Valentine's Day

A day for Cupid and romance! Or, is it a day for cards, flowers and chocolates? In any event, today is Valentine's Day. Is it in honor of Saint Valentine or a substitute for a pagan holiday? The History Channel gives the history of the day, some great romances and dating through the ages. Not really sure I want to know more about the last.

An example of the problems of finding true love is explored here: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Talking Rooms

There are two rooms in the library designated as "talking areas": the main Reading Room and the room downstairs where the copiers and state materials are. Since we have received many complaints about the noise level in the Reading Room, I want to take this time to explain exactly what we had planned when we chose to allow talking in certain areas.

We did this to allow groups to study together. Because we don't always have enough study room space, we wanted to offer additional space for study groups to discuss their school work. These rooms were never meant to be used for socializing among friends. There are lounges on the second floor for that. Please be considerate of you fellow students and keep your conversations at a low volume and only about your studies. If you feel your group is getting off track and laughing and telling stories, it is understandable, everyone needs a break. Just get up and leave the library until you are ready to quiet down and work again. Thank you.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Library (and University) closed on Sunday, February 12

The law library is closed today due to inclement weather.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Cheapest Fare to Anywhere--FareCompare with Google Maps

With this week's winter weather came news about FareCompare.com. FareCompare has integrated Google Maps with airline fares to provide both comparison charts and a map pinpointing the cheapest flights from New York (or other departure city) to anywhere but here. Starting from the home page, select a city for your departure and destination to bring up a comparison chart of fares across airlines. Then select “My Airport Map” (left frame) to view a Google map with cheapest fares marked for cities across the country, including the highlighted cheapest-of-all destination. Thanks to Google Maps functionality, you can even zoom in to focus on a particular region, such as southern Florida. Or start your search from the “My Airport Map” page by entering another departure city. Wherever you start and end your search, FareCompare provides a visually integrated view of flight costs for planning your next getaway.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Discuss . . .

I love surfing the web and reporting the neat sites I find. But, I really want to hear from you. What are you researching, what issues have you spotted in the Library, what 21st Century Library workshops would you like to see??? - Let me know by posting a comment. I will respond to all.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

International Trade: The GATT Digital Library

Those who are interested in the subject of international trade and its history will find the following to be a valuable resource. The GATT Digital Library is a project of Stanford University Libraries, Academic Information Resources, and the World Trade Organization. This digital library offers more than 30,000 public documents and 300 publications of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). GATT produced almost 60,000 documents during the years of its existence (1947-1994). Not every document has been derestricted, but additional documents will appear as they become available.

The public documents include reports, studies, and meeting records that represent a range of subjects relevant to international trade. Each document has a unique symbol number. Users may search for documents by symbol number, title word, date, full-text keyword, or specific GATT body. Those who wish to browse the library will find the documents organized by the issuing body.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Please "Bus your Trash"

Just a reminder today. While you are welcome to bring drinks into the Library, please either take them out with you or throw away the empty cups in the trash. Do you think we need more trash receptacles in the Library? Let know where you would find them most useful. Thanks.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

78th Annual Academy Awards: March 5, 2006

Which films are the final nominees? Which were nominated? How many of the films do you even recognize? The official web site for the Oscar's tells you all you need to know. See clips from the films, test your knowledge of Oscar history, view the styles worn by the stars changing over the years, and more. How many of you think the quality of the Oscar evening depends on the host (Jon Stewart)? Even if you have no plans to watch, you can still know all about it.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

FirstGov Search

FirstGov is the U.S. Government's official web portal. It provides online information, services and resources through both government and other Internet sites. Because of its huge size, searching it had been an issue. Recently, the government granted Vivisimo, the owner of the Clusty search engine, a contract to provide the search engine for FirstGov. You can search from either FirstGov's main page or from its search page. There have been many improvements to the search functionality of this site including clustering of results and a much bigger database. To read much more about this new search engine and the wonderful improvements see Gary Price's article in Search Engine Watch.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Super Bowl Ads

It is about 10 minutes to kick off in my world...
For those who like the big league (read big $) commercials as much as the game, seeing them once is never enough. Yahoo!Video, through a partnership with iFilms will be posting the ads to the Yahoo!Video homepage shortly after they air. This is also the place to catch a replay of past Super Bowl favorites. Everything from the 2004 Budweiser commercial of the donkey who wanted to be a Clydesdale to the classic Macintosh 1984 . May your favorite team win!
Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat