Beyond Google and Yahoo…

   The BUBL information service is an internet link collection tailored for the library and higher education communities, administered by the Centre for Digital Library Research at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.  “BUBL” is short for “Bulletin Board for Libraries”.  The site describes itself as offering “Free user-friendly access to selected internet resources covering all subject areas, with special focus on Library and Information Science”. 

The link is available through the Alameda County website at http://www.aclibrary.org/research/default.asp?topic=Research&cat=SearchtheWeb and scrolling down to the BUBL-link icon near the bottom of the page.  It can also be accessed directly at http://bubl.ac.uk/ .

Other features include:

• An innovative web directory that uses the Dewey Decimal System to classify resources and subjects
• Does ”simple”, “combined”, and “advanced” searches
• Ability to search a “main subject menu”
• Enter a search by “country”
• Catagorize internet resources by “type”
• Browse thousands of files in BUBL archives

 

Coming this Fall: Dublin Reads Epitaph for a Peach

Calling all you gardeners, lovers of fresh food,  people who are interested in organic farming, and eating locally: we have made a selection for our next Dublin Reads and it is David Mas Masumoto’s Epitaph for a Peach.  From Mr. Masumoto’s website:

Epitaph for a Peach

“As pleasurable as a perfect peach, Epitaph for a Peach tells the passionate story of one farmer’s attempt to rescue one of the last truly sweet and juicy fruits from becoming obsolete in a world that increasingly values commerciality over quality. The story of Mas Masumoto’s Sun Crest peaches begins on the day he turns the bulldozers away from his orchards and vows to give himself four seasons to find a home for the fruits of his labor.

 

 

At once a deeply personal story, a sharp commentary about the state of American agriculture, a lighthearted rhapsody of nature, and an intimate glimpse into the Asian American experience, Epitaph for a Peach is about saving a peach, saving a farm, saving a family, saving a way of life–it is a story about finding “home.”"

Last year the Dublin Heritage Center co-sponsored Dublin Reads when we read Snow Mountain Passage.  We were not necessarily thinking  the Heritage Center would want to co-sponsor with us this year, since our selection is not historical.  However, this week I was having a conversation with Elizabeth Isles, the Director of the Center and I mentioned that we were doing Epitaph for a Peach.  Well, it turns out the Heritage Museum is going to have a new exhibit coming this Fall on farm life! 

Farm Life: a Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors is a traveling exhibit from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mid-America Arts Alliance.  As we talked, Elizabeth and I realized this exhibit connects beautifully with Epitaph for a Peach!

For the library’s part we will offer again free drop-in book discussions, a showing of the film The Real Dirt on Farmer John , and we are currently searching for a speaker who can come and talk to us about our food….where it comes from, eating locally grown foods, what is community supported agriculture and related topics.  We hope also to offer a visit with the author.

The Dublin Friends of the Library will underwrite this special event by providing multiple copies of the book, sponsoring our programs and contributing to book discussion groups. 

Elizabeth is planning a fabulous array of programs at the Heritage Center to coincide with the exhibit.  More details on events will be forthcoming!

Dublin Reads will kick off at Day on the Glen, September 20 & 21st and continue until October 31st.

 

Automobile Repair Tips online

 

          

Ever wanted to do an oil change on your car and didn’t know where to begin?  Or, how about changing a headlight or fuse on your vehicle with out paying a mechanic?  The answer to these questions, and much more, can be found through our Alameda County Library website at 

http://www.aclibrary.org/research/articlesDataBases/default.asp?topic=ArticlesDataBases&cat=AutoRepair

The Auto Repair Reference Center contains repair instructions, service bulletins and recalls and wiring diagrams for most domestic and foreign automobiles beginning with the 1945 Jeep.  This database can be accessed from ouside the library as long as one has a Alameda County library card. 

 

 

A Night in the Library

This Friday the Library, June 13th, the LIbrary will be closing early at 3:00 p.m. in order to set up for the Alameda County Library Foundation’s annual fundraising gala “A Night in the Library — Your Passport to Adventure”.  This is the first year that this gala event has been held at the Dublin Library and the Foundation will be setting up for a beautiful and gracious party with lots of entertainment, food and drink. 

The fundraising that the Library Foundation does on behalf of Alameda County Library is critical in a climate of decreasing revenue for public libraries.  Since its inception in 1996, this amazing group of community leaders have raised $3 million dollars for the county library system.   This is money that has funded homework centers, summer reading programs, storytimes and senior programs at all the county branch libraries.  

For more information about the work of the Foundation visit their website at www.aclf.org.

 

Water Conservation Tips during Drought

On Wednesday, June 5th, Governor Schwarzenegger officially declared that California is in a drought.  He warned that the state may be forced to ration water if conservation efforts did not improve.  The East Bay Municipal Utility District has already made water rationing mandatory.

Here are some Dublin Library books that may be useful for gardening during the drought:

Dryland gardening : plants that survive and thrive in tough conditions / by Jennifer Bennett   635.9525 BENNETT

Plants and landscapes for summer-dry climates of the San Francisco Bay region / by Nora Harlow 635.9525 HARLOW

Waterwise gardening / by Lauren Springer  635.95 SPRINGER,L

For water conservation tips, click on these Web sites:

Livermore - Amador Valley Zone 7 Water District

Bewaterwise.com

UC Davis’ California Center for Urban Horticulture

Want to Learn More? (PDF)

 

 

 

 

 

May is National Bike Month

Get your bike tuned up and ready to celebrate National Bike Month throughout May. In the Bay Area, tomorrow’s 15th annual Bike to Work Day  will honor bicycling as an alternative way to commute, get around town and reduce your carbon footprint.  Over 200 Energizer Stations will supply refreshments and support along bike routes around the Bay Area.  To find out their locations, go to ttp://www.bayareabikes.org/btwd

To be eligible to win bike-related prizes, register on http://bicycling.511.org/ and pledge to ride your bike at least once during May. 

For more information about bicycling, check out these resources at the Dublin Library:

Bicycling  - magazine

Cycle World - Young Adult magazine

The bicycling guide to complete bicycle maintenance & repair: for road & mountain bikes by Todd Downs, Rodale, c2005.

Bicycling for fitness by Gus Gedatus, LifeMatters, c2001.

 

Celebrate National Building Safety Week!

During May 5th - 11th, the City of Dublin’s Building and Safety Division will observe National Building Safety Week. This year’s theme is Building Safety: Where You Live, Work and Play.  This event’s purpose is to raise public awareness of building safety by promoting the use, enforcement and understanding of building safety codes designed to protect lives and property. 

 

Drop by the Dublin Library’s Children’s Department to see the display of library materials related to safety issues and to get a free coloring book and stickers.

 

Here are some titles that may be of interest to you!

 

Fire Safety, Boy Scouts of America, c2004.  J369.43 FIRE

 

Stop, Drop and Roll, by Margery Cuyler, Simon & Schuster Books for Young    Readers, c2001.   JPB CUYLER,M

 

California earthquakes : science, risk & the politics of hazard mitigation, by Carl-Henry Geschwind, Johns Hopkins University Press, c2001.  

363.3495 Geschwind

 

No Dragons for Tea : Fire Safety for Kids (and dragons), by Jean Pendziwol, Kids Can Press, c1999.   JPB Pendziwol

 

 

 

Help The Great Sunflower Project Blossom!

I learn at least three new facts each day while working at the Dublin Library’s Information Desk.  Last week, a library customer told me how you can grow sunflowers for free  by participating in The Great Sunflower Project.  You’ll not only have beautiful flowers in your yard, but you’ll provide pollen to the Bay Area’s bee population.

Sunflowers are easy to grow and are great for wildlife.  Bees and other pollinators love the sunflower’s center and squirrels and birds snack on the seeds as the sunflower matures.

The Great Sunflower Project is looking for citizen scientists to plant sunflowers around the country and then observe how many and what kind of bees buzz by them. You’ll observe the bees for 30 minutes twice a month and record what you see.  Participants can be any age.

When all the data is in, San Francisco State University scientists will use it to make a coast-to-coast pollination map, showing where bees are and aren’t throughout the United States.

Kits with seeds for native sunflowers are free and are being mailed out now. Join by visiting The Great Sunflower Project’s Web site, or call (415) 847-1716.

For more information about gardening, landscaping and botany, visit the Dublin Library!

 

Hooray for Earth Day 2008

To mark the 38th anniversary of Earth Day 2008, there are many events planned through out the greater San Francisco Bay Area.  To find an event nearby, click on the following links:

 

• http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/04/18/attend-an-earth-day-event-in-the-bay-area/#more-225
•  http://www.epa.gov/region09/earthday/#ca
•  http://ww2.earthday.net/search/location?postal_code=dublin,ca&country=us&distance=25&unit=mile

 

For more information on the history and origins of Earth Day, go to: 

• http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html
• http://www.epa.gov/earthday/index.htm

 

 

Make Every Day an Earth Day

 

On April 22,1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day.  This year the world celebrates the 38th annual Earth Day on Tuesday, April 22nd. Through the combined efforts of world governments, organizations, and citizens like you, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a global campaign to protect our environment.  Here are some Earth Day resources available from the Dublin Library and the Internet for your review:

 Books:

Green Building and Remodeling by Eric Corey Freed, 2008.

True Green at Work : 100 Ways You Can Make the Environment Your Business  by Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin, with Tim Wallace, 2008.  

Earth Day Web Sites:

• Earthday.gov
• Earthdaynetwork
• Ecomall
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Green Apple Music Festival – San Francisco
• Toxtown

   

  Database:

• GreenFILE™

Alamada County Library offers GreenFILE , a freely accessible research database focusing on the relationship between human beings and the environment, with well-researched but accessible information on topics ranging from global warming to recycling to alternate fuel sources and beyond.  Comprised of scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports, GreenFILE offers a unique perspective on the positive and negative ways humans affect the ecology.  To access GreenFILE, go to aclibrary.org, under the heading Research Guide, click on Articles and Databases, then click on the heading Science and Technology, and then GreenFILE.