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March 28, 2006

3 Tips for Powering Google Up

These tips come from a great article at School Library Journal called the Google Game. I've described the tips below, but I encourage you to read the entire article, linked above.

1. Use quotation marks around phrases. For example, if you're doing a search on George Washington, type "George Washington" in quotations.

2. Use a minus sign if there's a word you DON'T want to search. From personal experience, typing in George Washington will give you many sports teams. So try "George Washington" -basketball to filter a few out.

3. Narrow your search by choosing only certain kinds of websites. For example, "car safety" site:edu will produce results on car safety from educational institutions only.

Posted by Caitlin at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

Download Fix

For those of us on the go (and who isn't?), listening to a book on MP3 just makes sense. It's not clunky like a CD player, doesn't skip around like a scratched CD, and it's portable. But, sad to say, downloading an audio book isn't as simple as popping in a CD, even if it should be.

That's why we're offering a workshop for teens on using the Library's downloadable audio services. Yes! You can download audiobooks 24 hours a day from your home. Join us on Wednesday, April 19th from 6 - 7:30 p.m. for our Teen Advisory Board meeting on downloadable audio. The first half of our meeting we'll be demo'ing the process; then we'll head downstairs for snacks and a Board meeting.

New teens welcome; all teens should sign up by calling 655-1234 x117.

Posted by Caitlin at 10:15 AM

March 27, 2006

Teen on Tap - Audio for Teens

If the printed word is too much of a hassle these days, try listening instead of reading. Let me suggest some excellent teen audio, as chosen by YALSA, the section of the American Library Association devoted to teen services (and I do mean devoted!) Here are some of my favs. from the list.

* The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen - Macy spends an unexpected summer in the catering business.
* The Merchant of Death by DJ MacHale - It's Pendragon. Need I say more? If I must, Bobby is an unwilling participant in a plan to save the planet Denduron.
* The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer - If you like Vikings, fighting, and trolls, you'll love this epic.
* The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck - Russell can't stop grinning after he learns his teacher is dead. But rural Indiana in 1904 may change his mind.

Posted by Caitlin at 04:36 PM | Comments (1)

March 21, 2006

Ipod-ophobia

This website www.mp3tunes.com may be the answer to all your Ipod and MP3 player fears. Be honest. What's the biggest fear you have about your MP3 player? You know the answer. It's that it'll break, or insist on being reformatted so that all your hard work downloading and organizing your songs will have to be repeated. Oh. The pain.

But this website has a great solution. For a nominal fee, they'll store your entire music collection for you, with no memory limit. If your Ipod breaks, you've got a backup. Also, through the website, you can listen to your entire collection of music from any computer with internet access. And, coming soon, listen to your music collection from your PDA or cell phone. Of course there are a few downsides - the limited number of downloads and plays on copyright protected music still applies. Read the fine print, and buyer beware and don't take my word for it and all that, but this is a really fun concept that could be just the right fit for all you e-music junkies.l

P.S. I'm not trying to sell this, but I think it's a concept to watch... AND... I've had my own MP3 player crash - can you tell?

Posted by Caitlin at 01:57 PM