Welcome to Virtual Library Zine #5

http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au

We currently have 299 subscribers to the Zine, many of whom are public

library workers and interested information seekers. Please tell your

friends and colleagues about the Zine and have them join up if you think it

would be a useful resource for them. They can join the Zine here -

http://www.libraries.vic.gov.au/maillist/

The Zine will be published monthly and will highlight new websites of

interest, report on progress of the Virtual Library and other

Libraries Online projects and report on other news relevant to library

staff and users.

This is a bumper edition of the Zine, encompassing both April and May.

The Libraries Online team farewelled Rebecca Toohey, and welcomed Stephanie McGlinchey

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Readers’ Hot Tips

Do you have a site you would like to share with other Virtual Ziners? They can informative, topical and just downright hilarious!

Send them to

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Search tool of the month-Exploratorius.com

http://www.exploratorius.com

A metasearch engine coming to a PC near you! It combines the big guns of search engines, such as Google, Altavista, AllTheWeb and Northernlight.

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Fashion Tip of the month

Black is the new black- because the old black has gotten a bit faded in the wash…

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Maths Site of the month

The Joy of Pi

http://www.joyofpi.com

Based upon the book by David Blatner, this site offers a range of facts and links, including a history of this mathematical phenomenon.

For your information…

An issues paper has been drafted to develop a new public library policy to replace Libraries 21. To read it, go to

http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/localgov.nsf

Comments on the draft policy are due in by May 17.

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Nostalgia Trip of the month

The 80’s server- who can it be now?

http://www.80s.com/who_normal.html

Test your knowledge of 80’s icons. Page is updated daily.

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Sad but true…

The Eurovision Song Contest unofficial pages

http://members.aol.com/FantasyESC/ and http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/1812/eschome.htm

For those who love the cheesy songs, and the best voting system since the Brownlow medal count.

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Crim site of the month

Ronnie Biggs Official Web Site

http://www.ronniebiggs.com/

Get to know the real man!

Youth Site of the month

The Source

http://www.thesource.gov.au

A website aimed at informing youth about government, careers, and health issues, amongst a myriad of other things. There are links to music sites including TripleJ, games, online zines and more!

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Online Exhibitions-

Belonging – a century celebrated

http://www.belonging.org

The exhibition explores the way Australians have experienced “belonging” during the twentieth century. It is presently showing at the State Library of Victoria, from May 5 to July 22.

* News *

Check out http://libraries.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/libsonline/hottopics/index.cgi

Australian Dollar

Australian Economy

Federation

Foot and Mouth Disease

GST & Tax Reform

Human Genome Project

Mad Cow Disease

Native Title

April 2001 yielded 178735 hits on Victoria's Virtual Library. May 2001 has so far achieved 95160 hits. Total hits since June 2000 is 1032477.

For the month of April, the Ask a Question program was shared by Casey-Cardinia and Bayside. Yarra Plenty will be taking up the mantle in June.

Ask a question @ http://libraries.vic.gov.au/question/

Following the winding down of the Electric Library subscription, libraries can now access the newspapers via ANZ Reference Centre.

From July 1st all Gulliver consortium members will have automatic access to

World Magazine Bank and ANZ Reference Centre until then you can access it at the following address using the login and password provided below.

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Account Information

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International URL: http://trial.global.epnet.com

UserID: s5638194 password: trial

Zine Editors: Stephanie McGlinchey and Brendan Fitzgerald