that you upload into your Picnik account or any photos you already have in your Flickr (or Facebook, Picassa, etc.) account. Here's what you'll need to do:

I believe you need to register for a free Picnik account.

• Click on the "Library" tab.
• Click on the "Start" link -- located to the left of the page.
• Click on "Make a Collage" or "Make a Fancy Collage."

The first time you access the collage features you get a short tutorial from Picnik.
Have fun -- lots and lots of fun!

LR & SW-A routes canceled Wed. 1-28-09

Donna Gilbreth reports on Wednesday, January 28:

Due to the snowy weather today some of the van routes have been cancelled.
The Lakes Region route (Jarod) and the Southwestern A route (Jim) are cancelled.
At this time the other routes are being run, but are subject to cancellation if conditions worsen.

Donna Gilbreth Reference and Information Services Supervisor New Hampshire State Library 20 Park St. Concord, NH 03301 603-271-2060 donna.gilbreth@dcr.nh.gov

State Tax Forms - Package X

Package X which contains all the forms and instructions issued by the Department of Revenue Administration is being sent out to those NH libraries who have requested it in the past.

Package X is being sent out via van delivery. When you receive your packet, please take a moment to look at the address label and let me (diana.decota@dcr.nh.gov) know of any corrections (contact person, etc.) that need to be made.

This copy of Package X should be used for photocopying only. Copies of all of the Department of Revenue Administration's forms may be printed at their web site, http://www.nh.gov/revenue/forms/index.htm.

Diana

LOST BOOKS - December 2008

Here’s the lost book list for December. List is also available for viewing/editing anytime at http://nhaislostbooks.pbwiki.com. If you want to add or edit the list, contact Mary Cronin at the Madison Library for the password.

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Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, Call Number F HOR and Barcode # 44235 was put on the van in Wolfeboro to be returned to Nichols Library in Kingston. It did not arrive in Kingston. Would appreciate if if everyone could check their shelves. Thanks, Susan, Wolfeboro PL (wolfelib@metrocast.net)

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This book was shipped on December 18 to Joseph Patch in Warren but we have not received it. Could you check?
Joanne, Joseph Patch, Warren

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Could you all check your shelves for this book that seems to have gone missing between Mason and its home
Pigboat 39: an American sub goes to war
by Bobette Gugliotta ( 940.5451)

Thanks a million, Denise at Mason PL

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OCLC Direct Access for 2009

Libraries who participate in the NHAIS Direct OCLC Access program should keep an eye out for their 2009 renewal packets which went out on the van today (addressed to the library director).

Usage statistics for 2008 and an agreement and an invoice for 2009 participation are enclosed.

All NHAIS libraries can get OCLC records by downloading them from the NHU-PAC or by adding brief records to the database through the Holdings Maintenance feature of the NHU-PAC.

Biblios: A Free Web-based Cataloging Tool

There is a very interesting new service (tool, Website?) being offered by LibLime, the folks who offer the commercial hosting of the open source ILS, Koha. The service allows anyone to create an online account and to immediately have access to the database of MARC records. MARC records can be edited online and exported in MARC21 format to your own catalog. There is no charge for accessing the records or downloading them.

Additionally, each record can be edited and saved back to the Biblios.net database for others to use or continue to edit. I'm not sure if we can call this the Wikipedia of MARC records, but I don't think the general concept is too far off base -- but correct me if I am wrong!

I encourage everyone to read the two following blog posts about the service. These two posts do such a better job explaining the significance of Biblios.net better than I ever could!

Calling all Catalogers

Biblios.net and the Future of Cataloging

If you are interested in trying out Biblios.net on your own, here are some simple instructions:

1. Visit biblios.net.
2. Click on the link, "Start Cataloging."
3. The first time you load the application, you'll need to install Google Gears. (Google Gears is a browser extention that lets you work offline but uploads your changes when you go back online.) Loading Google Gears was very straight-forward.)
4. Once Google Gears has been installed and you confirm that you'd like a connection with Biblios.net, the application will load.
5. Enter a search term.
6. See the results load at the bottom of the screen.
7. Select the checkbox next to the desired title to see the MARC fields.
8. Click on the "Edit" button to make any changes to the fields.
9. Click in any field to make any changes.
10. Click on Tools >> Export >> MARC 21 to download the record to your computer.
11. 
12. Save the record to your computer in order to upload the record to your ILS.
13. 
14. It appears that the edited record can also be sent to Biblios.net.

(Forgive the extra bullets! Blogger doesn't do well with multiple graphics and bullets...)

iTunes abandons DRM? Yes and No

At the recent MacWorld event, Apple announced that they would be offering DRM-free music through iTunes. Although the music does not contain DRM, the DRM-free tracks contain the original owner's account information (in the form of their iTunes-associated email address) embedded into the file. If the file ends up on a file sharing site, the song can be easily tracked back to the original owner.

Read more from CNet.

Update on the Original Cataloging Project

The NHAIS Original Cataloging Project continues to add records to the NHU-PAC (and to OCLC's WorldCat) for materials held by NHAIS libraries that have not been cataloged by anyone else.



During 2008 original records were created for 196 books, 35 sound recordings, and 59 visual materials (VHS and DVD recordings). You can see these records as a group by clicking on the year and MARC format you are interested in on the NHU-PAC's "About NHAIS" tab (on the Original Cataloging sub-tab specifically.)



When a NHAIS library sends us a photocopy of a title page and verso (or a copy of the packaging for multimedia items) in response to our request and the item still cannot be matched to an OCLC record the item goes into the queue for original cataloging. The pile of stuff to be cataloged grows all the time (this is a phenomenon familiar to many of you I'm sure). However, to give an idea of where this project is at, here is a snapshot of things as of January 1, 2009:

• There were 23 actual items on the truck to be cataloged, mostly videos which have to be viewed (well, fast-forwarded through for titles and credits anyway) in order to be cataloged. There are still 8 of these on the truck today.
  


• There were 55 items that have been requested previously but not sent by the library which need to be requested again. Many of these are cases where the item was checked out when it was requested the first (or second, or third) time. Some of these were added to NHU-PAC as brief records several years ago.
  


• In the queue of things to be requested via ILL to be cataloged there were 89 books, 14 videos, and 18 sound recordings. These items were added to NHU-PAC as brief records between January and September 2008. None are older than that. This past Monday 26 of the books were requested for cataloging.
  

Since we began this project in April 2005 we have created new records for 797 titles.

Van Route Cancellation

Today's (01/07/09) van delivery for the Lakes Region area is being cancelled. Jarod has made the swap in Plymouth with the North Country route driver and has decided to cancel the rest of his route and return to Concord, due to slippery road conditions. At this point, all other routes are running as scheduled. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Diana