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WVLS Offers New Service – Federated Searching Anyone?
Have you ever been overwhelmed by the sheer number of items in the electronic collection at your library? With so many starting points for research, it seems easier to bypass the library and just search the Web. Well now, WVLS offers an easier way to provide simple and intuitive online library research. This new service is called federated searching and it will help you search your library’s entire e-resource collection at once.

The results are sorted by source and indicate the number of hits. Results can be full text articles, abstracts of longer works, book titles, etc. Go to the link and try searching a topic to get an idea of how this resource works. Encourage others to use it. This resource is made available via a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant.
(Linda Orcutt, WVLS Technology Consultant)

If you have questions, please contact me and I will be happy to help you with any concerns you may have regarding certification. If you are a WVLS public library director and wish to maintain certification, please direct continuing education activity reports and annual summation of continuing education activities to Inese Christman at the WVLS office; call me at 715-261-7256 or contact me via e-mail at: ichristman@wvls.lib.wi.us
(Inese Christman, WVLS PR & CE Coordinator)

Summer Olympics – Read All About It
Since the modern Olympics were revived in 1896, the Summer Olympics have grown into a more dazzling exhibition with each successive occurrence. The most recent Summer Olympics, Athens 2004, offered spectacular pageantry linking ancient origins to the present incarnation. This year, even as the eternal flame of the Olympic torch is challenged by protests along the route from Athens to Beijing, it is estimated that more than 10,000 athletes will gather in China to compete under the ideal expressed in the Olympic creed: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well".

As excitement for the games grows, use the following books to offer readers across the grades an overview of the history and meaning of the Olympics along with a perspective on the accomplishments of some very talented champions. Find the complete article and lists here: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6565677.html?q=going+the+distance
(By Marilyn Taniguchi -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2008)

Lunch - $5.00 Includes your choice of either a sandwich or ½ sandwich and a cup of garden vegetable soup. Either meal will include regular coffee or a choice of soda; and mini cookies for dessert

Shopping – Get a 20% discount with your Institutional Account

Milwaukee Public Library Looking at Express Libraries
Before long, if you live in the Milwaukee area, you may be able to pick up your literature and your lettuce from the same place. Just as banks and pharmacies have opened branches in supermarkets, the Milwaukee Public Library is studying the idea of creating three "express libraries" that would give residents access to library materials and services at convenient places and times, according to Library Director Paula Kiely.

Among Wisconsin libraries, the bar code system was first used in New Berlin and Waukesha in 1995, and later spread to others statewide. Recently, several area libraries have started to use RFID chips, and some - including New Berlin - have switched from bar-code scanners to RFID systems. Mayor Tom Barrett said he plans to talk more with Kiely about the express library and self-checkout ideas. "Having a library that's a 21st century library helps this community," Barrett said. "I think she's thinking creatively to make the library more attractive to city residents."
(Larry Sandler from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 27, 2008)

ALA Conference Materials Wiki
The American Library Association (ALA) is collecting materials presented at this year’s Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif., and making them easier to find online. You will be able to access all materials provided by presenters from the conference, which runs from June 25 to July 2, via the new Conference Materials Wiki at http://presentations.ala.org/. All collateral conference materials will be linked from this wiki, which already includes links to last year's materials and similar content from ALA's units.
(American Library Association, June 17, 2008)

 Forty $1,000 bills

 Piece of bacon

 Credit cards

 Valuable baseball cards

 A diamond ring

I’m sure most libraries have a collection of odd things, too. I find myself using receipts or the picture part of a greeting card as a bookmark.
(Swiss Army Librarian, June 19, 2008)

Library Supporters - Attend the Next Round of Wisconsin Way Forums
According to a news release issued by the Wisconsin Way, billed as an effort to improve the fairness of Wisconsin’s tax system while preserving the quality of public services, more than 5,000 state residents have participated in the process through town hall meetings and organizational briefings.　

For more information about the project or to sign on and learn more about the initiative, you may visit the Web site, http://www.WisconsinWay.org. You also may use the Web site to register to attend one of the Wisconsin Way forums; registration and more information is available by calling (800) 919-3012 or by e-mail at wisconsinway@wcgpr.com
(WLA E-Newsletter, June 9, 2008)

RR Donnelley Literary Awards Announced!
The Literary Awards Committee of the Readers’ Section has chosen The Ghost Mountain Boys: their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea—the Forgotten War of the South Pacific by James Campbell as the winner of the RR Donnelley Literary Award, given for the highest literary achievement by a Wisconsin author in 2007.  Ghost Mountain Boys tells the harrowing story of the 32^nd Division’s WWII battle to prevent New Guinea from falling into Japanese hands. The book tells the tale of National Guardsmen whisked from the temperate Midwest and dropped into the dense jungles of New Guinea with little training and with equipment unequal to the task ahead. Through Campbell’s words the reader sees the dramatic and often deadly consequence of poor planning, in-decisiveness and ego on both sides of the campaign.  The RR Donnelley Literary Award is made possible by RR Donnelley Company of Chicago, IL, through a grant to the WLA Foundation.

The 2008 Literary Awards Committee members are:  Ellen Jepson and Edell Schaefer (co-chairs), Jean Anderson, Susan Belsky, Molly Canary, Caroline Haskin, Brian Kopetsky, Deb Shapiro, and Deb Strelka. For more information about the work of the Literary Awards Committee, go to http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/readers/WLAC/lac.html
(WISPUBLIB - Submitted by Ellen Jepson, June 18, 2008)

In Fort Atkinson, the Dwight Foster Public Library Director Connie Meyer told AL that while her facility is only one block from the Rock River, "we are on high-enough ground that we are safe." She went on to say, "When we were working on emergency planning and our city staff (including key library staff) had to participate in National Incident Management System training, it seemed unlikely that we’d ever have to put it into action. But it has come in handy in this situation," as library workers have taken on such tasks as updating the city’s website with flood and recovery information and loaning the library’s laptop to Fort Atkinson officials for monitoring the water level.
(American Libraries Direct, June 25, 2008)

Did You Know?
The month of July is named after Julius Caesar. Caesar introduced the Julian calendar which featured leap day, a mechanism to help keep the calendar on track with the seasons. According to Infoplease.com, the Roman Senate honored Caesar for this by naming a month after him. The original Julian calendar had 12 months. Eleven of them alternated in length between 30 and 31 days, and the month of February had 29 days. According to the World Book Encyclopedia, the Roman Senate later named the month of August after the emperor Augustus Caesar and decided that, because Julius Caesar’s month had 31 days, Augustus’s month must also have 31 days. So they took a day from February, making the shortest month even shorter.
(WSLL@Your Service, July 2008)

Catch the Reading Bug Webliography - http://yssevents.blogspot.com:80/2008/06/catch-reading-bug-webliography-from.html
Continue the summer reading fun with this wonderful list of links that includes: activities and games, bugs in books, crafts, fingerplays and songs, food and recipes, general education, and miscellaneous information.
(Rhonda Putney’s CEO Newsletter, June 2008)

CD Recycling – http://www.cdrecyclingcenter.org
The Compact Disc Recycling Center was founded in 2006 to provide consumers and companies education, awareness, and options for easy CD and DVD recycling. Their website offers a range of articles, research, products and member profiles of the growing number of supporters and members, to be applauded by the recycling-conscious good people of the earth.
(Annette Miller & Mary Dunn - Tomahawk Public Library)

100 Useful and Free Library Videos - http://www.accrediteddldegrees.com/2008/100-awesome-youtube-vids-for-librarians/
Librarians should no longer be thought of as fuddy-duddy types with long dusty cardigans or pince-nez dangling around their necks. These days, public librarians and academic librarians are on the cutting edge, dedicated to bringing their resources and their patrons into the 21st century with technology. Watch these tutorials and YouTube videos to learn about new library tools, interesting literacy campaigns and outreach programs, and even hysterical videos about library stereotypes that are circulating on the Internet.
(Laura Milligan, Accredited Degrees – June 18, 2008)

Water Calculator - http://www.nwf.org/water/watercalculator.cfm
This site helps you calculate residential water use per day. Covers source of water supply, and water use in the bathroom, kitchen, and outdoors (including landscaping, washing a car, and swimming pools). Results include suggestions for reducing water use. Also includes links to water conservation tips and related material. From the National Wildlife Federation.
(Librarians’ Internet Index, New This Week, June 19, 2008)

Correction – June 2008 The Lamplighter - Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO) article should have stated that WHO contains collections from UW as well as digital collections from other sites in Wisconsin. The UW-Digital Collection does NOT contain any non - UW sponsored digital collections. I apologize for any confusion that this may have created.
(Inese Christman)

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Picture This Puzzle by Ann Mroczenski
Heather Eldred stops in the office to have a cup of coffee. Can you find the 8 differences between these two pictures of Heather enjoying her retirement?   (hint: You may want to print them out for easy viewing.)

	1	2	3	4	5
a
b
c
d
e

	1	2	3	4	5
a
b
c
d
e

Answers to the above Picture This Puzzle are below.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

October 12-18 Teen Read Week 2008 - "Books With Bite", details at: http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/teenreading/trw/trw2008/index.cfm

Picture This Puzzle Answers

A1:  A clock has been added above the white board
B3:  A fire extinguisher is where a light switch was.
C2:  A box of Kleenex appeared next to the fax machine.
C3:  The door stop is missing.
C4:  Heather's mug changed colors.
D3:  Heather must have stepped on a piece of gum.
D4:  Buffy is going to get hurt sleeping by the door.
D4:  Heather misplaced her keys.

ATTENTION: WESSLER SCHOLARSHIPS are available to cover some/all costs associated with attendance at reference and/or interlibrary loan continuing education events. If interested in becoming a Wessler Scholar, contact the WVLS office (715/261-7250) for more information. The application form and more information are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/About/wessler.htm

LAMPLIGHTER

is a monthly newsletter of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service. 
300 N. First Street / Wausau, WI 54403
Contributions are welcome!

Back issues are available at http://wvls.lib.wi.us/Newsletter/newsindex.htm 
(Note: Web links in past issues are not checked for currency and may no longer work.)