All posts by Brian Herzog
Updated Career Guidance Resource
Our career guidance database has a new look! The changes to the database include a fresh and cleaner look, better search capabilities, a Career Opportunity News newsletter, and a great deal more content.
The Library subscribes to Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center, from Facts on File, which is a resource offering information on jobs, careers, scholarships, industries, work skills, resumes & cover letters, and more. Patrons looking to find a job, change careers or just improve their job qualifications, can use this database to find out what skills different jobs require, and then get tips on how to obtain those skills.
To log in and start using this information, go to the Career Guidance listing of our database page, and either click on “In Library” (if you’re in the library), or if you’re at home, enter your library card number and click the Login button.
For assistance with this or any of the library’s other databases, please contact the Reference Desk.
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New Library RSS Feeds Available!
Library patrons can now receive feeds from the book lists in our Reading Room via RSS!
Over 40 feeds are available, offering the New York Times best sellers lists, Staff Picks, Award Winners, and much more, all in your RSS reader. All of the feeds are listed on our Available CPL RSS Feeds page, with shortcut links to add them to popular feed readers.
Don’t know what RSS is?
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that allows updates to web pages, such as news, events, or book lists, to be sent to you, automatically, instead of you having to visit all those web pages to get the latest information. Kind of like reading new email in your inbox, RSS feeds are collected and read in an RSS reader, such as Bloglines, Yahoo! or Google Reader (or any number of other readers). Also, some of the new internet browsers (Firefox, IE7, Safari) can read RSS feeds, too.
This blog also has a feed, as do the other CPL blogs (all feed links are on the Available CPL RSS Feeds page). When you’re on a webpage, look for an RSS (
) or XML (
) icon to grab the feed.
If you have questions about these new RSS feeds from the library, or need help setting up a reader or accessing these library feeds, please contact the Reference Desk.
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New Downloadable Audiobook Titles and Features
A few updates have been made recently to our downloadable audiobook library.
Patrons can now click to browse by two new subject categories, “Historical Fiction” and “Literary Fiction.” Also, over 150 new titles have been added in the last few months, bringing our total downloadable audiobook library up to almost 600.
To log into this service, go to http://mvlc.lib.overdrive.com, or look for the logo above on the library’s homepage.
Funding for these digital audiobooks is provided by both the Chelmsford Library and the Merrimac Valley Library Consortium, and we use the Overdrive service. If you have any questions or need help with this service, please contact the Reference Desk.
New Online Subject Guides
Two new subject guides are available on the Library’s website.
One relates to Consumer Information, and includes resources such as Consumer Reports, Boston Consumer Checkbook, lists of buying guide books in the library, and links to websites offering product/service ratings, information on shopping and buying, and resources from the government.
The second guide covers Health Resources, including research databases provided by the library, a listing of where in the collection books of various health topics can be found, and a long list of web links to health-related websites, organized by topic. Many of the website are “starred resources,” as they are recommended by the Health Studies Librarian of Simmons College.
Links to both of these subject guides, as well as many others, can be found on the Library’s website. For help in using the guides, or with researching other topics, please contact the Reference Desk.
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New Chelmsford Community Newsletter
The Town has just released their Summer 2007 Community Newsletter.
The newsletter contains listings and information on Town departments and adult and youth recreation events for the summer months of 2007. Also there is a letter from Town Manager Paul Cohen, the program for Chelmsford’s 4th of July celebration, an update on the sewer project, recycling information and survey, and contact details for Town programs and departments.
If it hasn’t already, the Newsletter should be arriving in the mailboxes of Chelmsford Residents soon. It is also available for download on the Town’s website as a pdf file (1.1MB). Copies will be available at Town Hall and the Library’s Reference Desk, in case you did not receive one.
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Historical Photographs Online
Starting in February 2007, the Chelmsford Library has benefited from the work of the Chelmsford Historical Society and Chelmsford Telemedia in digitizing historical photographs held in the library’s archive.
These photographs are part of the Royal Shawcross photograph collection. This collection includes over 150 photographs taken in the North Chelmsford, Massachusetts area around 1901. The subjects include residences and businesses of the area, including the fire ruins of a major mill.
As they are prepared, these photographs are being uploaded to the Royal Shawcross Photographs set of the Library’s Flickr account (read about Flickr), to make them available to the public.
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Housing Authority Applications at the Reference Desk
Application packets from the Chelmsford Housing Authority are available at the Reference Desk, on the lower level of the main library.
These packets are for applying to the first-time homeownership lottery of 2 three-bedroom units that will be located at 8 Main Street, North Chelmsford.
Applications must be turned into the Housing Authority office no later than 4pm on July 12, 2007, to be considered. Questions should be directed to Lisa Singleton, Office Administrator for the Chelmsford Housing Authority, at 978-256-7425 x10.
Library Sunday Hours
Just a reminder that Library Sunday Hours are again coming to a close. The last Sunday the library will be open is May 20th, 2007.
We’ve been open 1-5pm on Sundays since October 15th, 2006. Funding for Sunday Hours has come from State Aid, which makes up a part of the Library’s budget each fiscal year.
In fiscal year 2008 (July 2007 – June 2008), State Aid will be used to cover the Library’s computer budget, instead of Sunday Hours. This is due to the Library receiving less money from the Town, and means that there will be no Sunday Hours this fall. Sunday Hours may resume in January, but that decision won’t be made by the Library’s Board of Trustees until the beginning of December.
Let us know what you think about Sunday Hours, so we can best allocate the library’s budget to serve Chelmsford patrons.
Flash Drives at the Reference Desk
The Reference Desk is now selling flash drives, in addition to the older 3.5″ floppy disks and CDs. Flash drives connect to a computer through the USB port, and are also often called USB drives, jump drives, thumb drives, andor a few other names.
If you still use either 3.5″ disks or CDs to store or move your data files, switching to a flash drive might be worth considering. They are less susceptible to being corrupted by temperature, being dropped or bent, and are much more user-friendly.
Flash drives range in size from 32 megabytes (about the same storage as 28 3.5″ floppy disks) to 2 gigabytes or more (about 1800 floppy disks), and can range in price from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars.
The flash drives for sale at the Reference Desk are Memorex 32 megabyte flash drives, and cost $5 each. If you are interested, please stop by the Reference Desk on the lower level of the main library. We’ll also be happy to tell you more about flash drives, help you pick a model that better suits your needs, or help you transfer your files between disks.
Children’s Room Mural
The Children’s Room is getting a makeover! In honor of Steve Maloney, the Library has commissioned a mural to be painted in the Children’s Room.
Painting started this week, and will take place throughout the summer. Updated photographs will be available frequently, and the public is encouraged to come in and check on the progress – but be careful, because this is now a construction zone.
For more information, please visit the Children’s Room Mural webpage.