The Answer

Google Fast Flip is an interesting, if not terribly useful, means of reading magazines, newspapers, and blogs.  Fast Flip takes snapshots of webpages of the online publications such as BBC News, Spin, TechCrunch, New York Times, Newsweek and many others.  It then indexes the stories (as Google likes to do) and makes them searchable in an almost tactile way.  Imagine flipping through a magazine that has articles from the previously mentioned publications on cats or healthcare or anything else you may be interested in but online – that is Fast Flip’s goal.

It is a nice addiction to Google’s rapidly growing stable of products, but not one I think I would ever use.  I am a huge fan of RSS feeds and get my news that way, but for those who like the idea of idly flipping through a magazine this resource may be useful.

Fast Flip also has a mobile version for iPhones and Androids which I could see being more useful. Another feature is the ability to “Like” stories.  Once you  have liked enough stories Fast Flip will anticipate what you might like in the future.  It is also possible to recommend stories to your friends.

Frances Roehm, the SkokieNet Librarian, writes in to let us know about the new eligibility window for Medicare Part D, the government’s prescription drug program for seniors.

From November 15th to December 31st, seniors can sign up for the program or change their provider. On Monday, December 7th, we’ll have 3 social workers at the library to help people with the paperwork. They’ll be here from 9:30 AM to 3 PM, and people can sign up for half-hour appointments.

The signup sheet is available on the second floor reference desk. If you’d like to sign up a spouse along with yourself, you’ll need to sign up for two separate slots.

Seniors also must bring the following items:

• Medicare card
• Medicare Part D card
• A list of their current prescriptions and dosage (e.g., 30mg, 3x daily)

Navigating the sea of paperwork can be tricky, and slots are likely to fill up quickly. Come see us at the reference desk and make your appointment early!

Gale is providing free access to Global Issues in Context and medical-related ebooks from the Gale Virtual Reference Library to make reliable H1N1 virus information available.  The complete page is here.

The BBC is offering free online language course on their website.  Many languages such as French, Chinese, Greek, etc. are available, even Gaelic.

Each particular language learning page has advanced tutorials, beginner tutorials, and even testing to learn your level.  They even offer crossword puzzles. They also allow you to sign up for a weekly email containing vocabulary words and other language learning help.

Interestingly BBC Languages also has an area to help tutors teach the particular language.

This website will be very helpful to all interested in learning a new language or even those who just need a reminder — like Icelandic.

Zotero is a useful citation management Firefox add-on.  From the Zotero website,

“Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work—in the web browser itself.”

Now this may not sound very exciting, but for anybody in the midst of a research project it is a huge time saver. For example, while looking through our classic catalog it is possible to record the citations for multiple items.  This makes it much easier to write a bibliography and also to return to a nearly forgotten item with one click.

Best of all Zotero automatically syncs citations on every computer I work on as soon as I install and sign in to it.  Go to the Zotero website and watch the helpful videos of how to use the variety of tools provided by this great tool.

With identity theft a constant risk, it’s important to make sure all documents containing personal information are properly disposed of. For the most part, that means you’ve got to take care of any identifying bits of data.

This Saturday, October 17th, First Bank & Trust is holding a Shredding Day. Bring your personal documents (up to 25 pounds worth) and watch as they turn it into unidentifiable confetti. The bank is located at 8407 Skokie Blvd, and will run from 11 AM to 1 PM. Keep your identity safe!

(image credit: Will Luo via Flickr. Yes, I realize that the event’s during the day, and not Saturday night. But Elton John wouldn’t return my calls, let alone hear my request that he change the title of the song.)

The Jewish Databank has released a report called Jewish Population Survey of Congressional Districts which can be accessed at

http://www.jewishdatabank.org/study.asp?sid=90142&tp=3

The report includes tables of the Jewish Population of most of Illinois by Zipcode!

Here are the figures for Skokie:

Estimated Jewish Population of Skokie 2006

60076       13,488
60077         3,899
Total          17,387

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum recently released an online Holocaust Encyclopedia.  It currently consists of 631  articles with related articles and links for further reading. Topics range from the Aftermath of the Holocaust to the 9th Armored Division. Many of the articles include personal stories such as Golda (Olga) Bancic’s experience of being a part of the Armed Jewish Resistance in France.

It also currently has 597 ID Cards.  ID cards are short biographies of individuals that were murdered or survived the Holocaust.

For example:

CHAIE SURA KISIELNICKI Born Kaluszyn, Poland 1923 Chaie Sura was the youngest of three children born to Jewish parents living 35 miles east of Warsaw in the small, predominantly Jewish town of Kaluszyn. Her father owned a wholesale grocery store, a restaurant and a gas station, which were located together on the busy main road. The Kisielnicki family lived in rooms in the same building as their business. 1933-39: When Germany invaded Poland several days ago, my father and brothers fled eastward towards the USSR with other Jewish men who were afraid that the Germans would send them away for forced labor. Soon after, German forces fought Polish troops in a battle at Kaluszyn and half the town was flattened by bombs. Our house was on the outskirts and wasn’t hit, so now, many people without shelter, including total strangers, have crowded into our home. 1940-44: When my father and brothers heard that Kaluszyn had been bombed, they returned home to see if Mother and I were all right. Kaluszyn’s mayor chose my father to be on the Jewish council. My father, in turn, chose my brother Abram for the Jewish police and my brother Majlich for the Jewish sanitation committee. As for me, I often work in the communal kitchen with my mother and grandmother. Food is scarce in the Jewish ghetto for poor families who have nothing to trade on the black market. On September 25, 1942, 19-year-old Chaie Sura and more than 3,000 other Jews were deported from Kaluszyn to an extermination camp, where she perished.

In combination with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website the Holocaust Encyclopedia is an outstanding resource and should be consulted for any project on dealing with the Holocaust.

Due to Pandemic H1N1 Influenza and concerns about the 2009/2010 flu season, the EBSCO Publishing Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed™, Nursing Reference Center™ (NRC) and Patient Education Reference Center™ (PERC) have made key influenza information from these resources freely available to health care providers worldwide.

Tonight, the President is set to address a joint session of Congress regarding his plan to reform the country’s health care. No matter which side of the political spectrum you fall on, this is an issue that affects everyone. But the politics can really get in the way of understanding. Partisan sniping, selective omission of information, and outright bickering just adds more noise to an already complicated issue.

Leave it to Dan Roan to bring things back around.

Roan, author of The Back of the Napkin, has created a simple-to-understand set of slides that really cuts to the heart of the health care debate, and does so without falling into any of the normal partisan pitfalls. Click on the picture above to check out the slideshow.

What do you think? Did the slideshow help your understanding of the debate?