Book Reviews: Copper Sun, The Social Animal, The Geography of Bliss

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:13:10 +0000

Book: Copper Sun
Reviewer: Mr. Palin
Rating & Comments: While the book’s depiction of slave capturing in Africa seems realistic, the book’s historical realism declines when the main character Amari reaches America. The story powerfully shows the cruelty of slavery, but too many scenes seem contrived merely to keep readers interested, rather than educated about the psychological and physical toll of slavery in colonial America.

Book: The Social Animal
Reviewer: Mr. Palin
Rating & Comments: The book is odd, amounting to a psychological analysis of two fictional characters, Erica and Harold. Their development, from birth to adulthood to old age, is chronicled in a story of personal and professional successes, mistakes, failures, and problem solving. At times the author seems to try overly hard to make the characters’ stories seem mainstream, and this makes parts of the book awkward and painful to read. Yet, in explaining why Harold and Erica do what they do, the book’s psychology lessons are informative and often very interesting.

Book: The Geography of Bliss
Reviewer: Mr. Palin
Rating & Comments: In search of the world’s happiest place, the author travels widely, tells of his findings, and arrives at several conclusions about what makes people happy. It seems that money helps some, low expectations a little more, and a few other things like living within cultures of limited diversity. By interacting with interesting locals in places like Holland, Switzerland, Bhutan, India, England, Qatar, and Moldova, the author adds to and revises the recipe for happiness throughout his travels.

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Improved Access to The Times

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:34:57 +0000

The library is now offering improved access to The New York Times. As part of the library’s Classroom Subscription to The New York Times Replica Edition, students and staff can now enjoy new features, including a new listening option to hear articles read aloud and new ways to search. Although the library also provides access to back issues of The Times through its Newspaper Source database, The Replica Edition is the best way to read and browse the paper’s daily issues. A link to The Times is available on the All Databases page. The password is available on the Passwords page.

Nominate Books for NH Award

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:37:51 +0000

From the Nashua Public Library: Do you live in New Hampshire and are currently in grades 9-12? You are invited to nominate a book for the Flume: NH Teen Readers’ Choice Award. We need suggestions of fiction and nonfiction books that appeal to teens in grades 9-12, with publication dates from 2009-2011. If the book you want to suggest is part of a series, it must be able to stand alone, meaning a reader doesn’t have to read the other books in the series to understand what’s going on. To nominate a book by January 13, 2012, please following this link.

Online Newsstand

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:07:04 +0000

SMHS Library has teamed up with the Online Newsstand Project. The goal of the project is to increase use of libraries’ electronic resources by making access easier and more enjoyable. The founder of the project is Steve Butzel, a website and database developer whose real job is serving as the assistant director at the Portsmouth Public Library in Portsmouth, NH. Reading these magazine while at school requires a simple click on the magazine cover. If you’re off campus, you’ll need the EBSCO username and password available from the Passwords page.

Pre-Step: Characteristics of a Research Paper (Video)

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 18:54:59 +0000

Video on Research Paper Characteristics |
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Slides on Research Paper Characteristics |

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Step 1: Start with Basic Information Sources (Video)

admin — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:33:11 +0000

Video on Completing Background Reading Before Choosing a Topic |
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Slides currently unavailable on this topic |

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Step 2: Create a Workable Topic (Video)

admin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:20:39 +0000

Video on Shaping Research Questions |
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Step 3: Using Different Types of Information Sources (Video)

admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:36:02 +0000

Video on Different Types of Information Sources | Video on Why Use Library Databases for Research |
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Slides on Different Types of Information Sources |

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Step 4: Creating Search Terms (Video)

admin — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:19:37 +0000

Video on Creating Search Terms for Database Searching | Video on Searching with AND, OR, and NOT
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Step 5: Search for Information (Video)

admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:04:27 +0000

Slides on Searching EBSCOhost |

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