Reference Disorder!

I was just reshelving some reference books and I noticed that the TA section is in a state of chaos, by which I mean several chunks are out of numerical order. I'm itching to reclaim the TAs in the name of Organization, but it seems like it would keep me away from the reference desk for too long and would involve moving quite a few books around. (Did I mention there's also a group of TEs in the middle of the TDs?) When would be the best time to tackle this? -Destinee

Levi's sues over pocket design patent infringment!

Read more about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/business/29jeans.html?8ur&emc=ur

USPTO's seven step quick start

So I went to one of the pre-conferences at ALA, Business Librarianship 101. It was interesting to note that whey they talked about patent research, they really only talked about how hard it was to navigate the USPTO site, and mentioned finding your PTDL Library more than once. You may already know about this, but sometimes if I can't get a patron to focus on our guide to patent searching, I refer them to USPTO's 7-step strategy. The good thing is that it provides direct links to everything you need. I've found the easiest way to direct people to it (and for me to even find it) is search for "seven step strategy" from the top-right search box on the uspto.gov home page.

Food consumption in the library

So -- I've had to tell two separate individuals today to NOT EAT in the library. They both looked at me like I'm completely insane. Am I the only one enforcing this policy? What exactly is our policy (Is M&Ms okay, but we draw the line at hamburgers?). I think we all need to be on the same page for enforcement AND actively enforce the rules everytime someone pulls out a bag of chips. If you think that food isn't a problem in our library I suggest you go look at the various garbage cans. They are full of food waste. It's only a matter of time before the rats at the HUB (and yes, there are rats in the HUB!) make their way across the street. Let me know your thoughts... Chandra

Patents PC Problem

I just got a complaint that the keyboard isn't working on the PC in the Patent Area. I checked and it looks like it's connected, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Any ideas?

FirstGov.gov becomes USA.gov

"In January 2007, FirstGov.gov announced that it changed its name to USA.gov. GobiernoUSA.gov is the new name for the Spanish-language portal. These names give assurance that the user is on a government site. USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov are public domain websites, which means you may link to them."

Copy machine out of order

Machine #833 on the second floor is jamming continuously. Tom tried to no avail to fix it. I've reported it by phone to copy services.

New CSA Environmental Sciences Database

With the continuing consolidation of CSA databases, Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management is our most recent addition. It includes Water Resources Abstracts. It also includes the following:

• Agricultural and Environmental Biotechnology Abstracts
• ASFA 3: Aquatic Pollution and Environmental Quality
• Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B)
• Ecology Abstracts
• Environmental Engineering Abstracts
• Health and Safety Science Abstracts
• Human Population & Natural Resource Management
• Industrial and Applied Microbiology Abstracts (Microbiology A)
• Pollution Abstracts
• Risk Abstracts
• Sustainability Science Abstracts
• Toxicology Abstracts, and
• Water Resources Abstracts

RUSA/MARS Best Website of 2006

http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusasections/mars/marspubs/marsbestref2006.htm The most relevant sites for our areas are probably How Products Are Made and my personal favorite SkyscraperPage. Check out the list for other useful websites, especially Crash Course in Copyright from a librarian at the University of Texas system.