December 3, 2007
CLA Weblog Submissions
Do you have information that would be of interest to the library community? Please send your weblog submissions to the CLA office at lfisher@cla-net.org.
December 19, 2006
CLA Office Closed From Christmas to New Years Day
The CLA office will be closed from December 25, 2006 through January 1, 2007. We will re-open on January 2. If you wish to contact us during that period, please leave a message on our voice mail at 916-447-8541 or email us at info@cla-net.org. We will respond to your message upon our return. Happy Holidays!
November 7, 2006
CLA Office is Closed
Due to our annual conference, the CLA office will be closed until November 15.
August 17, 2006
IMPORTANT: Summer Reading Program Recall UPDATE
A recall has been issued on the dog and cat bendables that many libraries purchased from Highsmith due to lead content.
Please advise libraries in your jurisdiction that they should not distribute any of the dog and cat bendables purchased from Highsmith for Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales.
Highsmith takes this safety issue very seriously. Their supplier for these items assured Highsmith in writing that these items would be safe. Highsmith is investigating this issue and will have more information for us very soon.
Highsmith will give refunds to libraries that purchased bendables from them for Paws. They will be sending instructions about how to get a refund, so hang tight for now. Highsmith will also soon send a statement about this issue that will share with your libraries and media.
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Recent media coverage of recall
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UPDATE II:
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UPDATE:
Highsmith has supplied fliers for libraries to use in notifying patrons of the recall:
February 16, 2005
What is RSS?
Provided by Sarah Houghton, IT Section President
What is RSS?
- RSS is an easy way for you to keep updated automatically on websites you like. Instead of you having to go to websites to see if they've written a new article or feature, you can use RSS (which stands for Really Simple Syndication) to be notified every time they have something new.
- RSS feeds the most recent changes on a webpage into RSS-aware programs (called aggregators or news readers) for viewing.
- CLA has provided RSS feeds for its weblog ( http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/)
Why on earth would I want to use this?
- It saves time. Instead of having to bounce from website to website, seeing what's new, you can get it all fed into one site.
- It's convenient. You can access web-based RSS readers from any Internet-connected computer.
- Many articles of interest that show up in print (in Library Journal, American Libraries, etc.) show up online too through library weblogs (and therefore, through RSS feeds).
- It will help you stay current with what's going on, without devoting a lot of time to reading and hunting around websites.
- It's fun too! You can get daily comic strips like Dilbert & Peanuts fed through RSS.
What are some good free RSS readers?
- Bloglines: http://www.bloglines.com/
- Rocket RSS Reader: http://reader.rocketinfo.com/desktop/
- Amphetadesk: http://www.disobey.com/amphetadesk/
How do I find RSS feeds?
- LibDex has a list of library feeds at http://www.libdex.com/weblogs.html
- LIS feeds has yet another library list: http://www.lisfeeds.com/
- For general feeds, try Complete RSS at: http://www.completerss.com/
Suggested RSS Feeds:
- California Library Association Blog: http://www.cla-net.org/weblog/index.xml
- Librarian.net: http://www.librarian.net/index.rdf
- ResearchBuzz: http://www.researchbuzz.com/researchbuzz.rss
- LIS News: http://www.lisnews.com/lisnews.rss
- Librarians Index to the Internet: http://lii.org/ntw.rss
- BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_world_edition/front_page/rss091.xml
- National Public Radio: http://www.npr.org/rss/rss.php?topicId=2
- New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/nyt/HomePage.xml
You can also look at Bloglines Top 100 Sites at: http://www.bloglines.com/topblogs or Bloglines Complete Directory at: http://www.bloglines.com/dir
On any website, you can look for buttons or links that say RSS, XML, Atom Feed, or Syndicate this Site. This means the site has a feed.
January 28, 2005
Tsunami Library Relief Efforts
The heartrending loss of life (including library workers) and destruction in Asia and parts of Africa caused by the earthquake and tsunami has touched everyone around the world. ALA President Carol Brey-Casiano has sent condolences on behalf of the American Library Association to library associations and national libraries in the region.
"Please know that the library community in the United States grieves for the suffering that you, our colleagues, and your nation are enduring," said Carol Brey-Casiano. "I know that meeting basic needs is a priority, and you may rest assured that U.S. library workers have been contributing to relief organizations during this terrible time."
"As a library association we are concerned about the need to help you rebuild libraries and library collections that have been damaged or destroyed." Initial reports in Sri Lanka alone report damage or destruction to over 200 libraries.
Just as in the past efforts such as the flooding in Europe two years ago, ALA through its International Relations Committee and International Relations Office will be working with other U.S. library associations, IFLA and its members, and UNESCO to coordinate international efforts to assist in rebuilding libraries from this tragic disaster.
Visit http://www.ala.org/ala/iro/iroactivities/tsunamirelief.htm for further information and related links.
January 4, 2005
Welcome to the CLA Weblog
In the coming months, we will be adding articles to each of the main categories to your left. Our most recent articles will appear here on our weblog home page. You can also scan through the archives by Month or Recent Entries or use the Search this site tool to your left.
We hope you enjoy reading our articles!