While most of us were asleep at 3 a.m. EST on April 10 (midnight at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA), Sonja Vloeberghs, Head of Lending Services at Princeton Public Library was placing her order of an Apple Watch. When I asked why she would disrupt a good night's sleep to place one of the first orders, she proudly admitted she loves the hype of new technology.
The library has several upcoming opportunities for middle school student to put their screen time toward something new. During the week of March 30, we are offering sessions for building a blog site. Middle school students will build a Wordpress website on a topic of their choice. Each session will include instruction, as well as hands-on experimentation. Session topics include planning your site, WordPress basics, incorporating pictures and other media, and more.
The spring series of technology classes begins next week with an introduction to Evernote on Monday, January 12th at 7 p.m. With many students starting college classes in mid-January, we know this class will be a popular one. If you're interested in keeping digitized notes (or pictures, recipes, links to vacation destinations and more) but don't know how to get started, this class is for you.
During moments of quiet, which are fleeting this time of year, I reflect on what I'm thankful for in life. We say we're thankful, but what does thankful really mean? I decided to look up the definition of thankful in The Oxford English Dictionary. Here's what resonates:
If you want to learn more about cloud computing or searching online securely, visit the library. Led by our very own PPL IT gurus, we are offering various sessions that highlight the new technologies to help you decide what's right for you.
The library's technology instructors are a talented group who are experts in the topics they teach. They come from a variety of backgrounds including librarians, a private school technology teacher, a college level information technology instructor, media specialists in private industry and at an Ivy League school, and a social media consultant. Always enthusiastic to show the public what new trends are emerging, the instructors frequently develop new classes.
It's time to mark those calendars, as the library's fall technology education series is in full swing! New this season, we are offering several sessions that are great for those who want to learn more about designing, blogging, tinkering, branding, and email:
As my daughter packs for her first semester of college, I've become a little sentimental and have thought about some of the special times we've spent together recently. We have visited The Guggenheim Museum, The Frick Collection, the Cape May Zoo and downtown Cape May. We've gone out to eat, walked in parks, and, of course, done more than a little shopping together.
The summer tech series kicks off with Capturing Campus, starting with a guided walking tour of Princeton University to take pictures of some especially photogenic sites. Back at the library, we'll gather in the Tech Center to learn how to move digital images from devices to iMac computers. We will also practice simple editing and photo sharing techniques.
We are excited to offer you a new collection, hoopla, that includes thousands of movies, television shows, music albums and audiobooks. In addition to the fantastic variety, hoopla offers an attractive format, ability to stream or to use an app for temporary downloading and an easy check out process. Another great feature is that the content is always available! No holds!
Want to experience the latest in digital content, online storage trends, software and social networking this Spring? Then make Princeton Public Library's Tech Lab a frequent destination in the coming months, as our current series of technology classes continues through June and includes a variety of offerings for everyone from luddites to techies.
New York City is so near and yet can seem so far for those of us who are less than familiar with travelling to and throughout the Big Apple. A day trip to the city last summer with my family had seemed an easy enough idea: we would take the train, catch a few subways, walk a few blocks, and see the sites. What ensued, though, was anything but! I should have known traveling from Princeton to NYC with a dozen people who don't frequent east coast public transportation was destined to be an adventure:
Your input is important to us. The library encourages feedback to help us offer programs that you find valuable, informative and entertaining. With your ideas, we can consider how to expand our programs and services, improve how we do things, and purchase books and other materials that might not have been included in our collection.
Bring in 2014 with a New Year's resolution that you'll still be talking about in the spring, summer and fall. Rather than pressuring yourself to accomplish the most popular resolutions according to USA.gov, why not resolve to visit Princeton Public Library and enhance your tech know-how by attending our technology classes?
Downloading eBooks is like riding a bike. It takes a lot of practice to get going, but once you do, you never look back. Because it can be a tricky process to learn and many people look to the library for assistance (which we encourage!), we offer classes to download eBooks, audiobooks and magazines. In the past, these classes had been challenging to personalize, with two staff members assisting up to ten individuals at a time, each with a different type of mobile device and in need of customized downloading instructions.
Tired of the same old lunchtime routine? Rather than eating at your desk or running errands, treat yourself to a 30-minute concert on Thursdays at 12:30 p.m. at the Princeton University Chapel. The 2013-2014 After Noon Concert series hosts performances on most Thursday afternoons. These concerts are free, open to the public, and are an amazing way to spend the middle of the day.
Princeton Public Library has a new technology series beginning today, September 10th, continuing through the end of the year. During the next four months, a variety of classes have been scheduled from intro classes in Email and Facebook, to high tech Arduino and Raspberry Pi sessions, to classes for improving office skills such as Microsoft Excel for Mac and PowerPoint for Mac and many more.
Coming up with a blog post is a bit like planning a dinner party. A week or so before, I start thinking about the theme, developing and discarding a variety of ideas, always wondering what will have appeal. As with most things, when I am thinking about something else, the solution becomes apparent.
Have you attended any of the library's technology classes? Whether you have yet, or not, this summer is the perfect time to sit in on a session! While it's hot outdoors, enjoy the cool space of our technology center, which is home to 12 state-of-the-art iMacs. During the months of July and August, we're offering 30 classes, so you'll surely find some that you're interested in.
The courses include some of our most popular topics:
This is a re-posting of my original blog on May 25, 2012. I want to share it again because the letter is so moving, with a message that stands the test of time and bears repeating and rereading. This is a perfect time to celebrate our servicemen and women and to remind ourselves of the values of our military.
Fred Buschhoff, of the 101st Airborne was 19 when he wrote this letter to his nephew, Dan Buschhoff (my father), for his second birthday. Three weeks after writing the letter, Fred Buschhoff was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
The Princeton Public Library has over 300 volunteers! With their dedication to the library and to the Princeton community, our volunteers help make our library one of the best in the country! Each year we host a breakfast for our volunteers to let them know how much we appreciate everything they do.
To track or not to track, that is the question! How we keep track of the books we've read and the reasons behind each method could be a topic of study for an anthropologist, which I'm not. But I am an inquisitive librarian, so I recently decided to ask friends and colleagues about their book tracking methods.
Responses from 19 adults revealed 8 different methods for keeping track (or not keeping track) of books. Some of those polled use multiple tools, one for the books they want to read and another for the books they have already completed. Here are the results:
Experience the latest technology by making Princeton Public Library's technology center a frequent destination. The spring series of technology classes is off to a robust start. Friday's LinkedIn class was a full house, as was last week's resume writing class.
There's nothing like the firsthand experience of visiting another culture. Meeting local residents, tasting exotic flavors, visiting historic sites, viewing different architecture, all play an important role in the travel experience. Capturing the journey with photographs is a way of preserving the memories, and also sharing them.
'Tis the season for gadget giving! If you attended Doug Dixon's annual roundup of tempting new gadgets at the library on Nov. 28, you probably left with a list of great tech gifts to get for others – or to add to your own wish list. If you didn't attend, read on to learn about the hot sellers this season.
Whether you're a Droid Defender or part of the Apple Army, the "SmartPhone Smackdown: Droid vs iOS" debate at Princeton Public Library on October 23 gave everyone more to consider when purchasing their next phone, along with an evening of entertainment.
Princeton Public Library's Fall Technology Classes have started. From now through December, the library is offering over 30 classes from Downloading e-Books to Marketing Your Small Business with Pinterest to an iPhoto class and more. Our instructors are experts in the fields they're teaching and are looking forward to teaching what they're passionate about.
My family LOVES sushi. My daughter would eat it every day, if she could. We have a few favorite sushi restaurants in and out of Princeton, including Ajihei on Chambers St., Mo C Mo C Sushi on Tulane St., Soonja's on Alexander St., Asian Bistro in Princeton Junction by the train station and OC Wasabi in Ocean City, Maryland.
I've blogged previously about terrific customer interactions while staffing the Welcome Desk and have another to share. On Monday evening, while a colleague, Erica Bess was answering questions, she had the great opportunity to meet Olympic Gold Medalist, Lesley Bush, who won her gold medal in 1964 at the Tokyo games for platform diving. The bonus was that Bush had the coveted first place medal with her! Thrilled to be in the right place at the right time, several staff members had the opportunity to chat with Bush about her experience and to hold the medal.
Do you know someone who wants to learn to search online but has no idea how to get started? Someone who doesn’t know a mouse from a touch screen? Someone who wants to know what everyone is doing on the computer, has heard of Google, but has no idea how to “Google"?
Princeton Public Library offers classes for beginners. If you’re reading this blog, I think it’s safe to say, this class isn’t for you! But maybe you know someone who would benefit from computer lessons.
Looking for a new job or career? Searching for the right job can be extremely stressful and time consuming. By using Princeton Public Library's Education & Careers databases, you will have additional tools to assess your career options, write a resume and cover letter, practice interview techniques and, most important, find current employment opportunities that are of interest to you.
After leaving work recently, I took my daughter to the Princeton University Art Museum to browse the collections. Our first stop was on the lower level where we viewed the 12th-century celadon glazed stoneware called Melon ewer with lotus-flower design. It is Korean, from the Goryeo dynasty and was recently acquired by the Princeton University Art Museum. Simply put, it's gorgeous.
Fred Buschhoff, of the 101st Airborne was 19 when he wrote this letter to his nephew, Dan Buschhoff (my father), for his second birthday. Three weeks after writing the letter, Fred Buschhoff was killed in the Battle of the Bulge.
France, January 5, 1945
Dear Danny,
Have you visited the second floor magazine collection lately? Have you searched the catalog for magazines? You can now browse the collection in Bibbliocommons, put magazines on hold, and best of all, check them out! As of May 7th, customers can check out most of our 300 titles, including our 2012 issues, except for the current issue.
One of the benefits of staffing the Welcome Desk is talking about great books. Two recently released titles that have been frequently requested are the fictional novel, "Lone Wolf" by Jodi Picoult and the nonfiction title, "The Obamas" by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor. Both of these recently made it to my "to read" list. Not able to put either down, I finished them in time to blog about them here.
"Lone Wolf" by Jodi Picoult
As I was thinking about which recent reads I'd like to blog about, two very different titles came to mind. One is a War World II spy thriller that takes place in Germany in 1939 and the other is a magical, sensual tale of an exotic spice merchant from India.
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