| Taking care of your taxes… and gadgets |
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So what are you going to do with the extra money you saved by reading this? The holidays are over so you can go ahead and splurge on yourself, guilt-free. This Rotating Stand for iPhone and iPod Touch may be the most elegant way to show off your iPhone at your desk. Or for the shutterbugs like me who spend way too much time retouching the dust out in all your photos, how about a Digital Sensor Cleaner? The makers of this gadget are pros in creating static control equipment so one shot of that anti-static air onto the camera’s sensor should get rid of those annoying, tiny spots that come out in your photos. Hm, I wonder if it could help me from being electrocuted by my light switch every morning… |
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Submitted by: RayAna Park, Former Web Developer
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Here’s a useful article from Yahoo Finance concerning the 
Comments (1)January 30, 2008
| Public Access to NIH Research Now Mandated by Law |
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The recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY:2008 (H.R. 2764, signed into law December 26, 2007) includes a provision which directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the public with free online access to findings from its funded research. This directs the NIH to change its existing Public Access Policy which was implemented as a voluntary measure in 2005. Researchers will now be required to upload electronic copies of their peer-reviewed articles onto the National Library of Medicine’s, PubMed Central. Full text of these articles will be available and searchable in PubMed Central no later than 12 months after journal publication. Even with a one year delay, open access to the research results of all the Institutes of the NIH will greatly benefit patients and their families, non-NIH researchers, and university research departments in general. It will also increase new discoveries as the NIH results will be more readily available for others to expand on. The section of the Act that mandates this change: “SEC. 218. The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall require that all investigators funded by the NIH submit or have submitted for them to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts upon acceptance for publication, to be made publicly available no later than 12 months after the official date of publication: Provided, That the NIH shall implement the public access policy in a manner consistent with copyright law.” To comply with this Act, NIH released a revised policy on public access to NIH funded research. Their target date for enforcement is April 7, 2008. |
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Submitted by: Alice McCreary, Reference Librarian
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January 29, 2008
| Straight from the IRS: Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Will Affect the 2008 Filing Season |
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If you are like me then you already have your taxes e-filed and you are waiting for your refund. Many people have not heard that the IRS is requiring tax payers who file certain forms to wait until February 11, 2008 to file their taxes. Some of the forms are pretty common like the Schedule 2 for Child and Dependent Care Expenses and form 8396 for Mortgage Interest Credit. See what other forms will require the February 11 start date. You can also subscribe to the IRS e-News to get up to date information. |
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Submitted by: Nikki Butler, Acquisitions/Serials Coordinator
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January 28, 2008
| The Work Less, Live More Workbook: Get Ready for Semi-Retirement |
 By Bob ClyattThe tools you need to escape the rat race and enjoy your life! Library Record • Borrow it • Buy it • More Titles |
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Submitted by: Malgorzata Pawska, Digital Content Coordinator
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January 21, 2008
| Blattmachr on Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts, 15th Edition |
 By Jonathan G. Blattmachr, F. Ladson BoyleFor more than 50 years, Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts has been the treatise that thousands of practitioners have relied on for expert guidance through the federal rules and regulations governing the income taxation of estates, trusts, and their beneficiaries. Written by authors with more than 70 years of experience in the field, the substantially revised 15th Edition will prove to be just as indispensable, with its many new discussions of how the Internal Revenue Code taxes estates and trusts in light of recent legislative, regulatory, and judicial changes. Library Record • Borrow it • More Titles |
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Submitted by: Malgorzata Pawska, Digital Content Coordinator
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January 18, 2008
| Numbers Numbers Numbers |
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“China is now just five million users short of surpassing the U.S. as the world’s largest Internet market.” (Via the Wall Street Journal; here’s the link, but you’ll need a sub.) … And all but the crafty ones are safely nestled behind the Great Firewall of China. ”During November, 138 million people, or about three-quarters of Internet users in the United States, watched on average 3 hours and 15 minutes of online video.” (Via NY Times.) … Maybe they want to rethink that whole writer’s strike thing before it’s too late. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager
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January 17, 2008
| Never thought you’d be teaching? |
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Everyone plays multiple “roles” in everyday life. What did Carla mean by this? Well as soon as you get up in the morning, you may “play the part” of a wife or husband, then a commuter or driver; even at work, you are a supervisor or colleague, a meeting attendee… It doesn’t mean you’re “pretending” to be someone you’re not. Certainly your demeanor as a raging driver doesn’t carry over into your attitude at work or I’m sure your gait and gesture commuting through the city is different from taking a stroll through Fairmount Park. Well, teaching is also a “role” that you take on and have the audience believe you are the teacher even though they may see you in other roles. As Carla continued her presentation, she didn’t miss a beat, and demonstrated how to handle bratty students. All of this was both funny, fun, and effective, not only in showing us what to do but also in keeping us awake. She also told us about the 3 different types of learners which helped us, as Jenkins’ staff, understand why our CLE classes are so well received. We appeal to all 3 learning types by: demonstrating each exercise on the projector screen, talking the students through the steps of the exercise, all while the students are actually going through the exercise on their own. Good to know and good to keep in mind when we are teaching! Some quick tips for public speaking:
Carla List-Handley, SUNY Distinguished Librarian Emerita and creator of “Performance Workshops“, was the guest speaker for TCLC’s workshop: Teaching as Performance at Rosemont College on January 9, 2008. Carla List-Handley received her B.A. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin and her Master of Arts in Library of Science from the University of Iowa. |
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Submitted by: RayAna Park, Former Web Developer
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How many people, including myself as a Web Developer, predicted that they would ever have to stand in front of a classroom to teach? I never thought I would, and to most of the Librarians at the Tri-State College Library Cooperative’s (TCLC’s) “Teaching as Performance” workshop, the responsibility of teaching also came unexpectedly but with the territory. Not only did the workshop give good insight on how to speak effectively to an audience but through a live demonstration, we experienced how a good and bad public speaker can effect our learning. Without giving too much away, these are some of the highlights of Carla’s presentation that my colleagues and I have put together. If you would like to know more, I’d encourage you to January 16, 2008
| English Physicians Plan to Boycott Patient Health Record Database |
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Nearly two thirds of family physicians in England plan to boycott the government’s attempt to create a database of 50 million National Health Service patients’ electronic health records, according to a poll by Medix, a health online research organization, the Guardian Unlimited reports. More than 1,000 family physicians were polled about the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT). The patient health record database is a £12.4 billion (or $25.6 billion) project to modernize the NHS’ IT systems. Due to fear that sensitive personal data could be stolen by hackers and blackmailers, 59% of the General Practice physicians polled said that they would not upload any record without the patient’s specific consent. This is an increase from the 38% of GPs who were polled last year who said that they would not put their patients’ health records on the database without consent. The increased skepticism about the online security of confidential patient records is occurring despite campaigning by the NHS’s IT procurement agency to persuade doctors that the “summary care record” plan would save lives. The Medix poll also found that 70% of GP’s and hospital doctors do not think that the program is a good use of NHS resources and only 1% rate its progress as good or excellent. Three-quarters of those polled said they wanted an independent review before futher monies were committed to the program. Despite negative vibes from physicians, a spokesman for the procurement agency did say that patients whose records were added to the database thought the program had a potential for improving safety, according to the Guardian article. Further information about the program can be found at Connecting for Health’s website. It will be interesting to see how this program progresses and whether or not confidentiality is compromised and/or patients’ lives really are saved. |
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Submitted by: Alice McCreary, Reference Librarian
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January 15, 2008
| Won’t Somebody Think of Steve Jobs’ Children?!?! |
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According to the New York Times, MySpace has teamed up with 49 states (the rogue 50th state is not mentioned in the article) to announce a new safety initiative to protect minors from the potential dangers of using their social network.
Too bad this new measure won’t actually help the issue. Any net-savvy teen/tween/toddler will take all of 5 minutes to set up another email account on one of the many, many free services out there. Attempts at stopping them is futile, parents should instead supervise their children or make sure they’re aware of the (overly-publicized) dangers of the internet and how to avoid them. I think my feelings on the whole matter are best summed up by this Slashdot member’s comment:
On a completely unrelated note, the Macworld keynote speech by Steve Jobs is now over. It was a live blogger’s dream. Here’s the quick and dirty: 4 million iPhones sold since launch, iPhone & iPod Touch will be getting software upgrades, iTunes movie rentals, upgraded Apple TV, and last but not least the new MacBook Air. |
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Submitted by: Anne Baynes, Assistant Network Administrator
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| AIDS and the Law, Fourth Edition |
 By David W. WebberAIDS and the Law provides comprehensive coverage of the complex legal issues, as well as the underlying medical and scientific issues, surrounding the HIV epidemic. Library Record • Borrow it • More Titles |
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Submitted by: Malgorzata Pawska, Digital Content Coordinator
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