Thousands of Free Fonts from WebpagePublicity.com and dafont.com

You know one of the things I love most about the Internet?

All the free stuff.

Like WebpagePublicity.com, which offers 6,500 fonts for free.

Or dafont.com, with 8,431 fonts arranged by themes: Gothic, Fancy, Script, Techno, and Dingbats, among others.

Now, if you design material as part of your job, this is like finding gold at the end of the rainbow.

Browse these sites; you will find several you like. I did.

BookPage Offers Free Book Reviews On-line

Are you an avid reader, looking for reviews of the best books published? Then you might want to check out BookPage.

Since 1988, BookPage has been publishing a monthly, print edition, available in many bookstores and libraries, including here at Troy. Now, BookPage is available as a free, on-line publication at bookpage.com.

Each month, bookpage.com recommends the best books for readers of all types, whether you're interested in literary fiction or romance, history or science fiction, cookbooks or children's books. It focuses on new releases and tailors reviews for the general reader -- the true booklover always on the lookout for recommendations on what to read next.

And now, you can receive twice-monthly BookPage news and reviews delivered to you via email. Click here to sign up.

Find a Book Series Easily in iBistro

Today we received a call at the Library from a patron who wanted to find a book series online from home through our iBistro catalog. The patron was searching for the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz. The patron tried searching by the author and found over a hundred titles, as Dean Koontz is a prolific author.

In order for her to find the series, I told her to do the following:

1) Click on iBistro from the TPL homepage.
2) Type in the main character's name from the book series into the search box.
3) Hit "Enter" or click on the "Words or Phrase" button beneath the search box.

She instantly was presented with all of the books specifically for that series and author. This works for most fiction book series, such as the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child or the Odd Thomas books by Dean Koontz.

If you are searching for a series of non-fiction titles, try this:

1) Click on iBistro from the TPL homepage.
2) Type the name of the series into the search box. (Ex: "Opposing Viewpoints")
3) Click on the "Series" button beneath the search box.

Check the video below for how to search for a fictional book series by character name.

New Review Site for Technology-Related Books

Attention librarians and those interested in technology-related books: Rachel Singer Gordon has launched a new blog – The Tech Static – which will review current computer books, DVDs and ebooks; contain prepublication alerts and publisher press releases; and publish articles for librarians who maintain collections of computer titles.

The need for such a resource became apparent when October 15, marked the last installment of Library Journal’s “Computer Media” review column, which Singer Gordon had been writing since 2002. This left a gap in the library literature: No other librarian-targeted publication currently reviews computer books on a regular basis. To fill that gap, The Tech Static was born.

“I’m pleased to continue providing — and expanding on! — coverage of technology titles,” said Singer Gordon. “Anyone involved with collection development in this area is invited to subscribe to this new free resource.” The Tech Static is available online at www.thetechstatic.com; readers can also subscribe via RSS or email.

The Tech Static is also currently seeking writers for technology-related collection development articles.

Contact Rachel Singer Gordon with any questions or comments at rachel@thetechstatic.com.

Year-Round Adult Reading Program

Great news for readers: Due to the popularity of our Summer Reading Program we've created a year-round reading program for adult patrons (ages 18 and up).

To participate, go to the TPL website and click on Year-Round Reading Programs. This link will take you to the TPL Reading Programs website. From there you can register, and begin logging books.

For those of you familiar with our Summer Reading program, this is the same process. Read books, log your books on the website, and win prizes. The prizes for this program include gift certificates to the Somerset Collection, the TPL Friends Gift Shop, and the TPL Friends Book Shop. The more books you review, the more chances you have to win.

For more information email h.pytiak@troymi.gov or call the Tech Desk at 248.524.3542.

Google Boss Won't Be New Tech Czar

Speaking of Eric Schmidt: the Google CEO announced recently that he will not take a technology czar position in the new Barack Obama administration. Schmidt has been promoting such a position for months, and it was rumored that he might be first in line.

Google boss won't be Obama tech Czar (via techradar)

New York to No Longer Mail Tax Forms

New York has become the first state to announce that it will no longer mail tax forms to its residents. The State's Department of Taxation and Finance made the announcement on October 16, saying that with 93% of residents now paying their taxes electronically, this move will save about $1 million in mailing, printing and processing costs.

The State reminded those who still file their taxes by mail that printable forms can be found on the Department's Web site, www.nystax.gov, and that most common forms will still be found in print at many local libraries.

Google at 10

An interview with Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive at Google, about all things Google.

Google at 10: Searching Its Own Soul (via The New York Times)