October 2001

Page 2

NorthNet Merges With Westelcom The Northern New York Library Network officially announced it has merged its NorthNet Internet Services subsidiary with Westelcom Communications based in Plattsburgh. The merger was effective as of Sept. 11, 2001. As part of the sales contract,Westelcom has agreed to continue to provide free dial-up Internet accounts to all libraries and library staff in the region for a period of five years. The Northern New York Library Network felt the time was right to sell NorthNet because of the changing market place for dial-up Internet services, and Westelcom’s ability to help NorthNet grow further through new products, such as DSL, wireless and fiber. Westelcom acquired NorthNet because they are committed to the economic growth of Northern NY and felt that NorthNet's position in the community could only strengthen their local focus. Please feel free to check them out at: www.westelcom.com. Proceeds from the sale will be invested. Revenues from these investments will be used as part of the Network’s operating budget to provide improved services to the NNYLN’s 68 member libraries.

A Workshop Has Been Added This Fall "Microsoft Access II: Follow up and Problem Solving" has been added to the NNY Library Network’s fall 2001 schedule. Two sessions of the same curriculum have been scheduled for November 7 and 8, at the Network’s office in Potsdam. The class is intended as a follow up to the beginners’ class in Microsoft Access that was offered in September. It will cover a few advanced features that were not addressed in the earlier class, and will address specific problems encountered by Access users. Students are encouraged to provide emails prior to the class describing the problems they have encountered and would like to see covered in class. You may register for the class at any time by sending an email to: cont-ed@northnet.org or phoning (315) 265-1119. Be sure to specify which day you want to attend, November 7 OR 8, and include your request for topics that you want to see covered in the class. Each class is limited to 20 people per session. The cost will be $10.00.