Things 15, 16, and 17

Thing #15: You Tube
 The Joy of Books 

YouTube is a pretty entertaining application. I have used it for a few constructive things over the years; such as learning how to cast on knitting needles or hearing the appropriate pronunciation of a word in another language. However, most of the time I use it for purely entertainment purposes. This is where I watch my movie previews and geek out to travel topics. I have a great time "researching" places that I would like to visit. I had no idea that YouTube EDU existed! The amount of high quality, educational videos offered is staggering. I saw lectures from Harvard, Yale, and MIT. I also did a bit of searching for language lessons. I would really like to keep practicing French, but I do not want to pay for lessons. YouTube EDU will be an excellent venue for independent study.

Thing #16: OneClick Digital
Since we are now using OneClick Digital for our digital audio needs instead of NetLibrary, I completed this portion using the new service.
This is the official first day of summer, and summer means relaxing outside with some literary fluff. So I recommend my favorite silly mystery: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris. This book is perfect to sit in the sun and listen to with a large glass of sweet tea (she is a southern author, after all). Here are some stastics on this title:
Author: Charlaine Harris
Duration:  8.5 Hours
Release date: March 11th, 2008
Language: English
Book 2 of 13 in the Southern Vampire Series
Rating: Four stars out of five


Thing #17: Podcasting
 I do not have much experience with podcasting, but after sampling several offerings I can see that it can be entertaining and educational. After browsing through several recommended podcasts (Merriam-Webster's word of today was amative, by the way), I decided to do a bit of my own exploring. I found Amateur Traveler, Chocolate & Zucchini's favorite cooking podcasts, and Copenhagencast. These three sites had many excellent podcasts; I especially enjoyed my Danish lessons on Copenhagencast. The narration was top notch, the information was very useful, and the topics were kept interested. While I did end up enjoying these Podcasts, I really can't see myself keeping up with them regularly. Of course, it is good to know what is available for those days that nothing good is playing on the radio.

RSS--Thing #13

As a rather avid blog reader, I can not believe that I have lived without using RSS thus far. Instead, my "Favorites" folder is over run with countless blogs that I visit regularly. It does not take much, I have told myself, to visit these blogs daily for updates. Little did I know, that I could go to one place for all of my updates. Now instead of reading individual blogs over coffee in the morning, I will just plug into my Google Reader. RSS + Google Reader, you have changed me.

So far I have subscribed to several different things:
La Tartine Gourmande
Seersucker and a Collar
The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking
You Grow Girl

I will stop for now, but there will be many more later. I will definitely be employing these tools much more in the future.

Thing #12

I find that Learning Express Library (LearningExpressLibrary.com) is a hidden gem. Test prep is in huge demand, and many of our test prep books go missing. When we can't find what we need on the shelves, I turn to this database for our patrons. We get a lot of requests of citizenship test preparation, GED prep, and ACT/SAT prep with our high school kids. I love that we can link them to free, current test prep materials.

We should be telling more people about MasterFILE Premier provided by EBSCOhost. Libraries can only carry so many magazine subscriptions, as they tend to be quite costly to maintain. Magazines, however, are always in high demand. I enjoy referring people to this database when they request a magazine that we do not carry.

As far as the one research tool we should keep, all databases powered by EBSCOhost. I find these databases to be singularly valuable for a few reasons:
1. The depth of information provided--from popular magazines to very specific journals.
2. The breadth of the information provided--you can retrieve information from pretty distant past to very present. It is updated all the time to make sure the most current information is available.
3. Most articles are offered in full text.
4. Most importantly, it is VERY user friendly.