Ready for digital books???

We've signed the contract and I'm looking for a few additional guinea pigs who have mp3 players. Myself and a few others have used the netlibrary.com service with great success, but as with anything new there is a learning curve. So if you'd like to participate, please contact me at sboggs@ncpl.info

Cool way to find characters in books!

Let's say that you read a book about 20 years ago and you've long since forgotten the name of the author or title.

NOW THERE'S HELP

At Worldcat you can simply type in the name of one of the characters from the book and the system will search the database for that character's name and lead you to the author/title of the book.

PLUS

If you type in your zipcode it will search the holdings of libraries in your area to see if they happen to have that particular title!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately our library isn't associated with OCLC so you won't be seeing our holdings in the results, BUT, we can get the title for you for free via Inter-Library Loan.

Booklist links

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh: Book Lists
Collection of adult fiction and nonfiction annotated reading lists with themes such as travel fiction, chick lit, baseball, Christian fiction, the U.S. Civil War, science fiction and fantasy, culinary mysteries, bread baking, and home repair. From the staff of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
URL: http://www.carnegielibrary.org/locations/firstfloor/booklists/

The above was found at Librarian's Index to the Internet

Family History at the Indiana State Library

CELEBRATING FAMILY HISTORY THIS FALL
By Shannon Bloomquist (sbloomquist@statelib.lib.in.us)

Even though September has just begun, it's not too early to start thinking ahead to October, which is Family History Month! The Indiana State Library is pleased to announce several programs scheduled throughout the month to educate and inspire librarians, state employees, and the general public to discover their roots and connect with the past! In addition, a press release and public service announcements will be issued during the last week in September to promote these exciting opportunities to the public. All programs take place at the Library at 140 North Senate Avenue in downtown Indianapolis. If you are interested in attending any of the programs listed below, please contact the Genealogy Division at 317.232.3689 to register.

*Family History Orientation Tours: The Library offers a wealth of genealogy-related materials for family history researchers, and our tours are a great way to familiarize yourself with the Library's collection and learn about how things have changed since the last time you visited us! Tours will be held on Thursday, October 5, and Tuesday, October 17, from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. If you cannot attend during those times, subsequent tours have been scheduled twice a month for the entire year. Visit http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/isl/indiana/genealogy/tours.html for the complete schedule.

*Uncovering the Secrets of Historic Homes: Are you curious about the history of your home and those who lived there before you? Join Suzanne Stanis, Director of Heritage Education at the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, on Thursday, October 12, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. to explore the basics of historic house research. A staff member from the Library's Indiana Division will also be on hand to reveal tips and tricks for using the Library's collections to further your investigation!

*Genealogy After Hours: Take advantage of some extra research time on Thursday, October 12, when the Genealogy and Indiana Divisions of the Library will be open until 9 p.m.! This event also allows those who attend the Historic House Research Workshop until 8 p.m. access to the Library's extensive collections after the program.

*Researching Your Immigrant Ancestors: Journey with Charles Hill, a Senior Subject Specialist in the Genealogy Division, to a land where finding your immigrant ancestors is actually possible! On Thursday, October 26, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., Mr. Hill will share with you the tools and strategies you need to trace your ancestral roots across land and sea, highlighting many helpful resources available at the Library in the process.

*Capturing the Soul of Indiana: On Saturday, October 28, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., let Hoosier photographer John Bower of Studio Indiana take you on a memorable visual journey that illuminates Indiana's forgotten past. Mr. Bower will share poignant images of abandoned homes and farms, little-known stone carvings hidden throughout the state, and other rapidly disappearing examples of Indiana's cultural heritage. As an added bonus, several of Mr. Bower's fine art photography books will be available for purchase after the presentation-see www.studioindiana.com for details on these intriguing titles!

For more information about the Library, please visit us in downtown Indianapolis or online at www.statelib.lib.in.us.

More online photos with Flickr.com

Why should we post pictures of the library on the Internet? My response is, why not?? We established a Flickr account to post pictures of the library and some of the things happening here! ENJOY! Click here to go to our Flickr page.

Caveat emptor...Let the buyer beware!!!!!

I am highlighting an article from The South Bend Tribune on Sunday, September 3, 2006. The article was entitled, "Let the (Web) buyer beware. What follows is a very short summary of the article:

...look for symbols on a seller's Web site that demonstrate the site is trustworthy. Examples include a lock icon on the browser's status bar or a URL for a Website that begins "https," which indicates the site is secure.

If you ever get an e-mail or pop-up message that asks for your financial information, don't reply or click on the link in the message. Legitimate companies don't ask for this information via e-mail or pop-ups....

Confirm the online seller's physical address and phone number in case they need to be in contact with the seller.

A good tool is the online Yellow Pages.

NEVER SEND CASH, use a credit card...under certain circumstances you have additional rights.

KEEP A PAPER TRAIL

The article will remain available for free up to two weeks at the South Bend Tribune's website.

If you cannot retrieve the article, come into the library and use one of our computers. We have full access to Tribune online archives.

Google and math

Last weekend I was searching for information on the new Boeing 747 - 8 (it's the newer longer, better version of the 747). I went to Google.com and typed in 747-8. Guess what happened? I guess I ought to have typed in "Boeing 747-8" because the search came back with an answer from Google Calculator! YEP. Simply Google 747-8 or whatever math question you have and Google will return the answer.

More online information about books!

Books? You mean that people still use books? YEP!

The library subscribes to a publication called "Bookpage." It's a monthly publication notifying readers about new releases, author information etc. Here's a link to their blog. REMEMBER THAT ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS REQUEST A TITLE FOR THE LIBRARY AND WE'LL GET IT FOR YOU! Bookpage Blog

Another calendar for NCPL

Our existing calendar of events is saved as a .PDF file on the website. I was wandering around Yahoo.com and found that I could make a public calendar online to go along with our regular calendar. One of the nice benefits is that patrons can go to this public calendar and request that it send an e-mail reminding them of an upcoming event. I'm sure it does more, but that was the part that struck me as the most interesting. Here's a link to our online calendar: http://calendar.yahoo.com/ncplat46552

Interesting note @ Wikipedia

This was certainly a surprise to me. I had completed a bit of research and had scrollled to the bottom of the page at Wikipedia.org and found that there was yet more available! News, Quotes, articles about species, quotations and even more. Here's the link: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page