Desktop News - Issue 169

NOLA Desktop News
Issue 169	Tuesday, July 27, 1999	08:42:12 AM
For a bi-monthly wrap up of NOLA news and information, be sure to check out NOLA Notes! To receive The Desktop News in your email, go here. (You must be using Netscape, Internet Explorer or an HTML-based email program to use this service)

NOLA's Employment Resource Site Receives Many Hits

The NOLA job listing, located on The Desktop, receives a tremendous number of hits every month. And no wonder. Rose Marie Pecchio, our Office Assistant for Administration, is constantly on the lookout for job advertisements - in the NOLA area and elsewhere in Ohio/Western Pennsylvania - to list on our web site. On any day of the week, Rose Marie is checking out other Regional Library System web sites, listserv messages, the OLC web site, ALA publications, local and regional
newspapers, and the Kent State University and University of Pittsburg Schools of Library and Information Science web sites. There are also links to other job listing web sites. No wonder NOLA's Desktop is the preferred job listing for so many librarians in the state. Check us out.

ParenTech Outreach Program Teaches Technology Skills

According to the Library Hotline (July 12, 1999), ALA's Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) will collaborate with Ameritech Library Services and the North Central Regional Education Laboratory in launching an outreach program called ParenTech. The initiative, a technology information campaign for parents, will provide them with resources to prepare middle school-age children with technological skills. ALSC will develop tools for middle schools and public libraries across a five-state Midwest area, including Ohio, to create ParenTech learning stations. The toolkit for librarians includes materials to transform a computer or area in a library into a ParenTech learning station. A resource booklet providing ideas in using ParenTech resources will also be created. The resources are available free of charge, to families in the five-state region, by calling NCREL at 877.298.7273 or by visiting www.parentech.org.

ALSC and Ameritech are also offering minigrants to 25 public libraries in cities with populations of at least 50,000 in the five-state area. Grants can be used to promote ParenTech through hosting programs or for materials acquisition.

The Fight Over Instant Messaging

The big news on the net this week is the battle over "instant messaging" software. Instant messaging software allows users to contact and communicate with each other instantly across the net (much like placing a telephone call). The popularity of the software is incredible - America Online (AOL) claims more than 80 million users for their product and a number of other products (such as ICQ) claim millions of additional users. To this point this software market has been based on propriety technology - generally, users of one program can only communicate with others running the same application. Last week Microsoft and Yahoo introduced applications that could change the way instant messaging works - these applications are able to work with multiple instant messaging clients, including AOL's "Instant Messenger". These new applications were viewed by many as a first step in developing standards for instant messaging software and communications ... but AOL had a different idea.

Only days after these new products were released AOL shut off the access method used by both the Microsoft and Yahoo instant messaging products - claiming that both applications access AOL's servers and membership information in an "unauthorized" manner. Furthermore, AOL representatives stated that they will continue to block access for users of the Microsoft and Yahoo client programs. The net community was less than receptive to AOL's decision - with many online forums filling with negative AOL discussions, expect to hear more on this issue as these industry giants continue to do battle.

New Spotlight Featured on NOLA Desktop

Beginning this week, with our new Board of Trustee President, Susan Weaver, NOLA will feature our member librarians on our website. This will allow all of us to get to know each other a little, and learn some interesting and funny things about each other! Is Susan a Rolling Stones fan? See if you can figure out the answer to this clue by taking a quick peek into the life of Susan Weaver!

I hope you enjoy this latest addition to our monthly spotlights, which include our monthly library website and staff spotlight sections on the desktop. Watch for NOLA's light to "shine on" your friends and fellow librarians in the months to come!

Time Waits for No One

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.00. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, each day of course!!!

Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present, on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success. The clock is running, make the most of today!

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who repeated a year.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the Editor of a weekly paper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed a train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal at the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have, and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special-special enough to spend your time. Remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present !!!

It's National Friendship Week. True friends are a very special jewel. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear. They share a word of praise, and they always want to open their heart to us.

Call a friend you haven't spoken with in awhile...enjoy the "gift of their company", even if only for a short time!

Happy Friendship Week!

NOLA Regional Library System 4445 Mahoning Ave Warren, OH 44483	Phone: (330) 847- 7744 Fax: (330) 847- 7704 Email: [email protected]
Copyright � 1999 by NOLA Regional Library System. Send comments to Webmaster. Revised: 07/27/99 08:42:12 AM URL: http://www.nolanet.org/tdn/issue169.htm