This festive edition of WTH comes to you with our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, and also with a recommendation that you check out a web page which has recently changed for – we think - the better.
Exclusively organised
If you find our Exclusive Resources (the ones for which Westminster Libraries pay a subscription) through the Gateway, you might not have come across this page:
http://www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/ict/exclusive.cfm
which lists them all. This is the page which has recently been revamped. The idea is that, if you want to find, say, all the business resources or the ones dealing with music or news (a particularly strong category), they are grouped together so that you can browse them. And if you are "selling" the benefits of library membership, you can steer a prospective member towards the resources which will particularly appeal to them (cunning, huh?!).
But hang on, David, I hear you cry – I’m used to find my favourites by using the A to Z list. What’s happened to that? Never fear – Santa Dave wouldn’t snatch it away from you. At the top of the categorised list, there is a link to the A to Z, and vice versa.
Watch this space
And there’s more. At least, there will be more. Early in the new year, we will be launching an all-new, comprehensive listing of all the electronic resources, with the 24/7 Exclusives alongside the In-House Resources, which can’t be accessed at home but are available in one or more Westminster libraries.
We’d like to make everything available 24/7, but for various reasons that won’t be happening in a hurry. In the meantime, we hope the existing and forthcoming web pages will help you to find the resource you need.
From everyone at WTH Towers
Merry Christmas!
Monday 22 December 2008
Back to work
We often have fun thinking up clever titles for Web Treasure Hunt, but this time it’s different – this edition is called "back to work", and that’s exactly what it’s all about. People need jobs, and jobs are more difficult to find. But there are still jobs to be found, and we can help our users to find them, to apply for them, and to get advice if they need training or a brush-up of their CVs.
The new kid on the Gateway
The Gateway has had an "Education & jobs" category for a long time, and it still has. But if you click on it now, you will reach a page explaining that "Education" has been separated out and sent on it way, while "Jobs" has been beefed up and renamed "Back to work".
The new page (sub-title "we can help") has three main strands. On the main "Back to work" page there are links to sites giving or listing advice to people who are out of work, in work but fearing the worst, nearing retirement, or simply wanting a change of scene. The links include in-house sources - Marylebone Information Service’s impressive careers section, for instance, and Westminster Reference Library’s unrivalled know-how in the field of performing arts.
There are several "outside" links, and one "inside/outside" link to Paddington First, who provide excellent drop-in advice sessions at several of our libraries (and other local centres), as well as directly finding people jobs within the new businesses moving into the Paddington Basin development.
Online and on-the-page
The "Back to work" page links to two pages dealing with job ads. The first one has links to good websites, some associated with newspapers and magazines, and others freestanding. The second page features print sources. These sources are all available in at least one Westminster library, and some at every library. If you are pointing people in this direction, please reinforce the health warning at the top of the page: before somebody makes a special journey, they (or you) should check WULOP to make sure that the particular branch takes the relevant publication, and then give them a quick ring to find out whether this week’s copy is on the rack.
We can all sympathise with someone who comes into the library with a work (or lack of work) problem. But we can do a lot more than sympathise – we can make a difference.
(From the Gateway to websites, select "Education & jobs", and then click on the onward link to "Back to work".)
The new kid on the Gateway
The Gateway has had an "Education & jobs" category for a long time, and it still has. But if you click on it now, you will reach a page explaining that "Education" has been separated out and sent on it way, while "Jobs" has been beefed up and renamed "Back to work".
The new page (sub-title "we can help") has three main strands. On the main "Back to work" page there are links to sites giving or listing advice to people who are out of work, in work but fearing the worst, nearing retirement, or simply wanting a change of scene. The links include in-house sources - Marylebone Information Service’s impressive careers section, for instance, and Westminster Reference Library’s unrivalled know-how in the field of performing arts.
There are several "outside" links, and one "inside/outside" link to Paddington First, who provide excellent drop-in advice sessions at several of our libraries (and other local centres), as well as directly finding people jobs within the new businesses moving into the Paddington Basin development.
Online and on-the-page
The "Back to work" page links to two pages dealing with job ads. The first one has links to good websites, some associated with newspapers and magazines, and others freestanding. The second page features print sources. These sources are all available in at least one Westminster library, and some at every library. If you are pointing people in this direction, please reinforce the health warning at the top of the page: before somebody makes a special journey, they (or you) should check WULOP to make sure that the particular branch takes the relevant publication, and then give them a quick ring to find out whether this week’s copy is on the rack.
We can all sympathise with someone who comes into the library with a work (or lack of work) problem. But we can do a lot more than sympathise – we can make a difference.
(From the Gateway to websites, select "Education & jobs", and then click on the onward link to "Back to work".)
Hot (and cool) reading
We’re coming to the end of the National Year of Reading. Of course every year is a "Year of" something these days, and often the theme fails to excite. But reading – and the promotion of reading – really is important to everyone, and the National Year of Reading has been celebrated here in Westminster with some high-profile events and some snazzy promotions. So both Treasure Hunt links this week are to our own Westminster Libraries pages. There’s brassy for you!
Home fixture
Reading in Westminster Libraries is simple as a concept, but if you click on the Gateway link of that name you’ll find that it’s a pretty full vessel. Right at the top of the page we’re into the clever stuff: the "onebook" blog is followed by a video promoting the National Year of reading. Give them a go – the blog is your chance to have your say on Barabara Ewing’s The Mesmerist, as she prepares for a gruelling two-week tour of Westminster libraries, and the video is a gas (spot the celebs).
Further down the page there are links to reading groups in Westminster libraries (going a storm just now), expert tips on good reads in several different genres, and a link to the latest Quick Choice list – these are the hot-off-the-press, high-demand titles which you’ll find near the door of every library.
Don’t miss the National Year’s monthly themed page (It’s in the menu on the left). As I write this, the theme for November is Screen Reads – click the link, then reel in horror as King Kong swings towards you! Whether it’s books about films, books about making films, or books about books that are being filmed right now, this page has all the lowdown. There are links to previous themes at the bottom of the page.
Returning to the Reading in Westminster Libraries page, you will notice the set of links at the bottom of the page: these are to the relevant subcategories on the Gateway’s Books & Reading page.
(From the Gateway to websites, select "Books & Reading". Reading in Westminster Libraries is a Key Link.)
Tell Jacqueline Wilson that Mrs Mad sent you
The Gateway’s younger sibling, Webtastic, has its own take on books and reading. From baby books to cool reads for teenagers, all tastes and ages are catered for. What particularly catch the eye further down the page are a couple of lists, one of children’s book authors’ and illustrators’ websites, and one of award winners.
Mrs Mad’s Book-a-Rama is my favourite site for kids’ books. Reviews and jokes jostle with stories and ratings, all presided over by Mrs (seriously) Mad!
(From the Gateway to websites, look for the Webtastic icon at the bottom, and click the Books & Reading link on the left.)
Home fixture
Reading in Westminster Libraries is simple as a concept, but if you click on the Gateway link of that name you’ll find that it’s a pretty full vessel. Right at the top of the page we’re into the clever stuff: the "onebook" blog is followed by a video promoting the National Year of reading. Give them a go – the blog is your chance to have your say on Barabara Ewing’s The Mesmerist, as she prepares for a gruelling two-week tour of Westminster libraries, and the video is a gas (spot the celebs).
Further down the page there are links to reading groups in Westminster libraries (going a storm just now), expert tips on good reads in several different genres, and a link to the latest Quick Choice list – these are the hot-off-the-press, high-demand titles which you’ll find near the door of every library.
Don’t miss the National Year’s monthly themed page (It’s in the menu on the left). As I write this, the theme for November is Screen Reads – click the link, then reel in horror as King Kong swings towards you! Whether it’s books about films, books about making films, or books about books that are being filmed right now, this page has all the lowdown. There are links to previous themes at the bottom of the page.
Returning to the Reading in Westminster Libraries page, you will notice the set of links at the bottom of the page: these are to the relevant subcategories on the Gateway’s Books & Reading page.
(From the Gateway to websites, select "Books & Reading". Reading in Westminster Libraries is a Key Link.)
Tell Jacqueline Wilson that Mrs Mad sent you
The Gateway’s younger sibling, Webtastic, has its own take on books and reading. From baby books to cool reads for teenagers, all tastes and ages are catered for. What particularly catch the eye further down the page are a couple of lists, one of children’s book authors’ and illustrators’ websites, and one of award winners.
Mrs Mad’s Book-a-Rama is my favourite site for kids’ books. Reviews and jokes jostle with stories and ratings, all presided over by Mrs (seriously) Mad!
(From the Gateway to websites, look for the Webtastic icon at the bottom, and click the Books & Reading link on the left.)
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