Latest DVD additions to our collection

The following is a chart of the most recent additions to our DVD collection we have made. These are available for borrowing straight away, so please feel free to request any you would like to borrow. If you're after more information about any of the DVDs just click on the title.

Title	Rating	Call Number
The Descendants	M	DVD DES
Dolphin Tale	PG	DVD DOL
Happy Feet Two	G	DVD HAP
We Bought a Zoo	PG	DVD WEB
A Streetcar Named Desire	PG	DVD STR
Minuscule - Volume 1	G	DVD MIN
Anonymous	M	DVD ANO
The Adventures of Tintin	PG	DVD ADV
The Illusionist	PG	DVD ILL
War Horse	M	DVD WAR
Evolution	E	DVD 576.8 EVO
New York: a documentary film	M	DVD 917.471 NEW
Writing a Personal Imaginative Essay		DVD 808.042 WRI
Quick as Light		DVD 535 QUI
Daily Life in Ancient Rome		DVD 937 DAI
Science Bank		DVD 500 SCI
Fat – the best friend of mankind		DVD 612.397
Girl Wrestler		DVD 796.082 GIR
Cracked Not Broken		DVD 616.86 CRA
Body Parts		DVD 570 SCI
Peas in a Pod		DVD 572.86 CRA
The Seeds of a New Era		DVD 572.86 CRA
Understanding the Book of Life		DVD 572.86 CRA
Reading the Book of Life		DVD 572.86 CRA

Google Research Tool

Google has just made multitasking that little bit easier, using Google docs and their new Google Research tool which you can use side by side. Simply named 'Research' the new tool allows you to conduct searches for terms related to your document or search for images, maps and websites from a panel that appears next to your document.
Here's how to search for things using Research:
Maps: searching for a location will automatically bring up a Google map. You can insert this into your document as is or edit it by zooming in or out.
Photos: These can be inserted directly into your document after conducting a search. The great thing is that photos can be filtered to include those that are licensed for free use - a way to avoid copyright issues.
Webpages: for webpage results, hovering over the link will allow you to see a preview of the page. If you like what you see click 'insert link' to add it to your text.

What I like about this tool is that it allows you to insert a citation, automatically formatted, into your document. All you have to do (after you've inserted a link) click 'cite'. Google will add a footnote number to the link in your text and generate a properly constructed footnote at the bottom of the page.

If Research doesn't automatically appear next to your document all you have to do is select Research from the Tools menu, or alternatively press Ctrl + Alt + R on your keyboard.

Here's a great video from Bright Ideas that shows how to use Research and shares their first impressions of Google's new tool.

NEW! Senior Fiction collection

Thanks to a great idea from Helen O'Keefe we have now started a Senior Fiction collection in the Library. And before you ask, no it's not just for senior citizens - it's intended for anyone from Senior students, staff and even parents. Our collection is still pretty small since we've only just started adding to it but we're hoping that it will grow over time. Please feel free to let us know if you want to borrow any of these books - or recommend any titles you would like us to get.

The following is a slideshow of the titles we have so far (you'll be able to see that not all of the books are fiction - but we've decided to still keep them all under the Senior Fiction heading). If you want to find out more about any of the books you see just click on it.

Library Guides from the State Library

Librarians from the State Library of Victoria have put together some Library guides on a range of different subject areas in order to help people with their research. These are pretty much to guide you through the research process in order to shorten the time you spend searching for information. The guides will help you find books, pictures, maps, documents, newspapers and online tools and resources to help you with your research.

The following is just a small selection of the types of guides that have been created:
1. Aboriginal people and the law
2. Bushfires
3. Court cases in Australia
4. How to find items in Newspapers
5. Magic and magicians
6. Victorian immigration and emigration
7. Water
8. Protest, advocacy and dissent in Victoria
9. Adoption and forgotten Australians
10. Finding poetry

There are also 28 other guides on a range of topics. You can see the entire list here.

Pinterest

You might have already heard of Pinterest, a social media platform which is becoming more and more popular. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard, where you can share images that you like. These can be from websites you like, or from your own collection, and link back to the website where they came from. You can create boards on any subject or theme you choose, or search through other people's boards which could be on subjects relevant and interesting to you. You can also re-pin other people's favourites to your own boards.

One of the most attractive things about Pinterest is that it's purely visual - you can't save text-only content, only material with images attached. The picture you 'pin' then acts as a link back to the main page that it came from. This means it's perfect for gathering items together like a scrapbook.

Some of the most popular collections are in themes like historical fashion and home design. There's also lots and lots of recipes on there too!

But if you spend a little more time (once you tear yourself away from the yummy looking food) and dig a little deeper you'll soon find some great teaching materials and activities (search in the Education category or look up your particular topic). You'll be able to find everything from historic photos of Victorian London or World War 1, to images of historical shoes or fashions, or wildlife and botanical drawings. You'll also find that Pinterest is a great image repository, link sharing community and an easy-to-use site for students or classes to quickly gather and assemble project materials on a huge range of topics.

National Geographic: Stock your palette

National Geographic Stock is a great way to find photos or pictures which are available for you, or your students to use. The photos on NG Stock are royalty free, which means that you won't have to worry about copyright - these are all copyright free!

One way to search for photos on NG Stock is to use the cute colour wheel which is located on the home page - this gives you a sample of photos in the colour range of your choice. All you have to do is click on the colour you like and a range of photos will come up. If you have something more specific in mind that you want to search for though, you can always use the search bar on the right hand side of the screen. All you have to do here is type in what you would like to search for and click Explore.

Love and Devotion: from Persia and beyond exhibition

The State Library of Victoria has a free exhibition Love and devotion: from Persia and beyond  from 9 March until 1 July 2012,  celebrating the beauty of Persian manuscripts and the stories of human and divine love told through their pages from the early 11th century on.

Romantic tales were copied and sometimes reinterpreted over time, and reached far beyond the borders of Iran. The universal themes of Persian narrative and mystical poetry appealed especially to audiences in Mughal India and Ottoman Turkey, and eventually to audiences in the West. Transcending time and place, these stories continue to resonate today and to be retold through contemporary literature and popular culture.
The idea of Persia has long fascinated Western minds. From the Middle Ages on, knowledge of Persia gradually expanded as a result of increased contact through trade, travel and diplomacy. Writers in Europe, such as Chaucer, Dante and Shakespeare, reflected this understanding in the parallels with Persian literature and shared symbolism evident in their plays, poetry and prose.

Love and devotion showcases a rich selection of manuscripts from the world-renowned collection of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, along with rare works from the State Library of Victoria and other Australian collections.

If interested, the link is http://exhibitions.slv.vic.gov.au/love-and-devotion  The site also includes audio excerpts of poetry you can listen to (read by Helen Morse).

-Tina-