Hi Readers!
My name is Eileen Fischlschweiger. I’ve been the Fort Lauderdale PTDL Representative for thirteen years, and have worked at the PTDL in the capacity of Patent and Trademark Librarian for fifteen years. I have worked for the Broward County Library System for over 21 years. I have a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in both Chemistry and Physics, a Master’s degree in Communications, a considerable amount of graduate level coursework in Education, and a second Master’s degree in Library Science.
The Fort Lauderdale PTDL has been housed at the Broward County Main Library in Downtown Fort Lauderdale since its inception in November 1984. Originally part of the Government Documents Department, it was a part of the Business, Law, and Government (BLG) Section since the Main Library reorganization in November of 1996 until January 2010, and it is currently a part of the recently combined Reference Section.
Marie Moisdon Retires!
After 35 years of service to the Broward County Libraries Division, Marie Moisdon, Library Manager, currently assigned to the library bond (or construction) team, is retiring. Marie Moisdon was the Department Head of the former Government Documents Department when I began as the Intellectual Property Librarian in March of 1995. She was also the 9th Fellowship Librarian with the PTDLP (Trademark Fellowship Librarian July 6, 1993 – July 6, 1994). Since her time with Government Documents, she has worked as planning officer, and after that as a part of the Bond Issue Implementation Team to help build new replacement buildings for many Broward County Library branches as well as some new branches. A 149 million dollar bond issue for such purpose was approved by voters in 1999.
On February 26, 2010 Marie was given a wonderful farewell party, with live musical entertainment and well over 100 well-wishers in attendance, including Marie’s grand children. Christine Kitchens, currently the PTDLP Program Manager, was also there, and she presented Marie with a gift from the PTDLP staff which included a pristine copy of the publication Inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Chris was formerly the Government Documents Department Head at the Broward County Main Library and she was Marie’s supervisor. When Chris was promoted to Assistant Main Library Director, Marie became the Government Documents Department Head, a position she retained until accepting a position as the planning officer for the Broward County Libraries Division.
2009-2010 Highlights
• On Saturday August 1, 2009 a public program titled Patent Searching: The Seven Step Strategy, U.S. Patent Classification System and Other Resources was presented to an audience of about 50 people, largely from the Inventors’ Society of South Florida. It consisted of two presentations. The first one, presented by Eileen Fischlschweiger, was titled Searching a New Invention at a Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL): The Seven-Step Strategy and it also included information on esp@cenet, Google Patents and WIPO’s PATENTSCOPE®. The second presentation, provided by former USPTO examiner and classifier Bob Craig, was titled Searching United States and WIPO Patents and it covered US and international classification systems. It was a pleasure to meet Bob Craig and to hear him speak.
• In August 2009, National Inventors’ Month, we had our annual book display using various attractive posters to enhance the display’s appearance.
• 2009 was the 25th anniversary of the Broward County Main Library’s designation as a PTDL. To mark the occasion, we have been using the logo below, based on a design originally created by Michael White for the 25th anniversary of the PTDLP. It can be found at the bottom of the Broward County Library’s main home page at www.broward.org/library. The red and dark blue from the PTDLP 25th anniversary logo combines very nicely with the orange and blue colors of the Broward County Library logo to create a very appealing design.
• On Saturday February 6, 2010, the Inventors’ Society of South Florida’s Inventor Expo, once again came to our library, and, as always, Eileen had a table for the PTDL with many handouts relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, the FDLP, and upcoming business programs at the Main Library. Thirty seven inventors exhibited various patented or patent pending items, attracting over 600 visitors to the library. Many visitors stopped by the PTDL table to pick up handouts and ask questions throughout the exhibit time. About 60 people asked a total of approximately 300 intellectual property questions. The exhibit was followed by FDL librarian Tom Fischlschweiger’s, workshop Fact or Fiction? Grants For the Inventor: CFDA and Other Sources of Grant Information From the Federal Government, in which he discussed three primary sources of grant information from the federal government as well as myths about grants for inventors and businesses.
• In January 2010 the merger of the former two sections Business, Law, and Government and Reference and Information Services, in process for several months, became finalized with staff of the former Reference and Information Services section being reassigned to various areas as operational needs require. Everyone is working hard to become familiar with the new subject areas, which for the former Business, Law, and Government staff members include art, music, genealogy, and other subjects in the humanities and sciences.
• Various building maintenance, reorganization, and construction projects continue and are expected to take several years to complete. For instance, all four public elevators have been completely upgraded, in the mechanical aspects as well as the interior décor. The staff elevator has been upgraded as well. The Computer Center opened on the 7th floor in December 2009, and the third floor, except for the periodicals area, has been closed off in preparation for remodeling work. This area has been earmarked for a new Hispanic Cultural Center, although construction has not yet started.
Submitted by Eileen Fischlschweiger, PTDL Representative for the Fort Lauderdale PTDL.