World Fantasy Award Winners Announced
On Sunday November 1st, the recipients of the 2009 World Fantasy Awards were announced at the World Fantasy convention in San Jose. The following award winning titles are available from the Santa Clara County Library System.
Best Novel (tie)
The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Best Anthology
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy edited by Ekaterina Sedia
Best Collection
The Drowned Life by Jeffrey Ford
A complete list of 2009 World Fantasy Award Winners.
Posted to Recommended Reading on November 2, 2009 11:07 AM
by Milpitas Library
Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving Time (DST) ends on Sunday, November 1st. Remember to set your clocks back by one hour at 2 a.m.
Some background on Daylight Saving Time:
Setting clocks ahead to have more daytime during the waking hours was first suggested in a whimsical essay by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. This practice, now known as daylight saving time (DST), was adopted by many countries during the 20th century, especially for the summer months. DST saves energy by decreasing the amount of time each day in which people need to rely on artificial lighting instead of sunlight.
In 1907 William Willett campaigned unsuccessfully to implement a version of summer DST in England. Summer DST was first adopted during World War I in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and Australia. During World War II, the United States kept its clocks advanced one hour year-round, while the United Kingdom adopted “double summer time,” with clocks advanced two hours in summer and one hour in winter.
Most of the United States now follows summer DST. The start and end dates were standardized by the Uniform Time Act of 1966 and changed in 1986 (effective the following year) to the first Sunday of April and the last Sunday of October. The dates were moved again in 2005 (effective 2007), to the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. In 1996 the European Union standardized its summer DST, called summer time, to begin on the last Sunday in March and end on the last Sunday in October.
daylight saving time. (2009). In Britannica Student Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 30, 2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition: http://library.eb.com/kids/comptons/article-9273932
Posted to Research Tools on October 30, 2009 03:31 PM
by Santa Clara County Library
Opinion: Proposed Google book settlement leaves libraries' rights in question
It's good news that the U.S. District Court decided to hold off on finalizing the settlement among authors, publishers and Google Book Search, the search engine's gigantic new online library that scanned 7 million books from major American research libraries. While the concerns of protecting intellectual property rights are getting most of the attention, there are still too many questions about public fair use and privacy that remain unresolved.
The potential of Google's digitized library is exciting. For the first time, students who attend small colleges and people who live far away from major universities will be able to access to the same resources as those who can easily visit the campuses of Harvard, the University of Michigan, the University of California, Stanford and other great schools with vast library collections. Access to information is a great equalizer and a fundamental element of a democratic society. It is an important way to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots.
The problem with the initial proposed settlement is a lack of specificity about how public libraries throughout the United States would be able to provide access to Google Book Search for millions of citizens. Would each library, regardless of its size and number of users, only be allowed to have one computer that could be used to access the Google Book Search?
Posted to Library News on October 23, 2009 10:12 AM
by Santa Clara County Library
Education E-Resources
Our Education E-Resources page includes a collection of links to helpful and informative websites that will help you and your family to explore education options.
Find out how your local schools rank in the Adademic Performance Index from the California Department of Education.
Interested in homeschooling your children? The HomeSchool Association of California provides legal and practical guidance.
Is it time to start planning for college? Check out this list of links to college guides and rankings or these financial aid resources.
You can even go to a virtual college fair or contact a college counselor at CollegeWeekLive .
Additional websites including free practice for tests such as the SAT and GED can be found in our Education E-Resources.
Posted to Research Tools on October 20, 2009 10:01 AM
by kbyoung
National Book Award Finalists - 2009
The National Book Award finalists have been announced. Panels of writers selected the top five books of the year in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and young people's literature. The Library has copies of the books being considered.
The winner in each category will be announced on November 18, 2009
The National Book Awards are presented by the National Book Foundation. The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.
Posted to Recommended Reading on October 19, 2009 01:43 PM
by Santa Clara County Library
