Posted by eileen on July 13, 2010
Check out the magazines the library recently started carrying!
BBC Knowledge – Find in our catalog – Science, History, and Nature for the curious mind.
Best Friends – Find in our catalog – All the good news about animals, wildlife, and the earth.
Chicago Bride – Find in our catalog – Everything for the bride and your Chicago wedding.
Diabetes Forecast – Find in our catalog – The best information on diabetes research, treatment, and practical tips for day-to-day diabetes management.
Food Network Magazine – Find in our catalog – Your favorite chefs, plus hundreds of recipes!
National Affairs - Find in our catalog – Thoughtful, provocative, an well-crafted neoconservative analyses of important issues.
Z Magazine – Find in our catalog – Independent monthly magazine dedicated to resisting injustice, defending against repression, and creating liberty.
Updated 8/5/10
Posted by eileen on July 8, 2010
Money is tight for a lot of people right now and a lot of families are probably skipping their summer vacations this year. Keep in mind, you don’t have to fly somewhere to have fun! There are many attractions within driving distance. Maybe plan a day trip or an overnight in Illinois or in a neighboring state. Check out Illinois Weekend Getaways and Day Trips from allgetaways.com to get the ideas flowing.
Springfield, IL – less than four hours from Wheaton
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln’s Tomb, IL State Capitol
Galena, IL – less than three hours from Wheaton
Apple Canyon Lake, Ulysses S. Grant’s Home, Downtown Shopping (just window shopping is fun too!)
Lake Geneva, WI – less than two hours from Wheaton
Outdoor activities and boat tours, Events
Don’t forget to check out the library’s Travel site for more great links or stop by the library and check out travel books in the 917s on the 2nd floor.
Posted by eileen on July 1, 2010
WPL offers a variety of free introductory computer classes each month. Looking for jobs that require a basic understanding of Microsoft Office? Let us help you! Sign up for a free class today! In July the classes are held in the evenings. To register, go to our online Event Calendar or call the Checkout Desk at 630-868-7505.
Note: All WPL classes are taught using Microsoft Office 2007.
Internet Searching and Introduction to Online Databases
Do you have problems finding what you’re looking for on the Internet? Do you always get millions of results on Google and Yahoo!? In this class, learn about making your searches more specific, to get more relevant results, as well as searching some of the library’s subscription databases to find pertinent information.
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Typing and basic computer skills, especially using a keyboard and mouse, and experience using Internet Explorer are required.
Microsoft Word I
Microsoft Word is not just for writing reports anymore! Learn how to cut, copy, paste, format a Word document, and much much more! This class is perfect for those who are new to word processing. It is also recommended for those who are interested in learning the new layout of the 2007 version.
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Typing and basic keyboarding skills are required.
Microsoft Word II
Turn a boring letter into a work of art! Learn to add pictures, WordArt, columns, and even create your own bullet points. This class is recommended for those who would like to have more than a basic understanding of Microsoft Word. It is also helpful to those who are interested in learning the new features of the 2007 version.
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Basic word processing skills, such as highlighting, and an understanding of the concepts taught in Word I are required.
Mail Merge
We are surrounded by the products of mail merges every day without even realizing it! Almost every mass mailing is created by a mail merge. However, it can also be used on a less massive scale. Learn to turn a list of names and addresses into a sheet of mailing labels, thank you letters, and many other things! This class is great for those who want to learn this time-saving skill, as well as those who would like a review.
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Typing, basic keyboarding skills and experience using Microsoft Word are required. Knowledge of Microsoft Excel is helpful.
Microsoft Excel
Don’t waste time figuring out things by hand! Learn the basics of this incredibly versatile spreadsheet program, such as entering data into cells, formatting, and creating charts. We will also cover basic functions (like finding the sum of a column of numbers) and sorting (like putting a list in alphabetical order).
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Typing and basic keyboarding skills are required.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Need to create a wedding or family slide show? A speech or presentation for school or church? PowerPoint can help and we can help you learn PowerPoint! Learn how to use different slide layouts, transitions, animations, links, and photos in this amazing program.
Meets in the Computer Classroom, 2nd Floor.
Typing and basic keyboarding skills are required.
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 March 11, 2010
Who Do You Think You Are? premiered last Friday on NBC. According to the show’s
About page, “Viewers are invited to take an up-close and personal look inside the family history of some of today’s most beloved and iconic celebrities with NBC’s
Who Do You Think You Are? Starring in the new alternative series are Matthew Broderick, Lisa Kudrow, Spike Lee, Sarah Jessica Parker, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith. Ancestry.com is NBC’s official partner on the series.”
After (and prior to) the first episode, which featured Sarah Jessica Parker, one can find many
reviews through a simple Google search. Some of these reviews are less than favorable. For example,
Mary McNamara of the LA Times says, “And though Parker does her best to appear moved and humbled by the difficult and even tragic lives of her ancestors, the show is all about her, after all, forcing the uncomfortable question: If everything happens for a reason, did all this American drama occur to ensure the existence of ‘Sex and the City,’ or even worse, ‘Did You Hear About the Morgans?’” Ha!
Other mentions of the show are positive.
Paula Stuart-Warren, author of the blog
Paula’s Genealogical Eclectica focuses on the good things about the show. She says, “While they can’t show each step of the research I am thrilled that they are showing a variety of records, both online and off. Visits to libraries, specific localities, historical societies, museums are shown. The starting point of talking with family and looking at home sources is represented in the visit with her mother. The audience gets to see Ancestry.com, census, newspaper articles, maps, old letters, original court records, and that not all is online.”
In many cases, the search for one’s ancestors is not an easy one. It can be time-consuming and at times addicting (at least for me). Whether
Who Do You Think You Are? is a successful endeavor for NBC or not, I hope it brings to light the fact there are many
tools to help find one’s roots as close as his/her public library.
WPL happens to have a
Genealogy Collection with many many sources. Our
Reference Desk is staffed with degreed librarians who are more than happy to help you get started on the search for your ancestors. As noted above, Ancestry.com has partnered with NBC to create the series. WPL (and many other libraries, for those of you outside the area) subscribes to the full Ancestry.com database. This means the census records, local histories, draft records, and indexes one would pay for through Ancestry.com are available for FREE if you use
Ancestry inside the library. Stop in and take a look. Representatives from the
DuPage Genealogical Society are available to answer questions every Thursday night from 7-9pm at the library.
Posted by eileen on March 1, 2010
A quick search in Biography Resource Center can answer that question! See a brief biography below, but search the database for more details.
1747-1779. Polish nobleman. Involved in rebellion in Poland (1768-72); fled to Turkey (1772), France (1775). To America with letter of introduction from Franklin to Washington (1777); served as volunteer at Brandywine and Germantown; made general and commissioned by Congress to organize independent cavalry corps (1778); ordered (1779) to support Gen. Lincoln in South Carolina; defended Charleston (May 1779); mortally wounded at siege of Savannah. - from Merriam-Webster’s Biographical Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Incorporated, 1995.
Biography Resource Center is available from home with a WPL card and PIN. Are you an iPhone user? Download the free AML iPhone App and you can view Biography Resource Center right from your phone! For more information on the AML app, see my 1/29 post about it.
More on Pulaski: Polish American Center
Google News results for Pulaski Day
Posted by eileen on February 26, 2010
Whether you’re a family history first-timer, or an old hand at genealogy, our latest series of classes can keep you on the right track. Sponsored by the
DuPage County Genealogical Society, the five-class series is held on Mondays, March 8-April 5 from 6:30-8:30pm at Wheaton Public Library.
The cost for the series is $30 for members of the Society, and $40 for non-members. Individual classes are $10 each. All classes focus on American sources. See class descriptions below. Registration forms are available at the Reference Desk or
print it here.
March 8 – Building a Firm Foundation – Need a starting point? This class will have some answers. Tips on interviewing relatives and what can be found at home will be discussed. Other topics include discerning quality sources and using correspondence effectively.
March 15 – For the Record – Find out what records such as birth, death, probate, cemetery, and marriage may hold for your family tree. Learn how to organize information from records using forms and computer programs.
March 22 – A Sensational Source – Widely available and useful, find out what the Federal Census records and associated indices offer. Discussion will also include an overview of other federal records.
March 29 – All the News That’s Fit to Print – There’s more than news in the newspaper and obituaries are featured. The class will also discuss various types of libraries and what genealogical resources you might find at each.
April 5 – Full Circle – How and where to find real sources on the web, including images and text. Problem solving, the research cycle, and field trip hints are also discussed.
Posted by eileen on January 29, 2010
If you need to do some research and can’t make it to the library, WPL is proud to announce we can now bring the library to you – whether you are in the doctor’s office, at your kitchen table or under the hood of your car.
By taking advantage of the Gale AccessMyLibrary (AML) mobile application for the iPhone, research is as simple as an Internet search on a mobile phone. Gale, part of Cengage Learning, has developed an iPhone application allowing you to access library information wherever you are. This service helps people retrieve quick, authoritative answers — while raising awareness about the rich resources available in the library.
The AML app finds your global position and locates libraries within a ten mile radius, giving you access to electronic resources at any time. With AccessMyLibrary, the iPhone becomes a valuable research tool. The iPhone application is free and the content has been paid for by the library being accessed, bringing a library’s electronic collection of Gale resources to you wherever you are.
If you are within ten miles of WPL, you can connect to our Gale resources:
- General OneFile – A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.
- Biography Resource Center – This database integrates award-winning biographies from respected Gale sources with related full-text articles from hundreds of magazines and newspapers, as well as tens of thousands of images and links to vetted websites. Search for people—both current and historic from all eras and fields of endeavor—based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as keyword and full text. Or, combine search criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search.
- Gale LegalForms – Provides a wide selection of state-specific (and multi-state) legal forms across the most popular legal areas. Includes real estate contracts, wills, pre-marital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlord tenant and many others. Also included is a comprehensive attorney state directory and a dictionary of legal definitions explained in laymen’s language.
The Gale iPhone application can be downloaded at the iTunes store today or by visiting http://www.gale.cengage.com/apps/.
Not sure why you should use a database instead of a website? Check this out: http://www.wheatonlibrary.org/refdb/main_dbvsweb.html.
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
