Calling for All Comments

As summer draws to a close, here at the Magazines & Newspapers Center, we would like to take a moment to determine how to best continue delivering useful and timely information to you--our readers. If you have (and currently still are) reading our blog to receive notifications of our various classes, programs, tutorials, and highlights from our collection, we would appreciate it if you can take a moment to post a comment.

We would be most interested in learning about how you generally use the Web to get information offered by the library. Blogs? Facebook? Twitter? What kinds of topics would you be interested in seeing more of? Given the rapid advances in Web 2.0 technologies and social media applications, we are exploring other means of communicating information to you that would best serve your needs and interests.

Also, please look on the SFPL Facebook page for announcements here and there about upcoming Magazine & Newspapers Center events and classes. And you can always stop by the 5th Floor or e-mail mnc@sfpl.org with your comments or questions.

So with that being said, please feel free to chime in! Thank you.

Computer Music

Computer Music has been deemed as the “World’s Best Selling Music Software” magazine written to help musicians create great music with a PC or Mac computer. Futuristic music has finally arrived in the “Now” and this cutting-edge magazine offers musicians all the tricks of the trade they’ve been craving for visualizing, creating, developing, and executing their musical genuius.

Hailing from the UK—England since the first issue was introduced to the world of musicians in 1998, Computer Music (‘CM’ is its nickname) “tests the latest computer music products and offers tutorials on the most current software, enabling computer owners to develop their musical interests and expertise.” Each issue includes a DVD-ROM focusing on the current month’s topics. The DVD is a PDF guide offering an “exclusive” library of software, samples, and other materials compiled for “newcomers and rookies” to expose and help them gain basic computer music concepts—allowing them to take their music into another stratosphere.

Ever wonder how or what actually goes into the making and cutting of a musical soundtrack? How can you transform your music with the processing tricks of the pros? How to get big-bass sound from your sound system--and if changes can be made to create the sound you wish to achieve? Well, look no further. CM magazine’s step-by-step guides and illustrations offer answers to your questions. Readers will be guaranteed professional reviews on pricings, equipment and essentials, new sample packs, and applications and recommendations on the how, who, what, and where on the making of today’s worldly music.

Here are some magazine highlights:

• Making stunning vocal tracks without a singer in sight
• How to get Reggae musical sounds
• Making Beats and Basslines/Arrangement and Sound Design/Mixing and Mastering
• Making Laid-back tracks on a Mac or PC
• Guides on Audio/Sampling, Sound playback, Editing/Manipulating music on your computer
• Tips on Re-Sampling music/ Customizing sound and instruments

This is only the “tip-of-the-iceberg” of what you’re treated to in CM magazine. A Web site offers mostly the same information as does the magazine. Furthermore, one can experience listening to live sessions, plugins, software demos, tutorials, free apps for iPhones and iPod touch through the Computer Music magazine Facebook site designed to help you share music tips and ideas with other music afficionados.

The library has a small collection of periodicals on the subject of computer music, and our home page can be accessed at sfpl.org:

Go to Books & Materials, click Library Catalog, and run a keyword search for “computer music periodicals.” Notice there are a couple of electronic resources that gives you full-text articles. Of course, you can always visit San Francisco Public Library’s Magazines and Newspapers Center for more assistance.

ABCs of Digital Scanning Microfilm

Hands-on demonstration

Please join us for a digital scanning instruction session that will combine historical research with image-capturing computer technology. The Magazines and Newspapers Center hosts this workshop to demonstrate successful techniques for digitizing archival newspapers and journals from the vast San Francisco Public Library collection.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, 5th Floor, Microfilm Room
- Event Date & Time: Monday, June 27, 2011 (Noon - 1 p.m.)

Mining Magazines and Journals with MasterFILE Premier

Have you ever wanted to browse through back issues of Consumer Reports or Psychology Today, but had no time to visit your local library? Perhaps you remember an article from Atlantic Monthly or Science News, but couldn't remember in which issue it appeared. In this presentation, learn how to answer some of these types of questions with one of our electronic databases--EbscoHost MasterFILE Premier. Explore popular magazines, journals, and trade publications from over 1700 sources by navigating and searching this periodical database.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room B
- Event Date & Time: Monday, June 20, 2011 (Noon - 1 p.m)

Anime and Manga for Grown-Ups

They occupy the shelves of libraries and bookstores. The film industry has adpated them into feature length movies and TV series appearing in theaters and on DVD. Fans ranging from children and teens to adults and seniors often find themselves indulging in their magical realism conjured up by creative writers and artists from all genres. Anime and manga have swept through the United States like a whirlwind, creating a pop culture phenomenon that continues to proliferate at an astounding rate.

There is a strong cultural assumption in the U.S. that all animation and comic books are juvenile forms of entertainment. The mediums are actually far richer than that, and nowhere else is this truer than in Japan. The Japanese have developed a rich industry producing thousands of titles both in print and animated. Any genre you are familiar with has been mined and combined with visuals to help tell the story. Don't assume everything is family entertainment or sitcoms. Join us to explore works that range from respectable literature to delightful trash, and everything in between.

Gilles Poitras, the Access Services Librarian at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, is best known for his three books: The Anime Companion, Anime Essentials, and Anime Companion 2, as well as writing for the magazines Newtype USA and Otaku USA. He also sits on the senior board of Mechademia, an annual scholarly anthology of essays on anime, manga, and fan culture.

Mr. Poitras has delivered presentations on anime for Japan for U.S. friendship groups, public libraries, the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, conventions, all-day workshops for librarians, introduced anime films at the Smithsonian, and even taught a course on the subject for Pixar staff.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room B
- Event Date & Time: Tuesday, June 7, 2011 (6-7:30 p.m.)

Crossing the Pacific with Cross Currents

May heralds the arrival of Asian Pacific American Heritage month. From the collection of the Magazines & Newspapers Center, we are highlighting Cross Currents, a quarterly newsletter that features news from the Asian American Studies Center at the University of California at Los Angeles. This newsletter introduces members of the faculty as well as the students--highlighting their achievements, publications, and research on the Asian American community. New books, symposia, cultural performances, and other related topic populate the pages of Cross Currents.

Throughout May, you can also check out Our Road - A Journey that Goes On Forever--one of the exhibits at the Main Library, featuring works by local Chinese American authors and artists. And on Saturday, May 21, come visit our booth at the annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration by the Main Library.

Journey back in time to the archives of the of the mid-19th century and early 20th century with the Magazines & Newspapers Center on Wednesday, April 20. Learn how to search for and access articles from the San Francisco Chronicle with one of our most popular electronic resources for historical researching--the San Francisco Chronicle Historical. For a sneak peek at how to search and navigate this this database, check out our previous blog posting.

-Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
-Location: Main Library, Fifth Floor Training Center
-Event Date & Time: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 (2 to 3 p.m.)

Fasten Your Seatbelts for Power Googling

On Saturday, April 9, 2011, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., fasten your seat belts and learn some of the advanced search features of Google. Program is presented by the Magazines & Newspapers Center:

When researching for information on the Web, many people simply “Google it,” but rarely tap into Google’s advanced search options. In this presentation, go beyond the basic search box and learn how to use special operators to fine-tune your search strategies and customize your search results. Unlock some of the hidden features and shortcuts in this popular search engine. Search more precisely, smarter, and faster to unleash the full power of Google.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)

- Location: Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room

- Event Date & Time: Saturday, April 9, 2011 (10:30 a.m. to noon)

ABCs of Digital Scanning Photographs

The Magazines and Newspapers Center once again hosts an introductory hands-on demonstration workshop featuring digital scanning techniques for photographs, film, slides, negatives and more. Beginners are encouraged to attend and learn how to scan, capture, edit and save photographic images. Our workshop will meet in the Fifth Floor Magazines Center microfilm room.


- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Magazines & Newspapers Center, 5th Floor, Microfilm Room
- Event Date & Time: Monday, March 21, 2011 (Noon to 1 p.m.)

Get Ready to Party at the Mardi Gras

Do you know Mardi Gras 2011 falls on Tuesday, March 8? “Fat Tuesday,” as it is known, is the last day of the Carnival season, and it always falls on the day before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent.

Want to explore what life is like in New Orleans, Louisiana, be ‘in the know’ on local issues, traditions, social trends, and fashion, home and garden? Well, you’re in luck because the San Francisco Public library’s Magazines & Newspapers Center has been subscribing to New Orleans Magazine for the past three years--a magazine rich in culture yet somehow fuses its past, present, and future into a history of constant evolvement.

New Orleans, a monthly lifestyle magazine with features and columns on the city of New Orleans, highlights Creole, Cajun, French and multicultural cuisine and dining. Readers will experience the exciting rebirth of this city since the devastating tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans provides information on arts and entertainment (especially music, education, theatre, and its nightlife scene). For the fashion-savvy person, find a guide to tips on what’s hot and where to shop, especially for the ‘quintessential’ Mardi Gras attire.

The magazine is divided into three major sections:

• Features - An article about Five Star Hospitals


• In Every Issue - Read & Spin – latest books


• Special Section - In this issue, Steppin’ Out: It’s Carnival Time

A special page titled “On The Web,” showcases other Web sites offering valuable information to readers. If you can’t travel to “The Big Easy” then why not journey through the colorful pages of New Orleans Magazine or surf to their Web site: http://www.myneworleans.com

A Potpourri of Genealogical Search Tools

On Saturday, March 5, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Magazines & Newspapers Center will present a program designed to help you with your genealogical research.

The One-Step Web site (http://www.stevemorse.org/) started out as an aid for finding passengers in the Ellis Island database. Shortly afterwards it was expanded to help with searching in the 1930 census. Over the years it has continued to evolve and today includes about 200 web-based tools divided into 16 separate categories ranging from genealogical searches to astronomical calculations to last-minute bidding on e-bay. This presentation will describe the range of tools available and give the highlights of each one.

Stephen Morse is the creator of the One-Step Web site for which he has received both the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. He has also earned the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society, first-ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists, and two awards that he cannot pronounce from Polish genealogical societies.

In his other life Morse is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering. He has held various research, development, and teaching positions, authored numerous technical papers, written four textbooks, and holds four patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 30 years ago.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room
- Event Date & Time: Saturday, March 5, 2011 (10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.)

ABCs of Digital Scanning Microfilm

The Magazines and Newspapers Center will host our first digital scanning workshop of the year,from Noon to 1 PM on February 28th. This basic beginner session will focus on successful techniques for scanning, capturing, editing and saving archival resources from the 5th Floor microfilm and microfiche collection.

Join us in the Microfilm Room for hands-on demonstrations in digitizing newspapers, magazines and other resources.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Fifth Floor, Magazines & Newspapers Center, Microfilm Room
- Event Date & Time: Monday, February 28, 2011 (Noon to 1 p.m.)

Riding While Black 1955....Walking While Black 1999

The African American Interest Committee and the African American Center of the San Francisco Public Library proudly present the social justice program, Riding While Black 1955, Walking While Black 1999. Featuring civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, activist educator Enid Lee, and author/artist Bryonn Bain, this special event is being produced in association with Awele Makeba and the San Francisco Unified School District.

- Address: 100 Larkin Street (at Grove)
- Location: Main Library, Lower Level, Koret Auditorium
- Event Date & Time: Sunday, February 6, 2011 (1:30 to 4 p.m.)

Edible SF

A common resolution people make at the start of a new year revolves around improving their diets, so what better way to start developing healthy eating habits than exploring Edible San Francisco--a local magazine from the Wallace Environmental Stegner Center?

A publication of Edible Communities--a network of local food publications that focuses on "transform[ing] the way consumers shop for, cook, eat and relate to local food . . . . and connect consumers with local growers, retailers, chefs, and food artisans, enabling those relationships to grow and thrive in a mutually beneficial, healthful and economically viable way." To find back issues of Edible San Francisco, check with the Magazines & Newspapers Center for further assistance.

Finally, to whet your culinary palette through a variety of ongoing library programs and exhibitions, check out the San Francisco Eats events page which showcases "menus, historical photographs, an array of food writers, cookbooks and culinary history, ephemera such as coasters and matchbooks, and San Francisco food inventions, including gadgets and signature dishes."

Out with the old, In with the new . . .

As we launch into the new year, one of our longstanding magazines has recently migrated into the digital world. After over 60 years, U.S. News and World Report has abandoned its print format and gone totally online. Reporting and analyzing current events and issues throughout the United States and worldwide, this magazine covered a wide range of topics in the business and financial fields as well as sociological and technological trends. For more information, check out the New York Times article.

December 2010 marked the last print issue of U.S. News and World Report. You can, however, still browse through the older issues here at the Magazines & Newspapers Center. Also, to find other databases that contain the archived articles to Newsweek online, check Periodical Finder. You will need a San Francisco Public library card to access databases from outside of the library.