If you aren't familiar with free computer classes at the library, then you're missing out on a great bargain. Class sizes are small, (a maximum of eight students per workshop,) and each student has their own computer to use for hands-on exercises.

As you will see further down in this entry, the library offers courses in three primary tracks, but for anyone who is new to computers, we recommend starting with the Computer Basics class. After that, customers are free to choose a track and work their way down the list. They can also move between tracks.

For Beginners
Computer Basics

Internet Track
1. Internet
2. Yahoo Email
3. Web Design

Microsoft Office Track
1. Microsoft Word
2. Microsoft PowerPoint
3. Microsoft Excel
4. Microsoft Access

Research Using Databases
1. EBSCO Magazine and Journal Database
2. Genealogy Research with Heritage Quest and Ancestry Library Edition

For more detailed information about each of the classes visit our Computer Classes web page.

When are Classes Offered?
Computer classes are generally offered Monday through Thursday either at 10:30am or 2:30pm, and they run for either an hour and a half or two hours. To find out which classes are offered for a particular month, go to this page on the library website. Also, if you would like to receive the monthly computer class schedule by email, just give us a call, 589-4611, and let us know your email address.

How Do I Sign Up for a Class?
Finally, to register for a class, just give us a call, and we'll sign you up. Some classes do fill up quickly, so it's a good idea to call a week or two in advance.

Every two weeks, I order nonfiction books that are given a call number between 600 and 699. These books can fall into a wide range of subjects, including recipes & cooking, automobile repair manuals, home electrical wiring and industrial tools, building plans for decks and bathrooms, and health care for the mind and body. Here are three books I recently ordered that I think you'll enjoy!

Size Matters: How Height Affects the Health, Happiness, and Success of Boys - and the Men They Become
Randy Newman sang a song ribbing "Short People", there is a website named Shortstuff, and there is even a Short Persons Support website. Stephen Hall, who is not quite 5'6", has written about the causes and effects of society's bias against shortness and describes how people of small stature can and do thrive. According to Kirkus Reviews, "Shortness is not a prerequisite for enjoying Hall's work, but concerned parents of short boys will find it particularly reassuring". As a "petite" person myself, I found this book both witty and very informative.

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
Read Stephen Johnson's thrilling historical account of the cholera outbreak in Victorian London and how a doctor's creative thinking revolutionized our approach to disease, cities, and the modern world. From the construction of the vast sewer system that continues to function in London to today's developing countries facing enormous public-health problems to our worries about terrorists armed with weaponized viruses and/or nuclear weapons, this book encourages a good deal of thinking. Thrilling and educational!

French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes and Pleasure
Discover new recipes (both French and American), read tips on entertaining and on style, shopping and exercise. Mireille Guiliano, the author of French Women Don't Get Fat offers us a second helping of French gastronomy and style. Her new book is not only useful, but charming and witty too. Read about her "50% solution" and other techniques to change your eating habits without embarking on a major diet.

Once Thanksgiving has come and gone (and sometimes even before), houses are adorned with wreaths and lights; decorated trees line the streets; people circle parking lots to find a spot; and the familiar sound of the Salvation Army bell fills the air. According to Charity Navigator, "50% of all charitable giving by individuals is done between Thanksgiving and Christmas." Unfortunately, scam artists take advantage of this outpouring of kindness. How, then, do you know if an organization is legitimate or reputable? How do you know if your money is well spent? Below are three websites that can help you determine just that.

Charity Navigator has information on over 5,000 charities and is free to use. You can enter the name of a charity in the search bar or browse organizations by category. The site lists the highest and lowest rated charities by cause and has top ten lists covering the best charities you have heard of, charities that stockpile your money, and other topics. You can find these by clicking on the Top Ten Lists tab at the top of the screen. The Hot Topics tab has a holiday giving guide--just what you need this time of year. You can also find studies, articles, and tips for giving on the site.

Give.org is also free and belongs to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) Wise Giving Alliance. According to the website, "The Alliance does not rank charities but rather seeks to assist donors in making informed judgments about charities soliciting their support." Give.org reports on national charities and organizations, so you will have to check your local Better Business Bureau for local, state, and regional charities. To find an organization, click on Charity Reports on the left side of the screen. Choose the first letter of the charity's name, then scroll through the index to find it. You can also find news, charity standards, tips for giving, and instructions for issuing a complaint against an organization.

Unlike the other sites, GuideStar.org charges for some of its services. GuideStar Premium and Select are subscription services, but GuideStar Basic is free. This site includes 1.5 million--yes, million--organizations that are either registered with the IRS or meet the criteria for exempt organizations. Using the basic service, you can verify the legitimacy of a non-profit, find out if your contribution is tax deductible, view recent IRS 990 forms, and read about an organization's mission, programs, and finances. Just enter the organization's name into the search bar. Click on GuideStar for Donors to find tips, a donor bill of rights, and tutorials for using the site.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services announced on November 29 that NH will become the first state to offer a cervical cancer vaccine as part of its Vaccines for Children program [read the press release]. The Vaccines for Children program promotes immunization of children under 19. To learn more about it, visit the NH Department of Health & Human Services' immunization page. Here you can find out what vaccines are required for school-aged children in New Hampshire, and read about the vaccines and the diseases they protect against.

Another good source of information on vaccinations is the Centers for Disease Control's National Immunization Program web site. This site includes vaccination schedules, guides for parents, information on state requirements, fact sheets on vaccines and their safety, Spanish-language materials, and much more.

If you'd like to see what the press is saying about the new cervical cancer vaccine, try searching the Health Source section of the EBSCO database using the search terms "vaccine" and "cervical cancer".

For more information on the vaccine and on all types of cancer, visit the National Cancer Institute's web site. The site provides a wealth of information for both patients and doctors. It covers treatment and screening, discusses causes and prevention, and has a searchable database of clinical trials. Cancer incidence and survival statistics are also available.

Published by the National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus is a great web site for researching vaccines, cancer, and many other medical conditions. It includes a medical dictionary and encyclopedia, and serves as a portal to high-quality information sites such as the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.

Of course, you can also stop by the library to pick up a book or video on the topic! Here are a few books:
• Cancer made me a shallower person : a memoir in comics by Miriam Engelberg.
• After cancer treatment : heal faster, better, stronger / Julie K. Silver.

'Tis the season for lots of things - including politics. If you have caught a news report lately, you may have noticed the increase in references to political candidates and the New Hampshire Primary. One projected date for the New Hampshire Primary has been mentioned as January 22, 2008. The number of individuals creating presidential exploratory committees grows daily. The number of states trying to find a way around New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation status is growing as well.

If you are a newcomer to New Hampshire or if you will be an eligible voter in January 2008, you may find yourself feeling confused by or uninformed about the whole concept of a first-in-the-nation primary. The library has several books which will help to explain the background of the New Hampshire primary. Two of these books were authored by Hugh Gregg, a former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Why New Hampshire published in 2003 and A Tall State Revisited published in 1993. For more background information, try Primary Politics by Charles Brereton, a writer living in New Hampshire since 1970. Although his book The New Hampshire Primary and the American Electoral Process ends with the 1996 election, Niall Palmer provides a most thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of the new Hampshire primary and its influence on the electoral process. Another discussion of the primary and its background can be found on the website for the state of New Hampshire

If you are looking for current information on the candidates and the political situation, the choices are unlimited. Keep in mind, however, that many of the political websites will display opinions slanted toward one party or candidate and away from the rest. WMUR, Channel 9 news, maintains a political webpage which will contain current and unbiased information. Those candidates, or potential candidates, currently in the U.S. Senate maintain websites which will provide their views and accomplishments. Among the Democrats, that would incude Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama . Among the Republicans, that would include Sam Brownback and John McCain. Other possible candidates have their websites as well. You can find information on John Edwards through his One America Committee. Tom Vilsack can be located through the state of Iowa website. Rudolph Giuliani has a website called Solutions America which features his viewpoints and travels across America. Information about Mitt Romney can be located on the website for the state of Massachusetts. Another website worth a look is RealClearPolitics. RCP features newspaper columns, magazine articles and web writeups on all aspects of American politics.

If you have any other suggestions for good political websites, be sure to let me know and I'll include them in a later update!

Only 24 days left! If you're in grades 9-12, live in NH, and you've read a good book recently, you're invited to nominate it for 2008 The Flume: NH Teen Readers' Choice Award.

We need suggestions of fiction and nonfiction books that appeal to teens in grades 9-12, with publication dates from 2004-2006. You can nominate a book by going to http://www.nashualibrary.org/YALS/FlumeNominationForm.htm or by picking up a yellow nomination form on special display in the teen room at the library. The deadline for nominating a title is Sunday, December 31, 2006.

What Is This Award?
The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award was created in 2005 in response to a New Hampshire teens' request to have a book award geared towards high school students. This award is a state-wide venture led by a collaborative effort from school and public librarians. Each year teens nominate titles, published within the last two years, they think deserve to be recognized. Librarians then narrow the group of titles to a list of 13. Teens then vote for the winning title from the list of 13.

2006 Winner: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Would you like to receive a monthly email informing you about newly acquired computer books at the library? How about a newsletter alerting you about newly acquired business books? If so, we've got just the solution for you. Simply visit the library's Book Newsletters webpage, click on the Signup link next to the newsletter you'd like to receive, and then enter your email address. You'll start receiving the newsletter on the 15th of each month.

Extra Credit: If you are familiar with RSS feeds, , and Feed Aggregators, you can also subscribe to the feed of most of our new book newsletters! Just copy the RSS link for that newsletter and paste it into your feed reader. (I hope to have an RSS feed up and running for the new computer books newsletter soon!)

Some of the books featured in the most recent Computer Books newsletter include:

	Object-Oriented PHP: Concepts, Techniques, and Code by Peter Lavin Published 2006 by No Starch Press Paperback, English. ISBN: 1593270771
	Drupal: Creating Blogs, Forums, Portals, and Community Websites by David Mercer Published 2006 by Packt Publishing Paperback, English. ISBN: 1904811809
	Oracle Database 10g Insider Solutions by Arun Kumar Published 2006 by Sams Paperback, English. ISBN: 0672327910

Did you know that the library has a terrifiic collection of resources aboout careers and employment. We have a section of books devoted to the topic, career and company information on our website and databases, computer workshops to assist you, and computers available for job-hunting and resume writing.

Books
This section is located on the top floor behind the adult computers. Here you can find
--- Books about specific careers: Take a look at the many books in the Careers in Focus series, the Opportunities in series, or the On the Job: Real People Working in series.

---Books about writing resumes, writing cover letters, job-hunting and interviewing techniques: Some of the most popular choices are E-résumés : a Guide to Successful Online Job Hunting , Same-day Resume: Write an Effective Resume in an Hour, and the Knock "em Dead books about interviewing, resumes, cover letters, etc.

---Career reference books to find information and statistics about potential career choices: Try such selections as Best Jobs for the 21st Century, the Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance, and the Occupational Outlook handbook and quarterly guides describing working conditions, job outlook, required training, and earnings for all types of jobs.(compiled by the U.S. Department of Labor).

---Books about changing careers, matching a career to your interests, etc.: Try a recent version of the perennial favorite What Color is Your Parachute?. You may be interested in other books about changing careers plus try browsing the shelves to find "the" book to match your situation.

Our Website and Databases
On our library website are a variety of career search engines and job information links for employment in local, national and international locations. Use our ReferenceUSA database to find information about U.S. businesses along with U.S. and Canadian high-tech companies. You can filter your search by company size, sales, location, etc.

Computer Workshops
Sign up for our hands-on Resume workshop . This class focuses on the mechanics of producting a resume. You will create a resume using Microsoft Word, both from a template and from scratch. If you need a brush-up on Microsoft Word, we recommend enrolling in our Microsoft Word workshop prior to attending the Resume workshop. Also you may wish to sign up for any of our other computer workshops to increase your computer skills and your marketability.

Reference Area Computers
You can create and print resumes, cover letters, etc. on the public computers on the top floor using Microsoft Word. Feel free to job search on these computers. The Reference Staff will be glad to help you should you have any questions.

Are you having problems focusing on a career? Look for another entry in this blog later this week about interests that do not lend themselves to just one conventional career.

You're looking for a book, and the author's last name is Green. You sit down at one of the library's catalog computers, click on the box that reads Books and More, and type the word green in the search field. The catalog returns 1,289 entries that you must sift through to find your book. There must be an easier way!

When you do a general keyword search, the computer searches the title, author, subject, and even the notes for the word green; it can appear anywhere in the record. So, those 1,289 results include books such as Green Eggs and Ham and The Green Book of Songs by Subject; recordings by Al Green; books by Aliza Green; material about the Green Bay Packers, Green Berets, and green tea; and the CD Instrumental Music and Songs of the Southern Appalachians because a song listed in the notes is titled "Bowling Green."

Rather than use the general keyword search, click on the search tab at the top of the screen. The Basic Keyword Search tells the computer to search either the title, author, or subject for your word(s). If you want to find a book by Jane Green, use the author keyword field; but, to find Green Eggs and Ham, use the title keyword search. Although the results are more targeted, the author search still returns 457 titles, and the title search gives you 659. Sorting and limiting your results by using the dropdown menus on the right side of the screen will help, but you might want to focus your search even more.

By clicking on Advanced Keyword Search in the blue bar below the tabs, you can combine terms and choose options beyond author, title, and subject. This is especially helpful when you want to find a particular book by a certain author. For example, you can enter the words John Adams in the title field and David McCullough in the author field, so you will not have to look through all of the books titled John Adams or by David McCullough. The advanced search also allows you to sort and limit your results prior to the search.

When you know the first few words of a title, an author's name, or a subject heading, you can use the browse feature. Click on Browse, in the blue bar, and choose one of the options from the dropdown menu. Once you enter the search term and hit the arrow, you will see an alphabetical list of titles, authors, or subjects, which groups the records accordingly. You won’t have to look at every title by every author named Green. Click on an author’s name to find all of his or her books, or on a subject heading to find books on a specific topic.

Whether you should use search or browse depends on the amount of information you have about a book. If you know the title or author of a book, or if you are looking for books on a particular topic and know the subject heading, browse is more efficient. Remember to type an author's last name first. Be sure to enter the beginning of a subject or title and omit a, an, the. When you don't know the first word or the exact title, you should use search. If you don't have any luck finding a book using subject browse, don't assume that the library doesn't have books on that topic. The subject keyword search might generate some results.

Stay tuned for more information about subject headings...

Exciting news from NASA.... Recent photos from the Mars Global Surveyor suggest the presence of water on Mars. Articles about the discovery are available in the EBSCO collection of articles, available through the library's web site. You'll find information in the Newspaper and General Magazines collections. Choose "MasterFile Premier" and "Newspaper Source" from the list of databases. On the search page, use keywords "Mars" and "water". Make sure to click the checkbox next to "full text" so that your search results include the full article. Sources such as the Times of London, Astronomy magazine, Scientific American magazine, and USA Today all covered the announcement.

For more on Mars, check out our science collections for books for children...

• Exploring Mars, by D.J. Ward
• Mars, by Mary Kay Carson
• Mars, by Tim Goss

And adults...

• The Rock from Mars, by Kathy Sawyer
• Roving Mars, by Steve Squyres (an account of the Mars Exploration Rover mission)
• NASA's Mars Mission Reports, compiled from the NASA archives and edited by Robert Godwin. Volume 2 includes DVD with images and movies of Mars.
• A Traveler's Guide to Mars, by William K. Hartmann (of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission)
• Smithsonian Book of Mars, by Joseph M. Boyce

You can also browse by category: "Life on Earth", "Exploring the Universe", or "Humans in Space." There are web pages for kids, students, educators, researchers, press, industry, and employees. A multimedia section has photos, video (including a video of the evidence of water on Mars), podcasts, and more. The site also provides links to other space-related web sites, including other countries' space agencies.

Happy exploring!

Did you know that you can place a reserve on new fiction books even before they are published? Books that have been ordered for the collection, but that have not physically arrived at the library, are listed in the catalog as "On order See librarian". A hold request can be placed on a book as soon as the title appears in the catalog. This can be done by speaking with someone at the reference desk, either in person or by phone, or by using the My Account feature available through the library's catalog. You will then be notified by email or by phone when the book becomes available for you.

New fiction books, especially those by popular authors, are often ordered two months or more in advance of their publication date. A number of popular authors have books which will be published in February or March. These books are already listed in the library's catalog. Barbara Delinsky's newest book Family Tree will be a February publication. Janet Evanovich will be introducing Plum Love : a Stephanie Plum novel in January. The author of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier, has a new book titled Burning Bright which will be published in March.

Other authors with books to look forward to in the next few months include Maeve Binchy, James Patterson, Robert B. Parker and Danielle Steel. New books are added to the catalog all the time. If you don't find the book that you are looking for, check the catalog again in a few days, or, better yet, call the reference desk and request that book! Then either ask the reference librarian to put a hold on the book for you, or check the catalog to be sure that the book is listed there, go to My Account and put a hold on the book yourself. Happy reading!

This past Sunday I read an article from the Nashua Telegraph titled, "Social Sites Find a Fickle Teen Audience." The article discussed how the tides are changing for the infamous social networking site MySpace.com as teens are logging on for fewer and shorter sessions. Meanwhile, its sister site, Facebook is on the rise in popularity.

So while MySpace is soon to be passe, social networking sites are still hot. So here's a safe alternative that I recently read about that I think is worth checking out...famster. This is a free, secure networking site for families that allows you to share a calendar, photos, blogs, instant messaging, scrapbooks, videos, and family trees. It looks like a lot of fun, especially for families that are spread around the country or even the world.

I imagine you've probably read or heard about 'Seinfeld' star Michael Richards' outburst in which he screamed racial epithets at African-American members of his comedy club audience. In doing so, Richards has sparked an often angry discussion on just how far comedians can go to get a laugh. In the aftermath of the incident, Paul Mooney, a prominent African-American comedian, has decided to renounce the slur, vowing never to use it in public again, and said he would campaign to get all blacks to stop using it. (Read more in this story at Recordonline.com.

In thinking about these issues myself, I wondered if the Nashua Public Library had any books on these topics and sure enough we do. The first is
Nigger : The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word written by Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy. According to a review in Booklist, Kennedy "examines the most socially explosive word of insult in the U.S. His approach is comprehensive, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective...Kennedy also explores the contemporary use of this taboo word, notably in rap music and the youth culture."

Back in 2002, Andy Rooney offered a commentary on Kennedy's book which I found in a book recently donated to the library, Years of Minutes: The Best of Rooney from 60 Minutes. In his commentary, titled "The N-Word", Rooney states that the best way for any of us to get rid of a problem is to hold it up to a bright light and look at all sides of it. That's what Kennedy does in this book."

Perhaps Michael Richards' recent outburst and the aftermath is forcing society to do this once again. What do you think? Please leave us your comments.

Other recommended library books:
* White guilt : how blacks and whites together destroyed the promise of the civil rights era / Shelby Steele.
* Sundown towns : a hidden dimension of American racism by James W. Loewen.

Other online resources:
* Google News Search for "Michael Richards"
* TMZ.com article

You probably know the feeling. You have done your initial research and know that the article you need appeared in the Nashua Telegraph some time in December 1948. And no, it is not online, but there is a copy you can get to right away, in the library... on microfilm.

And now you are faced with the "horrors" of learning to use a microfilm reader. It is really not that difficult to figure out, but in the hustle and bustle of the twenty-first century it can be pretty inconvenient.

Well, fear no longer! We have a new Minolta MS6000 Microform Workstation that even I, a "microfilm challenged" person, find a pleasure to use. This microform reader is connected to the computer next to it, so you can scan, edit and print a page or a group of pages. And you can save to a disk or CD, and also e-mail the results (just as you would any document).

Please feel free to ask any of the Reference Staff for assistance. Or if you would like more thorough instruction, please see us or call us at 589-4611 to schedule a 15 minute training session.

Some of the resources available on microfiche include:
The Nashua Telegraph 1862 -2006

The Boston Globe 1986-2004 (more recent articles available on our Newsbank database)

The New York Times 1963-January 2005 (more recent articles available on our Newsbank database)

and such magazines from selected time periods as Life, Boy's Life, Look and Newsweek.

Patron: Hi. I'm looking for books about heart attacks. I did a subject browse, but nothing came up. I can't believe you don't have any books about heart attacks!

Librarian: We probably do have books about heart attacks. You said you did a subject browse for the words "heart attack"?

Patron: Yes. That's the subject I want.

Librarian: We do have books about heart attack, but they're not categorized by that subject heading.

Patron: Why?

Librarian: The subject heading for heart attack is actually myocardial infarction. As you can see, when I do a subject browse for myocardial infarction, the catalog returns a list with numerous headings and subdivisions, such as popular works, prevention, and psychological aspects, for myocardial infarction so you can better pinpoint the books you want. When I click on Myocardial infarction -- Popular works, the record is a book about heart attacks.

Patron: Why doesn't the computer just use heart attack?

Librarian: Subject headings are part of what we call a controlled vocabulary. The catalog requires words from an official list so librarians don't use multiple variations of words and phrases in the catalog. This ensures that similar books are listed together under the proper subject heading. Myocardial infarction is a tough one; it's not intuitive. Often, if you enter a term or phrase that's not part of the controlled vocabulary, the catalog will tell you to use another term. When you browse for Revolutionary War, the catalog tells you to see "United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783."

Patron: When I searched for heart attack, it didn't tell me to see myocardial infarction. What should I do if something like that happens again?

Librarian: You can try a subject keyword search. The browse indexes are alphabetical, so if you invert the words in the subject, you won't find them by browsing, but you will find them in a keyword search. The subject keyword search looks for each word you enter in all of the subject headings. Many books have more than one. If that doesn't work, you can do a general keyword search, which will look for your words in all of the searchable fields--title, author, subject, series, notes.... You could get a lot of results. Once you find a relevant book, click on one of its subject headings to find more. You can see here that the subject headings are on the left side of the screen in a box that reads "item information."

Patron: So, why should I even bother with subject browsing?

Librarian: When you subject browse, you'll find books that pertain to your topic. You won't have to sift through records that simply include the word you entered. Plus, you get a list that includes all of the subdivisions. If I have a general idea of the subject, I try subject browse first.

You can also do subject searches in some of the EBSCO Databases. Clicking on the word "subjects" or "thesaurus" (depending on the database) in the green bar at the top of the page will give you a searchable, alphabetical list of subjects used in the database. Searching for subjects rather than keywords is especially helpful in a database. If you enter a word as a keyword, the database can return hundreds of irrelevant results. Although a keyword appears in a record, the article might not be about that topic. This is often the case when you enter common words or words with various meanings. If you cannot find an article on your subject, you can use the strategy I just mentioned. Find an article that is relevant and search its subjects.

Patron: Ok. Thank you for your help.

Librarian: You're welcome. Let me know if you need more help.

It's the birthday of A Christmas Carol. On December 19, 1843,* Charles Dickens published his story, an instant success that has become a holiday favorite. A Christmas Carol is available in a variety of formats at the library. You can find the book under "Dickens" in the library's hardcover Fiction section, or check the Classic Paperbacks area for a copy. There are also copies in the Children's Department.

A Christmas Carol has been the basis for many movies, from the Alastair Sim standard to the Muppets and Mickey Mouse versions. Stop by the Music, Art, and Media Department to check out our selection!

If you're interested in literary criticism of A Christmas Carol, the Literature Resource Center is a great source for articles. You can search by author, title, or subject. In addition to literary criticism, Literature Resource Center provides biographical information on the authors, information on the pseudonyms they used, who their contemporaries were, related web sites, and much more.

For more on the life of Charles Dickens, consider a biography from our collection. Or, try the Biography Resource Center database for articles about the author.

Enjoy!
____________
*Source: Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac and the University of California's Dickens Project.

The weather outside has not been frightful....yet, but this is the time of year when thoughts turn to warm weather destinations. The library has travel guides to assist you in planning your trip to almost anywhere. These guides also make great reading on a cold snowy day when you are not going anywhere!

ExxonMobil has a large series of travel guides covering all of the United States, usually by region or by state. The library has many of them, including the Florida 2007 guide, which features maps with distances and driving times as well as hotels, restaurants, driving and walking tours and things to see and do.

If you have been there and done that or are all "Disneyed" out, there are guide books to other destinations available at the library. The Caribbean is a warm weather destination of choice for many. The library has several Lonely Planet guides to Caribbean destinations. If you have always wanted to see the Jamaica pictured in those great television ads, Lonely Planet Jamaica is the guide for you. It's filled with places to see and practical advice for anyone new to traveling in Jamaica. If Costa Rica intrigues you, Lonely Planet Costa Rica is worth your time. The Rainforest Aerial Tram and the Rainmaker Aerial Walkway are two of the fascinating things to see and do discussed in this book. Lonely Planet also has a very comprehensive guide to Mexico which includes information on the entire country including the history and culture. If the beach is more your thing, the library has the Unofficial Guide to Mexico's best beach resorts as well as Fodor's guide to Cancun, Cozumel and the Yucatan Peninsula which also contains a section on the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza.

If you have an interest in cruising, the library has a number of books which will help you to plan a cruise. One of the more interesting destinations is the Panama Canal. This book contains many colored photographs of plant and animal life and the ship's ports of call, as well as a section on the history of the Panama Canal.

There are many more exciting destinations for warm weather vacations, and the library has books, all with beautiful color photos, to use in planning trips to all of them. Just to mention a few too good to pass up, Hawaii, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and a personal favorite for winter daydreams, Tahiti!
It's never too early to start planning your vacation!

Eragon, the movie based on the book Eragon by Christopher Paolini opened last Friday December 15th to what I understand to be mixed reviews. I am a little surprised that it has not had quite the same success as the book, which along with its sequel, Eldest, is constantly checked out at our library. I was curious if this film experience would be the new Harry Potter in which you are constantly having to move to the right or the left of the wizard hat in front of you just to see the big screen. Apparently this is not the case, as one teen reported that there were empty seats when he went to a showing on Saturday night. This same teen gave a very descriptive review of how the movie "butchered" the book on our Teens Review It @ Your Library blog.

So to answer my original question, "Eragon (the movie), hit or miss?" It sounds like a "miss" but I'll wait for the dvd to find out.

If you're interested in getting a second opinion here are some additional sites for film reviews suggested by our Music Arts and Media librarian...

Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
Rotten Tomatoes
Roger Ebert Reviews
Metacritic
The Onion's A.V. Club: an offspring of the humorous and often outrageous "The Onion". The A.V. Club has serious (and witty) reviews, along with great lists, like "Nine recent attempts to save Romantic Comedy", "Horror Films for Left-wingers", "Horror films for Right-wingers", etc. All of their Film and DVD reviews are searchable.

The new edition of Encyclopaedia Judaica has arrived, all 22 volumes. Just in time for the end of Hanukkah! According to EncyclopediaJudaica.com, "In 1972, the Encyclopaedia Judaica fulfilled the longstanding dream of capturing the full richness of Jewish culture in a single authoritative publication, heralded in the scholarly community as one of the best reference works ever compiled. Today this treasured resource has a new second edition, updating the worldwide scope of Judaism's 5,700-year history. Thousands of new entries grace the beautiful 22-volume set, available in a leather-bound edition with custom dedication pages. Designed for ease of use, with expanded imagery portraying Judaism's worldwide scope, it's as ideal for the home as the for finest university libraries."

Where to find it in the library:
The encyclopedia is shelved in the library's reference section, and its call number is Ref 030 E. Just ask a reference librarian to point you in the right direction.

Other library books on Judaism include:
Essential Judaism : a complete guide to beliefs, customs, and rituals / George Robinson.
A Heart of Many Rooms : celebrating the many voices within Judaism / David Hartman.
A Code of Jewish Ethics, volume 1 : you shall be holy / Joseph Telushkin.
Gonzo Judaism : a bold path for renewing an ancient faith / Niles Elliot Goldstein.