Savings Calculator

I saw something interesting on the Martin County Public Library site and thought I would pass it on to all of you! It is a Savings Calculator showing how much your library saves you each month. It is provided through the State Library of Florida and is really pretty darn interesting. Go ahead and give it a try!

Did you even know that we had a state library? We do and it actually is a wonderful archival source as well as providing a variety of services for the people of Florida.

 

Google-Florida Partnership

I saw an article in the Palm Beach Post today that looked interesting. It seems that Florida is one of six states to work with Google, along with California, Arizona, Michigan, Utah and Virginia.

What you might ask are they doing? Well, by agreeing to a common standard produced by Google and other search engines like Yahoo, documents can be found by simple queries on a search engine, rather than navigating individual state Web sites.

So far, records from the departments of State, Workforce Innovation, Education, Environmental Protection, Business and Professional Regulation and Law Enforcement have been made search-engine friendly and other agencies’ records will be added in the coming weeks.

For those of you who are already thinking about privacy issues, rest assured that only records already publicly available can be searched in this fashion.

 

Websites and tv?

Have you noticed that more and more websites are being advertised on tv and radio? I was recently in Colorado and saw a cute ad for a website called DexKnows. I didn’t know if the site only provided info for Colorado, but checked it out when I got home. It is actually a pretty cool site which I passed on to our reference librarians. So what does Dex know? Dex provides white and yellow page information, compares business profiles side by side, provides maps and directions, saves your favorite businesses and locations, and plans itineraries for you. Yes, there are other sites that do similar things, but I think Dex deserves a look!

Since coming home to Florida, I have heard another website advertised on the radio: EmployFlorida. Once again, this is a site you should check out if you are job searching or pass on to someone who is. Employ Florida links all of Florida’s workforce services—state and local—to each other. The state partners are Workforce Florida, the state policy and oversight board, and the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the state agency which administers workforce funds. At the local level there are twenty-four regional workforce boards that administer close to 100 “one-stop centers.” Together these organizations represent the Employ Florida network of workforce services and resources. The state and local boards are composed of educational, governmental and private business resources to address local workforce needs. Definitely, a website worth checking out!

 

Did you know?????

Have you been to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website lately? There is all sorts of stuff you can do online.

• Renew your license or your vehicle registration.
• check to see if your license is valid…or suspended.
• Find driving courses of all kinds.
• Make an appointment for a driver license office.
• Read the Florida driver handbook in English and Spanish online or order a copy.

Now you can also provide emergency contact information that can only be accessed by a law enforcement officer in the event of an emergency. What an amazing idea this is! Think about it, if you get in an accident and can’t tell anyone who to call, who will they call?

 

Hurricane Dean

Well, it’s 11:00 pm on a Saturday and I and many others are focused on hurricane Dean. Even though Dean seems to be heading far away from those of us here in Florida, still we watch. Having experienced the power and devastation of more than one hurricane, I think I can say that I speak for many of us in South Florida when I say we feel both relief and fear; relief that this time it is not us and fear for those in his path.

So, since I am awake and checking out Dean, I thought I would share with you where I get my hurricane updates. As most Floridians, I have become a little obsessed during hurricane season and I do have my favorite places to check on things.

Naturally I watch the Weather Channel and check out it’s website. The Weather Channel website is one of my favorite websites…I did say I was obsessed!… Of course there is also The National Hurricane Center website from The National Weather Service. Nothing like getting your info straight from the horse’s mouth!

During the hurricane seasons of 2004-2005, I started reading Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog. Dr. Masters is Director of Meteorology and on the Board of Directors for Weather Underground, Inc. It seemed to me that he is quite often right on when talking about hurricanes, so I now subscribe to his posts in my Google Reader account. That way I get them as soon as he posts them.

Are these the only resources out there? No, of course not, but these are the ones I check! I bet you have your favorite ones too. I would love to hear where you go for your weather information, so go ahead, leave a comment.

Janice

 

Did you know?

Florida is No. #1 in the U.S. in overall economic vitality. With 12 cities named to Economy.com’s Business Vitality Index, Florida has more than double the number of top-ranked cities than any other state. (Learn more)

CNBC ranks Florida among America’s Top States for Business, ranking #1 in Transportation, #4 in Economy, and #8 in Technology & Innovation. (Learn more)

Florida leads the nation in new high-tech establishments, is #2 in number of new high-tech jobs, and is #3 in high-tech exports. (Learn more)

Florida is dubbed the best state for growing small businesses after sweeping the rankings with 4 of America’s top 5 small business growth markets. (Learn more)

Wow! Where did I get the info? I get a newsletter quarterly from Enterprise Florida Inc (EFI). EFI is a public-private partnership serving as Florida’s primary organization devoted to statewide economic development. EFI’s mission is:

 

To diversify Florida’s economy and create better-paying jobs for its citizens by supporting attracting and helping create business in innovative, high-growth industries.

 

They also have a great website with all sorts of information about Florida! So whether you are a business person or just want to learn more about Florida, this is an interesting place to start. I often use this site in my reference work at the library and thought you might find it interesting too.