Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Holidays at Otis Library

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season thus far. Don't forget to come down and grab some movies, books and magazines for you and the kids while you are home for school break.

FYI: We will be closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years Day!


There is also a Gift Giving Book Tree in the atrium. This allows patrons to help the Otis Library buy additional items for the library (tax deductible) and get a personalized nameplate placed in the book.

Don't forget to check out some of the programs happening here during school break and any other time of year!!

Happy Holidays.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Documentary on Jewish Farming in Eastern CT


Please join us for a great progam.

Jerry Fischer, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, will be speaking at the Otis Library on Monday, November 2 at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.
Mr. Fischer has been recording interviews with Jewish farmers or the children of Jewish farmers for the past ten years, and has almost completed a documentary film on Jewish farmers in Eastern Connecticut for CPTV. He will show excerpts from the soon to be released film and discuss a variety of interesting aspects of Jewish farming endeavors and communal life, including the evolution of many farms into a variety of resorts. He will discuss the application of technology to transform marginal farms into profitable businesses, as well as the resettlement of many Holocaust survivors on farms in eastern Connecticut.
This event provides essential context to the exhibit “Geretenish (‘Harvest’): Gershon Camassar and the Jewish Agricultural Presence in Eastern Connecticut,” currently up in the Community Room through December 4, 2009. There will be adequate time after the presentation to view the exhibit. The library closes at 8:00 p.m.
This program is free and open to the public. The Otis Library is located at 261 Main Street in Norwich. For more information, please call (860) 889-2365, Ext. 128.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Banned Books Week at Otis Library

While you might not be a "reader", here in this country, your right to read or not to read what you want, is being protected by your public library. Every year books are challenged or asked to be taken out of the public library collection for one reason or another. Most public libraries feel it is our duty to allow book and magazine readers, audio book and music CD listeners, and movie watchers to choose what they would like to partake of.



We hope that everyone in Norwich comes to the library to avail themselves of our collection and make suggestions for an addition to the collection that they might like to see. If we have what you like, great, we are doing our best to cover all interests.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I created my own fake book cover

Thanks to YABOOKNERD, I decided to create my own fake book cover...it was fun. She found the idea here.


Take a look see. And do one of your own.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Drop-In Computer Lab


We will be having a Drop-In Computer Lab in the upstairs Meeting room at Otis Library for the next 6 Thursdays, except July 16th. If you need some help formating a paper, getting set up with an email account or any other hardware or software issue....come and see us.
We will do our very best to try to help you with your computer issue. You can drop-in anytime between 2 and 4. Hope to see you soon. If you have any questions give us a call at 889-2365 x109 or email us ref@otis.lioninc.org.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

An interesting source for you to try

Encyclopedia of Life

During the recent decades some of the world’s leading biologists have harbored a conceptual vision of a single comprehensive digital catalog of the Earth’s 1.8 million living species. The nascent stages of this catalog were unveiled in early 2008 when the Encyclopedia of Life (www.eol.org) made its online debut. It’s designed to be a flexible educational tool that will satisfy the information needs of the grammar school student and the university scholar alike.
At the moment there are 30,000 species pages of flora and fauna. These pages contain information about each species’ morphology, genetics, habitat, behavior and much more including color photographs and links to peer-reviewed articles and other associated websites and databases. All information contained within the EOL is authenticated by scholars within the scientific community. Their goal is to create one million species pages within the catalog during the next five years and to digitize a large portion of the available scholarly literature on biodiversity.
In an effort to build this catalog, the EOL is reaching out beyond academia to the general public. The EOL staff is inviting you to upload your best digital photos and videos to the EOL Flickr group site (www.flickr.com/groups/encyclopedia_of_life). So far over 24,000 photos and several hundred videos of a wide variety of species have been submitted by the general public. This is your chance to help build the EOL’s library of digital images with photos taken on your last trek through the Costa Rican rainforest or from your most recent stroll through a nearby state park. Also check out the website’s EOL Blog to stay up to date on the progress of this unique digital catalog.

Guest writer: Steve Fithian. Steve is a reference librarian here at Otis Library; recently finished with Library School.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The Yellow Wallpaper Movie and Book Discussion

Join us at the Otis Library on Wednesday, June 10th at 6pm to see the 1989 production of Charlotte Perkin Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper. Immediately after the film ends we will have a discussion on the film and text. The discussion will be led by Faye Ringel, PhD.

This link is the full version of The Yellow Wallpaper to read, offered through Project Gutenberg.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman lived in Norwich, CT from 1922 to 1934.


This event is free and open to the public...light refreshments will be served.
Please call Julie at the library 889-2365 x128 for more info.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Book Review: My Hope for Peace by Jehan Sadat

This blog entry was provided by Bassem, at the Reference Desk. This book is currently on the Staff Picks shelf...come and see what else he is reading!


Born to a Christian British mother and a Muslim father, Jehan Sadat, a life long activist for women’s rights and widow of the assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat takes us on a tour of Egypt modern History.


Jehan Sadat talks about two dates in her life; the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States and 10/6/81 the day her husband was assassinated by Muslims fanatics because of the Peace Treaty he signed with Israel.


In My Hope for Peace, Mrs. Sadat draws a plan for waging real peace that takes place on three fronts: first, through the good offices of governments and international treaties as they negotiate treaties. Second, takes place on an interpersonal level, in our behaviors and actions toward our presumptive enemies. Third, takes place on waging peace within ourselves- in our intentions.
In this book you will read about a president and his wife that led Egypt toward peace with Israel after years of war. It is an excellent book to learn about the Camp David Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel from a very close reliable source, Jehan Sadat. It is the peace treaty that kept peace between the two countries since 1979 till today.


Jehan Sadat presents in her book; her vision and her husband’s to modernize Egypt and lead the country to prosperity. She talks about the history of women’s rights in Egypt in the last 100 years.


Mrs. Sadat corrects in her book some of the misconceptions of the west about the Middle East by giving a clear picture of social life, traditions and habits of Egyptians.


She gives us practical solutions of how the West and the East can reconcile and how the Muslims, Christians and Jews can live in harmony after years of hatred and enmity.


The book represents a personal hope for every man or woman who lost a close one and the life after the losing of dear ones as Jehan Sadat talks about her life after losing her husband and the changes that happened to her and her academic life teaching in Maryland University using that experience to illustrate the culture differences between Egypt and The United States of America.








"Peace is always treated as such an impossible goal, a utopian dream, but if regular people can cultivate the intention of peace- toward ourselves, toward the planet in which we live and the people with whom we share it- then insha’allah, God willing, we can achieve it."
Jehan Sadat

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

One Book, One Region 2009: Eastern Connecticut

The One Book, One Region Eastern Connecticut selection for 2009 is David Benioff's City of Thieves.


The author will be kicking off the event on April 30th, at 7pm at the Mystic Art Center. Map here.

Below is a review from Booklist:

Booklist Review: In 1941, the Germans circled Leningrad, starving its remaining citizens. His mother and sister evacuated, 17-year-old Lev Beniov remained, heeding the call for every able-bodied man to come to the defense of his country. After being caught out after curfew, Lev is thrown in the Crosses, the notorious prison, and while waiting for what he assumes will be an inglorious end, a summary execution at dawn, he is joined by the gregarious, indefatigable, and literature-spouting soldier, Kolya, imprisoned for desertion. When their lives are spared, they are assigned the impossible task of acquiring a dozen eggs for the wedding of a colonel's daughter, a task that takes them into the company of cannibals and Einsatzgruppen, dreaded Nazi death squads. A high-spirited adventure, Benioff's second novel (following the 2001 debut, The 25th Hour), ostensibly an account of the author's grandfather—a quiet immigrant who sold his real-estate business and retired to Florida with his wife—takes more than a little poetic license. When Benioff tells his grandfather that a few things don't make sense in the narrative, his reply: "You're a writer. Make it up." -- Segedin, Ben (Reviewed 04-15-2008) (Booklist, vol 104, number 16, p31)



It is the hope of the One Book, One Region Committee that everyone in the region can read the book and hopefully join us for the book discussions and programs that will be held by local libraries and schools.

Check out the One Book, One Region website for more information.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Finished your term paper...and now you have to cite your sources? We can show you how!

Here are a couple of cool tools for students and others who may be faced with the tedious chore of typing up a list of citations for term paper bibliographies or other types of formal reports.

Knight Cite http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/ and Son of Citation Machine http://citationmachine.net/ both provide foolproof templates for easily creating perfectly formatted citations.Essentially, here’s how it works for both tools.

First, click on the formal “citation style” (APA, MLA, Chicago etc) you’ve chosen for your bibliography. Next, select the specific “resource type” (book, journal, web document etc) for each item to be included in your bibliography. Then type the information into the boxes provided (author, title, publisher etc) and click on the “submit” button. The citation tool creates a citation with accurate formatting and punctuation on the next page. Simply copy the citation and paste it into the Word document that will be your bibliography.

Incidentally, both of these tools can also be accessed from the Otis Library’s webpage under Resources and logging into ICONN.org with your library card’s barcode number. Then click on “Other Useful Resources” from the ICONN homepage and then “Citing Sources” to find both citation tools. Give them both a try and let us know what you think.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Friends of Otis Library Book Sale

First of all, we really appreciate the Friends of Otis Library! The monies they raise really helps the library acquire some great items that we normally couldn't afford, like our microfilm reader in the Genealogy room. Every Friday you can see the Friends here sorting the donated books to put into the book sale. It is truly a monumental task judging by the amount of books we receive each week. (By the way...there are some really good books down there ready for the sale!)


The hours of the Friends of The Library Book Sale are as follows:

Friday, April 17, 2009: 10-3
Saturday, April 18, 2009: 10-3
Sunday, April 19, 2009: 12-3

Get here early for the best selection!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Connecting to you through various technologies!

If you love trying new technologies like we do then we have a treat for you. You can connect to the Otis Library in MANY different ways.

First of all, lets go for the basics.
Our mailing address:

Otis Library
261 Main Street
Norwich, CT 06360

Phone: 860-889-2365

Email: ref@otis.lioninc.org

Instant Message:
GTalk: otisreference
Yahoo IM: otisreference


Website: www.otislibrarynorwich.org


Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/otislibrarynorwich/


You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/otislibrarynorwich


Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Norwich-CT/Otis-Library/40100315676?ref=ts


Twitter:

Me http://twitter.com/referencelib
YA Librarian http://twitter.com/yabooknerd
Our Director http://twitter.com/taoiseach


Blogs:

YA Librarian http://yabooknerd.blogspot.com/
Director's Blog http://inlandlibrarian.blogspot.com/
Reference Desk http://otisreference.blogspot.com/



While this may seem extreme, we are just trying to find the best and easiest way for you to hear about what we are doing. And we love hearing from you.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Library in Tough Economic Times

If you have a story about how the library had aided you or helped you out in these tough economic times, Woman's Day magazine is running a contest. If any lady would like to discuss the positive impact the library has made, the essay contest can be found here.

If you want to see where your taxes go to when you support your library, check out this cool library calculator. We are definitely more than just books.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tax Booklets and Forms at Otis Library

If you are ready to do your taxes for the 2008 fiscal year, we have steadily been receiving the forms and booklets. If you want to come down to the library and pick up some forms, they are located on the right side of the entry way, down the stair and take a right.

Most of the Federal forms are also available online here

Most of the Connecticut forms can be found here

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Job Of the Year: Librarian

Did you know that US News and World Reports cited Librarian as the job of the year? The article found here cites that Librarian is the Career for 2009!

After reading the article, I was surprised at how many the details were true, (for me at least). During any given day, I could be ordering books, answer an in-depth research questions, teaching a basic computer class or finding books somewhere else in the state. Other days I may be running back and forth between copier problems or faxing a letter or proctoring a test. So far, there really haven't been many dull moments at the library.


All in all, being a librarian is a great job (IMHO), and I'm glad to come to work.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Library Calendar for Otis Library

If you are looking for something to do around town in Norwich, don't forget to check the library calendar here

Every month there are new offering for children, teens and adults and most of the programs are free of charge.