From a different perspective

I've always loved history, but as much as I read about it, dates and places don't always stick in my head. What I like about history are the stories, and part of me feels that no matter what time and location these stories took place in, there's something about the best stories of history that we can all relate to.

Another way of looking at history is through objects and artifacts. Museums of all stripes specialize and excel at presenting a physical retelling of a story, whether its of art, technology, eating, music, or growing up. While we have exceptional museums here in Santa Fe, it's also neat to see how other museums tell the human story.

The British Museum and the BBC have collaborated on A History of the World, a timeline using objects from as long ago as 2 million years ago to the present day. You can swoop through the timeline on a grand scale, or filter the objects by limits such as location, culture, and material. You can even limit by color, in case you want to gauge the popularity of purple throughout the ages. When you find objects of interest, you can click and get more information about the society and times that formed it.

While this site might not be the most useful if your history project is due tomorrow morning, it's a fantastic way to explore a certain time period, civilization, or just all of human history at once. You might even find yourself remembering some of those dates as well!

Image is Stone handaxe from Pontnewydd Cave, Denbighshire. © Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales

Thanks to the Santa Fe Community College Library for the tip about this great resource!

A healthy leap

Today is the Great American Smokeout! If you or a loved one is addicted to the nicotine, today is the day to try and cut that tie. The American Cancer Society has a Stay Away from Tobacco page with a bunch of useful resources. The CDC has a listing of sites to help you quit smoking, and SmokeFree.gov has interactive tools to make sure you quit and stay quit. My favorite resource for cold turkey tips is WhyQuit.com. The library also has a number of books about smoking and smoking cessation.

Even if the Great American Smokeout snuck up on you too soon and you're just not ready today, you can always pick a day that works for you, and just keep trying. It's rough at first, but it gets easier. Good luck!

Spooky Poetry Made Easy

If you're inspired to wax rhapsodic about this dark and dying season but don't know where to start, try the Goth-O-Matic Poetry Generator ™! Using drop-down menus, you can easily craft verse with themes such as The Supernatural Violence & Horror Darkly Gothic Poem or the Black Abyss of Righteous Hatred Darkly Gothic Poem. In fact, there are so many choices, that you could probably keep yourself busy "writing" bad gothic poetry until next All Hallows Eve!

So fire up your laptop, fire up your black candles, and create images that would make Anne Rice shiver...

...like this one:



Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go warm my chilly soul...

Places and Faces

Technological issues have been causing a lot of headaches lately. So it's nice and headache-erasing when a tool comes along that reminds me of how cool, unique, and useful technological advances, such as The Internet, can be. Last week I came across such a tool: WhatWasThere, a site that matches Google Maps to uploaded historical or personal photos.

We're often getting patrons, both locals and visitors, who want photos of how things in our ancient city used to look. WhatWasThere is a good place to start before heading to the Santa Fe history books or the Palace of the Governors Photo Archive. What's also neat about this site is that it doesn't differentiate between personal and "official" history. Locales are made by the memories of those who inhabit them, so you can upload your pictures of family and friends enjoying the Fourth of July Pancakes on the Plaza and bring the personal touch to the pictorial history.

So far, there are only 4 photos when you search for "Santa Fe, NM". It's great that none of them are newer than the 1950s, but let's get uploading. Santa Fe is a photogenic city, and a memorable city, and a website like WhatWasThere seems made for us.

Mindful Miscellanea

The post originally scheduled for today had to be yanked at the last minute due to technical issues. Since I know a day without Icarus is a day without oxygen, here's a mini-post for you, especially those readers who keep us stocked in Thích Nhât Hạnh.

Without further delay, the Mindfulness Bell. You can set the bell to ring at intervals to remind you to take 3 mindful inhalations and exhalations, thus getting your oxygen and mind back for the moment. Or, you can work downtown and keep an ear open for the bells at the Basilica.

Don't forget to breathe!

Storytelling in Any Medium

As the token librarian in social and familial circles, folks often try to get me to choose sides in the Print vs. Internet debate, or Book vs. eReader kerfluffle. I have to say that I can't choose sides; there are uses and advantages to both print and electronic information. I also can't agree that the internet is just for cat photos and timewasting. For one thing, it makes possible a whole new way to tell stories. For example, I can envision this piece appearing in a print magazine 15 or 25 years ago, possibly The New Yorker, but more likely in National Lampoon or Mad Magazine. However, seeing the "artifacts" reproduced brings something to the tale that a straight text narrative may have not. Also, something about scrolling down through bigger and better punchlines has an appeal.

Oh, the story? It's about two coworkers who just don't get along. If that's not enough to inspire you to click, then check this out:



Yes, that's teen heartthrob Justin Bieber photoshopped onto a pickle.

You're welcome.

p.s. No work time was consumed in the scrolling through these web pages. However, I would not recommend eating lunch while perusing, because you will definitely be at risk of choking on your sandwich.

Batten down the hatches

Since I've subscribed to the Swiss Army Librarian blog, I'm tempted to share his posts several times a week. But since you also have the option of subscribing to this blog, I'm trying to only pass on information that is absolutely essential.

A post that's come through in the past few weeks is about IT security in libraries. That translates to things like choosing hack-proof passwords, making sure your email and Facebook accounts don't get hijacked, and how to test if you're scam-savvy. It isn't just security in libraries, but good privacy tips for all online users. While not all of the resources will be applicable to your internet and computer use, there is just too much here for a handy cheat-sheet or summary. So click on the links above, bookmark them, and go through them bit by bit to make your internet experience safer.

Online piracy graphic courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Where's the Data?

With all apologies to New Mexico Magazine's popular feature, One of Our Fifty is Missing, a reference librarian at Main noticed a glaring omission in the latest US Census data:



Our feelings should probably be hurt, but first we need to stop laughing.

A Bright Sunshiny Day!

No, this isn't referring to long glorious summer weather. As budgets, personal and municipal, around the country get tighter, it helps to see where every dollar goes. Both the State of New Mexico and Santa Fe County have come up with Sunshine Portals, to encourage transparency and accountability in governance. Such portals supply information about public employee salaries, contracts with outside businesses, and how much money various programs are allotted. It's great to be able to access all this information in one place for each government agency.

However, as an information user, having these portals as separate sites can sometimes be a disadvantage. Several months ago I spent some time looking for salary information on the state site, before finding the separate link to the Sunshine Portal. The County has improved the design by including this data within the site itself, but the link to it is a sun icon. I'm used to that icon telling me that it's going to be good hiking or gardening weather. It's also possible that many citizens won't know to check a separate site for essential budget information.

But, it's still a good step forward that this information is readily available to anyone with computer and internet access. It's an improvement on the time and expense of public records requests. In addition to the links on their respective homepages, the State's Sunshine Portal can be found here, and the County's Sunshine Portal can be found here. Bookmark these links, and remember to check them the next time you have questions about how your tax dollars are spent.

Sun in Celestia with Addon by Runar Thorvaldsen, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Free Wifi!

If you're traveling around this summer and need free wifi in a strange place, check out the Wi-Fi FreeSpot Directory! You can scroll through listings in all 50 states, and free spots in Canada and Europe are also included. There are also special categories for free wireless in places such as airports and campgrounds.

If you're a business or public place that offers free wifi, add your listing! You'll find that folks looking to use their laptop or smartphone will flock to your place in droves.

And, in case you missed the memo, all branches of the Santa Fe Public Library offer free wireless access. All details can be found here.

WiFi graphic courtesy of Eurobas, accessed via Wikimedia Commons.

A Catchall of Downloads

A number of links have crossed my screen lately, many of them offering free or low-cost downloads of eBooks or eAudiobooks. Check them out, and expand your eXperience.

LibriVox offers free audiobooks in the public domain. The files are available in mp3 or ogg format, and there's also a weekly podcast. Feeling dramatic? You can volunteer to read!

Open Library allows you to borrow eBooks. If you're already a member of one of the 150+ participating libraries it's an online interlibrary loan, or as they call it: In-Library Lending. If not, don't fret: Open Library also has over a million free eBooks available.

A resource to keep an eye on is Byliner.com, a site for original writing from today's big authors. As of this writing it's in beta, but it's already offering downloads by Jon Krakauer, William T. Vollman, Jamie Malanowski, and Malcolm Gladwell. Also, the Byliner Blog is a great place to drop in, even if you're not actively downloading.

Don't forget: the Santa Fe Public Library subscribes to One Click Downloadable Audiobooks, and we also offer listings of Project Gutenberg eBooks in our catalog!

National Academy Freebies

A popular saying among librarians is "information wants to be free". Whether we mean it as free as in unfettered, or free as in no-cost, can depend on the situation. But either way, no-cost, easily-accessible, not-charging-a-dime, click-of-a-mouse information is a wonderful thing.

So it's incredibly exciting that the National Academies are making a lot of their information, you guessed it, FREE! Over 4,000 reports and books from the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council will now be available as free PDFs. Topics are numerous and include Biology, Education, Social Sciences, and Environmental Studies. Just head to the National Academies Press website, and see what sort of free information tickles your intellect.

Fire Restrictions and More:

It's no surprise that New Mexico is experiencing a drought. Now that the weather is encouraging hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities, it might be more confusing about how the drought might affect you. The Public Lands Information Center is a fantastic resource for you to check weather, road conditions, and recreational information for Western states. They also have a special section for Fire News for New Mexico and Arizona, with up-to-date information on fire restrictions and closings for federal and state public lands and how they will affect you. The Center also has a mobile site for when you're already on the road to the backcountry.

So in addition to an extra pair of socks and some ready-to-eat treats, be sure to check out this site before you head for some outdoors fun.

A Treasure Trove of Musical History

Are you jaded with the melodic offerings from Pandora, Last.fm and iTunes? If you're a music freak and need something new, check out the National Jukebox from the Library of Congress. Pick a playlist, search by artist or genre, or try a sampler of over 10,000 rare and historic sound recordings. You can select tracks from different categories and add them to a playlist. There's also a neat feature, Day by Day, where you can pick a date and focus on music recorded that day.

One of the neat things about this project is that it has all the hallmarks of library organization: narrowing results by language, date range, artist, and place, in addition to excellent Search and Browse features. They've even included a full-text interactive version of the Victrola Book of the Opera to help put many of the recordings in context. If you're new to the Jukebox, there's a First Time Here page that covers the basics.

Thankfully I've got headphones in, so no one needs to overhear the 32 different yodeling tracks I'm listening to for the sake of "research".

Yay for Statistics!

OK, I admit it, I love statistics. I love it in the same way I love ballet: I love seeing the product of all that hard work and training, but could never attempt it myself. I got to meet a statistician once, and when I started gushing about what an awesome job she must have, the befuddled woman replied, "Wow, no one's reacted that way before." It's not that I curl up with The basic practice of statistics after a day's work, but the procession of numbers can still be fascinating.

The motherlode of facts and statistics in the US is getting rolled out right now. That's right, the results of the 2010 Census are finding their way across the web. Just a few to try on: Between 2000 and 2010, the population of the City of Santa Fe increased from 62,203 to 67, 947. That's almost six thousand people! The County also saw a jump, from 134,525 to 144,170. New Mexico finally crossed the 2 million mark, hitting 2,059,170 residents on April 1, 2010, up from a count of 1,829,146 in 2000. But don't take my word for it: check out the American FactFinder site for all the statistics and numbers and charts that you could hope for.

If you're not a statistics fan but still have a bit of interest, go to Worldometers. They have real-time numbers for everything from world population to food, water, and energy. As of this writing, the world population is inching towards the seven billion mark; 342,828 new book tiles have been published this year; almost 17,000 people have died of hunger today. An interesting, if somewhat jarring, snapshot of the world we live in.

Interested in statistics closer to home? The Library has a Facts and Statistics page that we update annually, and we hang onto the historical data so you can get a glimpse of our popularity and growth. Enjoy the numbers!

Water Challenge!

Despite some May Day snowfall, no one can deny that it was a very dry winter this year. According to a City of Santa Fe press release last month, "Average precipitation for Santa Fe this time of year is 3.03 inches; as of now we have only received 0.59 inches of precipitation or 19.5% of average precipitation."

While water conservation efforts have resulted in a 42% decrease in water use from 1995 to 2009, it's time to care for our water even more. The National Weather Service, U.S. Drought Monitor reports that almost all of the Southwest, including New Mexico, is in severe to extreme drought conditions.

Warmer weather means more time in yards and gardens, and the City is asking you to water your plants just twice a week in May. There are many other ways to conserve water, both in and outside the home. For information on incentive programs and ways to conserve water visit the City's Water Conservation Office website.

Image: 2004 Children's Water Conservation Poster Contest Grand Prize Winner.

Hidden Treasure

Like many librarians, I got my start as a library shelver. Often part-time and minimum wage, shelvers are the most entry-level staff in the whole place, but without them each and every library would fall apart. The best part about being a shelver is getting hands-on knowledge of the variety of books, newspapers, magazines, and other resources in the library.

Besides becoming well-acquainted with the enormous breadth and depth of the library's information and the thrilling methods of organization, there was another interesting perk about working in a place where I handled so many objects that had passed through many other hands. I've never had a term for the various bits of other people's lives that I encountered: bookmarks, photographs, notecards, letters, newspaper clippings, shopping receipts. I collected these artifacts for years and used them in art projects or as inspiration for writing exercises.

It's comforting to know that I'm not the only one who enjoys this small degree of voyeurism. Fans of Found Magazine share these sentiments. In the strictly found-in-a-book category, Forbes has an excellent literary blog called Booked: Reading Unbound, and a regular feature is Forgotten Bookmarks. Whether it's a recipe for brownies left in Motherless Brooklyn, or a land deed from 1917, the assortment of hidden treasures unearthed is fascinating. The primary blogger is a used and rare book dealer, so his finds are more, shall we say, genteel than some library objects or Found's fare. That is to say, I don't think he's posted about finding a bacon bookmark in a rare edition.

While I love what I do, I sometimes miss the serendipity of the shelver's life. In addition to the right book falling into my hands at the right time, there's always the possibility that Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge recipe would also fall into my hands. Fortunately I can still partake of Forgotten Bookmarks, and puzzle over the pieces of strangers’ lives.

Portrait of Mamie Eisenhower courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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This may come as a shock...

Proper pronunciation can be a tricky thing, especially with different regional or national dialects and accents, and the mere fact that English can be such a hodge-podge of other languages. While you and I can argue about "tomato" until it's chopped for the salad, what about people's names? Surely, individuals should have the last word on how their name is pronounced.

Last year we did some investigative reporting to ascertain how to say "Junot", and we came across some other resources for properly enunciating authors' names. A new page of pronunciation has been making the rounds in Cyberland, and there are some surprises on here. It's been reblogged and retweeted many times, but it originally came from The San Francisco Panorama, a one-shot paper publication of McSweeney's. At a glance, I'm quite happy that my several-decades attempt to turn my tongue from PIN-shuhn to pin-SHAWN was never successful.

Take a peek, grade yourself, and prepare yourself for perfect pronunciation at your next literary party:


Need more? Check out this link for larger type.

Better than Television

While many of you are out skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and just going on with your daily lives, some of us are more of the hibernating variety. So while we load up on recipes to make, books to read, movies to watch, and firewood to warm our hands with, winter is also a good time to explore other hobbies and interests that we don't have time for in the warmer months.

Perhaps it's the crystal clear night skies, or the unwholesome angle of the sun, but wintertime inspires my amateur astronomer side. However, with the often frigid temperatures dissuading me from long evenings outside with a telescope, I've learned to rely on the experts for my star-and-sun fixes. Thankfully, NASA has an amazing Astronomy Picture of the Day archive. With offerings ranging from a video of solar flares to a still of Stardust in Aries (what a great title for something!), the images are fantastic educational entertainment. Each image is accompanied by an explanation by an astronomer that even a lapsed skygazer like myself can understand.

But that's enough talk from me. Warm your hands in front of the following photo of Spicules: Jets on the Sun: