Now that I think about it, this blog post title sounds like it should be the name of a kid’s book–the If You Give a Pig a Pancake for the automated warfare age. But seriously, drones were one of the most popular gifts this Christmas. And anyone who owns a drone has to register it…
If you’re lucky you’ll have some time off next week. Many Americans aren’t that fortunate. What do you plan to do with your time? I will be reading Jenny Lawson’s new(ish) memoir Furiously Happy and returning to some old favorites: Carl Hiassen’s Tourist Season and Daniel Boorstin’s The Discoverers. If you’re looking for book suggestions,…
Remember Mark Watney in The Martian modifying the astronaut habitat to grow potatoes? Over at Quirk Books Danielle Mohlman has posted some potato recipes from various online sources. And if you’re interested in food real-life astronauts would eat, Tara Ziegmont of Feels Like Home has instructions for making astronaut pudding. The post includes a video…
One noteworthy feature of The Martian is the absence of any, well, actual Martians. In many science fiction works set on Mars, most notably Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, the presence of an intelligent native species is a key plot element. And thanks to the work of Percival Lowell, whom I wrote about in yesterday’s…
The selection of The Martian for Somerville Reads raises the question, “Why Mars?” No one would ever write a book called The Venusian or The Plutoniac. But the words “Martian” or “Mars” command attention. And they long have. But why? What is it about this planet that has fascinated humanity for so long? A partial…
Our latest staff profile is of Kevin, who you will recognize if you’ve ever been to the second floor of the Central Library. “I’m Kevin. First and foremost, I work at the reference desk answering questions for library users, trouble shooting computers, helping people find books, and suggesting books to people who aren’t sure what…
The hot, muggy weather last week prompted a patron to call the library with questions about the Boston Heat Wave of July 1911. I was able to answer her questions (some of which were quite detailed) using our historic Boston Globe database, which provides every single page of the Globe from 1872 to 1981. Using…
Welcome to the first in a series of short articles about the Library’s staff. First up: Ann (whose face is familiar to anyone who uses the Children’s Room at the Central Library) tells you all about her job – and a few other things too! I love my job! I love being with the kids….
We’re still getting responses to our question about how the Library has impacted your lives. Some are short and simple, like these: The Library has taught me the invaluable lesson of research and how to learn something new by gathering the books to collect and learn. Whether it be the law, electrical, carpentry, computer knowledge,…
A recent issue of American Libraries featured an article called “Going Beyond Google Again,” a sequel to an earlier article exploring the uses of alternatives to general-purpose search engines (e.g., Google and Bing). The more recent article gives urls and descriptions of various free online databases that give you more focused search results than you…
