Harry Potter and the Humongous Audiobook
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released this summer on July 21. The audiobook version comes out at the same time. Narrated by Jim Dale, the unabridged book will clock in at more than 21 hours, be priced at $79.95, and take up 17 CDs or 12 audiocassettes!
Print, digital, or audio? Take your pick!
A
recent article in the
Washington Post describes what may be the future of book publishing. The Caravan Project, which is supported by the MacArthur, Carnegie and Century foundations, is
exploring the commercial viability of offering customers the choice of a wide variety of formats for the new books they buy. Right now, only a small number of bookstores and publishers are participating, but the more titles will be available at more stores during the three-year life of the project. Most publishers are digitizing their books now, even though they don't offer them to the public in that format.
If a store did not have the book a
customer wanted, the book could be purchased in a variety of digital formats delivered by email, or the
audio book could be downloaded, or a "print-on-demand" copy could be created. A division of Ingram Industries, the nation's largest book distributor is a key player in the Caravan Project, another factor that could contribute to the project's success.
The Chattahoochee Valley Regional Library System offers over 26,000 titles in ebooks. To use the digital books, library users must first register at
www.netlibrary.com from withing any of our nine libraries. It only takes a couple of minutes. Just click on "Create a Free Account" at the NetLibrary site. Then just fill in the short form, which asks for a user name and password, a security question, and an email address. Once registered, you can access the NetLibrary collection from any computer on the Internet. The books you choose will be displayed on your computer screen. By the way, this is the same site from which audiobooks may be downloaded for free to your computer and MP3 player.
Fortune has an interactive calendar that tracks how many millionaires reside in each state. Click the link to see Georgia's totals...The calculator also gives the median income for each state and a calculator to determine how long it will take for one to join the club.
...until March. CNN reports that no explanation was forthcoming. It will be interesting to see how the battle between cable and internet companies plays out...
Britney Goes Bald! Is There a Cure for Cancer?
Imagine having your own personalized news clipping service that searches newspapers all over the world for items of interest to you! And it's free! That's exactly what the "News Alert" feature at news.google.com does.
For instance, today we learn that Britney Spears has shaved her head (I'm not making this up.) To follow that story, go to the
google.com
web page, click on the "News" tab above the search box, and then click on the "News Alerts" link on the left-side menu column. Enter the works that describe your interest (bald Britney), how often you want to be alerted, and your email address. Google Alerts does the rest. It will email you updates on your topic.
This is a frivolous example. Another use for the service would be to keep tabs on developing treatments for cancer or other medical conditions, monitoring a local news story that affects you, or news about a place you want to visit. It's all up to you.
Nab that screen!!
Sometimes capturing a screen image is more difficult than lassoing a calf while galloping on a horse! The problem is that
web pages are primarily designed to be displayed on the screen, not printed. If you're lucky, the page creator also thought about how to make it easy to print the page, too. Then there are
times when your computer goes wacky and you call Technical Support. They want to know what is on the screen and you can't remember all the error messages that have come and gone. It's time for
Print Screen Button to come to the rescue!
The
Print Screen button is usually somewhere in the top right hand area of your keyboard. When you press this button, it captures an image of what is displayed on the screen. If you have several windows open, press
Alt + Print Screen, and this will capture the active window. Now open a blank page in Microsoft Word, or another word processor. You can insert the captured screen by clicking on
Edit/Paste, or by pressing the '
Ctrl' button along with the '
v' key. The screen image should now appear on the page, and it should be printable. Keep in mind that even though the screen capture may contain text, you can't edit it. That's because what you captured is more like a picture, which is all of one piece, not individual elements like letters or words. Good times to use this feature include:
- Capturing web pages you want to print, when the print commands don't work for you.
- Doing a quick and easy screen captures to show repair technicians what is happening.
- In developing training materials. You can create a screen capture that goes along with your explanatory text, making the material much easier to understand for your students.
Keeping Copies of Email
Have you ever had the experience of sending an email and the recipient swears they never received a copy? It is easy to keep copies of all the mail you send. This is also a good way to settle arguments over what was discussed or decided during an email exchange from months before.
Here's how you do it: In Outlook, select Tools/Options/Preferences, click Email Options and check "Save copy of messages in Sent Items folder." This creates a folder in the main email window called "Sent". To avoid having this folder grow to gargantuan size, once a week you should go into it and delete unimportant things. Otherwise, it can grow to include hundreds or even thousands of messages. Believe me --- it happened to me, and it is no fun trying to week thorough that many emails.
Check out the new CPL bookmark site on del.icio.us. There are only eight sites currently bookmarked, but more will be added over the course of this week! del.icio.us is what's called a "social bookmarking" web site which means one can check one's bookmarks from anywhere there is a computer and share bookmarks with anyone.
So far, on CPL's site, there are links to business and government information, including the IRS and Georgia Department of Revenue (it's tax time, after all!). But more sites are on the way....
Advanced searching in Google
Have you ever clicked on the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button below the search box in Google? Instead of getting a long result list, you'll see only one site listed. The designers of the search engine are so confident that the first result you get will be useful to you that they added this button (to show off, if you ask me).
Often you will want much more control over your searches than the basic search box provides. In that case, click on the "Advanced Search" to the right of the search box on the Google opening page. This will take you to a page with numerous options. You'll be able to limit your search results by language, and by the last date the page was updated, to get the most recent results. Expanded search boxes make it easy to search for exact phrases, all of your terms, at least one of your terms, and you can even specify words that should not appear in your results.
Problem: chopped off pages when printing from the web.
Sometimes, when printing from the Internet, the text on the right hand side of the page gets chopped off. This can be very frustrating! The problem occurs because most web pages are designed to look good for on-screen display, and not necessarily for printing. There are several things you can try to get everything printed. First, look around the web page for a link saying something like "Printer-friendly version". This takes you to a web page that is designed for printing. I see this link most often on map sites, and newspaper and magazine sites. Also, if you have your favorites or history windows open on the left of your screen, close them. This gives more room for the actual web page.
Second, you can adjust how the printed page is formatted. Click on File from the top menu bar, and then Page Setup. Here you can change the paper orientation to landscape instead of portrait, and you can make the margins as small as possible. This will solve most problems with clipped off text.
Be sure to use the Print Preview feature. By taking a look at how the pages will appear before you print them, you can see if the changes you made to page setup were effective. You can also use print preview to see if there are empty pages at the end of a document, and then adjust the range of pages printed to eliminate them.
How city directories are different from phone directories
The Reference Desk at most libraries will generally have a Polk City Directory or a Cross+Search Reverse Phone Directory in addition to the regular phone books. These directories stand head and shoulders above the phone book for the wealth of information they provide.
- Entries often include information about the people listed in the directory
- You may look up phone numbers to find the person with that number, or look up addresses to see who lives at the address (reverse phone and address features).
- The map section is very detailed.
- The Polk Directory has a 'Movers and Shakers' section --- for promising sales leads.
- A demographic summary gives age, income, education, and other information for census tracts.
Personal information may include occupation, owner or renter, years at the address, estimated home value, and an indication for a new listing. Business entries typically list the owner or manager of the business and the number of employees. The street listings show the cross-streets, so it is easy to picture where a particular address is located. The demographic section makes it easy to identify streets and subdivisions with the greatest household incomes or home values.
From 'The Devil's Dictionary':
Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. --- Ambrose Bierce
Websites for finding people and businesses.
If you can't find what you need in the local phone book, the phone numbers and addresses you want may be available on the web. For instance,
http://www.whowhere.com/ and
http://www.whitepages.com/ both have listings for individuals and businesses. Most of the major web portals like
Yahoo! and
msn.com have links on their opening pages to white and yellow page sites. If these search sites can't find a name or address or phone, often they will link you to websites that will provide the information for a small fee. These sites get their information from public records. They also offer searches for criminal and court records, and property information.
How about a little privacy please! Hiding email recipeints.
One reason I hate to get forwarded messages of jokes, videos, and other amusing tidbits from the web is that the sender invariably puts all the email addresses of the recipients in the "To:" field. Then everyone who gets the message sees all the email addresses, and all the people who forward the message are passing along the addresses again until hundreds if not thousands of recipients are potentially going to wind up with your email address. Including SPAMMERS!
Don't do this to your friends and family, please. There is an easy way to get your message to everyone you want without exposing their address to the whole blessed world. Use the "bcc:" field when choosing recipients. Bcc: stands for 'blind copy'. This means ten names could be in the bcc: address field, and they all receive the email, but it looks to them like they are the only recipient because only their name appears in the "To:" field. You can put your own name in the "To: field if your email program requires an address there. If the "Bcc:" field doesn't display in your email program, look at your settings for messages. In MS Outlook, click on 'View' in the top menu, and then click on "Bcc: field" in the list of options.
Quote for the day...
My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places. --- A. A. Milne
BE A CHAMPION SPELLER IN JUST FOUR CLICKS OF THE MOUSE!
Nothing is more embarrassing than sending an email full of spelling errors, especially at work! It doesn't have to be that way. Most email programs have a built-in spelling-check feature. Many of them can be set up to work automatically, so that no message gets sent before the spelling is checked and corrected. In Microsoft Outlook it only takes four clicks of the mouse to set this up. First, click on
Tools on the menu bar. Then click
Options, and then
Spelling. Check the box for "Always check spelling before sending." Now every message gets checked before it goes out, and you have the chance to make corrections. I just used spell check on this post and I am embarrassed to admit, I misspelled "embarrassing." Sigh.
Google Tip: How to Search Quickly for Images
Most of us use
Google as a quick way to find information on the web on any topic. It is one of the best search engines there is, and it is getting better every day. Often we don't need information about something so much as we need a picture or image of something. In that case, use Google's image search feature. Just above the box where you enter your search terms, there are links to
Images,
Videos,
News,
Maps, and more. Click on the
Image link before entering your search terms and the result list you get will be page after page of thumbnail images of whatever you are looking for. A search for "dogs" returns 48.5
million images. Click on the thumbnail image and you get a larger image, and below it, the page on the web where the image occurs is displayed. Right-clicking an image brings up a list of options. You can save or print the image, or set it as your desktop background!
Phone directories and beyond...
- Did you ever take a moment to consider all the great information the phone directory has besides telephone numbers? Nowadays, the directory serves as a basic guide to the Chattahoochee Valley area. Here are a few things I noticed when I took a closer look:
- 28 emergency numbers besides 9-1-1. They include the Red Cross, Rape Crisis Hotline, numbers for the FBI, Secret Service, GBI, DEA, Georgia State Patrol, Metro Narcotics Taskforce, battered women, missing children, railroad emergencies, and CONTACT, a 24-hour helpline for all kinds of problems.
- Listings for two pages of local telephone service providers in addition to BellSouth.
- Maps for area codes and Phenix City and Columbus
- A calendar of annual events
- Seating charts for all the local performance halls such as the Civic Center, Springer, RiverCenter and the Bradley and Liberty Theatres, plus seating charts for local sports venues.
Unfortunately, the phone book is organized only one way: alphabetically by a person's last name. What do you do if you have a telephone number or address and want to know the person it belongs to? Tomorrow, I'll cover the Polk City Directory, and the Cross+Search Reverse Phone Directory.
Pop-up book author pops into the Library!
Robert Sabuda, renowned author and creator of pop-up or moveable books will be at the CPL Saturday, January 20, at 2:00 p.m. He'll direct a workshop at 2:00 and then be available to sign books and talk with patrons at 4:00. But why wait until Saturday to learn about his work and to be delighted by pop-up books? Here is a
preview of his workshop, as featured on NPR's website. An interview with Mr. Sabuda is also on the NPR site as an audio file.
The following are some other resources on movable books that you may find interesting:
The Broward County (FL) Public Library presents a
history of the pop-up book.
Left,
Beauty and the Beast. Home Pantomime Toy Books. London: Dean & Son, [ca]. Pop-up books, or movable books, have a long history. Here is an illustration from 1873. For a short introduction to pop-up books, go
here.
Colorful and wonderful pop-up books from the collection of Ann Montenaro can be seen here.
NOTE: Because pop-up books are so delicate and are so easily damaged, the library system does not purchase them for our collections.
Keeping up with C-SPAN 2's weekend Book-TV
The very best TV for book lovers is C-SPAN 2's
Book TV. Their focus is on non-fiction books, all weekend, every weekend. The author panels and interviews from book fairs all over the country are my favorite. The authors seem to let their hair down a little compared to when they appear on the Sunday political talk shows, for instance.
There are several regular series on the book channel. For 16 years, C-SPAN's CEO Brian Lamb interviewed authors of non-fiction books every Sunday, on
Booknotes. He has retired from that rigorous schedule, but the series
Encore Booknotes has highlights from the interviews he did over the years.
Public Lives is a look at biographies, and
History covers non-fiction history books.
In Depth features longer (three hour) visits with a variety of authors. In the series
Afterwords, authors of newly published books have a dialog with interviewers who are very knowledgeable about the subject of the books.
Today I learned about
Book TV Alert, an emailed newsletter that has Book TV's programming schedule. It is easy to sign up. Do it
here.
Library Quotes for Today
The biggest thing in our house was when you learnt to write your name, you got to go and get a library card. --- Janis Joplin
The time was when a library was very much like a museum, and a librarian was a mouser in musty books... The time is when a library is a school, and the librarian is the highest sense a teacher. --- Melvil Dewey
My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity. --- Malcolm X
I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book. --- Groucho Marx
Courtesy of
www.brainyquote.com
craigslist
The
Columbus Community News, a free local newspaper, reported December 22 that
craigslist has come to Columbus. Craigslist started out in 1995 as a simple online community bulletin board with mostly classified ads in San Francisco. It is absolutely a bare-bones site, and folks that are used to flashy graphics and the latest in web technology will be disappointed. Despite that,
craigslist.org has become the seventh most visited site on the Internet. The link in this post is for the Columbus area of the list, but there are links to the national and international areas on the page.
The bulk of the site is devoted to categories such as 'housing', 'for sale', 'services', 'gigs', 'personals', and 'community'. Right now the Columbus site only has about a thousand entries, but that should grow quickly as people become aware of the site and begin using it and recommending it to others. In addition to the local links, there are links to 75 discussion forums on a variety of topics, including 'eco', 'religion', 'kink', 'legal', and 'vegan'. Be forewarned that the language in some of the forums may be crude and offensive.
I checked out the 'joke' discussion forum and found some great jokes I plan to share. Visit the site and see if it has something you can use!
MySpace banned in Florida library
Here's a
link to an article from American Librares regarding the social networking site, MySpace. A Florida library has banned its use as well as YouTube....
Movies @ CPL
Classic Movie @ Columbus Public LibraryThe Man Who Knew Too Much.A family vacationing in Morocco accidentally stumble onto anassassination plot and the conspirators are determined to prevent them from interfering. This movie has been rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested
Monday, December 18 at 6:30 p.m.
Children's Winter Break MatineeOne Magic Christmas.An angel must show a mother the true meaning of Christmas. It's not just presents and materialistic things, but the people she cares about.This movie is rated G: General Audiences.
Tuesday, December 19 at 4:30 p.m. & 6:30 p.m.
All movies will be shown in the Columbus Public Library auditorium.
Shakespeare: As You Like it!
Beginning in January, there will be a three part lecture and discussion series about the work of William Shakespeare. Dr. Susan Hrach will be the speaker the evening of January 16. Her presentation is entitled
Is This Really English?, about the language Shakespeare used in this writing and how it has changed over the years as plays have been rewritten. Joining Dr. Hrach will be Laura Cole, from the Atlanta Shakespeare Company at the New American Shakespeare Tavern.
To support the Shakespeare Series, there will be books, audiobooks, and movies on display January through March, for patrons to check out. The materials will include his plays and poems, as well as books about his life and times. There will be a series of eight films shown as part of the Shakespeare Series. A list of the movies in this series, with dates, times, and descriptions will be posted soon.>
Book Clubs @ Your Local Libraries
Thursday, December 28 at 6:00 p.m. The Hooked On Books Book Club will meet to discuss a variety of Christmas novels by popular authors such as Mary Higgins Clark, Richard Paul Evans and Fern Michaels. (South Columbus Branch Library) Call 706-683-8805 for more details.
For a
complete list of library book club meetings, go to the main page of the library's website.
All the November Events in the Library System!
Every month, Christie Rudd, in the Public Relations Department of the library, prepares a comprehensive listing of all library events, to help keep library staff informed. I'm including it here for your convenience. If this is something you'd like to see on the blog regularly, post a comment and let us know.
Authors and More:
Wednesday, November 8 at 7:00 p.m. Young Adult author Sharon Draper will be in Columbus. This award winning author of more than 20 books, National Teacher of the Year, and acclaimed national speaker, will be our guest in the library to speak and sign copies of her books which will be on sale at the event. (Columbus Public Library-Auditorium)
Sunday, November 12 at 3:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Muscogee County Friends of Libraries, this month we feature the Columbus School of Music students. Please join us in the auditorium for this special musical afternoon. (Columbus Public Library-Auditorium)
Book Clubs and Writers Groups:
Saturday, November 11 at 1:00 p.m. The Page Turners Book Club will meet to discuss The Mis-Education of the Negro by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. (Mildred Terry Branch Library)
Thursday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m. The Hooked On Books Book Club will meet to discuss Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns (South Columbus Branch Library)
Wednesday, November 22 at 12:00 p.m. The Brown Bag Book Club will meet at the Columbus Public Library to discuss When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguru. (Columbus Public Library-3rd Floor Conference Room)
Saturday, November 25 at 10:30 a.m. The Georgia Writer’s Association will meet at the Columbus Public Library for their monthly meeting. (Columbus Public Library-Synovus Meeting Room)
Classes:
--- The Genealogy Department of the Columbus Public Library offers several classes that introduce you to the basics of Genealogical research. For more information, call 706-243-2681.
---The Mildred Terry Branch Library offers a variety of basic computer classes each Thursday afternoon. The classes are for adults with no computer experience. For more information, call 706-748-2851.
---The Reference Department of the Columbus Public Library offers a variety of computer classes each month. Class size is limited and registration is required. For more information, call 706-243-2687.
---The South Columbus Branch Library will offer several introductory computer classes for seniors. Class size is limited and registration is required. For more information, call 706-683-8805.
Free Movies: All of these movies will be shown in the CPL auditorium. Bring your popcorn and sodas and enjoy the show! Munchies are also available from the Library Cafe.
Monday, November 6 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s Documentary @ Columbus Public Library is Four Days In November. This 1964 documentary was released the year following JFK's assassination and chronicles the days leading up to President Kennedy's assassination.
This movie has not been rated: NR
Monday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s Festival Film @ Columbus Public Library is Capote. Truman Capote, during his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.
This movie has been rated R: Restricted
Tuesday, November 14 @ 4:30 p.m. The Children’s Movie Matinee for November is Eight Below. Brutal cold forces two Antarctic explorers to leave their team of sled dogs behind to fend for their survival. This movie has been rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested
Saturday, November 18 @ 1:00 p.m. The Teen Movie for November is Over The Hedge. A scheming raccoon fools a mismatched family of forest creatures into helping him repay a debt of food, by invading the new suburban sprawl that popped up while they were hibernating...and learns a lesson about family himself. This movie is rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested
Monday, November 20 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s Classic Movie @ Columbus Public Library is The Time Of Their Lives. Two ghosts who were mistakenly branded as traitors during the Revolutionary War return to 20th century New England to retrieve a letter from George Washington which would prove their innocence. This movie has not been rated: NR
Monday, November 27 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s New Release @ Columbus Public Library is United 93. A real time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
This movie has been rated R: Restricted
A True All-American Holiday Approaching
With Christmas decorations and store displays appearing as early as August or September, some of the other fall holidays get lost in the Christmas marketing blitz. Thanksgiving, thankfully, is probably the one holiday that is still relatively untouched by consumer frenzy.
From bookletters.com: "With Thanksgiving approaching, it’s a good time to read up on the remarkable history and traditions of this uniquely American holiday. National Book Award-winning author Nathaniel Philbrick presents the true story of the Pilgrims’ settlement in the new world in
Mayflower. Children can read about what life was like for the Plymouth colonists in Catherine O’Neill Grace’s
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving. If reading about the modern-day celebration is more your style, check out one of the retrospectives on the world-famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, or try a collection of Thanksgiving recipes."
Ms. Dewey --- sexy new search engine, or a waste of your time?
I first heard about
Ms. Dewey last week. She's a new creation from Microsoft that is supposed to give a human face to an Internet search engine, in this case,
Windows Live Search. One day, perhaps we'll always interact with our computers through animated characters, but this attempt falls flat. I tried asking her a very simple question --- what is the capital of Georgia? While waiting for a reply (and apparently for Ms. Dewey to be given the answer by some unseen assistant), I had to watch while Ms. Dewey went through a series of stalling behaviors. She looked at her datebook, her PDA, stood awkwardly, shot a rubber band at me, made great eye contact, and pouted. I finally gave up after 15 minutes or so. Emboldened by some of her inviting 'come hither' looks, I asked her for her phone number. I'm still waiting...
Let me state the obvious: the best humanoid-appearing helper for finding information on the Internet is your friendly, local Reference Librarian. Here at the Columbus Public Library, that is Sarah Boyd, Steven Pharis, Richard Hendry, Kathy Turton, Kelli Murphy, and myself. Someone is always on duty and ready to help you.
Authors tell what libraries have meant to them.
Scott Turow, R. A. Salvatore, and Lisa Scottoline share in these video clips why they love libraries.
To see the clips, click on the names below. If your computer has Windows Media Player (they almost always do), you can view the video.
Scott Turow R. A. SalvatoreLisa Scottoline
Author Event Thursday Night!
Dr. Elizabeth Carrow Woolfolk will be at the library Thursday, October 26, at 7:00 p.m. for a book talk and book signing in the CB&T Meeting Room. Her book,
Pioneers, Patriots, and Planters, chronicles the history of the Woolfolk family, beginning in the British colony of Virginia and ending just after the Civil War during Reconstruction. The book also describes a small group of settlers who journeyed to the New World with the Woolfolks. From this group of settlers came some of our nation's early leaders, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Robert E. Lee. A portion of the book covers the life of John Woolfolk, an early settler of what would one day become Columbus, Georgia.
Books will be available for purchase. Please come and join us!
Oh baby, oh baby!
At the recent Altrusa Labor Day Weekend Book Sale I came across a fun book:
Baby's First Tattoo: a Memory Book for Modern Parents. Now, in addition to noting "baby's first step", or "baby's first word", you can note those other precious moments like "the Saint's name who administered the epidural" and "baby's first tantrum in a crowded grocery store." I liked it so much I am giving it to my niece, who just had a baby girl. She's also getting the CD
For crying out loud!: White Noise to Soothe a Colicky or Crying Baby. This CD has tracks with sounds of the maternal heartbeat, car windshield wipers, vacuum cleaners, blow dryers, the ocean surf, and washing machines. Some parents swear these kinds of noises are the only thing that can get their baby to nod off! One final gift idea for parents: a T-shirt that reads "
What happens in storytime stays in storytime", available
here. It is produced by the writers of a wonderful comic strip that is set in a library. More about that in a later post.
Finding used and out-of-print books.
Only about 3% of
all the books ever published are still in print. But don't despair. With so many book dealers on the Internet now, it is easier and easier to find these titles. For instance,
amazon.com routinely has links to used and out-of-print titles on the main page for each title.
Other good sites are the following:
Alibris,
Antiquarian Booksellers of America,
Abebooks.com, and
bookfinder.com. Bookfinder.com is actually what is called a 'meta-search engine'. You enter the book information just one time and it automatically checks over 50 book search sites from all over the world.
Some people are reluctant to buy used books over the web, but my experience with this has been very good. I usually get the books very quickly and they are in decent shape. I would
caution you about one thing, though. In the antiquarian or rare book trade, the condition of a book is rated from 'poor', to 'fair', 'good', 'very good', 'near-fine', 'fine' and 'as new'. You will do well to choose books that are in 'very good' or higher condition. 'Poor' means
really, really poor, and books in 'fair' condition can be in nasty shape. You can't be sure how a particular seller uses the term 'good' unless they are clearly an established, professional dealer. You can find a good overview of rating book condition
here.
My only bad experience ordering used books online was when I ordered a book on contructing crossword puzzles. The book arrived and the example puzzles had been
filled in by a previous owner! Any inscriptions or markings in a book would have been noted by a reputable seller.
Longstreet Press goes out of business.
Publisher's Weekly reports in its 9-18-06 issue that Longstreet Press is folding, after filing for bankruptcy last summer. They featured books by Southern writers, including Jeff Foxworthy, Lewis Grizzard, Hamilton Jordan, and Bobby Bowden.
The Millionaire Next Door was also one of their successful titles. Their books should still be available on the used book market, or in alternate editions by other publishers.
Akeelah and the Bee
Akeelah and the Bee is the featured film Monday, October 23, at 6:30 in the CPL auditorium. Rated PG [Parental Guidance Suggested] 112 min. 2006.
In this heart-warming film, precocious eleven-year-old Akeelah from south Los Angeles is found to have an affinity for spelling. Despite her mother’s objections, Akeelah enters a contest and eventually finds herself at the National Spelling Bee. A mysterious teacher and a cast of colorful characters from her neighborhood help her along her journey.
Links to reviews of the movie are
here.
Movies & Discussions @ CPL Auditorium
GOOD WILL HUNTING October 30, 6:30 p.m., Rated R (Restricted) 126 min. 1997.This free film showing is cosponsored by One Columbus and the Columbus Public Library. The general public is invited to attend. The Rev. David Chamberlain will lead a discussion after the movie.
Set on the rough-and-tumble streets of inner city South Boston, this is the story of Will Hunting (Matt Damon), a troubled prodigy who, due to problems at home, can’t live up to his potential. As he wrestles with how to use his considerable talents and still remain loyal to a working-class friend (Ben Affleck), he sets out on an emotional journey with the help of a therapist (Robin Williams) and a renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology mathematician who takes Will under his wing.
Can you spell 'tardy'?
October 16 is the birthday of Noah Webster. He is our most famous lexicographer and dictionary compiler, so the day is now celebrated as 'Dictionary Day'. But you may not have known that because this post is late, tardy, unpunctual, belated; it is being posted a day after the expected or usual time. You can look 'tardy' up in the dictionary and learn all that. I just used
www.thefreedictionary.com/. One feature this and other online dictionaries have is a pronunciation link. Click on an icon (usually a small speaker), and you'll hear the word pronounced correctly through the computer's speakers.
RefDesk.com is a convenient place to find dictionaries of all types, and other online resources to answer your reference questions.
Of course the
best place to get answers to reference questions is at your local library. You can dial in directly to the Reference Desk at the Columbus Public Library at 706-243-2687.
Micro, Small, and Home Business Week
This week (October 16-22) has been designated as 'Micro, Small, and Home Business Week'. There is a large exposition in Las Vegas where vendors and people interested in small businesses will gather. You don't have to travel that far to take advantage of some of the resources that will be on display. Just link to
www.BusinessInfoGuide.com and you'll find plenty of helpful sites to visit. I browsed the website looking for information on home businesses and was pleased with what I found.
Changes to the Blog make it more interactive.
Beginning today, two changes have been made to the Blog @ CPL. We hope they will make the Blog more useful to you, and more interesting.
First, you may now forward an entry or post in the Blog by email to anyone you wish. If you see something that you want to share with family or friends, just click on the small envelope that now appears at the bottom of each post. You'll be asked for your name and email address as well as the email address for the person to receive the post. There is a space to add your own comments for the recipient. Your name and email will not be used for anything other than sending the content from the Blog. Promise!
Second, you can add your own comments to a post in the blog now. Other readers will see your comment and they can respond with a comment on the original post or to your comment if they wish. To use this new feature, click on the small yellow pencil at the end of each post.
Other changes in features and format are coming soon. Feel free to reply to this post with ideas for how you think the Blog @ CPL. What would you like to see more or less of? Let us know!
The epitome of style and class.
Did anyone see that the Columbus Public Library building was used as a background for an automobile advertisement in last Friday's Ledger Enquirer? The ad implied the car (a Kia) was as beautiful, well-constructed, and sophisticated as the building. We'd have been more flattered if the car had been a Lexus or Jaguar instead!
Treason charges for an American al Queda member
CNN reports today that Federal prosecutors plan to charge Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American al Queda terrorist, with treason. Originally from California, Gadahn has made several video tapes exhorting other Americans to join the cause (
CNN).
Controversy in Kansas
It seems an editorial in the Lawrence Journal World has all librarians in the area incensed as the article states libraries are obsolete and useless in the 21st century. The author is a professor at Kansas State University who says building a new library is a waste of taxpayer money; instead, the community should provide wifi networks and high-speed internet access to all citizens of Lawrence.
Click
here to read the article. I can't say that I am pleased with the idea of my career being useless! The comments vary from professional librarians who say that their knowledge is much needed to people who don't like the cost of the building. This relates to an
OCLC study on the public's perceptions of libraries which found that most respondents rate information found by libarians and by Google the same; these users see no difference in quality, a fact which should make libarians take notice. We are taught in library school that our skills help us to find "good" and "quality" information but apparently the public at large doesn't see things that way at all.
The survey also found that books serve as
the brand for libraries. Despite our online databases, websites, blogs and wikis, libraries are known for books. Every conference that I've attended suggests that libraries need to find their niche in the consumer world and brand, brand, brand. I confess to being concerned for how many more jingles and advertisements I can truly take. Everytime I turn around I am bombarded by advertisements.
It's not easy trying to navigate an increasingly segmented, busy, online, ever-chaning marketplace. But based on the people that I've witnessed here, I know the community values the library. The real conundrum for me as a reference librarian is how to keep reference relevant in the face of podcasting, video podcasting, chatting, and things like YouTube. It will be interesting to see how things develop, though.
Movies @ CPL
A listing of the upcoming movies to be shown this month at CPL:
Monday, October 16 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s Classic Movie @ Columbus Public Library is Stalag 17.
WWII Allied prisoners fight to survive in a POW camp.
This movie has not been rated: NR.
Tuesday, October 17 @ 4:30 p.m. The Children’s Movie Matinee for October is The Chronicles of Narnia. Four children travel through a magical wardrobe to another land.
This movie has been rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested.
Monday, October 23 at 6:30 p.m. This month’s New Release @ Columbus Public Library is Akeelah and the Bee.
A girl from South LA competes for the National Spelling Bee.
This movie has been rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested.
Saturday, October 28 @ 1:00 p.m. The Teen Movie for October is Stick It.
After a run-in with the law, Haley Graham is forced to return to the world from which she fled some years ago. Enrolled in an elite gymnastics program run by the legendary Burt Vickerman, Haley's rebellious attitude gives way to something that just might be called team spirit.
This movie is rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
Monday, October 30 at 6:30 p.m. One Columbus Feature @ Columbus Public Library: Good Will Hunting.
Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics which is discovered, and a psychologist tries to help him with his gift and the rest of his life.
This movie has been rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
Google unleashes Docs and Spreadsheets
Now one can create a word processing document and spreadsheet using Google. According to today's
Wall Street Journal, Google claims that not everyone needs the full-fledged professional edition of Microsoft Office. With this product, Google is targeting the small business owner as well as the individual user who need only the basics and not all the extras that Office includes. The article noted that Google executives believe the trend is moving away from purchased software applications to exclusively web-based programs. Microsoft officials say that there are inherent limits in Google's approach and businesses are wary of using outside companies for their business needs.
I played with this today and it is functional, no-frills involved, but it's nice having these features available. The fact that it is free makes it even better...
Ford to begin offering buyout packages next week
MSNBC reports that 75,000 hourly workers will receive the offers and have until November 27th to decide. Ford is attempting to reduce staff by 29% by the end of 2008; the cuts also include salaried workers (
MSNBC).
U.S. not moved by North Korean threat to fire nuclear missile
CNN reports U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, as saying the U.S. would not be bullied into direct talks with Pyongyang. Kim Jong II, dictator of North Korea, has managed to anger erstwhile ally China who fears a sudden collapse of the regime would force thousands of refugees into China. The U.S. and Japan are pushing hard for sanctions, but all eyes remain on elusive China who has criticized the nuclear activity of North Korea but also warned the U.S. and allies not to push too far (
CNN).
Quote for the day
Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. Brainyquote.com William James
This Day in History October 8
1871: The Great Chicago Fire Begins. It goes on to kill 250 people, leave 100,000 people homeless and destroy thousands of buildings. All told, the fire was reponsible for an estimated $200 million in damages, approximately one-third of the city's worth.
1890: Edward(Eddie) Rickenbacker born in Columbus, Ohio.
1904: The first Vanderbilt Cup automobile racing event was held in Hicksvill, NY. An early example of world-class motor racing in America, the annual event was created to introduce Europe's best automotive drivers and manufacturers to the U.S. named after the event's organizer, William K. Vanderbilt Jr., the grand prize was the elegant Vanderbilt Cup, crafted by Tiffany & Co., the famous American Jewelers.
1918: Sergeant Alvin C. York while on patrol in the Argonne Forest, France killed 20 enemy soldiers adn captrued a hill, 132 enemy soldiers and 35 machine guns. He was awarded teh US Medal of Honor and French Croix de Guerre for his bravery.
1919: First Transcontinental Air race.
1967: Che Guevara Captured and Killed.
1970 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.
2005: Massive 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Kashmir border region between India and Pakistan.
Source: Chase's 2006 Calendar of Events; www.historychannel.com
News for October 8, 2006
Report: Castro Has Terminal Cancer. Fidel Castro has terminal cancer and will not return to power as Cuba's leader, anonymous US officials tell TIME magazine.(CBSnews.com)
Baseball Great Buck O'Neil Dies at 94. Kansas City, MO Baseball Great and Negro Leagues Ambassdor Buck O'Neil died Friday of undisclosed causes he was 94. Buck O'Neil was the first Black coach for the major leagues when in 1962 he was signed to coached the Chicago Cubs.(CBSnews.c0m)
Mars Images Show Rover Preched on Crater. Spectacular New Images taken by the rover Opportunity could reveal clues about tens of millions of years of the Red Planet's History.(CNN.com)
Amish children buried today
Four of the five little girls killed last week were buried today in quiet funerals in Georgetown, PA. CNN reports the funerals and funeral preparations are held in the home in Amish tradition. Despite the unspeakable horror of the shootings, many Amish are said to be encouraging forgiveness towards murderer Carl Roberts. CNN reports many of the families have reached out to Roberts' relatives (
CNN).
Goodyear workers go on strike in 10 states and in Canada
The move came after management and union workers failed to agree on a labor contract. Labor is concerned over the potential closing of plants while management insists it will keep Goodyear plants open (
CBS).
Government employees at Interior Department abuse computer privileges
An internal investigation revealed many workers went to online auction sites, porn sites and various other websites not relating to departmental work. CBS reports 7,700 employees visited auction and game sites and another 4,500 went to porn sites (
CBS).
It's always good to know government workers have so much free time on their hands...
Hastert says he's staying put
The embattled Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert says he won't quit his job despite the pounding he's taking over the Mark Foley scandal. MSNBC reports he's also lashing out at the media and various Democratic operatives for fueling the flames. Hastert has asked Louis Freeh to investigate the page program (
MSNBC).
Dow Jones closes at another record high
The highs come following big drops in oil prices and expectations that interest rates will drop. Experts still say the economy is slowing (
MSNBC).
Fallout from Foley hits Republicans hard
MSNBC reports Speaker Hastert knew of the problems with Foley nearly three years ago and did nothing. The FBI and the state of Florida are currently investigating the awful emails and messages Foley sent to the teenage pages (
MSNBC).
Patricia Dunn indicted on four felony charges
The New York Times reports that Dunn, the former chairwoman of H-P, was indicted on California state charges following the bungled and criminal attempt to glean the source of boardroom leaks at H-P. Her defense attorneys claim it will be difficult to garner a conviction as California didn't outlaw pretexting during the times in which it occured (
NY Times).
Google launches literacy iniative
CNN reports today that Google is expanding into the literacy arena by putting together a website devoted to literacy and that will include maps, books, videos, and blogs. See
www.google.com/literacy or
www.google.de/literacy (
CNN).
Evening with David McCullough
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a lecture by renowned author David McCullough at our Rivercenter for the Performing Arts here in Columbus, Georgia. A program sponsored by Brookstone School and the library system, it really was a fun evening. McCullough has a great speaking voice and easy, pleasant style and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He spoke mainly about his book
John Adams and spoke of the enormous debt that we owe people such as Adams and the Revolutionary War figures who risked everything to create their own country.
One listener asked McCullough if he thought there was a decline in character today and he emphatically said yes. He pointed out that the Founding Fathers would be highly impressed with the fact that their constitution still stands, their institutions still stand, and their country still stands. But they would also be sickened by the role and importance of money in public affairs and of the events that have engulfed Congress in recent day. McCullough noted that their "pursuit of happiness" did not mean longer vacations; instead, it was a desire for living a full and enriched life in body and soul. Those men, who we have to admit were as flawed as we are, strove for nobility of purpose, for honor, and for good citizenship.
McCullough made comments about how important education is for society and made remarks to the effect that teachers need to be better trained and more well-rounded in order become greater teachers. As a former teacher myself, I found no offense in his remarks but will say that bad teachers aren't the only problem plaguing American education. Society no longer supports teachers in their efforts; education has become a game to make the highest standardized test scores so that schools keep accreditation and students move on to the next grade.
Education cannot be improved and corrected until society as a whole understands that education is crucial to the development of fully functional members of society and places the proper emphasis on pay, training, and support upon it. Society has to value education more than the latest Xbox or fuzzy Elmo.
McCullough was amusing; he told a story of how he was asked "besides John Adamsn and Truman, how many other presidents have you interviewed?" He also noted that when he met President Truman as a young man he was struck by the fact that Truman was in color!
All in all, a great evening!
U.S. Supreme Court denies former Nazi's appeal to stay in the country
According to MSNBC, the U.S. Government decided to revoke John Hansl's citizenship after determining that his stint as an SS concentration camp guard meant he had taken part in atrocities. Hansl appealed the ruling saying he never hid his past, but the Supreme Court rejected his argument (
MSNBC).
Truck driver kills three Amish girls in Pennsylvania
CNN reports that the girls were killed "execution style" in what the news agencies report as a revenge killing. The gunman let the male children go as well as a pregnant teacher. Something happened twenty years ago to the truck driver who apparently decided to take revenge by killing children who did nothing to harm anyone.
These latest killings follow the murder of a school principal in Wisconsin and the horrible events in Colorado (
CNN).
It's a sorry state of affairs when people have to hurt children needlessly...
Florida picks Joe Negron of the state legislature to replace Mark Foley
That's the latest from CNN's breaking news. CNN reports Negron presently serves in the state legislature (
CNN).
A recent article in the Washington Post describes what may be the future of book publishing. The Caravan Project, which is supported by the MacArthur, Carnegie and Century foundations, is exploring the commercial viability of offering customers the choice of a wide variety of formats for the new books they buy. Right now, only a small number of bookstores and publishers are participating, but the more titles will be available at more stores during the three-year life of the project. Most publishers are digitizing their books now, even though they don't offer them to the public in that format.
Imagine having your own personalized news clipping service that searches newspapers all over the world for items of interest to you! And it's free! That's exactly what the "News Alert" feature at news.google.com does.
Sometimes capturing a screen image is more difficult than lassoing a calf while galloping on a horse! The problem is that web pages are primarily designed to be displayed on the screen, not printed. If you're lucky, the page creator also thought about how to make it easy to print the page, too. Then there are
Nothing is more embarrassing than sending an email full of spelling errors, especially at work! It doesn't have to be that way. Most email programs have a built-in spelling-check feature. Many of them can be set up to work automatically, so that no message gets sent before the spelling is checked and corrected. In Microsoft Outlook it only takes four clicks of the mouse to set this up. First, click on Tools on the menu bar. Then click Options, and then Spelling. Check the box for "Always check spelling before sending." Now every message gets checked before it goes out, and you have the chance to make corrections. I just used spell check on this post and I am embarrassed to admit, I misspelled "embarrassing." Sigh.
Most of us use Google as a quick way to find information on the web on any topic. It is one of the best search engines there is, and it is getting better every day. Often we don't need information about something so much as we need a picture or image of something. In that case, use Google's image search feature. Just above the box where you enter your search terms, there are links to Images, Videos, News, Maps, and more. Click on the Image link before entering your search terms and the result list you get will be page after page of thumbnail images of whatever you are looking for. A search for "dogs" returns 48.5 million images. Click on the thumbnail image and you get a larger image, and below it, the page on the web where the image occurs is displayed. Right-clicking an image brings up a list of options. You can save or print the image, or set it as your desktop background!
Robert Sabuda, renowned author and creator of pop-up or moveable books will be at the CPL Saturday, January 20, at 2:00 p.m. He'll direct a workshop at 2:00 and then be available to sign books and talk with patrons at 4:00. But why wait until Saturday to learn about his work and to be delighted by pop-up books? Here is a preview of his workshop, as featured on NPR's website. An interview with Mr. Sabuda is also on the NPR site as an audio file.
The biggest thing in our house was when you learnt to write your name, you got to go and get a library card. --- Janis Joplin
The time was when a library was very much like a museum, and a librarian was a mouser in musty books... The time is when a library is a school, and the librarian is the highest sense a teacher. --- Melvil Dewey 
I must say I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a good book. --- Groucho Marx
The Columbus Community News, a free local newspaper, reported December 22 that craigslist has come to Columbus. Craigslist started out in 1995 as a simple online community bulletin board with mostly classified ads in San Francisco. It is absolutely a bare-bones site, and folks that are used to flashy graphics and the latest in web technology will be disappointed. Despite that, craigslist.org has become the seventh most visited site on the Internet. The link in this post is for the Columbus area of the list, but there are links to the national and international areas on the page.
