STDL 24/7

It is interesting to browse through NetLibrary and My Media Mall to see how much is available. Safari is a good resource for computer books, but not one that I am likely to use because of the limited subject matter. I have already used Virtual Reference Library for research. Of course, in doing so, I've never read a complete book or chapter. I've just focused in on the information I was seeking. TumbleBooks is very popular (48,353 views as of this morning) and I am very pleased that we offer this. Online Book Clubs is an intersting concept. It's helpful to get a taste of the book before tackling the whole thing. Since I read more nonfiction than fiction, I'm glad to see this is a choice.

While I enjoy being read to, I find that I tend to get lost in the story and in the voice inflections of the spoken word. So listening to books on tape, CD, or MP3 is not something that I could ever do while driving! I tend to stay on task much better with music, not speech, softly in the background. I do a lot of reading and like to curl up with a good book, feeling the weight of the book in my hand and the touch of the paper as I turn each printed page. However, I'm looking forward to the next task of downloading and reading an ebook because I've never done this. The experience will be different; I don't know how I will like it. I'm eager to find out. Ebooks are certainly part of the future of libraries. Will they ever replace the printed page? My guess would be "not in the foreseeable future".

Not knowing which groups would be listed under "Community Groups", I opted to click the "subjects list" to see what is available. I was amazed at the variety and scope of groups listed! Being interested in the recent lunar eclipse, I 1st clicked on the one listing for "astronomy". It's very helpful that, in addition to a description, there is meeting information and a link to the Web site. I then clicked on "Girl Scouts". Here, rather than information on meetings, there us contact information and a link to the 2 councils represented. I was surprised to see that the DuPage Council is now called Prairie Winds Inc. Finally, I looked to see what was listed under "homeschooling". Here I found 2 groups with information for each.

Here are the answers found in "Explore Schaumburg Township's History":

1. St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church; still in existence.
2. Redeker family ran JH Redeker Peonies on the farm formerly owned by Herman Boeger.
3. Victor Golubski house located at 112 Arlington Street, Hoffman Estates.

Here are the answers for "Research Any Topic":

1. From Prices for Antiques, on September 4, 2004 the pincushion sold for $402. There was no mention of any sale in 1994!
2. In AyAyAy! the items used to teach aunty a lesson are "four big fat crabs" and "big long pine needles". Not finding this in any data base under "Books & Literature", I did an Internet search and found the complete Haitian folktale "The Little Boy and the AyAyAy" in http://www.faae.org/. Since this site, "Florida Alliance for Arts Eduction", seems reputable, I'm going with what I found here. Sometimes, in answering reference questions the timeliness of the response is 2nd in importance only to accuracy!
3. From Public Records, the house sold for $2025500.

How interesting to log on to AskAway as a patron, after working "on the other side of the computer"! I asked when the next lunar eclipse would be and got the following answer: "According to NASA it will be Feb 21, 2008 http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2008.html"
A fairly simple question got an answer from a reputable source in a timely fashion! All in all, it was a positive experience!