Tag Archives: Laura

July App of the Month: Shazam

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Shazam lets you identify, discover, and explore music that’s around you. Whether you’re listening to a song on the radio, in a restaurant, or on TV, Shazam can identify the title and artist of the song with one tap. The app also links to the song’s YouTube video, information about the artist, and your device’s online music store for easy download.

Apple users, download it here!  
Android users, download it here!
Website: www.shazam.com 

how it works…

When you’ve come across a song that you’d like to identify, open the Shazam app and tap the button in the middle of the screen.

Shazam will identify the title and artist.

To explore more about the artist, scroll to the bottom of the screen.

Here you can find links to the song’s YouTube video, iTunes or Amazon MP3 store, lyrics, and more.
Once you’ve identified a song on Shazam, that title, along with the other titles you’ve identified, are stored for later review. To access these saved songs, or tags, tap on My Tags.

Shazam also has a social component. After signing in to your Facebook account, you’re able to see what songs and artists your friends are tagging.

Exploration ideas…

The Shazam app can be fun to use alone or with your friends.

Try these ideas:

  • While traveling on a road trip in the car as a passenger, try scanning the radio stations in the area every once in a while. Shazam songs you’re unfamiliar with.
  • Head to a local music show or concert and try Shazamming a live performance to see if the band’s or artists’ songs appear.
  • Watching a commercial and trying to pinpoint that song in the background? Shazam it!
  • Link your Shazam account to Facebook and encourage your friends to as well. Check and see what songs everyone is Shazamming. Are there any similarities? Try listening to what your friends have tagged to discover new music.
  • Shazam an artist you’re familiar with, and then try to guess what will show up in the “Artist’s popular songs” section. Check to see if you’re right!

June App of the Month: Project Noah

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This is Courtney & Laura’s first official app of the month selection! Aren’t you thrilled you’re here for the beginning of something really wonderful?! Each month Courtney and Laura B will pick out a rockin’ app to share with you. We’ll show you how the app works, why it is cool, and we will even list a few ideas for how you and your friends or family can use the app together. Stay tuned to find out what July’s app will be, but for now, enjoy….

June’s App of the Month: Project Noah

The Project Noah app allows you to explore, document, and discover the nature and wildlife around you, wherever you are. Using your smartphone and the Project Noah app, you can share pictures of plants and animals you find with the Project Noah community, see what other community members have shared, and participate in field missions.

Apple users, download it here!
Android users, download it here!
Website: www.projectnoah.org 

how it works…

You can sign in with Facebook, Twitter, or another account to start being part of the community. The app has 3 main buttons: My Noah, Missions, and Field Guide. The My Noah section allows you to manage your account and goings-on with Project Noah.

In this section there is a large grey button to list a New Spotting, which allows you to document the wildlife you find. Clicking it allows you to upload up to 5 photos. You can tap a button to get help identifying the species and you can add tags to help describe the piece of nature.

The My Patches section shows you the patches you’ve earned by either uploading your spottings or participating in missions. In the My Noah section you can also check on the missions you’re currently working on.

To learn more about missions or to participate in a mission, tap the Missions button. Choose any mission listing that interests you in the Featured, Local, or Global sections.

The Field Guide section lets you browse and search through wildlife of all kinds. For example, you could click on one of the pictures in grid mode to view recent spottings, or you could click the location button to browse by location, or you can click the list button to browse in a list format.

Alternatively, you can tap the magnifying glass button, then type “ant” in to the search box; you’ll be presented with spottings of ants listed by others.

exploration ideas…

The Project Noah app can be fun to use alone or as a family and is appropriate for all ages, though littler ones will need help from an adult or teen to use and understand the app.

Try these ideas:

  • Go on a family hike in a local, state, or national park. See who can find recognizable pieces of nature and who can find unrecognizable pieces of nature. Be sure to log what you find in you’re my Noah section in Project Noah!
  • No time to head to the park? Have the kids slowly wander around the yard or driveway for a few minutes, looking for wildlife. They might be surprised at what they find… and you might be, too! Don’t forget to keep track of what they find in the My Noah section in Project Noah!
  • Select a mission or two to participate in as a family in the Missions section of Project Noah. Then, set aside a time each week to make progress on the mission and see how others are progressing as well.
  • Download the Project Noah app on a few devices within the immediate or extended family or in your group of friends, then compete to see who can get the most patches or make the most spottings! Try creating a family or friends group on Facebook to share your Project Noah activity, missions, patches, and findings!

Follow us on Pinterest

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Pinterest! It’s all the rage lately, and we’re happy to finally be joining in the fun!

If you haven’t already  stumbled into the Pinterest craze, let me fill you in: Pinterest is basically an online set of your own, personalized and organized bulletin boards. Think of it this way: do you tend to clip pictures and articles out of magazines, or recipes, or newspaper articles then save them to be lost forever in a drawer? Pinterest is a way to organize these things for yourself and to browse what others are clipping, or pinning.

The vast array of ideas people are finding are evident everywhere! Just this week someone asked me about some garlic monkey bread I brought to a potluck dinner. When asked where I found the recipe, I responded simply, “Pinterest.”

Now your favorite library (that’s us!) is on Pinterest, too! Find us at pinterest.com/pgtpl. We’ve got pin boards for movies, music, and books we love, as well as boards for money saving, John Green stuff, tech tips & tricks… the list goes on, and just keeps growing! We invite you to follow us and enjoy our pins, and we’ll follow you back so we can enjoy your favorite things, too 🙂

Check out a few of our pinteresting Pinterest boards…

Zinio: Get Magazines on Your Device or Computer

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Love magazines? So do I! I tend to be a clutter-keeper, though, and thus have to limit what I subscribe to. Even now I can turn just to my right and see a stack of about 20 magazines I just can’t toss. Are you the same way? Another flaw feature of mine is that I have a ton of interests. If I could have my way I’d subscribe to about 15 magazines. First: who has that kind of money? But also, again, the space issue… I also tend to be an on-the-go type of person. I rarely find time to sit at home and read anymore, what with my job, my kids (and one on the way!) and my school. But I do often find myself on a lunch break or in a dentist’s office with nothing to read.

Thankfully, the library now offers a service that solves all of these problems for me, and I think you’ll enjoy it, too…..

Zinio is the library’s latest addition to our already-awesome collection of services. If you haven’t heard of it already, let me explain: Zinio provides access to tons of magazine subscriptions. The best part? Your library foots the bill! That’s right: now you can get tons of magazine subscriptions for free  right on your iPad/Nook/Kindle/computer screen/smartphone.

Ready to try it out? Here’s how!

  1. Click the Zinio button on the library’s homepage, *or* click the banner below to register, or visit rbdg.envionsoftware.com/plainfieldguilfordin/zinio
  2. Choose the magazines you’d like to read on your device (each title will open in a new tab or window; be sure to switch back to the library’s Zinio page)
  3. Register with the Zinio company (it’s easiest to just use the same information you used to register with the library’s Zinio page)
  4. Download the Zinio app on your device (it’s free!) or computer… find the list of apps that best suit you here: www.zinio.com/apps/index.jsp
  5. Start enjoying magazines on your device!

Enjoy your favorite magazines for free, courtesy of your library. Keep in mind that the paper copies we have available in the library are not going anywhere 🙂 This is just another way to enjoy magazines. Zinio is adding new titles all the time, so check back for new additions often!

~Laura

For the Love of Knitting

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One of the many passions I share with my mother, who is also a librarian, is knitting. I can remember her teaching me, just as her father taught her, how to knit as a child. Before learning to knit I would sit beside her and poke at the knitting needles as they bounced around, not realizing that by her not asking me to stop she was exhibiting quite a bit of patience…

I’m lucky to have learned how to knit so early and it’s a hobby I still turn to when I’m stressed out, in need of a creative outlet, or when I just want to make something for a friend or even myself. I love admiring yarn of all sorts; the colors, textures, and weights are appealing to both the eyes and the hands. One of my dreams is to be able to own my own yarn, coffee, and book store. Though it’s not feasible for me to live out this dream just yet, husband and wife team Dave Erica live this dream of their own! Nomad Yarns, located at 218 E. Main Street in Plainfield, is a somewhat new yarn shop for knitters, crocheters, and yarn-lovers on the west side of Indianapolis.

Lucky for us, Erica Kempf Broughton will be teaching some beginning knitting classes right here at the library in the upcoming months. Register online for this wonderful introduction to the addicting art of knitting. Though our November class is full we still have plenty of openings in December. Supplies will be provided; just bring yourself and an eager-to-learn spirit!

~Laura