Posts filed under 'Web Site Changes'
If you use OverDrive electronic books, you may have some problems on Saturday, April 5 from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. Regularly scheduled maintenance on this database will be occurring, and access may be intermittant.
And VERY GOOD NEWS - OverDrive will offer some access to iPod users sometime this year. Read more about it in a recent Library Journal article. We’re not sure what it means, yet, but we feel it’s movement in the right direction and we’ll be sure to keep everyone posted on our web site.
April 3rd, 2008
Beginning November 1, Madison Public Library and the Madison Public Library Foundation are offering a five-month trial of the Morningstar® Library Edition financial evaluation service to library customers. If there is enough positive interest, the library will investigate purchasing access for library customers on an ongoing basis. Morningstar Library Edition will be accessible from November 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, to anyone who visits a Madison Public Library location. The service will also be available remotely to any City of Madison resident who has a current public library card.
What Is Morningstar Library Edition?
For nearly two decades Morningstar® Mutual Funds™ has been and remains a valued print reference for researching, analyzing, and comparing mutual funds. Used by advisors and individual investors, it is one of the most popular financial reference tools in libraries.
Morningstar Library Edition incorporates the best of Morningstar data, analysis, technology, and information design. Individual investors can access and use all of the features and functionality in this online destination, including analyst reports of 2,000 mutual funds and nearly 2,000 stocks. An exceptional Education Center offers in-depth guides on five different topics that matter most to today’s investor: retirement planning, college planning, investing during retirement, investing for beginners, and portfolio tips and tricks.
How Can I Participate?
If you want to use Morningstar Library Edition yourself or are interested in having someone demonstrate the Morningstar.com service to your financial or investment group, please contact Carla DiIorio at 266-6310 or email madisonlibrary@gmail.com. You will receive the information you need to access the trial during the last week of October. Trial participants will be asked to evaluate the product for the library and will be personally notified about the outcome of the trial.
The trial was purchased for the Library by the Madison Public Library Foundation.
October 16th, 2007
As part of a library training project, Madison Public Library is launching a new blog, MPL Gov Info. It will feature newly published federal government publications on the internet. Selected print publications of note will also be featured.
So, for recently published federal government publications, please take a look at the MPL Gov Info blog. We welcome your comments on improving the blog.
October 16th, 2007
Our Fall 2007 issues of Kidspages are now available in English and in Spanish. View and print online, or stop by your nearest library to pick up an oversized color copy of your own. While you’re at it, take an extra copy for a friend or colleague!
Kidspages isn’t a complete list of our programs, though. More programs for all ages are being added weekly to our online calendar. Sign up for programs online and you’ll receive an email confirmation. You can even receive alerts of a particular type of program (preschool storytimes, for example) three weeks before they begin. Contact Tana Elias at madtech @ scls.lib.wi.us for details, or find a program you like online and click “Notify me” to receive alerts of similar programs at that location. You can change your alerts at any time.
August 24th, 2007
The Madison Public Library is proud to offer even more historical Madison City Directories online. The collection of directories now spans from 1850-1911, and is available to browse, enlarge and view 24 hours a day through the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, thanks to a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The 1911 Standard Historical Atlas of Dane County has also been digitized as part of this collection. By the end of the year, there will be historical reports from the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association available to view online as well. Stay tuned!
August 2nd, 2007
If you’re awake between the hours of 12 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. (or 8 a.m. on weekends), you can see library programs and services featured on Madison City Channel’s Community Bulletin Board thanks to the creative work of Assistant Programming Coordinator Tanya Anderson and her assistant, Christina Lev. They’ve recently revised all the slides for the library by updating information, adding programs, and giving the library announcements a new look to match our web page!
The Madison City Channel Community Bulletin Board received an award in 2006 for First Place in the
“Video Text/Bulletin Board” category in the awards given annually by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, and is a finalist for the award this year (the award is awarded in August). Locally, the Community Bulletin Board won the 2007 WAPC (Wisconsin Association of PEG Access Channels) award for the category of Bulletin Boards.
If you’re up, check us out on Madison City Channel.
July 13th, 2007
Did you know that if we don’t own an item, we’ll consider buying it or borrowing it from another library? Ask us to buy something we don’t currently own, and if we buy it, you’ll automatically receive it on hold. We’ve offered this service for a long time, but have recently made some changes to our Recommendation for Purchase online form. First, we now require a library card number to place a request. This will eliminate a problem we’ve had recently with computer-generated spam requests being sent through our email form. Second, we will now place non-feature DVD and VHS items on hold for you if we buy them. The latter was a suggestion from a library customer - thanks, Elaine!
May 18th, 2007
Remember back in December when we said we were looking for a new name for the What’s New blog and e-newsletter? Well, we found one. What’s New has officially been renamed “Check It Out”. For us librarians, it’s sort of an in-joke, since every time we recommend a new book with the phrase “have you checked out…?” or “check out this book…” we really DO want people to check it out! Literally. Thanks to library patrons Ramona Gasper and Susan Hobson for the new name.
We’re excited about our new name and our new direction. We’ve added sections on Community Issues, Sequoya Construction Updates, and a Director’s Take. We’re always interested in your feedback and your ideas of topics we should cover. Comment here, or let us know as part of our upcoming customer survey (coming in May).
Changing the name is a two step process for us. Step one was choosing the name and renaming and relinking everything on our web site. Step two will be relocating the enewsletter to a new mail service, and migrating the blog to its new home. When that happens, we’ll publish information on how to make sure you’re subscribed to the new feed or that the new email doesn’t go into your junk folder! We truly hope you’ll take the time to Check It Out and discover the many resources the library has to offer you.
April 25th, 2007
Looking for a program to enjoy with your grandchildren at your local branch library on Saturday? Need to register for next week’s Toddler Time program, or sign up for an online job application workshop, or register to join a particularly interesting book discussion group?
I’m pleased to announce that the library is piloting a new online calendar of events at the Alicia Ashman and Lakeview libraries.
With the new calendar and online registration software, you can
- search for library programs by type, age group, or library location(s)
- receive email confirmation, reminder messages, and alerts of new programs
- register yourself for programs 24/7, even if the library is not open!
Try it out, and let us know what you think by commenting here or taking our online survey if you register for a program.
Our existing online calendar will be completely replaced with this new calendar by mid-April, 2007, just in time for our popular Summer Library Program. Find out more about the calendar, including Questions and Answers about the new software.
March 9th, 2007
Our longtime community partner, Madison Area Literacy Council (now Literacy Network), changed its name in 2006, and What’s New wants a new name, too.
This blog, now nine months old, is about more than What’s New at the Library. Not only do we try to keep you informed of new things at the library, but we also try to spotlight new or important issues in our community, from proposed electric transmission lines in Dane County to Madison history to updates on the Sequoya expansion. Our director, Barbara Dimick, will soon have her own “director’s take” where she’ll talk about the library in the context of our local and professional communities. Our companion blogs, MADreads and TeenTopix, continue to feature many good and some not-so-good books reviewed by our librarians.
So now, about that name…
We’ve got some ideas, below, but we want to hear from you, too. What do you value most from your library? How can we best help you wade through the sea of information? And what should we call the blog? Use the comment feature to comment on or suggest a name through January 22, and if we choose yours, you get five free rental books or videos! Just be sure to enter your email when you comment.
MADinfo
mad city matters
mad city library
madison buzz
December 27th, 2006
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