Posted by eileen on May 26, 2010
There are many ways to celebrate Memorial Day. USA.gov‘s Memorial Day site has links to great information about the origins of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance. Also, find tips for your weekend festivities in articles like, Barbecue Food Safety and Boating Safety.
Looking for some recipes to try out this weekend? Check out Betty Crocker’s Celebrate!: A Year-Round Guide to Holiday Food and Fun.
Looking for something to do? Check out Triblocal.com‘s calendar of local events. Click on your county on the left side of the page and then your city. Triblocal’s Wheaton site
Posted by eileen on January 18, 2010
from Biography Resource Center
Today we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. For those of you who need a refresher on his life, check out this summary from Merriam-Webster’s Biographical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Incorporated, 1995:
1929-1968. American clergyman and reformer, b. Atlanta, Ga. Ordained Baptist minister (1954); led boycott of Montgomery, Ala., transit system to force desegregation of city’s buses (1956); founder (1957) and president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference; advocate of nonviolence and racial brotherhood; copastor with his father of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (1960 ff.); major organizer of massive March on Washington where he delivered famous “I Have a Dream” speech (Aug. 1963); awarded Nobel peace prize (1964); assassinated at Memphis, Tenn.
For a more detailed biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., take a look at Biography Resource Center. This online bank of information is available to anyone from the computers in the library and anyone with a WPL card and PIN from home. Search by a person’s name, nationality, occupation, and many other qualities. Also, one can often find pictures of the person, websites about him/her, and news articles.
If you are planning on stopping by the library soon, try a catalog Subject search for King, Martin Luther Jr.
Posted by eileen on December 30, 2009
Such a lovely song, but where did it come from and why do we sing it on New Year’s Eve? I decided to do some quick database searching to get an answer. According to a 1998 article from The Christian Science Monitor, “Scottish poet Robert Burns is credited with writing the song, though it’s more likely he pieced the words and melody together from old Scottish folk songs. Translated, ‘auld lang syne’ means ‘old long since,’ or ‘days gone by’ in a Scottish dialect.” The words we sing today are slightly different from Burns’ original poem. Here are the first couple verses:
| SHOULD auld acquaintance be forgot, |
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| And never brought to min’? |
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| Should auld acquaintance be forgot, |
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| And days o’ lang syne? |
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| We twa hae rin about the braes, |
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| And pu’d the gowans fine; |
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| But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit |
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| Sin’ auld lang syne. |
The entire text of Burns’ poem can be viewed at Bartleby.com.
Guy Lombardo and his band, The Royal Canadians, are credited with making the song a New Year’s standard, after playing it on the radio to millions of Americans on December 31, 1929. For more information about that historic performance, take a look at Sarah Burton’s Moment: December 31, 1929: The Roosevelt Grill, New York City, five minutes to midnight… This article and the earlier mentioned article can be found in InfoTrac General One File. WPL card holders can access this database from home and anyone can access it from inside the library.
More information:
Auld Lang Syne Lyrics from Wikipedia
History of Auld Lang Syne from About.com
Links to sheet music from About.com
Posted by eileen on December 9, 2009
Tired of hand-writing your envelopes? Sick of typing twelve different end-of-year letters for various friends and family? Using a mail merge can help with these problems! All you need is Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and a printer. Simply type your names and addresses into an Excel sheet and then quickly pull them into Word to create envelopes, labels, letters, or any other type of document! See the library’s handouts for step-by-step instructions:
Mail Merges in Office 2007
Mail Merges in Office 2003 and older versions
Need more help? Microsoft Office Online offers free tutorials!
Mail Merge I: Use Mail Merge for Mass Mailings
Mail Merge II: Use the Ribbon and Perform a Complex Mail Merge
The library also offers a free Mail Merge class each month (except December). Check the Computer Classes page for the current class schedule.
Posted by eileen on December 2, 2009
Trying to think of a small holiday gift to ship to your aunt? Can’t think of anything for that under $10 grab bag gift for your work holiday gift exchange? How ’bout a Book Lover’s Calendar? The Friends of WPL are currently selling these awesome calendars for just $7 each! They retail for $12.99, so this a great savings opportunity. The proceeds go to the Friends, who do great things for the library, like putting on our Sunday concert series. Pick one up at the Reference Desk or the Checkout Desk before they are all gone!
Here’s what Amazon says about it: “Book Lover’s Page-A-Day Desk Calendar: Packed with hundreds of great reads, Book Lover’s is the calendar that keeps you reading. So many books to choose from: There’s Union 1812, the definitive, richly detailed account of America’s “second war of independence.” A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini’s poignant follow-up to The Kite Runner. Plus where to start with Jorge Luis Borges, Lincoln Child’s page-turning oceanic thriller Deep Storm, and a fascinating portrait of the life and times of Benny Goodman.”
Posted by eileen on November 23, 2009
There are so many wonderful things about the holiday season! Here are my Top Ten Favorite Things about Thanksgiving and a corresponding library item or website to go with each thing.
1. Spending time with family and friends – Relatives and Reunions – Connecting with Family from About.com, Take Better Family Portraits and Photos from hp.com
2. Eating mashed potatoes – The Spud Book: 101 Ways to Cook Potatoes
3. Decorating – Thanksgiving Fun: Great Things to Make and Do
4. Watching a favorite funny holiday movie – A Christmas Story
5. Cooking – Betty Crocker Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook : All You Need to Cook a Foolproof Dinner
6. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – Official Website
7. Reading some favorite books to my niece and nephew – The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners
8. Black Friday Sales! - Black Friday 2009 Countdown: Final Week of Deals,Tips, & News from USA Today online
9. Watching Football – Football for Dummies
10. Sleeping in – The Harvard Medical School Guide to a Good Night’s Sleep
What are your favorite things about Thanksgiving?
Posted by eileen on May 19, 2009
Today is Victoria Day, which is celebrated in Canada. It takes place each year on the Monday on or before May 24th. Although the holiday’s purpose is to celebrate Queen Victoria’s and the regining monarch’s birthdays, Canadians view it as the beginning of the summer season. It is quite similar to how Americans view Memorial Day, a day to open up your cottage or pool for Summer (or start wearing white shoes and pants).
Don’t know much about Canada? Check out Lands and Peoples, one of the great databases of information the library offers. Just type Canada in the Find it Fast search box. This database is a great jumping off point for research for adults, but can also be easily navigated by children. Is your child or younger sibling doing a country report? Show him/her Lands and Peoples! To access this from home, you will need your WPL card number and PIN.
Another great source is the CIA World Factbook, which is available online for FREE. Check out their entry on Canada!
Picture from http://www.flickr.com/photos/husseinabdallah/2082709783/
Posted by eileen on April 8, 2009
Yes, April Holidays and Wikipedia is a strange title. April has so many interesting holidays: Passover, Easter, April Fool’s Day, Earth Day, etc. When I need quick information about something, like a holiday, Wikipedia is my first stop. I like its straight-forward nature. For example, the entry about April Fool’s Day, says “Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.” What other source flat-out admits it needs more information?
Also, Wikipedia can be a great way to find other sources. Take a look at the entry on Earth Day. If you scroll down to the References section, you have links to the many articles cited in the entry. Also, there is an External Links section, which leads to sites like the Earth Day Network and the government’s Earth Day page.
I am a librarian, so obviously I am not going to tell you to get all your information from Wikipedia. It is a great way to gain a general understanding of a topic though. To expand on that information, check out one of the library’s amazing databases, like InfoTrac General OneFile. This database includes information from over 25,000 magazines and scholarly journals. If you know how to search Google, you know how to search General OneFile.
Still don’t believe Wikipedia is a valid source of information? Why believe other people’s opinions? Check it out for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About
There are many ways to celebrate Memorial Day. USA.gov‘s Memorial Day site has links to great information about the origins of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance. Also, find tips for your weekend festivities in articles like, Barbecue Food Safety and Boating Safety.
