Bunniesarebest's Weblog

Adventure 8: Google

wilmettehistoryfun — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:18:36 +0000

I Searched Google Books Advanced Search using the new Magazine option for the search term Wilmette. Had a good time looking through the results. Popular Mechanics regularly carried advertisements for Wilmette businesses like the Wilmette School of Tree Dentistry [September 1915, p. 21], Wilmette Farm Supply [February 1952, p.87] and The Balihone Company [to keep your razor sharp in March 1916, p.171]. Also found some poems in Black World/ Negro Digest [November 1974, p.46] by Wilmette Brown! New York Magazine [June 21, 1982, p.35] featured an article about a much younger Christie Hefner [then Christie Gunn] growing up in Wilmette. This could get to be highly addictive. I’m going to revisit Google News Archive too, which I’ve found to be very useful in the past.

Adventure 4: Databases

wilmettehistoryfun — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:28:54 +0000

I enjoy the historic newspaper databases very much, especially those that actually provide an image of the page with photographs or advertising. I found an article in the Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963); Sep 15, 1912, p.B2 about a Wilmette resident I’ve been researching off an on for some time. His name was Hans Spanuth, and he was a producer and director of some very early movies, including”The Great Train Robbery.” The article said H.A. Spanuth of the General Film Publicity and Sales Company had obtained permission of the Bull Moose Party to have a film crew follow Teddy Roosevelt “all through his western trip.” Teddy Roosevelt came repeatedly to Wilmette to visit his friend, Msgr. Vattmann of St. Joseph Church, so I suspect the networking with the president started with Rev. Vattmann. The trick with the newspaper databases is to remember that the text is interpreted by a computer, rarely by a human, so all kinds of inaccuracies can mess up your search.

Adventure 7: Wikis

wilmettehistoryfun — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:44:06 +0000

Well…here I am in wikidom. I tagged along with my husband to attend Betty’s class on wiki’s last Saturday..very helpful in understanding how the PBwiki site is organized. I wasn’t able to get my wiki up and running during class due to e-mail glitches, but I went in from home later and was able to organize a page with a calendar on it.

I’ve seen wiki type things in action in library’s seeking information on local history topics. One excellent use is to post a mystery photograph and ask people if they know anything about the place or the people.

Very useful exercise

Adventure 5: Podcasts

wilmettehistoryfun — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:38:31 +0000

Onion podcast…maybe you had to be there…

The Onion: Meet the Author Some things just need to be presented VISUALLY. The podcast from the authors of Our Dumb World: Atlas of the Planet Earth, by two writers from the mock newspaper The Onion, was done while showing a live audience pictures from their new “reference” work. The Onion is very popular in our household so I was surprised by the flat delivery of people who are such wits in print. Think I’ll go listen to Garrison Keillor.

Humm…in going back I notice there is supposedly a “visual” component to this podcast I have failed to find. Can anybody show me how to find it?

Karen

Adventure 6: Instant Messaging

wilmettehistoryfun — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:48:47 +0000

I tried using ASKAWAY today as a followup to a reference question I had this morning. The patron said he had read “somewhere” that a new type of light bulb was in development that doesn’t contain mercury as compact flourescent lightbulbs [CLFs] do. I found his article, but decided to check the IM service to see if it could locate a source to buy said new bulbs. The librarian pushed several pages my way, and one was especially useful about LED Bulbs. The new bulbs are made from recycled materials, contain no mercury, and last about ten years, BUT are pretty expensive. Sounds promising for the future.

I’ve used chat before to do things like ask vendors to talk me through troubleshooting software, or finding out if some remote library has indexed obituaries in their local newspapers [a tiny obsession of mine[ [smile]

One of my favorite chat abbreviations is IMHO…in my humble opinion. Who THINKS of these things?

Adventure 3: Two little guinea pigs on Flickr

wilmettehistoryfun — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:13:41 +0000

Al & Jerry

Originally uploaded by Meaghan Courtney

Bunnies are best, but guinea pigs are a close second

Adventure 2: Best use of a treadmill on YouTube

wilmettehistoryfun — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:45:49 +0000

I followed up on a tip from my son-in-law about a video he thought I’d enjoy on YouTube. He was right! This band has the cleverest choreography I’ve seen!

I also have to put in a plug for my brother’s movie “The Noisy Restaurant” He and his wife Bernie visited a little country diner near Pittsburgh for this culinary experience.

Hello world!

wilmettehistoryfun — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:21:39 +0000

I’m a rabbit fan, as you can tell from the name of my blog. Our family has had various furry pets over the years, starting with gerbils and working our way up the rodent column till we hit rabbits. When I get to the point of experimenting with flickr, you’ll see a few pictures of our former pets. I’m eager to see how this blogging differs from wikis for collaboration efforts. I’m also very interested in genealogy and aspects of our local history here in Wilmette. It would be fun to share that.