Library Notes
Betty Moore
Brush up on the basics
Many adults in Rowan County are currently training for new careers or preparing to attend community college for the first time (or the first time in a long time). Rowan Public Library has many resources to help these adults brush up on their basic math, reading, writing, and study skills.
For many adults, math is the area where they feel the greatest need for review before taking a college placement test. “Number Power Review” covers math topics from whole numbers and fractions through algebra and geometry. Other books in this series from Contemporary focus specifically on each area. “Arithmetic The Easy Way” is part of another series that also includes business math, algebra and geometry. These and many other math titles offer practice tests, exercises, and answers so that adults can practice and study on their own.
“Reading Smart: Advanced Techniques for Improved Reading” is an easy-to-use guide to help readers improve speed and comprehension. “Practical English Handbook” is a detailed overview of grammar, usage and punctuation. “Student Writing Handbook” prepares students to write essays, term papers, and reports, on any school subject.
In addition to these books, RPL has DVDs that help prepare adults for placement tests and returning to the classroom, such as “Taking Math Tests,” “Taking Reading Comprehension Tests,” and “Taking Essay Tests.” “Five Steps to Study Skills Success” includes help on strategies for reading improvement, concentrating while reading, and good note-taking.
The library also has print study guides for a number of tests, such as the GED, GRE, police officer, and postal exams.
Through RPL and NCLive, library users have free online access to “Learning Express,” which has an even larger variety of practice tests and tutorials. Its Learning Centers, such as “College Preparation,” “Job Search & Workplace Skills,” or “Jobs & Careers” offer many online interactive practice tests and tutorials. Examples of tests are college skills assessment tests in math and reading comprehension plus review for licensing exams in firefighting, nursing, plumbing, and real estate.
To access Learning Express from an RPL computer lab, click on “Visit Rowan Public Library.” In the “Related Links” column, click on “Online Tools.” Next, under NCLive, click on “Career and Test Preparation,” then on “Learning Express Library” on the following page. Register for a free account.
Learning Express is also available from home through the Remote Resources Login on RPL’s home page. To learn about remote access or for more information, ask at your local branch or call 704-216-8243.
For adults thinking of heading back to school or already taking courses, RPL offers great resources for achieving their goals.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Library Notes
Rebecca Hyde – November 1, 2009
How do you perceive time? Most of us feel we have too little time to accomplish everything we want to do. On the other hand, we live longer and have access to high-speed technology. What is the problem?
Bodil Jonsson, a Swedish physicist, has examined for years our problem with time and offers in the little book “Unwinding the Clock” her thoughts on time management. Most important is the understanding of our relationship to time, and Jonsson offers ten thoughts on the subject in ten short chapters. She opens with the commonly held attitudes of “we don’t have enough time” and “time is money.” Jonsson argues that time is the only thing you really have, and that it is capital easily transformed into interactions with other people, with your surroundings, or into the development of thoughts and feelings. We think we can “buy” time with one gadget after another. But Jonsson asks: So what are you going to do with that time? And you can’t keep buying time, since the pace is faster and faster.
Time management for Jonsson is essentially taking “time out” to become conscious of our relationship to time and then setting different priorities. It is a personal matter “impossible to take in unless you work through it deep inside yourself, at your very core,” and then return to it throughout your life. Other provocative chapters include “Clock Time and Experienced Time, “Divided and Undivided Time,” “Rhythm and Nonrhythm.” That last chapter may help explain our frustrations traffic rhythms, the nonrhythms of meetings, and with people whose conversational and thought rhythms do not agree with ours.
Psychologists Zimbardo and Boyd offer their perspective on our “most irreplaceable resource” in “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life.” Our attitudes toward time have a profound impact on our lives and our world, and yet we seldom recognize this. For example, an individual’s relationship to time can influence important behaviors such as helping a stranger in distress. Future-oriented people are most likely to be successful and the least likely to help others in need. Present-oriented people tend to be willing to help others but appear less willing or able to help themselves. Those people whose perspective is the past make decisions bound by positive and negatives memories. Ideally, you want to develop a balanced time perspective in place of a narrowly focused single time zone. Optimal decisions are made when you can flexibly shift from past to present to future in response to the demands of the situation. So spend your time wisely and enjoy it well.
Rebecca Hyde – November 1, 2009
How do you perceive time? Most of us feel we have too little time to accomplish everything we want to do. On the other hand, we live longer and have access to high-speed technology. What is the problem?
Bodil Jonsson, a Swedish physicist, has examined for years our problem with time and offers in the little book “Unwinding the Clock” her thoughts on time management. Most important is the understanding of our relationship to time, and Jonsson offers ten thoughts on the subject in ten short chapters. She opens with the commonly held attitudes of “we don’t have enough time” and “time is money.” Jonsson argues that time is the only thing you really have, and that it is capital easily transformed into interactions with other people, with your surroundings, or into the development of thoughts and feelings. We think we can “buy” time with one gadget after another. But Jonsson asks: So what are you going to do with that time? And you can’t keep buying time, since the pace is faster and faster.
Time management for Jonsson is essentially taking “time out” to become conscious of our relationship to time and then setting different priorities. It is a personal matter “impossible to take in unless you work through it deep inside yourself, at your very core,” and then return to it throughout your life. Other provocative chapters include “Clock Time and Experienced Time, “Divided and Undivided Time,” “Rhythm and Nonrhythm.” That last chapter may help explain our frustrations traffic rhythms, the nonrhythms of meetings, and with people whose conversational and thought rhythms do not agree with ours.
Psychologists Zimbardo and Boyd offer their perspective on our “most irreplaceable resource” in “The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life.” Our attitudes toward time have a profound impact on our lives and our world, and yet we seldom recognize this. For example, an individual’s relationship to time can influence important behaviors such as helping a stranger in distress. Future-oriented people are most likely to be successful and the least likely to help others in need. Present-oriented people tend to be willing to help others but appear less willing or able to help themselves. Those people whose perspective is the past make decisions bound by positive and negatives memories. Ideally, you want to develop a balanced time perspective in place of a narrowly focused single time zone. Optimal decisions are made when you can flexibly shift from past to present to future in response to the demands of the situation. So spend your time wisely and enjoy it well.
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