Category: Technology

BRING NATURE IN

- Jill Leave a comment

BRING NATURE IN

As fall approaches and cooler weather settles in, we find fewer opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. Our routines shift toward indoor activities including the demands of school and work. In meeting these obligations, we naturally find ourselves less connected to nature. But, at this time of year, it is more important than ever to find ways to “bring nature in” so that we can continue to enjoy the beauty and benefits it brings to our lives.

Research shows that spending time in nature is a low-cost and highly effective way to improve various aspects of our psychological wellness. From increased happiness and a sense of well-being to decreased anxiety, stress, and depression, spending time in natural environments can have a huge impact on our lives.  In fact, by spending just 10 minutes in a natural setting, there is a significant and beneficial impact on mental health. It also gives us better focus and improved performance on our working memory, cognitive flexibility, and attention tasks. Because of these benefits, exposure to nature is a proven wellness therapy, called nature therapy or ecotherapy, and is based on the concept of using nature to help us heal, especially psychologically.  Several books on the topic are: The Well-Gardened Mind: the restorative power of nature, The Nature Fix: why nature makes us happier, healthier, and more creative, and The Nature of Nature: why we need the wild.

 

As September happens to be Self-Care Awareness Month, it is a great time to pause and make sure that your connection to nature remains solid, even when you can’t get outside. So, what do we do when, due to inclement weather, we can no longer be outside in our gardens, or on the hiking trails, or spending time at the lake? Consider bringing the outside in so as to continue to reap the healing powers of Mother Nature and gain a host of mental health benefits. When it’s not possible to get outside into nature we can carry out ecotherapy indoors in a number of easy ways. The books listed here, and that are on display this September at the Main and Eastern branch libraries, will give you lots of great ideas!

Plants

When winding down a backyard garden for the season, there are a few tasks you can do to bring nature in. Dig the herbs from your garden and plant them in pots to bring indoors for the winter including rosemary, parsley, chives, and thyme. You can take root cuttings from annuals, such as begonias, geraniums, and impatiens and plant them in a container and keep them in a sunny place indoors. And, begin moving houseplants inside. Plants not only remove toxins from the air, but research shows that people who spend time around plants have more concern, empathy, and compassion toward others as well as improved relationships. As September 17-23 is National indoor Plant Week, it’s the perfect time to introduce them into your home. There are some nearly indestructible varieties so don’t worry if you don’t have a green thumb. You can even opt for faux plants if you are worried about young children or pets. You won’t get the clean air effect, but you’ll still reap some benefit. Several books that can help you get started are Bring the Outside In: the essential guide to cacti, succulents, planters and terrariums, How to Make a Plant Love You: cultivate green space in your home and heart, The New Plant Parent: develop your green thumb and care for your house-plant family, How to Plant a Room and Grow a Happy Home.

 

Flower Arranging

If the maintenance of living plants is more than you desire, bring freshly cut flowers into your home or workspace as often as you can. It’s an easy alternative and you won’t feel bad when they wilt because they aren’t meant to last forever. To save on the cost, purchase discounted bunches and arrange them yourself. Here are some books to help you:  Seasonal Flower Arranging: fill your home with blooms, branches, and foraged materials all year round, and Flower Philosophy: seasonal projects to inspire and restore. You can even make paper blooms that bring bright color and cheer to your space. Take a look at these pretty makes: Bold and Beautiful Paper Flowers: more than 50 easy paper blooms and gorgeous arrangements you can make at home and Crepe Paper Flowers: making and arranging beautiful blooms. For more Nature DIY projects keep reading to the end of the post.

Designing and Decorating

There are so many ways to bring nature in through home décor and just as many books on the topic. If you are looking to bring elements of nature into your home, then you may be interested to learn more about biophilic design. Biophilic design is about creating human connectivity to nature. Through interior design, you can bring the outside in by using natural elements. Choose paintings or photographs of landscapes or opt for botanical prints. Select furniture with beautiful wood grains, or paint with soothing colors found in nature, like greens and blues, that can reduce stress levels. Introduce natural materials or patterns, and definitely bring in a variety of plants as this is one of the easiest ways to create a biophilic décor. It is important to have abundant natural light in your home and workspace as well. If you need more of that – especially in the winter – there are gadgets to solve that problem like the Circadian Optics Light Therapy Lamp that you can check out from our TECHKNOW collection of things. Ask for Techknow #78 at the Customer Service desk at the Fairmount branch library.  Or, ask for TECHKNOW #63 at our Eastern branch library to check out the Circadian Optics Lumos Light Therapy Lamp. And, if you’d like to see if any of these ways to bring nature in is helping your well-being, you can ask Customer Service at the Eastern branch library for TECHKNOW #66  an Omron 10 series blood pressure monitor with Bluetooth. Use it to track if using nature as therapy is reducing your stress levels and having a positive effect on your blood pressure.  A few books that will show you how to bring nature into your décor are: Design By Nature: creating layered lived-in spaces inspired by the natural world, Nature Style: cultivating wellbeing at home with plants, and Wild Interiors: beautiful plants in beautiful spaces.

Sounds and Smells of Nature

Don’t underestimate the power of listening to a waterfall or the sound of raindrops on the surface of a lake or even chirping crickets. The result isn’t just enhanced relaxation and a sense of calm, but include attention restoration and better cognitive performance. You can also mimic the forest smells with diffusers and essential oils. Introduce water features like an aquarium or a fountain where the sound of water can create a healing atmosphere and bring in a sense of relaxation. Use soundscapes of a rain forest or the seaside or download apps of soothing nature sounds. Check out these cd’s to give it a try: The Healing Garden and Sounds of Rainstorms and Nature.

Arts and Crafts

There are many more ways than I’ve listed here to bring nature in to enhance your life. But, I will cover one more that can encompass a wide range of things and also fits into many of the categories above. That is arts & crafts. Making art or crafts inspired by natural environments or made from natural elements not only leads to an end result that you can display in your home, but can be a very therapeutic handicraft or hobby. Instead of buying art or décor items, consider making some. There are so many great books to get you started. You just might find that drawing, painting, crafting, and other creative methods add to your sense of well-being and contentedness all on their own. Try something new by registering for one of our Adult DIY programs to make a Twig Vase, or String Art shaped like a Pumpkin. Or, check out the ideas in these books: Nature Art Workshop: tips, techniques, and step-by-step projects for creating nature-inspired art, Plant Craft: 30 projects that add natural style to your home, DIY Succulents, Watercolor Botanicals: learn to paint your favorite plants and florals, Botanical Line Drawing: 200 step-by-step flowers, leaves, cacti, succulents, and other items found in nature, and The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling.

 

ALL KINDS OF ADVENTURE!

- Jill Leave a comment

When was the last time you went on an adventure? I don’t mean an extreme experience. Although, for those of you who enjoy the adrenaline rush of skydiving, that definitely qualifies! Adventures come in all shapes and sizes. Trying something new could lead to a new hobby, favorite activity, and new friends. For many of us, August marks the last chance to get away before the end of the rush of back to school and autumn routine set-in. And, as it happens, August is American Adventures Month. Whether you’re looking for excitement, a quiet day in nature, or learning something new, your adventure awaits…go for it!  Here are two books to get you started: The bucket list adventures : 1000 adventures big & small, and Lonely planet’s 1000 ultimate adventures.

 

We’d love to help you find your next adventure and some of our programs and events are a great way to start. If you are epicurious, try a new type of cuisine. The Quad Cities has a good diversity of restaurant fare to choose from. Or, register for one of Spice Up Your Life programs to learn how to cook with a spice you’ve never tried before. How about registering for our Beekeeping program to learn about apiculture from a local beekeeper or joining a group of history enthusiasts for a hop back in time by registering for the Q-C History Hop: Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archive tour? Starting with a mini-adventure right in your hometown is a great way to begin. Check out 100 things to do in the Quad Cities before you die. Been there, done that you say?  Then take road trip!  Start with short trips around the state with 100 things to do in Iowa before you die.

 

Travel opens your perspective and expands your borders while also leading to a better appreciation for home. Spend quality time with friends or family while exploring new places. Check out a Garmin Nuvi 2595LMT GPS so you won’t get lost. Grab a Solar power bank 10000mAh battery pack or a IOGear Wireless 4-port USB sharing station so your smart phone battery stays charged allowing you to take amazing outdoor photos.  If your phone’s camera isn’t stellar, borrow a digital camera from the library: Canon PowerShot ELPH 340 HS digital camera or a GoPro Hero 7 Action Camera or GoPro Hero session with accessories for some live action. If you’ll need Wifi on your trip, don’t forget to reserve a Hotspot a few weeks in advance.

Perhaps you’ll celebrate Global Sleep Under the Stars night on August 8 by learning about the moon & stars and spending an evening stargazing. After all, August has the brightest moon of the year and the Perseid Meteor Showers peak during August (this year the 12th-13th). What a great time to get outside and enjoy viewing the night sky using one of the telescopes you can check out from the library. Just ask customer service at Eastern for TECHKNOW #75, a Celestron FirstScope telescope, or at Fairmount ask for TECHKNOW #81, a Gskyer telescope. Learn more about what you’ll see in the night sky with these books and magazines – more are on the Moon and Stars displays this month at the Fairmount and Eastern branches. Grab one and check-it out! The Beginner’s Guide to Stargazing, The stargazer’s handbook : the definitive field guide to the night sky, and The total skywatcher’s manual : 275+ skills and tricks for exploring stars, planets & beyond. While you’re waiting to catch a glimpse of a falling star, you can try out our Solomark night vision monocular for fun. Other gadgets to sample on your outdoor adventures are the Motorola MR350R two-way radio set or a pair of binoculars.

Dream big! Is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to go? Some sights you’d love to actually see with your own eyes? Beyond having an American adventure, think about traveling to other places around the world to experience unique cultures and amazing festivals, like the August Moon Festival in Greece. There you can see a bright, low-hanging moon over the Temple of Poseidon or the white marble of the Acropolis glowing in the brilliant moonlight. Both are sights to behold and certainly an adventure you won’t forget. Learn about a celebration somewhere in the world by reading one of these books and then go experience it! Check-out: The best place to be today : 365 things to do & the perfect day to do them, Lonely Planet’s where to go when : the ultimate trip planner for every month of the year, or Wanderlust : a traveler’s guide to the globe.

It doesn’t have to be a grand adventure of a lifetime… but it could be.  Just get out, enjoy the world, and celebrate!

Love Your Library During a Reading Slump

- Callen Leave a comment

If you just can’t read a book right now, don’t feel bad! You’re not a worse person because you can’t get yourself to read anything more than a cereal box or social media post. Whether you’re busy with schoolwork, family obligations, or just plain burnt out, you can still love and support your library and be part of our bookish lifestyle without picking up a single book.

Tip #1: Do something cool! Try the TechKnow library (featuring a digital camera, a mobile scanner, Snapchat spectacles, and MUCH more), our collection of board games (from Scrabble to Super Mario Checkers), or a community experience pass to a local museum like the Figge.

Tip #2: Go multimedia! Save some serious money by checking out a new movie (like Till or the new season of You), music CD (maybe Charlie Puth’s latest?), or video game (including PS5 games like Dying Light 2) so you can try before you buy.

Tip #3: Read without reading! Skim a heartwarming graphic novel like Moonstruck, or listen to a book on playaway or CD (pro tip: pick a short one like The Poet X, a 3.5 hour listen) for a quick lit fix. (Disclaimer: these are definitely real books and count as real reading, but since they may be easier than traditional print, I’m including them.)

Tip #4: Just show up! Come exist in our spaces – read magazines and enjoy the view at Eastern, warm up at Fairmount’s fireplace, or schedule a Makerspace tour at Main.

Tip #5: Be social with it! Engage on social media from home — repost our news and events, browse databases and digital resources, and check out challenges in the Beanstack website or app.

However you engage with the library, we appreciate you and we want to hear from you! What’s your favorite way to ride out a reading slump – or your favorite way to love the library?

Fitness Boxing 2 for Nintendo Switch

- Callen Leave a comment

Need to get out a little frustration, but still like to move to the beat? Then you might like Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm and Exercise, a game for Nintendo Switch. I came to the game hopeful, because I’ve liked the boxing and kickboxing I’ve tried in the past, but skeptical that it would measure up to the other, very robust, fitness games I’ve already discovered on Nintendo Switch.

Fitness Boxing starts with a comprehensive tutorial walking you through the moves and the basic game interface and how to set your goals and customizations, and only after you’ve completed the tutorials can you unlock other portions of the game. I liked that this was a cumulative and careful learning process, but sometimes I like to drop in and figure things out as I go, so I thought it was a pity you couldn’t skip some of the early steps to just start experimenting. The more I played, however, the slow and steady unlocking of more features made the game addictive and rewarding. Not to mention the fact that jumping into new moves and routines without knowing what I was doing led to some serious sore muscles.

The game integrates the instrumentals of some well-known pop songs (Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, and Marshmello, among others) into its workouts, which I found really helpful when trying to stay on the beat (apparently boxing is all about rhythm?) though I did get distracted trying to sing along. And distraction is BAD in this game, because timing is everything. If you don’t move at just the right time you’ll miss your punch and lower your score, and along with it your “estimated fitness age” that’s calculated at the end of the workout. Me personally, I didn’t really appreciate some trainers’ vaguely judgmental commentary on your performance and estimated age, but maybe that’s just me. Either way it wound up working a number of muscles I forgot I had, and even virtual jabs and uppercuts are strangely cathartic. The specific punches are surprisingly technical and hard to get right, and the instructors (of which there are a pretty good variety to choose from and personalize) are animated in a vaguely unsatisfying style that doesn’t move totally naturally with the actual movements you’re doing – this is mostly concerning in the stretching portion, where doing it incorrectly has real consequences.

All around, it wasn’t the best Nintendo Switch fitness game I’ve tried (Zumba Burn It Up still holds that spot), not least because it’s oddly challenging in unexpected ways, but it’s a solid contender to have in your rotation of virtual workouts. If you like fitness video games, learning in cumulative chunks, boxing, and lively animation, you might enjoy Fitness Boxing 2.

Hidden Database Gems: MasterFILE Premier

- Callen Leave a comment

Our available library databases have recently changed! Unfortunately, this means we no longer have Credo Reference, Chilton’s, or some Gale databases. However, we have gained a great new resource! With your library card, you now have access to MasterFILE Premier, a database of full-text articles, primary source documents, and more! Including publications like Consumer Reports, Kiplinger’s, and Newsweek, it’s perfect for research, and the interface will be familiar to anyone who’s used an EBSCOhost database before. If you haven’t, here’s how it works:

If you click on MasterFILE Premier on our list of Online Resources, you may be asked to sign in with your library card number, and then you’ll be taken to the basic search page.

To get the most and broadest results, put a general search term in here and hit search.

If the results aren’t what you’re looking for, try a similar search term or related words in the search box on the top of the results page.

If you’re looking to narrow your results down to what’s most relevant, you’ll want to click on Advanced Search underneath the search box. Here, you can search only in one particular publication, you can choose what kind of resources you want to find, you can limit to full-text results, you can specify a range of publication dates, and more! This is also where you can use Boolean searching, where you search multiple terms at once connected by words like AND, OR, and NOT – these limit, broaden, or define your search, respectively. The strategies and tools on this page will give you the most relevant items and cut down on the time you’ll spend sifting through the results.

When you have a list of results, you can narrow down your results list using filters along the left side of the page. Here, you can pick what kinds of publications to draw from, pick specific publications, narrow it down by language, publication date, category, and more.

Once you find something interesting, you have a few options: You can click on the title or on the Full Text version from the result list, as shown.

Clicking on the title will give you a detailed record of what the resource is, as well as some tools to save or access it AND the option to find similar results.

Choosing the full-text version, meanwhile, lets you read the resource directly, access more from the publication, and access the same tools to save or share it.

And as always, if you need any help using this or our other resources, don’t hesitate to contact us for some assistance! Our Book-A-Librarian service is available again, allowing you to reserve a dedicated session for help with any number of topics, including databases and digital resources.

RingFit Adventure for Nintendo Switch

- Callen Leave a comment

When I bought myself a copy of Nintendo’s hot new game Ring Fit Adventure, I had no idea what a smart investment it would be. Since my purchase in January 2019, the promise of dynamic in-home exercise has become understandably appealing, and copies of the game available for purchase are nearly impossible to find. I’m proud to announce that I officially finished the game’s “adventure” portion this fall, and so I can now officially recommend the game – which I do, whole-heartedly.

The game’s main portion is structured like a pretty typical action-adventure RPG – your customized character finds themself in a strange world of villagers, animals and monsters, which is threatened by a power-mad bodybuilding dragon addicted to the dark side of exercising. It’s up to you and your trusty sidekick Ring to chase down the dragon and defeat him and his minions with the power of healthy, balanced exercise. The game is driven by your actions in the real world: a leg strap and ring accessory record your jogging, squatting, pushing and pulling and use them to move through environments and fight monsters. The more you play, the higher levels you achieve, which unlock new skills, clothing, abilities, and boosters that help you in battle. Everything is on the fitness theme – your boosters are smoothies with real-world ingredients, the skills are various fitness moves, and all the monsters have punny fitness names (yoga mat monsters are Matta Rays, kettlebells are Belldogs, water bottles are Protein Shakers, etc.)

I’ve had a great experience playing this game. The adventure portion of the game makes exercising fun, and it also has other modes that let me fit exercising into my schedule on my own terms. It has a “custom” mode where you can make your own list of your favorite exercises or jogging routes, it has mini-games that you can play outside the adventure for quick workouts, it has a rhythm game that lets you focus on moving to the music, and it even has a “multitask” mode so you can push or pull on the ring accessory while the system’s turned off, and earn points for the game.

Even better, the game makes a real effort to portray healthy, balanced exercise that is personalized to the individual user. Its included warmup and cooldown routines include easy stretches and lots of tips on living a healthier life, and it has an alarm function to help you stay accountable for playing regularly. It even includes lots of accessibility options, including a “silent mode” for simulating jogging (which is excellent if you share walls or floors with neighbors), various settings to adjust, and calibrating the accessories to your own body and strength.

If you’re looking to stay active during cold, quarantined winter months, AND you’d like to try before you buy, I recommend checking out Ring Fit for a family-friendly exercise option.

What Should I Read Next? BONUS: Library LibGuides

- Callen Leave a comment

To conclude our series of posts highlighting different resources the library offers to help you discover your next read, I’d like to tell you about what we call our LibGuides. These are detailed resource lists created by our librarians. To view them, go to our website and click on LibGuides under the Research Tools tab (Fig. 1). This will take you to a full list of all the guides our librarians have created (Fig. 2). Clicking on a guide shows you a robust and annotated list of resources, often in different formats including books, webpages, and archival materials.

The benefits of LibGuides are that you know these titles have been selected by a librarian, they’re meticulously organized into categories like format and age groups, and the guide’s homepage (Fig. 3) gives you background on the topic or person it focuses on. Some will even provide links to the catalog so you can place items on hold directly — but not all guides do this.

Our more than 30 LibGuides include guides to writers’ resources, soft skills, comics for all ages, ebooks, genealogy resources, historical figures like Annie Wittenmyer, Fifty Shades of Grey readalikes, and much more! Don’t miss out on such a treasure trove of resources.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2


Fig. 3

What Should I Read Next? Resources From Your Library (Part 2)

- Callen Leave a comment

Continuing the theme of ways you can discover your next read, today I’m highlighting two databases the library offers — free to use with your library card.

NOVELIST

NoveList is a popular book discovery platform used by many libraries. To access it, go to our website, then under Research Tools, click on Online Resources (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

This will bring you to an alphabetized list of all our library databases. Scroll down to the “N”s, and you’ll find NoveList (Fig. 2). It may ask you to sign in with your library card.

Fig. 2

This tool is powerful because it not only lets you search titles, authors, and genres, but it also provides lists of recommended titles and an “appeal mixer” search tool that lets you look for books based on attributes like writing style, pace, storyline, characters, and more (Fig. 3). The downside of NoveList is that its lists of books aren’t always comprehensive and the appeal mixer doesn’t work with all combinations. Also, you will have to take any book title you get from NoveList and put it into the catalog to find it or put it on hold. I recommend trying NoveList as a way to discover books you might like and explore what makes books appealing.

Fig. 3

 

GALE BOOKS AND AUTHORS

Gale Books and Authors is another database you have access to with your library card, and it’s listed in the same place as NoveList  (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

In my opinion, this is a slightly more powerful and useful tool for searching for books. It provides an advanced search function, the ability to browse by genres, authors, or by book lists (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2

It includes both fiction and nonfiction in several genres, and provides for a very useful set of subgenres as well. The only problem I had with the genre browsing was that it didn’t seem to provide for literary or general fiction, sticking very strongly to genres. You can’t search by subgenres either, until you’ve picked a genre from their limited list (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3

In this way the advanced search function can be a useful workaround, because it lets you search for books featuring certain subjects or certain types of characters – under which is a very impressive list of many ages, occupations, and relationships (Fig. 4). However, you still can’t put items on hold directly, and the lists of books aren’t necessarily comprehensive either. I recommend this resource for a more detailed search for authors or titles you may be interested in.


Fig. 4

Hidden Database Gems: Chilton Auto Repair

- Callen Leave a comment

Once upon a time, there were big fat books in the library with CHILTON written on the side. You could come into the library and use these books to find any information you might need about repairing or maintaining your vehicle. Sadly, due to changes in publishing and library budgets, not many of these books are still on library shelves. But never fear, that information is not gone, it’s just moved online!

Your library card gets you free access to the Chilton Auto Repair database where all that repair and maintenance information is recorded and easily accessible. Here’s how it works: first, from our website, look under Research Tools and click on Online Resources.

Scroll down this list to the “C”s, and click on Chilton Auto Repair. You may be asked to enter your library card number. Once you’ve logged in, the homepage will look like this:

Select your vehicle by year, make, and model and click Select. Then choose what category of information you’re looking for: Repair, Maintenance, Labor Estimating, or Bulletins/Recalls. From here, you can continue to narrow down the categories until you find the information you’re looking for.

This database is very useful because it includes not only downloadable and printable diagrams but also step-by-step repair procedures, a labor estimating tool, and ASE test prep quizzes for popular certification exams. If you’re looking for robust vehicle repair and maintenance information, I definitely recommend you check out this database!

What Should I Read Next? Resources From Your Library (Part 1)

- Callen Leave a comment

Chances are, at one point or another you’ve found yourself at a loss for what to read next. With browsing time still limited at our branches, I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you of the various ways the library provides for you to explore what your next read should be. I’ve tested all of them and want to share with you the features and effectiveness of each of them.  First up, I’m going to go over the benefits and hidden magics of the catalog. You may not know some of the very powerful ways to narrow down your search on this page, or to find similar things. If you’re interested in a detailed description, see below.

The benefits of the catalog search is that it lets you easily find titles similar to ones you already like, as well as what’s new, and it lets you narrow your search based on many different filters and criteria, including whether we own it at our Davenport Library locations. And, of course, you can put items on hold directly from the catalog interface, which saves you a step as you’ll see in future posts about other resources. I recommend the catalog for semi-directed browsing or for looking for very specific materials..

To get to our catalog: go to our website and type a search term in the box on the top right-hand side of the page (Fig. 1). You can enter any search term you like and you’ll be redirected to our catalog website (Fig. 2) to narrow it down and browse your results.

Fig. 1

First,  check out the filters in the left-hand column. Here, you can narrow your search by subject, author, format, the target audience, which libraries own it, and more. If you search a general term (“romance”, “murder”) these filters can help you create a narrow list of possible titles you’d be interested in.

Fig. 2

Another way you can find books you’d like is to search a book you know you like, and when it comes up in the catalog, click “details” on the right-hand side. From this page (Fig. 3), you should see a list of blue subject headings. If you click on one of these you can see other titles that are labeled with the same subject.

Fig. 3

You can also scroll down the “details” page of a book you like to a section that says “Suggestions and More” (Fig. 4). This links to the website Goodreads and will show you similar books you might like.

Fig. 4

If you’d just like to see what’s new, click on the library logo (top of the page) at any time to be taken to our catalog’s main webpage. Here, our on-order and new materials are highlighted for you to browse.