We’re heading into the back half of summer, and back-to-school season is coming up fast. What better time to hype Tutor.com, right? As we learned from Jaime last week, Tutor.com can set students up for success all year long. Starting the school year off on a new foot, Tutor.com is rolling out a fresh update to their user interface. Who doesn’t love a UI refresh?
Below, you can see the home page we’re all accustomed to:
The update will drop on Monday, August 19th. Here’s a sneak peek at the new homepage, so you can be prepared to help patrons navigate the new site:
Be sure to take a cruise around the new menus and streamlined options. For instance, the Career Resources for adults (did you know they had that!) was buried under a few too many clicks and dropdown menus.
Look at this improved Career Services design! It’s friendlier to the user and easier on the eyes:
The new school year is almost upon us, so mark your calendar for Monday, August 19th to give yourself a tour of our fancy new Tutor.com design!
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to admit: I’m over summer. I’m over 90 degree weather and sweating and bringing little treats with me to work that melt by the time I pull into the parking lot. Unfortunately for me (but maybe fortunately for you), back to school is still a month away, but it’s never too early to get back to one of the best resources we youth services staff have available: Tutor.com.
You’re all probably familiar with how much Tutor.com has to offer, but one of the best things about it is how easily we can incorporate elements from it into our physical library space. Sure, if a student needs help with organic chemistry and calculating a molecule’s half-life and a third example I don’t have the science knowledge to come up with, I’ll give them a hearty pat on the head, set them down on a computer, and wish them luck. But for so many other topics that we can expect on a regular basis, Tutor.com makes it so easy to prepare ourselves with resources.
For example, early in the school year, you could print out worksheets and tips on writing skills to help provide a refresher as students readjust to their academic grind, or easily lead younger students to flashcards practicing multiplication tables.
There are also great ways to link Tutor.com’s resources with your collection, especially for promoting early literacy skills. You could easily print out worksheets and display them near your early readers, so anyone just starting to read can get some some extra (and free!) practice. You can even use the skills covered in each worksheet and, without much effort at all, get a solid early literacy lesson into every storytime: there’s a worksheet on clapping out syllables, so you can clap out syllables in storytime.
Having the information readily available makes it so easy to connect important skills to your collection and programming.
Introducing an exciting new database you can share when your patrons ask you this eternal question! Thanks to Power Library, all libraries in Allegheny County now have access to a robust run of National Geographic, featuring a collection of fully searchable issues running from 1888 –2020. This is great news for students, researchers, and anyone interested in this classic American magazine that explores the natural world, both on and off planet Earth.
The search interface will be familiar to anyone who has used a Gale product before. We have access to lots of great Gale content! They all work in similar ways, and I’m here to point out a few exciting things I’ve found in the new National Geographic Virtual Library.
Because I am so dorky, I always head to the advanced search page to see what it can offer. This advanced search page provides some useful options for sifting through such a large collection, including multiple keyword fields, date ranges, and content types. Yes, you can search through National Geographic content not just for the articles but also for the iconic covers, detailed maps, and even the advertisements!
I’ve been having a grand time searching through 132 years’ worth of advertisements!
The electric car won’t happen overnight in November 2002, pg. 39
An electric car from November 1914, pg. 549
I’m a fan of the dynamic reading pane, as well. Readers can flip through the pages, zoom in and out, and read in a full screen view. There are tools to adjust contrast and brightness to enhance accessibility. Here, I’ve used the “Invert” tool to create a kind of “dark mode.”
The table of contents is also fully linked. Readers can explore content by type within the reading pane if they want a more direct, hyperlinked reading experience, as opposed to the flippable browsing kind. National Geographic is covering cheetahs, the Bronze Age, the Brothers Grimm, Y2K and more just in this issue! You can see other navigation options listed along the left side, as well, offering a rich search experience for patrons (and staff!).
Click here to get started with the National Geographic Virtual Library. Let me know in the comments what interesting articles, beautiful maps, and (especially) weird ads you find.
It is officially summer (although this heat wave was a rude way to remind us) and you might be looking for things to do with the kids, a new craft to unwind with after work, or maybe you just want a summery project to beat the heat –well look no further the Allegheny County Libraries have you covered with crafts from Creativebug!
There is something for everyone with Creativebug – nail art classes for you and your teens, crafts for those that like to get messy with paints and ceramics, those that like to stay tidy with yarn and sewing, and everything in between! Creativebug helpfully offers crafting level breakdowns for those working with little ones and offers beginner options for those of us not very creatively inclined (I am pointing to myself here). You can even choose a class to work on your technique or a quick class for when you just want a fast rundown on how a craft is done. All you need is your library card to login and get started!
P.S. Creativebug has some great classes up that go hand-in-hand with our Summer Reading Club this year so don’t miss out! And don’t forget to check their calendar to see if there are any fun upcoming live events. Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest crafting hits!
