Refresher Training is coming! Help us make sure you get the information and refreshers you need.
This is the resource list we posted on MySpace and Facebook for the Winter Holidays:
What are the main December holidays?
For an overview of major December holidays, see “Web Holidays,” at:
http://www.web-holidays.com/
An expansive list of Winter Holidays can be seen on Wikipedia (please note that information found there should be backed up with other, reliable sources):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winter_festivals
Holidays Around the World is from World Book Online, at:
http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Students?content_spotlight/holidays
Where is Santa now?
NORAD offers a “Countdown to Track Santa” – counting the days, hours, minutes, seconds until Santa’s big event, found at:
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html
What’s the “real story” about Santa (and other pertinent questions)?
How Stuff Works is a site that gives a basic overview of the “story of Santa,” as well as ideas about the reindeer and more:
http://christmas.howstuffworks.com/santa-claus-stories-ga1.htm
The Smithsonian has information concerning Santa Claus:
http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/smithsonian/show_search_santa.do
Stories about the holidays:
The National Public Radio’s site has a tremendous amount of stories about the holidays, at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96539922&ps=bb2
Holiday Food
For traditional Christmas Dinners and Holiday planning, check out EHow's info at:
http://www.ehow.com/christmas/christmasdinner.html
For vegetarian/vegan alternatives, you might like to try the Veggie Table, online at:
http://www.theveggietable.com/recipes/christmas.html
The Food Network, offers a variety of dessert choices and special holiday treats:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/holidays-and-parties/christmas-dessert-menu/pictures/index.html
For Kosher recipes, see Kosher Cooking, at:
http://www.koshercooking.com/
Just in case! Emergency and Health-Related Sites
To learn CPR --
http://health.howstuffworks.com/cpr2.htm
TIP: Hum the Bee Gee's song “Stayin Alive” for the right rhythm:
http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20081017/cpr-gives-stayin-alive-new-life
Dealing with Family and Holiday Stress
Check out the Mayo Clinic's 12 tips for coping:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030
Another helpful resource is the Family Guide's Guide to Managing Holiday Stress: http://family.samhsa.gov/be/holidaystress.aspx
The pressure to spend can be minimized with some budget planning from Mint.edu. Check out:
http://blog.mint.com/blog/moneyhack/ten-tips-for-smarter-holiday-budget-planning/
Want to send greetings to our military?
“Letters to Santa” offers a list of organizations and ways to send support, letters, and gifts to our military and their families:
http://www.operationlettertosanta.com/Pages/support-our-troops.htm
If you would like to send an emailed letter of “thanks” to the troops, an easy way to do this is through “America Supports You,” online at:
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/Message.aspx?SectionID=5
Or, you can specify which branch of the military service you’d like to connect with, though the U.S. Armed Forces News Service’s site, at:
http://www.usafns.com/email.shtml
Holiday Fun and Games
Print out some coloring book pages through the Coloring Page site, at:
http://coloring-page.net/christmas.html
Kaboose has a wide variety of crafts and games:
http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/christmas/christmas-crafts.html
A list of online puzzles and games with seasonal themes, from the “Gingerbread Man,” to “Ring the Bells” is found through A Kid’s Heart, online at:
http://www.akidsheart.com/holidays/christms/chgames.htm
Here’s a list of games you can play together:
http://www.partygameideas.com/christmas-games/
If You Plan to Travel
On the road:
Highway conditions can be viewed anytime through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s site at:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Trafficinfo/
In the air:
The Federal Aviation Administration can tell you what the status of flights and airport delays are. For up to the minute information, see:
http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp
Weather predictions can be found through the Original Farmer’s Almanac:
http://www.almanac.com/
and Weather.com is another helpful resource. It offers hour-by-hour options. Just put in your zip code or location:
http://www.weather.com
Have a question about something else? Get answers fast at AskUsNow!
http://www.askusnow.info
We're available 24/7, even on Christmas!
Happy Holidays,
Your friends at Maryland AskUsNow!
Maryland AskUsNow! is using T-day as an opportunity to do some preemptive reference. On it’s MySpace and Facebook pages, fans and friends of AskUsNow! saw a list of resources put together by AskUsNow! on various Holiday-related questions we hope will answer FAQ's and remind them AskUsNow! is a resource for them. Check it out:
Thanksgiving is tomorrow. Are you prepared for the food, family, and fun?
To help you have a happy, safe, and healthy holiday, we’ve put together some resources we hope you’ll find useful.
Happy Thanksgiving from all your friends at Maryland AskUsNow! (We’re thankful for librarians and all our friends like you!)
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What do I do with this Turkey?
Butterball’s Thanksgiving guide is complete with shopping lists, conversations, thawing guides, seating, safety, what to do with leftovers, and more:
http://www.butterball.com/tips-how-tos/tips/thanksgiving-guideI may need to know CPR
http://health.howstuffworks.com/cpr2.htm
(TIP: don’t know what the timing is? hum the Bee Gee’s Stayin Alive for the right rhythm (http://www.webmd.com/heart/news/20081017/cpr-gives-stayin-alive-new-life))Need to have a Vegetarian Thanksgiving?
Check out Mahalo’s suggestions: http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_have_a_vegetarian_thanksgiving or eHow’s “How to choose a Turkey Substitute for your Vegan T-day” http://www.ehow.com/how_4599009_turkey-substitute-vegan-thanksgiving-dinner.htmlWorried about handling the family stress?
Check out the Mayo Clinic’s 12 tips for coping: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030 or the Family Guide’s Guide to Managing Holiday Stress: http://family.samhsa.gov/be/holidaystress.aspxWant to send your thanks to our military?
Go to http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Usgresponse/Help.shtml#vgn-support-our-troops-vgn to send care packages, donate calling cards, or write letters, emails, or text messages of gratitude.What’s the real story behind Thanksgiving?
History.com tells the tale of the First Thanksgiving: http://tinyurl.com/6jwxzx and what was actually on the menu. Also check out the Smithsonian’s site at http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/thanks.htmHave kids to entertain?
Print out some coloring book pages here: http://coloring-page.net/thanksgiving.html or here: http://www.preschoolcoloringbook.com/color/cpthanksgiving.shtml or here: http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanks-color.htmlInterested in Thanksgiving Facts?
The U.S. Census Bureau can help: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/012692.htmlTraveling?
Check out highway conditions at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Trafficinfo/The Federal Aviation Administration can tell you what the status of flights and airport delays are: http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/usmap.jsp
What is Thanksgiving like at the White House?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/thanksgiving/2008/Want to volunteer this holiday?
http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicService.shtmlHave a question about something else? Get answers at www.askusnow.info We’re available 24/7, even on Thanksgiving!
Happy Holidays,
Your friends at Maryland AskUsNow!
Want to make your chatting experience more enjoyable or make your life easier? Here are some tips to help you move quickly through the many screens you are likely to have open while helping a customer:
Used tabbed browsing whenever possible for your searching. Mozilla Firefox or IE7 are browswers with tabs.
When monitoring Chat, you have you’re My QuestionPoint screen open, the Flash Chat monitor, and another window you're searching in. To avoid having multiple instances of your browser open, used a browser with tabbed browsing for searching. This will help you keep things tidy and easily findable as well as keep your computer running smoothly.
Close out extraneous search windows/tabs in between sessions
Regardless of whether you used tabbed browsing or not, close out any websites you had open for the previous customer before you pick up another one. This way, you can start from scratch with only your MyQP, Chat monitor, and a search window open.
Minimize all you open windows at once to the task bar using [Windows Key + m]
If you have a ton of windows open and you just want to start over to re-open only the windows you need, hit the windows key and "m" and all your open windows will minimize themselves to the task bar.
Quickly navigate between open windows with [Alt + Tab]
Instead of clicking through your task bar, use Alt + Tab to bring up a little menu of all the windows you have open. WIth Alt held down, hit Tab until you get to the window you want to open and then release the keys to open that window.
Use Notepad or Wordpad to cut and paste your URLs for easier finding
This tip is thanks to Jim DeArmey of BCPL. Jim uses a Notepad or Wordpad window to Copy and paste the URLs he’s going to send to customers before he sends it to them in case he needs to repaste it again quickly. To Copy and Paste quickly, use the keyboard commands. Copy = [Ctrl + c]. Paste = [Ctrl + v].
Do you have more tips for easier chatting? Let me know or post it directly to the blog!
Coming with the November 23rd install (Sunday @3am), the Flash Chat librarian interface is getting a face lift. While the functionality remains the same (except it's faster!), it looks much better and has a lot of new features that I think people will love.
