Oh, crumbs!

Searching the internet for something and get so engrossed following a multitude of links that you've forgotten which page had the best information?

Want to share a collection of sites with someone without e-mailing a list of links or sending all of your bookmarked sites?

iBreadCrumbs is the solution.

iBreadCrumbs is a website (click-stream) recorder. A toolbar is downloaded to Mozilla Firefox (only browser that supports iBreadCrumbs) and you start and stop the recording session. Notes may be added to sites you visit and at the end of the session you may edit, delete or add more notes or sites. Title, save and categorize your breadcrumbs and they are ready to be sent to friends or exported to Excel. Promote and share your breadcrumbs using the breadcrumb URL.

May be the best thing since sliced-bread ...

Events plus ..

Lots of events and changes over the last couple of months.

We have farewelled Carly and welcomed Anne to the team.

The salmon pink decor has now been eradicated from the front desk and replaced with shiny metal surfaces. We now have a desk for customer registrations and wireless connections too.

The Friends have purchased a very popular print for behind the front desk.

A series of local history DVDs were launched at the library and they are in high demand.

We showcased photos from the Local Studies collection for History Week and circulation figures were probably up during Library Week due to the lucky draw. Many sighs of disappointment have been heard as people realised they weren't in the winner's circle.

School holidays were great fun!

Book mooching

Libraries have more competition than ever now. People are bemoaning they are time poor and not able to visit us. Bookcrossing allows people to share their books. There are no book clubs nor membership cards, no fees nor due dates. Fate determines who reads the book next and where the book goes. Registering a book with Bookcrossing allows readers to track their books' journey. A tad more exciting than watching the book go down a slippery slide (read returnn chute).

So now we have book mooching. BookMooch is a community for exchanging used books. The only cost is the postage of sending the books. To mooch books from other members you need to accrue points. Points are accrued by offering books to be mooched, responding to a mooch request (bonus points if you respond to an overseas moocher), and providing feedback for a book you mooched.

What next?

Iris folding

The iris folding workshop at Willunga was well attended. Iris folding requires a bit of preparation before the actual folding starts. Colour co-ordinated strips of paper are secured over a pattern and the spiralling design is kept hidden until completion. Many at the workshop were anxious to see their cards and quite a lot of "ooh"ing, "aah"ing and "wow"ing was heard as works of art were revealed. The 2 hours went too quick for most.




We would like it duly noted that no irises were actually harmed in the process of iris folding.

Next week we torture tea bags ... who said it wasn't fun to work in a library?

A little library Elf

Here's a little helper for borrowers of library material. Use Elf to manage your library loans and holds. Elf tracks your library account record and keeps track of what's due, what's overdue and what's ready for pick-up.

It is possible to consolidate individual family library cards into the one account and keep tabs on all types of library material. You set the parameters for when reminders are sent and Elf does the work.

Elf will prompt you about items due soon, however, renewals will need to be done through the library or web account.

So, help your .... elf!

Library Lovers' Day

Valentine's Day has been renamed Library Lovers' Day. The boxes of chocolates, bouquets of flowers and soppy sentimental Hallmark cards were replaced with laughter, flirtatious comments and fun at Aldinga Library. Borrowers were encouraged to choose a blind date on Library Lovers' Day.

The process involved staff choosing books, photocopying the barcode and gift wrapping the books (with the barcode attached to the gift tag). The blind dates were then displayed. Only a handful of blind dates were left single.

The roses are dying,
the violets are dead.
We hope you enjoyed
the blind date you read.

Beaded Mandalas

Mandalas are usually circular designs symbolising the universe. They are used in Hinduism and Buddhism as a focus for meditation.

Weellll .... some people may have needed to practise some meditation after the first beaded mandala session. Cool, calm and collected was replaced with hot, bothered and frustrated. However, knots in the thread, eye strain and things just not going to plan were soon sorted out.

Fishing line, brick stitch, felt, beads, tea, coffee, biscuits and lots of laughter were shared during the beading workshops. Here's a sample of the beautiful beaded mandalas as works in progress and finished pieces of jewellery.