Mercer County Library Blog

PowerPoint presentations are not just for business meetings. Enjoy creating Scrapbooks and Photo Albums? Then use PowerPoint and create sensational photo albums and travelogues; you can even create a virtual tour of your new home. You can then email this photo album to friends and family or post it on the web. Using the existing templates available on PowerPoint makes it all a breeze! You can create your own custom layouts; add special effects to your photos just like a professional designer all with just a click of a mouse! Once you open PowerPoint 2007, Click New and then click on Installed Templates and choose Classic Photo Album or Contemporary Photo Album . Double click the template or click once and then click Create . The template will open displaying different slide samples with all the design elemnts in place: the color, font, and the placeholders for your text and photos. If you like the template you chose, then simply add your own text and photographs in the appropriate p...

As the calendar turns to a new year, Tech Tips ponders what we will be reading about on the technology front in 2010. Tablet PCs look like a hot topic with early-year buzz regarding the pending announcement from Apple about its newest device, Apple iPad . Tablet PCs have been around for years, but have been pricey at best. The idea behind them is to provide a more compact laptop. You use a touch screen instead of a mouse, substituting a stylus or your fingers to do your pointing and clicking, even using an on-screen keyboard to type. Very handy in cramped spaces, like the subway. Another portable device that gained momentum in 2009 and will continue to grow in 2010 are eBook readers . While Kindle and Sony Reader have dominated the market for the last few years, the Barnes and Noble Nook is selling well and new versions are in the works from Samsung and other manufacturers. Cell phones in select cities are already getting a boost from 4G wireless , which is a faster, more internet-fr...

On Monday, January 18, 2010 at their Midwinter Meeting in Boston, MA the American Library Association announced the winners of the three most prestigious awards in the world of youth literature: the Randolph Caldecott Medal, the John Newbery Medal and the Michael L. Printz Award. Both the Caldecott and Newbery Medals are award annually by The Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC). The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The first Caldecott Medal was given in 1938. The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The first Newbery Medal was awarded in 1922. The Michael L. Printz Award is awarded annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) for a book that exemplifies l...

If getting in shape and eating healthy tops your list of New Year’s resolutions, be sure to browse the libraries’ extensive collection of health, diet, and fitness books that can help get 2010 off to a great start! Here are just a few recently-published titles worth checking out: A Long Bright Future Author Laura L. Carstensen seeks to shed the myths and misconceptions about aging that stop individuals from adequately preparing for healthy, fulfilling, and financially stable long lives. This optimistic and highly informative guide to smart aging will show you the steps you need to take to ensure that long life becomes synonymous with good life. Women’s Health for Life This unique compilation of women s health information, designed to help women optimize their health, well-being, and quality of life, is written by women physicians for women readers and discusses topics from contraception to infertility; migraines to menopause; and heartburn to heart disease. The 90-Second Fitness Soluti...

Check out these great options to introduce young chefs to the kitchen. Best Book Tie-ins Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook by Georgeanne Brennan: whip up zany sounding concoctions like “Brown Bar-ba-loots’ Truffula Fruits” with very little time and few ingredients Addy’s Cook Book by American Girls Collection: easy historical Southern recipies, each with background about where it came from and how it was served Best for Preschool Helpers The Children’s Step-by-Step Cook Book by Angela Wilkes: with photographs for each step and each ingredient this is also a great way to build a vocabulary of foods and kitchen tools Salad People by Mollie Katzen: all vegetarian and with illustrated steps that kids can follow and text for adults detailing how even the youngest hands can join in Best with Older Kids The Spatulatta Cookbook by Isabella and Olivia Gerasole: written by the young hosts of spatulatta.com, this features fun recipies with photographs and simple instructions along with basic ti...

As we usher in the beginning of this new decade, it may be a good time to reminiscence on some of the great figures whom we lost in 2009 and on their works and contributions that have made a lasting impact in different fields. Through their writings, books and sound recordings, their thoughts, their vision and their legacy live on. Paul Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) transformed and redefined the discipline of economics and academic thinking with his groundbreaking work that won him the Nobel Prize. Samuelson developed sophisticated mathematical models and theorems to analyze a wide range of economic problems including business cycles, and the effects of trade on consumers and manufacturing. Perhaps his most important contribution was the synthesis of the nineteenth century neo classical school of thought that focused on natural market equilibrium, with Keynesian economics that supported government intervention in situations of falling employment and income levels. At MC...

How was your gift-giving season? Did family and friends enjoy the socks, iPods, gift cards, and fruitcakes? Or, did you turn over a new leaf after reading Scroogenomics: why you shouldn't buy presents for the holidays by economist Joel Waldfogel and tamp down on spending? In just over 180 pages, Waldfogel describes the giving season as the Perfect Storm that annually slams into America consuming billions of dollars. Scroogenomics wants us to see reason and think not twice, but thrice, even thrice times twice before we join the 85 billion dollar national spendfest orgy. According to Scroogenomics we make too many uninformed holiday purchases, max out our credit cards to buy gifts worth less to the receiver than what we actually spend, and everyone ends up less satisfied than you might think. But wait? Isn’t it too late? The presents have been wrapped, ripped open, and in many cases already returned . Perhaps you might check out Scroogenomics and be ready for Holiday Season 2010....

According to USA.gov some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions include: losing weight, managing debt, quitting smoking, and reducing stress at work. Come December 31st, I don’t have any problems coming up with a New Year’s resolution. There are myriad choices of things I’d like to pledge for the New Year. Exercise more? Organize my ever-growing stash of photographs into albums? Join a book club? Try a new recipe every week? Start volunteering? I try to choose ONE resolution . . . sticking with the resolution is the hard part! To help you successfully fulfill your New Year’s resolution, search our catalog to take advantage of our library collection. You may be surprised to see what we have! Whether you’re looking for materials about managing money , organizing your home , or reducing stress , you may uncover DVDs, books, CDs and other materials from our collection that could help you keep your New Year's resolution. Also, remember to look at the programs and events that eac...