Search results matching tag 'useful web sites'

Red Cross Heat Wave Safety Checklist

Shh_ImReading@evpl — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:22:00 GMT

With the hot, hot weather we've been having recently, I've been wondering about first aid for heat-related health problems. I've had first aid training in the past, but I wanted to make sure I'd know what to do now if someone near me seemed to be having trouble with the heat. I went to http://www.redcross.org/ and typed HEAT into the search box. I found a Heat Waves checklist with information about the symptoms and care for heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. There is even a one-page PDF Heat Wave Safety Checklist that is perfect for printing. I hung one on the refrigerator in the room where staff members here take breaks.

Link for Heat Wave Safety Checklist easy to print PDF

You'll find more information like this on the Preparedness Fast Facts page.

Know before you go: travel planning online

googler@evpl — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:50:00 GMT

Wow. There are a LOT of travel websites out there. This is the time of year when blogs and magazines start rounding up some good sites for booking, researching, and deciding on your travel plans, which is a really good thing, because I think most of us would be lost without recommendations in this area.

Lifehacker published a post in April about the basics of buying airline tickets, figuring out the right time to buy, setting up a few passive tools for making the best deals come to your doorstep, and in general highlighting how to go about finding great deals on airfare. It includes information on

RetailMeNot : a source of coupon codes
Sidestep's list of current airline fees
Wikitravel's article on how to fly discount airlines

Booklist just published "Know Before You Go" (April 2010), focusing on sites that reach a particular niche in the world of travel. They include

Eurotrip : an online travel planner for European destinations, covering rail and air travel, lodging, activities. Especially recommended for backpackers.
MomsMinivan : ideas to keep kids entertained on those long car rides.
RoadsideAmerica : a guide to weird and wonderful roadside attractions

Kiplinger's "28 Best Travel Sites" (published in Augest 2009) presented what they felt are the best sites for airfares, lodging, car rentals and other key areas. They recommend many of the sites you've already heard of, like Kayak, Priceline, and Trip Advisor, but some others they cover are

Laterooms : for snagging last-minute bargainss on lodging
US Parks : for stretching your dollars while taking advantage of our amazing national parks system
CruiseComplete : where more than 300 travel agents vie to give you the lowest prices for dates, ports and ships you specify.

Happy travels! And if there are other sites you swear by, leave a comment!

Getting the most from online shopping

googler@evpl — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:56:00 GMT

I kept hearing from my online friends about "Bing cashbacks," and had no idea what they were talking about, until I ran across this great article in the New York Times about online shopping rebates, including those offered by the Bing, the new Google-like search engine.

The article is an excellent rundown on using the rebate sites (Bing, FatWallet, Ebates) and (in some cases) your credit card's shopping site to take advantage of points programs and cash-back programs. Some sites offer discussion forums, where members post the best deals they've found. And one site allows shoppers to direct a portion of their shopping dollars toward higher education costs.

"How much you actually save depends on how much you spend, what programs you use and how vigilantly you watch the sites for the best deals, some of which change daily. If you spend $682, the average expected holiday budget, and earn an average of 7 percent cash back, that's nearly $50. And if you book your airline tickets through one of these programs, or buy big-ticket items in the electronics department, the savings can add up to much more. Using these programs year-round - for shopping you were going to do anyway - is the best way to accumulate real savings."

"The original guide to living wisely"

googler@evpl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:38:00 GMT

At least, that's how Mother Earth News describes itself, and they might not be too far off the mark. The magazine got its start in 1970, and you may think of it as something the hippies used to read. But these days, their focus on green living, sustainability, and saving money seems pretty much relevent to everyone. At least, I think there's something for everyone here, with a website packed full of free content.

Recent articles include "Cough into Your Sleeve! .. and Other Strategies to Fight the Flu"; "How to Make Your Fireplace More Efficient" ("an open masonry fireplace seems cozy, but it's not efficient for home heating," they say, and give cost estimates for various ways to keep more of the heat in your house instead of up the chimney); "Making Jerky," with recipes and procedures that they say are efficient and almost effortless; and a link to the Department of Energy's 2010 fuel economy guide for new cars.

They have a section for shopping, where you can order books, garden products, housewares, and much more (Christmas gift ideas, maybe?). They have a weekly radio show you can listen to. There are blogs and free newsletters. And currently they're still publishing the magazine in paper, if you it that way.

And, of course, the Library subscribes to the magazine, too. It's held at Central and three branches.

What are the odds?

googler@evpl — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:15:00 GMT

Ever wonder what the odds are that an adult planning a Halloween costume will be a cat? How about the odds of being killed by a shark? There's a new website, The Book of Odds, that does just that — it gives you odds.

You can do a simple keyword search, an odds search (finding anything that has a 1 in 100 chance of occurring by entering the number 100), or click on "advanced search" to look for additional content (articles and blog posts). Searching all content can be pretty interesting, particularly if you're looking to spice up a speech or a research paper, but there's not a huge amount of that kind of content.

The data comes from a lot of demographic studies, much of it market-based or governmental, and because of that, you tend to see age, gender, income, and location breakdowns that many people won't find that useful and tend to pad the result list.. (They're not consistent breakdowns though, so no comparison of shark attack odds between Indiana and Florida.)

If you see something in the result list that you want to know more about or want to use in some way, click on the odds for an item and you’ll get a visual representing those odds and a list of unrelated odds that are close or exactly the same as the one you’re looking at. The detail page also has a button marked "Sources & Definitions." Click it and you’ll get information on the source, rounding information, and even an appropriate way to cite the data presented. If you don't find odds for something you think should be there, click on "suggest odds" at the bottom of the page, and they may be able to research it and add it.

If you register and create an account (it’s free) you can start your own book of odds, which allows you to track odds, send odds information to a friend, mark those that you like or those that apply to you, etc. Worth a visit! Oh, and before you leave the Book of Odds site be sure to visit the "About Us" page. I got a chuckle out of this : "Book of Odds is not a search-engine, decision-engine, knowledge-engine, or any other kind of engine…so please don’t compare us to Google(tm). We did consider the term 'probability engine' for about 25 seconds, before coming to our senses."

Learn to find Government Information on the Web

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:53:00 GMT

Interested in finding out about govenment jobs? Wonder where you can find the latest consumer product safety information? Ever wanted to look at surplus government property, and maybe bid on some of it? Want to get information on financial planning? On October 21st there will be a free workshop on how to access all of this information and more through the premier government web portal - USA.gov.

Led by Government Documents Librarian Teresa Loeffler, this workshop will help you search and find the specific information you want, by showing you some concrete examples, and then letting you search the web site yourself, with supervision and assistance.

The workshop takes place at Central Library's Tech Center, and is limited to 15 people, so that everyone will have their own computer for searching for the information that interests them. Call the library Reference Desk at 428-8218 to sign up, or IM us via the AskEVPL page and let us know that you'd like to sign up for the Finding Government Information workshop.

Do you stand in front of your closet every morning wondering what will fit, not what do I want to wear?

SuDocQueen@evpl — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:55:00 GMT

Here's my dirty little secret; I've been doing that all summer. To look at me no one would say I have a weight problem, but thanks to sports injuries and other medical issues this summer, I've been sidelined from my normal active lifestyle. Sprawling on the chaise lounge and reading instead of chasing a fuzzy green ball across the tennis court and doing yard work has been a surprisingly enjoyable change. Unfortunately, I didn't change my eating habits along with my reduction in activity and the inches have been creeping on. Every morning when I reach for the elastic waist pants I tell myself 'this is it, gotta cut back', but each night I eat my healthy, delicious, home-grown cherry tomatoes, and still reach for the French Fried Onion rings (ever get one of those big bags from one of the warehouse stores?). Since even my "fat cloths" are getting tight, it's time to get serious.

Counting calories and making a point of skipping the junk food is the best way to do that, but that can be boring (yeah, like that's an excuse -- but what can I say). Doing the right thing can be easier when it's also fun, and I know just the place to go www.mypyramid.gov. Be prepared for a near information overload. Designed and run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the site's main page has so many links to useful information that you hardly know where to start. There are waaay too many of them for me to go through here, but I do want to tell you about my favorite, www.mypyramidtracker.gov.

You start out by telling the Tracker your age, weight, and height (why fudge? No one but the computer will know and if you don't tell the truth, later you won't get an accurate breakdown of what nutrition you need). Next you're asked to list all the foods you ate for the day, then the number of servings. After that the Tracker will analyze your intake for the day and shoot you to a page where you can choice to see if you met the 2005 Dietary Guidelines -- they use cute little emoticons as well as showing you the amount you actually ate and the amount that is recommended; you can see your nutrient breakdown for the day -- you get your total calories consumed along with a breakdown of your fats, proteins, and vitamins; you get "Pyramid stats" which show you graphically whether you got your recommended daily amount of milk, meat, veggies, grains, etc; and lastly you can view your "healthy eating history by day, month, up to a year -- this is assuming you've registered and have faithfully input your eating habits for a while.

Registration is free or you can use "check it out" daily without registering. I think the benefit of registering is that you can save your information for at least a year in order to track how well you're doing. Plus, you won't be able to access your "check it out" information from the whole day if you don't use the same computer all day -- no adding breakfast and lunch at your work computer then going home and adding dinner. You'd have to start from scratch adding your entire food intake for the whole day. Frankly, I think the benefits of seeing how your eating habits change over time is well worth the registration.

Plusses and minuses of the Tracker...well, today I couldn't find Velveeta sliced cheese, so I had to compensate with the next best thing (American/cheddar cheese, processed), but I could choose one slice as my serving size. Plus, I could add plain M&M's and select as few as 10 pieces as my serving size! The Tracker strives to offer a huge range of foods to choose from, from simple foods like bananas to restaurant food like McD's Big Mac. And they have very flexible serving sizes, from a whole apple (and you can even choose large or medium) to a slice as a serving size. My only real quibble is that they don't show you the calories for your individual foods. I like to know how many calories those 10 M&Ms are verses one (or two) Hershey's Kisses so I know which food choice will be cheaper calorie-wise when I'm limiting my sweets intake.

I won't bore you with the anal way I figure that out on my own, but I will tell you about a book that I absolutely love "The Calorie King Calorie Fat and Carbohydrate Counter" (613.23 CALOR 2009). I looked up M&Ms in the book, and it actually told me how many calories there were in one M&M! Okay, okay it only told me the calories for the plain M&M. It didn't go on and do the same for the peanut, almond, or peanut butter, but I was still impressed. Plus, it not only tells you the calories, it also gives the fat and carbohydrate counts. The book covers the normal basic foods -- like meat, breads, fruits veggies, etc -- and an amazing array of sweets (like M&Ms) as well as a huge section on restaurant foods. I found the Outback, O-Charley's, Sizzler, Red Lobster along with the usual suspects like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell. Starbucks was even in there. Do you really want to know how many calories your favorite frappuccino are costing you?

If all our copies of Calorie King are checked out, there's always the Reference copy you can use here, or you can try any of these other calorie counting books.

I'd like to talk more about www.mypyramid.gov but if I do that, this'll become a novel rather than a blog -- it's already leaning in that direction -- so just check it out on your own. If you have any questions on using it, pipe up here or give us a call at Reference!

Would you like to work for the federal government?

SuDocQueen@evpl — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:04:00 GMT

If so, take a look at www.usajobs.gov.

This is a great resource for people interested in working for our federal government. On their main page this morning they showed 33,530 jobs available worldwide with the United States government. Now before your jaw hits the floor and you start drooling on your keyboard, let's do a reality check and remember that none of us are qualified for all 33,000 jobs. They're sure not going to hire me as a NASA engineer. And, I don't think I want to fill a librarian position in Timbuktu - okay, when I did a search for librarian positions, I didn't see any in Timbuktu, but you get the picture. :-)

The search was easy as pie. I just typed librarian into the search box right under "Search Jobs" on the main page and hit "Run Search." 14 positions popped up. With the exception of a couple all were positions looking for actual librarians, and even the two that weren't were for positions with the Library of Congress. For example, one was for a General Engineer working out of the Office of the Librarian; maybe a position similar to EVPL's building manager?

That was the simplest search. You can customize your search by clicking on the "Search Jobs" tab on the main page. From there, you can narrow your search by choices like agency, occupation, and location, to name a few.

Say you'd like a job with the government, but you don't know what job you'd enjoy. They have an area to help you with that as well. I couldn't find a direct link from the main page, but I saw links to it from the Search page and the Information Center page. Once you're on either page, look for the Career Interest Center and click on the "learn more." From there you'll find a list of subjects that lead to interactive questionnaires that will help you figure out what job would be right for you.

What else? Too much to go over everything in what's supposed to be a "short" blog. :-) But, two last things I've got to mention before I go. Be sure to check out the "My USAJOBS" tab. You'll be able to create your own account which will allow you to post your resume (I thought I read somewhere on the site you could post even more than one), apply for the jobs online, and receive email updates tailored to jobs that you're interested in.

And the other "thing," be sure to play around with the "Information Center" page. Among the many services it offers, it provides help in understanding the convoluted federal hiring process. You can get help creating your resume. There's also an area where you can find out about the top agencies hiring, the most popular jobs, the areas in the country looking for the most jobs, etc.

The Health Care Reform Act turmoil

SuDocQueen@evpl — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:33:00 GMT

Opinions and concerns abound about this issue, sometimes to the point that the facts get obscured. Can I separate all the facts from the fiction? Nope, I can be duped and sucked in as easily as the next person. But I can tell you where to go to form your own opinions undiluted by anyone else with an agenda. Thomas from the Library of Congress is an excellent site for following legislation and the workings of Congress. As a matter of fact, Thomas has made it easy for people right now. You don't even have to search for the House's health care bill. They've put up a direct link on the very front of their website. From that link, you can then read a summary of the bill, see what Committees it's been referred to, see who is sponsoring it, and read the bill word for word yourself. Be warned, the bill's over 1,000 pages long and very dense to read! That doesn't mean I think it's not worth reading; I'm just saying don't expect to skim through it on your lunch hour unless you belong to Mensa. :)

You can also get some very useful links from Congressman Brad Ellsworth's "Online Office." He has the PDF of the full bill, just as Thomas does, but he additionally has links to the committee work being done on the bill.

And while we're talking Congressmen, if you want to share your opinion, do you know who to share yours with? Indiana's Senators are Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar, while Evansville's Congressman is Brad Ellsworth.

Lastly, here's on other place I like to go when I'm inundated with opinions, http://factcheck.org/. They appear non-partisan to me. They've debunked pro and con statements surrounding the health care debate. And, their website/services don't exist solely for the health care debate (it just looks that way right now :). Take a look at their Archives or Ask Factcheck to see some of the other political issues they address.

Is There a Web Site with Local Job Information? Indeed, There IS!

Bufkinite@evpl — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:47:00 GMT

Some of the most popular workshops being offered at the library recently have involved how to polish your resume, or sharpen you interview skills. With the tight job market, even highly skilled and trained people are getting all of their job-hunting tools sharpened, and are ready to take the next step. Now, where can they go to find information on local job opportunities?

Indeed.com, the second largest employment web site in the world, has a website about Evansville area employment opportunities, which aggregates all the information they have about employers, companies, jobs, and employment resources in one easy-to-navigate interface. The top section, "Popular Jobs and Salaries," provides a bar-graph style comparison of different jobs based on how much they pay, while lower sections list links to Evansville companies that are currently hiring, as well as links to pre-selected searches, such as production jobs, or clerical jobs.

Once you have performed a search for jobs, and have a list of jobs, you can limit it further in a number of ways. You can limit it to within 5 miles of your location, by salary range, by company, or by any combination of these and many other criteria.

This site is listed on our Useful Websites web page, where a huge variety of resources, selected by librarians for accuracy, timeliness, and dependability, are sorted and classified for your convenience. For instance. the Indeed.com web site is listed under both "Job Search" and "Employment Information and Services."

Check it out!