Can't judge a book by its cover? Listen to a review!

Do you want to know if that book you're thinking of reading is worth the time you'll need to invest in it? One of the many things Library Materials Services does is to add URLS (a link you can open) to each bibliographic record that has a review.

The reviews can be audio or video and they are made by your fellow staff members, such as Joanne Pulcino, Donna Geesaman, Terri Clark, and others. Once the reviews are recorded, the web staff sends a list to LMS and we enter the information into the record for that title.

How to find these titles? Do some subject searches for Books with audio reviews, or Books with video reviews. There you'll see them divided by adult, child, and teen. Choose a title, and click on the underlined link to see or watch the review.

Bring on the popcorn!

Do you know that we offer movies that are described for people with visual disabilities? Unlike closed-captioning which allows those with hearing impairments to follow the dialogue, described films have a voice-over narrating actions, costumes, gestures, and scene changes. These are just a few of the elements that, when narrated, engage a viewer who is blind or visually impaired with the story unfolding on the screen.

Many of these films are documentaries on topics as varied as volcanos, killer ants, Little Big Horn, dogs, Einstein, and lost treasures. The collection also includes feature films such as Anna Karenina, Elizabeth I, and United 93. To find a complete list, enter a subject search for Video recordings for people with visual disabilities.

Xpress for all!

A message from Amy Greenland:
Happy Friday all!
I have exciting news to report! Two of our April selections for Xpress Treatment for ALL branches have arrived in LMS and are in processing!! They will be rushed through processing today, to arrive to you on courier TOMORROW!!! The two titles are: Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman!

I regret that I have not yet made it to everyone’s staff meetings this month to bring you your “Xpress Coming Soon” kit, but I will bring your materials to KO & SM next week and will send them via courier to GL/KE/DA.

We also know Hold Tight, by Harlan Coben has been shipped from the vendor, and Sundays at Tiffanys, by James Patterson and The Whole Truth, by David Baldacci are in process with the vendor and should ship very soon.

Welcome to Xpress Everyone!!

Amy

LM agency labels

Have you seen that new branch label called LM? Who is that? It's Library Materials Services! Amy Greenland visited Douglas County and found them using their library support department as a branch on multiple copies of very popular books like the Grishams and the Pattersons. Why?

Well, all those multiple copies we order are going out to fill holds on the holds list. Once all the holds are filled, what branch is going to want 25 copies of a book everyone's read? Now, when the holds list is fulfilled, those copies will return to their owning branch - Library Materials Services - where their disposition will be determined. No extra weeding at the branches. Ingenious? We thought so too, and you will be seeing more of these every week. What do you think?

Genres, genres, genres!

As we move along in our updating of the music CD collection by genre, we're finding we had no idea there was so much Rhythm 'n Blues out there! It was an easy assumption to think most of those artists were either Rock or Pop, but with the new genre guidelines leading us to do more research, well .... Rhythm 'n Blues wins out! We do get our info from allmusic.com but occasionally we override their suggestions, especially if a patron (or staff member) lets us know they're wrong. So keep your input coming, and thank for you efforts in keeping our music collection fresh and new!

Questions about the Music CD conversion

Staff at one of the branches recently asked: We have a new music divider with no music in that genre to put behind it. What should we do?

Answer: Leave your music divider out on display. Chances are you do have something that fits that category but it may be checked out. Even if you don't have anything now, you soon will as new music is received and old music is reclassified.

All old ANSCR code categories can be moved immediately to the new divider. For instance, CDs with the code "Y" on the label can be moved to SOUNDS/EFFECTS; and CDs with the code "R" can be moved to HOLIDAY. The MA discs can be moved to the EASY LISTENING divider; the MR discs can be moved to the POP/ROCK category, and so on.

Cataloging will be calling back CDs for some time to come, so it will be a gradual process populating your new dividers. We think this project will really benefit staff and patrons alike, and to make the transition easier, please post your questions here and we promise to come up with answers!