New York Public Library Puts More Than 180k Images Online

Hi All,

Back in early January 2016, the New York Public Library made more than 180,000 of its public domain images available as high-resolution downloads for users.  

Users can download images of maps, documents and photo illustrations directly from the organization’s Digital Collections website without restriction.

The images were released along with changes to the NYPL Digital Collections website - basically the changes were meant to create a more user-friendly interface so users can find free content!

Which means....if you are interested in New York City images, you are more than likely interested in Farmingdale images.  Forthwith...the Farmingdale Public Library Digital Collection. Access is via the New York Heritage Digital Collections link.  This specific link will take you to the Farmingdale Public Library images in the collection. 

As if that were not enough, click on this link to read the NEW Farmingdale Public Library Local History Blog.  

And, finally, for those of you who are interested in the Farmingdale history or the history of the Farmingdale Public Library, click here. 

Enjoy the links and the memories and the history!

Regards,
Stu

The American Civil War - Great Books to Understand the Conflict

Hi All, 

The American Civil War lasted from 1861 and lasted until 1865.  Some great books have been written about this monumental, historic conflict.

HistoryNet.com has an article titled 'Ten Civil War Classics'. And while the list is over 6 years old, its is a great starting point for the budding civil war hobbyist.  Some of the more well-known books on the list include Shelby Foote's 'The Civil War: A Narrative' and James McPherson's 'Battle Cry of Freedom'.

Not too be outdone, the New York Times generated a 'Civil War Booklist' some time ago.  Interestingly and usefully enough the list starts with the following caveats:

" Far more books have been written about the Civil War than about any other event in American history, and Lincoln’s stack of books towers over that of any other American figure. Any recommended reading list therefore has to be highly selective and at least somewhat arbitrary."

Well said and well written.   The books in the list are broken down by category: General Histories, Lincoln, Battles, Biographies, Civil War in Culture, Military and Miscellaneous. 

And - where available -  the titles have links to the New York Times book reviews of the title highlighted.

Click on this link to find if any of the books in either of the two articles listed above can be found in the Farmingdale Public Library. 

Enjoy the reviews and the books and don't forget to look in the Farmingdale Public Library to get the book!

Regards,
Stu

MedlinePlus - Trusted Health Information for You

Hi All,

Medline Plus is a government sponsored health website. Specifically the site is sponsored by the venerable U.S. National Library of Medicine and the NIH (National Institute of Health). 

The site has an amazing wealth of information, but for today's blog entry I'd like to discuss the section of the site that covers drugs, herbs, and supplements.

Users can learn about prescription drugs and OTC (over-the-counter) medicines, including side effects, dosage, special precautions, and more.

Users can browse by generic or brand name. 

Users can browse dietary supplements and herbal remedies to learn about their effectiveness, usual dosage and drug interactions. 

When a user locates a particular drug they want to research - in this case Lipitor - you get the following information: 
- Why is this medication prescribed?
- How should this medicine be used?
- Other uses for this medicine
- What special precautions should I follow?
- What special dietary instructions should I follow?
- What should I do if I forget a dose?
- What side effects can this medication cause?
- What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication?
- What do do in case of emergency or overdose?
- What other information should I know about this medication?
- Brand names of the medication
- Brand names of combination products?


At the bottom of the page is a notation of when the particular page was last revised - which is essential information for someone who is trying to learn more about a particular medication!

Enjoy the site and learning about the medication(s) you might be taking!

Regards,
Stu

WCBS 880 Anniversary

Hi All,

WCBS 880 is a radio station located in New York City. 2017 marks its 50th anniversary.  Wikipedia has a long entry about the radio station. 

So..why the entry?  Because there is a bevy of news stories available to listeners on the WCBS 880 website.  Click here and here for some links. 

WCBS 50th Anniversary Features can be found here (Behind the News), here (Small Business Spotlight with Joe Connolly), here (Fascinating Folks) and here (In Wayne's Words).

Congratulations WCBS radio on your 50th anniversary!

Enjoy the site and the links.

Regards,
Stu  

Another Clean Up Entry

Hi All,

Well, we're heading to the mid-year mark of 2017 and I still have way too many websites to discuss on the blog. Which means that I need to do another 'clean up' entry where I cover a bunch of websites with a brief summary next to each title...


Path For Climate Change, Beyond Paris - From the NYTimes. 

Meditation Basics - Psychology Today

Medical Identity Theft - FTC.gov - what's worse than regular id theft? medical id theft....

20 Great Public Library Websites - interesting blog

Serious Eats : A Food Blog and Community

Beyond Google: 56 Authoritative Untapped Resources

Top 10 Tech News Websites 

MIT OpenCourseWare - free online course materials

Our Automated Future - the New Yorker

Compare Cell Phone Plans, Internet Plans and Tablets - WhistleOut

Enjoy the sites!

Regards,
Stu