Source: Library Journal Web Site

The 231-year-old company with headquarters in Chicago has struggled financially through the last decade, according to an October 19 Associated Press report. At its peak in 1989 Britannica had $650 million in revenues and a sales force of 2,300; today its work force is down to 350 and sales have dropped precipitously.

Although Britannica was the first encyclopedia on the Web in 1994, it charged an annual $85 fee, making it out-of-place among the free information sites. Its 1994 CD-ROM venture also fizzled because it couldn’t compete with Microsoft’s multimedia Encarta.

The problem is that the library doesn’t have an automation system and county commissioners have told Potts that they won’t pay for one. She said the library budget is less than 1% of the county budget, adding that one of the commissioners told her that he considered the library "a necessary evil.

Source: ALA Web Site

So you want to buy something online, but you’re not sure if you’re getting the best price. How can you know? Well you could visit ten or twenty web sites to look for the product, or you could use tools like R U Sure. Launched this week R U Sure allows you to locate a product and then searches the web for better prices on the item you selected. How well does it work? It allowed me to find both a book and a software application for a few dollars less than I could find on my own after thirty minutes of searching.

Want to learn more? http://www.rusure.com/

Estamp.com and Stamps.com are the leaders in the new push for Internet Postage (no this isn’t a stamp for your email – but rather electronic stamps that you can purchase over the Internet, print with a regular printer and send in the mail.) Both programs allow users to electronically pay for Internet stamps and print them on laser and/or ink jet printers. Both claim the ability to improve the "postal experience" by reducing costs, improving the appearance of correspondence and allowing users to generate postage and envelopes from their own PC.

Want to know more?
http://www.e-stamp.com/
http://www.stamps.com/

The End of Silicon
As computers continue to increase in speed and power they are moving closer to a point that the current technology will no longer support continued advances in speed and processing power. This article provides some interesting background on the history of computer processors discusses some possibilities for the future of computing.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991025/tc/bugs_stage_1.html

Items submitted by:
Brad Stephens - Email
NOLA Regional Library System

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE OF TODAY'S LIBRARIES

In talking with several of our NOLA member library directors recently, I have learned that many of you, along with your Board of Directors', are beginning the process of strategic planning for the next millennium. Hopefully, this information will be helpful for you and your Board members while undertaking this exhausting process!

Alice: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
Cheshire Cat: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
Alice: "I don't much are where..."
Cheshire Cat: "Then it doesn't matter which way you go"

Alice in Wonderland

Life was once easier. More casual. Technology and social order could be trusted to stay moored in place over long periods. But now, we live in a time of unparalleled dynamism. Elliot M. Estes, previous Chairman of the Board of General Motors Corporation says:   "When something has been done a particular way for three years or so, it is a pretty good sign - in these changing times - that is is being done the wrong way."

For the organization which is dedicated to growth and development of our communities, libraries in particular, there is only one answer - strategic and creative planning. An organization has no choice but to anticipate the future. In today's explosive and frenzied race, planning becomes an absolute essential. But effective planning is a highly complex and puzzling riddle. There are new markets, different concepts, more aggressive competition. (Yes, libraries DO have competition!) The fight for survival can be ferocious. Without proper planning, an organization is without rudder or direction. The time finally comes to every organization when it must plan or perish. It can be a very
painful, taxing moment.

Strategic planning is innovative, exploratory, venturesome, visionary. Impatient of convention, the success-driven organization is attracted by the unknown and the undetermined. Strategic planning CAN BE FUN! But only if you expand your horizons and let your creative juices flow to create an interesting, community-minded plan for your future.

There has never been a greater opportunity for the organization which plans. Forceful, courageous, and imaginative plans. It means being driven by a single impulse and a predisposition to evaluate before acting. And then the daring determination to act. There are new frontiers to conquer...new markets to serve...new objectives to be achieved!   Success is waiting -- waiting for the organization responsive to unprecedented opportunities that may still be unknown. Planning requires a disciplined effort, and an eagerness to be bombarded with questions: "What else?"  "Why not?" "Why must it be done this way?" Planning is the road map to your organization's destiny.

If you are seeking a consultant or facilitator for your library's strategic planning process, please e-mail me at [email protected], and I would be happy to provide you with a listing of resources that may be of help to you and your Board members in your planning process.

Items submitted by:
Lori Putt - Email
NOLA Regional Library System

Dear Sister,
I'm caught in quicksand. The invitations have been sent. The buzzards are circling. The coffins are set. My brew is bubblin' away in the pot. The roaches are primed and ready to rock. But what in Oz should I serve on the buffet? Snake bake or blood cabernet? Help!
Yours till monkey's fly, WW

Dear Wicked,
That's easy! Jump on your broom and fly on over to Reflinks 394 for great holiday recipes! Why not try a "Cat & Mouse" theme this year? There's Cheesy Deviled Egg Mice, Cat Litter Casserole and my personal favorite, Cat Poop Cookies - Yum! And while you're at it, they have great ideas for centerpieces at Swan's Pumpkin Carving - templates make it easy to get that horrific look you want! And just in case things get a little out of hand, (You remember what happened last year when the Mummy, Freddy and some of those extras from "Night of the Living Dead" went out trick or treating) there's some safety tips from the American Red Cross. (I've told them a hundred times, stay away from the humans!) I'm sure you'll find some good ideas here. You might want to freshen your wardrobe over at the Goodwill Costume site. A little something used always looks good! Have fun!
Your sister, Witch E. Poo

Items submitted by:
Reflinks Members [email protected]