Find New Non-fiction CD Books in the eCatalog

Do you love audiobooks? Prefer non-fiction? In response to patron requests, we've recently adjusted our library eCatalog so you can retrieve a list of non-fiction CD books quickly and easily. 
Here's what to do:

1. Go to the eCatalog (ecatalog.wclibrary.info/) and select Advanced Search.

2. Type an asterisk in the first search box. This tells the eCatalog to retrieve all items that meet the specified criteria. This field cannot be left blank.
3. Choose the location "CV - CD Book - Adult Nonfiction" or "WB - CD Book - Adult Nonfiction". You can choose both locations by holding down the CTRL key while selecting both options.
4. Click Submit.

5. All Non-fiction CD Books will be listed. To see the newest items, sort your results list by date.

Most Popular Author Searches

Which authors are WCPL patrons searching for now?  Check out this list of most popular eCatalog author searches over the last month.

Old Maps Online

Old Maps Online, the world's largest online collection of historical maps, launched last week. It is freely available at www.oldmapsonline.org .

The site, maintained by the University of Portsmouth and funded by the Joint Systems Information Committee (JISC), contains maps from The British Library and the David Rumsey Collection in California, among others.  The site offers easy access to maps that were already online, but nearly impossible to find.

The site was designed to work like the familiar Google maps. It opens to a map of your local area. Users can then zoom out and reposition as needed or use the search box to navigate to a place by name. Available maps are listed on the right side of the screen.  A timeline feature at the top allows users to limit results to any period between 1000 and 2010.

Old Maps Online will add more maps, including the collections of Harvard University, the New York Public Library and the Bodleian Library at Oxford, by the end of the year.

Is Your Information Diet a Healthy Diet?

I recently discovered a fascinating and important new book, The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption by Clay Johnson. 

The book discusses the overwhelming amount of information available to (often even forced upon) us, and the fact that most of us do not pay much attention to whether the information we consume is quality or junk.

When it comes to food, most people now understand the importance of a healthy diet.  We should, argues Johnson, pay just as much attention to choosing quality information as we do to choosing nutritious food. Instead, most of our 'information diets' are made up of too much entertainment and information that affirms what we already believe. We consume what tastes the best and ignore everything else.
"Just as food companies learned that if they want to sell a lot of cheap calories they should pack them with salt, fat, and sugar - the stuff people crave - media companies have learned that affirmation sells a lot better than information. Who wants to hear the truth, when they can hear that they are right?"  Ever-increasing personalization features make the problem worse. Your Google search results, your Facebook news feed and even your newspaper are becoming tailored specifically to you. The result: you are only able to consume information that you already agree with.

Rather than an instruction manual, The Information Diet is a guide to critical thinking for the 21st century. The book does contain some specific tips. Johnson suggests focusing on "raw" information - information from as close to the source as possible. He advises focusing on local information and consciously seeking a variety of perspectives. Primarily, though, Johnson encourages us to pay attention. Junk information is the same as junk food. Just because its available, doesn't mean it won't harm you. As one reviewer said "This book is simultaneously challenging, helpful and worrying".

Learn More:

• Reserve your library copy of The Information Diet: http://ecatalog/record=b1406550~S31
• Read The Information Diet Blog: http://www.informationdiet.com/
• Listen to an interview with Author Clay Johnson: http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2012/01/16/do-you-need-to-go-on-an-information-diet/

Do You Care Enough to Opt Out of Online Tracking?

Internet privacy, specifically how corporations track your online behavior, is all over the news these days. Interestingly, Time Magazine recently reported that most people don't really care.  Some people even appreciate getting search results and special offers tailored to them.

Time says:
For all of the constant noise generated by the press, most people don’t really care about their privacy. Don’t get me wrong; they care about the principle of privacy. It certainly feels icky to know that companies are tracking your every move.
They don’t, however, care about the act of being tracked, or not enough to change their behavior in any significant way. The thought of their data floating around in a market that they’ll never see is just too abstract.
[...]
So how do you stop companies from knowing everything about you? The short answer is that unless you start living like a survivalist, it’s extremely difficult to completely stay off of corporate America’s radar.
A study in October at Carnegie Mellon University found that tools meant to limit online behavioral advertising (OBA) were either ineffective or too confusing for most people to use. That included browser tools, third-party blocking tools and opt-out tools from several advertising networks.
[Read the full article]

However, if you are one of the people who cares enough about corporate tracking and data mining to give it a try, this article, also from Time gives some good suggestions on how to keep your searches secret. Good Luck.

Get Tax Forms and Resources Online or at the Library

No tax forms will be mailed to homes this year, so you'll need to visit the library to get paper copies or download copies from the Web. Our Tax Resources page provides links to federal, state and local tax forms, helpful tax prep books, and tax assistance Web sites. Or, visit us in person to pick up tax forms and look up useful tax information.

Dayton Makes List of 'Most Romantic Cities'

What do your online purchases reveal about you? Or your city?

Each year, around this time, Amazon.com looks at purchases of romance novels, relationship books, romantic comedy movies, Barry White CDs (I kid you not), and sexual wellness products to determine the most romantic cities in the US.  

This year, our own home of Dayton made the list at #9.  Have a Happy Valentine's Day Weekend, Daytonians!

Amazon's Most Romantic Cities 2012