Finding Good, Inexpensive Wines

There are many tricks to finding a good wine. If you find that you enjoy wine writing "almost" as much as wine drinking, one way to achieve this is to follow a critic whose preferred tastes seem to go along with your own. The Library has many titles for you to explore including the California Grapevine, Decanter, Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirits, Wine Enthusiast, and Wine Spectator.

Each of these will have ratings and point systems, often for some pretty pricey wine. They will also occasionally have reviews on "best buy" wines, but there is one publication, Wine Discoveries, that should appeal to folks who want to read about wine that won't be breaking the bank. Started in El Cerrito in 1977, Wine Discoveries described itself as "the guide to exceptional wines under four dollars" (now the price limit is "...under eight dollars"). This newsletter provides concise reviews of generally recommended reds and whites and then often has two special sections that concentrate on a specific varietal or region. Each entry has tasting notes, a range of prices that the wines have been offered for, and (especially helpful) at which Bay Area vendor/s the wine can be found.

For a thought-provoking article regarding the quality of wines along the price gradient, check out Dan Berger's "Wine Ancient and Modern" in the Commentary section of the October-November 2008 issue of California Grapevine. His conclusion that some "Tuesday" night (read: cheaper) wines are often more structurally sound than many of the higher price offerings may intrigue you.

Online Life Photo Archive

In a previous post, we highlighted some magazines whose covers you can peruse and view directly on the Web. According to a recent New York Times article, Google's Image Search acquired over 10 million photos from Life Magazine--a searchable treasure trove for the connoisseur of quality photojournalism.

Life Magazine, noted for its chronicling of diverse aspects of American life, provides a nice pastiche of aesthetic and stunning photographs from all walks of life. In this online archive--enhanced with Google's image search technology--you can now search for images of people, places, and events from America's past.

According to Google's description:

"Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google."

To read this article from the New York Times or to explore old issues of Life Magazine, feel free to drop by the Magazines & Newspapers Center, and we'll be happy to help you get your hands on the physical copies of these periodicals.

Our Universal Human Rights

Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Franciso Public Library

Did you know you have the right to live a life of leisure, participate in the cultural life of your community, and not be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment? On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted what is known today as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document written in 337 languages outlining basic rights to which every human being is entitled.

If you are curious about the historical context in which this document was written, the participants involved with its creation, and additional information, try exploring the History Resource Center: World by following these instructions:

1. Go to the SFPL Home Page and select “Articles & Databases.” You will need a San Francisco Public Library card to access the databases from outside the Library.

2. Under the Categories side bar on the left, select "History & Genealogy" then “History Resource Center: World.”

3. In the basic search box, enter "universal human rights."

4. The first result, an article from the DISCovering World History, provides an overview of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its impact on the world.

The History Resource Center: World, an online global collection of human history, covers over 4,900 years of the past. This database incorporates "secondary sources, primary sources, and full-text articles from academic journals and periodicals from around the world."

Furthermore, in light of the controversial social debates surrounding Proposition 8 on banning same-sex marriages, be sure to check out Geoff Callan's recent award-winning documentary "Pursuit of Equality."

Finally, in honor of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Center at the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library currently has an exhibit commemorating the 60th anniversary of this momentous and historical declaration.

Discover Hidden Magazines with Encore

Have you ever wanted to find magazines on a particular topic like fashion, home improvement, photography, or travel, but didn't have a clue on any of their titles? Maybe you just wanted to browse through a list of magazines on a specific topic, but wasn’t quite sure how to do this.

Enter Encore—San Francisco Public Library’s new catalog discovery tool—to help you with such a question. You will find a search box on the home page that looks something like this:

Enter a search term like cars into the green box where it says “Explore the Catalog.” Although you will initially receive over 1000 hits, notice the “Refine by” side bar:

Under the subheading “Format,” click on to see more formats. Click “Magazine-Live,” and you'll pull up a list of current magazine titles related to cars.

Steer over to the right side of the screen, and you’ll see a box labeled “Refine by Tag”:

Here you can sharpen your search by exploring different tags. Click on [Show more tags] and you'll see a tag cloud of related terms that can enhance your search. For instance, here are some additional tags you might consider using--"antique and classic cars," "sports cars," "used cars," and so forth.

And there you have it. Give Encore a spin and uncover hidden magazines you may not even have known existed in our collection.

Use Those Leftovers

Whether you are a cooking enthusiast or a reluctant home cook, there is something daunting about being faced with a fridge full of leftovers. With the holiday season officially under way, it's time to mentally prepare ourselves for the full onslaught of extra food that needs to be revitalized or face the compost pile. Before you reach for the green bin, perhaps all you need is a little inspiration. Here at the Magazines and Newspapers Center, we have a number of titles that may help you see the potential in those yams from a few nights ago.

A longstanding favorite of foodies everywhere, Gourmet is equal parts gastronomical fantasy and practical tips. The magazine contains a blend of super close-up photos of world-class foods, features about the culture surrounding food, drool-inducing reviews of restaurants around the world, and, perhaps most importantly, practical how-to advice for home cooks. Come for a shot of inspiration and stay for the not-too-fancy and surprisingly manageable recipes.


If your tastes are more Kraft Single than Camembert, or if dinner is not the highlight of your day but rather a quick chore between soccer practice and piano lessons, then Every Day with Rachel Ray may be just the magazine for you. Ray, who has built a media empire based on cooking homemade meals on the cheap using a blend of fresh and prepared foods, has attached her name and her philosophy to a bimonthly magazine. Every Day with Rachel Ray is devoted to inspire those who may otherwise rely on takeout to try some quick and easy weekday recipes at home. Emphasis is placed on meals that take around half an hour to prepare and can be assembled inexpensively with ingredients regularly found at supermarkets.

If you appreciate a scientific approach to cooking, then maybe you'll find Cook's Illustrated appealing. The recipes, equipment reviews, and technique features are as precise as lab reports, which isn't surprising considering that the magazine comes out of the popular public television program America's Test Kitchen. Read a couple of issues of this title, and you may just have a bit more confidence approaching the contents of your fridge.


If none of these titles appeal to you, we have a couple dozen more that may be more to your taste. To get a full listing of cooking magazines at the San Francisco Public Library, follow these steps:

1. Go to our home page.
   


2. Click on "More" under the catalog search box.
   


3. Choose subject from the drop-down menu.
   


4. Type "cookery periodicals."

Thanksgiving Family Reading

With Thanksgiving arriving just around the corner, the holidays are sure to sneak up on us without warning as we approach the end of 2008. Last year, we posted an entry about KidsInfo--an electronic resource for beginning researchers containing articles and reference content written specifically for children from kindergarten to 5th grade.

This year, we'll explore reading activities in which you and your children can explore through our NoveList K-8 database--a resource that provides book titles for elementary and middle-school aged children. To access this database:

1. Go to the SFPL Home Page and select “Articles & Databases.” You will need a San Francisco Public Library card to access the databases from outside the Library.

2. Under the Categories side bar on the left, select “Student Resources” then select, “NoveList K-8.” Once you've accessed the database, you should see a search screen that looks like this:

Notice that you can check off boxes underneath the search box to limit titles to a specific age group. Go ahead and check off "Younger Kids," enter "Thanksgiving" into the search box, and run the search. You should now see a list of book titles:

From the drop-down "Sort by" menu, you can re-order your list by author, date, popularity, and more. The left-hand "Narrow Results by" column allows you to explore other subject headings where you can refine your search. The tabs along the top lead to links on award-winning books, curricular materials, and other recommended books. You can click the "Check the San Francisco Public Library Catalog" link at the bottom to see whether or not the library actually owns the book for which you are searching.

Finally, if you want to indulge in some of your own personal reading interests, a while back, we highlighted the Novelist database in a separate post. So this Thanksgiving, sit back, enjoy a hearty meal with family and friends, and enjoy the pleasures of reading over the holiday.