Posts Tagged library
Why Libraries Are Still Important to This Day
The library is a great place to go to escape from the world in which we live in. All of us are so used to being trapped in our confining lives that often get stuck in repetitive routines. With a place like the library we are able to pick up another world and dive into it without any consequence like we would with a life fitness elliptical, life fitness equipment, or a star trac. All we need is time, patience, and the curiosity to seek a new experience. With these, you will be able to enjoy a great piece of literature that might, one day, be able to change your life and shed light on many different thoughts and ideas that you have never thought of before.
One way to ensure your ultimate reading experience is to find a quiet place. The setting of your reading area is dire and will add to the effect that you are trying to produce through your adventures into the book you are reading. The place you choose to sit and read can make or break you reading mood. If it is too loud, you may skip important parts in your book, or you may not be able to fully concentrate on the tale unraveled ahead of you. Your place must be free from any serious distractions and should serve as a quiet, and reserved retreat for your imagination to really run wild. Your imagination needs space and silence to bloom properly and widely so the fewer the distractions, the more success you will have in comprehending and visualizing your novel and the characters and situations that inhabit it.
The next thing you will need to remember about the library is that it is open to everyone. The library never discriminates against any individual no matter their race, gender, or personality type. It is available for every single person to use and to work with so that all of us can get an equal chance to learn many wonderful things through the power of books. It serves the purpose of being one of the most central buildings in a community and needs to set a good example and stand strong and far from any ridiculous prejudices.
Lastly, the library can be wonderful to students and people needing to learn and gain extra knowledge. When schools ask students to obtain a library card for an assignment, it encourages them to really take their education into their own hands and cease to become lethargic in their inquisitive ways. So many kids benefit from the library all throughout their lives. When they begin to read, where do they go to get their first reading lessons? They go to the fabulous library to complete this important task.
The ways in which libraries fulfill the spirit, body and mind are amazing in themselves. The library is a great facility that will never cease to exist. It will most definitely stand strong throughout time and change. Our world may see different technology take it over and new inventions aiding us in simple tasks, but nothing will replace books in the task of teaching us about all the essential morals and lessons in life. Movies will try and fail to get the job done. The only spot that can truly be fulfilled by this is the spot for books and everyone knows how much of a symbol they are for the betterment of our knowledge in general.
books, education, elliptical, fitness, fitness equipment, libraries, library, library card, life fitness, life fitness elliptical, life fitness equipment, school, schools, teach, teachingRelated posts
Five Reasons Every School Library Should Have a Fastback Binding Machine
Have you heard of Powis Parker Fastback? If you are a school librarian, teacher, administrator, media center specialist or school district purchasing agent you might really want to check it out. The Fastback binding system provides a revolutionary new way to bind documents, books, reports, presentations and even yearbooks. In fact, a Fastback machine can be used in so many different ways and can save most schools so much money that no school library should be without one. This article will identify five reasons that your school library should consider owning a Fastback Binding System.
- Book Repair: The Parker Fastback 15xs binding machine is a great option for schools that are looking to repair damaged soft cover and hard cover books. You can use a Fastback system to add a new wrap around printed cover to a soft cover book. You can also rebind the contents of a hard cover book and place them in a new hard case or glue them in the old hard cover. Many school libraries also use their Fastback Binding machine to strengthen the bind on their trade paperback books. By running every paperback through a binding cycle before it is placed on the shelf, you can in many cases double the shelf life of these books. School libraries spend a huge amount of money every year replacing paperback books that are worn out and have pages coming out. The fastback binding system can help you save on some of those costs.
- Downloadable Content: More and more providers of school curriculum and book publishers are offering access to websites with downloadable content. With a Fastback binding system you can quickly and easily turn those downloads, e-books, curriculum supplements and other materials in to printed bound documents. This is a great way provide an added service to your teachers and your students. These materials can be printed and bound on demand and can easily be added as volumes to your collection for use in future years.
- Yearbook Creation: For small and medium sized schools, the cost of having an outside service print and bind a yearbook for you can be astronomical. In fact, the cost is so high that many smaller schools simply don’t produce yearbooks. However, with a Powis Parker Fastback binding system you can have students print and bind their own yearbooks. Many schools have successfully turned the production, printing and binding of their yearbook into a leadership development project for their students. The cost savings of producing the yearbook in house will usually pay for the equipment the first year and offer substantial savings in following years.
- Student Publishing: Having a Fastback Binding machine in your school makes it easier than ever for students and classes to publish their own bound and printed books. Many schools around the world already use Fastback to allow their students to publish their own poems, short stories, essays and reports. These written works can be published with tape binding, perfect binding or can even be added to a hard cover book or anthology. Some of your classes may even decide to publish their own book as a fund raiser to sell to the parents.
- Out of Print Materials: With a Fastback binding system libraries can have a whole new world opened up to them when it comes to out of print or public domain materials. Librarians can download, print and bind books that are in the public domain, rare, out-of-print or super specialized. These books can be bound and printed for addition to your library’s collection.
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Research the Old-Fashioned Way: Why the Library is Not Obsolete
Although researching and writing a college paper has never been child’s play, it was a bit more straightforward and less complicated before the advent of the Internet. Aspiring student researchers simply visited their university’s library, where they could easily check out a few relevant books after consulting the card catalog and use a periodical index to find a journal article or two. Nowadays, there are many more choices in addition to those regular, “old-fashioned” standbys. Still, the Internet has yet to render the library obsolete!
The World Wide Web has become a boundless source of information, bringing knowledge to the homes of millions. Yet, despite the tens of billions of pages available online, it’s a mistake to conclude that everything is available (somewhere!) on the Web. Contrary to popular belief, the entire world’s wisdom is not online and free for the taking. Some information will cost you, while other resources are nowhere to be found.
Additionally, the Web is rife with misinformation. Unfortunately, many students not only turn first to the Internet for their research needs, but they are also handicapped by their inability to distinguish reputable resources from unreliable ones. While use of the Internet can make research more convenient, it may also result in carelessness. Students are better served by beginning their research at the library and using the Web as a secondary resource.
Fortunately, the Internet has also changed the way in which the supposedly passé library functions. While you may still see drawers upon drawers of card catalogs, most libraries have also made their catalogs available online. Computers have facilitated interlibrary loan (ILL) as well. Likewise, paper journals and microfiche persist, but these resources are supplemented with subscriptions to online academic databases. Ultimately, libraries have used the Internet to provide the best of both worlds – the reputable resources available at the library, digitalized for greater accessibility.
1. Online Catalogs
In all likelihood, you’ve probably already used a card catalog, even if it was way back in elementary school. While catalogs do still exist, the good news is that most of them have been digitalized. Now available online, they’re much easier to access and search. If you can connect to your library’s computer system remotely, you can even browse their holdings from your dorm room!
Online catalogs generally consist of records of the library’s holdings (books, journals, dissertations, manuscripts, etc.), as opposed to the holdings themselves. A record can include any of the following information: author, title, publisher, date and place of publication, journal title, subject, and keywords.
You might be tempted to dismiss catalogs since they don’t provide instant gratification – immediate, full-text access to all available resources. However, you can access many of the holdings either via online academic databases or in the library itself – all it takes is a little detective work!
Other libraries offer access to their catalogs as well. WebCATS (http://www.libdex.com/) is an index of over 18,000 libraries’ catalogs. You can browse them by geographical location or search the index by keyword. Each entry provides a direct link to the library’s online holdings.
2. Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Some libraries partner up with others and form groups called consortia. These consortia provide access to one another’s holdings – this is where ILL comes in. When you search your library’s catalog, most likely you’re simultaneously searching the catalogs of your library’s consortia as well. These libraries include not only university libraries, but also public, school, government, corporate, and institutional libraries. If you find a resource that isn’t available at your “home” library, you can either borrow it or obtain a copy from the library that houses it.
Many libraries offer this service online, but if you have any questions or are unable to locate an online form, it can be done at your library’s reference desk as well. If you aren’t affiliated with a library (or if you need a resource that belongs to a library that your own library isn’t associated with), you might be able to borrow or order it for a fee.
3. Academic Databases
Academic databases are privately owned or proprietary databases that charge users a fee to search their holdings or retrieve full-text documents. While members of the public can pay to use these services online, students have ready access to dozens of proprietary databases that their libraries subscribe to. These academic databases can cover a wide range of subjects, from business to the humanities, and offer everything from citations and abstracts to full-text documents. A single company may produce several different databases, and different databases may include some of the same materials (including journals, articles, or even smaller or more specific databases).
Before you can choose the right database, you need to have a general idea of what subject you’ll be researching. Then, browse your library’s site for a database that covers your desired topic. Most likely, you’ll have several promising databases from which to select. Don’t be discouraged, and don’t rely on just one – try them all out! Although some of their coverage may overlap, you’ll probably be able to find unique resources in each of them.
While students veer towards databases, especially those that provide instant access to full-text articles, this is a grave mistake. As expansive as they may be, academic databases don’t usually include books, dissertations, or multimedia materials. Their coverage generally only dates back to the 1970s, and they don’t provide exhaustive coverage of most disciplines. Even worse, the full-text articles sometimes contain mistakes, including typographical errors and omissions of sections of the article – or even the entire article itself! Ideally, you should supplement your use of full-text databases with databases that only provide citations or abstracts. Then, you can use your library’s online catalog to locate hard copies of the materials. If the sources you’re interested in aren’t available at your library, it’s very possible that you’re librarian will be able to help you track them down.
The next time you need to do some research, make the first stop your library as opposed to your laptop! Far from being supplanted by the Digital Age, libraries have integrated new technologies into their services, making them more useful than ever.
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