This month the Library added a new online tool for our patrons – Optimal Resume (available through our Reference Databases page). As the name suggests, Optimal Resume assists you in creating a resume and cover letter but it has many other features that make it a comprehensive aid to job seekers. Every day, library staff help people using our computers make resumes and search for work. We’ve been looking for something that would make it easier for job seekers and Optimal Resume is the best product we’ve seen. It’s used in many college and university career centers and we’re happy to be able to offer it to DeKalb County residents.

To use Optimal Resume, you will need to first set up your account through the library’s website. If you’re accessing the website at home, you will need your library card number and PIN. You only have to go through the Library’s website the first time. Once you’ve set up your account, you can login directly to our Optimal Resume website.

Once you login, you’re taken to the Document Center. The resume and letter sections have lots of professionally written sample resumes and lots of online help (like a link that suggests appropriate “action verbs”). Optimal Resume takes you section by section through the resume process and formats the document for you. You can work with their examples, start your resume from scratch or upload an existing resume. You can customize your resume for different job openings and store all the versions online in your Optimal Resume account. No more keeping your resume as an email attachment or on your flash drive (we have a lot of flash drives in our lost-and-found drawers.)

Beyond creating resumes and letters, Optimal Resume will help you create your own website. You can post your resume, create an online portfolio and more. Your website can be public or password protected. I used several of the sample documents to create a resume and application letter for the imaginary Jane X. Sample. You can see her personal website at http://dekalblibrary.confidentialresume.com/Jane_X_Sample/.

If you have access to a webcam, you can use Optimal Resume to record yourself during a practice interview. A video “coach” offers advice on good ways to answer some of the usual interview questions. It’s a great way to rehearse for a real world interview.

The Libray is offering classes to help you get started with Optimal Resume and staff will be also be available to assist you with the site during any of our “Open Labs for Job Seekers”. Come in and try it out at any of our libraries or at any time from your home computer.

So here’s how it happened:  I was cruising around on Amazon and I found  a magazine article for sale on a topic in which I have a great interest.   I wanted to read this article but suspected it wasn’t something I was going to want to keep and it was an absolute that I didn’t want to pay $10.00 for the privilege of downloading it.  I know–you think I just went to the magazine’s web page and read the article there, right?  You may be forgiven for thinking that because frequently that is exactly what I do.  In this case though, the magazine didn’t even have a website.  I was not to be denied in my quest and I did the next best thing.  I went to www.dekalblibrary.org, logged on with my library card number and PIN and then chose the Research header on the home page.  I then chose Magazines and Newspapers and clicked on Research Library at ProQuest.  I plugged in the title of the article and there it was.  Guess what–I appreciated the article but  I was awfully glad I didn’t have to cough up a tenner to read it.

But wait!  There’s more!  Hypothetically speaking, you are sitting in your kitchen at 1:30 in the morning, worrying about the smashed bumper on your car, which is your own fault because you were doing something stupid in the driveway.  You can’t sleep for the worry and your brother, who just wants to go to bed says, “If we had a  Chilton’s right now I could tell you if I can fix it with a part from the junkyard.”  You shout, “Hey! We have something that looks exactly like Chilton’s and we can look at it now.”  Then you fire up the computer, go to www.dekalblibrary.org and log in.  After that you choose Reference Databases and then AutoRepair Reference Center and you now know that you can sleep because your brother looks over the pages he needs and says, “Yeah, we can fix it easy, we’ll just call the junkyard in the morning.  Now go to bed.”

See, DeKalb County Public Library is there for me, 24/7, saving me money and sleep.  Take some time to play on our site and get to know what’s there that can save you the same.

We usually recommend a book to someone because we like the story or the setting or because it’s funny, etc. The other night a patron recommended an audiobook to me because the reader was really good.  Ed Sala’s reading of James Lee Burke’s White Doves at Morning was so compelling that this gentleman had come to the library to find more. The Library includes the name of audiobook readers in the catalog, making it easy to search for a favorite performer:

From the catalog page, select Sound/Video. From the first search box, select Audiobook Word(s) from the menu. In the second search box, enter the performer’s name.

AudioFile, a magazine devoted to audiobooks, has a Golden Voices list if you’re interested in finding more recommended readers or you might like one of Stephen King’s 10 favorite audiobooks.  I personally recommend Flo Gibson’s reading of Persuasion by Jane Austen.  On the page, Austen is amusing to me; but read aloud she is truly funny, with a wicked sense of humor and great timing.  Have you got a favorite audiobook reader?

The Library now offers calendar of events RSS feeds.  This means that you can subscribe to events by age group, event type, or branch just like you would subscribe to a blog’s RSS feed.  You will then get updates on new events in your areas of interest directly in your RSS reader.  If you are not familiar with RSS feeds, watch this video first:

What’s even cooler is that if you have very specific interests, you can now build your own RSS feed.  Simply fill out the form on that page.  For example, if you were interested in movies and also events for kids, then simply click the check box next to Movies and also check the boxes next to the age groups you are interested in.  Once you submit the form, a RSS feed will automatically be generated for you immediately.

This is a great way to keep up with library events, especially if you are already familiar with RSS readers and check your feeds daily.

Public libraries have gotten great press lately as a way to save money and I’ve noticed a lot of new faces coming up to the information desk. These people look pleased but a little confused and they say, “I haven’t been to the library in a long time. I guess you all don’t have a card catalog any more.”

No, we don’t. I don’t know when DeKalb County Public Library switched (help me out here, DCPL oldtimers), but generally public libraries retired their card catalogs many years ago. The computer OPACs (that’s Online Public Access Catalogs) are an improvement over the little drawers in every way — except aesthetics and ambiance. Somehow libraries looked more ‘libraryish’ when the card catalogs lined the walls.

One of our prodigal patrons asked me, “What happened to all the cards and cabinets?”  The cards show up in crafts and in projects like Cartalog, a memorial to the card catalog created from salvaged University of Iowa catalog cards. Los Angeles Public Library lined an elevator shaft with the old cards, matching the card subjects with the department on each floor. The cabinets have been resold, recycled, and repurposed. I’ve found old card catalogs used as coffee tables, kitchen storage units and sewing room cabinets. A quick search on eBay turned up a few card catalogs, all with multiple bids, so they are very collectible.

If you’d like to extend your trip down library memory lane, check out The Library History Buff. It’s a fascinating collection of librariana, and there’s a section on card catalogs. Sigh. Now I miss them.

Doing research and limited to a certain number of resources? Do not fear the Library is here! As a Reference Librarian, I often help people find sources to answer their questions, or write a paper. Often when it is school related, I hear “I can only use blank number of web sources. I have already checked the Internet.” When I ask if they have checked our Reference Database page, I often hear, I cannot use that because we are limited by the number of Internet sources.

Did you know there is a difference between Internet sources and electronic sources? The Library has electronic resources that are different from a web-based source. What is an Electronic Resource? You access the source through your web browser (Internet Explorer, Foxfire, Safari, Chrome…) but these sources were created in print before they were loaded and available on the Internet.

How do you access them? Go to our home page and click on the Reference Database button. Here you will find a list of resources that we have broken down by category. We have over twenty-six print based electronic resources. A few of these sources do have links to the Internet but most have a print-based component.

Curious to know which one you might be able to use? If you move your mouse over the title a short synopsis will show up and tell you what the resource is about and what it includes. For example, the Biography Resource Center’s synopsis indicates that it draws its information from Reference books, and from journal articles including  the Marquis Who’s Who. The Student Resource Center’s synopsis indicates that it draws its information from Reference documents, articles and dictionary entries.

Need an example of a source we have on the page that is an Internet Source? Look at The New Georgia Encyclopedia. According to the synopsis, it contains information on people, places, events and histories of Georgia. The site includes articles and images on every aspect of Georgia and links to related Internet sites. I hope this helps you or someone you know the next time there is a paper due. Remember these Electronic sources are available 24/7 through our elibrary.

In every reader’s life there comes a time when you have nothing to read. A time when you’ve read all the books in the series and the librarian says it’ll be a year before the next book comes out. A time when the book your sister loved is just not working for you.   You’re #11 on the waiting list for that bestseller, and you look around the Library and despair because you know there’s no book sitting on the nightstand at home.

Hey reader — it’s time to get some serendipity in your life. Ready? Let’s browse …

Log in to the Library’s catalog and take a close look at the record for the last book you read and enjoyed. Is there a genre listed? Click on that and you’ll find yourself looking at a list of genre headings. Click on the heading with the most records (that’s the number to the right). Now you’re looking a list of library books in that same genre. Anything look good? Get more information by clicking on the reviews and summaries.

There are no genre headings for non-fiction but look to the left and you’ll find the subject headings. Click on those and see what else the Library has on your topic.

Through DCPL’s website you’ve got access to Novelist, a service designed to help readers and librarians find their next book. Novelist has reading lists for all ages, book group discussion guides and lots of other suggestions for readers. I go there most often for the ‘Author Read-alikes’ over on the left side of the home page.

Check out the Library’s Shelf Help page, where you’ll find lists of recommended books and links to reading resources that should keep you clicking on the computer for hours.

And what if you’ve clicked and clicked, followed up on links and recommendations and still you have nothing to read?

I have one more suggestion — the Library Game. To play this game requires a certain boldness, a willingness to step away from other peoples’ suggestions and read a book you know nothing about.  Stand in front of some bookshelves (can be fiction or non-fiction, whatever looks most promising). Close your eyes. Select 3 books from the shelves, one from up high, one from the middle and one from down low. Open your eyes. You must read at least 50 pages of each book you picked before you give it up. (The rule used to be you had to read the whole book; but you know, life is short and books are long, so 50 pages it is).

Too silly for you? Ok, but the Library Game is how I discovered one of my absolute favorite writers, which led to me discovering a lot of other favorite writers, which saved me from having Nothing To Read for a long, long time.

Remember Lisa Loeb? She was the singer behind the hit single “Stay (I missed you)” that was featured in the movie, Reality Bites. Ms. Loeb talks about how important libraries are in the following video produced by the American Library Association.

As she sings, “Everybody feels this way, and I do.” I agree with the sentiments Ms. Loeb expresses and love the line about having “intellectual curiosity.” Hopefully, you feel this way too!

I discovered this video on Visibility @ Your Library, the blog of the American Library Association’s Public Information Office.

I was helping a person several days ago who was looking for business information.  She lived in another county.  I mentioned to her that the county she lived in also provided access to Reference USA.  As we continued exploring resources that might help her, I suggested Business and Company Resource Center.  I informed her that her local system did not provide access to this resource.  She asked me how she could obtain a card.  For an annual fee of $45, a non-resident can obtain a card.  She wanted to know what else we had that would make it worth her while to spend that kind of money.  Do you know what your DeKalb County library card provides for you?

Here is the brief list that I gave her: for adults, we offer not only the business electronic databases (Reference USA, Business and Company Resource Center, Demographics Now and Hoover’s Company Capsules and Profiles), but we also offer language learning resources (Spanish, French, German and Italian), Health and Wellness Resource Center (health and drug information), and Georgia Legal Forms; for students we offer Learning Express Library (sample tests, electronic books on a variety of tests and basic skills building), Literature Criticisms, Student Resource Center (Literature, History, applied Sciences and Social Studies), and African American Experience (great for African American history).

The list above is just a sample of the electronic resources that we provide at the library.  We of course offer print (books), music and DVDS.  I also mentioned that we have downloadable eAudiobooks and electronic books.

My DeKalb County library card is one of the most valuable cards in my wallet.  I would pay the annual fee of $45, if I did not work for the library system.  My own home library system does not offer the wealth of information or entertainment value that you are entitled to have as a citizen of DeKalb County.  So where is your card?

Dominique Wilkins, star forward for the Atlanta Hawks in the late 80s and early 90s, scored over 25,000 goals in his NBA career. Mr. Wilkins stopped by the Decatur Library earlier this summer to film a PSA. See it here on DCPL’s YouTube page:

You can read more about Dominique Wilkins’ amazing basketball career at the NBA’s website.