Yearly Archives: 2012

It’s Easy to Help!

Did you know that it’s possible to email OverDrive help pages to people?  It’s an easy way to provide the information they need to answer their questions or resolve their issues.

Once you click through to a specific help page you will find a “MailTo” link in the upper right corner.  An email message will open with a link to the document you are viewing.  Just add their email address and your comments and hit send.  Voilà, your patron has easy access to what they need, and you don’t have to worry about losing them when you try to walk them through the process of getting there.

Take a closer look at that image up there.  I used it specifically because it’s all about loading the OverDrive Media Console (OMC) App on a Nook.  This is a recent development, so be sure to check out the steps here.

It was also recently announced that the OMC App is now available in the Amazon App Store, making it easy to load it onto a Kindle Fire.  Why would a patron want to do that, you might ask?  Two reasons: the option to browse for titles within the app rather than going through the library’s website, and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to bypass transferring Penguin books via USB by downloading the ePub version in the OMC app.

Sarah (CLP)

Continue ReadingIt’s Easy to Help!

Pertussis: Something You Catch on the Oregon Trail?

Health

Every September or October I go to the doctor.  I am always surprised when the doctor asks, Do you want to get your flu shot while you’re here?

This year I was ready!  I remembered that the doctor was going to ask and I had a definitive answer instead of my usual wishy-washy, Um, I guess, maybe?

After asking about the flu shot the doctor asked if I wanted a Tdap booster.  What the what is Tdap?

Tdap = Tetanus, Diptheria & Pertussis

I immediately had a flashback to my middle school years, sitting in the computer lab playing Oregon Trail on an Macintosh and having to flip the floppy disk over halfway through the game.  Who’s with me?

Since I don’t want to die Oregon Trail-style, I agreed to the shot.  But, since I am a librarian, I decided to do some research on good old Tdap today.

Thanks to the Health & Wellness Resource Center I now know

 In 2011, more than 15,000 cases were reported nationwide. A 2012 outbreak in Washington has affected more than 2,500 people, and the disease has killed at least eight infants this year, according to CDC officials.

No matter how you feel about vaccines, Health & Wellness Resource Center is a great place to learn more about your doctor’s recommendations.

Kelly – CLP

Continue ReadingPertussis: Something You Catch on the Oregon Trail?

Business & Company Resource Center

Business & Company Resource Center is on the way out making way for  Business Insights: Essentials, and from what I’ve seen of it, it looks like it may be better, but I’ve found Business & Company Resource Center to be very helpful, and we may have it for a while yet, so here’s one final post about it.

If you do a company search in The Business & Company Resource Center, you can get  a lot of information on it, and it is international in scope. I entered “Sears” in the company search and got the following:

Check box to add document to Mark List Sort by Company Name Location Sorted by revenue
Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD) Hoffman Estates, Illinois $41,567.00 M Sales
Sears, Roebuck and Co. Hoffman Estates, Illinois $30,030.00 M Sales
Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp. Greenville, Delaware $12,010.00 M Total assets
Sears Canada Inc. (SCC) Toronto, ON $4,536.50 M Sales
Sears Holdings Management Corp. Hoffman Estates, Illinois $2,668.10 M Sales
Sears Roebuck de Mexico S.A. de C.V. Mexico $1,152.60 M Sales
Hoogenbosch Retail Group B.V. ‘s-Hertogenbosch $1,110.30 M Sales
Sears Logistics Services Inc. Hoffman Estates, Illinois $570.30 M Sales
Sears, Roebuck De Puerto Rico Inc. San Juan, Puerto Rico $227.20 M Sales
Sears Imported Autos Inc. Minnetonka, Minnesota $70.00 M Sales
DeSears Appliances Inc. Bradenton, Florida $11.00 M Sales
Audio-Sears Corp. Stamford, New York $6.50 M Sales
Kerley and Sears Inc. Midlothian, Texas $3.80 M Sales
Tri State Pest Control Inc. River Edge, New Jersey $2.90 M Sales
Sears And Schofield Inc. Hudson, Massachusetts $1.00 M Sales
Thomas Inc. Woodward, Oklahoma $0.70 M Sales
Kary Enterprises L.L.C. Shawano, Wisconsin $0.40 M Sales
James M. Sears Associates Guttenberg, New Jersey $0.10 M Sales
Betsy Sears Enterprises Inc. Hemet, California
Black Sears Winery Angwin, California
Inview Communications Scottsdale, Arizona
J. Sears Consulting L.L.C. Cincinnati, Ohio
Kelly Sears Consulting Group Ottawa, ON
Sears Brands L.L.C. Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Then if you click on an entry as I did on “Sears Holding Corp”  you’ll get the company profile, and nine tabs will appear. In this case these seven tabs were lit (the other two are “Suits and Claims”, and “Products”):

News/MagazinesHistoriesInvestment ReportsFinancialsRankingsIndustry OverviewsAssociations

Tom,                                                                                                                                    CLP

Continue ReadingBusiness & Company Resource Center

Do you ever get frustrated with ebooks?

Do you ever get frustrated with ebook hardware, software, compatibility, apps, uploads, downloads, DRM, licensing, etc?  You might enjoy this Librarian in Black blog post (warning: includes expletives):

I’m breaking up with eBooks (and you can too)

August 1, 2012

I want to break up with eBooks.  Don’t get me wrong, eBooks is dead sexy and great arm candy at parties, as well as a magnet for attention and memorable experiences. But man… eBooks makes for a crap boyfriends. The relationship is as dysfunctional as it gets…

Want to read more?  Here’s the whole post.

Mary Lee (Northland)

Continue ReadingDo you ever get frustrated with ebooks?