Friday, February 15, 2008

Georgia Advance Legislative Service Reports

I attended a Lexis Nexis online seminar and learned about a resource I thought the folks following Georgia legislative “stuff” might find helpful:

1. GALILEO
2. Database A-Z- jump to L
3. Select Lexis Nexis
...a. Select Legal (3rd red tab in)
...b. Federal & State Cases (right side column)
...c. Select Sources (tab at top)
......i. 1. Click on button for Area of Law
......ii. 2. Filter by United States – Georgia
......iii. 3. Trail- select folder - General Legal Services
......iv. Scroll down to 12th link- Georgia Advance Legislative Service Reports, select it
......v. Click on the red box on the far right side toward the top that says OK
......vi. This takes you to a Power Search screen
.........1. Notice the date limiter- you can search by today, last week, last couple of months (I limited to previous three months)
.........2. Type in your search term ( I typed in college with the three month limiter) and voila-

GEORGIA 149TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY -- 2007-08 REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 529 2007 Ga. HB 529

Lexis Nexis is available to Academic users of GALILEO. You need the current password for GALILEO to access Lexis Nexis. Your Academic librarian can give you the current password.

Hear ye, Hear ye, Hear ye

Talk, talk, talk, blah, blah, blah - If there is no link between speaker and listener the sound becomes white noise in the background of life.

Teachers attend workshops promoting moving around, asking questions, changing the pitch or tone of the voice. I attended one workshop where the presenter encouraged throwing things at students to keep them awake and attentive (playing catch, throwing rewards - not just "throwing" things- though I have been in classes where - well....)

Preachers attend seminars on how best to share the word of God- you've probably experienced the classic preaching style- they tell you what they're going to tell you, they tell you, then they tell you what they told you. It is an effective strategy. The listener can't miss the message.

Lobbyists are given the secret for success- the elevator speech. If you can't sell your program, thought, project in a 1 minute elevator speech, it's doomed. You've got a politicians ear for less than sixty seconds - be prepared to lay out your case quickly, succinctly and memorably.

How do you collect hints, tips, and strategies for making the best speech in your life? You can take classes or you can read books on the topic or listen to speakers with a critical ear.

Speaking of books- we have a shelf full of print material offering suggestions to prepare one to be a successful business or marketing person- helping you formulate what needs to be said without missing an important concept.

One such title is : How to Talk so People Listen : Connecting in Today's workplace (HF 5718 .H284 2006) by Sonya Hamlin
Amazon.com offers a description of the book:
Our super-speed, electronically driven workplace has begun eroding our ability to talk and, what's more, to listen. Yet we must all keep presenting ourselves and our ideas verbally, in person, to make that final sale or get ahead. That means you need new verbal and visual approaches to everything from giving a presentation, handling a client, making an impact at a meeting, or just selling yourself...

Prepare for the occasion when you need to say what needs to be heard.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Hearts and Flowers

Little kids love this holiday almost as much as Halloween. Candy galore!

Do you know why we celebrate this day? Encyclopedia Britannica has a short article on Valentine's Day with a plethora of tidbits!

I'll bet folks were just tired of cold weather and were feeling house bound. This day gives one a chance to prepare for Spring.

Happy Valentines Day. If you're near the North Metro Library, we have a heart shaped dish filled with chocolate for our visitors.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Numbers tell a story

Scanning the links in GALILEO, I noticed the Census Data link. The census site is available through the "regular" web. Having the link in GALILEO makes it easier to remember to use the resource.

I tell folks that GALILEO is a library - just like the name tells us - GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online. Libraries offer a variety of resources!

Back to the Census Data - they offer links to PDF files with row after row of numbers. It reminds me of the Almanac- you are surprised by the esoteric statistic. Who would have thought they counted or measured or tallied "that"?

The numbers do a tell a story!

Playing

Going to a workshop off campus exposes one to new sights, sounds and ideas! Last week I attended a workshop at Macon State - I came back with several ideas.

One idea I began implementing over the past few days - but I'm not finished yet. Macon State librarians have highlighted on their list of resources in GALILEO those they have purchased. The databases leap out on the list and you notice they have been selected for Macon State.

On our list in GALILEO I have added the NMTC icon that notes the resource was selected for NMTC. The difficulty is - the icon is black and blue and doesn't POP!

You know where I'm going with this.....for the past two days I've been editing our list so the text POPS when you scroll down the list. I have a bit more tweaking to do. I had changed the program text but that color doesn't stand out as well amidst the black and blue of GALILEO text. Today, I'll try a different text color.

It is fun.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Getting the info where you'll read it

At a ProQuest workshop last week the question was posed - what's the difference between Journal Alerts and RSS? Why use one over the other?

ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source now has RSS limited to specific topics.

I thought about this over the weekend. What is the difference? For me- e-mail can get cluttered, too much "stuff", too much information that gets overlooked in the hurry to get through the in basket.

The RSS feed sits there and you know what is in the folder and why. I have subscribed to blogs and to Ebsco searches. I created a folder for topics to get sent to. At a glance I can determine if there is new information on my topic.

Yes, I know I could create folders in Outlook to funnel certain addresses to but...somehow that seems unwieldy.

RSS helps me organize the information I'm looking for without being overwhelmed. I'm glad ProQuest has begun to add RSS feeds.

Where are the RSS feeds in ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source ?
Do a search (for anything).
...When the results appear, on the right hand side of the screen will be an RSS icon and the text Health Science RSS feeds.
......Click on the link
....There is a list of broad topics
.......Click on the topic you're interested in and there are the feed options (narrowing the topic)

I looked in the ProQuest databases and did not see the RSS icon after a search. Hopefully, RSS will come to all of the ProQuest offerings.

To use the ProQuest materials at home- you'll need the current GALILEO password- which you can get from your Georgia librarian!