Library of Congress Photos+ Flickr=Fun!!!

The Library of Congress has joined forces with Flickr to create the Flickr Commons. Now some of the Library of Congress' archived pictures are available for anyone to view online, and users are able to tag the pictures. Right now they have pictures taken by the U.S. government's Farm Security Administration (FSA) and the Office of War Information (OWI). These photographs are in color and were taken in 1939-1944. It really gives viewers a fresh look at this era.
There are also pictures from the Bain News Service from 1900-1920, documenting a wide range of events from sporting events to celebrities.

Edith Wharton, 1862-1937

On January 24, 1862, Edith Wharton was born. I have actually only read one of her novels, The House of Mirth (but I have the others on my vacation reading list, which I have to admit is usually quite long and will probably form the basis of my retirement list-my only defense is that I was an English major in college). While the Moorhead Campus does not have many of her works, you will be able to find some of the short stories she submitted to magazines within the NetLibrary database. Plus, there is always the option of looking at a website like Project Gutenberg for some of her books, which may be available in an electronic print or MP3 version.

Fiction at the Moorhead Campus Library

(Yes, we do have fiction at the Moorhead campus library-we've just been very good at hiding it, apparently. )

:)

Now, for the big announcement....We have recently made some changes at the Moorhead campus library to help you get to some of our resources. The main one is that we created an actual fiction area. Now, we've always "hidden" some fiction in our collection (you may remember being directed to a number like 813 or 823), but now it is organized by author's last name within its own section-just like at your public library. To make space for this new area, we have had to make a few other changes to where things were located. If you need help finding anything, though, just let us know.

Prepare Your Car for Winter

Prepare Your Car for Winter

You can avoid many dangerous winter travel problems by planning ahead. Have maintenance service on your vehicle as often as the manufacturer recommends. In addition, every fall:

* Have the radiator system serviced, or check the antifreeze level yourself with an antifreeze tester. Add antifreeze, as needed.
* Replace windshield-wiper fluid with a wintertime mixture.
* Replace any worn tires, and check the air pressure in the tires.

During winter, keep the gas tank near full to help avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines.

Winter Survival Kit for Your Car: Equip your car with these items:

* blankets
* first aid kit
* a can and waterproof matches (to melt snow for water)
* windshield scraper
* booster cables
* road maps
* mobile phone
* compass
* tool kit
* paper towels
* bag of sand or cat litter (to pour on ice or snow for added traction)
* tow rope
* tire chains (in areas with heavy snow)
* collapsible shovel
* container of water and high-calorie canned or dried foods and a can opener
* flashlight and extra batteries
* canned compressed air with sealant (for emergency tire repair)
* brightly colored cloth

For more great tips regarding cold weather issues please check out this web site:
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/winter/guide.asp#car
From our friends at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
Tel: 404-639-3311 • CDC Contact Center: 800-CDC-INFO • 888-232-6348 (TTY)

Comfort Foods

Simply Soups: The Ultimate Comfort Food
"There's something extremely satisfying about a hot, bubbling pot of soup on the stove on a cold winter's night." Use this site to find dozens of recipes for broths and stocks, chilis, chowders, cream and cheese soups, onion soups, and vegetable and meat soups. Also includes recipes for dessert soups, fruit soups, and a listing of cold soups.
From our friends at Librarians' Internet Index

A.A. Milne

In 1882, A.A. Milne was born. Milne is probably not as well known as his literary creation, Winnie-the-Pooh, but he was more than just a children's author. For more information, we recommend you visit The Playful Antiquarian's post about Milne. In that entry, he mentions numerous biographies about Milne (and one volume of literary criticism that also contains information about J.M. Barrie/Peter Pan & Lewis Carroll/Alice in Wonderland, et. al.).

Use Caution When Researching Online

I Googled "Martin Luther King" today, just out of curiosity. I found some great websites like the Nobel Prize website and The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute from Stanford.

I also found a website that, at first glance, looks to be helpful and informative but it's actually an attack on King's ideas. The website is www.martinlutherking.org (Sorry, I'm not going to link directly to this website). When I stumbled across this website, it reminded me of how unreliable the internet can be and that one must be very careful when researching online.

If you're curious to know where certain websites come from, plug in the domain name at http://www.easywhois.com/.

Find out who's linking to a certain webiste by typing "Link:(type URL here)" at www.altavista.com.

View Rare Books Online

The 1455 edition of Johann Gutenberg's Bible, Isaac Newton's Opticks from 1704, Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream from 1600.
These are just a few of the many amazing rare books that you can view online at The Rare Book Room website.
Now you don't have to travel to London, Germany or other parts of the globe to see these books. They're just one click away!

Austen on PBS

My friends and I have been waiting anxiously for the revamped Masterpiece series on PBS, due in large part to the Austen themed kickoff. The Masterpiece: Classic season began this past Sunday night, with an adaptation of Persuasion. Now, to show my age and the fact that I grew up without cable, I remember when Masterpiece: Classic and Masterpiece: Mystery were completely separate entities-Mystery (on Thursday nights in the area I grew up in) with it's very spooky opening animation sequence and Masterpiece Theatre (on Sundays) with its distinctive theme, which then inspired the very cute Monsterpiece Theatre. Regardless of the fact that they were separated by genre, many episodes had their origins from well-known novels, short stories, and plays. . For more information on the various stories shown on Masterpiece Theatre, visit the archives. If you liked Persuasion, here are some other books you may wish to read.

Jane Austen, Emma
Jane Austen, Mansfield Park
Jane Austen, Northaner Abbey
Jane Austen, Persuasion
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
Charles Dickens, Bleak House
Charles Dickens, The Old Curiousity Shop
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss
George Eliot, Silas Marner
Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford
Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Moorhead Campus Proctoring

If you need a proctor at the Moorhead Campus, please call the library at 218-299-6530 or stop by and grab an information sheet. When you call, we can provide you with the information you need over the phone (or we can email it to you). Thanks!

Welcome Back

If you need a proctor at the Detroit Lakes campus please call us at 218-846-3772 or use the toll free number 1800-492-4836 and ask for the Library we would be more that happy to help you out.
We also have a Detriot Lakes Library toolbar which features our databases, library catalog and Websites reviewed by Librarians, (the last is a work in progress, if you look on the right hand side you'll see it is broke down by classes: Architecture Sites, Automotive....ECT, just click on what ever you are interested in and it will open up, than follow that link to the web site..

To Download Library Toolbar

* Go to this site http://detroitlakeslibrary.ourtoolbar.com
* Follow the directions on the page, if you have any question please call the Library

Edward Lear

I had forgotten how much I loved Edward Lear's work,which include the Nonsense Books and his wonderful poems among them the THE OWL AND THE PUSSY-CAT and his great sketches and art work, Enjoy.

"The Emptied Prairie"

Have you ever driven around rural North Dakota or Minnesota and noticed that there are a lot of abandoned houses in the area? I know that I've often wondered what kind of people lived there or what could have happened to them to make them leave. There is a great article in the January 2008 issue of National Geographic magazine titled "The Emptied Prairie" that addresses this very issue.
The article starts, "In the early 20th century, railroads lured settlers into North Dakota with promises of homesteads. Towns were planted everywhere. Houses rose from the sweep of the plains, many... with a story no one can trace. People believed rain would follow the plow. But they were wrong."
Stop by our library to read this fascinating piece of local news.

The Birth of Jacob Grimm

On January 4, 1785, Jacob Grimm was born. Most people know him as one of the Grimm Brothers, but he did more than collect fairy tales. For more information, check out This Day in History by The History Channel.