Friday, November 30, 2007

Friends of the Library Toolkit of Ideas


This week the good people at Web Junction blogged me a number of links to web sites with great resources for Friends of the Library.

For easy access, I added those links to our Friends of the Library page. Topics include: recruiting new members, lobbying tips for Friends, how to sell books online, and much more.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Curious about Amazon's new ebook reader?

Listen here for New York Public Radio's interview of Michael McCreary from of E-Ink Corporation about Amazon's new electronic book reader. Michael McCreary hopes that readers will finally give up the dead-tree version of books. Interesting idea - promoting ebooks to speed up the greening of America.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Interesting downloads

Open Culture occasionally re-posts a commencement speech made by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple.com, to the graduating class of Stanford University in June 2005. Success may not always be measured in financial gain in doing what you love as Steve Jobs has achieved, but as I approach retirement I'm happy to say that I've followed similar guidelines and look back with satisfaction.

20+ public domain links for eBooks - some of these are listed on our website and most are free, but this list includes downloadable books in various formats and genres. It is definitely worth bookmarking!

Holiday book buying?

Check out The New York Times 100 notoable books of the year. This list will also run in the Dec. 2 print edition of their Book Review.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Friends Christmas Tree Silent Auction


Help the Friends of TPL make much needed funds for the library. Place your bid on miniature Christmas Trees decorated by local crafters (including staff and Friends of the Library). Trees are displayed on top of the magazine shelving in the main reading room of adult services and bids will be accepted from November 25 until December 4.
Winning bidders will be notified and may pay for their tree and take it home from December 8 until December 11. All money made will go to fulfill library programs in 2008, and your help will be much appreciated.

Winter Reading Clubs


Adults - Read or listen to 5 books and be eligible to win prizes including a special grand prize basket. Stop at the Reference Desk to register. The club runs from November 13th, 2007—March 14th, 2008. Registration begins on November 13th.
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Children - Winter Reading Clubs for readers and non-readers will take place November 13 through March 14. At registration receive a book bag, reading log and bookmark. Read library books to earn stickers for your reading log, along with raffle tickets for fantastic prizes and an invitation to a pizza party!
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Teens - TeenCrossings will be hosting a winter reading club from November 14th, 2007 to March 14, 2008. To participate, fill out a book review form available in TeenCrossings or at TeenCrossings.org. Each week a drawing will be held for a Borders Gift Certificate and movie passes. At the end of winter, all eligible entries will go into a drawing for a $50 Kohl's Gift Card or a $50 GameStop Gift Card!

Toys for Tots


Once again, the library will be participating in Toys for Tots which is sponsored by the United States Marine Corps, the Twinsburg City Schools, and the Twinsburg Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program. You can help a less fortunate child have a happier holiday by bringing a new, unwrapped toy to the library between Nov. 26th and Dec. 16th. For every toy donated, $10 of your fines will be waived. This is the library's way of thanking you for your continued patronage and support.

Cookbook on Sale


The Taste of Tradition Cookbook is now on Sale at the Circulation Desk. Copies are $15. Proceeds benefit the Twinsburg Public Library. The cookbook includes recipes from local patrons and businesses that highlight family traditions and cultural heritage. Some recipes originally appeared on our Taste of Twinsburg blog, but many are new contributions collected just for this publication.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Small Engine Repair Reference Center


is the definitive online tool for small engine repair assistance, including: ATVs, commercial mowers, farm tractors, generators, motorcycles, marine (boats), outdoor power equipment, PWC (personal watercraft/jet ski), snowblowers, snowmobiles, tillers and other small engines. This comprehensive resource contains 407 reference books in full text with original photos and illustrations that guide the user through every job. The database often contains more than 25 years of an engine model, and offers assistance in providing routine maintenance, such as tune-ups and brake service, as well as extensive repairs involving engine and transmission disassembly. Also, the database allows users to select a type of product, specific brand, specific model/engine type, and specific area of that model/engine type. Additionally, model numbers will also be searchable.

Points of View Reference Center


is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument). Topics covered include: affirmative action, cloning, DNA profiling, HIV/AIDS status disclosure, immigration, Iraq, Israel & the Palestinians, Katrina and FEMA response, nuclear proliferation, separation of church and state, standardized testing, stem cell research, tax cuts, voting machines, and many more. This database contains a balance of materials from all viewpoints, including 800 main essays, leading political magazines from both sides of the aisle, newspapers, radio & TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books. The database also offers guides to debate, developing arguments and writing position papers. Additionally, this database contains the Video Encyclopedia of the 20th Century, providing students with a searchable collection of some of the most important social, political, and cultural moments of the 20th century.

Home Improvement Reference Center

is the definitive online tool for home improvement assistance, including: maintenance, remodeling, electrical work, plumbing, wood projects, outdoor improvements, decorating home & garden, etc. The database also contains full text for many other related publications that help to supplement and support the unique full-text reference works and images from CPi. This resource is made available through its own specialized interface to make searching for information of interest as easy as possible.

Auto Repair Reference Center

includes more than 31,660 vehicles covered from 1945 to present; over 205,000 drawings and step-by-step photographs; approximately 75,000 technical service bulletins & recalls issued by the original equipment vehicle manufacturer; over 130,000 enhanced wiring diagrams for easy viewing and printing; specifications & maintenance schedules; Labor Time Guide & Estimator; AutoIQ; Quick Tips, a complete guide to vehicle ownership & maintenance; unlimited remote access and much more. New repair procedures and updates will also be added continuously. All of the content in Auto Repair Reference Center has been created by ASE certified technicians.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Cool Photo Editing Tool

Picnik is a powerful photo editing tool that is online and really easy to use. There is nothing to download and it works on Macs, Windows, and Linux systems. Since I use all three operating sytems and I don't have to install in on my PCs, I'm really excited about it. Even better - it also integrates easily with Flickr and Picasa and other social networking sites. I've only used the free application, but there is a premium version that might offer the serious photographer more options.

Popularity of Downloadable Audiobooks

Did you ever think that you would have to wait as long to check-out a free digital book from the public library as you do for a print version of the same title? Well, if you are as frustrated as I am, there are some good alternatives. Granted they may not be the latest best sellers, but who's had time to listen to every great book in the public domain or free stuff published online and don't even get me started on DRM (Digital Rights Management). Here are some great sites to get audiobooks that you can download to any mp3 player, including iPods.

AudioBooksForFree.com - Individual titles are downloadable for free, but you may also purchase entire sets on CDs/DVDs or preloaded devices.

LibriVox - is my personal favorite. They've just added their 1,000th book to their catalog. I subscribe using iTunes and automatically sync to my iPod for portability. They also provide RSS feeds to keep up with their latest news and new realeases.

openculture - Their podcast library includes audiobooks, free language podcasts, a music podcast collection (classical, jazz, and rock), and links to many more sites. I also subscribe to this web site with my RSS reader.

FSI Language courses - These courses were developed by the Foreign Service Institute and are in the public domain! This is not a pretty site, but it is easy to use. Spartan student texts are also available.

On the whole, these sites are easy to use and will provide you with worthy audio titles while you wait to be notified that your free Overdrive title is ready for download or if you don't want to fork out another $25 to $50 from a fee based site.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cleveland Public Library opens new island in Second Life



Cleveland Public Library, of Cleveland, Ohio, is opening a new island in Second Life on Friday, November 16th. Cleveland Public Library is the third largest public research library in the United States, and also is the largest repository of chess-related items in the world. The island includes playable, life-size chess sets, and the Main Library building currently features an exhibit of historical chess sets owned by the library in real life. Also be sure to check out the Photo Gallery (believe us, you'll know it when you see it!), where we have an exhibit of sheet music related to Cleveland and Ohio.

The island will open to the public at 6pm EST, with tours as time and guides allow. Grand opening activities will include two live music performances: Picker Apogee at 8pm and Nad Gough at 10pm. A costume contest for the best chess-related costume will take place at 9pm, with a Linden dollar grand prize to the winner. The life-size chess sets will also be available for casual or competitive play. The island can be found in the InfoIsland Archipelego, adjacent to both the American Library Association and Stanford University Libraries. Please IM Lebachai Vesta inworld with any questions. If you have an SL avatar, please join us to celebrate this major opening in Second Life!

NetWellness.org November Newsletter

Check HERE for the latest newsletter with new articles on consumer health issues.