Penn State Great Valley Library Blog

Google Voice is a free plan (for calls within the US) which offers users one number to replace the collection of home, work, & cell phone numbers. Users simply distribute one number and then define which of the phones ring on their end. For example, an incoming call from family might be set up to ring on all of the user’s phones. Customers might be defined to ring on cell and work. And an annoying gossip might be set to go directly to voicemail. All voicemail is transcribed and sent to user’s email. Google Voice also sends user’s text messages to voicemail. Known unwanted callers can be blocked. This really is a catchall for communication. The drawback is by allowing voicemail to be transcribed, users lose their privacy. Once voicemail becomes email, it has the same amount of privacy as a post card.
For now, users wanting Google Voice need to place their name on a list for an invitation. For more information about Google Voice features or to receive an Invitation, click on the link:
http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html#

Google Squared is a search tool which presents analogous results in a square or spreadsheet format. Users can update results by entering their own customized columns or rows. This is an easy way to review search results if a user were, for example, interested in comparing cell phones. Google Squared displays rows of various brand names with columns for image, description, price, etc. Users can customize the results by adding or deleting rows and/or columns. Results can be saved by signing in. However, registration is not necessary to use this search engine.
http://www.google.com/squared

Penn State Researcher & Electrical Engineering Professor, Craig Grimes, leads a team which is working on a device that converts carbon dioxide into methane using water vapor and sunlight. Methane or natural gas is a common fuel. By converting carbon dioxide into methane at unprecedented rates, this sun-powered machine has the potential of reducing our carbon footprint (a contributor to global warming) as well as creating fuel. A provisional patent on this work has been filed. For more details read Penn State Live – Sunlight turn carbon dioxide to Methane at http://live.psu.edu/story/38108 .

The Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) program brings kids together with dogs to improve reading and communication skills. By taking therapy dogs to libraries and schools, READ provides gentle, loving animals to be listeners for kids. Launched in 1999, this comprehensive reading program is currently in place through out the country and is seeing student improvements in reading and communication levels. Bill Moyers described this program as something which “pierces the mundane to arrive at the marvelous.”
For more information click on the link to READ http://www.therapyanimals.org/read/

“Librarians and Google have a similar mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. We support librarians who work each day to further that mission. This site is a first step toward improving and expanding that support.” Quote taken from the “Google Librarian” website

The role of the librarian and librarianship has been continously called into question internationally since the advent of Google (although these claims never came from Google itself). However, the search engine megagoth realized the role of librarian and search engine are uniquely intertwined. Rather than alienate librarians, Google decided to extend a proverbial “olive branch” to librarians worldwide with the creation of the Google Librarian Center.

Google has recently expanded its year old service to include a full website, searching tip sheets, multilingual blog, and extensive newsletter. Helpful hints are emailed to librarians who subscribe to their service monthly for free.

You can learn more about the Google Librarian center by clicking this link: www.googlelibrarian.com