Author: backstage

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Kids InfoBits and Accessibility

One of the greatest tools we have to offer children is the Kids InfoBits database. You might already know it for its wide subject base and ability to adjust the reading levels of its content, making it an invaluable tool for any elementary-age student, but it’s also built with a number of features that make it accessible to everyone:

  • You can have the text of the article read aloud by selecting the speaker icon at the top of the page. This function means the website is instantly accessible to anyone whose reading skills aren’t quite advanced enough to read it on their own. It also makes this a valuable tool for new readers: they can play the audio while reading, leading to higher word recognition and comprehension of the sentences.
  • Adjustable text size makes the content available to anyone with visual impairments, and increases readability on a variety of screens. For younger readers who are used to seeing text nice and big, the text can be adjusted to be more familiar.
  • Display options can be customized. The background color can be changed, and, most importantly, so can the text. There are only four font options, but one is Open Dyslexic, a font that’s easier for people with dyslexia to read. On top of different fonts, you can also adjust the spacing of each line, letter, and word.
  • Articles can be translated to a variety of languages. You can also change your interface language, so the entire website will be presented to you in your chosen language. The importance of that is obvious, but I’ve got an additional benefit: for libraries with limited collections of books in languages other than English, this is a really useful tool. Kids InfoBits provides hours of readable content for kids who are learning a second language (and, of course, for anyone learning English as a second language).

With all of these features, Kids InfoBits is not only a great reference source, but an excellent companion to your early reader and international languages collections.

-Jaime @ Penn Hills Library

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New databases, bird flu, and you! 

Bird flu! It’s in the news.  

Maybe your patrons are wondering about it. Maybe they’ve already transformed into giant chickens themselves! That’s what bird flu does right? I read that somewhere on the internet.  

Just kidding! When I go looking for information online, I start with library databases. I love Wikipedia dearly, but sometimes it will lead me astray. Just look at this link! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_Flu. 

Luckily for me, POWER Library has provided two new databases that can help with health information and much more: Health and Wellness and Academic OneFile Select, both from our pals at Gale. As with other Gale products, they look almost the same but contain different information aimed at different audiences. 

Health and Wellness contains full-text articles from medical publications and reference works, but also from more popular, general media outlets with a focus on health information that is approachable for a general audience. Here are the results for a search for “bird flu” with a publication date limiter of the “past month.” 

Notice that it leads with four audio clips from various NPR programs. Health and Wellness is for a general audience looking for reliable information that doesn’t get too deep into medical jargon. 

However, if your patrons do want jargon, we now have Academic OneFile Select! 

This resource is geared toward students, researchers, and curriculum-based learners. It provides access to full text articles across many disciplines, not just health, as well as also vocational/technical training material for students who are studying the trades. A nice complement to BlueCareer! 

But back to the chickens. If I do the same search for “bird flu” with that “past month” time limiter, I get results that may not be appropriate for a lay audience but will definitely help with a college student’s research. 

These new resources provide information for a variety of different types of patrons and are now live on the eLibrary website. Check them out! 

-Mary, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 

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New BingePass Alert

Hoopla recently added a brand new BingePass to it’s growing selections. The Ken Burns Collection is now available to borrow for all hoopla users. As with all BingePasses, you only need to use 1 borrow credit to get hours upon hours of content!

Over 40+ years of great documentaries including The Civil War, Jazz, Country Music, Prohibition, The National Parks and more can be borrowed for an entire week. That’s prime bingeing material.

If you aren’t already familiar with hoopla’s BingePass offerings, now is a great time to check them out!

Happy watching!

-Richelle @ Sewickley Public Library

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Time to Check Our Links!

With the official (yes, really this time!) sunsetting of the classic Overdrive app at the end of January, the word “Overdrive” is slowly slipping away from our library vocabulary. We anticipate the classic Overdrive website also (eventually) going away, replaced by the already existing Libby website. And since the Overdrive website no longer has MP3 download capability either…well there’s no real advantage to keeping it around. So now’s the perfect time to check our links!

If any of our websites still link out to acla.overdrive.com, go ahead and update to libbyapp.com/library/acla. The Libby website still gives a preview of what’s available including recent curated collections, but it definitely more easily prompts users to log in. It also has the much simpler, “plain English” sign in process which reminds me of TurboTax vs. tax form lingo (“Did you earn money this year?” instead of “Form 1040 box 3, less withholding blah blah…”). Plus the simplicity of the website and similarity to the Libby app itself should help with the transition for those who haven’t yet downloaded Libby on their mobile device. The more things “look” like each other, the more easy it is to take the next step!

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingTime to Check Our Links!