Let the Allegheny County Library Association help you select your next Summer read.
Select Reads allows you to sign up for newsletters that highlight genres from Business & Investing to Mystery & Thrillers and everything in between. Sign up is easy and only requires an email address. There are also browsable lists of award winners, top titles, and author spotlights. I hope you enjoy exploring this service as much as I did.
Lisa Akenhead – Northland Public Library
Lots of people are on the hunt for new jobs or looking to expand their career horizons – well your local libraries are here to help! Here are some great resources to help you gain some new skills for a new job, polish your resume, or get some job hunting help.
The first place to start may be here – the Occupational Outlook Handbook. The Occupational Outlook Handbook has a wealth of helpful information for those looking into starting in a new field or just brushing up on what the job market in certain fields looks like. You can do a deep dive into what type of duties a job entails, what the pay rate is, and what the outlook for that job looks like into the future. This website is provided by the U.S. government.
Now that you know what your prospects, duties, and requirements are needed in your new field you may want to begin brushing up on some old skills you may need again or gain some new ones. This is where Udemy can help! Udemy has almost 2,000 courses (including classes in 8 different languages in case you will need to travel for your new job). If you need to learn something new Udemy can help you reach those new learning skills.
You have studied up on your new job and you have actually studied up on the new skills you may need – now it is time to brush up that resume! Tutor.com is here to help! You may think “I don’t need a tutor!” but Tutor.com doesn’t just provide tutors for school age students they also offer resume help for everyone. You can book an appointment, upload your current resume, and sit back and wait for a dedicated tutor to send you some personalized notes to help you really make your resume shine! This is a brilliant service that can really make a difference on getting that interview for that dream job – make use of this excellent service.
If you need some assistance working through the entire job hunting and resume process you may want to get in contact with PA CareerLink. They can assist you at many different points throughout your new job journey so taking a look at their site to see all the services they offer is a good start to this new job process as well.
No matter where you are in the process of getting a new job don’t hesitate to reach out to your local library so that they can help connect you to a myriad of resources to help you get that dream job!
-Adrianne
Northland Public Library
There are only a few more days of school left for most students and the sun is shining bright (mostly) in Pittsburgh! That means that summer is finally approaching and there’s more time for crafty projects with Creativebug.
Sure could use a new plant hanger? Go ahead and make one! Ready to don a new summer tunic? Follow a tutorial and craft your own with love (and recycled cloth)! Planning your Summer Reading activities? Look. No. Further!
Whether you’re looking for creative inspiration, family projects, or a way to stoke your DIY spirit, Creativebug offers a plethora of awesome video tutorials and handout templates.
Creativebug has over 1,000 tutorials created by professionals that cover topics for everyone — children, teens, adults, amateurs, and experts! The only thing needed to start finding your creative bliss is your library card.
Derek Nuzum, South Park Township Library
Anyone who has staffed a reference, adult services, or information desk can tell you the public has no shortage of interesting questions. Since my December 2021 start at Cooper-Siegel Community Library, patrons have requested information from the use of jaguar in the symbolism and mythology of South American countries to scholarly sources on the benefits of breast milk versus baby formula.
I have not searched for academic articles in a few years, though some of my old tricks still work! One of my favorite haunts for humanities-related articles is JSTOR. A child company of Ithaka Harbors, Inc., a nonprofit whose stated mission is to “help the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways,” JSTOR is a major database of academic research materials containing books, journals, and primary sources. Limited access is available to all ACLA card holders through the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh!
For access, just head to https://www.jstor.org and click the “Log in through your library” link up top.
Then, type in “Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.” Click on the top search result to be directed to a login page.
Now, you simply log in with your library card number and PIN, and JSTOR is yours to explore! I have mostly used JSTOR for humanities- and history-related research, but many, many records and genres of academic research live here. You can also search by what articles you can access instead of being teased by those inaccessible.
Because of the times we live in, patrons may also be interested in medical research. For help with those inquiries, take a look at our 2020 post about the stellar NIH-affiliated database MedlinePlus.
Happy (academic) reading!
Cameron R.S. Smith, Cooper-Siegel Community Library