Info Newsletter Index
Greetings from your temporary newsletter editor, and welcome to a whole new year. (How many of us were really, really sad to bid farewell to 2001? Not I.)
I've recently completed my first year as a telecommuter, working full-time out of my house. All in all, it's been wonderful – no commute, no wardrobe issues, flexible hours.... There is, however, a downside -- the social isolation. Life can be a little weird when your entire office staff consists of three cats, Ben & Jerry. If you really like your job, which I do --Hey, I surf the Internet, read business and tech magazines, track new technologies.... It doesn't get much better than this -- there is a natural tendency to overwork. And when you find yourself talking to the cats (and getting annoyed when they don't answer) and constantly checking to make sure Ben & Jerry are all right, you begin to realize that maybe you need to restructure your life a bit.
So this year, I'll be volunteering more, signing up for classes, etc. And also trying to get out with friends on a regular basis. So if y'all are over this way (near Clearwater High School) around lunchtime, shoot me an e-mail (sdk@reporters.net) or give me a call (727-462-0144), and I'll change out of my pajamas and have lunch with you.
Shirl Kennedy
Web Guide Manager Business 2.0 12
Management Tips for Slow Times: How to Do More With Less http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,1640,36748,FF.html
SIS is a diverse group of librarians and information professionals. We represent public, academic, school, corporate, medical, and law libraries, USF library school faculty and students, and publishers. We have retired members, consultants, and vendor reps. As of January 10, 85 people are members at least through December 2001 (of these, only 39 have paid for 2002 membership by mid-January).
Our electronic discussion list (SIS-L) and website (http://tblc.org/sis/) are the primary means we use to communicate. The list has 99 subscribers, although only 59 of our 85 2001/2002 members are subscribers. Unfortunately, this means that 26 of our members receive none or minimal communication about meetings. We encourage everyone to join the list. Instructions for subscribing are available on our website.
SIS meets six times a year, in varying times, formats and locations. In order to provide opportunities for most of our members to attend, meetings switch between Pinellas and Hillsborough County locations and between daytime and evening. Meetings are an excellent opportunity to meet other professionals, to share problems and solutions, to make friends, and to learn more about developments in our field.
SIS membership is a bargain. If you are enjoying the services of our organization - newsletters, job opportunities, meetings, website information, networking with other librarians, and continuing education, please join. The dues are kept low deliberately in order to give everyone the opportunity to participate in this local professional organization. Dues, which are only $5.00 per calendar year (January through December), are used to support the meetings, and to provide an annual membership directory. Support SIS so SIS can serve you. Membership applications are available at SIS Membership Application/Renewal Form.
The December SIS meeting was held Wednesday December 5, 2001 at the Upper Division Library of Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa and was hosted by C.D. McLean, Upper Division Librarian and Cathy Yount, Director of Libraries. The meal was catered by Wright's Gourmet.
Wanda Barrett, Vice-President/President-elect, presented the slate of officers for 2002. A motion was made to accept a voice vote for election of officers, adding those to the votes received via e-mail ballot. The motion was seconded and approved.
The following slate of officers was elected:
* Vice President/President Elect: Anita Lindsay
* Secretary: Kathy Kaldenberg
* Treasurer: Betsy King
Following the election, C. D. McLean and Cathy Yount gave an interesting presentation on the Berkeley Preparatory School Libraries and the recent renovations in the Upper Division Library. Cathy Yount then led the group on a tour of the Middle Division Library. Attendees were also able to do some Christmas shopping at the Scholastic Book Fair in progress at the Upper Division Library.
If you are not signed on the the SIS-L e-mail list, you can subscribe through the SIS website at http://www.tblc.org/sis/list.htm .
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 5, 2002.
Where: Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC), 1202 Tech Blvd., Suite 202, Tampa, FL 33619, phone 813-622-8252 ( http://www.tblc.org/workshops/wkspinfo.html )
Who: TBLC Staff
What: Karen Wilbur with TBLC will be speaking on services offered to the public (that you don't have to be a member of TBLC to use)
When: 11:30 a.m -1:30 pm. Lunch will consist of a variety of sandwiches, chips, dessert, and drinks. The cost for lunch will be $8.00. Please bring cash or checks made payable to SIS.
RSVP: Anita Lindsay, 727-864-7518, lindsaam@eckerd.edu, by Thursday, January 31, 2002.
Directions from St. Petersburg:
Directions from Tampa via Highway 60:
Please do not park in the spots directly in front of the consortium; these are shared with other tenants.
Top100bestsellers.com
Look here for a nicely annotated, comprehensive collection of links to
bestseller lists for books, music CDs and VHS/DVD movies. http://www.top100bestsellers.com/
Carsurvey.org
How do car owners really feel about their vehicles? Read this collection of
reviews submitted by automobile owners. Can be sorted by manufacturer and
limited by geographic region. http://www.carsurvey.org/
Same site also offers airline reviews (http://www.carsurvey.org/air/),
where travelers submit their experiences on specific airlines and travel routes.
AnimalLaw.com
"Presented by the International Institute for Animal Law, AnimalLaw.com
is intended to serve as a clearinghouse for animal-related legal information,
from pending legislation through relevant case law digests." http://www.animallaw.com/
World Bank/International Monetary Fund: Global Banking Law Database
"The Global Banking Law Database (GBLD) is a joint project of the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The GBLD consists of a collection of
commercial banking, central bank, and deposit insurance laws of jurisdictions
that are representative of the regions of the world as well as international
financial centers. The laws are available in English in both MS Word and PDF
(Adobe Acrobat) formats." http://www.gbld.org/
Business Daily Review.
"We work hard to find you the most interesting, informative business news
and views, pointing you to intelligent writers and quality publications. Broaden
your understanding of the business world with BusinessDaily Review." These
people will send you a daily e-mail of stories that match your interests. http://businessdailyreview.com/
Sister site to Arts & Letters Daily "With more sifters in our crew and
valuable technical support, we will continue to pan and select from among the
most intellectually stimulating sites on the Internet, updating daily, and
making the best of the Web available at a click." http://www.aldaily.com/ and Sci-Tech
Daily Review "Here's the best intelligent, informed science and technology
coverage and analysis you can find on a daily basis, sourcing a huge range of
great writers and excellent publications." http://www.scitechdaily.com/ .
Welcome to the Pen Museum,
"The largest PEN collection on the Internet." http://hjj.hypermart.net/
(warning...annoying pop-up)
Gallery of Misused Quotation Marks.
You've "seen" them. Maybe on a sign at the "grocery"
store, maybe in an ad in your "local" newspaper. Perhaps even in a
"memo" that circulated throughout your company. They're quotation
marks, and they turn up in the strangest of places. http://www.juvalamu.com/qmarks/
Bonus related site: Home for Abused Apostrophes. http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Users/Martin/APOST/Apostrop.htm .
The Condiment Packet Museum.
"The Condiment Packet Museum exists to provide documentation and
display of condiments found in packets. The packets in the Museum are
specifically all packets other than sugar packets, which are currently well
documented by other sources. We think they look cool. So there." http://www.clearfour.com/condiment/
Bonus related site: The Sugar Packet Collector's Page (http://members.iquest.net/~phillip/)
Sign Language.
"A collection of photos containing humorous, bizarre, and or confusing
signs from around the world." Site runs a little slow -- lots of photos --
but is an amusing time-killer. Site owner has made some of the signs available
as magnets, which you can purchase from his store on eBay. "It was the best
of signs. It was the worst of signs." http://www.signslanguage.com/
Libraries Change Lives (and other library songs)
"Cyberdesk! We celebrate that nifty Cyberdesk!
If you've an information need, access Cyberdesk.
Reference folks are jumpin',
they sure have started somethin'."
http://www2.njstatelib.org/njlib/liblivwd.htm (Yeah, yeah...these are related to our profession. But they are nowhere near as cool as the songs you'll find at Food Safety Music -- http://foodsafe.ucdavis.edu/music.html. If you have RealPlayer and are looking for a serious time sink, this site is a don't miss.)
SIS Officers 2002
| President Wanda Barrett, Everlove & Associates, St. Petersburg, FL 727/345-8180, wanda@everlove.net Vice President Secretary Treasurer |
Newsletter Editor (appointed) Rebecca Forman, Education America - Tampa Technical Inst., Largo, FL 727-532-1999 ext 213, rforman@gte.net Webmaster (appointed) Immediate Past President (99-00) |
|
Suncoast Information Specialists |
Phone: (813) 622-8252 |