Wednesday, August 12, 1998

11:56:00 AM

For a bi-monthly wrap up of NOLA news and information, be sure to check out NOLA Notes!
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Email to Snailmail via .us says USPS

Looking for services to justify its existence in an increasingly electronic world, the Post Office is proposing taking over the .us domain and giving every American citizen an email address. The address would be based on street address and folks not using email could have print copies delivered to their snailbox, allowing you to send email to virtually anyone in the US. I can see it now; the "Good Times" hoax is amended to read that by opening your mailbox, you can corrupt your lawn and driveway with the WeedVirus™.

Verify Me

Authentication is a hot topic these days in the library world. Clifford Lynch of the Coalition for Networked Information has penned a paper entitled "A White Paper on Authentication and Access Management Issues in Cross-organizational Use of Networked Information Resources" which discusses the current problems and thinking in addressing those problems. The paper primarily focuses on group licensing arrangements and the need to allow/deny user classes.

Digital Reference

Two cites related to digital reference, including an article based on a recent survey of digital resource use and a nice listing of web resources from the CHOICE Web Review. Also, if you visit LJ's site, they have a nice bibliography of the best reference books of 1997.

Items submitted by:
Kenneth S. Bell - Email
NOLA Regional Library System

New Technology Coordinator Announced

The NOLA Regional Library System is pleased to announce that Bradley Kent Stephens will be joining our staff as Technology Coordinator on October 1, 1998. He is currently the Manager of Library Technologies at OHIONET in Columbus, Ohio. In that capacity, Brad coordinated the implementation and performed system administration for the OPAL shared catalog system; developed and presented training programs on a variety of technical topics for many library related organizations in Ohio, including NOLA; provided technical consulting services for OHIONET's 390+ member institutions; designed, installed, and maintained Windows NT Local and Wide Area Networks for OHIONET and its members throughout the state; and coordinated and managed the OPLIN training program which trained over 4,600 public library staff in less than two years.

Brad also has experience working for the Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington, Indiana and the Salem Public Library in Salem, Ohio. He earned his MLS from Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science (1996) and his BS in Criminal Justice from Youngstown State University (1994). Brad is a Microsoft Certified Professional and will soon become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE).

With Gail Junion-Metz, a frequent NOLA workshop speaker, Brad co-authored "Creating A Power Website: HTML3, Tables, Imagemaps, Frames, And Forms (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1998).

The NOLA Board and staff look forward to working with Brad.

Evaluating Training Workshop

You are invited to attend a once in a decade opportunity presented by Donald Kirkpatrick on "Evaluating Training: The Four Levels - Reaction, Learning, Behavior, & Results." Sponsored by the NOLA Regional Library System, the Ohio Valley Area Libraries, the State Library of Ohio, and the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science, this one day workshop will be held on Friday, October 9, 1998, at the Westerville Public Library. Kirkpatrick, one of the world's leading authorities on evaluating training programs, is the author of six books and numerous articles. A lively and humorous speaker, he is a frequent presenter at American Society for Training & Development Conferences. Don't miss this opportunity - register today.

Items submitted by:
Millie Fry - Email
NOLA Regional Library System

State-wide Reference Back-up

The State Library of Ohio is pleased to announce that the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has been selected to provide Statewide Reference Back-Up Service. This service is designed to provide reference assistance to libraries unable to answer reference questions after searching their own resources. The Statewide Reference Back-Up Service program provides this service to all types of Ohio libraries - public, academic, school, and special.

Once a library has exhausted all local resources, the question can be referred to the Back-Up Library. Questions may be submitted by email to [email protected] - by toll-free fax at 1-877-OHIOFAX (644-6329) or toll free phone at 1-877-OHIOREF (644-6733).

Requests should be for factual information but not for in-depth research and should require no more than 30 minutes of staff time to prepare a response.

Fax or email questions may be submitted at any time. Questions may be submitted by phone during regular Library service hours, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1p.m. to 5 p.m.

Please be sure to include your library name and type of library, phone/fax number or email address, contact person and any sources already consulted.

Questions or comments can be directed to Greg Edwards, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, at [email protected] or 513-369-6914.

Questions or comments for the State Library of Ohio may be directed to Jay Burton, Library Programs and Development, at [email protected] or 614-466-5511.

Item submitted by:
Jay Burton - Email
State Library of Ohio

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