Tag Archives: resource of the month

Resource of the Month: Home Grown eBooks

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NC LIVE is experimenting with a new eBook project that gives North Carolina library patrons unlimited access to more than 1,200 eBook titles from North Carolina-based publishers. This collection offers a wide range of content, including novels by popular North Carolina authors, poetry, short stories, and non-fiction and features titles like Guests on Earth by Lee Smith and North Carolina and Old Salem Cookery by Beth Tartan, among many others.

NC LIVE partnered with eight local publishing houses to purchase the eBooks, including Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Crossroad Press, Gryphon House, Ingalls Publishing Group, John F. Blair Publishing, McFarland, Press 53, and UNC Press.

The Home Grown eBook collection is available at http://nclive.org/ebooks.  (You will be prompted to log in with your library card.) Unlike traditional library eBooks, this collection features always available, unlimited simultaneous user access during the life of the pilot, meaning patrons will not have to place a hold or wait for an eBook to become available. Users may view the eBooks in a web browser or download them to their tablet devices via the BiblioBoard Library app.

Resource of the Month: Proquest Family Health

2014-09-03_0927In January 2015, many of our online resources currently available through NC LIVE will change. One new resource we’ll be offering is ProQuest Family Health. This database includes magazines and journals covering consumer health topics such as sports injuries, women’s health issues, children’s health, food and nutrition, midwifery, eye care, dentistry, and much more. As with some other databases in NC LIVE, ProQuest Family Health gives you the option to limit your search results to only full text articles, only peer reviewed articles, and other specifications.

ProQuest Family Health is useful for nursing students and those in related health professions. It is also invaluable for families looking for accurate, in-depth information about a variety of health issues. As you probably know, the internet is not always a reliable source of information about health issues, particularly those that are controversial or little-understood. Families who are trying to learn about issues such as ADHD, diabetes, or just what to look for in a pediatric dentist will find that ProQuest Family Health offers a sensible and reliable alternative to much of the “chatter” you might find when looking for information on the world-wide web.

To access this resource, visit www.nclive.org. Scroll down and click on the “Nursing & Allied Health” link. Click on “ProQuest Family Health” (you will be prompted to choose your library and provide your library card number).

Click here to see a complete list of our new databases.

Resource of the Month – OneClickDigital’s New App!

oneclickdigitalLast summer we told you about the great online resource for eaudiobooks, OneClickdigital. It’s one of the free online resources available to Chatham County Library patrons and gives you access to more than 1,500 downloadable audiobooks.

Now OneClickdigital eAudio has released a new app, available for download in the app store for all iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, and Nook Color users.  The new app allows users to download individual chapters and titles and maintain multiple user profiles.  The app also makes it easier to search for content and manage titles in your account.

To download the app, search for OneClickdigital in the app store on your device, and select the OneClickdigital eAudio Player. If you already have a OneClickdigital eAudio account, use the same username and password to log into the new OneClickdigital eAudio app. If you don’t have an account, you will be asked to create a new account.

(The OneClickdigital Media Manager is still available to download audiobooks to your computer and transfer them onto your portable device. To access OneClickdigital go to chathamlibraries.org home page. In the menu on the left side of the page click on “Online Resources”. Click on OneClickdigital on the Online Resources page, under “Ebooks, E-Audiobooks & Magazines”.

Resource of the Month: Small Engine Repair Reference Center

As winter finally starts to fade and the weather gets warmer, many folks are looking forward to getting outside. In some cases, that means on a warm-weather vehicle, such as a boat, motorcycle, ATV, or jet ski. Or maybe you’re just ready to fire up your lawn mower, tiller, chainsaw, or – if you’re more of an ambitious type – your tractor. No matter what sort of small engine you’re ready to use, it might need a little tune-up after a long winter’s rest. In that case, the Small Engine Repair Reference Center, available online through the library, is at your service!

Simply go to www.nclive.org and click on the “Hobbies & Interests” category. From there, click on Small Engine Repair Reference Center and choose your engine.   You’ll need your library card to access the site, but it’s 100% free of charge.

So watch those fingers and toes, and get ready to repair your small engine!

Resource of the Month: Drug & Herb Information

ConsumerHealthCompleteAre you looking for reliable information on prescription drugs or medicinal herbs?

The Consumer Health Complete database is a great resource for this topic. The Drug and Herb Information section features concise and clinically-relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products and new and investigational drugs. It also includes revised information on FDA changes.

Using the search bar, readers can find drug and herb information related to a specific illness, or they can find articles about a particular drug or herb. The page also has links to the results of Top Searches, which recently included:

  • Cholesterol medications
  • Diabetes medications
  • Heart medications
  • Pain medications
  • St. John’s Wort
  • Stroke medications
  • Vitamin B
  • Zinc

Reference sources on the site include Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants & Herbs, AHFS Consumer Medication Information, and Complete Guide to Prescription & Nonprescription Drugs.

To access this resource, go to www.chathamlibraries.org and click on the Online Resources link on the left.  Scroll down and click the blue Health & Wellness Information Center button.  (You can also go directly to www.nclive.org and click on the Health & Wellness heading.)  In the top right box, click on Consumer Health Complete. From there, click on Drug & Herb Information.

Many of the resources in the Health & Wellness Information Center are provided by NC LIVE, so you will be asked to sign in using your library card number if you are accessing these resources outside of the library. 

Resource of the Month: Occupational Outlook Handbook

Bureau_of_labor_statisticsAre you looking for a change in career, but are at a loss for options?  Or maybe you know what you want to do, but have only a vague idea what your dream job requires. For example, would you need to take classes?  How many hours a week could you expect to put in at this new job?  What innate attributes would help you in this career?  And what hasn’t even occurred to you?

In plain language, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook tells you what you need to know about almost any job you can name. Click the link to any job on the site (there are over 4,000 listed), and you will see a job summary that tells you:

  • what you can expect to be paid in that position,
  • how much education you need to secure the job,
  • how much on-the-job training you can expect,
  • approximately how many of those jobs are currently on the market,
  • how quickly that job market is growing (or shrinking),
  • and much more.

From the Summary page, you can browse categories for more detailed information via links such as What They Do, Work Environment, How to Become One, Pay, Job Outlook, and Similar Occupations.

To access the Occupational Outlook Handbook online via Chatham Community Library’s Online Resources page, choose the NC LIVE link, then scroll down to the middle of the page and click on the Career, Jobs, & Test Preparation category.  From there, click on the Occupational Outlook Handbook link to be taken to the site.  (You can also visit www.bls.gov/ooh directly. No login required.)

Resource of the Month: Infotrac Newsstand

Infotrac NewsstandWondering where the New York Times database went?  You can now access the NYT and over 2,500 other news sources through InfoTrac Newsstand, a full-text newspaper database which allows users to search articles by keyword, headline, date, newspaper section, and more.

Infotrac Newsstand currently contains over 131 million articles from national, international, state and local news sources published between 1980 and 2014, with more content added each day.  It also includes images as well as radio and TV transcripts.  Once you’ve performed a search of the collection, you’ll have numerous options for fine-tuning your results.

To see if a particular newspaper is included, click on Publication Search on the orange toolbar, then search by title.  You can also choose List All Publications to see a complete listing of available titles.

To access this resource, visit www.nclive.org and click on the Articles icon below the Browse heading.  Scroll down the list of databases and click on Infotrac Newsstand.  If you are accessing the database outside of the library, you will be prompted to log in with your library card number.

Need help?  Give us a call at the Reference Desk:  919-545-8086.

Resource of the Month: Legal Information Reference Center

Legal Info Ref CtrIf you’re looking for expert guidance on a wide variety of legal issues, the Legal Information Reference Center is a great place to start.  Available through NC LIVE, this resource offers information on just about any legal topic you can imagine.  You can browse one of several categories, including information relating to:

  • business and corporations
  • family affairs and divorce
  • immigration and travel
  • money and financial planning
  • patents, copyrights, and trademarks
  • property and real estate
  • rights and disputes
  • wills and estate planning

You can search for specific legal forms for issues like bankruptcy, patents, accident claims, home buying and selling, green cards, adoption, wills, and more. You can narrow your search to forms by state, too – for example, only North Carolina forms. And finally, you can read online copies of several useful legal guides, including Nolo books on bankruptcy, neighbor guides, becoming a U.S. citizen, retirement plans, and several others.

After you’ve found some helpful information, you can save it to your online folder to peruse at your leisure.

So the next time you need legal information or forms, visit www.nclive.org, look under the Government & Law category, and check out the Legal Information Reference Center!

Resource of the Month: Zinio

zinioZINIO provides magazines in digital form, free from your library, to read on smartphones, tablets, and computers!  E-zines offer full-color, page-for-page copies of popular magazines, with easy to use navigation, keyword searching, and even some interactive audio and video.

To start using Zinio, visit the library’s website, www.chathamlibraries.org, and click on the Zinio link.  This will take you to the catalog of available magazines:

  • American Craft
  • Cloth Paper Scissors
  • Dwell
  • Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
  • Martha Stewart Living
  • Mental Floss
  • National Geographic Traveler
  • Newsweek
  • OWL
  • PC Magazine Digital Edition
  • Pets
  • Popular Mechanics
  • Scholastic Parent & Child
  • TV y Novelas USA
  • Utne Reader
  • Vanidades USA
  • Yoga Journal

Choose a magazine, and click on the cover.  For your first magazine only, you will need your library card number to create two accounts:  one for RB Digital, specific to Chatham County Public library’s service, plus one for reading in Zinio.  Please be sure to use the same email address for both accounts.

Once you have an account, you will be able to read e-zines in your computer’s browser.  To read on a mobile device, download the Zinio app.  Zinio apps are available for your computer, iPhone, iPad, Android device, Kindle Fire, and Blackberry.  Once a magazine is downloaded to your device, it’s yours to keep!

Click here to go directly to Chatham County Public Library’s Zinio Collection.

Need help getting started with Zinio?  Come to the library’s reference desk for help, or call 919-545-8086 to make an appointment.

Resource of the Month: NC LIVE Video Collection

nclivevideoDo you have an episode of NOVA or Ken Burns’ Baseball perpetually at number two on your Netflix queue because there is always a movie the kids need to see first?  NC LIVE Video Collection to the rescue!

The NC LIVE Video Collection offers hundreds of documentaries and educational videos produced by the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), augmented with material provided by the Save our Wilkes History Committee and the North Carolina Office of Archives and History.  You can watch award-winning shows such as:

  • American Masters
  • Art 21
  • Frontline
  • Ken Burns’ Series
  • Masterpiece Theater
  • Nova
  • Scientific American

…and many others at the NC LIVE Video Collection for absolutely free.  Many of these videos are not available to stream elsewhere, and you can watch them right on your computer or mobile device with an internet connection.

The NC LIVE Video Collection home page presents its collection by series, by subject, by category, and by title, with the option to browse only titles offered with closed captioning.

Here’s how to access any of these brilliant programs:

  • Go to www.nclive.org
  • On NC LIVE’s home page, click the “Videos” button
  • Choose a series or category of video (you’ll be prompted to sign in using your library card number)
  • Click the “Play Video” button

For help with issues specific to the NC LIVE Video Collection, click the “FAQ” link at the top of the page.  For other common questions about using NC LIVE, use the “Help” link, also at the top of the page.