Blog Post
Weekend Warrior
by Robb
Weekend Warriors- There's still time before Summer's gone to get those honey-do lists done.
If you can’t figure out how to actually add that electric circuit, plumb that fixture, build that deck, etc. then check out some of the popular guides that you can get at the Library. I’ve always turned first to the Reader's Digest Do-It Yourself Manual for a good overview on the home. However,I recently discovered Renovation by Michael Litchfield in it’s 3rd edition. I'm very impressed with the accuracy and depth of information presented in this book.
The Library also has numerous excellent guides to specific areas such as such as electricity, plumbing, carpentry, landscaping, fence building, appliance repair, painting, etc. The library has some excellent books to help you.
So when you need help on fixing up “Green Acres” don’t forget the Library and the many treasures here.
Blog Post
Do you like trivia? Want to impress your friends with new facts?
by emilyas
Well check out the many interesting fact books that the New York Public Library has published! To start off we have the fascinating series of New York Public Library answer books for kids. This series includes books such as The New York Public Library amazing African American history : a book of answers for kids and also Amazing women in American history : a book of answers for kids. Other books in the series provide answers about Space, Hispanic American History, Native American History, and Mythology.
Are you an adult? Do not be dismayed! This wisdom isn't only available for kids. The New York Public Library also published interesting materials for adults, such as The New York Public Library book of twentieth-century American quotations and The New York Public Library literature companion.
My absolute favorite of these books, (especially if you are someone who likes to be prepared for the next game of Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy), has to be The book of answers : the New York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's most unusual and entertaining questions. And take a look at the recent New York Times article about the librarians who answer these telephone reference questions!
So take a look at these exciting books and impress your friends and colleagues with interesting facts you learned from the New York Public Library, without ever having to leave Ann Arbor!
Blog Post
Meet Facebook, Myspace, and Other Online Friends
by Eartoground
Amazing how many people love to network socially on sites such as Facebook and Myspace - millions of you. John Cassidy nails this trend - and the companies it supports - in his article "The Online Life: Me Media: How hanging out on the Internet became big business," in the May 15 issue of The New Yorker magazine. Read this article - virtually - from General Reference Center Gold electronic database, or actually from the actual May 15 issue of The New Yorker magazine at the library.
Blog Post
Gale Virtual Reference Library
by amy
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research
Blog Post
FirstSearch
by amy
FirstSearch provides access to databases and full text articles for academic research in the humanities and sciences.
Blog Post
Beyond the Mechanical: How Stuff Works
by Sancho Panza
AADL Select Sites:Reference Tools
A fantastic site for the curious, How Stuff Works sheds light on inner workings of daily life, from the complex to the mundane. Wonder how your cell phone works, or how it got its name in the first place? Perhaps you’re curious about the new hybrid car sitting in your neighbor’s driveway.
The entries aren’t limited to the electronic, however. Satisfy your desire to learn how coffee and chocolate are produced, and find practical information about health insurance and not-so-practical overviews of facelifts and liposuction.
Finally, after your own desires for explanations have been quenched, check out the questions other people have asked. Should that leave you craving more, there’s always a trip to the library for the classic, The Way Things Work.
Blog Post
Snopes.com: "Rumor Has It"
by Sancho Panza
AADL Select Sites: Reference Tools
Snopes is a great site to turn to when you want to make sense of the disconcerting warnings that fill your email inbox, telling tall tales of scams to avoid and free lunch to be had. Is it true, for example, that Bill Gates will send you $1000 for forwarding his email message? (No). Can you really help various charitable causes simply by clicking a button on a website?(Yes). Snopes presents an addicting array of subject headings to explore, including up-to-the-minute issues like Hurricane Katrina, as well as more tried and true topics such as Science, Religion and Politics. Best of all, each entry comes complete with a list of sources, ensuring readers that Snopes isn’t one big urban legend itself.
The Hottest 25 Legends compiles a list of the “25 urban legends currently circulating most widely” such as the rumor that cell phone numbers will soon be available to telemarketers (false), and that the popular Proctor and Gamble product, Swiffer Wet Jet, may be deadly to dogs (also false).
Finally, and perhaps most entertaining, under the Critter Country heading you’ll find the heroic tale of a cat who inadvertently got his head stuck in a garbage disposal attempting to get at the last bits of some smoked salmon. This one, unfortunately, is true.