I Know I Saw it Here ...

The greatest thing about blogs - ego-strokes aside - is that they are searchable. To search for information in previous posts, just look for the white box next to the little orange Blogger logo at the top of the screen (see image). Type in a relevant word or two, click the "search blog" link or press the enter key, and you should get a list of posts containing those words. Then all you need to do is scroll down the list to find the one you remember.

So - try it now: Type the word reviews in the box at the top of the screen and click the "search blog" link. This should retrieve a list of all the posts that are book reviews. See anything that looks good? Clicking the title of the book will take you to the library's catalog, where you can request it.

Duck soup!

User Tools - Library Bookmarklet

Have you ever shopped for books online and wondered whether the library owns copies (before you plunk down your credit card)? John Udell has created a "library bookmarklet" that creates a button for your browser's Links toolbar. The bookmarklet button gives you one-click access to your library's catalog from any screen that includes an isbn, including pages from bookstores like Amazon.com, Bookfinder.com, etc. If the library has the book, you should see the catalog listing and be able to request it with your library card number.

Here is the Bookmarklet for Sacramento Public Library:

Find at SPL

Drag the link to your links toolbar, or right-click, select "add to favorites", click "yes" at the security warning, and save in "links". (If you have a long list of links, you can drag the bookmarklet to the top of the list or to the place you want it to stay on your links toolbar.)

Problems dragging your bookmarklet to the link toolbar? See this screencast.