Resources Review - Novelist

Over the next few weeks, we'll be highlighting some of our online resources, including our ebooks and various online learning programs.  You can visit our Resources page at any time for a list of our more popular programs, or the databases by subject page to view a comprehensive list which includes our academic research offerings.

First we'll take a look at NoveList, a comprehensive readers' advisory solution for fiction lovers. It helps you find your "next read" with a variety of easy-to-use tools.

You can access Novelist from this link in the library, and use your Oldsmar library card # to access it from outside the library.

Novelist has book discussion guides, read-alike lists and reading suggestions for all ages.  You can tell it what type of books you're looking for or browse by genre and age group. You can even search by Lexile or limit your searches to only award winners with the Advanced Search options.

Right on the landing page, you'll find suggested read-alikes for recent bestsellers as well as the Keeping Up lists, which let you know what's been released recently in your favorite genre.

We hope you'll give Novelist a try when trying to find your next read and let us know what you think!

Universal Class - new resource for online learning

Have you wanted to try an online course but were turned off by the price? Well, we have a great new product that you can use for FREE to polish up your skills or learn some new ones. Instructions for creating an account are below.

Universal Class offers over 500 online non-college credit continuing education courses on a wide variety of topics:

Accounting -  Alternative Medicine -  Arts and Photography -  Business - Career Training -  Computer Training - Cooking - Crafts & Hobbies -  Finance -  General Education -  Health & Medicine -  History -  Home and Garden -  Homeschooling -  How To / Do It Yourself - Law/Legal/Criminal -  Mathematics -  Medical Billing -  New Age - Office Skills -  Parenting and Family -   Performing Arts -  Personal Care -  Pet and Animal Care -  Psychology -  Real Estate -  Reference -  Religious Studies - Science -  Self-Help -  Social Work -  Special Education -  Spiritual Studies -  Teacher Resources - Terminology -  Test Preparation -  Web Development - Writing Skills

Most classes contain an audio-visual component as well as assignments, quizzes & exams to test your knowledge. You can print out a Certificate of Course Completion for each class you complete.  Classes take between 10-20 hours to complete

• You can browse the catalog, but you must register & create an account with Universal Class before you can begin classes.  You can do this with this link either in the library or outside with an Oldsmar library card.  Please call us at 813-749-1181 if you need assistance.
• You will need to have a valid e-mail address to sign up for courses
• You are welcome to enroll in up to 5 courses at a time
• You have up to 6 months to finish each course
• You have access to your course 24/7 via the Internet & can cover course materials and do assignments on your schedule
• Each course has a real instructor who you may communicate with using e-mail
• There are online message boards which provide opportunities to connect with other students for an authentic classroom experience
• These are non-credit courses and are provided for your personal enrichment. These courses are not intended to be a substitute for any state, government, licensing, or educational requirements.
• Universal Class is accredited as an authorized provider by the International Association for Continuing Education Training (IACET), offering continuing education units on all qualifying courses.

You can read more in this FAQ.

Ukulele available for checkout & Ukulele Program

We just wanted to pass along some pictures of a new item for checkout: a ukulele!

 

The Tampa Bay Ukulele Society has kindly donated ukuleles to several Pinellas County libraries. You can check ours out from the Circulation Desk for 28 days with three renewals.

The kit comes with the ukulele, a tuner, and an instructional book and DVD (as shown below).

The Tampa Bay Ukulele Society will be hosting a workshop here on Wednesday, July 8^th from .6:30 - 8:00 pm, no registration needed. The presenter will introduce the instrument & teach several chords. Students will learn to play two songs & receive information on where to go for further lessons!  It is primarily for teens/adults, and they are working on creating a workshop for children that we will hopefully have at a later date.  Stayed tuned for that and in the meantime...check out our kit & learn to play!  Call us with any questions.

Writer's Critique Group Forming

We have a guided writer's critique group forming here at Oldsmar Library.  You MUST PRE-REGISTER via e-mail, the registration info is below.

The critique group will meet the 1st and 3rd Monday evenings every month, and will be led by former publisher and Time-Life editor, Molli Nickell. The first meeting will be Monday, June 15 in TECO Hall. Things will get started with a meet & greet from 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm, followed by critique activities from 6:00 - 8:00.

Sponsored by the FWA (Florida Writers' Association), the group will be open to the public. It is limited to 10 active participants, but auditors will be welcome to attend and "listen only." Focus will shift between manuscript development/refinement, agent acquisition, and/or self-publishing.  

Reserve space by emailing Molli at getpublishednow.biz@gmail.com. Write CRITIQUE in the subject line.  Feel free to email any questions to the same address.

Mark your Calendar - Summer Reading Preview

We wanted to let you know just some of the special programs we're offering this summer so you can mark your calendars early!

Click the graphic for a list of what's in store so far. As always, we'd like to thank our Friends of the Library group for their support of our programming.

We'll of course have reading incentive programs for all ages as well.  Check back with us for more information.

Thermal Leak Detector / April Spotlight on Sustainability and the Environment

Looking for ways to be more ‘green’?  Trying to figure out why your power bill is so high? Let the Oldsmar Library help you at no cost to you!

Another item available for check out is the thermal leak detector. We have these up at the Circulation Desk and you can take one home today. This is a tool that can really help you save money! Ever notice your AC doesn’t turn off? It seems like it’s been running all day but it's still really hot, or maybe it's freezing? I know where I was living at one point in time I could stand outside by one of my windows and feel the AC blowing. That was before we had these handy detectors!

It’s really very simple to use. It’s an infrared laser that you point along places where a leak would be:  moldings, windows, doors, and ductwork. Once you do this, the detector will change colors, giving you feedback, telling you where you should caulk or insulate.  Once you get everything all patched up you will notice a difference, and you won’t be providing AC for the entire neighborhood!

Kill-A-Watt device / April Spotlight on Sustainability and the Environment

Looking for ways to be more ‘green’?  Trying to figure out why your power bill is so high? Let the Oldsmar Library help you! We have items here that can help you find and get rid of those pesky problems at no cost to you. 

One of the things available is the Kill A Watt. This device plugs measures the amount of wattage that an electronic device uses and gives you an estimate of cost! You can use this to measure all kinds of things such as an alarm clock, a refrigerator, your dryer, a toaster and the list goes on. Using this will give you a guide to let you know what is using the most power in your household and if it should be unplugged or plugged into a power strip that can be switched on and off as needed.  By doing this simple thing you can save money and the environment.

If you're interested in checking out a Kill A Watt, please ask at the Circulation Desk.