Friday, September 26, 2008

A few reminders...

As the school year starts, a few reminders about the online information that your library provides that are helpful to child and adult learners.

Infotrac includes millions of articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals on almost any topic you can think of. It is updated daily. Most articles are full text. It's easy to search and you can read online, print or email the article.

Learning Express is a "comprehensive, interactive online collection of practice tests and tutorial course series designed to help patrons—students and adult learners—succeed on the academic or licensing tests they must pass. You'll get immediate scoring, complete answer explanations, and an individualized analysis of your results."

In the library just click on the link to go to these resources. From home you will need your library card barcode number.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

The Library of Congress

The Library of Congress webpage has many nifty online exhibits on many topics, just one of which is on our Hispanic Heritage.

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month During this time we acknowledge Hispanic Americans who have enriched our country.

From their webpage: "The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society."

The exhibits includes audio, video and many interactive pages that give you an overview of the interaction between Hispanic Americans, early European exploration and the United States.

Another interesting section of the Library of Congress page is the Veteran's History Project . This project relies on volunteers to collect and preserve stories of wartime service.

And take a look at the American Memory Project which includes a vast collection of information on all aspects of American history. There is something for everyone here.

Viewing these online exhibits is a great way to experience some of the richness of the vast collections held by our national museums.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Register to vote


October 6 is the last day to register to vote in Florida for the general election in November.

You can register to vote online or at your local Supervisor of Elections office. Here's a link to all things on registering in Florida.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Fact Check

As we head toward election day in November, you might like to check the facts about each candidate. A good place to do that is Factcheck.org

Their web sites states that '
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases."

Fact check is part of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center. Their web page states that "
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation."