Ghosts, Vampires and Zombies: Cinema Fiction vs. Physics Reality

With all the reality shows addressing the paranormal and ghosthunting, and the large number of horror movies being generated by Hollywood, it was only a matter of time before scientists start adding their two cents to the debate. Physicist Costas Efthimiou, Assistant Professor at the University of Central Florida, utilizes physics to address inconsistencies associated with mythical creatures of cinema and pop culture. Click here to read his research.

Clocks Fall Back One Hour This Weekend!

This weekend at 2:00am on Sunday, everyone will gain an hour of sleep as we transition from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. Remember to set your clocks before going to bed on Saturday night!

Holiday Trivia Contest

The Circulation desk is hosting a Holiday Trivia Contest.

There will be 3 questions posted at the desk throughout the day. The first person to answer all 3 correctly each hour will win a home baked prize. In honor of Halloween, pumpkin bread will be given out as a prize.

There will also be candy all day for anyone who stops by the desk.

Cell phone policy revisions

We have revised the cell phone policy.

You will now be allowed to use your cell phones in all areas of the library except bathrooms, stairwells and the silent study area.

You are of course expected to be polite and not disturb others, otherwise we may have to ask you to keep it down or go someplace else.

Silence is golden

We have created a NEW Silent Study area in the southeast corner of the 2nd floor. Signs have been posted designating the area.

In this area cell phones, music, and talking will not be allowed. For those of you who need quiet to study, this is an area especially designed for you.

Please use the area and tell us what you think.

We want to hear from you!

The library has put out Comments and Suggestions boxes in key locations for you to tell us what you think. They are at the Circulation desk, by the printer for the computers (under the Comments and Suggestions board), and at the Reference desk.

We have suggestion cards next to the boxes or you can write something up on your own paper.

The boxes will be checked on a weekly basis. Responses will be posted on the Comments and Suggestions board.

So please let us know what we can do to better serve you.

Government Internet Use in Libraries

The August edition of Library Journal has several very good points about how the United States Government is putting libraries under pressure. Specifically, libraries are expected to provide public access to Government and State information and onliness services, but are not given increased funding to keep up with demands.

Between 1994 and 2004, library internet "connectivity" increased from 20.9% to 99.6%. In 1998, only 3.4 percent of public libraries had 10 or more public internet workstations, now the national average is 10.7 workstations. In 1998, two-thirds of public libraries had dial-up or direct connections. Now, only 2.1 percent have such slow connections. Wireless access in libraries has increased from 17.9% in 2004 to 36.4% in 2006. 72.8% of libraries are planning on replacing workstations.

Libraries are now expected to provide access for disaster victims, Medicare drug plans, benefits for children and families. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) sends people to public libraries to sign-up for assistance.

Along with these requests come more technical problems for libraries: Florida DCF applicants signing up on computers are told that "they must be using the Internet Explorer browser 5.5 service pack 1 or above." "The Firefox Browser won't work with this application, and popup blockers must be disabled." People go to libraries for assistance.

If the government wants people to participate in e-government, it is essential that new support be provided for libraries. The government should encourage an understanding of the important contributions which libraries can and do make for our citizens.

About 90 percent of library funding comes from local government. The best way to help libraries would be an amendment of the E-government Act of 2002 showing how libraries fit into the new mesh of federal e-government and also the introduction/revision of state and local directives on e-government.