Schools are closed, but we're not!

Area schools, including Hawkeye Community College, are closed today. The Waterloo Public Library, however, is open for business as usual.

The phones are ringing off the hook and students on snow-holiday are queuing up for time on our Public Access Computers. Morning has been busy and we'll probably have an even bigger crowd after lunch.

We'll be open until 9:00 p.m. this evening and barring on any new weather developments will reopen Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

We'll be Open!

The Waterloo Public Library will be open today from 1:00-5:00 p.m. Thanks to the hard work of the City of Waterloo Streets Department!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

WPL Closed for Blizzard!

What a mess. We've had freezing rain, sleet, and snow since Friday afternoon and as I write this (Saturday evening) NOAA has issued a Blizzard Warning through 6:00 p.m. Sunday. The WPL employees who made it to work this morning were told to go home after intermittent power outages made work impractical.

Travel on all major highways in Black Hawk County is discouraged due to ice, high winds, and downed power lines. News media report that large portions of north Waterloo are without electricity.

The big question now is, "will the Waterloo Public Library open Sunday at 1:00 p.m.?" Maybe. Maybe not. The director will be evaluating road conditions Sunday morning. As soon as I hear her decision, I'll post it here.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Test the Speed of your Internet Connection

Are there times when your Internet experience seems a bit slow? Do you wonder if the problem is caused by a poor connection? Or maybe a balky computer?

One way to tell what's going on (or not going on!) is to visit http://www.speedtest.com/ and find out just how good your connection is. Speedtest will check both upload and download bandwidth which are then displayed in both analog and digital formats. Download speeds at the WPL often approach 10,000 kb/second, while uploads are usually somewhat less. During busy times of the day, speeds will decline somewhat.

The upshot? If your connection seems slow, run speedtest. If you see more than 2,000 kb/s in bandwidth, maybe the site with which you're trying to connect is having problems.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

WPL backs the Panthers!

Waterloo Public Library Youth librarian and ILL specialist Kay S. shows her support for the University of Northern Iowa Panthers!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Lost in the Stacks

A recent addition to the Waterloo Public Library blog collection is Lost in the Stacks. For several weeks now, library staff and patrons have been blogging reviews of items held by the library. This blog has become one of my favorites; I hope that you'll enjoy it too.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

OpenOffice: The Free Office Suite

Christmas is past and Santa probably dropped off more than a few computers. If you're one of the lucky ones, you may be a little disappointed by the fact that your teaser version of Microsoft Office 2003 is about to expire, leaving you to get by with Microsoft Works. Before you shell out a couple of hundred bucks for the full version of Office 2003, give yourself a break: download and test drive Sun Microsystems' gift to society: OpenOffice 2.1.

OpenOffice is a clone of the better-known Microsoft product that includes analogs of the office suite applications. The freeware product will run on Windows, as well as Macintosh or Linux. You'll want a broadband connection to download it, but once you have it on your computer, installation is relatively straightforward.

Are you a bit leery of installing a freeware application on your own PC? Don't fret, there's an easy way to to take a test drive. If you're a Gmail user you've probably noticed a "Docs and Spreadsheets" menu bar near the upper left hand corner of the screen. Believe it or not, Google now supports native OpenOffice document editing and also provides nearly three gigabytes of online storage! Amazingly, anyone with access to a computer on the Internet is ready to produce documents and spreadsheets that may then be accessible from any other Internet PC.

So why would one wish to download and install OpenOffice to his or her own PC? Bandwidth limitations mean that even very fast connections (e.g., the 10MB Ethernet enjoyed by WPL patrons) means that online applications still run less quickly than local applications. My advice? Test OpenOffice at your local library. If you like it, download a copy (maybe to a big USB drive?) and install it at home.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Books! Books! Books!

Bored? Looking for something fun to read? If so, stop by the Waterloo Public Library and see the new display tables. Whether your taste runs to novels, mysteries, biographies, how-to, or self-help, we either have what you want or will find a way to get it.

The books you're seeing above are mostly those that have been read by WPL book club participants. We'll have a steady supply of them, as well as a doubling of our ever popular Express Books collection.

Be careful, though. As I was working on a balky catalog computer this afternoon I had to walk by the display tables several times. The first time I saw all the books, the second time I noticed a Philip Roth title that I've been wanting to read since 2004. On the third pass I couldn't help myself: I picked up The Plot Against America, walked it five steps to the self-check machine, and now I have another treasure on my night stand! Let's hope I'm able to get up in time for work tomorrow.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

IM Reference Service Widget

The Waterloo Public Library Reference Department now offers, on a trial basis, reference services via Instant Messaging. If you have a question, type it into the window you'll see in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Whenever the library is open and the reference desk is staffed, we'll try hard to get your questions answered. As time goes on, and we become more comfortable with the concept, we'll probably be adding other IM clients.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Hello USB Drives; Good-bye Floppies!

The end of the floppy disk drive era is rapidly approaching! For several months now, PAC users have seen signs on the monitors announcing the end of floppy drive support as of February 1, 2007.

The most popular floppy, the 3.5", has been on the market since 1987. And believe me, we regularly see patrons using heirloom diskettes that their grandmothers used in college when Ronald Reagan was President.

Even under the best circumstances, a floppy is highly vulnerable to environmental degradation. After a decade or two under the front seat of the car, or floating around in a purse, the magnetic media within the floppy's cover is damaged by dust, dampness, and static electricity. Their reliability in WPL PACs has been dismal. Patrons are annoyed by the loss of data; library staff are frustrated by damaged or failed drives.

We're well-prepared to make the change: Each of our PACs has front-accessible USB ports linked to a desktop shortcut. Usually, a flash drive will be automatically recognized within 30-60 seconds of insertion. Rarely, the drive will only be accessible via browsing with an application such as Word or Excel. In any case, the flash drives are more reliable, have greater capacity, and when the cost per megabyte is calculated, far more economical than the floppy.

The library plans to set up a floppy-to-flash drive transfer station for those of you who need to move files. Or, if you insist on continuing to use floppies, you may bring your own external USB floppy drive. External drives can be purchased either online, through catalogs, or at local discount stores. As of this moment, the library does not plan to sell flash drives. If there is enough popular demand, the Friends of the Library may be persuaded to add them to their FriendShop inventory.

If you're looking for a good deal on either flash or external floppy drives, keep an eye on the Sunday morning newspaper inserts. You'll find the flash drive to be a great advance over the floppy. Once you've made the move, you'll wonder why you waited!

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

The Browser!

As library staff members weed the non-fiction collection we regularly come across titles that we hate to throw away and wish to give a second chance at life. So, ace librarian, Tim K. created the "Browser" on the slat-wall of the second-floor elevator shaft.

As we find items that we think would be good reads, we'll place them on the Browser. If the book is checked out, it gets to stay in the collection for at least another three years. However, if it's still on the Browser after a few weeks, off it goes to book heaven.

If you happen to read a book on the Browser, and want to write a review, send it to dargan@gmail.com as an attachment and we'll post it to Lost in the Stacks, a blog devoted to reviews of books saved from a trip to the landfill. Better yet, volunteer to be a regular reviewer and we'll set you up to blog your articles directly.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

EbscoHost

Not so very long ago, I had to balance the obligations of a full-time job with part-time studies as a University of Iowa graduate student. With the doorstep of the university library some 82 miles from the end of my driveway, research time was precious. I quickly learned that our EBSCOhost online databases are a great time-saver.

EBSCOhost Web, an online database service subsidized by the State Library of Iowa, is especially useful for students. We currently list some 20 different databases offering full text search and retrieval of literally thousands of publications. My favorites include Academic Elite, MasterFile Premier, and Business Source Elite, which target the needs of college students. However, students of all ages can find good information from Primary Search, Middle Search Plus, and MAS Ultra-School Edition.

All EBSCOHost products (EBSCOhost web is just the tip of the iceberg) are accessible on the WPL's 31 PACs connected to our high speed Internet connection. Bring your research tasks to library reference area and one of our friendly librarians will get you started. However, if you're anywhere on the Internet, and have a Waterloo Public Library card, you're good to go.

c 2007 Waterloo Public Library

Tax Time

Sharpen your pencils and gather your 1099s and W-2s - it's that time of year again.

WPL will have both state and federal tax forms to help you out, as usual. They are located at the top of the stairs on the second floor.

We are partnering with H&R Block to offer an informational program on 2007 tax changes. Join us in Meeting Rooms A&B on January 9th at 6:30 p.m. If that doesn't fit your schedule, the program will be offered again at noon on January 11th.

We also want to let you know about an additional refund you may not have heard about:

In a surprise move, the Federal Government will be refunding federal telephone excise taxes paid on long distance charges that were billed after 2/28/03 and before 8/1/06. For those individuals not required to file a federal income tax return, you can simply file Form 1040EZ-T, Request for Refund of Federal Telephone Excise Tax, to request a refund.

In short, EVERYONE who had long-distance service during that time period is eligible. The IRS estimates that 159 million people are eligible for this refund.

When requesting this refund, you will be able to take the standard refund amount ($30-$60, depending on the number of exemptions you take on your return), or you will need to use form 8913, and document your actual long-distance expenses and taxes paid.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Vision Aids in the Reference Department

Having trouble reading the fine print with your latest prescription? Have you given up reading your favorite magazines or newspapers because your eyesight isn't what it used to be? If so, the Waterloo Public Library vision aids area is the place for you! My favorite toy is the video enlarging system. The fine print instructions that came with my new camera are no match for its 64x magnification capability.

For more details, visit our Services - Elderly/Disabled web page. Or, just bring your tiny stuff to the reference desk and ask for help. We'll get you started, and within seconds you'll be reading like a kid again!


c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Happy New Year!

The Waterloo Public Library will be open today until 5:00 p.m. We'll be closed New Year's Day, but will reopen Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m. Until then, Happy New Year!

Welcome Back!

We've now reached the end of our second day back from the Christmas holiday and the Reference Department is very busy. Our hundreds of regular patrons have been joined by their out-of-town friends and relatives to make extra time on the PACs, hard to come by.

Tuesday morning, Kim V and I replaced the old firewall with new hardware and software. After two days of extremely heavy usage, the update is a booming success. While functional, the old system had some limitations, wasn't easy to configure, and didn't have advanced monitoring tools. Those deficits have been remedied and it's now time to move on to other improvements.

The PACs use a product from Team Software Solutions, Public Web Browser 2, as a "front-end" for Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Several weeks ago Microsoft released their first browser upgrade in half a decade: Internet Explorer 7.0. We've been running it on one of the PACs (you'll have to guess which one) for about a week with good results. So, sometime this weekend we'll be looking at upgrading the other 32 (don't forget the four in Youth) WPL PACs.

We'll also be checking the configuration of each of the Reference Department PACs. I noticed this afternoon that at least one machine (PAC #5), "forgot" its session information after a restart. The result? Instead of getting a 2 minute grace period during which the user could resume the session, our patron had to get back in the queue. It turns out that several others have also suffered from this phenomenon.

The good news? We're confident that we've identified the problem. The bad news is that to remedy it we'll have to visit every machine while we're closed. Right now, we're thinking of doing it some evening this weekend. If not, we'll start early Tuesday and hope for the best.

On a more cheerful note, have you noticed that the printing is going faster? We're using a new print driver, have added system memory, and updated the firmware. Testing shows that complex color jobs now complete in less than half the time needed by the old configuration. Many thanks to Matt, the new ASI technician who made the suggestions.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Happy Holidays!

The Waterloo Public Library will be closed December 24, 25, and 26. We will reopen at 9:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 27.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Cunningham Students Serenade the WPL!

Students from the Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence entertained WPL staff and patrons with Christmas carols this morning. For pictures, visit our our new Flickr site.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Our New (to us, anyway) Microfilm Reader

One of our ancient mechanical microfilm readers passed away this week. Age finally caught up with it as the cost of repairs became prohibitive.

Luckily for the Waterloo Public Library, microfilm reader vendor Dave Thomas came to the rescue. For about a third of the cost of resurrecting our old hand-crank model, Dave sold us an electric version.

The Library Researcher Gideon 1000 is used, but has been refurbished. Even before Dave had a chance to fork over the invoice, one of our regular microfilm patrons was cooing over the improvement.

The next time you need to look up an obituary, or just want to know the price of milk in 1966, give the new microfilm reader a try.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library

Why pay $4 - $8 bucks?

I was out at Barnes & Noble the other day, browsing through their magazine titles to see what was new, when I happened to glance at some of the newstand prices.

$3.95 for Rolling Stone...

$4.50 for the New Yorker (my husband's favorite)...

$4.95 for Martha Stewart Living...

$6.95 for Everton's Genealogical Helper...

$7.99 for Fine Homebuilding or Starlog!

I'd go broke if I tried to buy all these titles, even with subscription discounts!

But ---

Did you know that WPL subscribes to almost 200 different magazine titles, including the ones listed above?

What an easy way to stay up-to-date and save money!

Adult magazines are located on racks at the top of the stairs on WPL's second floor.

We also have a Teen magazine area on 2nd Floor with great titles like Vibe, Slam and Spin.

Our Youth Department also has a magazine section, with titles like American Girl, Highlights for Children, and Dirt Bike, among others.

Si prefiere leer en español, tenemos periódicos como Furia Musical, Latina y Quien.

To check for a given title, visit our catalog.

c 2006 Waterloo Public Library