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Winter Solstice - Dec. 21, 2012

Winter solstice is December 21, 2012.  Also known as Midwinter, Yule, or the Longest Night, the solstice marks when we are tilted the farthest from the warming sun, giving us our shortest day and longest night.

Since the solstice is followed by our days getting longer once more, it isn't surprising that so many cultures have celebrations around this time of year to celebrate rebirth or a returning of light and positivity.

Thank you Peter Trimming for licensing this image for reuse under a  Creative Commons Licence.

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Information is...frustration

I think I made this face about 4 times before lunch.  Technology is really giving me a hard time today.  Outlook randomly rearranged how my messages display.  Firefox and Chrome crashed.  Word wouldn't format a document to my specifications.  There is so much information out there available in so many different formats and versions... It's enough to make a Librarian scream in a quiet library. 

At the library, we help a lot of people who are at the end of their proverbial rope while trying to use Outlook, Word and Excel.  After helping solve their technological problem, we usually recommend using the tutorials in LearningExpress Library to become better acquainted with Microsoft Office Products.  Talk to a library staff member about getting started with LearningExpress Library if you haven't used it before or recently enough to remember the ins and outs.  (Oh, and not a Bates student or staff member?  See if your local public library has it!)

Maybe we can un-frustrate your information flow a little.

Thank you, gorickjones, for maarking this photo available for non-commercial use on flickr. 

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I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.

Sandra Cisneros

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One trouble with developing speed reading skills is that by the time you realize a book is boring you've already finished it.

Franklin P. Jones

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Hey- they share a birthday today!

Beth: I like Firefly.

Jennie: Me, too. We should share this with our patrons.

Beth: Okay. We already share celebrity and historical birthdays, why not do that?

Jennie: Hey! Kaylee and Inara (Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin) share a birthday!

Beth: Neat…except that they are both younger than us…lol.

Jennie: Holy bananas. They are. Now I feel old.

Happy Birthday, Jewel and Morena!

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Happy Birthday to Marilyn Monroe.

Look her up in "Encyclopedia of contemporary American culture" in the SC Library to celebrate! http://destiny.bates.ctc.edu:81/common/titledetailinfo.jsp?context=destiny&site=101&bibID=22965

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Information is...one of our favorites (pt. 2)

We talked in part 1 about using a browser to bookmark or favorite websites. This is handy and easy for those of us that use the same computer for all our computing but what if you are on a library computer and you find a absolutely mind-BLOWing resource (thanks to the help or your favorite library staff person)?  

Problem: If you bookmark it on a library computer browser...it will disappear the minute the computer is restarted. We use a program that wipes the computer of any changes users make because these are public computing stations and there has to be SOME way to keep 'em clean and consistent.  

Solution:  Online bookmarking tools.  

Online bookmarking tools let you save those favorites or bookmarks to a web-based profile/account...so that you can then access them from ANY computer with an internet connection. Here is a list of just a few to get you started:

Social bookmarking: Delicious.com or Diigo.com

For those less socially inclined: Pinboard.in

For a little more than bookmarking: Evernote.com

Try it!  Know what would be a PERFECT test site (yeah...I'm not even trying for subtle): The Bates Library! Or a particularly helpful page or e-resource within the library's website.  Ask the library staff if you want help, tell your friends, and happy bookmarking!  :o)

[askbateslib]

Information is...one of our favorites (pt. 1)

We know we are one of your favorites.  Okay...so we're just hoping that the Library website is one of your favorite websites.  A website you have found useful and worthy of bookmarking for later use.

Wondering what I'm talking about? Most browsers have a way to favorite or bookmark websites to make it easier to find them again in the future.  When you favorite or bookmark a website, it adds that website address to a list of saved websites in the internet browser on that particular computer. 

Here are some examples of what the bookmarking looks like in some popular browsers:

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Measure twice, cut once....but you can check out these videos about measuring from the SC Library over and over again. These titles not "measure" up to your standards? Suggestions for other titles welcome.

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“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go. Dr. Seuss

Congratulations to our Graduates tonight.  We wish you all the best for your future and hope you will never stop learning.

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New Welding books at the South Campus Library.  One of the welding instructors pronounced these "the good ones"! 

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Three new DVD titles that arrived at the SC Library recently.  Yay!

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Just a couple of new items to the South Campus Library collection.  Come tell them hello...or just look at them if talking to books makes you uncomfortable.

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You gotta fight. For your right. To library. Via someecards

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The way a book is read, which is to say, the qualities a reader brings to a book can have as much to do with its worth as anything the author puts into it.

Norman Cousins

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Today may be the last day of National Poetry Month but here several ways to let poetry enrich your life until next April. 

Poetry Foundation's POETRY moblie app - Hundreds of poems by classic and contemporary poets with you wherever you go. 

Poetry Creator Verses - Refrigerator magnet poetry on your smart phone.  Mash up the latest hip hop songs with Shakespeare then share with your friends.

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To close out April, we thought we'd celebrate International Guitar Month with a link to a video from the Mystery Guitar Man.  Enjoy!  See you in May.