Last week I posted about the filter bubble–the selective bias programmed into search engines via your search histories and the cookies web sites leave on your computer. This week I'm posting about how to break out of the filter bubble, so that the results of your web searches don't merely reflect your previous searches but have…
…which sites you visit? If you think you do, you're right only up to a point. Sure, you decide which links to click on, but who decides which links appear on your screen when you keyword search in the first place? If you're searching with Google, Bing, or Yahoo, they use your previous searches, the…
It’s time for another edition of Meet the Staff! For any of you who haven’t met her yet (you really are missing out!), Brigid is our English as a Second Language (ESL) Coordinator at the Library. She oversees our ESL program, which means that she teaches classes at all three library locations, organizes a group of great…
Decades ago, when people were looking for jobs, they answered ads in the jobs section of a newspaper or a trade magazine. Sometimes they walked down streets looking for businesses with "Help Wanted" signs in the windows. Then the Web came along and upended all that. Soon job seekers were going to Craigslist, or web…
Many Somervillians (such as the members of our thriving community of artists and writers) have specialized interests and undertake projects that might benefit from access to an academic library. However, many of those same people are neither students nor employees of any of the local universities. Fortunately, Harvard now offers adult researchers with no academic…
Happy pride month, Somerville! We are always looking for new and diverse books to read and and recommend.This month, we asked Autostraddle contributor, medical resident, and comic book enthusiast Lizz Rubin for some recommendations. Here’s a list of her favorite queer books right now: Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera Juliet Milagros Palante is…
June is LGBT Pride Month, when we celebrate the LGBT Community and recognize their history and present struggles. During this month some posts on this blog will commemorate significant dates in LGBT history. On June 13, 1995, after the Justice Department refused to become engaged in the legal fight against a Colorado amendment that denied…
Did you know that you can borrow eBooks and audiobooks from the library for FREE? You’re reading a library blog so the answer to that question might be “yes,” but we think it’s a fact worth repeating. Speaking of downloading eBooks from the library… Overdrive* has just released a spiffy new app called Libby. You…
It’s been a while since we’ve added a Meet the Staff installment to the blog, and we wanted to fix that! This time, we thought it would be great to not only let you meet one staff member, but our whole Children’s Department! The Children’s Department has seen a few changes over the last year…
