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New Collections And New Ways To Borrow!

by Employee 37

Today we present two new collections: Science Tools and Home Tools!

aadl.org/sciencetools
aadl.org/hometools

Science Tools help you explore the world around you in fun and creative ways. Get an up close look and discover secret details invisible to the human eye with a powerful stereomicroscope, or go mobile in the field with a digital pocket microscope and see what you can turn up under logs and in puddles; devise experiments with a variety of handheld meters for measuring ultraviolet light, electromagnetic fields, sound, radio frequency microwaves and environmental quality; and gaze into the cosmos with a Dobsonian telescope. Many new Science Tools will debut this summer, so watch the link above for updates!

Home tools are things that come in handy around the house. We’re starting with some uncommon tools that you might not have lying about, like an indoor air quality meter, a thermal leak detector and an infrared thermometer to accompany our existing energy meters.

But that’s not all! Today you also get a brand new way to borrow materials from AADL: Up For Grabs. Think of Up For Grabs as free Zoom Lends, where we set aside a few of our most popular items to be available for walk-in checkouts. Up For Grabs items are non-requestable and non-renewable, though you can still place requests on their non-Up For Grabs counterparts. They currently circulate for 1 week and are available on a first come first serve basis. Up For Grabs items have a special sticker so that you can find them on the shelf, and their own call number so that you can find them in the catalog. We’re starting out with some telescopes, stereomicroscopes and digital pocket microscopes, so if you’re deterred by long request lists or rental charges then keep an eye out for Up For Grabs!

Tools can be found on the Stuff Shelf, take a look!

We hope you enjoy your new tools and borrowing options, and let us know what you think.

Comments

Submitted by SBrandt on Fri, 06/28/2013 - 12:44pm

A lot of these items look very cool. How long can the non up for grabs items be checked out? I tried looking on the website but couldn't find couldn't find information on everything. I'm especially curious about the microscopes and the music items.

Hi SBrandt. Non-Up For Grabs microscopes go out for 1 week, NUFG Telescopes go out for 2 weeks, and all Music Tools go out for 1 week and are non-renewable/non-requestable. You'll get a receipt with the due date whenever you check one of these out.

Submitted by crazypockets on Fri, 06/28/2013 - 2:22pm

These are such great ideas! How fun to be able to check out science tools. Should make camping trips extra interesting.

Submitted by messa on Fri, 06/28/2013 - 4:54pm

This is wonderful !! Looks like a lot of things that people would want to use, but not really want to buy. AADL goes above and beyond again. Thank you !!

Submitted by camelsamba on Sat, 06/29/2013 - 9:50pm

These are great - I managed to get the indoor air quality monitor when I was there on Friday. Now to actually use it and gather data...

Submitted by yaldah on Sun, 06/30/2013 - 4:29pm

The music tools sound really cool. I'll have to check one out next time I'm at the Downtown branch! I hope that sometime they will be made requestable.

Submitted by sdunav on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 11:48am

I already suggested it through the "contact us" suggestions - but a GPS would be an awesome addition to this collection. :-)

Submitted by manz Staff on Mon, 07/01/2013 - 4:16pm

How great is this?! I look forward to trying out some of the new tools. Thanks for bringing cool stuff to AADL's shelves!

Submitted by leett on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 4:24pm

Cool.

Submitted by Smiles on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 11:49pm

*Speechless* That is SO COOL!!!!! I can't believe we can actually check out that kind of stuff! It's SOOO amazing!!!! :D

Submitted by rlmorgan on Sun, 07/07/2013 - 7:18am

This is a great idea for the library. What a wonderful way to be able to introduce kids to science without having to buy expensive tools yourself. And the home tools look like a great way to help make the home more efficient again without having to buy something you'd only use a couple of times. Big thank you to the library for this new service.

Submitted by spallm on Sun, 07/07/2013 - 9:35pm

Neat!

Submitted by betsywil on Sat, 07/13/2013 - 7:18pm

These Home Tools look excellent! I have used the energy meter and recommend it. I will need to check out some of the others soon.

bookbird - re: "With all these AMAZING tools, I wonder why AADL isn't world famous..." AADL *is* actually world famous! Between Eli Neiburger and the Director Josie Parker they have given talks about AADL's varied services all over the country and the world: Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Australia, Norway. If you do some googling you can read all about it. We were featured here http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/06/public-libraries-l… and Eli was recently on NPR http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/05/07/future-of-libraries

- "AADL has a pH meter? Where is it?"

We've looked at circulating a pH meter and how that might work. The problem is that they require a calibration solution, and we aren't sure that we can checkout the necessary little bottles of liquid. So currently we don't plan on circulating a pH meter, but its always a possibility.

Bookbird - read the article more closely AADL doesn't have a seed collection. We're always thinking about the collections though - so it's in the mix of the discussions. Lots of new stuff still coming from us - keep your eyes peeled.

Submitted by jmb.mlis on Wed, 07/31/2013 - 11:59pm

I really like the idea of the new home tools available for check out. The Baldwin Library in Birmingham has an awesome Toy Collection that is available to check out. It is great for parents to get to try out toys before buying, and great for kids to have something new to play with once in a while.

Submitted by slugwhisperer on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 6:44pm

I'd love to check out a thermal camera someday. Then I could see where my house is actually losing heat without having to pay the big bucks to a professional.

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