Blog Posts by Subject: Internet

A podcast is an audio program anyone can make, post to a website, and make available for download onto a computer or portable device, such as an iPod (hence the term “podcast”). Listeners can subscribe to a podcast and get future episodes downloaded automatically as they become available. You probably already subscribe to podcasts of various kinds, but have you ever considered making your own?

A recent conversation with a patron at the Battery Park City Library reminded me of one of my past blog posts in which I pondered the time-saving methods and ideas of Mevil Dewey. I'll have you know that since that post I have implemented none of Dewey's radical ideas. Interestingly enough though, a few of my colleagues do use his methods by spelling my last name "Parrot" instead of "Parrott." Though I personally have not yet benefited from Dewey's time saving techniques, many of my colleagues have, so bravo to the continued productivity! Upward and onward!

It's time for scares it's time for screams IT'S HALLOWEEN.

This month on the NYPL blogs we have all just been gearing up for this one special night. Our costumes were as varied as our blog subject matter, can you guess what we dressed up as?

It was a sunny day at Grand Concourse Library. A patron who visits the Library every morning for the newspaper was discussing a book he had just ordered.

The book, Henry Kissinger's On China, reminded him of the American/Chinese political climate in the 1980s. He was curious to know if the Library had access to any articles from the 1980s or journals pertaining to the Tienanmen Square Protest. This is when it dawned on me: the Library has countless numbers of databases, many available from the comfort of your own home, and all you need to access them is your library card.

On October 22, “Wikipedia! The Musical!” was staged at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Despite its whimsical name, it was not really a musical but an editathon — a chance to edit Wikipedia with a group of people in an inspiring location. Though its focus was improving articles on musical theater, anyone interested in the performing arts was welcome.

Most musical theater history books cautiously locate the birth of the American Musical at Niblo's Garden (a theater once located on Prince Street) on September 12, 1866 at the opening of The Black Crook. Of course, among many scholars, this identification is regarded as something of a joke — song had been integrated into plays since the early days of Greek drama, and the songs in The Black Crook, at least in its original version, were mostly diversions from the plot — no more related to the action and characters than commercial breaks are to an episode of Glee. Nonetheless, for all the very good reasons to reject The Black Crook as the 

Did you see? This month on the blogs...

My friend arrived at my home wet and hungry. On the way to my house her windshield wipers stopped working which was problematic since it was raining. She couldn't make out which lane she was in but she could distinguish the wiggly globs of red and green as traffic lights. She wanted to stop and get a bagel on the way but there was nowhere to park in the parking lot of the bagel store. Well there were available spaces but her car no longer does that thing, the thing where you go backwards, you know, 'reverse,' so you have to really plan out your parking strategy.

April can be sort of cruel (I'm paraphrasing...) but on the NYPL blogs it was a blast! I couldn't help but notice...

In my last post I discussed the urgent problem of preserving "born digital" collections (that is, creative drafts produced using a computer rather than paper and pencil), and the very real possibility that a large portion of our cultural history will be lost unless we solve it quickly.  Today, though, the sun is shining, the weather is warm, and the days are getting longer, so I turn to the happier subject of the really remarkable things a scholar can learn using born digital data.

The Performing Arts Library has an amazing collection of manuscript and typewritten drafts from some of the greatest writers and musicians in the world.  The processes that led to groundbreaking experimental music compositions like John Cage's Music of Changes or Imaginary Landscape No. 1 are documented in the artist's papers. The Fred Ebb collection allows a researcher to peer into the creative process that led to lyrics like "Life is a Cabaret" and "All That Jazz."  These materials can be fragile—they were often written hurriedly on cheap paper and in poor quality ink—but over the thousands of years since the technology of 

For 100 years, The New York Public Library's landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street and its world-renowned collections have inspired people everywhere to find their futures. In honor of the Centennial Celebration, pioneering game designer Jane McGonigal helped the Library kick off its Weekend Festival with Find the Future: The Game, an all-night scavenger hunt in the Stephen A.

In like a lion and out like a lamb, right? More like in like a lion and out like a lion around here on NYPL blogs (their names are Patience and Fortitude, remember?)

And now, a moment for us. February may be the shortest month of the year, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the quantity and quality of blog posts that were shared by staff at NYPL over 28 wintery days. If you've just joined us, or have trouble keeping up, here is a roundup of the month's posts.

The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, The Wolfman) was released in theatres late last month and was #1 at the box office on its opening weekend. It has since received mixed reviews but did you know that this film is actually based on a book written by Matt Baglio in 2009?

The name of the book is The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist and it tells the true story of a California priest and his astonishingly scary experiences in 2005 while studying exorcisms in Rome.

As a global event partner for Social Media Week (February 7 - 11), NYPL hosted four events that afforded me, a seasoned librarian but novice blogger, a handy immersion in social messaging—and in my own backyard, too. 

Were you one of the lucky ones who found a shiny new ereader or mobile device under the (nondenominational) tree? Or did you just decide 2011 was the year you would resolve to do more of your work and leisure reading on a screen?  Before you whip out your credit card for ebooks remember that other card.  NYPL might have you covered for free... read on to find out how in three easy steps!

For Colored Girls, Tyler Perry's latest film, was released in early November and has since received some mixed reviews. Tyler Perry as a director is known for addressing what can be very sensitive topics: for example, drug abuse in Daddy's Little Girls and unhappy marriages in Why Did I Get Married? The casts of his films are usually made up of actors and actresses who are well-known especially amongst the black community. However, it is his ability to capture basic human emotion on camera that has led to his success among of a diverse audience. Did you know that the film For Colored Girls is actually based on a choreopoem book 

Update 2/15/11: OverDrive Media Console Version 2.2 now adds native iPad support.

Update 12/7/2010: Good news Apple fans, OverDrive Media Console now adds support for eBooks. Same app, if you already have it, just be sure to update to the newest version. You might have to restart your device for it to recognize your checked out items the first time. While the app also works on iPads, it is not full screen. iPad users may want to continue to use the Bluefire Reader app but just a reminder neither we at NYPL nor OverDrive officially support this third-party product. Happy