Workshop: New Years Zines (Thur., December 12)

 

Workshop: New Year Zines

Thursday, 12/12/2024
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Learning Studio - 5th Fl

Main Library

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102

Contact Telephone

415-557-4400

mnc@sfpl.org

 

Get ready to ring in 2025 by making a zine—a DIY mini-book—to reflect on the closing year and to envision possibilities of the new year, and then contribute your zine to a pop-up display in the Main Library. 

What did you accomplish in 2024 and how does that prepare you to achieve your goals in 2025? Put that reflection and visioning into a tangible product. Similar to a vision board, your New Year Zine can consist of text, images, drawings, and other visuals arranged together to represent your goals and ambitions. This little self-made publication starts as a single sheet of paper and is then folded in such a way that it becomes an eight page mini-book, also called a zine. Once you make your original, you can photocopy it to make an edition of 10 or 20. Then, you can give the copies as gifts to friends and family to celebrate together.  

Once completed, donate a copy of your New Year Zine to the Magazines and Newspapers Center to be featured in a pop-up display in the month of January 2025.  

Supplies like paper, collage ephemera, old magazines, markers, stickers, stamps and scissors will be provided, in addition to instructions on how to create an 8-page zine out of a single sheet of paper. You are welcome to bring your favorite zine supplies as well.  

This workshop is led by a Magazines and Newspapers Center librarian.  

Resources 

What is a zine? 

How to Make This Very Zine [out of a single sheet of paper]- by Anne Elizabeth Moore  

__________________________________________

See event listing on SFPL event calendar. 

Thursday! PressReader and Flipster Tutorial

Visit the Main Library for Tech Week, October 5-12, and catch the Magazines and Newspapers Center tutorial about reading periodicals on two popular platforms, PressReader and Flipster. Nearly any popular magazine you can think of is available on one of these apps, and you can get newspapers in dozens of languages from all over the world on PressReader! 

Tutorial: PressReader and Flipster

Thursday, 10/10/2024
12:00 - 1:00

Computer Training Center - 5th Fl

Main Library

Address

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA94102

Learn about the two eMagazines platforms available to library card holders via sfpl.org/enews. Each has a collection of publications the other doesn’t and apps that allow you to download magazines for offline reading.  

Presented by a Magazines & Newspapers Center librarian. 

Find out more ahead of the tutorial:

PressReader FAQ entry: https://sfpl.libanswers.com/faq/167356

Flipster FAQ entry: https://sfpl.libanswers.com/faq/167139

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar. 

Upcoming Programs in the Environmental Center

We've got back-to-back programs this month that are crossover events with the Stegner Environmental Center and the Magazines and Newspapers Center, both in-person at the Main Library here in Civic Center. We hope you can join us! 

 

Speaker: Alejandro Lazo of CalMatters

Tuesday, 10/29/2024
5:30 - 6:30

Environmental Center Exhibit Space - 5th Fl

Main Library

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA94102

Local journalist Alejandro Lazo will speak about CA environmental issues, from his view at the nonprofit news site CalMatters. The site description says CalMatters "[brings] Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable." Short Q&A to follow his remarks.

As we head towards Election Day, bring your questions about environmental issues and how they intersect with the ballot.

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

__________________________________  

Author: Rosanna Xia in conversation with Tyrone Jue

Los Angeles Times Journalist in conversation 

with Director of SF Environment

Wednesday, 10/30/2024
6:00 - 7:00

Environmental Center Exhibit Space - 5th Fl

Main Library

100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA94102

 

Author Rosanna Xia will discuss stories from her book California Against the Sea (Heyday Books, out now in paperback). In this compelling book, voices of Indigenous leaders, community activists, small-town mayors, urban engineers, and environmental scientists discuss what responses we need for rising ocean levels along our state. Rosanna Xia is an environment reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Tyrone Jue is Director of SF Environment. He leads the City’s efforts to advance climate action, environmental justice, and sustainability policies. He grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood witnessing firsthand the environmental challenges faced by underserved communities, leading to a career in public service.

Local store Dog Eared Books will be available to sell copies of the title at this event.

An RSVP is appreciated, but not required. Please write to EnvironmentalCenter@sfpl.org 

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

 

Two Upcoming Virtual Programs: History of the Mexican Press and New Approaches to International Reporting

Presentation: The Mexican Press, Revolution to the Present Day

Friday, 9/27/2024
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Register on Zoom

Learn about the role the newspaper press played in Mexican history as a medium of communication between citizens and government officials from the Revolution to the current day.  

Historian Benjamin T. Smith discusses the rise in readership following the Mexican Revolution, gives examples of regional and urban newspapers as important agents of communication and examines the effects of censorship, which has rendered Mexico the most dangerous country in the Western hemisphere for journalists according to a 2022 report from Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).  

Benjamin T. Smith has been writing about the history of Mexico for twenty years. He now specializes on twentieth-century politics, the narcotics trade and crime. But he has also researched and written about indigenous politics, Catholicism, conservatism, newspapers, journalism and censorship. He is the author the 2018 monograph The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940–1976: Stories from the Newsroom, Stories from the Street and the co-editor of the 2018 anthology Journalism, Satire, and Censorship in Mexico. He is a Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick and holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University.  

Connect

Benjamin T. Smith – Website | Benjamin T. Smith – X  

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

 __________________________________  

 

CANCELED: Presentation: How Do You Like Your International News?

Friday, 10/4/2024
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Register on Zoom

This program has been rescheduled from the original date of May 29, 2024.

Discover news from Nepal that is reported with accuracy and dignity by Kathmandu-based journalist Shilu Manandhar and how her work is different than reporting done by “parachute journalists.” Learn about the mission of Global Press to carry out this work.

Global Press uncovered how Asian American and Pacific Islander audiences in the U.S. prefer to get their international news in a 2023 report. Many respondents reported preferring international news from legacy news outlets that deploy “parachute journalists” from the U.S. or the U.K., but Global Press has a better approach that offers more dignified and precise coverage from local reporters who are part of the fabric of the foreign country. Team members Cristi Hegranes (founder and CEO of Global Press), Laxmi Parthasarathy (COO of Global Press) and Shilu Manandhar (Nepal senior reporter) will discuss how Global Press was able to change API respondents’ minds by demonstrating what ethical, effective and inclusive reporting looks like and how on-the-ground reporting in the Global Press style is clearer, more interesting and more meaningful. Manandhar will share examples of her own reporting from Nepal and will break down the components of the Global Press style as exemplified in her work, most likely awakening the appetite for Nepalese news you didn’t know you had.

Global Press was founded in 2006 by Cristi Hegranes, a young journalist who once dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. But after going overseas on her first assignment, she realized that she was the wrong person to be telling the world’s stories. Instead, Hegranes passed her pen to local women in the community who had the social, historical, cultural context and the source access to tell accurate, world-changing stories. Since 2006, Global Press has trained more than 250 local journalists across 40 communities. Together, they're transforming global narratives.

Cristi Hegranes is the CEO of Global Press, the Publisher of Global Press Journal and the author of Byline: How Local Journalists Can Improve the Global News Industry and Change the World. She founded Global Press in 2006 to create a new form of ethical, accurate global news. Her values-driven approach to journalism prioritizes newsroom representation to create a dignified, precise news product. Previously, Hegranes worked as a journalist for Village Voice Media in New York and San Francisco. She has a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Laxmi Parthasarathy is the COO of Global Press. She leads global operations across each Global Press brand, spearheads the global expansion strategy to build new bureaus and develops new partnership strategies to bolster the organization’s reach and long-term sustainability. Over her career, she has led initiatives at the intersection of media and development in Canada, India, Rwanda, Mexico, Spain, Argentina and the UK. Parthasarathy holds a Master’s degree in Media, Communications and Development from the London School of Economics and did her undergraduate studies at Carleton University in Canada. 

Shilu Manandhar is a Global Press Journal senior reporter based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She specializes in migration and environmental reporting in Nepal. She studied at Christ College in Bangalore, India. Manandhar’s coverage of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar has won numerous awards and been cited in legislative changes.

Connect 

Global Press – Website | Global Press – Twitter | Global Press – Facebook | Global Press – Instagram 

Cristi Hegranes -- Website | Cristi Hegranes – Twitter | Cristi Hegranes – LinkedIn | Cristi Hegranes – Email 

Laxmi Parthasarathy – Twitter | Laxmi Parthasarathy – LinkedIn 

Shilu Manandhar – Facebook | Shilu Manandhar – Email  

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

__________________________________  

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

Recap: Bound Magazine Bingo Activity

On Saturday, August 24, the Magazines and Newspapers Center presented a program featuring an intriguing selection of magazines from SFPL's extensive archive of bound volumes. Presented in partnership with the Art, Music, and Recreation Center, the activity was called Bound Magazine Bingo, and participants were given bingo cards whose squares had different types of content you could expect to find in historic magazines. The objective was to find examples of the types of content on the bingo cards in the magazines in order to win a prize. 

What is a bound magazine? 

Magazines are published as individual issues per time interval (week, month, bi-monthly, etc.) and after a certain amount of issues have been published, the library's team sends them to a bindery to get combined into a single volume. Using the term "bound magazines" is meant to signify the historical characteristic of the object; if a magazine's issues have been around long enough to be bound, then it is no longer "current" and has passed into the realm of presumed historical significance. 

A participant looks through a volume of McCall's next to a book cart of bound magazines

How do you play bingo with bound magazines?

Rather than participants relying on a person calling numbers to mark on a bingo card, they are self-directed in attempting to find various content types in the magazines. The content types for which they search are indicated on the squares on the bingo cards, and participants mark off the content types they find with a highlighter. Those who mark off a row, column, or diagonal of squares can win a prize, and anyone who can achieve a "black-out card"--getting every single square--wins a grand prize.

Honestly though, participants just loved the ability to freely graze on the interesting selection of magazines on hand. 

Participants play bingo with bound magazines

What magazines were included? 

A librarian from the Art, Music, and Recreation Center at the Main Library curated the selection of magazines, and drew heavily on design magazines of all types. Anyone up for some Art Direction, Communication Arts, Step-by-Step Graphics, or Designers West? The selection also included staples from annals of American magazines like McCall's, Vogue, Thrasher, and Better Homes and Gardens. Special shout-out to the extremely historically significant magazine Soviet Life, volumes of which we had on hand for 1967 and 1980. 

>> See the full list of magazines.

You can request any of these magazines on the 5th floor of the Main Library even if you missed the bingo game! 

Two carts holdings the selection of bound magazines pulled for the game 

When is the next time the Bound Magazine Bingo activity will be offered?

Hopefully soon! Let us know a time that would work for your schedule in the comments. 

An example of one of three bingo cards!

Film: The Dissident

 

Film: The Dissident 

Friday, 4/12/2024
1:30 - 3:30

Koret Auditorium

Main Library

“Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was critical of his beloved Saudi Arabia and of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies. On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul and never came out. His fiancée and dissidents around the world are left to piece together clues to his brutal murder—and in their dogged quest for truth, they expose a global cover-up perpetrated by the very country he loved. 

With exclusive access to the Turkish government’s evidence to Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz; and to Khashoggi’s close friend and fellow Saudi insurgent, Omar Abdulaziz, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bryan Fogel unearths hidden secrets in this real-life international thriller that will continue to rock the world long after the headlines have faded away. 

Chillingly powerful and heartbreakingly candid, The Dissident is an intimate portrait of a man who sacrificed everything for freedom of speech. With this cogent film, Fogel joins a cadre of dreamers across the globe who refuse to squelch the life’s work of an intrepid rebel, who, even after death, is defying those who sought to silence him forever.”  – thedissident.com

View trailer

PG-13, 117 mins., 2020. Closed captions (CC) in English.  

Read excerpts of Khashoggi’s Washington Post opinion column: Public Website Link | SFPL Database Link

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

Snapshots from 150 years of Women's Magazines

Following up on the success of all the women's magazines activities last week, we're sharing snapshots of ads, covers, and features from the spread of magazines we had out for browsing. The content represented in these photos was identified as interesting by the activity participants. Seeing all the photos together gives you an idea of the fun we had engaging with apparel how-tos, fashion and cigarette ads, cartoon advice, interior decorating, and personal essays. It gives you an idea of the variety of what can be called "women's magazines." 

Tutorial: Consumer Reports

 

 

Tutorial: Consumer Reports

Thursday, March 21, 2024
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Virtual Library

Register on Zoom

 

Learn how to access and search Consumer Reports and the Buying Guide online with your library card. 

Presented by a Magazines & Newspapers Center librarian. 

This tutorial will be recorded. Register on Zoom to receive a link to the recording if you cannot come to the live presentation.  

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

 

UPDATE 3/22/24:

Video Recording 

Access the recording of the tutorial by clicking the screenshot below. 

 

 

PDF Handout

View and download the handout from the tutorial:

 

PDF Slides

View and download the slides from the tutorial:

Activity: Women’s Magazines and Feminism, 19th Century to the Present

 

Activity: Women’s Magazines and Feminism, 19th Century to the Present

Learning Studio—5th Floor, Main Library 

Tuesday, March 12, 12:30-1:30 p.m. & 

Friday, March 15, 12:30-1:30 p.m. (Encore) 

This exact activity is offered twice.

Interact with a curated selection of women’s magazines from the library’s collection in this hands-on activity covering more than 150 years of publishing in the United States.  

For your awe and interrogation, fifteen different women’s magazines from the 1850s to 2020s invite your analysis. Learn about milestone moments in the history of publishing women’s magazines from a Magazines and Newspapers Center librarian. Following a librarian-created checklist, trace concepts of gender roles, feminine beauty and fashion, suffrage, women’s liberation and feminism through the spread of magazines both commercial and independent. Identify variations in editorial tone and graphic representation and question the motivation of each publication for embodying its respective attributes. Receive guidance on accessing the print issues of each magazine featured in the workshop through the library’s holdings, as well as how to access and view digitized versions of the magazines through the library’s website.

You are encouraged to bring your smartphone to snap photos of magazine content to share with other participants through the course of the activity.

Magazine titles include: 

• Ladies’ American Magazine  
• Godey’s Lady’s Book  
• Ladies’ Home Journal  
• Good Housekeeping  
• Essence 
• McCall’s 
• Better Homes & Gardens 
• Up from Under  
• Playgirl Magazine
  
• Bitch 
• Ms. Magazine 
• Harper’s Bazaar  
• Women's Sports & Fitness 
• Women’s Wear Daily 
• Vogue 
• Oprah Magazine 

Some photos from the librarian preparing for the program are below. Can you guess which decade of of them are from? 

See event listing on the master calendar:

Tuesday, March 12, 12:30-1:30 p.m. & 

Friday, March 15, 12:30-1:30 p.m. (Encore)

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

Speaker: Faheem Majeed’s Freedom’s Stand, A Sculpture of Black Newspapers

 

Speaker: Faheem Majeed’s Freedom’s Stand, A Sculpture of Black Newspapers

Friday, 2/16/2024
11:00 a.m.

Virtual Library

Register On Zoom

 

Unpack artist Faheem Majeed’s sculpture Freedom’s Stand to learn more about the significance of the African American press and how it inspires today’s modern artists. 

In September 2022 Majeed premiered the site-specific sculpture that features a rotating selection of front pages of historical and contemporary African American newspapers and magazines at the High Line in New York City, and the sculpture’s exhibition will close in April 2024. Learn how Majeed developed the idea for this sculpture’s content and form, and why he drew inspiration for the sculpture from the structures of the Dogon granaries in West Mali. Majeed will be joined by his research assistant Shola Jimoh to discuss the selection process for the publications and front-page headlines that have rotated through the display for the past year and a half. Go deeper as we investigate not only the informational value of Black newspapers, but also the social, spiritual and artistic significance these publications continue to bring to bear in our current culture. 

About

Faheem Majeed is an artist, educator, curator and community facilitator. He blends his unique experience as a non-profit administrator, curator and artist to create works that focus on institutional critique and exhibitions that leverage collaboration to engage his immediate community, as well as the broader community, in meaningful dialogue. He is the co-founder/co-director of the arts collective Floating Museum. Majeed received his BFA from Howard University and his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).  

Shola Jimoh is currently a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2022, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health with the highest distinction. Under the leadership and guidance of Faheem Majeed, Shola has served as a research assistant on several interdisciplinary archival projects concerning black American (hi)stories within the arts and beyond.   

Connect 

Faheem Majeed – Website | Faheem Majeed – Facebook | Faheem Majeed – Instagram  

Faheem Majeed, Freedom’s Stand, 2022. A High Line Commission. On view September 2022 – April 2024. Photo by Lawrence Sumulong. Courtesy of the High Line.

Faheem Majeed, Freedom’s Stand, 2022. A High Line Commission. On view September 2022 – April 2024. 📸: @timothyschenck. Courtesy of the High Line.

Faheem Majeed, Freedom’s Stand, 2022. A High Line Commission. On view September 2022 – April 2024. 📸: @timothyschenck. Courtesy of the High Line.

Faheem Majeed, Freedom’s Stand, 2022. A High Line Commission. On view September 2022 – April 2024. 📸: @timothyschenck. Courtesy of the High Line.

Faheem Majeed, Freedom’s Stand, 2022. A High Line Commission. On view September 2022 – April 2024. 📸: @timothyschenck. Courtesy of the High Line.

 

Presentation: AI-Generated Journalism: What Could Go Wrong?

 

Presentation: AI-Generated Journalism: What Could Go Wrong?

Friday, February 9, 2024

Time: 11 a.m.

 Virtual Library

Register on Zoom 

Uncover the new and alarming practice some publishers have been employing of using generative AI to write content, as seen with Sports Illustrated, USA Today and other news outlets.

Maggie Harrison Dupré, journalist at Futurism.com, broke the story in November 2023 that Sports Illustrated had been using AI-generated content on its website for months; earlier last year, she also reported on the use of AI-generated content by USA Today publisher Gannett. Go inside this disturbing practice with Harrison as she outlines a handful of examples from her own reporting of news outlets and magazine publishers dabbling, with little success, in using generative-AI to automate their content mill. Up for analysis are the ethical concerns, business aspects and technical issues at the heart of the conflict between machine-written articles and human-created journalism. In asking what could go wrong with using AI-generated content, we find that a lot can go wrong, actually. 

About

Maggie Harrison Dupré writes about technology for Futurism.com, with particular focus on AI, grief tech and the digital spaces we live in. She is based in New York City.  

Connect 

Maggie Harrison – Futurism | Maggie Harrison – Website | Maggie Harrison – X  

See event listing on the master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading.  

Workshop: Digitized Black Newspapers

 

Workshop: Digitized Black Newspapers 

Saturday, January 20, 2024  

Time: 10:30-12 

Computer Training Center, 5th Floor

Space is limited

RSVP to attend by calling 415-557-4453 or emailing mnc@sfpl.org

Identify and access digitized Black newspapers through San Francisco Public Library’s electronic resources in this hands-on workshop. Learn how to look up historic and current newspapers in Periodical Finder and how to perform a variety of tasks in Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest), a major database offering news articles in this area. Discuss your ideas for the application of these materials for research, personal learning, or whatever reason drives your interest in Black newspapers. 

Titles we will look at include:

• The Pacific Appeal  
• The Elevator
• The San Francisco Vindicator  
• The Los Angeles Sentinel
• The Chicago Defender
• New York Amsterdam News  

...and many more.  

 

Bring the name of a Black newspaper you've read or would like to read, and a question or topic in which you’re interested (optional).  

Presented by a Magazines & Newspapers Center librarian. 

See event listing on the master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

Tutorial: PressReader & Flipster, eMagazines Platforms for Enjoyment & Research

 

PressReader & Flipster, eMagazines Platforms for Enjoyment & Research

Friday, 12/15/2023
11:00 - 12:00 pm

Virtual Library

Register Online to Attend 

Learn about the two eMagazines platforms available to library card holders via sfpl.org/enews. Each has a collection of publications the other doesn’t and apps that allow you to download magazines for offline reading.  

Presented by a Magazines & Newspapers Center librarian. 

See event listing on the master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

 

Presentation: News from Native California

November is First Person: Honoring Native American and Indigenous Cultures at San Francisco Public Library. We have a whole month of programs planned to celebrate, but there is a very exciting program hosted by the Magazines and Newspapers Center on November 14 that we do not want you to miss! 

News From Native California 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

4:00 - 5:00

Virtual Library

Register Online to Attend

Learn about News From Native California from its editor, Terria Smith. The library provides access via several databases, the online magazine platform, Flipster and in print. The current issue is on display in the 5th floor Reading Room. Subscribe by visiting their website. 

Presented by Terria Smith (Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla), Director of the Heyday Berkeley Roundhouse and Editor, News From Native California. 

Connect: 

News From Native California - Website | News From Native California - Instagram | News From Native California - Facebook 

A remarkable publication. Its articles run an amazing gamut — from scholarly to gossipy, from lyrical to gritty. 

—San Francisco Chronicle 

 

[A] full-fledged magazine focusing on the arts, education, the law, culture, language, [and] botany…, [News] probably has the widest literacy range of any periodical in the Western Hemisphere. 

—Los Angeles Times 

 

See event announcement on the master calendar.  

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading.

 

Presentation: Solidarity Journalism 101 with Mahalaya Newspaper

As part of a rich offering of programs to celebrate Filipino American History Month (October, 2023) at SFPL, the Magazines and Newspapers Center is hosting a virtual presentation on Friday, October 27.  

Solidarity Journalism 101 with Mahalaya Newspaper

Friday, 10/27/2023
2:00 - 3:00

Register Online to Attend (closed)

Learn about the basics of solidarity of reporting and how to center the stories and perspectives of your community. Mahalaya is a free community newspaper that you can pick up at one of several California locations, including the SFPL Magazines and Newspapers Center reference desk.

Presented by Casey Ticsay, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Mahalaya Newspaper.  

Connect:  Mahalaya Newspaper – Website | @mahalayasf - Instagram 

See event announcement on master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

**Update October 31, 2023

After the presentation last Friday, editor Casey Ticsay shared a list of rich resources for attendees. Click through to view. 

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.)

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.)