Beach Reading

Read this!

I will definitely be purchasing multiple copies of "A Dog's Way Home" for the library collection this year. Each chapter is told in alternating voices of Tam, a Shetland sheepdog and his owner, 11-year-old Abby as they try to find each other after several months of separation following an accident. Set at opposite ends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, I can see doing an activity using Google Earth to follow Tam's journey to be reunited with Abby.

During the next week I will be spending a week at the beach in southern Maine. One of my favorite activities is to get comfy in my beach chair, listen to the sounds of the ocean waves crashing on the shore and reading. Although I have a couple of adult mysteries lined up but will also be putting these titles in my beach bag:

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Power Searching

This week I have been exploring an online mini course called Power Searching with Google. http://www.google.com/insidesearch/ There are 6 classes and I have completed the first three: Introduction, interpreting results and advanced techniques. There are so many tips and tricks to narrow your search that it can be mind-boggling. Here are some highlights for me: images can be filtered by color; control f will help to zero in on finding text; and the advanced techniques setting can focus in on desired file type, domain name or broadening a search by including OR between two quoted subjects.  I think this will be very useful when assisting student doing research as they really need to be "search literate" when sifting through the millions of web sites and information to find what they need

Just finished

Yesterday was hot and sunny and the perfect day to sit under my patio umbrella and read. It didn't take me long to be immersed in "R Name is Rachel", the story of Rachel, and her brother and sister. This story takes place during the Great Depression. When their Dad must leave them alone on an isolated farm while he searches for work,the three siblings must manage to survive. Reading this book gave me an appreciation of the many things I take for granted - food, education, clothing and a safe home. I can think of readers at EMS who like historical fiction and stories about families  would like this book.

What's next?

A Dog's Way Home

Just pulled from the bookshelf- this appealing cover has me hooked. A first glance at the book jacket tells me it is a story about  a  Shetland Sheepdog who gets separated from her owners following an accident. I think I might need to have a box of tissues by my side while reading. Stay tuned.

Google Books

I am exploring Google Books http://books.google.com/ 
So far I have discovered that I can obtain the full text of many out of copyright books, and a limited text selection of new books. For example, here is a screen shot of my search the the title The Hunger Games.



I am able to read the first 40 pages of the book. As you can see by looking at the arrows to the left that I also have choices of purchasing, or finding a library to borrow the book.




As a librarian, this would be a valuable collection development tool as I could look up titles, and be able to read a chapter or two. My students would be able to enter a search term and find resources to support their research.
I will be doing more exploring of this Google tool!