The JCPL-Hollywood Connection

Three of our library people were among the crowds who went to Crown Point this past week to see Johnny Depp working on the new Michael Mann picture Public Enemies, and to shake his hand!!!

The movie is about John Dillinger's nation-wide crime wave in the early 1930’s and stars Depp as Dillinger. The Indiana portion will include scenes shot at the Crown Point jail from which Dillinger famously escaped. (Although the East Chicago bank where Dillinger shot an officer during a robbery is now a Walgreens store, according to the Post-Tribune.)

Other films shot on location in Indiana in recent years include Rain Man, Hoosiers, A League of Their Own and The Insider. The Filmed in Indiana page from the FILM Indiana website lists many other movies shot in Indiana. FILM Indiana also provides information about film festivals around the state as well as job opportunities on upcoming movie shoots.

Emily, Rayann and Angela, who work at the Rensselaer Library, drove up after work one evening to get a glimpse of the popular actor.

"He seemed to really appreciate his fans," said Angela, who noted he made a point of rolling down his window and waving as his car went by the spectators. At one point, she and Rayann were about two to three feet from the star.

Emily and her daughter found themselves in exactly the right place when Johnny made his way along the barricade to meet the fans.

"He took my hand, then he looked up to see whose hand he had," she said with a huge grin, remembering the moment. "I said, 'Hi Johnny.'"

This post is in no way related to or inspired by the life-sized cut-out the office still has of Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean.

New Look for Community Connection!

This month we are unveiling a new look for our Community Connection newsletter.

The newsletter, available each month at your local library or at various places in your community, gives an overview of programs and highlights for the upcoming month.

In it you will find programs for adults, teens and kids; features about programs and services the library offers; new books and materials and more.

You can also read or print out your own copy, and you can find it each month in the Featured Links on the front page of our website. Feel free to look through our archived issues as well.

We hope you find something new to enjoy about your library.

Is it rumor or is it real?

The other day at work we received an email warning about a potential phone scam. In the scam, the email stated, a person would call and claim there was a warrant out for your arrest because you had failed to report for jury duty. The caller would then ask you to verify your name, birthdate and Social Security Number to make sure there was not an error. At the end of the call, if you had complied, the caller would then have all the information needed to steal your identity.

Sounds scary, but is it a real threat?
Yes it is.

We know this thanks to the folks at Snopes.com, a.k.a. the Urban Legends Reference Pages, who have been researching and debunking or validating urban legends on the Internet since 1995.

According to their research, this particular warning first began circulating on the Internet in 2005 and like most emails will pop up again from time to time, with slight variations, as email makes its way back and forth across the online world.

What makes this site considered an authority is their scientific goal and method of verifying information rather than to initially prove or disprove claims. The couple who run the site emphasize the "reference" quality of the site and document each of their points and conclusions with footnotes for you to do your own detective work if you choose.

Thankfully a site like this is out there to help the average citizen get informed about the stuff in their mail. Next time you get one of those "too good to be true" offers or "I really hope that isn't real" warnings, chances are excellent you will find information here to help you determine whether you should pay attention or ignore it.

A word to the wise, if the email post says "this was checked out on Snopes and it's true," don't take their word for it. Go check it out yourself.

DM Library Silent Book Auction

The Friends of the DeMotte Library is offering book lovers the opportunity to name their price on several collectible titles during a Silent Auction throughout the month of March.

A variety of books, old and new, children and adult, are available through this silent auction, and are on display in a glass case near the library’s circulation desk.

Some items to be auctioned off include a 100th Anniversary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Souvenir Program & Magazine along with two circus posters, the Civil War Era by James M. McPherson, an Elizabeth Taylor Collection of books and videos, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and many other titles.

A booklet listing items is located on the display case that holds the materials to be auctioned off. Items may be bid on more than once, and bids may be checked during the auction for current prices. The winning bidders will be notified at the end of the auction.

For more information, visit or call the DeMotte Library at 987-2221.

If there is a holiday, you can bet Google will be there

I personally have been a fan of Google for about as long as the search engine has been around, and view it as another practical tool to help our patrons.

One of my favorite features, I regularly use the language tools translation as I attempt to teach myself Spanish. Right now I'm reading "Clic, Clac, Plif, Plaf: Una Aventura de Contar," by Doreen Cronin, who wrote "Duck for President." It's a counting book showing what all the animals do when the farmer is asleep.

There are other search engines out there, and I wouldn't speak badly of them. In fact, Ask.com received some good play in 2007 among serious researchers for its more intuitive responses to general questions.

But I'm not alone in my personal fandom, and Google has happily created a whole section of its website devoted to library workers and a short film based on tips and suggestions from library workers on how to use their website. Feel free to check out that and other related videos to pick up tips on how to "research like a pro."

The thing about Google that grabs my attention is their constant effort to be creative. It's not their endless search for new technology and services to bring to users, or even the fact that they sponsored the first private space voyage (XPrize Foundation). No, for me it starts with the little logos they come up with for special days and holidays.

If you go through the About Google link, you can find the entire index of the holiday logos and "Google Doodles," multi-day themed logos for events like the Olympics. You can also read about the artist who has made most of them possible. So in honor of the Easter holiday is this gem from 2000 featuring a Java applet game where you can make the bunny spell out Google in Easter Eggs.

Hope yours is a hoppy event.

Teen Tech Week

We're very excited to be part of the national celebration of Teen Tech Week with some special events March 2-8.

The event was created by the American Library Association (ALA) to celebrate and encourage the efforts of teens with what will undoubtedly be the building blocks of their futures: emerging technology.

Check the teen programs page for specific events going on at your local library, or take our online quiz and find out "How techie are you?"

Not surprisingly, the Pew Internet & American Life Project tells us online content creation by teenagers is a rapidly-growing trend.

The use of "social networking" sites may be the largest contributor. More than ever, teens are using sites such as flickr, Facebook, MySpace and the like to form online friend networks and communicate with people around the world.

The ALA's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) offers more information for teens, as well as librarians and educators working with teens, on the safe and exciting uses of these newer technologies.

For those who may have reservations about online use by younger generations, David Pogue also has written a very timely article for the New York Times talking about his own research, and a Frontline episode titled "Growing up Online," about Internet use by children and teenagers.

If, as Pogue asserts, this is simply the latest form of socialization for teens in an ever-changing world, we all have a lot to learn.