Presidential Libraries

Hi All,

Presidents are special.  Not for the least reason that there have only been 43 unique presidents in United States history.  They are rare and, generally (okay, sometimes) popular.  But they do command respect and, at times, have been called 'the most important man in the free world'. 

Presidential powers are vast - click here for more on that topic. And for that reason alone, Presidents of the United States have libraries.  What is a presidential library?  Well, it is a place where a presidents keeps his/her papers, documents, histories and more so historians, political scientists, researchers, biographers, writers and others can do original research on a particular president.

Click here for a few links about presidential libraries.  Note that on the site users can visit the presidential libraries and museums, research presidential documents, explore public and education programs and more.

Click on this link from the White House which links to brief biographies of prior United States Presidents.  Note that the links are chronologically organized.

Finally, click on this link from the Internet Public Library which has biographies of every United States president. 

Enjoy the links.

Regards,
Stu

The Halfway Point in 2015: Mid-Year Reviews

Hi All,

I can't believe it.  The halfway point in 2015 is just about here.  Tonight is the halfway point - which means that we still have half a whole year left.

Mid-points are a good time to summarize where we've been - and where we're going to go in the next six months of the year...forthwith, a whole bunch of useful sites that will help you chart the future six months of 2015 on a whole host of personal topics!

The website Generation X Finance  (which bills itself as 'Helping a Unique Generation Achieve Financial Independence) has an article title, 'How to Do a Mid-Year Financial Checkup - Things to Think About This Summer'  Important parts of the article include reviewing goals, progress and your taxes and, believe it or not, saving for Christmas 2015...

Lifehack.org has an article titled, 'How to Do a Personal Mid-Year Review?'  Three parts of this article were notable: Making a list of everything that you feel proud of over the past six months, making a list of any new goals or challenges (and noting any progress) that you taken on over the last six months and identifying areas of your life that you'd like to focus on over the next six months seems particularly poignant, relevant and helpful. 

Career Realism (whose tagline is 'Because Every Job is Temporary') has an article titled, '10 Questions to Ask Yourself Today'.  This short article is divided into 2 sections, 'Look-Back Questions' and 'Look-Forward Questions'.  Some salient points from each include thinking about  key accomplishments, mistakes made, time management, top 3 personal goals, learning and knowledge and relationship development.  How did you do on the last point?

Finally, from the Huffington Post comes this article, titled, 'Time For a Personal Mid-Year
Review: This is How! (What We Can Learn From Business)' This article gives the writer in all of us something to do. For example, the article suggests that we:
1. Write down the goals that you had set yourself at the beginning of the year.
2. Write down how you have 'performed' in these categories.
3. For each category, write down one or two of the biggest challenges you have had...
5. Write down in a maximum of two sentences how you wish to achieve open goals on your list.

As you can see there is a lot of writing and thinking...but it will help you get more proactive and engaged in your mid-year life review.  

While we are at the half-way point in the year...there are 180 days left to achieve those goals that you've set down!  You can do it! (Click here for a list of motivational quotes from BrainyQuote.com.

Enjoy the links - and good luck on your goals, aspirations, hopes and dreams.

Regards,
Stu

Calling All Writers and Wordsmiths

Hi All,

Are you an aspiring author? Do you like to write? Do you want to write your memoirs or poetry or short stories? Or do you just like to write just for the sake of writing and for the love of words?

If so, you are in luck.

This blog entry is for you then!

Click on this link - which got me thinking about writers and writing - from the Brooklyn Public Library which talks about the BPL's new on-demand book printing machine. Very cool stuff! and you'd get to print out copies of your book.

Now, I suspect that you don't realize how many resources we have at the library to help aspiring writers write. Click on this link from our card catalog. I did a title search using the term 'writing'. I then narrowed down the search to find material that is only found in the Farmingdale Public Library. Look at all these amazing results for all current and future writers! Great material for, well, your material. (Cute, eh?)

But wait, there's more (as they say on the infomercials you see on television late at night)...

Amazon.com has their own self-publishing page - you can view the information by clicking on this link. Be sure to read all the information regarding this process - it might seem a bit clunky, but you'll be doing yourself a service by reading before printing.

If you go to the website SelfPublishing.com (Helping Authors Become Publishers) you'll learn all about self publishing. Neat site - good information - and timely.

So there you have it. Some resources that can immediately start you on your way to being a published author!

Good luck - and if you are a Farmingdale resident, we'd love to have a copy of your book in our collection!

Regards,
Stu