Interlibrary Loan

Have you ever heard of Interlibrary Loan? It's when two or more libraries have an agreement to share their stuff with each other. It can be between school and university libraries, public libraries or special libraries. In Santa Cruz we do not have an interlibrary loan (ILL) agreement, but we can now "borrow" things from the Library of Congress in the US! The Library of Congress has put digital resources on their website for anyone to use. The resources are PDF versions of the original documents. All of the documents are in the public domain which means that they are free for anyone to use, and mostly older resources.

If you are interested in this resource, check out the Library of Congress's Digital Interlibrary Loan. This resource will be especially useful for people interested in history.

Interlibrary loan is an incredibly useful tool for university students. If your library doesn't have the resources you need, you can borrow books from almost anywhere in the United States, and even some international libraries. Also, it's a good way to save money on text books...instead of buying 15 books for a class, you can borrow them from another library and read what you need before returning them!

PC Magazine's 100 Favorite Blogs

The staff at PC Magazine put together a list of their 100 favorite blogs. There are a lot of tech blogs on the list, gears and gadgets are heavily represented, but there are also plenty of music, gossip, style and fashion blogs. (Plus a few oddballs, like StrangeMaps.) Check out the list and see if any of the blogs are ones you want to read!

Also, don't forget that we have a subscription to PC Magazine (and 44 other magazines) in the library!

What is your favorite blog on the list? Is there a great blog you'd like to see added to the list?

Latin@ books for all!

Here are two great blogs that focus on Latin@ characters and experiences:

Latina YA

Cuentecitos

Check them out and see what they have to say. If you like the sound of any of the books in these blogs, please recommend them to Ms. Hanneman and we can purchase them for next year!

Also, if you're interested in what the library already has, here are a few titles to get you started:

Esperanza Rising, by Pam Ryan (we have it in Spanish and English)
Crazy Mixed-up Spanglish Day, by Marisa Montes
Party Girl, by Lynne Ewing
Honey Blond Chica, by Michele Serros
Haters, by Alisa Valdez-Rodriguez

There are a bunch more titles in the library, come see what we have!

A new Star in our book universe

If you're interested in historical fiction, you should check out a slim volume among our new books, At the Sign of the Star, by Katherine Sturtevant. Based in 17th century England, Meg, the daughter of a London bookseller, would rather spend her time in her father's shop than learning how to cook and sew. She plans on inheriting her father's business one day, until he remarries and puts her future in doubt.

If you like strong girl characters with a bit of rebellion, historical fiction or want to read about London in the 17th century, this would be a great book for you. There is also a sequel called A True and Faithful Narrative.

Facebook etiquette???

According to slate.com there are certain rules to friending and defriending folks on facebook. If you're interested in the etiquette, take a look at this article by Reihan Salam in which he discusses the ins and outs of getting rid of those lame people and stalkers.

Flickr vs. Picasa, the web picture show down

Are you interested in posting and sharing your photos on the web? Flickr and Picasa are two photo hosting sites that offer this possibility. I personally prefer Flickr as it allows you to tag pictures you like for easier searching and retrieval. If you'd like to sign up for one of these services, check out this great comparison chart (from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay) to see which will fit your needs.

Nobel Prize in Physics

This year's Nobel Prize for Physics was jointly awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg for the discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance. What the heck is that?

According to wikipedia.com, it "is a quantum mechanical effect, a type of magnetoresistance effect, observed in thin film structures composed of alternating ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic metal layers." I have to admit, that doesn't really clear it up for me.

According to NPR Giant Magnetoresistance "allows manufacturers to pack a lot more data on a single hard drive" and has "revolutionized computer memory." They add that the concept has revolutionized how engineers and computer scientists think about computer memory. Perhaps that doesn't really tell us what it is, but it does explain how it can be usefully applied!

If you're interested in a career in computer science, keep an eye on this idea, and have fun in your physics class! If you'd like more information on giant magnetoresistance, ask Mr. Kondro or Mr. Kadow.

We're in the newspaper!

Did you see the El Deber article on Monday (October 1, 2007) about our sports league? Wow, Mr. Boldt worked very hard to get reporters to cover our games, and this is the great result! If you missed the El Deber article, you can visit the Santa Cruz Interscholastic Sports League blog for more coverage. Also, the SCISL blog is always recruiting new student reporters and photographers to enhance their coverage. Why not volunteer?

Classic novel about Andean life

Have you ever heard of the book Secret of the Andes? It was the Newbery Medal winner in 1953 (the same year Charlotte's Web was published). I admit I just learned about it, but after having read it, I'm glad it came to my attention!

In Secret of the Andes a young llama herder is raised to carry out a secret mission, but must first decide if he is willing to do so. Cusi, the boy, is given the opportunity to live a normal life, but decides that the his foster father's Incan secret is more important to protect.

While this book was published more than fifty years ago, it has what appears to be a balanced perspective on Andean life. I really enjoyed reading about Cusi's first contact with Peruvians of Spanish and mixed heritage.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure or mystery, or to those who are interested in Peruvian and Andean culture.