Voting Season

It’s a major election year, and while the outcomes are a mystery, we can all be informed voters.  There is still plenty of time to register for the PA primaries.


VOTING RESOURCES

  • alleghenyvotes.com — Allegheny County’s site for:
    • registration,
    • absentee ballots (now able to place request online),
    • new voting machine demonstrations, and more
      allegh co
  • votesPA.com — Pennsylvania’s site for:
    • registration,
    • finding your polling place,
    • absentee ballots, and more
      votespa
  • vote411.org — by the League of Women Voters for:
    • Candidate information,
    • ballot information, and more,
      vote411

NEWS SOURCES

Finding good information can be a challenge, but there are reliable news sources.  No, facebook is not one of these!  eLibrary’s Opposing Viewpoints in Context database is very clear about the origins of its results, and it compiles results on many current topics.

opposing viewpoints in context

Sites such as factcheck.org and even Snopes have never-ending streams of information to evaluate.  Another tool is ad fontes media Interactive Media Bias Chart.  It uses a methodology to rate overall reliability and political bias for many news outlets so that you can consider the source.

media bias news

A recent article in The Atlantic (The 2020 Disinformation War) is food for thought.  Based on the Media Bias chart, one would expect this article to be fairly reliable and only somewhat biased to the left.  Individual articles may vary, of course.  It would be interesting to see how the same underlying story components would be treated by sites rated as unreliable and skewing to extreme political opposites, say, NewsPunch and Wonkette.  For more reliable results, search Opposing Viewpoints in Context for terms such as ‘election 2020’.

Christy @ Carnegie Library of McKeesport

 

 

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Changes Coming to OverDrive Holds

OverDrive hold redelivery is scheduled to go live the week of March 2, 2020. At that time, hold redelivery will replace auto-checkout for all new and existing holds.

Hold redelivery will give users more flexibility to manage their holds and allow them to suspend a hold even after it’s made available to them, while maintaining their place on the wait list. By enabling users to pass books they don’t have time to read on to the next person in line, hold redelivery will help us connect more readers to the right book, at the right time. Please review the below summary for important details about this change.

OverDrive Hold Redelivery (1)

How will it work?

Libby notifications will alert users when their holds become available. OverDrive will also add a “Notifications” section to our OverDrive website and the OverDrive app. After receiving notification that a hold is available, users can:

  1. Borrow the title within 3 days. If your library has a different hold pick-up setting, OverDrive will automatically update it to 3 days.
  2. Suspend the hold by selecting “deliver later.” This option passes the book to the next person in line while maintaining the user’s place on the wait list. After the suspension period (set by the user), the user will be able to borrow the book when the next copy is available.
  3. Cancel the hold.

If the user takes no action, their hold will automatically be suspended as a one-time courtesy for 7 days. If no action is taken a second time, the hold will be cancelled automatically.

With the removal of auto-checkout, we may see a slight decrease in circulations as users defer checkouts. OverDrive expects this to level off over time as users adjust to the new functionality.

User messaging

In the coming weeks, OverDrive will add the following message on our OverDrive website and in the OverDrive app to provide users with advanced notice of this change. It will link to a Help article with more details.
In early March, we’re releasing a new feature to give you more control over your holds.

Help & resources

As with any change, there will be an adjustment period for users, so OverDrive has compiled the following resources to help with the transition:

  • Notifications: Push and email hold notifications will be updated to reflect the new options.
  • Marketing and communication kit: At launch, OverDrive will provide updated resources to help us spread the word about this change to our readers.
  • API Integrations: OverDrive has shared their timeline for removing auto-checkout with vendors who utilize OverDrive APIs.

Please let me know if you have questions.

~ Hilary Lewis, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

 

Continue ReadingChanges Coming to OverDrive Holds

Persuasive Essay Help – Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

In order to write a good persuasive essay, students need to understand all of the sides of their topic. It can be difficult, though, to find reliable, unbiased information on polarizing subjects. The library can help. Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints is a research tool that focuses on identifying and exploring all of the sides of important issues.

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Not sure how to find a topic of interest? Browsing issues is a good way to find a topic that meets the criteria for a persuasive essay assignment. opposing viewpoints 1

Once a topic is chosen, Opposing Viewpoints has many tools to help explore and learn about the issue.

opposing viewpoints 5

The text of the articles can be translated into over 35 languages, the font size of the text can be adjusted, and there is an option to listen to the articles. Articles can be printed, emailed or shared on a variety of platforms. There is also a highlighting and note taking function.

Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints can even help with source citation. Citing resources can always be a challenge – MLA, Chicago, & APA citation styles all require very specific notations and formatting. The Source Citation tool within the resource clearly shows the required citation style.

opposing viewpoints 4

All of the Gale In Context resources including Gale in Context: Biography, Gale in Context: US History, Gale In Context: World History, and Gale in Context: Middle School have the same search options and functionalities, so once you are familiar with one In Context resource, you will be able to easy work within the others.

Persuasive essays can be challenging, but with the right tools students can feel confident that their arguments are informed and credible.

~ Hilary Lewis, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

Continue ReadingPersuasive Essay Help – Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

Collection Development Tools

One of my favorite things to do in my job is to buy the books that our patrons will get to read. I love helping our patrons with all of their information needs, but deciding which books might be a person’s next favorite read is very exciting to me!

Here are a few of my favorite places to get inspiration:

bookriot-logo-1

Book Riot claims that they are “the largest independent editorial book site in North America, and home to a host of media, from podcasts to newsletters to original content.” There is a wealth of information available here. Some of it is designed specifically for librarians and some is aimed towards the reader. Either way it’s a great source to find out what people are talking about!

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Book Page is a monthly publication distributed to libraries and bookstores all over the country. For a fee libraries can order multiple copies to give away for free. They are very popular at Monroeville! The website also provides reviews of recently published books and interviews with authors.

edelweiss-logo         NetGalley

And if you like to get Advanced Reader Copies be sure to sign up with Netgalley and Edelweiss+. These sites let you request ARCs of a variety of upcoming publications and provide reviews.

Tracy — Monroeville Public Library

 

 

 

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