Tuesday's Tool: Thanksgiving Sites

In light of this week's holiday, a quick reminder that there are a number of Thanksgiving sites to be found on the web page accompanying the CFLC workshop Holiday Use of the Internet.

Did you know turkeys have heart attacks? How about that they have a 270-degree field of vision? Find more on the InfoPlease page of amazing Turkey Trivia.

Not into turkey? Try the Vegetarian Thanksgiving for an abundance of recipes and tips.

Three...is the "[n]umber of places in the United States named after the holiday’s traditional main course." For more Thanksgiving "by the numbers", see the Census Bureau's Facts for Features release on Thanksgiving 2005.

Be sure and take a break during the holiday--and if parades and football aren't your things, watch one of InfoPlease's Thanksgiving-themed movies.

Finally, check out this turkey greeting card for a good holiday laugh. Happy Thanksgiving, All!

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

Friday Fun Thing: Happy Birthday, Mickey!

Given that this blog is from Orlando, there may well be a law against blogging a Friday Fun Thing on the actual day of the locally adopted rodent's birth without acknowledging it. So Happy 77th Birthday, Mickey Mouse!

In honor of this auspicious occasion, herewith a four-pack of Mickey birthday goodness:

His biography (no joke!); what originated as a newspaper column honoring his birthday and giving a number of Disney sites; links to arts and crafts celebrating his birthday; and a Mickey Mouse's Birthday theme unit for elementary school teachers.

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

Tuesday's Tool: A Library-Related Twofer

This Tuesday's Tool entry is a two-for-one of library bounty.

First, this week, November 14-20, is Children's Book Week. Here is the Children's Book Council site giving Children's Book Week materials, history, promotional ideas, useful links, and more.

Second, from the Normative Data Project for Libraries, is this "mash-up" tool showing location of and conditions in public libraries with significant damage from Katrina and/or Rita plotted on a Google map. (Explanations and some pretty cool examples of other mash-ups may be found at both Webopedia and Wikipedia.)

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

Friday Fun Thing: Unshelved

If any of you have not yet encountered the library-related comic strip Unshelved (formerly Overdue), I recommend a look! If you're new to the series, start with the primer to meet the somewhat quirky staff and patrons of Mallville Public Library.

A favorite recent strip involves the Internet; the week of October 24 dealt with an interesting cataloging conundrum involving a graphic novel (use the > button at the bottom to go to the next of the six on the topic); and Sundays since mid-August have been full-color strips featuring The Unshelved Book Club, a mini book discussion. And, oh yes, you can subscribe to the strip via an RSS reader. Enjoy!

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

Tuesday's Tool: Find-A-Human

This week's Tuesday Tool is Find-A-Human: IVR Cheat Sheet, a list of verified methods for getting around companies' IVR (Integrated Voice Response) systems to talk to a human being.

Janet Miller, Reference Librarian at the Mims/Scottsmoor Public Library (Brevard County, FL), who posted this reference for the Ask a Librarian list includes the advice, "Notice the upper right corner where you can choose different views (e.g., by category or all in alphabetical order). " Data can also be downloaded, notifications and subscriptions are available, and volunteers are encouraged to participate and add to the database.

Very useful; it's been added to the CFLC Reference Desk under Consumer Information and Directories. Thanks for the heads-up, Janet!

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

CFLC Chronicles: National Young Readers Day

National Young Readers Day is Tuesday, November 8. The day was originally "created by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in 1989 as a way to celebrate literacy in schools." Though this post is almost a day late and a dollar short, this Web site (actually part of the BookIt! program's site) provides Starter Kits and ideas for promoting the day.

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

Friday Fun Thing: Library Thing

This week's Friday Fun Thing is a cool new tool (opened August 29 of this year) designed to allow cataloging and displaying a personal library online, Library Thing Beta. It's free for entering up to 200 books; unlimited entry is available for $10 for a year or $25 for life. Catalogs can be shared or kept personal; displays can be in list or "virtual bookshelf" format. It's no WorldCat, but it has some features WorldCat doesn't, such as tagging (uncontrolled subject headings) and a widget to put on a blog to show current reading. As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing." Check it out!

SUBJECTS: CFLC CHRONICLES

Tuesday's Tool: Comics 4 Libraries

Tuesday's Tool missed the day by a bit, but this week's feature is a relatively new Wiki "designed to collect reviews for comics and graphic novels recommended for libraries," Comics 4 Libraries. As with all Wikis, this is a collaborative effort and users are encouraged to register and contribute. I know from conversations I've heard around the area, there is great interest in graphic novels and manga, so here's a chance to get out there and make your voices heard!

SUBJECTS: REFERENCE RICHES

Blogging Demonstration

Demonstrating blogging to UCF Libraries staff. Tra-la!