Stir It Up -- In the Pot and on the Web: Making Media about Making Food

What do you get when you mix food in San Francisco, social media, green living ideas, and wrap it up with an assortment of Web 2.0 technologies? Find out by joining our upcoming program on April 7th when professors Melinda Stone and David Silver from the University of San Francisco stir up intriguing tales and experiments cooked up in their Media Studies classes with their students.

Stone will screen several videos from her How-To Homestead collection and discuss how student research assistants and the University's community garden play a vital role in the creation of these pieces. Silver will showcase examples of social media produced by students in Green Media--a class devoted to making media about making food.

As with last year's "When Wikipedia Meets the Library," this event is sure to spark many ideas and topics that will inspire creative food for thought.

Address: 100 Larkin Street

Location: Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room

Event Date and Time: Wednesday, April 7 (6 - 7:30 p.m.)

National Women's History Month

The month of March marks the annual celebration of Women's History Month in which we honor the many accomplishments of women throughout history. From our ever-expanding collection of electronic databases, you can find information on women's issues through Contemporary Women's Issues. To access this database follow these steps:

1. Go to the SFPL home page, and under the eLibrary tab, select "Articles & Databases." You will need a San Francisco Public Library card to access databases from outside of the library.

2. Scroll down the list and select Contemporary Women's Issues - CWI.

3. Enter a topic such as "social equity":

4. You will now see some search results. Select any article to read it in its entirety.

The Contemporary Women's Issues database covers a wide range of topics and issues related to Women's Studies in various newsletters, journals, regional newspaper, and reports dating back to 1992. Sample topics include community organizations, crisis intervention, health, politics and government, pay equity, women's movement, sex roles and sex differences, and more. Note: This database allows only 2 concurrent users at any given time.

And while you're at it, don't forget to check out other library events and exhibitions taking place at the library to celebrate National Women's History Month.

Ireland of the Welcomes

With the coming of St. Patrick’s Day and all its festivities, parades, parties and the celebrating of Irish descent and non-Irish people around the world, it is only befitting to feature an Irish magazine.

• Would you like to know the meaning of St. Patrick’s Day and how it’s celebrated in Dublin, Ireland?

• What are the next steps for Michael Flatley, (known as The Lord of the Dance)?

• How do the Irish honor their patron saint at home and abroad?
  


• Where is the presumed resting place of Ireland’s patron saint?

• What is meant by “Kissing the Blarney Stone"?
  


• Did you know that by spending 24 hours in the town of Cobh, you can experience everything from heritage sites to its wild side adventures?
  

Are you excited yet? Is your curiosity piquing? Well, look no further! The Magazines and Newspapers Center has a magazine that offers a glimpse into Ireland’s past, present, and future. Ireland of the Welcomes, a bi-monthly magazine, showcases "the best of Ireland’s history, scenery, culture, traditions and lifestyles to the world at large.” Each issue features captivating photographs. You will also find articles about Irish celebrities, historical Ireland, and Irish food and wine.

So the next time you drop by the Magazines & Newspapers Center and have a curiosity about Irish culture, history, and society, check out Ireland of the Welcomes--a "valuable friend for many people with Irish ancestry who look to Ireland for their roots and cultural heritage."

Academic Search Complete

A few months ago, we highlighted the Academic OneFile database as a resource for researching high-quality, scholarly information from different journals in various academic disciplines. Joining our family of article databases is Ebsco's Academic Search Complete. Through this database, you will have access to even more full-text articles from peer-reviewed and scholarly journals covering a wide range of multidisciplinary subject areas. To give this database a test run, follow these steps:

1. Go to the SFPL Home Page and under the eLibrary tab, select "Articles and Databases." You will need a San Francisco library card to access the databases from outside of the library.

2. Scroll down the list and select EbscoHost Magazines MasterFILE Premier.

3. Next click "Choose Databases" and then select Academic Search Complete:

4. In the search box, enter a topic such as "health care reform":

5. After running your search, you'll find a list of articles from an assortment of journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and conference reports. Notice that you can modify your search terms by clicking the terms on the left panel or adjust date ranges by using the slider on the right panel.

Academic Search Complete represents one of many electronic database you can access with your library card. This database contains over "7,100 full-text articles, including nearly 6,100 peer-reviewed journals." Subject areas include, but are not limited to astronomy, biology, engineering and technology, ethnic studies, psychology, women's studies, and more. As an added bonus, many articles come in PDF format dating back as far as 1887.