Enjoy a good audio?

Do you enjoy audiobooks? If so, check out LibriVox whose tag line is "acoustical liberation of books in the public domain" and whose latin translation is "book voice". LibriVox has over 1500 titles already set up for download in mp3 format. Downloading is FREE! If you'd like to check out their offerings, click on LibriVox Catalog and either use the search box that comes up or click on Browse entire catalog for a running list of titles. When downloading, look for the "zip file of the entire book" link.

What's particularly interesting about LibriVox is that YOU can volunteer to read for this project. All you need is a computer, some free software and a microphone. They have a forum set up so that questions can be asked and answered and people can contribute to on-going discussions. Whether you contribute only a few chapters on a collaborative project or single-handedly read an entire book for audio publication, you are making a positive contribution to the "acoustical liberation" effort. So, here's an opportunity to help bring your favorite works of classic literature to the internet world. Oh yea, in case you are wondering, the materials that are considered to be in the public domain are all works published prior to 1923.

Another free audiobooks site is http://freeclassicaudiobooks.com/. There are far fewer titles at Free Classic Audiobooks, but the site is simple and easy to use. Plus downloads are also offered in the m4b format for iPods and iTunes. If you've never experienced an audiobook, it is a fascinating way to "read". Audiobooks can bring literature to people who have trouble concentrating on the written word, who have learning disabilities, who are physically disabled, who prefer to learn through listening - any number of scenarios apply. Once the materials are downloaded, you can cut CDs to listen to them while driving or in some cases download directly to an iPod. It's another approach to reading!

Not sure what to read this summer?

If you're at a loss for what book to read next, here's a couple of websites to check out: What should I read next? and Literature Map.

www.whatshouldireadnext.com is a simple to use website that looks for you to input a title and author of a book that you enjoyed reading and to hit enter. Once you do that, you will be returned with a list of books and authors that you would likely enjoy. From there you can decide what you'd like to do.

www.literature-map.com is also an easy to use site - it requires you to enter the name of a favorite author and it returns a graphical image with your author at the center surrounded by the names of others who write in that genre. The closer the name is to your author's name, the more similar the writing styles. Be advised, enter the full name of the author, and not just the last name. You end up with better results that way.

Let's talk... 3G technology

Wondering what 3G technology is? Well, me too. At least until a short while ago. 3G stands for third generation voice protocol technology and in a nutshell, 3G allows for conventional telephones or fax machines to connect to IP based networks. Taking a step back, IP stands for Internet Protocol and is a connectionless protocol for the transfer of data using packet-switching between computers that may never have communicated before. For additional explanation, click here.

Why use 3G technology? For one thing, some software groups provide cheaper access than the typical phone system. Downloadable programs such as Skype allow you to place phone calls/video calls from your computer to another computer (free) or phones/cell phones around the world (inexpensive). Unlike the typical modern home phone set up, 3G technology allows you to videoconference with someone near or far if you have a webcam on your computer. In using Skype, you also have access to chat, voice mail, call forwarding and a host of other services, including distance learning. Check it out at http://www.skype.com/.

To be clear here, 3G technology is not limited to computer-to-computer usage. Most of the major phone carriers are now using 3G technology, especially with their mobile phone services.

For further explanation of what 3G is, click here. The world is no longer a wide, wide, place...

A tip for future nurses... try the online tutorials!

We admit it, CINAHL can be a tricky database to use. In order to find sufficient articles on your topic, whether you're writing that first research paper in 101 or working on your clinicals in your last semester, there are many settings to tweak to get your search just right. Even if you've attended a library class to learn how to search CINAHL there are a lot of things to remember.

That's where our online tutorials come in: we've placed on our webpage for CINAHL a series of video/audio demonstrations that demonstrate the searching process. (Please note: you cannot search CINAHL off campus from the link at the top of this page, you must log in to MyDCC for off-campus access. There will be more on this approach below.) If you wish to use them, be sure to watch them in the order given. Be sure to have your speakers turned on to hear the narration.

To use CINAHL off campus you must sign in to your MyDCC account. Click the "Library" tab near the top of the page, then click on the link marked "Off Campus Database Access" in the center column. The page that comes up will look just like the one we use in the Reference area in the library. Follow the instructions above to see the tutorials.

GIMP, it's not just a character in Pulp Fiction anymore!

Let's talk digital photography: you’re walking the streets of London & you get the perfect shot of a group of chic Brits standing in Picadilly. They’re just hanging out, talking, acting ordinary BUT it’s precisely what you wanted, something that screams ambience.

Now you want to post it to your Facebook page, Flickr page, someplace where you can tell your friends & family, “Just look at my artistic ability!” Here’s the problem; the site you’ve chosen to display your photos has a size limit.

Now, before you go and spend $650 on Adobe Photoshop C3, consider this: what if there was a way to manipulate images with free software that has the same features? Try the GIMP at gimp.org. It’s an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. If you’re not familiar with GNU or open-source software, it’s basically free software you can download from the Web. Without wanting to turn this posting into a political minefield, there’s a growing movement out there to break the bonds of Microsoft Windows as an operating system. The folks who have designed GNU believe that a PC operating system shouldn’t cost hundreds of dollars, it should be free to all.

I’ve used GIMP myself and it has just about all the features that Adobe P-shop does. Plus, if you’re confused about how to operate it you can get help at the GIMP User’s Group site (it's also linked on the GIMP homepage). For now, I’ll tell you how to change the size of a digital photo:

After downloading & installing GIMP, open the photo you want to resize, it will open in a new window. Click on “Image” in the top menu. Click “Scale Image.” You’ll see a new window, adjust the size of the image in the Height & Width boxes to the specifications at your photo website. If they aren’t given, try a size of around 600 pixels wide or 700 pixels high. That should be an acceptable size for any site.

Pretty easy, huh? Just don’t ask me to demonstrate any of the other features, I haven’t gotten that far yet! Once you try it, you'll never consider shelling out money for Photoshop again!

Paper overload?

Dealing with daily doses of too many paper printouts? Need to print something for a one time only use? Then you may be interested in some new technology being worked on by Xerox. Click here to read more about erasable paper. We've all heard about erasable pens but how about erasable printouts, where the images fade out over 24 hours?

A room full of computers!!!

It's the end of the semester & there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get all your classwork done, right? Term papers, essays, final projects, they just seem to stack up & never get done & worst of all, the computer labs on campus are constantly full. Feel trapped? Hopeless? The library is offering students a break; our classroom, Hudson 224, will be open today & tomorrow if you need a computer to work on those pesky, piling-up projects of yours.

Hours are:

Thursday, May 1st: 10am - 12pm; 1:30pm - 4pm. (Closed 12pm - 1:30pm)

Friday, May 2nd: 9:30am to 4pm.

See you there!