Overlooked resources

I have good news! In addition to the traditional items you have always obtained from us, you have free access to a huge amount of expensive, internet based information that cannot be obtained anywhere else. The bad news is that not enough people are aware of these information treasures. If you have a few minutes let me enlighten you. Much of it is information our customers request but often overlook.

Take a look our magazines and databases page. All these links represent easily searched collections of millions of journal articles, newspaper articles and book excerpts in full-text available for printing or emailing. Of special interest to our residents will be the Democrat & Chronicle in full-text, going back to 1999 and the Messenger-Post local newspapers such as the Irondequoit Post going back to September 2006. The other links with the most often requested content are America’s News Magazines and Infotrac Onefile. The entire collection is huge and it will take some time to familiarize yourself with it. But the resources are truly awesome. If you are a student this page is the first place to look for the most recent information available on any subject.

As I said earlier, access to this information is expensive. When you are browsing this collection and see a label that says “NOVEL” you are being alerted to the fact that the New York State Library is helping us pay for this resource. One of the coolest things libraries are doing now is cooperating and using our regional or statewide buying power to obtain access to expensive online information at the lowest possible price. This gives taxpayers the most information bang for their bucks. If we had to purchase this access on our own, half of what you see would not be available. The scope of these resources is so vast that I can’t overstate it no matter how enthusiastic I may seem. Take a look and see for yourself. You can even do it on the internet from home. Keep your library card handy. This service is only available to our customers. Naturally, if you have any questions about any of this just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

What do you know about federal prison?

One of the best things about being a librarian is the interesting subjects we encounter while helping library patrons with their information needs. When we pick up the phone or answer an email we never know where it might lead. Occasionally, we get a tough informational nut to crack and of course the Internet has become one of the most powerful tools on our information toolbelts. One of the great things about the Internet era is how government has used it to facilitate access to complex but useful government information. There are many good examples of this but recently, while aiding a library patron, I came across an excellent one. Forget for a moment that the subject area can be depressing and instead note the excellence of the resource. If you want to see how a well designed website can make accessing obscure and difficult to find government information a snap, visit the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Using their superb website I was able to easily locate exactly what our patron needed. While doing it I was impressed by the whole array of useful stuff I found there. Think about the complexity of a nationwide network of 114 facilities, 35,000 employees and 193,000 inmates. The most impressive feature was regional maps showing the location of each facility in the country with direct links to pictures, descriptions, contact information and visiting regulations for each. Paired with that is the inmate look-up feature which allows users to find individual inmates by name or various identifying numbers. I know where the Unabomber lives, do you?  If you think this isn’t impressive check out the procedure for obtaining this data the old way.  You will also find detailed information about careers, visits, inmate programs, bureau history and lots more. If you need this information it may not be a pleasant situation but having such a useful tool available could make things a bit easier for families, friends, researchers or an incurably curious librarian.

Got the munchies?

Just a quick bit of fun for a Friday. Do you like candy bars? Do you ever really look at them before you munch? We’ll see! The Science Museum of Minnesota has a web site for children called the Thinking Fountain. It encourages children to explore science and technology, invent their own activites and get creative. Here is one of their more interesting and fun ideas. As part of an exercise on using cross section views to better understand some objects in science and nature they invented a candy bar cross section test. The test is simple. You look at a cross section view of a candy bar and try to identify it. Turns out I don’t know as much about candy bars as I thought. Or maybe I’m just too busy gobbling to look. Give it a whirl. When you are done, look at their other cool projects and activites.

We need some new friends!

 

Do you have a library card? Do you use any library services? Do you know anybody who enjoys using the library? Do you get the importance of the library as a quality of life factor in the community? If you can answer “yes” to any of the above questions then you should be a Friend of the Irondequoit Public Library.

The Friends are a non-profit organization that raises money to purchase equipment, sponsor programs and otherwise assist the Irondequoit Public Library. They do all this through membership dues and sales of cool fund raising merchandise. The Friends completely finance the costs related to the many programs held at the library branches each year. For as little as $10 per year for an individual membership you can be a part of this worthwhile group. The Friends also offer family, business and organizational memberships as well as tributes and memorials. Click here for the Friends of the IPL registration form.

In addition to new members the friends are seeking people to help manage the organization. If you are looking to volunteer in the community you may never get a better chance at a fun way to improve the quality of life for your fellow citizens. Please join and volunteer with the Friends. We need some new friends!

What I’ve been reading

Eifelheim by Michael Flynn. I don’t read a lot of science fiction novels. Once in a while I will try one based on a review. Eifelheim turned out to be so complex and compelling that I decided to make it my first book recommendation. This is sci-fi with a difference. Yes, aliens crash land on earth. Yes, humans get involved with them. But the close encounter happens in Black Plague ravaged Germany in the year 1348. The story moves back and forth between 1348 and the present day. A husband and wife team of researchers gets interested in figuring out how and why a small region of Germany became uninhabited and never resettled after the plague subsided. You will be treated to intriguing descriptions of everyday life and attitudes in 14^th century Germany at the dawn of the Renaissance. There are fascinating looks at modern day historical research and theoretical physics as well. Flynn’s ability to blend these two different settings into one captivating tale is a deft literary achievement. This tale of a chance meeting between two cultures, the residents of Eifelheim who are just beginning to sense the coming modern era and the technologically advanced aliens is not a fast or easy read but those who stick with it won’t soon forget it.