Friday, August 7, 2009

Is the site down?

We have all been asked this by patrons using our internet. HERE is a handy website that will answer that question. Just input the URL and it will inform you whether the site you entered is down or the problem is on your end.
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Foreign Language Dictionaries


We interrupt this summer's tour of libraries to bring you something I should have posted a long time ago. Earlier this month I posted twice on foreign language material and I completely forgot to mention FREELANG. I had been on this site extensively around 2000, but only have been checked back a few times since then and had almost forgotten about it. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a massive update which now includes 248 foreign language dictionaries from the most common (German, French, Spanish) to the utter obscure (Alsatian, Blackfoot, Faroese). Below is a list by language families of all the dictionaries on their site:

Indo-European family

Basque family

Dravidian family

Uralic family

Caucasian family

Altaic family

Japanese family

Ainu family

Korean family

Sino-Tibetan family

Austro-Asiatic family

Afro-Asiatic family

Nilo-Saharan family

Niger-Congo family

Austronesian family

Andamanese family

Creole

Amerindian family

Na-Dene family

Yeniseian family

Eskimo-Aleut family

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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Welcome to Summer...and more visits to libraries!!!

Summer is here again and instead of bombarding you with electronic resources, I'm going to post some more libraries that I have visited over the past few years. Yes, when I go on vacation I always make it a point to stop at the local library. I'm always curious how other libraries stack up against the ones I've worked at or used and how they operate. Today's stop is in the infamous town of Helen, GA. Maybe infamous is a bit harsh since this town is much nicer than any other surrounding it for at least 100 miles, but it is fake. Back in the 60's it was decided to turn this town into an Alpine village and make it a tourist destination. Driving in rural Georgia and suddenly arriving at what looks like Bavaria is quite a surreal experience. I was there shortly before Christmas in 2005 and it really did look pretty, but again, I might as well have been in Vegas. At least the library's architecture was in tune with the rest of the village. Helen's library is a branch of the Northeast Georgia Regional Library System.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Streaming Video

In reference to last week's post, I would like to bring to your attention the Annenberg Media site which has videos you can stream on learning German, French and Spanish. These programs originally aired on PBS and I distinctly remember watching French in Action on TV back in the 80s. It had a very unique approach of teaching without any instruction in English and I highly recommend this program. In addition to these foreign language programs, there are many others on world history and cultures. You do need to create a free account in order to view the videos online.
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Foreign Languages

Looking for something on learning a foreign language? I have never seen a site with as much material as this one. Not only do they have books, which are primarily in pdf format, but also audio, video and cd-rom format. Keep in mind that a lot of their postings are copyrighted material, so use caution when offering a title to a patron. A safer bet would be to use the free database ERIC and use the descriptor "Conversational Language Courses". Here you will find many courses with audio accompaniment and although they may be somewhat dated, they are all in the public domain.
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Sunday, May 10, 2009

Dabbling in Genealogy?




http://www.myheritage.com/





http://www.geni.com/

Looking to build your family tree? The above two websites have a basic membership that is free and not only is it easy to create a pedigree , but these sites can also be used for social networking. As a matter of fact, you can interface Geni with Facebook which opens up a whole new realm of possibilities. Although My Heritage at this time has less users and also a restriction of 250 names for a free account, it does offer additional statistics on your family tree as well as free genealogical software to download. Both have a clean and easy-to-use interface, so my recommendation is, try them both. If you're looking to connect with a long-lost relative, using both sites may be to your advantage.



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Friday, May 1, 2009

Building a resume

Let's face it, putting together a resume and searching for jobs is one of the main services public libraries provide, especially with the current economic situation. Until last month, the library system I work for did not even have word processing available for its patrons for many years. Even with online word processors such as Google Docs and Zohowriter, trying to build a resume on one of these can be an absolute nightmare. Trying to align the text, remain consistent with font types and size and all of this with a lack of a print preview can test anyone's patience.

For those libraries without word processing software, Chris Warren who is a colleague of mine, recommended the following website>>> http://www.emurse.com/
In addition to allowing you to create up to two resumes and being able to download them in a variety of formats, it is also a place to search for jobs and for employers to search for you!
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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Library Humor!

This post will be a bit on the lighter side.


Well, one thing's for sure...if you're going to work in a library and keep your sanity, you have to maintain at least some level of humor. Luckily, the people I work with do, although this hasn't always been the case. I remember when I was still in the hotel business, there were people that would rather torture others including themselves than step back and take a less serious look at things.
OK, enough rambling and on to today's post. I don't know why there hasn't been a sitcom set in a library; I for one think there is enough material to keep it going for many seasons! Well actually, there was a short-lived series on Australian TV called "The Librarians" two years ago. Unfortunately it's unavailable on DVD here in the States. For those interested, here is a link to the website.
My first introduction to library humor was Will Manley's column in American Libraries. If you do not have a subscription to this journal, you can always go into a database, such as MasterFile Premier and do a search. He has also written quite a few books of which "Unprofessional Behavior: Confessions of a Public Librarian" is my favorite.

Hungry for more, I did a web search and came across this group from Australia (apparently they have a better sense of humor than us!) called Warrior Librarians. This is the old website but a new blog was started last year and can be found here. They also published a book which I ILL'd back in 2005. Had some humorous bits, but then I stumbled across the now almost legendary comic strip "Unshelved". This also spawned a few books. The strip was most effective when it dealt with everyday going-ons in the library, but often it got just downright silly.

Only a few days I was introduced to "Shelf Check", an online comic by a librarian in Minneapolis. Like "Dilbert" it's hit-and-miss, but when it hits home, it works beautifully. Here's a couple of frames as an example (just click on them) >>>





Here is another good resource of miscellaneous links >>> http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/libhumor.html
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Lexile Framework for Reading

Lexile is similar in approach to the accelerated reading lists we all familiar with, but includes many more selections (tens of thousands of books and tens of millions of articles according to the website) and it extends all the way to college level. I have only briefly looked over this website, but it looks like a very valuable tool. This website was brought to my attention by DeAnna Teske-Espinoza. Thank you very much for this suggestion!

http://www.lexile.com/
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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Do you like making lists?


Here's a neat little website that allows you to create and share lists. What I like most about it, is that you can import and export lists in csv format. For those of you unfamiliar with this format, it is a database type and stands for "Comma-separated values." If you are using Access, Excel or Works, you can save your file in this format and upload it to this website.
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Digitized Maps!

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection

Click on the above link to the most impressive online map collection I've come across. Part of the University of Texas, this digital collection contains political, topographical as well as historical maps from all over the world in jpeg format and, in some instances, pdf format.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Movies based on books

A co-worker of mine, Dione Regan, passed on this site to me. http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies/

The Mid-Continent Public Library in Missouri has produced this very impressive list of over 1,000 films which are based on books. Not only is it interesting to find out that some of your favorite movies were actually based on books, but also when the title of the film differs from the book.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Movies & TV!


Alright, everybody by now should know about this site. If you are looking for information on films, actors, actresses, directors, you name it, it simply has no equals. I have a permanent link on my browser and use it almost on a daily basis.

You may however not be familiar with this one. If you are looking for information on television series, this is the site. With cast listings as well as episode guides on each and every season, Epguides is a handy reference tool.
This website checks the availability of TV shows on DVD. If you create a free account, you can even keep lists of the DVDs you own, and which ones you plan to buy. Invaluable for those library systems investing in classic TV.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Newspapers from around the World!

Want to read your local newspaper or perhaps one from halfway around the world? Well, there's a good chance you will find it online and save the rainforests in the process. There are a number of good sites which index newspapers from around the world. And here's a simple test on how good a particular site is - search for a paper from Liechtenstein. If you get any results at all, it's a good site!

www.newspapers24.com
www.world-newspapers.com
www.onlinenewspapers.com
www.worldpress.org/gateway.htm
www.pressdisplay.com

My personal favorite is www.allnewspapers.com. This site also lists magazines, radio stations and TV stations.
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Sunday, February 8, 2009

Need online space?

Just when it looked like Google was the most generous in allotting online space, Microsoft has upped the ante. Talk about space to upload your photos! 25 GIG! You can also use this space to upload files to backup online. Microsoft calls this SkyDrive (oh, I get it!). As a matter of fact, MSN has streamlined so many of their features, such as the calendar, address book, event log, blog, online office tools, etc, right now I'm curious how Google is going to answer. Anyhow, it is us, the consumer, that is benefitting from all these free services.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

mp4, mov, mkv - What does this all mean?

Ever come across a file that won't open and you have no idea what program to use to open it? FILExt is an very handy site that allows you to type in a file extension and lists all programs associated with it. I have been using this site for years and most recently have found it extremely helpful when assisting patrons with mysterious file attachments in their emails. I may not be able to open those attachments for them, but at least I can tell them what program they can use outside the library.
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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Google does it again!

I missed one very important site in last month's post on free photo hosting. Google's Picasa also offers a gig of space and allows you to organize your photos in folders. Like most everything with Google, the page is uncrowded and intuitive. If you happen to have a blog on blogger.com, all your photos on the blog are neatly tucked away in a folder. Bravo!
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