Databases

Book Recommendations and Read-Alikes

Have you found that you have read all of Brad Thor’s books but you want to read something similar?

Which side note – good job! That is some excellent reading you’ve done!

But back to the craving you need to sate – more Brad Thor-like books. Allegheny County Libraries and NoveList Plus can help! We can feed that need!

All you need to do is go to the County eLibrary and click the Go! button on NoveList Plus to get started. Once you put in your library barcode you will be able to search by author, Brad Thor (obviously), or even title, “Black Ice” (just an example I get it if you are more of a “Rising Tiger” fan) and then you can get read-alikes for either!

No judgement seriously some of us are just bigger Black Ice fans.

You can even just search using keywords to find a book on a topic if you wish… although why you aren’t searching for more Brad Thor read-alikes is a little confusing to me.

You can also browse genres if you want more thrillers and suspense books!

The moral of the story here is that the Allegheny County Libraries and NoveList Plus have your Brad Thor book needs covered but if you need more than just Brad Thor books we can also help there. If you run into any issues with library databases please reach out to you local librarians to help!

-Adrianne, Northland Public Library

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New Language Learning Resource

Earlier this year, we shared exciting new databases from the PA PowerLibrary. Have you tried any of the new resources?

We have! And we want to make sure everyone knows about Transparent Language Online! This online learning tool offers courses on over 120+ languages, including multiple dialects. Work through units & lessons to gain knowledge about the language, then practice using reading, speaking, listening & writing techniques.

Categories focus on the essentials, grammar, vocabulary, and languages for business & travel. Courses vary in levels from basic to intermediate and advanced fluency.

Patrons can utilize Transparent Language Online on its own or pair it with the library’s other language resource, Mango Languages.

Create an account to track your progress, otherwise, continue in guest mode. Either way, you still get full-access to all of the helpful content.

Get started honing your language learning skills today!

Access now

– Richelle at Sewickley Public Library

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Need LEGIT legal forms? Don’t just “Google” it!

We’ve probably all had that reference interview that started with something simple like needing help printing, when what was REALLY needed was much more than that: a résumé re-write, mini-lesson in MS Office, or trickiest of all – legal advice. That is something we can’t dispense and most of us are not equipped to do so! However, what we CAN do is simplest of all – point to Gale Legal Forms.

Last week I had a patron very frustrated with the fact that she was told she needed a specific form, but “Googling” it just let to bad places, either non-legit or costly or both. She was having trouble accessing one such website to print out the form (which was going to cost her $30 to download). Luckily she asked for help, because I was able to help her take a U-turn out of that particular dark alley and send her straight to Gale for free, legit, and accurate access to the very form she needed.

This tax season (and really all year round), we should have this resource in our back pocket ready to pull out instead of saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you, I’m not a lawyer.” As a notary, I often have to say that myself, but I can at least add Gale Legal Forms as a legitimate place to start, with hopefully more ease of use and definitely fewer dark alleys than Google Country. And of course it’s always free when brought to you by your friendly neighborhood library!

Legal Forms – eResources for Allegheny County Public Libraries (einetwork.net)

– Heather Auman, Western Allegheny Community Library

Continue ReadingNeed LEGIT legal forms? Don’t just “Google” it!

Exciting New Resource News!

We are pleased to announce that the newest resources from the POWER Library are now live on the Allegheny County eLibrary. Access all the new resource from the Pennsylvania Electronic Library like Britannica School, Cricket Media Collection, MyHeritage, PA Online Learning, and more!

The eLibrary can be your one stop shop for lots of resources from the POWER Library – job hunting, ebooks (on a wide variety of topics), language learning, and genealogy research just to name a few. If you want to do a deeper dive into what some of these exciting new resources from POWER Library have to offer stop in or call your local library to learn more!

Happy Learning,

-Adrianne, Northland Public Library

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