Welcome to whatsintown….

Welcome to “whatsintown,” where you will read about goings-on in the local Wilmette/Kenilworth area and the greater North Shore.  Our community is so rich with arts and cultural events, and I plan to highlight some of what’s happening here.  Hope you’ll enjoy reading about what’s in town…

Googling

I’m a big fan of Google’s — but who isn’t? Such an amazing search engine — not to mention all of its other products.

How did we ever live without Google Maps? You can find a street address, the nearest cafe, and…how about that street view?

I’d never tried Google Scholar before, but just tried it out for the same search I’d written about in my “In an instant…” post.  I think my daughter’s finished her paper on censorship and the Merchant of Venice, but, when I entered those terms in Google Scholar, more than 2000 results came up.  I’m sure she could’ve used this, had she only known about it.

Thanks to the Great 8 Committee.  These adventures have been terrific!

Wikis

I’ve been wiki-ing for several months now, having gone to a wiki workshop at NSLS back in September. I’ve even started wikis for two organizations…
I think wikis are a great outlet for internal projects at the library. I’m part of the Customer Service Standards Committee – and the wiki set up for that group has proven to be a great way to communicate and create a group document.
I’m also thinking that a wiki would be a great resource for our community pages and a good way for local residents to add their thoughts and ideas to our website.

In an instant…

Ask Away was fun for me since I used to be the librarian on the other end, when WPL used a prior service for virtual reference. I decided to ask the librarian (John from the Seattle Public Library) a reference question that my college freshman asked of me last week; she needed help in locating instances — at any time and any place — of productions of “The Merchant of Venice” that had been prohibited. I had spent only a few minutes on the question myself before I handed it over to John. Instead of sending me info about productions of the play, however, he sent me articles about how reading of the play had been banned in classrooms. I explained that I was more interested in prohibited productions — and, after sending me one minor reference, he wished me luck with my research and told me to have a good day.
I’m not faulting, John, mind you. I have the sense that this information is not going to be easy to find — and, therefore, not the kind of thing apropos to a quick answer reference service. During my quick hunt on the subject, I also had found much information on the banning of the reading of the play and very little about banned productions. At the very least, John validated my sense that my daughter will have a much easier time writing her paper about how the play has been banned in schools than on the stage!

As for IM-ing in general, I’m pleased to say that, as the parent of two college students, my skills are being maintained on almost a daily basis. Whereas a year ago, my now-college freshman thought it weird that her mom was an IM-er, she and I now happily IM each other almost every day. IMO, that’s progress!

Podcasts

Well, the first thing I learned today about podcasting is that at least some podcasts need to be uploaded differently, depending on whether you’re using a PC or a mac.
I had tried to listen to Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” on my Mac at home today, but, alas, it wouldn’t upload;  I don’t have Windows Media Player on my Mac.
Conveniently, though, I am already a podcast listener — and I actually already have a podcast subscription to Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” on iTunes. I subscribe to a number of other podcasts, too, though I must admit that I haven’t ventured very far into exploring new podcasts. I tend to subscribe to things that I already know and like — and often don’t have time to read or listen to, including a number of NPR podcasts, some New Yorker podcasts, Slate’s Political Gabfest, and some Travel with Rick Steves. Thanks to the Great 8 Team for suggesting XM Radio podcasts, which you can find at this link. XM’s describes their podcasts like this: ”XM Satellite Radio is a music fan’s premiere outlet to discover new and emerging artists and to reconnect with their favorite songs and artists spanning every genre of music.”

Movies — past and present

Looking at the Chicago Tribune Historical Database, I discovered that Hedda Hopper used to be a columnist for the paper, with a column called “Looking at Hollywood.” On the day I was born, Ms. Hopper wrote that Jane Powell was soon to star in a new musical romance film, which would be a remake of the folkloric legend, Hans Brinker. Check out the story
here.

If you’re looking for info about movies playing locally in the current day and age, you can always check out Moviefone. I saw two movies over the holiday weekend that I highly recommend: “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.”

Remember that the Wilmette Theater is a jewel of a resource right in our own community. Between their movie offerings and their live entertainment, they always have something of interest going on.

New Trier High School Orchestra on YouTube

With the vast amount of material on YouTube, it is easy to find videos on many — or most — subjects and events.  I had posted a blog entry about  New Trier’s upcoming fall orchestra concert — and then I found a video of their 2007 fall concert that I posted here, with great ease.

I especially like the idea of using online videos for library instruction — to help people navigate the website, navigate the online catalog, etc.  It also would be great to post online videos of programs and speakers (with their permission, of course!).

New Trier High School Orchestra Concert

Support our local high school musicians, and go hear the New Trier High School Orchestra when they perform in concert on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at the Gaffney Auditorium at New Trier West, 7 Happ Road in Northfield. 

Flickr

It was great to learn that you could upload pictures from Flickr directly into a blog.  Thanks to the “Great 8″ team for the hint to hit Ctrl and Refresh if the “Blog This” button didn’t appear above a photo.  I hadn’t read the instructions clearly enough at first — and couldn’t figure out why none of the photos I was looking at would allow uploading to a blog.  And, then, aha!!  The ctrl/refresh hint really helped!

fall leaves

fall leaves

Originally uploaded by jude

Northshore Concert Band

The Northshore Concert Band presents its fall concert on Sunday, November 9, at 3:00 p.m. at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the Northwestern University campus. The program includes Music for Prague 1968, one of the landmark works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Karel Husa; the bright, colorful and Medieval-inspired Homage to Perotin; and a special arrangement of Greensleeves. The guest soloist is Debra A. Richtmeyer, professor of saxophone at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and one of the nation’s leading saxophone pedagogues.
Advance reservations for this concert will be taken through 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 6. After that, all ticket purchases must be made at the box office on Sunday, November 9. The box office will open at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 9.