Facebook Page

Have you checked out our Facebook page recently?  We’ve added new information you can access right from Facebook.  A Locations tab gives our library locations with links to maps, the Catalog tab allows you to perform a search right from the Facebook page, and a Book Club tab that allows you to access our Online Book Clubs.

So check us out to get all the latest information!
Frankfort Community Public Library

Teen Tech Week 2010

Teen Tech Week 2010 is next week, March 8-13.  The 2010 theme – Learn Create Share @ your library – fosters teen creativity and positions the library as a physical and virtual place for safe exploration of the many types of technology available at libraries, including DVDs, music, gaming, video production, online homework help, social networking, tech workshops, audiobooks and more.

During Teen Tech Week, we’re excited to debut programs and workshops featuring Digi-Dock®.

Digi-Dock® is a so-called “dock where we keep equipment that includes a mobile sound recording lab with microphones, amps, mixer, speakers, etc., which will be used for recording events that take place in Skanta Theatre, Harry’s Coffee Bar, or anywhere else in the library.  Digi-Dock® also includes 2 studio-ready laptop computers with Adobe Creative Suite and FL Studio.  With the laptops and the software we will be able to hold workshops to create animations, publications, movies, sound creations and more!

Also during Teen Tech Week look for the unveiling of the new Frankfort Library Gaming Collection.

To wrap up Teen Tech Week, the Frankfort Library will have a Game Night Lock-In on Friday, March 12 from 6-9 pm.  A Wii game console will be available, but we encourage others to bring their gaming consoles and favorite games (rated E only, please) for more fun.  Board games and other activities will also be available. 

So get locked in the library and  “Get Connected” during Teen Tech Week!

Funding provided by an LSTA Innovation grant funded by the Institute of Museums and Libraries Services and administered by the Indiana State Library.

Upgrading our Tech

You might notice some changes around the libraries these days.  For example, don’t worry, the paging system really has gotten louder at the Frankfort Library!  We have recently installed a new telephone system that includes an exapanded paging system that allows patrons to hear us in previously unreached areas, such as the lower level computer lab, main floor magazine area and Hubbard Gallery.

Other changes include a computer and print management system (CASSIE) at the branch libraries as well as Frankfort.  CASSIE allows patrons to manage their own computer sign in and allows management of printing. 

Also, if you haven’t looked recently, check out our main page to see new features from the library’s BookLetters (eNewsletters) that allow us to insert widgets to help promote reader’s advisory.  Our current widget features selections by library staff.

To infinity and beyond!  In the future (by summer), we look to have Download Stations at each of our libraries to allow patrons to download Ebooks and Eaudio directly from their Ditigal Media accounts to their e-devices. 

We also look forward to continuing with DearReader services.  DearReader is an online book club that allows you to receive portions of books in your email each.  You can comment and interact through DearReader’s website and link directly to our online catalog to check if the book is available if you like what you’re reading.  While in our online catalog, feel free to write a review of any item you find by using ChiliFresh.  Simply click on Write Review by the item you wish to review and you’re on your way to writing your review!

We look forward to another year of great changes and hope that everyone in the community and beyond will be a part of our positive changes.

BookLetters, DearReader, ChiliFresh and Spanish PAC are funded in part through an LSTA (Library Services & Technology Act) grant through the Institute for Museums and Libraries Services administered by the Indiana State Library.

Become a Fan on Facebook

Take a look at Frankfort Community Public Library’s 3 Fan Pages on Facebook. Keep up with what’s happening at the Frankfort Library, with the Frankfort Teens, and with Clinton County Youth Theatre.

Frankfort Community Public Library on Facebook

FCPL Teens on Facebook

Clinton County Youth Theatre on Facebook

 

Add Your Reviews Straight to Our Online Catalog!

You can now add your own reviews to our catalog!  We have added ChiliFresh to our Online Catalog that allows users to put in their own reviews of the materials in our Online Catalog.  To see an example, check out Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell.  To add a review to a title that doesn’t have one, click on the Write a Review link and you can put your own review of the item in!  Visit the Frankfort Library’s Online Catalog to start writing your own reviews!

This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

New eNewsletters – Get Library Lines in your inbox!

The Frankfort Community Public Library has new eNewsletters now available!  You can choose to receive any number of newsletters periodically in your email.  Simply go to our sign in page and choose which newsletters you want to receive.  You can choose to receive Teen book news, what books and authors have been on TV during the week, new fiction or nonfiction, new DVDs, or read about various authors. 

At the top of the list are the Library’s custom newsletters, we will be adding more as time goes on.  You can now choose to receive Library Lines directly in your email rather than your mail box!  Just choose that newsletter, enter your email address at the bottom of the page, and click Subscribe.  It’s that easy!  Now you don’t have to wait on the mail to receive library information.  Check the eNewsletter list regularly to find new newsletters!  Coming in the future: FCPL Staff Picks, Friends of the Library News, FCPL Teen News, and more!

This program is funded through a Library Services & Technology Act grant administered by the Indiana State Library from the Institute for Museums & Libraries (IMLS).

Online Book Clubs

The library now has Online Book Clubs available! 

You can sign up to receive portions of books each day in your email.  The emails link directly back to our catalog to see if we have it available  at one of our libraries or online as an e-book or e-audio book. We have a Fiction, Non-Fiction, Teen, Business, Romance, Good News (Inspirational), Sci Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Audio, Pre-publication, and Classics Book Clubs available.  You can sign up for 1 or all of them if you wish! This program is funded through a Library Services & Technology Act grant administered by the Indiana State Library from the Institute for Museums & Libraries (IMLS).

Next-Generation Library Catalogs

Many of our professional organizations are looking at the necessity of moving to a “next-generation” library catalog.  In the library world, what this means is moving to a catalog that integrates more features found in mainstream websites such as Google and Amazon.  For example, allowing starred reviews and allowing for patrons to write their own reviews about materials found our catalog; being able to manipulate searches performed in our catalog; having multiple languages available to search in, etc.

The Frankfort Community Public Library has received a Library Services & Technology Act grant administered by the Indiana State Library through Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help provide more Library and Web 2.0 services.  The first of our services is now available through our Online Catalog and is a Spanish Language PAC.  The Online Catalog can now perform the same searches as before in the Spanish Language.  To search our catalog using Spanish PAC, open our catalog and change the language in the upper left-hand toolbar titled Language.  You can switch the language you are working with at any point during your search and you will not loose any of your search information.   We will be offering training classes for Spanish PAC at the library on June 30 from 6-7 pm.  More classes will be offered in the coming months, so keep checking back to find out what days.

Coming soon as part of the grant we will be implementing ChiliFresh in our Online Catalog which will allow users to create their own reviews on materials that the Frankfort Community/Clinton County Contractual Public Libraries own.  Also coming through our website (http://fcpl.accs.net) is an Online Book Group from DearReader, which will provide portions of books via email and allow discussion on these materials.  Another new feature on our website will be the availability of email lists.  Users will be able to sign up to receive best-seller lists, author information, Frankfort Library publications, and much more.  Keep checking back at our web address to sign up for these.

We are excited about these changes and I hope that you will email us if you have questions at fcpltech@accs.net.

More Useful Online Tools

Need to take a document or file with you but you keep forgetting your jump drive?  Try using http://drop.io/ which allows you to create a custom web address with your file name to upload.  Each file can be up to 100 MB and can be password protected.  Files stay saved for a 1 year period.  With this you can collaborate in real time with others on the same file.

You can also use http://www.senduit.com/ which allows up to upload a file and gives you a unique web address for the file.  senduit gives you the option of keeping the file uploaded online for a period of 30 minutes up to 1 week before it is deleted.  This is great to use if you need to have something uploaded quickly for a presentation or to have quick access to at another location.

Need to stay in touch with your family, a group of friends, or some of you from work simply want to create an interactive forum?  Try creating a Ning at http://www.ning.com/.  A Ning is a social networking site that YOU create.  You simply create a name and web location for your Ning and then you ask others to join your Ning or they can find you and join.  You can create a Ning for your church, your family, friends, co-workers, etc to get messages, pictures and more to a specified group of people.  In your business you can use it for customers to stay informed of upcoming events, new need-to-know messages and so on!

New Technology Soon Available @ FCPL

The Frankfort Community/Clinton County Contractual Public Library recently received a Library Services Technology Act grant through the Indiana State Library.  The grant will allow the library to integrate new applications and programs through our website and our online catalog (PAC).

For our PAC (Online Catalog)
We will soon be adding Spanish PAC, which is the Spanish language version of our online catalog.  We will also be having some short training sessions and will have online resources available to help with using Spanish PAC.  Check out the Louisville Free Public Library to get a preview of Spanish PAC.

Also added to our online catalog will be enriched features through ChiliFresh that will give the user a more “Amazon” type experience.  Users can rate an item by giving them stars and can write a review of the item that will appear in our online catalog.  Check out a search from the Louisville Free Public Library that demonstrates this capability through the online catalog.

Through our Website
Another feature that we will be implementing through our web page is our Online Book Clubs through DearReader.com.  Patrons will sign up for the book club of their choice and a portion of brand new books will be sent through your email everyday.  You will be able to link to our online catalog so you can place a hold on the item and will be given the chance to discuss the materials in an online book discussion forum.

We will also be offering enhanced content using BookLetters throughout our website with pages geared towards your favorite genre, book covers displaying the newest books to hit the shelves, newsletters you can sign up for to stay current, best seller lists, awards lists, and much, much more!  You will be able to search options easier and faster via our website. 

Stay tuned for more information and visit our website for more updates!  http://fcpl.accs.net

These programs are funded through a Library Services & Technology Act grant administered by the Indiana State Library from the Institute for Museums & Libraries.