Category: News you can use

Pop art at the Figge

- Ann Leave a comment

The Figge Museum currently (May 4-September 8) has selections from the CU Art Museum at the University of Colorado Boulder on display as a part of American Pop! exhibit.  Make sure you mark your calendars for Thursday, August 1 to hear Donald Warhola, Andy Warhol’s nephew, speak about the exhibit for free.  Before you visit, take some time to examine and better understand Pop Art with these great library resources.

Watch

andywarhol poparticons

 

 

 

Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film

Pop Art Icons. Warhol, Oldenburg, Lichtenstein.

Read

poparthistory warhol modernartdesserts roylichtenstein whatareyoulooking

 

 


 

Pop Art: A Continuing History by Marco Livingstone

Warhol by José María Faerna

What Are You Looking At? by Will Gompertz

Modern Art Desserts by Caitlin Freeman

Roy Lichtenstein by Diane Waldman

 

A new look for eBooks and eAudiobooks!

- Michelle Leave a comment

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WILBOR has a new look and now it is even easier to enjoy your favorite eBooks and eAudiobooks!  A few of the highlights:

-An icon in the corner of a book cover will tell you whether the title is an eBook or an eAudiobook.  If the icon is black, the title is available.  If it is gray, the title has a wait list.

-Click on “Borrow” to choose your title.

-After you have logged into your account and accessed your “Bookshelf” you will be given the option to download your selection or return your title (once you download your selected format, you may only be able to return the title via the software).  Clicking the “Download” button once will allow you to select your desired format.

–Overdrive Read is available for select titles, which allows you to open your eBook selection immediately and read from a browser on your computer or mobile device.

Questions?  Contact the Reference Department!

 

Check out library eBooks on your Kindle!

- Michelle 1 Comment

It is finally here – our library’s eBooks are now available for Kindle users through WILBOR! It’s really easy to use- just log onto Wilbor with your Davenport Public Library card and start searching for eBooks.  Simply choose the Kindle version of the book you would like and after you complete the checkout process you will be transferred straight to Amazon.  Log in to your Amazon account, choose where you would like the book delivered and the next time you connect to a wi-fi network – voilà –  your eBook will be waiting for you.

For additional information, visit the WILBOR site for tips, tutorials and frequently asked questions or please contact the Reference Department at the Davenport Public Library.

EBSCO Mobile App – Info on the Go!

- Michelle 1 Comment

With the new EBSCO mobile app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and for Blackberry, you can access the Davenport Public Library’s EBSCO electronic resources straight from your smart phone 24 hours a day!

Begin by visiting any EBSCO database through the Davenport Public Library’s website and follow the link at the bottom of the screen to get started.  Then, after downloading the free app from the app store, you are all ready!

Listed below are a few of the cool things you will be able to do with the app:

*Choose which databases to search

*Email results to yourself of others

*Retrieve the full text of articles

EBSCO just announced that an Android app is coming soon – stay tuned!

Frugal Librarian #35: Splitting hairs

- Bill Leave a comment

According to one savvy reader of The Consumerist, if fellows crunch the numbers and start shaving old school, they can rack up quite a savings.  Hundreds of dollars a year, in fact.  Many guys marvel at the appalling cost of cartridges that seem calculatingly designed for planned obsolescence.

There are hobbyist sites devoted to the discussion and manufacture of retro hardware, soaps, and brushes.

So in addition to the financial savings, you get to join the fraternity of every guy you’ve seen in a Western, war movie, or Mad Men’s Don Draper.

I’m interested in both factors, but think I may go through more than $160 a year in bandaids.

New Study has Serious Implications for Readers

- Ann Leave a comment

According to a report released Monday by the University of New South Wales, science has  now proven that bookmarks only have a 3% success rate in keeping ones place in their book.

“Every person that reads or loves someone who reads should pay attention to this study and it’s implications” stated head researcher Dr. James P. Unked. “The loss of an anchor, a way to mark your place in the world can be devastating and lead to aimlessly flipping through pages, missing key passages and wasted time rereading the same paragraph.”

Technological advancements in the form of eReaders and audio books have done little to alleviate this problem. “In fact,” reports Dr Unked, “they dramatically complicate the issue by adding the inevitable layer of computer illiteracy.”

There is no simple solution to this potentially disastrous situation. Experts have several suggestions including writing down the page number you stopped reading at, asking your spouse or significant other to remember your last page number, or gluing the bookmark to the page. However, the best solution is to simply read the book in one sitting; be sure to stock up on snack items and clear your schedule before tackling large volumes such as War and Peace.

The complete report is available here.

Take a look at the Budget!

- Ann Leave a comment


It is that time of year when newspapers and discussions of full of budgets, budgets, budgets! Want to look them over? Here are the links to the governmental recommended budgets currently being discussed and voted on by our elected representatives:

●United States of America
Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2012
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget

●State of Iowa
Summary of FY2010 and FY2013 Budget and Governor’s Recommendations
http://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/lsaReports/BudgetAnalysis/LAGAR_Summary_Final.pdf

●Scott County of Iowa
Scott County, IA Budget & Financials for 2012
http://www.scottcountyiowa.com/administration/budget.php?fyear=FY12

●City of Davenport
City Administrator of Davenport’s Recommended Budget FY2012
Print copies available for viewing at all three Davenport Public Library Locations

Need contact information for your local governmental officials? Call, email or text the Davenport Public Library Reference Department:

Phone: (563)326-7832
Text: Start a text message with DPLKNOWS and send it to 66746.
Email: reference@davenportlibrary.com

or In-person: the reference desk is staffed during all library hours

1040 Fever

- Bill Leave a comment

Have you caught it yet?

We finally received the 1040 Instructions at the Davenport Public libraries, for which the phone has been ringing nearly continuously.

Due to 11th-hour filibustering at the end of the legislative session, the IRS had to edit/print paper tax publications and reprogram the computer processing systems.   Do not expect leniency on getting your return in, however.  E-filing will begin in mid to late February and the deadline stands at April 18th.

If you didn’t receive a print publication in the mail this year, it may be because you didn’t paper file last year.  The cost-cutting measure saved millions of dollars in postage and paper stock, albeit with some confusion.

Outside of the IRS office, libraries are the only place where you can get forms if for some reason you still haven’t attempted filing online.  Though a slower and typically less-accurate process, some people prefer the paper method.

Frugal Librarian #33: Heat Miser

- Bill Leave a comment

Courtesy of savvy shortcut website for modern living, Lifehacker, here are the top ways to stay warm this winter for less dough.  Some involve constructing genius DIY doohickeys, others tweaks on classics.

I like the machine that cycles absorbed solar heat through 180 empty cans of your favorite beverage.  Well, I’d let someone else actually “make” the device.

And powered longjohns?  Interesting and doable, but I’ll leave that one to the experts.

Book Watch : EarlyWord

- Ann Leave a comment

Here’s our next tip for help in finding your next great read!

EarlyWord is the place to go to keep up with the latest in book news – what’s moving up the bestseller lists, award nominees and winners, forthcoming books with buzz, what book is being made into a movie. The emphasis is on connecting libraries to the publishing world, so you’ll also find reports on books that are showing a lot of reserves at a cross-section of libraries across the country, but this blog is packed with interesting and helpful information for any book lover.

The co-founders of EarlyWord – Nora Rawlinson and Fred Ciporen – each have strong ties to both the publishing and library worlds, but the tone of this blog is far from stuffy or academic. There’s a lot of humor and opinions but no snobbishness. Frequent postings – often 2 to 3 a day – keep things lively and current. With the end of the year approaching there has been a lot of information on award winners and “best of the year” lists with links to reviews for the big winners.

There are also links galore to all things book-related – publisher catalogs, book awards of all kinds, lists of “best” books from various publications, best seller lists, coming soon and previews, movies based on books (both finished films and those in various stages of production) including links to trailers for these movies. The “Consumer Media, Book Coverage” section will point you to that book you heard about on NPR last night, or the author Jon Stewart talked to last week.

Count on EarlyWord to entertain and inform – and to steer you to some great new books.