| Summary: | Eggs-Citing News far Yaurtg Readers Libraries and their young readers are invited to participate in the "Summer of the Readasaurus" reading promotion sponsored by Reading is Fundamental and ABC/PBS "Youth Plus." The promotion offers a prize drauing for children ages 5-12 who enter a postcard uith the titles of three books read during May, June, July or August 1988. The grand prize consists of a three day trip for the winner uith his or her parents, an IBM personal computer for the winner and his or her library and an IBM Writing to Read Laboratory for the winner's school. The promotion began on April 1 when Drs. Schmidt and Zonian, tuo heretofore unknown paleontologists, announced discovery of a dinosaur egg on the North Slope of Alaska. They proclaimed the egg to be a rare breed that has survived millions of years because it has the capacity to learn to read. The "Readasaurus" egg began a 24-city publicity tour on April 4 in Anchorage uith "hatching" on Tuesday, May 3, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. The fantasy is being brought to life by "Youth/PLUS"--the continuation of Project Literacy U.S.--sponsored by ABC and PBS in cooperation with Reading Is Fundamental, the IBM "Writing to Read" program and the "Read America/Win America" Foundation. ALA has been advising on library cooperation. Youngsters uill be encouraged to "Look everyuhere for books to read this summer. In the library, local bookstores, thrift shops or yard sales." If you would like a copy of the rules contact: Ken Behringer, North Dakota State Library, Liberty Memorial Bldg., Capitol Grounds, Bismarck, ND 58505, (701) 224-4654. From: ALA PR Activity Report Copyright Laws for Videotapes Copies of the ALA insert LIBRARY AND CLASSROOM USE OF COPYRIGHTED VIDEOTAPES AND COMPUTER SOFTWARE are available from the North Dakota State Library Consultant's Office. For a free copy of the copyright laus, contact Sue Clark,North Dakota State Library, Liberty Memorial Building, Capitol Grounds, Bismarck, ND 58505 or call 701/224-4663. EASYLINK 862917436. j A Reminder: f ANNUAL REPORTS for Public Libraries are due July 1st ^QTOifttfter WiWt of ttie Mpntih: Truncation in the Online Catalog by Tom Bremer, Head, NDSU Reference Department Truncation is a useful method for expanding your search of the NDSU Libraries' online catalog. It allows you to tell the computer to search variations on a basic uord or phrase, saving you the trouble of entering each uord separately. The feature is available on author (AU), title (TI), combination (CO), term (TE), and subject (SU) searches. There are two ways to truncate on the catalog. One method is to use the pound sign (8) to obtain "open" truncation. This is a wildcard character that commands the computer to search any number of characters following the stem. For example, to retrieve ELECTRIC, ELECTRICAL, ELECTRICITY, etc., type TE ELECTRICtt on the terminal. You can also use 8 for statement truncation in title (TI) and subject (SU) searches. If you know a particular book's title starts with the words "artificial intelligence" but are unsure of what follows, you can type TI ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE tt. This feature is even more useful in subject searching since it will allow you to get all subdivisions of a particular subject. If you use it in this way be sure to place a space between your last word and the 8 truncation symbol. The second method is to use the question mark (?) for "restricted" truncation. It can be used for "internal" truncation within a word or phrase. For example, the search TE W0M?N uill retrieve both the terms WOMEN and WOMAN; the search TI DAY ? HISTORY uill retrieve the Book A DAY OF HISTORY. The ? truncation can also be used to specify the maximum number of additional characters following a uord stem. For example, the TE LIBRAR??? uill retrieve LIBRARY and LIBRARIES, but not LIBRARIANSHIP. Truncation is a very powerful and useful searching technique. If you need additional help using it, just ask at the NDSU library reference desk (237-8886) or type HELP TR on your terminal. Reprinted from "BiblioBitk. with permission of author.
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