Consumer Reports doesn't rank everything

Here is a link to the FAQ page that links to Products, and on this page is a list of the things that Consumer Reports hasn't ranked. If a patron asks for "Consumer Reports" then at least you can go thorough with a search on GeneralOneFile http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/about-us/customer-service-main/questions-and-answers/index.htm

Cover Oregon

Cover Oregon is live! Visit WCCLS's Cover Oregon information page to learn more about Cover Oregon. Find answers to: 1.What is Cover Oregon 2.Important dates 3.Learn more and get free help from trained specialists 4.Protect yourself from fraud

Are you eating Gluten Free?

If you are eating gluten free we have two magazines that might interest you:

The Backyard Parables:Lessons on Gardening, and Life

In her latest book, The Backyard Parables: Lessons on Gardening, and Life, Margaret Roach has harvested thirty years of what she calls her "backyard parables." These parables are deceptively simple, instructive stories collected from a life spent digging deep in the ground around her upstate New York home. In this lyrical memoir of a gardening year, we find her hard-won wisdom laced with humor. She also includes in each chapter her best tips for garden making, discouraging all manner of animal and insect opponents, and
much, much more. Enjoy


                            
 

Dementia and the family

As per the Alzheimer's Association of America, over 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease today.
Moving Miss Peggy, a beautifully written story by author Robert Benson should be read by anyone who has older parents and/ or relatives in their care.
He takes us along with him and his family as they deal with their mother's dementia and the pressing need to transition her to an assisted living facility. The love that he and his siblings have for their mother is evident in the care to which they go to help make this transition work for Miss Peggy and themselves.

Waiting for Mumford & Sons?

Are you waiting for Mumford & Sons' new CD Babel? No reason for the music to stop playing... here is a list of artists that are considered similar to Mumford & Sons.

Mumford & Sons suggestions

Love reading in the bathtub

Do you love reading in the bathtub but fear getting your book wet?

Then check out this 8yr olds invention to prevent a wet book.

Inspired? For more inspiration check out these titles:
Inventions

Think Romance Novels are too steamy?

If you think romance novels are too steamy than you have not heard about the new trend in romance lit (and it does not involve vampires or witches). The hottest trend is called, Bonnet Rippers and they are romance books set in the Amish country.

Authors include:
Beverly Lewis
Wanda E. Brunstetter
Jerry & Tina Eicher

Check the WCCLS catalog for a listing of Amish Fiction.

Another Diet Book?

No. This is not another diet book. This is a nutrition book that examines the relationship between diet and disease. According to the book jacket, "The China Study presents a clear and concise message of hope as it dispels the multitude of health myths and misinformation." Read it today and make your own decision.

Integrating Audio and Text on your Device

Do you like having text read to you? Many people have reasons for wanting words on a screen also play a recording. Some people who are learning to read or who have other learning curve needs do enjoy such features.

The audiobook and ebook craze has just begun, and there are hundreds of devices that are trying to provide access to audio and text.

Gale Virtual Reference Library which WCCLS provices, can be an app on your device, and it finds your location as long as GPS is on. If all your settings are a go, then you can click Listen in any of your search results and hear the text read along as you read.

Gale Virtual Reference Library is a huge reference shelf of books and encyclopedias.

You have to have other apps to make it work. You have to have Adobe Flash Player. By the way if you have a Galaxy 7, which is what I used to try this on, it might be set up so that it can't shop in any place other than Google Play. If that happens just change those settings -- Go to Settings. There are settings called Personal Settings, go under Security. then go under Device Administration. Then under that is Unknown Sources. Just put the check box into that setting and enable access to apps that are elsewhere on the web. Because Adobe Flash Player (on today 4-11-13) was not Google Play app store material.

Oregonian Historical Archive

I normally don't promote a database that is not owned by WCCLS member libraries, but because so many Washington County residents also own a library card from the Multnomah County Library, I wanted to let patrons know about this resource if they were not aware of it. 

I received a phone call from one of our patrons who requested information regarding an Odus Bales, the founder of Bales Thriftway in Cedar Mill.  Apparently Mr. Bales was involved in a robbery/shooting  in the 1980's and my patron needed information regarding the incident.  The Oregonian database owned by WCCLS doesn't go back far enough, so I whipped out my MCL card and started searching the Oregonian Historical Archive on the MCL website.   This database contains full text and full-image of every page of the Oregonian from 1861 to 1987, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF format.  Within just a few minutes, I had found several articles regarding the incident and was able to send the information to my patron.

My point on all of this is that back in my library school days (I hate to admit in the 1970's) we were always taught to try to get the needed information to our patrons.  If we didn't have the resource locally, then to refer the person to an appropriate agency or organization or to use the many resources that we had available to us, including the resources of other library systems from which a valid library card is obtained. I've always tried to follow that  principle, and as a result, I think that I have promoted library resources in general and have given patrons good service.

Directory of Trade Schools

With businesses and for-profit schools competing on the web, it is hard to find a plain nonbiased listing of trade, industrial, and vocational schools just by googling. But you can get to some of that information in the resource called Oregon CIS. Washington County provides access to this. It contains trade schools here and in the other states too. For how CIS decides which schools to add, read on

The American Presidency Project

 

 

The American Presidency Project was established in 1999 as a collaboration between John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  The archives contain over 102,000 documents related to the study of the Presidency.  According to the website, The American Presidency Project is the only online resource that has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database:

 

• The Messages and Papers of the Presidents:  Washington - Taft (1789-1913)
• The Public Papers of the Presidents:  Hoover - G. W. Bush (1929 - 2007) and Obama (2009)
• The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:  Carter - G. W. Bush (1977-2009)
• The Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents:  Obama (2009 - 2012)

The archives also contain thousands of other documents such as party platforms, candidates' remarks, Statements of Administration Policy, documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary, and election debates. 

This is a great resource for anyone interested in the Presidency of the United States.

 

 

 

 

 

 







Historical Beaverton Newspapers 1923-present

The library has a collection of microfilm of the historical Beaverton Newspapers.
As it turns out not all of them are listed in our catalog. This blog is to inform you of the holdings we do have, and the titles over time:

Beaverton Review
12/25/1923 to 4-18-1941

Beaverton Enterprise
3/17/1927 to 1-26-1951

Beaverton Valley News
2-2-1951 to 5/24/1962

Beaverton Valley Times
1963- present

One other cool feature is the abity to scan microfilm into pdf and then have it as a file on your portable storage device, aka thumb drive.

The tax man cometh...

We do not yet have federal tax forms but expect to have them towards the end of January.  The forms are currently available for download and printing at the IRS website:  www.irs.gov .  State tax forms are available at www.oregon.gov/DOR.  The library no longer receives state forms for distribution.

Tax Reference shelf at Library

Annotated Tax Code and Weekly Tax Bulletin

among the helpful things for tax preparers at Beaverton City Library

 

 

 An index table near the Value Line in the library has annotated tax code and weekly updates, as well as reproducable tax forms. 

CCH Federal Tax Guide ( 3 volumes ) and Federal Tax Guide Reports Tax Bulletin--Weekly

CCH US Master Tax Guide

Benders Payroll Tax

JK Lasser’s Your Income Tax

 The library does not host the AARP Tax preparation service and there usually is not information out about the AARP schedule until later and it will be posted on the Washington County Library's website. Come here and do your taxes or someone elses!