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July 30, 2007

Adult Technology Education Resumes

        

The Fall 2007 Adult Technology Education Registration Lottery begins on Friday, August 24, at 9 a.m., and continues over Labor Day weekend, ending at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, September 4. This means you have 12 days to submit your name for as many classes as you'd like! We've put together an exciting program of classes for the fall. Teacher extraordinaire Diane McKeever will be back teaching a broad selection of Microsoft Office applications, including basic and advanced Word and Excel, PowerPoint, and Mail Merge. Joining us for the first time is the Library's new Head of Technology and Digital Initiatives, John Blyberg. John will be teaching everything from Introduction to the Internet to Web 2.0. Other firsts this fall include an introductory class on Adobe Illustrator, taught by Graphic Designer and Darien resident Virginia Ferrante-Iqbal; a 4-part course on full Adobe Photoshop, taught by George Zariff; and a much-requested class exploring backup options for the home computer user, taught by yours truly. Watch for the printed brochure in the mail the week of August 13, or stop in to the Library that week and pick up a copy. If you have any questions regarding our adult technology education classes, give me a call at 655-1234 x136, send me an email at sgammato@darienlibrary.org, or submit a comment to this blog. See you soon!

Posted by JudyS at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2007

It's Not Your Parents' Britannica

I took part in an online training session this morning. The subject: Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, Public Library Edition. As this enjoyable session made clear, the venerable Britannica has come a long way from the big brown volumes that used to fill up several shelves in our adult reference area. Well-researched articles are still the hallmark of this classic reference source, but now you’ll also find a host of 21st-Century additions: photo and video links; links to articles from EBSCO and ProQuest; an online dictionary and thesaurus (equipped with an audio component so you can hear the correct pronunciation of words); a world atlas and country database; a quotations database; selected classic works of literature (full text!); and live news feeds from the The New York Times and the BBC. The Britannica Online Reference Center is appropriate for high school, college, and adult learners, while Britannica Online for Kids includes information suitable for elementary, middle school, and high school students. The Workspace feature, which is available on both versions, allows the user to save links to relevant sources of information on a given topic. These links can then be shared with others via email, allowing collaborative, team-oriented research. If you or your kids haven't visited Britannica Online recently, now’s a good time. You’re in for a pleasant and stimulating surprise as we approach the start of a new school year. And, if you'd like a one-on-one tutorial on this or any of our other research databases, call me at 655-1234 x136 or send an email to sgammato@darienlibrary.org.

Posted by JudyS at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)