Julia @ Shoreline Archive.

Fierce Heat: On the Zen Room of Master Heng-Chi
Po Chü-i [or Bai Juyi] (772-846)

Everyone rushing like mad to flee the heat--

only this Zen Master never budges from his room.

Could it be that heat doesn't reach a Zen room?

When mind is stilled, the body will be cool.

Po Chü-i [or Bai Juyi]. "Fierce Heat: On the Zen Room of Master Heng-Chi." Translated by Burton Watson. Columbia Granger's World of Poetry Online. 2009. Columbia University Press. 24 Jul. 2009. http://www.columbiagrangers.org.

 

Finding the right poem for the right occasion can be daunting -- unless you use the Columbia Grangers World of Poetry database!  Using the advanced search feature, you can search for specific words in a poem or the subject of a poem.  You can also limit your searches to specific schools of poetry, a nationality, a poet's gender, an era, a language, and even a cultural identity such as gay and lesbian poetry.

You can also use this database in a more traditional way to find biographies, criticism and commentary, and history.  You can even listen to performances of poems.

So take a deep breath and cool off with some poetry!

Summertime is a great time for chatting around campfires or picnic tables with friends and family.  When I was a kid we'd often go running for the ol' 1968 Encyclopedia Britannica at home to settle an argument or learn more about something brought up during those talks.  Now most folks run to the computer or fire up their iPhone to check Google or Wikipedia.  Google will bring you hundreds of thousands of results, and the information on Wikipedia might not be correct.  So what do you do?  Go back to Britannica!

The Britannica Online Reference Center is a wonderful KCLS database with all of the well-researched information contained in the multi-volume encyclopedia on our shelves.  Additional Research Tools such as timelines, video, and a world data analyst expand on traditional services.  A Britannica Blog keeps highlights articles relevant to today's news.

Make sure to also check out Britannica Online for Kids!

 

Now that beautiful weather and summer vacations have come to Seattle, this may be just the time to spend outside tinkering with your car or truck.  Maybe you're fixing up your first car, keeping your family chariot running smoothly, or renovating a classic.  KCLS has two auto repair databases that can help get you rolling!

ChiltonLibrary.com contains repair data, service bulletins, maintenance schedules and recall information for vehicles from 1929 to present.  Many of the older years have limited choices, but you can still get advice on repairing the horn in your powder blue 1960 Bel Air.  More likely you'll be looking up a newer model car, and you'll find a wealth of information to read and print, plus videos to watch.  All of this can be accessed from home or in the library by following the link above or from the KCLS databases page (accessing directly through the address ChiltonLibrary.com on the web will not work).

AllData Online is a similar database, but this one is only accessible in KCLS libraries.  AllData contains repair information for cars and trucks from 1982 to present.  As with Chilton's you can print from this database.  AllData does not at this time have any videos, but it will supply you with repair cost estimates which can help you in your negotiations with your mechanic.

Go ahead and give car repair a try!  You could save yourself a bundle.

Finally, you can now save lists of books, DVDs, or any library materials to your library account!  We have been waiting a long time for this feature, and we are very pleased to be able to offer it to you.

While searching the catalog, click on the Add to Book Bag button associated with all items you are interested in, and you will be saving a list only for the duration of the time you search the catalog.  To keep the list permanently, you will need to save it to your account.  When you are ready view this list, click the yellow and white View Book Bag button near the top of the page.

While looking at the list of items in your Book Bag, click on the Save To My List icon.
 

After clicking on Save To My List, you will need to log in to your account if you are not already logged in.  If you do not want all of the items on the list saved to your list, place a  checkmark in the Select box for the items you want.  Select a list or choose Create a new list. For a new list, you can give the list a name and there is space for a small description of the list.  Finally, click Submit.

When you are logged into My Account, you will be able to see your lists when you click the My Lists icon.  From there, you can add to your list, delete items, and place holds from your list.

African American Song provides streaming music from 16,000 historical tracks in African American musical traditions.  Because the music streams and is not downloadable, the interface is very easy to use.

Find music by your favorite artist, a particular instrument, a genre, or a time period.  The folks from African American Song have also created great themed playlists such as Washboard Bands, Blues Sirens, and Boogie-Woogie. 

While most of this database's content is music, there is helpful text.  Scans of original liner notes accompany many tracks, and themed playlists offer a short history of the theme.

Take a look, and listen to same great American roots music while you work on your computer!

The African American Experience database is an excellent resource for students needing primary documents and resources. There are audio and text slave narratives, quotations, speeches, legal cases, laws, historic essays, letters, timelines and 2500 images.

Browse by 18 Topic Guides such as Culture, Immigrations, Sports, or Women.  Classroom Resources for teachers include 88 lesson plans.  For students, link to the Greenwood Press Skills Center where Research Tutors can help you get started, and Wizards lead you through the process of writing your paper.

Take a moment to explore today!

With our economy feeling poorly, you may find yourself wanting to do more business research, not less, if only to make sure that the business you do engage in is not too risky.ABI/INFORM Global is a ProQuest business database which can help keep you on top of the information curve. In this database you will find articles from worldwide business periodicals containing information on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, and computers. For example, search for the word investing in articles from the last three months, and find such useful titles as Your Money Matters (A Special Report): Alternative Investing --- Alternative Answers, and How to Profit From Obamanomics.

If you come into the library to read our investment and business newsletters, this database may be a great resource to access from your home or business. If you come into the library to peruse our Value Line binders (don't forget Value Line is now online!), you may also want to try the ABI/INFORM Trade Industry database for research on particular companies or industries. In this database you will find articles that track business conditions, trends, management techniques, corporate strategies, and industry-specific topics worldwide. For example, search for the word Seattle in articles from the last three months to see how local companies are holding up.

Happy investing!

Friday was the first day of Spring, and what better way to celebrate than by going to one of Seattle's excellent public gardens, arboreta, or conservatories!

Seattle Parks and Recreation manage many beautiful gardens including the Washington Park Arboretum, Volunteer Park Conservatory, and the Woodland Park Zoo's gardens. 

Read up on these gardens in KCLS Libraries!
     Washington Arboretum
     Woodland Park Zoo gardens
     Washington garden guidebooks

If you are a gardener yourself, you may want to visit the Center for Urban Horticulture (don't miss their library!), the UW Medicinal Herb Garden, or a local nursery.

Libraries are traditionally brick and mortar places filled with books, but KCLS also has almost 20,000 books, audio books, movies, music and podcasts available online!  Most of these can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device.  You can find out more about these on our Downloads page.

Finding these items in our catalog is a breeze!  The KCLS catalog will now allow you to limit your search to Download, Player, Ebook, Online, or Podcast.

Sometimes you're in the mood for any good novel.  Or maybe you like to browse the CDs to try out some music you've never heard before.  Sometimes, though, you really want to listen to a particular song or find an obscure short story.  Our catalog can help you find these!

Song titles, table of contents, chapter headings, and a summary describing what the book/movie/CD etc. is about are all in the Contents, Notes, and Summary sections of each item's description.  When you do a keyword search in our catalog you are not searching this information, so to search for this information you need to select the Content/Note/Summary option from the catalog search page. 

 To see some examples of searching, keep reading!