Special closed hours Tuesday evening, Aug. 14

The library will be closed Tuesday evening, Aug. 14, from 7:30-9:30 pm. It will be open that afternoon as usual, and resume the regular schedule Thursday, Aug. 16.

New checkout period

As of today, all books and audiobooks are checked out for three weeks. And, as ever, they can be renewed, either in person (you don't need to bring the book with you) or over the phone.

Going away or know you'll need an item out a little longer? Just let us know when you check it out and we can adjust the due date right then for you.

Comment on the Alaska quarter design

The Alaska Commemorative Coin Commission is collecting comments on the four Alaska quarter design finalists. Public comments are welcomed through April 22, 2007.

IRS Urges Caution about Internet Sites that Resemble the Official IRS Site

Following on our previous post about obtaining tax forms online from the IRS website, the IRS Urges Caution about Internet Sites that Resemble the Official IRS Site.

Tax forms for 2006 filings

With tax filing time fast approaching, more folks are looking for tax forms. The IRS no longer ships the library piles of forms or printable form books the way it once did. Today, the IRS provides all of these forms through its website in downloadable and printable pdf files.

The most commonly used forms may be downloaded directly from their home page's lefthand sidebar; they have a full directory of all of their publications and forms; and there is also a table from which you may select the specific form or instruction booklet you want (hint: they are in numerical order by form number, so you may need to scroll quite some distance down the list to find such forms as the 1040). The forms page also includes links to directions for downloading, printing, and filling in their forms.

To open or print files of the pdf format, if you use a Windows-based computer you must also have a copy of one of the free readers for this file type, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader.

If you do not have access to a printer, you may print IRS forms from the library's public-use computers using our printer at the usual charge of $.10 a page. We also have a photocopier, for which we charge $.10 a page as well.

Genealogy Center closed 3/16-3/27

The Seldovia Genealogy and Family History Center will be closed from March 16-27. For assistance, please contact Sandee or email gen.cent.sov@gmail.com.

The main library will be open its usual, posted hours.

Daylight Saving Time on your computer

Daylight Saving Time comes early this year, thanks to a recent federal law change. We will "spring forward" this Sunday, March 11, by setting our clocks an hour later and we won't "fall back" until November 4. Because these time changes are built into the operating system of most of our computer-based devices, we normally don't have to give that much thought: our computers and all of their programs just update on their own.

But this year, we'll need to update the information our computers use to make that change. Some computers, especially those running Microsoft Vista and Microsoft XP with automatic updates enabled, will have already received the special update to accomplish this. Other computers and devices will require a manual download. Here are some places you can look to find more information specific to the versions you have on hand (or to help decide what it is you have):

• Microsoft's Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center
• Daylight Saving Time on your Mac
• Is Your Windows XP Ready to Spring Forward?
• And there's even a patch for your Windows-operated cell phone: Updating Windows Mobile-powered devices for the new Daylight Saving Time

(via Librarians' Internet Index)

updated to add:

• And for other software than your basic operating system, The Calendaring and Scheduling Consortium offers Extended Daylight Saving Time Links, Advisories and Changes (via Brad)

Oil Spills: resources to follow breaking news online

When events like today's tanker grounding in Cook Inlet happen, you can learn more about what's going on than just waiting for the popular media to get there and you can gain important background that might be left out of media reports by doing some direct research online. Oil spills fall under the purview of a number of agencies. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is the state agency responsible for enforcement actions in the case of spills. On their website, they post regular assessments and updates of ongoing spill responses. They also host the geographic response strategies that are plans specific to Alaskan coastal areas for dealing with active spills. There are specific response plans in place for Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, the areas from which spills are most likely to affect the Seldovia area, and those GRS can be downloaded from those linked sites. When spills due to shipping occur in Cook Inlet, they are monitored by the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council; when spills due to shipping occur in Prince William Sound or areas affected by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, such as Kodiak or lower Cook Inlet, they are monitored by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council. Seldovia is represented on the CIRCAC board of directors by June Reuling; on the PWS RCAC board the Seldovia representative is Steve Lewis. Both representatives are charged with communicating to the city and community any situations in which oil spills might affect our local area. The Seldovia City Office or City Council and Mayor should receive updates from these individuals during active spills, but reports may also be available on the respective organizations' websites as events are followed. Other special interest groups may also post news of ongoing spill situations. Local environmental activists like Cook Inlet Keeper are often involved monitoring oil-related events. If events threaten Kachemak Bay, the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve may also provide news related to reserve concerns. By visiting the sites of interest groups, a more nuanced picture of the impact of events can sometimes be derived. Lastly, photo repository sites such as flickr often contain images uploaded by participants and spectators as news breaks. Monitoring tags identifying obvious topics, such as oilspill or cookinlet, will give you an early and candid look at unfolding events. Finally, local media sources such as the Homer News, Homer Tribune, Peninsula Clarion and Anchorage Daily News all have online editions that may contain more detailed coverage than national media.