NBC Nightly News report regarding the importance of libraries in these difficult economic times.

Helios Jazz Orchestra: Live in the Stacks Video

The Helios Jazz Orchestra: Live in the Stacks

On Oct. 21, the West St. Petersburg Community Library at St. Petersburg College hosted its second “Jazz in the Stacks” concert with the talented Helios Jazz Orchestra.

The 21-piece jazz ensemble, directed by David Manson, performed swing, bebop & Latin jazz arrangements. Its band members, with vocalists Rita Wilson and Joanna Rose, include some of the best jazz musicians in the Tampa Bay area.

Watch them on SPC TV on:

Sunday 9 p.m.

Wednesday 10 a.m.

Saturday 12 p.m.

Friday 8:30 p.m.

Helios Jazz Orchestra -- Live in the Stacks!

The West St. Petersburg Community Library at St. Petersburg College and the Friends of the Library proudly presents the Helios Jazz Orchestra -- Live in the Stacks!

The Helios Jazz Orchestra is a resident ensemble at St. Petersburg College. The 21-piece jazz big band is directed by Dr. David Manson and performs swing, bebop & Latin jazz. Its members include the best jazz musicians in the Tampa Bay area. Read more at: www.spcollege.edu/spg/music/helios/heliosroster.htm.

The library is located at 67th Street and Eighth Avenue N. on
the St. Petersburg/Gibbs campus. For more information call (727) 341- 7199.

Date: Tuesday October 21, 2008
Time: 7:30pm
Place: Library
Cost: Free!

Refreshments and snacks will be served.

Using word verification to help digitize books

Everyone has had to type a word or sequence of symbols to verify that they are a human before signing up for an online account like Facebook, Flickr, Gmail etc. I will have to type these words/symbols before posting this to various blogs. These verifications are also known as CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart).

A Carnegie Mellon University scientist, Luis von Ahn, calculated that people waste close to 500,000 hours every day typing these characters. Luis von Ahn consequently developed reCAPTCHA which connects all of this immense brain power to help digitize old books and he and his colleagues reported in Science that “over the last year Web users have transcribed enough text to fill up more than 17,600 books, with better than 99 percent accuracy.”


To read/listen to the story visit http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93605988.

To learn more about reCAPTCHA visit http://www.captcha.net/.

Introduction to Music Course - featuring the Florida Orchestra

Coming Fall 2008! Introduction to Music course, featuring the Florida Orchestra (Oct. 20 to Dec. 19).


- Attend four Masterworks concerts by the Florida Orchestra. (Admission is included in tuition for the three-credit course. The concerts are Oct. 25, Nov. 8, Nov. 22, and Dec. 13 in Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. Pre-concert lectures are at 7 p.m., concerts are at 8 p.m. Attendance is required)

- Study in a blend of online and on-campus sessions. (Some work is online. The class will also meet face-to-face from 7-8p.m. on Oct. 22, Nov. 5, Nov. 19, Dec. 10, and 6-10 p.m. on Dec. 17.

Enroll online at www.spcollege.edu. Course number MUH 1110 #3796. For more information visit: www.spcollege.edu/spg/music/donovick or call (727) 341-4360 or (727) 341-4788. For details on the Florida Orchestra concerts visit www.floridaorchestra.com.

Honors College Students Together at Orientation

Hello and Welcome

Welcome to the Blog for SPC Honors College! This blog is intended to keep SPC-HC students updated on events and issues of importance to Honors College.

A reminder of Events

Thursday 8/21/08
Where: Administration Building, Advisors Conference Room
12:30pm – Welcome by Nadia Yevstigneyeva and Dr. Kathleen Griffin; ice-breakers; student introduction

1:00 – 2:00 – Lunch

2:00-6:00pm - Speakers: advising, service-learning, honors curriculum, internship;
Bachelor Program; Career Center; Library; Financial\scholarship department

· Dr. Martha Campbell – honors curriculum

· Dr. Eric Tucker – service-learning

· Peter Shea - internship

· Tracy Garrett – Baccalaureate and UPC

· Kim Wolf – Library services

· Gwen Reed - financial support and scholarships

· Anne Nowlen – International students services


Friday 8/22/08

Where: TBA (to be determined)

10:30am –Student Activities Coordination (Rod Davis) on How to set up an event and how to fundraise

1:00 – 2:00 – Light Lunch(bring what you light to eat and share with your friends! Coffee and snacks will be provided)


3:00-4:00pm – FUN: soccer; games, movie