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Fresh stuff from the Webmaster of the Sarasota County Libraries.

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Nov
6th
Fri
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Links I Love Friday

Daily Drop Cap, dailydropcap.com:* “The Daily Drop Cap is an ongoing project by typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. Each day (or at least each WORK day), a new hand-crafted decorative initial cap will be posted for your enjoyment and for the beautification of blog posts everywhere.”

Remember I like fonts … a LOT. Even if you don’t like fonts too much, I think you’ll love this site.

C heck it out!

You can become a fontaholic, too…

…if you’re lucky.

When I’ve mentioned fonts before, I’ve linked to searches for “Graphic Design” or “Type.” But, today’s a day for something completely different: a SUNCAT search for the subject “Lettering.”

*Seen on the blog, How About Orange.

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Tutorial Tuesday: DIY Paper Flowers on Creature Comforts: I can’t believe making paper flowers is so easy. Watch out, Martha Stewart!

I spent all last night making flowers from construction paper! … Could someone tell me what to do with a hundred paper flowers?

Interested in other paper crafts? Search SUNCAT for the subject “Paper work.”

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Vélocouture group on Flickr: Now that the weather is getting cooler, I’m considering trying to ride my bike to work again.

Ever wondered what to wear if you don’t have a place to change from biking clothes to working clothes? Take a look! Vélocouturists wear whatever they please!

Read up on bicycling with a SUNCAT search for the subject “Cycling.”

Nov
5th
Thu
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Be Your Own Tech Support

I just saw this post, “Web Work 101: Be Your Own Tech Support,” on Web Worker Daily. 10 things to check or do when you’re having problems with equipment.

I know this is information we’ve all heard many times, but it’s good advice that’s worth repeating! You might not be able to fix all your tech problems yourself, but when you call tech support and are asked, “Did you try rebooting? Did you check your cables?,” you can say, “Yes. Yes, I did!”

You might also impress your friends and family with your “knowledge.” Although my husband is quite knowledgeable about technology, he was puzzling over how to fix a problem he had noticed with some equipment. I chimed in, “Did you try rebooting it yet?” And no, no he hadn’t.

Nov
4th
Wed
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Nov
3rd
Tue
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In the Cards

When was the last time you saw a card from a library’s card catalog?
Or maybe you don’t even remember that libraries had card catalogs?

I work in libraries, and I haven’t seen a catalog card in years!

The University of South Carolina’s library is celebrating their old cards with a “What Can You Make with Catalog Cards” contest: www.sc.edu/library/inthecards.html, .

I know I could make a very heavy paper airplane. What about you?

Source: LISNews.org

Nov
2nd
Mon
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This month is NaBloPoEvWoDaMo.

I already talked about NaNoWriMo, which started yesterday. But, have you heard about NaBloPoMo and NaBloWriMo (National Blog Posting Month and National Blog Writing Month)?

Each site encourages posting to your blog every day for a month. I can’t post here every day for a couple of reasons. The most important one is that I would have had to post yesterday, which I obviously didn’t. So, in the spirit of NaBlo[Po/Wri]Mo, I’m creating NaBloPoEvWoDaMo, National Blog Posting Every Workday Month.

Why? Hey, why not!
Will I post every workday? Can I really do it? Wait and see!

(In my favor is the fact that November has 3 holidays: Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving.)

If you’d like to find out more about blogging, search SUNCAT for the subject “Blogs.”

Oct
30th
Fri
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Links I Love Friday

It’s a Halloween themed Links I Love Friday!

Top 10 Ghostwritten Books” by Scott Laming on AbeBooks.com:

The “one reclusive mythical creature that particularly sparks fear in literary hearts - the ghostwriter.”

How do you feel about ghostwritten books?
I feel tricked when I discover someone prominent hasn’t written the book he or she claimed to have written. (On second thought, can I have a ghostwriter write my NaNoWriMo novel?)

The library owns 2 of the top 10:

The Player on the Other Side” by Ellery Queen (ghosted by Theodore Sturgeon)
Tiger of the Snows” by Tenzing Norgay (ghosted by James Ramsey Ullman)

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Thrill the World / Learn the Dance, www.thrilltheworld.com/learn:

“Thrill The World is an annual worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’”

I’ve never participated in one of the Thrill the World events, and since I’m not much of a joiner, I don’t think I ever will. But, I’ve wanted to learn the Thriller dance for years. This page is just what I need.

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Allen County Public Library commercial (featuring zombies!) on YouTube:

I love this commercial any time, but it’s perfect for Halloween!

Oct
29th
Thu
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"Time is on my side, yes it is"*

This Sunday (Nov. 1) it’s time to change the clocks: Spring forward. Fall back.

I’ve written about the reasons for the time changes before, but I have a new link to direct you to this time: “Saving Time, Saving Energy” on NationalAtlas.gov.

If you’re really interested in the history and reasons for the time change, search SUNCAT for the subject “Daylight Saving.” You’ll come across these 2 books:

Seize the Daylight by David Prerau      Spring Forward by Michael Downing

*Please imagine me singing this song, and please imagine I sound good.

Oct
27th
Tue
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Michael Chabon on last night's news

Michael Chabon was interviewed about his newest book on last night’s NewsHour: “Monday on the NewsHour: Michael Chabon.”

After the interview, my husband said, “I like him. I want to read everything he’s written.” I agree. What a great interview!

If you feel the same, search SUNCAT for his name as an author: “Chabon, Michael.”

Oct
23rd
Fri
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Links I Love Friday

National Novel Writing Month: November 1st-30th, Thirty days and nights of literary abandon! www.nanowrimo.org:

Ever thought about writing a novel? November is your chance to try along with more than 100,000 other writers.

“Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.” (What Is NaNoWriMo? page)

I’ve signed up in previous years but never completed. In fact, my word count was pitiful. But, this could be my year! Are you going to join me?

Need inspiration? Search SUNCAT for “Fiction—Authorship.”

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The Virtue Of Hitting ‘Delete,’ Permanently” on NPR’s Talk of the Nation:*

What happens if almost everything you’ve ever done is available somewhere online? ”Remember that embarrassing picture you posted on Facebook 10 years ago? Your teenage DUI arrest?…Today, we consider the consequences of indelible, perfect searchable memory and hear an argument to reintroduce our ability to forget.” (transcript of the broadcast

I wonder about such things. If you do, too, have a listen or read the transcript.

*Seen on LISNews.org.

Oct
20th
Tue
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Science: Looking out and in

I’m almost always fascinated by news of the work of “hard” scientists. How do they make discoveries and breakthroughs? “How do they do that?” I wonder, don’t you?

Yesterday I watched a fascinating report on the NewsHour by Climate Central about a project in Greenland: “Drilling Back to the Future: Climate Cues from Ancient Ice in Greenland.” And this morning, I saw on CNN that 32 new planets have been found: “32 New Planets Found Outside Our Solar System.”

One group of scientists was looking out from our Earth and the other in. Either way, how do they do that?

If you want to start to learn more about either topic, try searching for the subjects “Glacial epoch” and “Outer space exploration” in SUNCAT. And, if you’re intrigued by how scientists get started doing what they do, too, search for “Science—vocational guidance.”