SEMLS Reference Discussion Group

Question 1, an initiative to repeal the Massachusetts state income tax, is on the ballot for this November. While on the MLA website this morning, I noticed that the site has a direct link to www.votenoquestion1.com. There you will find tabs for “The Facts” and “Take Action."  There’s also a list of organizations supporting a “no” vote.

Where the MBLC statement regarding Question 1 is both informative and useful, the info at votenoquestion1.com adds to  the discussion by presenting the reasons to vote no on Question 1 in a non-library-centric way. It can only be beneficial to broaden the audience.

Laura Ford, Reference Librarian

Regional Reference Center

Falmouth Public Library:

508-457-2556

888-439-8850 member libraries only

508-457-2559 fax

falmouthreference@falmouthpubliclibrary.org

I mentioned an online tool for learning and reviewing some of the basic principals of Reference Services at our Reference Roundtable in Chatham this week. 

Here is a link to that tool (ORE - Ohio Reference Excellence) and to a few others that may be useful for both experienced & new staff members to hone their reference techniques! 

• ORE - Ohio Reference Excellence
• STAR - Nebraska STAR Reference Manual
• Bare Bones 101 - Web Search Tutorial

I am sure that there are many others out there, so please share any of your favorites too!

Mat Bose

Reference Librarian/Assistant Director

Oak Bluffs Public Library

Here is a link to a portion of a recent Computers In Libraries Issue (July/August 2008) that discusses how to evaluate databases and provides a list of free and low cost web tools. 

At our last Reference Roundtable meeting the topic of purchasing new/renewing databases came up, so I thought this would be a timely item to share with others! 

I am going to try out some of the web tools that are mentioned in this article to see if they can help us with some of our frequent computer questions.  Then I may add them to the favorites menu of the public pcs.  I'll try to update this post later to report on any of the tools that I find useful.