What's New Library Blog - LaGuardia Community College Library Media Resources Center

Macworld, a magazine dealing with all things Mac, has a look at using to-do lists to keep focused (new window).
Obviously, a lot of the tips use Mac software, and to be honest, some of the ideas are a bit overly complicated for me, but I love the basic idea of the article: keep a list of things you need to do and make sure something forces you to look at the list.
I knew a guy who kept his to-do list taped next to his bed, so he saw it first thing in the morning.
That feels a little extreme, but if it works, it works.

posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 31, 2006

The Web On Your Phone

The Washington Post has an article on the mobile web (new window).
More and more people are using their cell phones to get news and quick information, like movie times and maps. Web sites are seeing money in this, and so are designing their applications to work well with phones.
We talk about this a lot here at the Library, wondering if there's a need to create a mobile version of our site. On the one hand, it could really help people out in a pinch. But on the other hand, would anyone really want to read through pages and pages of articles on their phone? A movie time is one thing, but a whole article from a database? That seems rough.
But it's something we're seriously keeping an eye on.
If you'd like to see a mobile version of the Library site, drop a note to sovadia -at- lagcc.cuny.edu.

posted by Steve in the Library on Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Blog Demographics

The Times has as interesting story on the demographics of bloggers (new window).
Actually, it's not really that interesting, except for a line at the bottom:

Mr. Anderson, the author of the book "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" (Hyperion), said that the Pew report shows how the blogosphere is unlike traditional media. "It's narrow, niche subjects," he said. "It's a granularity of media that we in the commercial media could not scale down to. Niche media is 'me' media, and the blogosphere is the ultimate manifestation of that."

It's an interesting idea that other people have discussed before, but that I hadn't fully considered. Blogs often work because they can get into the details other media can't. That's why blogs are probably going to be around for a while. A lot of different people depend on them to keep informed. If certain blogs went away, there would be a huge information gap.

posted by Steve in the Library on Thursday, July 20, 2006

New Library Databases

From Ed Keane, our Electronic Resources Librarian:

Library's Homepage

CINAHL Select

Professional Development Collection

SocINDEX With Full Text

Online Research Journals and Articles

posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 10, 2006

Web-Based PCs

Slate has an interesting article about web-based desktop computing (new window).
The idea behind this type of computer is that all of your files and programs are kept online, and you basically use a fast internet connection to access everything. So your word processor isn't on your computer. It's in your browser. And your files aren't on your computer, they're up on someone else's servers.
YouOS is an example of this concept (new window). I found it a little slow, and I get very nervous not having actual possession of my files, but it does seem like an interesting idea that could change the way we work.

posted by Steve in the Library on Thursday, July 06, 2006

Declaration of Independence at New York Public Library

The Declaration of Independence is on display at the 42nd Street Library.
Details are here (new window).
It's on display until August 5, although this really is the time of year to see it.
Well actually, tomorrow is probably THE day to go see the Declaration of Independence (it was ratified July 4, 1776), but NYPL is closed tomorrow.
If you can't get into the city to see the original, there's a pretty nice copy of it online: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=2 (new window).

posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 03, 2006

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		Macworld, a magazine dealing with all things Mac, has a look at using to-do lists to keep focused (new window). Obviously, a lot of the tips use Mac software, and to be honest, some of the ideas are a bit overly complicated for me, but I love the basic idea of the article: keep a list of things you need to do and make sure something forces you to look at the list. I knew a guy who kept his to-do list taped next to his bed, so he saw it first thing in the morning. That feels a little extreme, but if it works, it works. posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 31, 2006 The Web On Your Phone The Washington Post has an article on the mobile web (new window). More and more people are using their cell phones to get news and quick information, like movie times and maps. Web sites are seeing money in this, and so are designing their applications to work well with phones. We talk about this a lot here at the Library, wondering if there's a need to create a mobile version of our site. On the one hand, it could really help people out in a pinch. But on the other hand, would anyone really want to read through pages and pages of articles on their phone? A movie time is one thing, but a whole article from a database? That seems rough. But it's something we're seriously keeping an eye on. If you'd like to see a mobile version of the Library site, drop a note to sovadia -at- lagcc.cuny.edu. posted by Steve in the Library on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 Blog Demographics The Times has as interesting story on the demographics of bloggers (new window). Actually, it's not really that interesting, except for a line at the bottom: Mr. Anderson, the author of the book "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More" (Hyperion), said that the Pew report shows how the blogosphere is unlike traditional media. "It's narrow, niche subjects," he said. "It's a granularity of media that we in the commercial media could not scale down to. Niche media is 'me' media, and the blogosphere is the ultimate manifestation of that." It's an interesting idea that other people have discussed before, but that I hadn't fully considered. Blogs often work because they can get into the details other media can't. That's why blogs are probably going to be around for a while. A lot of different people depend on them to keep informed. If certain blogs went away, there would be a huge information gap. posted by Steve in the Library on Thursday, July 20, 2006 New Library Databases From Ed Keane, our Electronic Resources Librarian: The LaGuardia Community now has access to three new EBSCOhost databases from the Library's Homepage. CINAHL Select A resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers. This database contains more than 170 full text journals with PDF coverage back as far as 1973 including 120 peer-reviewed publications. All journals in this collection are indexed in CINAHL. CINAHL Select is updated on a weekly basis via EBSCOhost. Professional Development Collection This database provides a collection of around 550 education journals, including more than 350 peer-reviewed titles for education professionals, and contains more than 200 educational reports. SocINDEX With Full Text The database contains full text for 253 "core" coverage journals dating back to 1895, and 72 "priority" coverage journals. This database also includes full text for 547 books and monographs, and full text for 6,711 conference papers. Users can access these EBSCO databases by clicking on the EBSCOhost link on the Library's Homepage, as well as from the Alphabetical and Subject lists in the Library's list of Online Research Journals and Articles. Please send feedback on these library resources, as well as any of the library's other databases, to Professor Edward Keane, Electronic Resources Librarian (ekeane -at- lagcc.cuny.edu). posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 10, 2006 Web-Based PCs Slate has an interesting article about web-based desktop computing (new window). The idea behind this type of computer is that all of your files and programs are kept online, and you basically use a fast internet connection to access everything. So your word processor isn't on your computer. It's in your browser. And your files aren't on your computer, they're up on someone else's servers. YouOS is an example of this concept (new window). I found it a little slow, and I get very nervous not having actual possession of my files, but it does seem like an interesting idea that could change the way we work. posted by Steve in the Library on Thursday, July 06, 2006 Declaration of Independence at New York Public Library The Declaration of Independence is on display at the 42nd Street Library. Details are here (new window). It's on display until August 5, although this really is the time of year to see it. Well actually, tomorrow is probably THE day to go see the Declaration of Independence (it was ratified July 4, 1776), but NYPL is closed tomorrow. If you can't get into the city to see the original, there's a pretty nice copy of it online: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=2 (new window). posted by Steve in the Library on Monday, July 03, 2006