"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." Robert Frost

I love audio books. They are great in the car or while cooking. Many times in the wee cooking hours of the big turkey day I will listen while I cook. We have tons of audio books at the library and I have listened to most of them. We also have access to e-zone. E-Zone is an online catalog of audio books that is free for our patrons. It works well and has lots of titles. Unfortunately most are for nonipod users this is changing however. The other day I wanted to listen to Redwall by Brian Jacques on my iPod and could not find a compatible version. I could have grabbed the CD version and copied it to my computer but that takes a lot of time. So instead I tried a nice offer by a company called Audible. They are also an audio book site that is mainly for listening through iPods or iTunes. Their Thanksgiving deal is one free book of a selection of titles till Thanksgiving. Even if you only grab one title and never use it again I would say it’s worth it. Also they do not require a credit card to try the freebie. My recommendation is simple look through our online selection and if we don’t have it try Audible as a possible second but don’t think too long because it ends November 26, 2009, at 11:59 PM.

“Shane. Shane. Come back!”, “Shane,” Brandon De Wilde as Joey Starrett

Welcome back,
The classes are done and the real research begins. To access the new worksheet for the Gaggle of Googles class click here. It went along with a one time lecture style class about all the extra parts of Google like Google Sites and Notebook. Most of the tools are underused and are quite excellent. From today I will be trying to deliver a lot more news and tech info. If anyone has any good suggestions please let me know with an email. The new calendar for January and February classes will be out very soon. I will write about it here. You can also sign up for an email alert here. If you are a library fanatic and really want to stay on top of what is going on at the library try our new Twitter feed. We also have quite a few blogs discussing all different parts of the library from Culture Matters, a blog discussing the fantastic programs that are available, to the Special Collections blog called Notes for Bibliophiles. The RIFLI Birthday Stories are amazing. They showcase ESL student writings and photographs. A blog / book discussion group exists in the form of Club de Lectura en Español de la Biblioteca Pública de Providence. It is a group discussing books in Spanish that meets the last Thursday of every month at South Providence. There are more blogs cropping up all the time so check the blog page when you get a chance. Thanks to everyone who has been checking in and reminding me to get on with more information.

Shane

P.S. Sorry about the qoute but I really could not help myself.

“I don't have a photograph, but you can have my footprints. They're upstairs in my socks.”

I have written of the wonders of Flickr many times before and it seems I am not the only one to find it useful. The Library of Congress has released 3000 photos onto the site. The idea is brilliant, harness the Web 2.0 communities to identify, categorize, and just enjoy these works of photographic art. When I checked this out it seemed that every photo had at least 50 comments with full discussions ranging from fashion to propaganda. I will say if you do go onto this site make sure you have nothing to do because it is quite extensive and addictive. You just want to keep walking through out the archives that have remained unseen by the general public for so long. (Selfish plug coming up) For the same reasons I have been really enjoying Rick Ring’s blog about Providence Public Library’s special collections. These places that take care of our histories are our time machines to the past. Sometimes they are the way back and amazingly others show a way forward. I recommend giving both a try.

“I'm NOT lost, they just moved my street.” Piper Perabo

A while back I posted about a new Google mapping Feature called Google street view. However at that time it was only available in select cities. Well providence has just become a select city. They have added another eight major cities to the record. So it time to start traveling the streets you know so well and find your cars, buildings, and possibly selves. It seems to me that the pictures were taken in late August or early September. The reason I believe this is the old police station that was being demolished next to us can still be partly seen. To use this it is easy. Just click in the box that has the street view and drag till you are pointed in the direction you want to head. They have arrows on the street to progress from shot to shot. Now if you want to move quickly just type in an address and move the little guy on the map to a blue line. This is both a useful and ridiculously fun feature. Below is a snapshot of the old entrance of the library. I recommend you give it a try.

View Larger Map

“Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done.” Andy Rooney

Today’s post is an easy one. Many times I am teaching a class on the Internet and a student may click on a link that we were not ready to go onto as a class. I need to have the student go back one webpage. Now I can have the student hit the back button at the top but if I am running out of class time I will go for a quick shortcut. The backspace button on the keyboard will go back a page. Now this seems a throwaway tip but I see a lot of people who do not take advantage of such a simple button. It allows you to keep your hands on the keyboard instead of switching to the mouse. However if you go to far back you may need to go forward by using the combination of Shift and Backspace. So if you are looking for a bit of extra speed give this a try.

“A good photograph is knowing where to stand.” Ansel Adams

Not too long ago I was looking for some historic pictures but I just could not locate what I wanted. Later on I found a fantastic site that has over 80,000 photos. Many sites have older photos but what I like best about this one was the organization. They have them in sets like the photos for Lincoln's assassination or old west photos. The site calls itself simply enough old pictures. These photos are from all over the world however if you are looking for really nice collection of pictures from Rhode Island then try PPL's own image collection. It has a nice setup with an easy to find search so you can navigate quickly. Give them a try.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss

You are going to the library and you want a book but which one to choose. There is a very helpful site to try to decide what to get. It is called the librarything and uses other peoples choices to give you recommendations. I typed in the book I recommended a little while back called MAKE and this is what it came up with. They give choices of other books depending on what others have tagged that book. They say about their service "Enter what you're reading or your whole library—it's an easy, library-quality catalog. LibraryThing also connects you with people who read the same things." Once you find a good choice use our online catalog to order a book or come in to PPL. Give it a try.

“Adults are always asking little kids what they want to be when they grow up because they're looking for ideas” Paula Poundstone

About a week ago I mentioned the Whiz Kids Program here at Providence Public Library. Besides a great program for kids, computers and learning they have some great online stuff to do as well. There is a nice tutorial on how to make a website. Also there is a list of books that you and your child can read together and then use the online sheets to do a crossword about the book. Give it a try.

“Radio is the theater of the mind; television is the theater of the mindless” Steve Allen

Information is everywhere and it is increasingly harder to stay on top of topics. I rely heavily on podcasts. What are podcasts? Think recorded radio broadcasts that anyone with a computer can create. Because it is so open you have amateurs to professionals creating stuff to listen to. You can find podcasts on every subject from the informative to the equivalent of vegging out. I listen to about eight a day. How do I get these wonders of modern science you ask? You have several choices of software. I use iTunes because I find it easy to use and sign up for new podcasts. Two other programs are ipodder for Windows or Juice for Mac. They are actually the same program under different names. The rest of the week I will highlight some places to find new podcasts and I want to share some of my favorites. Also the Providence Public Library has some Podcasts. I am working on putting new ones up but it is low on the list at the moment. Oh! The best part of Podcasts is not only are they informative and fun but they are free. Give it a try!

In the coming weeks I would like to showcase the response of students in addition to the standard posts. If the classes, the site, or handouts have helped you, let us know. Send an email to ssher at provlib.org.

"PPL has done me a great service. I am computer literate thanks to PPL...
Thanks for your response too!"
Art Toegemann

Thank you, Art, that is great to hear.