Recently in InfoSoup Category
> contributed by Evan
If you haven't had a chance yet, take a look at the screencasts we have so far:
I'm planning on creating more on several different topics, including Saved Searches and Reading History.
Keep in mind that any of the screencasts can be embedded in your web sites to highlight help available to your patrons. If you'd like help doing that, please contact Evan.
If you have comments or constructive criticism about the screencasts or ideas for additional InfoSoup help we could provide, please post your thoughts in the comments. Thanks!
> contributed by Beth
Not to be outdone, the APL children's staff has also published new lists including more bug related fun in Insects & Creepy Crawlers (fiction) and Insects & Creepy Crawlers (nonfiction). Other new lists include Community and Community Helpers and Summer Books & Media. Visit the Family page for more booklists, award winners, and BookLetters features.
> contributed by Evan
There are other languages represented in the catalog not included in the limits but how can you search to find out what is available? There are two cool options! The first is to search the catalog for the type of material using a subject search. For example:Hmong language materials
Russian language materials
Spanish language materials
The second search is to perform a keyword search for the language using lang (for language) and the three letter MARC code for languages. Before you roll your eyes, let me say it is simple and even intuitive! Examples:
Langara (language=Arabic)
Langswa (language=Swahili)
Langswe (language=Swedish)
Try these searches in InfoSoup, please! Did you know there are 15 titles in Swahili?
> contributed by Holly
We are also in the process of changing how we do our InfoSoup staff picks. The Readers' Advisory Group will be posting their Recommended Reads to InfoSoup, along with genre specific reading lists for adults and young adults. The last meeting featured gentle reads and the next meeting in April will review historical fiction. Please contact Holly or Ann Hunt at NLP if you would like to participate in the reading group.
The Recommended Reads page is still a Work in Progress, but should go live on InfoSoup next week. Feel free to take a sneak peak while we develop the page. If you would like to add a review to the list please contact Ann. We will be discontinuing the staff picks that we posted through BookLetters. Many thanks to everyone who sent suggestions!
>> contributed by Evan
Yesterday, the InfoSoup PR Committee selected the winners of our January InfoSoup YouTube Contest. We were very happy with the results of the contest and love the 1st and 2nd place winners we selected. Here are the winning videos:
1st place goes to Megan Kugel for "InfoSoup vs. Card Catalog."
What a great advertisement for InfoSoup, huh? Embed the video on your web site and spread the word about how cool InfoSoup is!
2nd place goes to Jodi Sellhausen for "When InfoSoup Comes to Town..."
Other entries can be found on the contest page on InfoSoup. Be sure to take a look, because there are some good ones there, too! Thanks to everyone who promoted the contest for us. It was great fun, and we hope to do another one in the future.
>> contributed by Beth
A number of new booklists have been posted recently. On the Family Page we have added:
- Valentines Day - Books, Music, & DVDs
- Battle of the Books 2007 -2008
- Out of this World! Stars & Constellations
- Easy Reader Mysteries
- Advanced Easy Reader Mysteries
- Mysteries for Older Readers
On the Teen Page:
- Optimistic Teen Reads
- GLBTQ Teen Fiction & Nonfiction
- Award Winning Teen Books (Printz Award) updated
And don't miss the February staff picks, including the teen selection Alcatraz versus the evil Librarians, a story about foster child Alcatraz Smedry who, on his thirteenth birthday, receives a bag of sand which is immediately stolen by the evil Librarians who are trying to take over the world.
Thanks to staff at the Appleton Public Library for continued work on the booklists and to all InfoSoup librarians for their great staff selections.
>> contributed by Evan
Of all InfoSoup searches, can you guess how many searches were executed via the web (i.e. searches not executed in a library)? (Jan. 8-Feb. 6, 2008)
386,312 or 70.83% of all searches in InfoSoup were from outside a library! Do we still know who our patrons really are?
The most popular author and title searches for the same time:
>> contributed by Holly
There's still time for you or your patrons to participate in the InfoSoup YouTube contest! The contest runs through the month of January and prizes will be awarded to the top 2 winners (library staff and their family members are not eligible for prizes, though - sorry!). Details about the contest and how to enter can be found on the InfoSoup YouTube Contest page.
Promotional information for you to use at your library and in your community are available on the InfoSoup Info page on OWLSnet. Posters to print, a media release, a letter to schools, and more are all included there, so please take a look and encourage your patrons to enter!
Check out our first entry in the contest at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFBh44kkikY.
>> contributed by Beth
Whether it's one of the classics or a modern take on the holiday season, it wouldn't be the holidays without holiday movies. Check out new lists of Holiday Films, Nontraditional Holiday Movies, and Nonfiction Holiday Titles on InfoSoup. Patrons can even send in their own movie suggestions to be added to the lists!
Kudos and thanks to the Appleton Public Library Reference and Information Services staff and Evan for putting these lists together. Enjoy!
>> contributed by Beth
