Summer School (2009)- Internet for Beginners

Each Thursday morning this summer, I'll provide a little one-to-one Internet Basics on our Public Access computers. This will be summer casual, relaxed help in getting started on the Internet - what it is and does, how to set up an email account, what's Google anyway?

Here are some links that we will explore:

From About.com, many useful links to get the Internet New User started:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/

Basics:
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/internet101/u/inetbasics.htm)

Schott's Miscellany 2009 Almanac

Welcome to 2009!

Schott's Miscellany ranks high among my recent discoveries. Described on the book jacket flap as an 'almanac written to be read', Schott's is truly a miscellaneous collection of fascinating items compiled by Ben Schott, New York Times best-selling author. I thought I would share some of the interesting data filed under Reading in the Society & Health section of the new edition.

The National Endowment for the Arts 2007 report, To Read or Not to Read, focused on American literacy - the findings are somewhat depressing, especially for a librarian in the public sector:

The average American aged 15 - 24 spent only 7 minutes a day reading for pleasure. Older Americans, on average, spend about 20 minutes per day, with Seniors reading as much as 50 minutes each day.

The report notes that teenage literacy levels have declined at the same time as the decline in reading for pleasure, although our youngest readers have shown an improvement in reading levels. This makes me wonder whether the distractions of electronic games, music and video contribute to the decline as children move through adolescence.

While the library is consciously adding to our digital collection(s), we still have lots of books and printed material for your reading pleasure.

If you're interested, here's a link to the 98-page report: http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.PDF. Browsing the report should help to raise the national average!

LIBRARY 2.0

The Library 2.0 concept is the social and technological changes that are having an increasing impact on libraries, their staff, their patrons, and how they interact. The new tools were coming to enable patrons of all ages to suggest titles, write reviews and recommendations, and enable our librarians to enlist the entire community of readers in a collaborative effort to share their favorites - whether in print, on the web or in digital format - by using new networking tools such as wiki's and blogs. These new tools are now ready for your use.

So what is a blog, anyway? Generally speaking, it's an online journal comprised of links and postings in reverse chronological order, meaning the most recent posting appears at the top of the page. Blogs are "post-centric" -- the posting is the key unit -- rather than "page-centric," as with more traditional websites. Blogs typically link to other websites and blog postings, and many allow readers to comment on the original post, thereby allowing audience discussions.

We have totally revised our website (http://www.orangeburg-library.org) and created our initial foray into the Blogosphere! The blog is frequently updated with program information, the NYTimes Bestseller List, links to newly added DVD's, eBooks, and an extensive selection of music for your MP3 player. There is even a comments area following each section where you can suggest your recent favorites for sharing. And that's the point - we would like the library to be a place to discover the unexpected.
Please Visit our Library 2.0 at: http://orangeburglibraryblog.blogspot.com/.