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Written on: September 22nd, 2009 in Q & A's
A: According to the US Energy Information Administration the top 5 oil producers are:
1. Saudi Arabia (10,782 barrels per day)
2. Russia (9,790)
3. United States (8,514)
4. Iran (4,174)
5. China (3,973)
The top 5 oil consumers are:
Thanks for using Ask a Librarian Delaware. Have a question? Ask us!
Written on: September 22nd, 2009 in News
Click on the links below to get lists of new items available from the Delaware Library Catalog in various formats (lists will open in a new window):
Written on: September 21st, 2009 in Blog Posts
My read of the week this week is Nick McDonell’s Harvard- situated espionage novel Expensive Education. It’s been getting rave reviews across the board, and I found it “slippery, convoluted, but intensely enjoyable”- you can read my full review here.
You can also read some excerpts of it here courtesy of google books (opens in a new window). The novel blatantly ends on an ambiguous note that leaves the door wide open for a sequel, and I for one will be very happy to see one.
In the New York Times today, featured reviews include Joyce Carol Oates’ Little Bird of Heaven. This is Oates’ third book this year! While the Times gives praise for its shifting style, from melodrama to thriller to existential feminist drama, Kirkus Reviews, in contrast found the narrative “bloated”, but calls it “one half of a masterpiece” for its superbly realized male characters.
Another review serves up much lighter fare, and given Jay Leno’s newly launched semi-primetime show, I’m Dying up Here is a timely reminder of when today’s late-night greats worked for nothing in back-room clubs, notably L.A.’s Comedy Store.
Written on: September 21st, 2009 in Blog Posts
This week, the ‘little town too big for one state’ celebrates its 150th birthday. Delmar has packed a lot of history into that time, including devastating fires and a stint as the ‘Strawberry Capital of the Nation’, and is also the birthplace of William Alland, who produced incredible ‘b’-rated movies like ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ and “It Came from Outer Space’ throughout the 1950s
Delmar Public Library will be celebrating the town’s birthday with an open house between noon and 7 p.m. on Tuesday September 22nd. They are the only Delaware public library to provide services across a state border, with about a third of their 6,000+ registered patrons being Maryland residents from the other side of State Street and a similar amount of the 1/4 million checkouts since 2005 going south of the state line.
Written on: September 18th, 2009 in Blog Posts
Who knew? This past week was Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and the awards were announced today.
Written on: September 18th, 2009 in
One person who responded to a recent user poll about usage of new item email alerts noted, in effect, that there are so many new books on offer each week that it is hard to pick, and they would like to be able to read reviews of some of these items to help make their selections.
Fortunately, the Delaware Library Catalog does offer access to a wide range of reviews, from highly-regarded journals, trade magazines, and library users themselves. In most full item records, you can see a “look inside” tab, which includes brief reviews from School Library Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus and others, as well as a variety of icons that link to fuller review content. The “N” icon that heads up this post, for instance, links to our NoveList+ reader’s advisory service, and if you see this icon in a record, clicking on it will connect you to the full reviews for that specific title.
The three minute video below highlights how to access the reviews that are available in the Catalog (there’s a full-screen view icon available at the lower right of the screen):
Written on: September 17th, 2009 in News
September 17th marks the day on which 39 men signed a document that changed the course of history.
The National Constitution Center has created a full day of activities and observances to encourage everyone to consider the significance and impact of that act. You can see their program at this link. The Library of Congress has an ongoing exhibit, Creating the United States, with a website that features Constitution-related resources and interactives.
And of course, Delaware has a unique historical significance when it comes to the Constitution. Delaware’s Ratification Convention met in late November 1787, and their speedy approval of the document is what makes Delaware the First State. The Delaware Public Archives is the repository for many of the letters and agreements that document these events- including the image seen here, an imagining of the scene at Battell’s Tavern on the Green in Dover during the ratification convention- and they are available to Delawareans online, or at the Archives building in Dover.
UPDATE: The University of Delaware Library has also produced a resource guide for educators to support classroom observance and study of Constitution Day
Written on: September 16th, 2009 in Blog Posts
Click on the links below to get lists of new items available from the Delaware Library Catalog in various formats (lists will open in a new window):
Thanks for participating in last week’s poll for users who receive email notices for new item links. There was a tremendous response, nearly all positive, and a number of great suggestions were made about ways in which we could refine the notifications- some of which could well be possible. I’ll respond to some of the suggestions over the next few days with further blog postings, and you can read a summary of the results in yesterday’s “survey says…” blog post.
Written on: September 15th, 2009 in Blog Posts
Governor Markell is a good sport. Check out his letter to bestselling author M.T. Anderson regarding his most recent book- “Jasper Dash and the Flame Pits of Delaware” concerning the author’s creative inaccuracies regarding Delaware’s geography and culture…
Letter from Governor Jack Markell to M.T. Anderson
Written on: September 15th, 2009 in Blog Posts
Over the weekend, the Division of Libraries surveyed library patrons currently receiving weekly new item notifications by email. About 150 patrons were asked to complete an eight-question online survey so we could gauge satisfaction with the service and gather any opinions and comments that might help us to improve the service.
More than 50 patrons responded to the survey- which is an excellent response rate for this kind of thing- and the results were very encouraging. 40 patrons agreed that receiving the weekly notices “help you use your library better”, which is just about the goal of everything we try to do for library patrons in the Delaware Library Catalog.
30 patrons check out at least one of the new item links every time they receive the notification. Only 3 respondents never use the links, and the rest click on links occasionally. Most of the respondents have been receiving the notification emails for less than a year.
The best part of the survey were the open ended responses and comments that were submitted:
I am very pleased with the DE library system and have been using it since 1990 without a problem Thank you,Janet W.
I love the online services offered and have found it very convenient & helpful…Thanks for the good work!
It is a pleasure to access and use the library’s on-line services. It is how I look for books and other materials.
And thank you all very much for the support- we appreciate and value it.
Other comments included concrete suggestions as well:
Enjoy the easy to use website and links. Like to use the net library media center and would like to see notification of new electronic resources available and lots more titles available.
I’m glad to hear that netlibrary is a valued service- we’re looking to make some improvements to this service to make it easier to access and use, and increase awareness about it. There’s an older blog post about some of these new features at this link– and you will start to see a new link in the weekly updates for new e-audio books added- we don’t add these on a weekly basis, so you may not see this new link for a few weeks. Thanks for the suggestion.
I like ordering books from home but wish there was more info about the story/novel. It is hard to tell what the book is about by just the title.Thanks for asking.
We do offer a few ways of getting reviews and other information about some of these new books- look for a more substantial blog post later on this week about accessing the content that is available in the catalog records and how to read reviews in our NoveList database. Most newly added books do not yet have review content from LibraryThing, but for books that have been around for a little while, you can often read reviews written by other library patrons and readers, or be the first to add one and help out your fellow library users. You can check this link for instructions on how to use LibraryThing in the catalog.
i appreciate receiving the catalog electronically. I would also like to receive other email notices, e.g., items i have placed on hold. It would be helpful if the ‘new books’ were listed alphabetically by author and by subject. thank you.
If you have an email address on record with your local library, you should receive a number of email notices- for items about to be due, notices of holds becoming available, and others. If may be possible to deliver the list in a sorted format, and I’ll investigate further- if you have any opinions on this you can add a comment below.
I would like to receive emails when my requested holds come in, and when library receives new books by my favorite authors. How can I do this?
As noted above, you should be receiving emails concerning available holds- it is also possible to receive new item notifications for authors and subjects that you are interested in. You can see instructions at this link. This is one of my favorite features- it’s certainly helpful as far as getting a hold request in early for items that are in demand.
Thank you so much for your assistance with improving YOUR library catalog. You can always send us feedback by sending an email message to our feedback email
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