Internet Public Library

Have you ever heard of the Internet Public Library? It is a great online resource for information: basically, it was the first library created specifically to support the internet community. It began in 1995 as a project for the University of Michigan School of Information and over time became a well-established entity on the internet for research. ipl.org connects you to a world of librarian-approved online resources. For instance, ipl.org links directly to the Librarians' Internet Index whose tag line is "websites you can trust". Broken down into subject areas, the IPL connects you to a variety of digital sources, including websites, podcasts and other information. They have a special section for Kids and Teens Resources, Reading Rooms, Ready Reference materials such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, FAQs, Special Collections and other helpful tools. The IPL helps bring a level of comfort for website integrity when conducting research. Check it out!

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that the Ritz Library subscribes to paper versions of over 300 magazines, newspapers & journals? These publications are kept in the Current Periodicals section on the 3rd floor of the Library. This area has lots of soft seating to stretch out to browse through magazines like People, Vibe or Cosmo. You'll also find today's Poughkeepsie Journal, New York Times & Wall Street Journal.

Visit us on the 3rd floor of Hudson Hall.

Do you like to Doodle?

Do you remember when doodling meant putting pen to paper and drawing funny shapes? These days "to doodle" has a completely different meaning.

Doodle is an easy scheduling tool that anyone can use. Suppose you have ten people at different locations that you want to get together for a meeting, but you are unsure as to what dates/times work best for the participants. Using Doodle you can create a poll which allows people to select the dates/times that work best for them. Doodle organizes the results into a table for easy review.

You do not need to create a Doodle account to make use of their scheduling tools, but you can more easily manage your polls if you do. Doodle will track your polls and results if you create an account. A poll is the survey created by the administrator and sent through a participation link to the desired email addresses. The recipient follows the link back to the poll and selects what works best for him or her. Different options exist for the administrator to have control over the polling options, for example, you can create a basic yes-no-ifneedbe poll. Doodle account manager then tabulates the results so that you can easily see your options.

So, if you have a situation where people need to make a choice or schedule a meeting or event, you may want to try out Doodle. Recently, I was a participant in a Doodle poll and thought it was both a clever and useful tool. Try it out and see if it will work for you.

RSS feeds

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - what is it really all about? In essence, it's a way of creating your own personal daily newspaper. Ever notice this symbol on a web page? It's the symbol that indicates that a "feed" is available for that page. What's a "feed"? A feed is sent by the publication to a reader which allows you to read a summary of the article.

A reader is online software supplied through companies such as bloglines, google, yahoo, aol, etc. which allow you to set up an account to create your own daily "go to" site. In other words, instead of checking LibraryThing news every day, the New York Times book review, multiple papers, and several blogs daily, I can sign onto my bloglines account and see which feeds have been updated and which ones I would like to read. The bloglines reader presents the list of subscriptions on the left and on the right side of the reader you can see the summary of the articles for that URI. Each reader works slightly differently, but the overall concept is similar.

Like most tools available on the internet, the best way to understand it is to make use of it. For anyone who spends time going from website to website daily, it's indispensable.

OpenOffice.org

Do you use a laptop or a desk top that does NOT have Microsoft Office installed?

If yes,
then go to http://www.openoffice.org/
else
go to end.

OpenOffice.org is a free productivity suite offered by Sun Microsystems. As open source software, it is available in multiple languages for download and, let me repeat, is free! Open Office offers word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and database creation similar to Microsoft Office. It is also MS-Office compatible, meaning you can save files in the format used by Microsoft. However, OpenOffice.org version 3 does not offer the ability to store files in the new Microsoft 2007 formats yet.

Not sure what option to use once you've downloaded the software? OpenOffice Writer is the equivalent of Word, OpenOffice Calc equates to Excel, OpenOffice Impress can be used to create presentations like Powerpoint does, OpenOffice Base allows you to build databases like Access, and OpenOffice Math lets you create and edit scientific formulas.

Enjoy!

Doing a report about a country?

A new "Quick Link" has been added to the Ritz's resources page, Doing A Report about a country?, which gathers together electronic resources to help you write a paper on a world nation.

A major souce at the link is the "Country Reports" section of the Business Source Premier database. These yearly reports focus on the economic, political and cultural aspects of countries and cover a range of years from 1998 until the present. Another source to look at is "Virtual Reference Library," a collection of 20 electronic encyclopedias with information on countries.

To directly get to this link on campus go to http://libraryreference.sunydutchess.edu/er/countries.htm.

Access from home should be made through the Ritz's MyDCC "Off campus database access" link.

Speeches En Regalia

An election year is a banner opportunity for political candidates to show off their oratorical skills. It's also a banner year for instructors to assign papers on speeches. So where's a comprehensive place to go for speeches?

A great source is Vital Speeches of the Day. This publication has collected the best in oratory since 1934. It contains speeches & addresses by important public figures on topics of national & international interest.

Searching is straightforward. To look for all speeches by an individual, search on the person's name, last name first. For example, "Radloff, Toby".

To search this database on campus, click on this link: Vital Speeches of the Day and go to "Search within this Publication". To find out how to search it from home, call 431-8634 or send e-mail to Reference.

Also remember that the Ritz Library owns a number of collections of speeches that you can take out or copy. Here's a list of those books.

About the library

Need a brief reminder about library hours, services, contact us details, and how to look information up in databases? Check out this pdf!

Microsoft Word 2007 blues...

You haven't upgraded to Office 2007 because you like Office 2003 and are quite comfortable with it. The only problem is, you are now receiving documents in a .docx format that it's impossible for your computer to open. If faced with this situation, download this converter to rectify the problem and you can continue using 2003 without having to worry about compatibility with newer documents!

Have you meebo'd?

Overwhelmed with open dialog boxes on your desktop? Using multiple Instant Messenger (IM tools? Have accounts with AIM, Yahoo! and MSN? If so, then you may be interested in the free communication tool called meebo. Meebo pulls together all of your IM accounts and allows you to be online with everyone you know at the same time. It's simple and easy to use. Just access http://www.meebo.com/ and create a meebo account. When you create an account, it will ask you to add in your IM ids. Once you do, meebo runs and you can see in your IM list all of your contacts on all networks. What's neat is that you don't have to download yet another piece of software to your PC and you can be connected from any computer at any time!

Meebo connects the following IM programs together: Yahoo! AIM, MSN, Google Talk, Jabber and ICQ. It offers audio and video chat, widgets for webpages, group chat, games, iPhone and iPod connectivity as well as other options. Click here for more info on meebo services.


At the Ritz Library, you can now access a librarian through the meebo link on the blog page.

Book Glutton

Back in October, we mentioned some websites that allow for free online reading of older or out-of-copyright books. Book Glutton is another opportunity to access books online. What makes Book Glutton so interesting though is their added functionality. Book Glutton allows you to read a book online, but also chat about the book while you are reading it with other readers. You are able to mark a section of text and comment on that section, thereby promoting intelligent discussion about a text.

You can access Book Glutton's catalog of materials without logging in, but you are unable to access the talk and mark functions without creating an account. Creating an account is free, and you are able to update your profile with a photo and other relevant information, if so desired. Follow the "FIND a BOOK" link to search through the catalog of materials by author, title or group. A group is a book discussion group - individuals gathered together online to talk about the books they are reading as they are being read. You can create your own group, or you can request an invitation to join someone else's existing group. When you are done reading a work, you are able to bookmark the text, so that you can return to the place that you left off at the next time you go online. Hit the "JUMP into the READER" button to resume your place in the book.

The talk and mark panels can be found to the left and the right of the reader pane. There is also a help button which explains how to use these tasks. If you like your print to be a bit larger than normal, especially while reading online, you can do so at the click of an icon, and the forward and back buttons take you where you would like to go in the book.

Book Glutton is fairly simple and easy to use, plus if you are an author or have permission to publish someone else's work, you can upload your title to the site. Try it out and see what you think!

Got green?

Do you have old CDs, DVDs, video cassettes, cell phones, chargers lying around? How about old computers, computer monitors, batteries? Don't want to fill up a landfill with this stuff, but not sure what to do with it? If so, check out www.gcycle.org. It's a cute website which provides recycling information at your fingertips. Type in your zip code, hit compute, and away you go to a list of locations which accept various electronic equipment donations. Then flip on over to Earth 911, for more comprehensive information on recycling and reuse.
Gycle is powered by Earth 911, an environmentally conscientious website.

Yale University's Open Archives

Check out this article from "Inside Higher Ed" on Yale University's open access to 7 of their courses, covering astrophysics, modern poetry, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, and religion. Course documentation, videos and transcripts are available online, free!

Other links to open access courses are also mentioned.

Cloud Computing

Have you ever had compatibility problems with Microsoft Office? Are you working on a Mac at home but printing on a PC at school? Do you only have the powerpoint viewer on your computer but need to create a slide presentation for class? Ever lose or break a Flash Drive? Is your Floppy Disk more corrupt than a Jack Abramoff dinner party?

Well, these and other issues can be a real headache for Students and Professors alike. A new way of thinking about document creation and storage is being led by (get ready for a really big surprise here) Google and it could alleviate, if not solve, many issues like this.

The concept is simple. Instead of creating your documents and storing them on your computer (which is liable to crash, freeze, melt, etc.) you create all your documents on the web and store them there. You would access them the same way you access your email, so only you would have access to your documents. Google Docs has all the basics covered: word processing, spreadsheets, a slide-presentation creator, and even a calendar; and each in a simple-to-use (ahem, Word2007...) layout. If you already have a Gmail account simply login to Google Docs using that information. Or, if you don't have a Google account, you can sign-up for one at no charge and test out all the features for yourself.

Click here for a New York Times article on the subject.

Just for FUN reading!

Stop over by our periodicals and check out the Ritz Library's "Just for Fun" reading collection. Every month new books are selected by our librarians to be added to this collection. Twice a year, books are weeded out and returned to the lending vendor, thereby ensuring a fresh rotation of titles. Here, you'll find both fiction and non-fiction titles ranging from mysteries and science fiction to politics and spirituality. So take some time and find a title that appeals to you, and READ!!!

In a sticky situation?

Need to access legal resources on the web? There are several internet sites that can help you help yourself in the matters of NYS law.







New York State Unified Court System

• CourtHelp provides information such as courthouse addresses and telephone numbers
• forms
• assistance in finding a lawyer
• general questions about the law
  

New York State Bar Association Legal Ease Pamphlet Series

• Helps a person identify which form fits their needs
• Provides downloadable forms for purchase
• There are many other links on the NYS Bar Association website that provide legal information for individuals

LawHelp

• Need to know about Internet Fraud? Family and Juvenile rights? Taxes? Disability? These topics and many others are covered on the LawHelp website in an easy to understand and user-friendly manner

Don't forget, the library also has access to Westlaw, a high-end database that lets you do all sorts of case research! Ask a librarian for assistance if you'd like to use it!

Google allows cutting and pasting

of its books in the public domain. For more information, click here.

What is ILL?

ILL is an acronym for Interlibrary Loan. OK, so the next question becomes - What is Interlibrary Loan? In short, an interlibrary loan is a request from Library A to Library B to borrow some material that Library B has which Library A does not have. Libraries rarely work independent of one another, but are part of consortiums or library councils with reciprocal agreements which enable interlibrary loans to occur.

Say you're working on a research paper, and you are looking for an obscure book that the library doesn't have. If you stop by the Reference desk with the title of the book (and as much publication information that you might have about the book), we can supply you with the form needed to submit an ILL request. Once the request is made, it is sent to Technical Processing for research and review. Often Reference can verify that the book is available through a local resource. From there it takes about 1 - 2 weeks for your title to come into the library.

The same applies for requested articles. If our databases don't have what you are looking for, we should be able to find it for you at some other location.

Guidelines for ILL are supplied through the American Library Association (ALA). For the most part, ILLs are FREE! (In rare cases, there may be a small charge levied by the lending library to cover their expense). Different libraries allow different media to be lended, subject to their ILL policies.

Interlibrary loan through DCC is available to current faculty, staff and students.

Online books available!

Besides the NetLibrary and Ebrary, there are other places to find books online. Project Gutenberg, The Internet Archive, and Google Books have thousands of books ready to access at the click of a button. Generally speaking, these are books that are a little older and have fallen out of copyright. So use them if you have an assignment where you need primary sources or are studying classic works of literature, philosophy, history, or science. Formats vary from Plain Vanilla ASCII to DjVu.

Project Gutenberg

Internet Archive

Google Books

Microsoft


*Google has scanned books both in and out of copyright. Books protected by copyright are only avaliable in a limited preview. You can modify your search to include or exclude these works.

Primary Sources of Information

Do you know what a primary source of information is?

A chair made in Boston during the Revolutionary War that still exists today tells a story about the creation of furniture and the materials used during that time period. A person's autobiography from the 1960's would likely reflect the changing times, attitudes and social occurrences that shaped the decade. These are primary sources!

Primary sources give you insight to the times. They are actual informational resources reflecting a particular event or time in history. The items on the list below would be considered primary sources.

• Autobiographies
• Diaries
• Documents
• Eyewitness accounts
• Film footage
• Laws
• Letters
• Newspaper articles
• Novels [written in that period]
  
• Objects from the time
• Oral histories
• Photographs
• Poems, art, music
• Speeches

This list was taken from the internet article, "History Day - Primary and Secondary Sources" by Jennifer Rosenburg.

This being said, the question is then raised, "How can I find primary sources online?" There are a number of choices available. From myDCC or the library computers, click on the History link. From there, you can see a list of links to primary sources through DCC's databases, including the New York Times Archives and Original Sources through Encyclopedia Britannica.

American Memory provides photographs, film, music and documents from by-gone eras.

The Avalon Project covers documents in "law, history and diplomacy".

Many other primary sources can be found online. Ask a librarian for help if you are having trouble finding what you are looking for!