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Daily Archives: July 24, 2011

OCLC Report: Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference

News release: “A ground-breaking membership report from OCLC Research suggests that by transforming virtual reference (VR) service encounters into relationship-building opportunities, librarians can better leverage the positive feelings people have for libraries. This is critically important in a crowded online space where the biggest players often don’t have the unique experience and specific strengths offered by librarians. The report — Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference — demonstrates that today’s students, scholars and citizens are not just looking to libraries for answers to specific questions—they want partners and guides in a lifelong information-seeking journey. Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and Recommendations for Virtual Reference, from OCLC Research, in partnership with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and additionally funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), distills more than five years of VR research into a readable summary featuring memorable quotes that vividly illustrate very specific and actionable suggestions. Taken from a multiphase research project that included focus group interviews, online surveys, transcript analysis and phone interviews, with VR librarians, users and non-users, these findings are meant to help practitioners develop and sustain VR services and systems. The report asserts that the “R” in “VR” needs to emphasize virtual “Relationships” as well as “Reference.”

A Nationwide View on State-Licensed Mortgage Entities Quarter I 2011 Updated July

Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry – A Nationwide View on State Licensed Mortgage Entities Quarter I 2011. Updated July 18, 2011. Conference of State Bank Supervisors “This report compiles data from the first quarter of 2011 concerning companies, branches, and mortgage loan originators who are state-licensed or state-registered through the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System… Continue Reading

NMLS Consumer Access – Free Service to Verify a Mortgage Company or Individual

“As outlined in the federal agencies’ Final Rule implementing the SAFE Act’s federal registration requirement, certain pieces of federal registrant information will be made publicly available through Consumer Access. Federal registrant information is currently scheduled to be made publicly available through Consumer Access on August 1, 2011, shortly following the end of the federal registration… Continue Reading

Employment-Based Health Benefits and Taxation: Implications of Efforts to Reduce the Deficit and National Debt

Employment-Based Health Benefits and Taxation: Implications of Efforts to Reduce the Deficit and National Debt, July 2011. Employee Benefit Research Institute Issue Brief #360 “The United States is facing severe financial issues. The federal budget ran a deficit in 36 of the years between 1971 and 2010, increasing the debt held by the public from… Continue Reading

Research interstate moving companies, obtain consumer protection information, read and file complaints

News release: “The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has launched a newly designed Web site with resources to help consumers protect themselves from fraudulent or unscrupulous interstate household goods moving companies. The Web site – www.ProtectYourMove.gov – includes a user-friendly database that allows visitors to look up interstate moving companies… Continue Reading

Comparison of Medicare Provisions in Deficit and Debt Reduction Proposals

Kaiser Family Foundation: “Many of the debt-reduction plans being considered by Congress and the Administration include proposals that would achieve substantial savings from the Medicare program over time. This updated side-by-side summary compares the key Medicare provisions found in five major debt-reduction plans put forward by the White House, Congress and independent, bipartisan commissions. The… Continue Reading