First, the Library has allowed me to break the habit of overbuying books. In the last five years I’ve learned to ask the Library for a book, and wait, rather than to just buy a book and then have to store it, give it away, or chuck it. The Library always comes through. Second, the…
Here are a few more stories you’ve shared with us about how the Library has affected you: I am a life-long library goer, but it is only recently that I have really dug into the amazing resources available to me through my local library in Somerville. Six months ago, I started a blog about Somerville’s…
As I noted in a blog post last month, only about 0.03 % of all the information stored on the Internet is accessible via search engine. For the majority of what’s stored on servers around the world, you have to use databases. Most of them were created by publishing companies, which in turn lease access…
It’s been a big week at the Supreme Court: the Affordable Care Act upheld, gay marriage bans struck down, and a blow struck against housing discrimination. The Supreme Court’s rulings have had a profound impact on American society: their decision in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954) ultimately ended legal school…
Search engines such as Bing, Google or DuckDuckGo can only access about 0.03 % of all the information stored on the Internet. Search engines compile their collection of websites available for searching by using crawlers, programs that gather information about web pages for their indexes. However, crawlers can’t find information that needs to be accessed…
When you’re in a cafe, hotel, library (or any other place besides home or work) access to a public wireless network is really convenient, but you need to take some basic precautions. This video from CNET shows you how to make sure you’re using a secure connection and how to protect your laptop/tablet/smartphone:
Our next book for Somerville Reads, our annual community one town/one book series of events, is the critically acclaimed best-seller The Martian, the story of an astronaut stranded on Mars and his struggle for survival. The Wall Street Journal called it “The best pure sci-fi novel in years.” Kirkus Reviews praised it for being “sharp,…
Today is the last day of work at SPL for Eileen F., who starts a full-time reference job at the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy next Monday. During her time at SPL Eileen shelved, worked circulation, helped write press releases, contributed to the blog, and volunteered with StoryCorps. At left is a photo of Eileen…
On November 18, 1985, people across the country opened their newspapers (this was back when most people read newspapers) and met a sandy-haired six-year old named Calvin and his stuffed (but sentient) tiger Hobbes. Calvin was every babysitter’s nightmare, the bane of his teachers, Dennis the Menace on speed (but with a much better vocabulary…
Snow. Snow. And yet more snow. And we’re all tired of it. And record-breaking low temperatures tonight. It’s all too easy to let the weather get you down. But if it’s too cold to go out, go in: into a book. Reading is a great way to forget whatever is troubling you, whatever you’re tired…
