Ask-a-Librarian Director's Chair Contest Winner

The other Director's Chair winners can be viewed at: http://www.tblc.org/aal/directorschair/winners2009.shtml

Dear Mr. President: A Special Digital Book

The National Education Association and Kidthing.com released "Dear Mr. President", an electronic book where children share their "thoughts, ideas, and advice" for America's 44th President. For more information visit: www.kidthing.com/DMP

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.