Danbury Library Blog

If you haven't heard, Harlan Coben is the star of our next author event. I hear he's really a blast on the podium. I'm going and I'm bringing along 2 friends BUT we've *ahem* not yet read Coben. We'd like to get a book or 2 under our belts in time for the show. Help us greenhorns out with your suggestions on where to start. Should we go with a Myron or a non-Myron; an early or later book? Post your comments - help!

BTW, the afternoon talk (dessert & coffee included) is on April 22. Details and how to get tickets.

Another Harlan fan...from Hobo's Beardies in the Media.

Posted by Claudia at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Recently I was watching an appearance by Ralph Nader on the "Tim Russert Show." Ralph was talking about his parents and mentioned that his father had a grocery business in Danbury. How does one find out what his father's business was, where it was and how long it was in Danbury?

Our Local History Room has a collection called City Directories for Danbury/Bethel (on microfilm from 1885-1933, in print from 1933 to 1992, the last year they were published). These handy books are similar to telephone books. They list the inhabitants of Danbury and Bethel alphabetically, spouse, address, business address and if the person died or moved from Danbury. Using the City Directories, I was able to determine that Nathra Nada-Nader lived in Danbury from 1921 to 1925 and then removed with his wife and family to Winsted. His father had a confectionary and fruit store at various locations in Danbury from 1921 until 1933.

Mr. Nader currently has a new book about growing up in Connecticut titled The Seventeen Traditions.

Posted by John O'Donnell at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Web is wide, wild and often unwieldy, so I certainly appreciate any attempts to organize and tame its mass of information. The StartSpot network of websites does an admirable job of concentrating and classifying a universe of information on a given topic. And they use real, live human experts to assess and evaluate sites! For example:

BookSpot contains tons of book and author info, book discussion guides, advice on buying and selling books, etc.;
TripSpot has links to just about anything related to travel and trip planning;
GiveSpot facilitates charitable giving and activism.
And every Spot contains sections with fun facts and trivia (i.e., how many seeds are on the average strawberry?).

More well-organized, human-powered sites include the Librarians' Internet Index and the Open Directory Project.

Posted by Andrea at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're perusing this blog, you probably love to read. As online communities grow and the websites supporting them become more sophisticated, niche networks are cropping up. There are a number of sites for readers and book lovers.

My personal favorite is Library Thing, which lets you catalog your personal collection (or just what you've read), post reviews and see what other people are reading. There's a Suggester, to suggest things you'll like and an UnSuggester, which offers up what you might not like.

There are a tremendous number of sites like LibraryThing, each with its own following. Shelfari, Booktribes, and Goodreads are all growing in popularity.

For more real-world interaction, there's BookCrossing, which bills itself as a "catch and release for used books". Members read a book, post a review and then leave the book in a public place for the next book-crosser to find. Each book is given an identification number and its journey is tracked through the site. Don't try this with library books, please!

Posted by Kate at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Media reports of the recent passing of vintner Ernest Gallo included the story of the brothers Gallo going to their public library in 1933 to get a wine recipe--and so an empire was born

The Gallos had about $5,000 and a wine recipe. If you have a good idea but need some direction take a look at "A Fearless Guide to Starting a Profitable 5K Business or 101 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home to name a couple of the many titles we have available.
We also have a good selection of books about wine including tips from "The Wine Guy". If it's a wine recipe you're after try "The Home Winemaker's Companion". Salud!

Posted by Mary at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do you miss going to school? Probably not. The homework, the long classes, the lunchroom drama...but what about those interesting lectures on topics you've always wanted to know more about? Are you curious about consciousness? Would you love to learn Latin? Try a podcast! Educational podcasts are posted online by colleges, high schools, companies and regular folks who want to share what they know. You can put them on your Mp3 player or listen to them on your computer.

Podcasts are audio files (usually Mp3s) posted on the Internet that you can download and listen to. Podcast Alley has a more complete explanation here.

Podcasting directories have lists of educational podcasts. Here are a few to get you started:

Podcasting Station's list of Educational Podcasts

The Education Podcast Network

Podcast Alley

MIT's podcast directory

Stanford on iTunes (requires iTunes)

The Stingy Scholar's list of educational podcasts

Posted by Kate at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Pina Craven is a man of dizzying talents: "a PhD in ocean engineering, a law degree, and a stint as chief scientist for the US Navy's Special Projects Office." He was also instrumental in the design of the Polaris weapons system for nuclear submarines. His experiences inspired his book The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea. His search for lost submarines served as the basis for Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October.

He is now trying to tap the waters of the deep ocean to create unlimited energy and also Chief Scientist and founder of the Common Heritage Corporation.

Posted by John O'Donnell at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)