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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.