Income Tax Forms to be Available January 3rd

The Library has been receiving some shipments of tax forms for the past few weeks. Not all forms have arrived, but what we do have will be placed on carrels just inside the library as you walk in the door. If we do not have the form or publication you need, please try downloading the information from the IRS web site at http://www.irs.gov, or you may call toll-free 1-800-829-3676 to request forms be mailed to you. Please remember that library staff cannot answer tax questions as we are not trained income tax preparers. If in doubt, consult with a trained tax professional, or call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 for tax advice. The library staff will do their best to help you find the forms you need, either on the tables, or to download from the IRS web site. You are free to prepare and file your taxes online using the library's public internet computers, but you must use programs that are web-based and approved on the IRS web site.

Children's Winter Programs

Stories of the Week - Hear new stories each week on your phone!
Pajama Story Time - Each Thursday at 7:00 p.m., starting January 17 to February 14, and March 6 to April 10. Children are invited to put on their pajamas, bring along a favorite pillow or stuffed animal, and listen to bedtime stories! NO registration is required, just drop by the Library!
LapSit - Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. starting January 19 to February 23, and March 15 to April 26. Registration is required. You may sign up for SPRING 2008!
Winter Storytime - Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. starting January 8 to March 18, for fun & stories geared toward pre-school age children. Come join in! No registration, just come by the library!

Public Internet Access is Back Up!

Bill Gates came by, ate cookies, and left 10 new computers to add to our existing 10 for public Internet access! Plus we now have a new catalog computer in the Children's Area, and new monitors for the email machine and additional catalog computers! Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their gift to us. And we also thank the State Regional Tech Support Team, and Mr. Grady Williams for working so hard today!

New Computers Arriving on Thursday, Dec. 13th

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is playing Santa again this year! The Library is to receive fifteen new public Internet computers. Installation is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 13th. Although there will be no public Internet access for patrons on that day, library materials can still be checked out and the library catalog can be searched. The Library Staff looks forward to serving you on Friday, Dec. 14th when we will be able to offer twenty public Internet workstations. The additional five computers from the Gates Foundation will be used to replace older equipment. Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for this wonderful donation -- Christmas comes just a bit early this year due to their generosity! We will leave the cookies out, Bill......

Thursday, Dec. 13th, NO public Internet access!

Due to equipment installation there will be NO public internet access at E.G. Fisher Public Library on Thursday, Dec. 13th. Patrons may still search the library catalog, and check out materials. The library expects public internet access to be up and running on Friday, Dec. 14th.

Improvements to Health and Wellness Resource Center

TEL's Health and Wellness Resource Center has a new look! See how this database has changed to make searching for health information easier. The release of a new search interface plus a range of new features make Health and Wellness Resource Center even better! Available to all current Health and Wellness Resource Center users, the enhancements are designed to:

1. Make the database easier to use by offering more opportunities to browse through the database and by enhancing your search options
2. Add new pathways to information by adding two new tabs "Videos" and "News" now have their own 'homes' in your search results
3. Lead users to current and reliable health information by exposing more of the rich content and then labeling it so that it's easier to find a resource. "Reference" is now "eBooks and Fact Sheets" and "Other Sites" is now "Trusted Sites" See for yourself! Look for these new features in your Health and Wellness Resource Center this week:

1. A new, updated interface
2. Additional browsing opportunities, with a streamlined design that offers more graphics and highlights current news headlines
3. Video results under a new "Videos" tab
4. Newspapers, newsletters and news feeds populating a just-added "News" tab
5. Improvements to the printing, e-mailing and viewing options available at the document level
6. Access to PDFs for many periodicals, reference, and pamphlets
7. Many content updates

Remember, to get to TEL, visit http://www.fisherlibrary.org/ and click on "TEL - Tennessee Electronic Library" in the left-hand menu. You will see a secondary page, click on the link there and type in the password. (if you have forgotten the password, please contact the library at 423-745-7782.

Points Of View Reference Center now Available!

We have more great news for TEL libraries! EBSCO's Points of View Reference Center is now available to all citizens of Tennessee.

To get to EBSCO's Points of View Reference Center, go to http://search.ebscohost.com . You should be able to go into the entry page directly. For both the username and password, type in the TEL password in each field. Soon this link will be uploaded to a TEL Web portal page, which is now under development.

Points of View Reference Center is a full-text database designed toprovide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint(opposing argument).

Topics covered include: affirmative action, cloning, DNA profiling, HIV/AIDS status disclosure, immigration, Iraq, Israel & the Palestinians, Katrina and FEMA response, nuclear proliferation, separation of church and state, standardized testing, stem cell research, tax cuts, voting machines, and many more. Points of View Reference Center contains a balance of materials from all viewpoints, including 800 main essays, leading political magazines from both sides of the aisle, newspapers, radio & TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books.

The database also offers guides to debate, developing arguments and writing position papers. Additionally, this database contains the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century, providing students with a searchable collection of some of the most important social, political, and cultural moments of the 20th century. Points of View Reference Center provides the basis from which students can realize and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills. Critical Thinking Guides for every topic covered helps the student judge Fact vs. Opinion and enhances the student's ability to read and think critically.

Library Closed Wed., Dec. 5th

Remember that the Library will be closed for an in-house work day on the first Wednesday of the month, December 5th. The book drop will be open for those of you who wish to return materials. You may go online to renew your library materials by using your library card number and your PIN! If you haven't gotten your PIN yet, please come by or call us and give us your library card number--we will be happy to give you your PIN!

State Newspapers to be added to TEL!

From our State Librarian and Archivist, Jeanne Sugg, : We have exciting news! Beginning Monday, December 3rd, the Tennessee Newspaper Collection from Newsbank, inc. will be available to Tennesseans through TEL. (Tennessee Electronic Library) Included in this offering are the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Nashville Tennessean, Knoxville News-Sentinel, and Chattanooga Times. Newsbank, Inc. is uniquely qualified to deliver these products to the Tennessee Electronic Library as the exclusive education market vendor for schools, academic institutions, and public libraries for these four newspapers. We welcome Newsbank, Inc. to our TEL family. To search TEL use this link: http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/tel_p_egfpl (remote users will need to type in the password)

And there is much more to come in the TEL lineup. Stay posted for the latest additions!

Mystery Book Club Selections 2008

The Mystery Book Club meets at E.G. Fisher Public Library on the second Tuesday of each month (there is no meeting in Dec.) from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. A listing of upcoming selections is below:

January 8 -- Burglar in the Library by Lawrence Block
February 12 -- Caught Dead in Philadelphia by Gillian Roberts
March 11 -- Every Crooked Nanny by Kathy Trocheck
April 8 -- To be announced
May 13 -- The Devil's Bones by Dr. William Bass
June 10 -- Dejas Dead by Kathy Reichs
July 8 -- To be announced

Civil War Era Research Database - Available through Dec. 29th.

***ProQuest Civil War Era allows users to enhance their research experience by cross-searching the American Periodical Series and ProQuest Historical Newspapers with years of coverage spanning the mid-19th century through the 21st century. The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Hartford Courant and Atlanta Constitution from ProQuest supports the researcher with multifaceted viewpoints from the Antebellum period through Reconstruction. Now users can study the entire Civil War era from multiple perspectives through digital, full-image newspapers and pamphlets—from Manifest Destiny through the end of the war.
Access through December 29th.
http://trials.proquest.com/ptc?userid=2462477
Password: welcome

Online Resources Trial to end Nov. 30

Only a few more days left to access these four great sites!!! The online resource trials give you access to original documents, journal articles, movie and television works, and much more. If you have not searched at any of these sites, please do so today. You will discover an entire new world, through your library.

***The American Civil War: Letters and Diaries
This release contains 2,009 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of diaries, letters and memoirs. Particular care has been taken to index this material so it can be searched more thoroughly than ever. Each source has been carefully chosen using leading bibliographies. The product includes 4,000 pages of previously unpublished manuscripts such as the letters of Amos Wood and his wife and the diary of Maryland Planter William Claytor. The collection also includes biographies, an extensive bibliography of the sources in the database, and material licensed from The Civil War Day-by-Day by E.B. Long.
http://cwld.alexanderstreet.com
username: reviewer
password: 79inestimable8

***Illustrated Civil War Newspapers and Magazines
Important and Rare Periodicals from Confederate, Union, Abolitionist, and British Presses : 23 Pro-Union titles, 11 Pro-Confederate titles, 15 Campaign newspapers, 600 letters and diaries, plus much, much more!http://linc.alexanderstreet.com
username: reviewer
password: 79inestimable4
Note: After logging in you must agree to the "Definition of Terms and Conditions of Use" before being allowed access to this database.

***Theatre in Video
Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains over 180 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors. Included are landmark performances such as The Iceman Cometh, Awake and Sing, Dom Juan, Bérénice, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Playboy of the Western World, and the complete works of Shakespeare as produced by the BBC and other theatrical companies. Notable actors include Claire Bloom, Laurence Olivier, Colleen Dewhurst, Richard Dreyfuss, Walter Matthau, Meryl Streep, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren and more. For the first time, students, instructors and researchers can bookmark specific scenes, monologues and staging, and these landmark performances can become a permanent part of the curriculum.
http://ativ.alexanderstreet.com
username: reviewer
password: 79inestimable8

***Primary Sources in Counseling and Psychology
Primary Sources in Counseling and Psychology is a landmark database that, when complete, will contain more than 2,000 transcripts of actual therapy sessions, together with almost 40,000 pages of first-person accounts and 25,000 pages of major reference works. There are diaries, letters, autobiographies, oral histories, and personal memoirs along with the full text of therapy and counseling sessions themselves. All accounts are non-fiction, delivered in the first person and, where possible, contemporaneous. The database will be updated biweekly and so the depth and breadth of the material included will be continuously growing.
http://psyc.alexanderstreet.com
Click on "Learn More...", then type in the username and password.
username: reviewer
password: 79inestimable8

Noon Book Discussion Selection - January 2008

"Lost Horizon" by James Hilton will be the Noon Book Selection for January 15th. Mike Nichols will be the discussion leader. A light lunch will be provided. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Library Closing Early, Holiday schedule

E.G. Fisher Public Library will close early at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21st. In addition, the Library will be closed Thursday, November 22nd through Sunday, November 25th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Library materials may be returned in the outside bookdrop located to the left of the main entrance. Audio CD’s and tapes, video tapes, and DVD’s may be placed in the drop but it is best to place heavy rubber bands around the cases, or wrap them securely in a used plastic grocery bag. Make sure your bag is not too large to fit into the drop. It must fall completely into the bookdrop.The library will reopen on Monday, November 26th at 9:30 a.m.

Children's Activities - 11-12 to 11-17

Children's Book Week - Nov. 12th through 17th. The Library has some big events that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17th - 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., Rise Up Reading Story Hour, with special guest storytellers Jennet Wildy, Olivia Kane, and Beth Mercer. 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., Book Week Party including refreshments, activities, and prizes for children & their families. Activities include a bookmark design station, and scavenger hunt. 3:00 to 4:00 p.m., Family Sing-Along with Kathryn Hunter and David Thomforde. Along with these special activities, we will also have the usual preschool Story Time at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Pajama Story Time at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, and Lap Sit at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Thanksgiving Info

Thanksgiving Resources - web sites give history, statistics, and historic recipes!

Library Closed

Thanksgiving schedule - Closed Thurs., Nov., 22 through Sun., Nov., 25.

Internet Computer Use

Internet Computer Use - Library Cards now REQUIRED!! How to get a Library Card

Homework Help/Special Interests

Online Resources - Great for Homework or special interests! Use special research web sites that are available for a limited time only!!

New Internet Policy

Internet Use In the Library - A new "Library Internet Policy" was adopted by the McMinn County Library Board as of October 12, 2007. View it online. Or pick up a copy at the Reference Desk. When you sign in to use a computer, you are agreeing to abide by E.G. Fisher Public Library's Library Internet Policy. Patrons connecting wirelessly to E.G. Fisher Public Library's network agree to abide by this agreement. Learn about computer workstations.

Keep Kids Safe

Protect your Children - Do not leave them unattended in the library! If you drop your unattended children off at the library, make sure you are aware of when the building closes!

Renew Materials

Renewals - Come to the library & present your card, call us & give your library card number, or go online with your PIN! More...

FREE brochures!

Browse our Brochure & Information Area - pick up free material on education, health, finance, local events, and more! Located near the Oversize book section.

Internet Filters

Internet Filters - In order to comply with the Federal government's Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA), the Library has adopted use of a filtering software. Please let us know if you encounter any difficulties. Library staff will be happy to assist you.

R.E.A.D.S. Download Station

R.E.A.D.S. - Download audiobooks to your MP3 player at the library! R.E.A.D.S. now offers 4,332 audiobooks, & 3,362 ebooks to choose from!!! Bring your laptop to the library & use our wireless network to download both audiobooks & ebooks! Or download from home!