New in Books Reference - 10/23/09

AHA Guide, 2010 (362.11025)

U.S. News & World Report's Ultimate College Guide, 2009 (378.73)

Headquarters USA, 2010 (384.602573)  Placed on the Information Desk shelf.

Antiques & Collectibles 2010 Price Guide, 26th ed. (745.1075)

Dozier's Waterway Guide, Southern 2010 (797)

Shakespeare Studies, v.37 (822.33)

PDF Quick View

Google has added a Quick View link for search results that are in PDF form:

In the example above, form 1099 was searched, which is in PDF format on the IRS website.  Normally you would click on the PDF link to download and open the document in Adobe Acrobat.  By clicking on Quick View, the PDF is able to be opened directly in the browser window without changing it's format, by using technology used in Google Docs.

Because of our limited bandwidth and slow connection issues, this would be a good feature to point out to customers printing tax forms and other PDFs, as Quick View seems to load documents into the browser window more quickly than they can be downloaded.  This would also come in handy when on those rare occasions that customers are unable to open and view a PDF at all.

New Books in Reference - 10/8/09

TheStreet.com Ratings' Guide to Life and Annuity Insurers, Fall 2009 (368.32)

2010 Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, 19th ed. (769.49796)

Contemporary Authors, v. 188 (920)

International Vital Records Handbook (929.1072073)  Contains application forms and ordering information for various vital records, including driver's licenses, passports, jobs, social security, and proof of identity.

Two copies are also in the Genealogy Department if the copy in Reference is being used.

In addition, links to the various states' vital records offices can also be found online at VitalRec.

Google Chrome

You may have noticed that there is a funny little icon on the Ask Here desk monitors, or saw a strange looking page left open from a previous user, but you're not quite sure what it is.  Chances are, it's Google Chrome - an alternate web browser to Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE).

Of course, it's totally optional to use and IE is still the default browser.  However, if you'd like to give it a shot, there are a couple of features that I'd like to point out that make Chrome unique (at least compared to our older version of IE).

First, Chrome uses tabs.  This allows the user to go to a new page or site, without having to open up an entirely new window. Simply click on the + to the right of the current tab, and a new page is opened.  Simply type in the desired URL, choose a bookmark link, or click on one of the icons on the newly opened page (these are frequently viewed pages specific to that terminal - one click will load the page).

Next, Chrome's address bar is actually a multi-function tool as well, which they call Omnibox.  You can perform Google searches right in the address bar without having to go to Google.  In the example below, I've searched for "bar code wiki," so that I can get the Wikipedia page for "barcode."  (It's the 57th anniversary of it's invention)

As you can see, once you start typing into Omnibox, it will recognize your phrase as either a URL or as a Google search.  Options automatically dropdown as you type; you can either choose and click one of the options, or press enter to bring up the Google search results page:

If you decide to use Chrome, try these shortcuts out - hopefully they'll save you some time and make searching a little bit easier.

Note:  Although I personally like Chrome, I will point out that it's not perfect.  One of the problems - specifically for staff here at JPL - is the way that webmail is displayed in Chrome.  Some of the features are missing (like the ability to move an item into another folder) and it looks a bit different, so if you're checking your email or doing reference email you might want to stick with IE for those tasks.

New Additions of New Editions - 10/7/09

Guinness World Records 2010, (032.02)  Happy 250th Birthday, Guiness!  To Arthur!

Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions, 8th ed. (200.973)

Vital Statistics on the Presidency, 3rd. ed.  (324.630973)

S & P's Security Dealers of North America, Fall 2009  (332.62)

D & B Principal International Businesses, 2009/10  (380.1025)

Kovel's Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide, 2010, 42nd ed.  (745.1)

Encyclopedia of Jewish-American Literature (810.9)  1st ed., but new to us.