The latest issue of the ValueLine Investment Survey arrived today. For those of you who are not familiar with ValueLine, it is one of the largest independent research staffs of investment analysts and statisticians in the world. They collect data and analyze performance of approximately 8,000 stocks, 13,000 mutual funds, 80,000 options and other securities.

Their best known product is The Value Line Investment Survey. The Value Line Investment Survey is a comprehensive source of information and advice on approximately 1,700 stocks, more than 90 industries, the stock market, and the economy.

It has three parts. The Ratings & Reports section contains one-page reports about approximately 1,700 companies and more than 90 industries. The Summary & Index contains an index of all stocks in the publication as well as many up-to-date statistics to keep investors informed about the latest company results. Lastly, the Selection & Opinion section contains Value Line's latest economic and stock market forecasts, one-page write-ups about interesting and attractive stocks, model portfolios, and financial and stock market statistics.

For those who would prefer browsing the electronic editions of these publications, the library has online access to the these publications for one customer at a time. Unfortunately, you have to be at the library to login. To access the online edition here at the library, just speak with a librarian at the reference desk.

Finally, to learn more about ValueLine, visit their website at http://www.valueline.com.

Did you know that library customers can use some of the library's computers to take an online test or exam? Depending on the time of day you'd like to take your test, reference librarians may be able to arrange for you to get extended time on a computer sufficient to complete your test. If you would like to do this, be sure to contact a librarian at the reference desk well in advance. Also, be sure to test out our computers ahead of time to see if you'll need us to install any additional software. Give us a call if you have any questions, 603-589-4611.

November can be deadly when it comes to homework. All those project deadlines and midsemester exams are fast approaching.

Did you snooze through last week's Geometry class and now you're paying the price?

Never fear, Live Homework Help is here!

If you're in grades 4-12 get connected and chat with a live tutor and they'll get you through this crisis. All you need is a library card and the Internet.

Hours: Sunday-Friday 4-11pm
Saturday 2-9pm
Ayuda Para Tareas en Vivo en Espanol: 4-10pm

To learn more about this service check out our website.

Interested in finding out how much a nearby house sold for? Want to know about upcoming foreclosures and auctions? Look it up in Registry Review, New Hampshire's statewide real estate and financial newspaper, which is kept at the reference desk. Each week, Registry Review reports information abstracted from the ten New Hampshire county Registries of Deeds and many other sources.

Features within the publication include:

• Real estate sales for consideration and associated mortgages.
• Liens and Attachments
• New Plans and Subdivisions
• New Bankruptcy filings in New Hampshire
• New Corporation and Trade name filings
• Schedule of upcoming foreclosures and other lien auctions
• Statewide listing of requests for Bids and Proposals

Where to Find It In the Library: Editions from the six most recent months are kept at the reference desk, and back issues are shelved in the Sterns Room (where other business periodicals are kept.)

Recomended library books on real estate:
Risk & grow rich : how to make millions in real estate by Kendra Todd
Mortgages 101 : quick answers to over 250 critical questions about your home loan by David Reed.

If you use the library computers to print in the reference area, teen room, or Winer room, you'll want to read this...

The printing process has changed throughout the library. The cost remains the same ($.10 for black and white, $.25 for color), however now you must prepay to a printing account instead of the old way of printing and then paying at the service desk. Each time you print a page your account will be debited accordingly.

You can add money to your "printing account" at the reference desk, circulation desk, or the music arts and media desk. The first time you add money to your account you must add a minimum balance of $1.00.

This new printing process was implemented as a way to keep the printing costs as affordable as possible for you the customer. We hope that you find this a more convenient process as you no longer have to wait to pay when you pick up your printouts.

Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have, and remember, we always like to receive customer feedback. In fact, feel free to leave a comment on this blog!

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.

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 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!

Tis the season for top picks of the year. We're no different here at NPL and we've created a display of our staff's top reading picks of 2006. Starting today you can find a special display of staff picks for '06 in the new arrivals area on the main level next to the elevator. While the books may have been published prior to 2006, they were read by staff during this year and made quite an impression.

Just to give you a quick taste of what we have selected, the Director recommends, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susan Clarke. If you'd like to find out more about this title, he recently reviewed it in his Director's Blog.

I'll close with my own personal top reads of 2006...My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and Sledding Hill by Chris Crutcher. FYI, I was not the only person that thought My Sister's Keeper was an awesome book, as it was also voted the runner up for the first ever The Flume: NH Teen Reader's Choice Award.

Amazon also has a few lists compiled that you might be interested in checking out at Best Books of 2006.

Be sure to stop by the display the next time you're in the library to pick out which book you'll be reading next. Oh, and if you'd like to let others know what your top pick of '06 is be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of this entry.

Happy reading!

The U.S. federal individual income tax was enacted in 1913 following the passage of the 16th Amendment. Today, most states and a small number of local and municipal governments also collect income taxes. Income taxes currently provide the largest single source of federal revenues, some $1 trillion in 2006.

The Nashua Public Library again this year is distributing income tax forms. We have most major U.S. forms and instructions and Massachusetts non-resident (and resident) forms. If we do not have a form you need, please feel free to ask a Reference Desk librarian to download it on the computer for you. Or you can download U.S. forms and instructions yourself from the Internal Revenue Service Forms and Instructions. And you can download tax documents for New Hampshire from the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration.

Do you need assistance with your taxes? There is an old joke:

We also have several books that you may wish to take a look at, including:
Taxes 2007 for dummies
Every landlord's tax deduction guide
The Ernst & Young tax guide
Helping working families: the earned income tax credit
H & R Block just plain smart tax planning advisor : a year-round approach to lowering your taxes this year, next year, and beyond.

Did you know that dozens of organizations use the library as a meeting place throughout the year. In fact, because so many organizations want to do so, we ask that they first contact Carol Eyman to check for room availability. (Carol's phone number is 603-589-4610.) One group that holds regular meetings at the library, and has always interested me, is the Nashua-Hudson Toastmasters Club. Their mission is to "provide a supportive learning environment in which to develop communication and leadership skills," and couldn't we all benefit from making improvements in those areas of our lives.

So, if you are ever interested in attending a Nashua-Hudson Toastmasters Club meeting, here is what you need to know. Meetings take place at the library on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month from 6:30-8:30pm, and visitors are welcome. For more information, contact Don at 883-9757 or Ted at 289-5693, or visit http://www.n-htm.org. Also, try exploring the Toastmasters official website, toastmasters.org.

Downloadable Audiobook on Public Speaking*:
101 secrets of highly effective speakers : controlling fear, commanding attention / Caryl Rae Krannich, Beth McDonald.

* For more information about the library's downloadable audiobook service, visit this web page.

Recently Orderd Books on Public Speaking:
Elements of Great Public Speaking by J. Lyman Macinnis
Present like a pro : the field guide to mastering the art of business, professional, and public speaking by Cyndi Maxey and Kevin E. O'Connor

Do librarians ever confuse you with such words such as "pin" or "non-circulating "? Following is the first section of our Library Lingo. This week we deal with some of our library deparmental areas and general resources.

NPL – Nashua Public Library

Circulation Desk (Checkout Desk) - counter where library materials are checked out and returned, fines are paid, and new and replacement library cards issued. We have two Circulation Desks at NPL, one near the entrance on the top floor and one on the middle level in the MAM (Music, Art and Media) Department

MAM (Music, Art and Media) Department - Music/Art/Media is located on the middle level of the library. It offers a large collection of books, periodical and reference sources on the fine arts, architecture, music, dance, film, television, radio and photography.

Reference Desk - service area or information desk in the library where customers can get help from library staff in using the library, locating library materials, searching library databases, using library computers and their software, and answering general questions.

Reference Librarian - specialist in the field of information retrieval, and often in other subject areas as well. Reference Librarians have a Master's degree in Library and Information Science. Reference Librarians staff the Reference Desk.

Holdings - books, periodicals, CDs and other materials owned by a Library

Stacks – area of the library where most of the books are shelved.

Non-circulating - any library material that cannot be checked out. Such materials are often labeled Nashua Public Library-for Reference-Do NOT Remove from the Area. (Reference books are non-circulating. )

Reserve - placing your name on the list of people waiting for a book that is currently checked out.

Hold - service provided by the Library when an item that was reserved for a customer is held at the checkout desk for pickup.

PIN - password consisting of a 4 digit number, most often the last four digits of the telephone number you provided, allowing access to library account information such as books checked out, fines, due dates, and the ability to renew or hold an item.

Online Catalog - A computerized listing of materials (books, periodicals, CDs, etc.) owned by a particular library. The listing will display the call number and location of the material as well as such information as the author, subject and publication date. The NPL Catalog is available electronically at special computers in the library as well as from any computer by accessing our home website and selecting Books & More.

Stay tuned for next week's Library Lingo offering additional terms related to searching for materials and more.....

In honor of Appreciate a Dragon Day (yes, really--it's January 16), Tuesday's storytime in the Children's Department will feature stories about dragons. Not the prosaic Kimodo kind, but the fantastical, magical dragons of legend. If you can't make it to storytime, never fear. We have the next best thing: downloadable audiobooks. Almost as good as a live storyteller--you can listen to a recording of a good dragon tale! The New Hampshire Downloadable Audio Books collection allows you to check out books to your computer or MP3 player with your library card. Read more about the library's downloadable audiobook service here. Among the titles for children and teens available from the collection are:

• Dealing with Dragons (the Enchanted Forest series, book 1), by Patricia C. Wrede. Princess Cimerone has adventures with the dragon Kazul. Written for children.
• Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke. A children's book featuring the exploits of the dragon Firedrake and the human boy, Ben.
• Eragon , by Christopher Paolini. Though often found in teen collections, this title and its sequel, Eldest, have been widely enjoyed by adults as well. Take a look at Jenn's blog entry about the recent movie based on these books.

There's also a great selection of dragon books for young and old here at the library. Currently in the New Arrivals is The Last Battle, the third installment of Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster trilogy. The series, with a strong military component, begins with Dragonmaster, followed by Knighthood of the Dragon.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkein (author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) will tell you that The Hobbit pits hobbitt Bilbo Baggins against the villainous dragon Smaug, scourge of villagers.

And no list of dragon books would be complete without mention of Anne McCaffrey's classic series, The Dragonriders of Pern. Start with Dragonflight, the first in the series. The Harper Hall series is set in the same world as the Dragonriders, but can be read separately. Many of these titles are available in audiobook format, too.

Of course, there are many others. Leave us a comment to tell us your favorites!

I'll tell you what, it's time to talk about it! Carol Eyman, the library's Outreach and Community Services Coordinator, will be leading a book discussion to talk about some of the interesting themes, the history, the style of writing, clarifications of the plot, the author, or anything else you may want to address.

The neat part is, this is no ordinary book discussion. It will take place virtually (yes, that means online) in her new book discussion blog. If you feel a little unsure about participating, don't be nervous, Carol will start the ball rolling with a post (otherwise known as a discussion point). All you need to do to contribute to the conversation is click where it says comment at the lower right side of the post. You will be brought to a form where you enter your name and your comments. Yes, it's that simple! Clicking on the comments link will also allow you to respond to other participants discussion points. And that's how its done folks, a virtual book discussion.

In addition to the previously mentioned book discussion the library will be hosting other events and programs related to Nashua Reads Zorro that you may also find interesting including a live fencing demonstration and trip back in time to Zorro's Spain. For a complete list of events visit the library's events calendar.

By popular demand, the library now has a discount pass to the New England Aquarium for cardholders to borrow. Present the pass at the Aquarium to receive the discounted rate of $7 per person for up to four people. (The regular fees are $17.95 for adults, $9.95 for children, and $15.95 for seniors.) The pass was generously donated to the library by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library.

To reserve a pass, call the Music, Art, and Media Department at 589-4603. Passes can also be reserved online through the Nashua Public Library web site. The New England Aquarium pass is the latest addition to our Museum Pass collection, which also includes the Museum of Science, the Museum of Fine Arts, and others. Visit our Museum Pass web page for the complete list of available passes.

If you are a student, whether secondary, homeschool, or an adult learner, then you need to read this....

The Nashua Public Library Reference Department offers free proctoring services to our local community. You are not required to have a Nashua Public Library card and it won't cost you a thing. We can help you with both online and print examinations.

Want to get a piece of the action? Here's what you need to do...

*Find out the proctoring policies of the institution you are affiliated with.

*Stop by or call the reference desk at 589-4611 and ask to speak with a librarian about proctoring an exam. Any reference librarian can provide this service for you. You will probably need to gather the name, phone number, and email address of the librarian that will proctor your exam as well as the library's mailing address for your institution.
Nashua Public Library
2 Court Street
Nashua, NH 03060

*Schedule a time to take the exam.

*The institution distributing the exam will usually send or email the exam directly to the librarian with directions to administer it. If the exam is in print, you need to ask for a self addressed envelope to be included with the exam. We will then pop it in the mail when it is completed.

*Often times students are required to show id before they take an exam so be sure to come prepared!

*Exams can be administered during our hours of operation:
Monday-Friday 9am-9pm
Saturday 9am-5:30pm
Sunday 1-5pm

Don't worry about it! If you're a slow reader like me and you have trouble finishing books within the allotted 3 week library lending period you need to pay attention.

There's something for everyone at the library and for people like you and me who occasionally want to have a book for as long as it takes to finish, there is the book sale. This book sale is sponsored by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library. You may have heard of or even visited the bi-annual blowout booksale in the spring and fall, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about the on going book sale located on shelves just to the left of the library exit doors. Books are always being added to the sale so if you don't find something to fit your taste the first time, be sure to check back.

Check out some of the deals your apt to find...
Hardcovers for $2.00
Trade Paperbacks for $1.00
Mass Market Paperbacks for $.50
Children's books for $.25 or 5 for $1.00
Audiocassettes for $1.00
Media (dvd, cd, lp, vhs) for $.50-3.00 or as marked

So grab a cup of coffee from our coffee cart located in the library lobby and find your next reading treasure!

can I use my Nashua Public Library card at another New Hampshire library if I'm willing to drive there?

The quick answer is no. Unfortunately, we are not part of a consortium which means your npl card is only valid at our library.

Now, that being said we can borrow materials from other libraries both in state and out of state on your behalf, through our interlibrary loan service. The best part is we do all the hard work for you. All you have to do is place a request, wait for notification the material has arrived, and come to the library to pick it up.

Your next question may be, "how do I place a request?" You can choose from 1 of 3 options. First, you can stop by the reference desk, say hello, and complete a request in person. Second, you can give the reference desk a call at 589-4611 to place the request. Third, the latest and greatest method is to submit a request online through our website. The information will be emailed to a reference librarian who will then process the request and notify you when the material is here for you to pick up.

For other important interlibrary loan information such as, what kinds of materials you can request, how long it takes, if there is a fee involved, check the Reference Services section of the Nashua Public Library's website.

Would you like to receive a friendly email or telephone call notifying you that the item you have been wanting to read is waiting for you at the library? For example, you could place a hold on a New York Times bestseller such as Stephen King's new romance, Lisey's Story, Charles Frazier's new historical novel, Thirteen Moons, John Grisham's first nonfiction title, The Innocent Man, or, in anticipation of guests, Amy Sedaris' I Like You (Hospitality Under the Influence).

Select the Books & More block on our home page and then select the gray tab towards the top that says “My Account”. On the next tab enter the last five digits of the barcode on your library card and your Library PIN. Your PIN is usually the last four digits of your telephone number.

Find the item in the catalog (use the Search tab at the top of the window, find the item you would like to reserve, then place a hold by following these instructions:
1. Click on the "Request Item" button.
2. Review the information on the next window (position on the reserve list (queue) for this item and the notification method when the item has arrived). You can even add a comment if you wish, such as a period of time when you will be unable to pick up the item.
3. Click the “Request” button or if you have changed your mind, click the “Cancel” button (or “Cancel and Logout”).

You will be contacted by email (if the library has your email address on your library account) or by telephone. The item will be held for you for three business days after the date of the email or telephone call, until it is reshelved or given to the next waiting customer.

If you have an email address on your library account, you are allowed up to 20 outstanding requests at any given time. You will be allowed a maximum of two outstanding requests, however, if your account does not contain an email address.

As a snow lover, I'll admit to being disappointed in the weak winter we've had. Perhaps that's why I've recently been fantasizing about fun things to do when the weather starts to improve. So many great choices here in New England. Hiking, museum visits, seafood by the ocean, ice cream warding off the heat.... Of course, I'll get some help from the library to make it all happen.

For starters, I'll be signing up for a museum pass to the Peabody Essex Museum. The library's pass allows free access to everything but the Yin Yu Tang house. The Yin Yu Tang house was brought to America from China and reassembled in Salem; tickets are an additional $4 per person. It's an inexpensive but fascinating day trip. When the weather gets warmer, it'll be time to head to the New England Aquarium, where library museum passes give you a discounted rate of $7 per adult. Check out our full line of museum passes at http://www.nashualibrary.org/mpIntro.htm. You can reserve online or by calling the Music, Art, and Media Department at (603) 589-4603.

On the more rustic side, I'll be planning a hiking trip. I'll check out one of the trail guides found in the nonfiction section at 917.4204, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club's "Southern New Hampshire trail guide : hiking trails in southern New Hampshire" or Michael Lanza's "Foghorn outdoors: New Hampshire hiking." I'll also have a look at "The best in tent camping, New England : a guide for car campers who hate RVs, concrete slabs, and loud portable stereos" by Lafe Low to find a good camping area.

A trip up the coast of Maine would also be fun. I'll have a look in "Nature walks along the seacoast : Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine" by Julia Older and Steve Sherman for some more outdoors ideas. Then the old standby of travel guides, "Fodor's Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire," can help me find a restaurant to stop at along the way. (Gotta satisfy that seafood craving.)

If we're not going to have a good snowy winter, let the summer come!

Many of you may be familiar with the library's Summer Reading Programs for children and teens. This summer, however, we will also be running a Summer Reading Program for adults. While the detailed plans are still being discussed, I can tell you that there will be prizes available, thanks to the Friends of the Library, for a number of participants. So, if you are looking for an excuse to pick up a good book and enjoy reading it, the upcoming Adult Summer Reading Program will be here soon!

Did you know that in January the library started offering a free bilingual storytime? Once a month on Saturday mornings parents and their young ones are invited to come and experience a storytime in both english and spanish. Your family and friends will learn basic spanish language skills and the spanish culture from listening to read-a-louds and participating in literacy activities.

This event began as a request from a bilingual parent (who is also a friend of the library) that was looking for ways to help raise her children to speak both english and spanish as well.

There are many foreign language and bilingual books available for check out in the children's room. Here are 3 suggestions for locating these materials.

First, if you are looking for stories entirely in a foreign language head directly to the foreign language alcove. Books have a number code on the spine to represent different languages. Spanish for instance will always have the number 10 on the spine.

Second, if you are looking for foreign language instruction books you'll want to head to the non-fiction stacks in the 468 call number area.

Finally, if you would like to find fiction books that are written both bilingual and entirely in a foreign language try searching the children's room catalog with the keywords "spanish fiction" (subsitute other languages for the keyword "spanish" if you desire).

Come join us where every storytime is a fiesta!

Saturdays...
March 10 @ 11:00am
April 14 @ 1:00pm
May 12 @ 11:00am
June 9 @ 11:00am

Remember that Seinfeld episode when Kramer's new phone number was so close to the film information line (555-FILM) that he kept getting inquiries about movie showtimes that he created his own "moviefone" line?

Well here at NPL we have our own "moviefone" line with our own Kramer (aka: Bruce, the Media Services Coordinator) letting you know what times our film series will be showing. Unlike Kramer's on the fly reporting, our info line is up-to-date and accurate.

To find out what's playing in one or all of our film series** here at the library give the film information line a buzz at 589-4646. If you're not going to be near a phone, there are two other ways to find out the title and showtime of a movie. One, the next time you're at the library pick up a spring calendar of events which has a complete listing of events for all ages at the library. Two, you can subscribe to our weekly events newsletter and have it emailed directly to you.

**Library Film Series: (sponsored by the Friends of the Nashua Public Library)
Cinema Cabaret for Adults Weekly: Fridays at 7pm
World Cinema Monthly: 3rd Tuesday at 7pm
TeenScene Monthly: 4th Tuesday at 4pm
Family Films Weekly: Saturdays at 2pm

During the tax season, the reference desk gets a lot of tax-related questions. In addition to questions about which tax forms to use, we occasionally get asked to look up historic stock price information. As some of you may know, there are a number of websites that make some historical stock price information available for free. Two that are particularly popular are Yahoo Finance and BigCharts.com.

But sometimes when a company has been acquired by another company or merged with another computer, it can be particularly difficult to find out historical price information for the company prior to those events. Fortunately, the library can help in some of these cases. One print resource that we turn to is the Directory of Obsolete Securities. Its call number is REF 332.67 D, and we would be glad to point it out to you if you would like to look through it.

When the Directory of Obsolete Securities isn't sufficient, we sometimes are able to locate other sources of information online. For example, tonight, I helped a customer look up historical price information about the company Unocal prior to its merger with Chevron. By searching for "historic stock prices for unocal" on Google, I found a page in the Chevron Corporation investor relations website that included a downloadable Excel file with historical price information from 1980-2005. I must say it was a satisfying experience to hunt down this information and provide it to the customer right at the reference desk!

So if you are ever in need of historical stock price information, be sure to keep us in mind!!

As you probably know, each month our library sponsors several computer workshops. These classes are taught by our reference librarians and cover a wide range of topics from the elementary Computer Basics all the way through to Web Design. Most classes are presented during the day although we recently added a class on Tuesday evenings. There is a maximum of eight students per class since our Training Room houses eight computers.

This month we are offering a new class geared towards “senior citizens”. This Government Resources for Seniors workshop presents a variety of websites designed for or containing information of special interest to seniors. It covers such topics as finance, travel, consumer help, health and government benefits. For a sneak preview of the class, you may wish to take a look at the class handout. The only requirement for the workshop is a basic knowledge of Internet searching. This month the workshop will be held on Wednesday, April 18th from 2:30 to 4:00.

If you wish to reserve a spot in this class (or in any of our other classes), please stop by the Reference Desk or the MAM (Music, Art and Media) Desk, or call us at 589-4611. And please let us know should you have a suggestion for a new class.

Until recently, our Live Homework Help service bringing library customers free tutors for students in grades 4 through introductory college has only been compatible with PCs. Well, Mac users, you made this inequality heard loud and clear. Besides, here at the Nashua Public Library we don't believe in discriminating on the basis of your computer platform preferences. We believe in equal access for all, so we are proud to share this press release with you....

"Tutor.com is happy to announce that Live Homework Help, the leading after-school service that connects a student with a professional tutor for live, online homework help is now available to Mac users. Students using Safari of Firefox (2.0 or higher) browsers on Mac OS X can now connect to an expert tutor seven days a week for the help they need."

"Students using Macs connect to tutors the same way PC users do and the experience in the online classroom is identical."

Now that there's tutors available to everyone, looks like you might have to resort back to the old faithful "the dog ate my homework" excuse if you don't get your homework done.

Hours of tutor availability:
Sunday through Friday: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday: 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Ayuda con tareas en Espanol
Sunday through Thursday: 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Don't forget to download a brochure to put by your computer or to share with a friend.

When I was in graduate school, one of my professors used the "How Do You Manage" series of articles in Library Journal as a teaching tool. The author presents a scenario that may occur in a library, and two librarians offer their solutions to the problem. The case study presented in last September's issue of Library Journal was titled "Cell Hell." (You can find this article and the responses in the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts under Academic Journal Resources in the EBSCO database. See below for the article citations.) In the vignette, a patron answers two calls while being helped at the desk. Later, the librarian receives a call from someone who is actually in the library. My favorite line from this story is, "Can you believe he called information first to get the library number rather than walk the 100 feet over here."* While the second scenario is over the top, I have encountered the first on more than one occasion.

Websites that cover cell phone etiquette, such as InfoWorld and the Microsoft Small Business Center, note that you should not prioritize your cell phone call over the people in your company. They advise you to be careful about your ring tone choice and volume. Imagine sitting in a library and hearing someone's favorite song/ring tone over and over again. This has happened at NPL, much to the dismay of the people at the business computers. You should also be aware of the volume your voice and avoid using your phone at funerals, weddings, churches, theaters, museums, libraries, and anywhere you would not want to hear a screaming child.

Is chatting on your phone in the library really a big deal? Although the library isn't the silent place it once was, many people still come to the library to study, concentrate, and escape external distractions. Ringing cell phones and lengthy conversations are bothersome, especially when numerous people use their phones at the same time. To solve this problem, some libraries ban cell phones, and the Huntingto