eBranch Blog

May 21, 2004

Job Seekers PowerPoint

A few months ago, the library conducted a survey of Career & Employment Information seekers. One of the things you told us you wanted was help on how to get a job. As a result of this, a staff committee has put together a Job Seeker's Workshop PowerPoint. This PowerPoint covers the basics of cover letters, resumes, and interviews. It's home is the Find It! Guide to Careers & Employment.

May 18, 2004

Houston Gas Prices

As gas prices climb, the Houston Gas Prices web site helps keep track of the highest and lowest prices in the metropolitan area.

May 17, 2004

Movies Based on Books

This past weekend two movies based on books opened. Troy, starring Brad Pitt, is inspired by Homer's Illiad.

Ella Enchanted, starring Anne Hathaway of the Princess Diaries also opened and is based on the popular book Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

In the coming weeks, several other movies are opening based on books. The third Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkban, opens on June 4. It's based on the popular book by J.K. Rowling

During his third year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter must confront the devious and dangerous wizard responsible for his parents' deaths.

A remake of the Stepford Wives arrives in theaters on June 11. It's based on the book by Ira Levin.

For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town's idyllic facade lies a terrible secret -- a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.

May 13, 2004

The Webby Awards

"Presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, The The Webby Awards is the leading international honor for the worlds best web sites."

If you're looking for the best of the best in web sites, the 2004 winners in 30 categories were just announced.

Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver wins Arthur C. Clarke Award

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is sponsored by Clarke and is given annually to the best science fiction novel published in the United Kingdom.

In this wonderfully inventive follow-up to his bestseller Cryptonomicon, Stephenson brings to life a cast of unforgettable characters in a time of breathtaking genius and discovery, men and women whose exploits defined an age known as the Baroque.

May 11, 2004

Supernatural Detectives Book List

Supernatural Detectives are detectives who use, or search for, the supernatural including vampires, werewolves, and fairies.

Laurell K. Hamilton. Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series)
Introducing Anita Blake, vampire hunter extraordinaire. Most people don't even bat an eye at vampires since they've been given equal rights by the Supreme Court. But Anita knows better--she's seen their victims. . . . A serial killer is murdering vampires, however, and now the most powerful vampire in town wants Anita to find the killer.

May 10, 2004

A Wrinkle in Time on TV

Madeline L'Engle's Newbery Award winning children's book has finally been made into a movie. The movie is on ABC 13 tonight at 7 PM.

Madeline L'Engle. A Wrinkle in Time
Father is missing. His top secret job as a physicist for the government has taken him away, but where? and how? Meg and her younger brother, Charles, set out with their friend Calvin on an exciting adventure through time and space to search for him.

Most Popular Baby Names of 2003

The Social Security Administration has put out their list of the top ten baby names for boys and girls for 2003 based on Social Security Card applications.
Boys Girls
Jacob Emily
Michael Emma
Joshua Madison
Matthew Hannah
Andrew Olivia
Joseph Abigail
Ethan Alexis
Daniel Ashley
Christopher Elizabeth
Anthony Samantha

The top five names, for 2003, in Texas are:
Boys Girls
Jose Emily
Jacob Ashley
Joshua Madison
Daniel Emma
Michael Alyssa

May 06, 2004

Google vs. Libraries in Guardian Test

The Guardian(England) put Google up against the phone and the library in a test to find out if "the internet really [is] the quickest way to access facts - and get them right?" The library won 3 out of 6 questions.

Epistolary Fiction Book List

This Epistolary Fiction book list includes novels in the form of letters and/or e-mail and was provided by the staff at the West Universty Branch Library.

Chris Dyer. Wanderlust
The madcap adventures of a travel columnist posted to friends and family as she circles the globe.

May 04, 2004

Resurrection Men by Ian Rankin wins Edgar Award

Ian Rankin. Resurrection Men
Inspector John Rebus has messed up badly this time, so badly that he's been sent to a kind of reform school for damaged cops. While there among the last-chancers known as "resurrection men, " he joins a covert mission to gain evidence of a drug heist orchestrated by three of his classmates.

Edgar Award Book List