Family Craft Night with the Royals

Join the members of the Reading Royals Hockey Team for stories, crafts, food, and fun.

Meet the players up close and personal!

Family Craft Night will be held Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 7:00 PM

at the Northeast Branch, 1348 North 11th Street, Reading, PA 19604.

Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

Online Librarian
Carl

Google www.google.com
Founded: Menlo Park California (September 27, 1998)


What THIS SITE IS:
Google is one of many search engines available and because of its overwhelming popularity it has almost become synonymous with the Internet. Two Stanford students began the Google search engine in 1996 as a graduate research project. Soon after Google took off and now, according to Nielsen NetRatings, is used in virtually half of all Internet searches. The Google brand has expanded vigorously and now includes products far beyond a mere search engine, such as email (gmail), directory, online documents & spreadsheets, etc.

Positives: Simple interface; relatively large search results; consistent innovation and development of new and interesting products

Negatives: Search Engine results are not evaluated for quality; popularity and ease of use can obscure search limitations, see Research Beyond Google

Who SHOULD USE THIS SITE:
Those searching for common topics, those beginning an exploratory first search, or those who are looking to take advantage of Google’s specific search features (e.g. advanced search) or products (e.g. gmail). It is important to keep in mind that while Google’s coverage is broad it can lack precision for uncommon or specific topics. And like practically all search engines it does not rank sites by quality nor does it take into account the deep recesses of the invisible web (the topic of the invisible web to be covered in a future article).

Librarian Note: Library professionals will appreciate this site for its ability to quickly generate answers to ready reference questions and to be used to orientate or inform searchers about a novel topic. Other useful tools (calculator, dictionary, etc.) and multimedia search capacities (pictures, videos, etc.) can be helpful as well.

Interesting FEATURE:
One of the most powerful ways to search with Google that is often overlooked is the use of Google Syntax. Searching this way can be done using the Advanced Search or by directly keying what Google calls “search operators" in the search basic window.

For instance, say you want to use the Google Search Engine to find information about prairie dogs but you only want see what the National Geographic web site has to say on the topic.

As an example type prairie dog site:nationalgeographic.com in the basic Google search window.

The results of prairie dog site:nationalgeographic.com would be a search only within the www.nationalgeographic.com website for the subject of prairie dogs. This formula of search term(s) site:web_site_to_be_searched.com can be used for any subject and any site. Also note that these search operators can be used to limit and control searches by site, by format, and a whole assortment of other parameters and functions, see Google Syntax for more options.

Bottom LINE:
Google is simply the best freely available general-purpose search engine on the Web today. (In addition it offers a wide variety of tools, software, and multimedia)

Helpful LINKS:
Instruction/Tutorials/Features
Google Guide
Google Cheat Sheet
Google Products

Extras
20 Great Google Secrets
Official Google Blog
Unofficial Google Forum

Librarians
Google Librarian Central
Google as Ref Desk Tools (Ready Reference)

Any QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to make a comment by clicking on the comments link below or if you prefer to reach me by email.

Online Librarian
Carl

The Internet is the world's largest library. It's just that all the books are on the floor.
~ John Allen Paulos

What THIS IS:
This is to be a series of articles about various online resources. The focus will primarily be on free web sites and basic concepts and tools that accompany Internet reference and research.

Who I AM:
My name is Carl and I am a newly appointed reference librarian at the Reading Public Library main branch. I earned my undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the Pennsylvania State University and my Master of Science in Library Science from the Clarion University of Pennsylvania. My interests include computers and the Internet, art, and philosophy.

Who SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN THESE ARTICLES:
These articles are intended for beginner to intermediate online researchers, information professionals, and Internet users. These articles will be particularly useful for those Internet users who are unfamiliar with the breadth of online reference resources readily available online.

Bottom LINE:
In each Blog article I will be examining the best Internet sites for reference and information seeking. Along the way I will be discussing major concepts and ‘tricks of the trade’ for researching information online.

Any QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to make a comment by clicking on the comments link below or if you prefer to reach me by email.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The release date for the final Harry Potter book was just announced! It look like we'll find out Harry's fate on July 21.
Check back here to find out when you will be able to place a hold on one of our copies.

Fansites:
The Leaky Cauldron
Hogwarts Herald
MuggleNet

J.K.Rowling Official Site - I love this site - Very Myst-like with the graphics and the ambient sounds of cars and barking dogs

MSNBC - Find out the odds on Harry dying in the final book

Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation - Book Discussion

Reading Public Library presents...

The Greatest Generation

by Tom Brokaw

Thursday, March 8, 2007

7:00 - 8:00 P.M.

at The Manor at Market Square

803 Penn Street, Reading, PA

RSVP

The program is free, but registration is requested

To sign up, please call 610-655-6355 or stop by the Reference Desk of the Reading Public Library at 100 South Fifth Street, Reading, PA.

TAX TIME! Forms Available Feb 2

It's time to start thinking about income taxes again. Paper copies of tax forms and instructions will be available February 2, 2007: until then, you may visit the various federal, state, and local sights to get a head start.

Internal Revenue Service

Pennsylvania Department of Revenue

City of Reading Earned Income Tax Form (Loads a little more slowly - pdf files)

Berks County Earned Income Tax Forms (pdf files)

For assistance in filing out your federal income taxes you may visit the Local Taxpayer Assistance Center at 201 Penn Street or contact the office at 610.320.5154. Appointments are not necessary, but assistance is need-based. Assistance with state tax forms is not available.
For more information on assistance with filling out your state income taxes, contact the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Assistance office on 625 Cherry Street at 610.378.4401. This service is free for the state forms only.

The people at Kiplinger's, those trusted personal finance advisors and business forecastors, have some interesting (maybe not so much interesting, but pertinent and quite possibly valuable) links, calculators, and articles on their website.

Book Discussion - Murder Shoots the Bull

Reading Public Library presents...

Murder Shoots the Bull: A Southern Sisters Mystery

by Anne George

Thursday, February 15, 2007

6:30 - 7:30 P.M.

at City Espresso, 124 South Fifth Street, Reading, PA

RSVP

The program is free, but registration is requested

To sign up, please call 610-655-6355 or stop by the Reference Desk of the Reading Public Library at 100 South Fifth Street, Reading, PA.

Refreshments will be available for purchase from City Espresso

Wendy Crutcher of The Mystery Reader says this about the novel:

Murder Shoots the Bull is perhaps one of the most
amusing cozies I have read in a long time. Every chapter brought a smile to my
face or made me laugh out loud, largely due to the dynamic duo of Patricia Anne
and Mary Alice. George has their relationship down to a science, creating
sisters that are totally different from one another, yet their interaction and
exchanges have a distinctly authentic feel.

Read the Entire Review

The Southern Sisters Mysteries include:

Murder on a Girl's Night Out

Murder on a Bad Hair Day

Murder Runs in the Family

Murder Makes Waves

Murder Gets a Life

Murder Shoots the Bull

Murder Carries a Torch

Murder Boogies with Elvis