Access reviews from Consumer Reports online, free!

Are you looking for a new home appliance, car or piece of electronic equipment? Did you know your Long Hill Township* library card allows you to access full-text articles and reviews from Consumer Reports (along with many other magazines and newspapers) from home! Here's how.

1. Start at the Long Hill Library website - www.longhilllibrary.org
2. Click on Find Articles in Databases and then click Ebsco: Periodicals.
3. Type in your library card number (no spaces)
4. Choose the first link on the left, Magazines & Newspapers - General.
5. Check the box next to General/News Databases and click Continue.
6. In the Search box, type keywords to describe what you are looking for (digital camera or refrigerator, for example).
7. Now scroll down to the Search Options section. Look for the "Limit Your Results" area and do the following:
-- Click in the text box next to Publication and type Consumer Reports. (This limits your search to only Consumer Reports magazine.)
-- Check the box next to Full Text. (This ensures that you will only get full-text articles.)
8. Click Search and wait a few moments. A list of articles that match your search terms appears.
9. Click on PDF Full Text to view any article you're interested in. You can easily print articles, or email them to yourself or a friend!

If you have any trouble using these instructions, don't hesitate to contact the library at 908-647-2088!


* Not a Long Hill resident? No problem - all residents of New Jersey have access to this resource. The database is provided free of charge from the New Jersey State Library to New Jersey residents. All you need is a library card from your local library!

Obituary Index Now Available

Thanks to the tireless work of one of our library volunteers, the library now has an index of all obituaries printed in the Echoes-Sentinel from 1968 to 2009.

The printed index is available for your use within the library. Once you find the name of the deceased and the issue of the Echoes-Sentinel in which their obituary ran, just come to the front desk for access to back issues of the newspaper.

We hope you find this new resource useful! Call the library at 908-647-2088 if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Mary Martin, Library Director

Don't feel guilty for loving children's books!

A great essay in last Sunday's New York Times Book Review explains the appeal of children's books to people of all ages - The Kids' Books Are All Right, by Pamela Paul. My fellow adults who have been waiting eagerly for Mockingjay, the third installment in the Hunger Games trilogy (you know who you are), rejoice! We don't have to hide our love of children's literature! We can shout out our love of, for instance, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall or Bad Kitty Takes A Bath by Nick Bruel. This stuff is good! Stop by the front desk or check in with Miss Meredith the Children's Librarian for a recommendation. You don't know what you're missing if you aren't reading "kid lit."

Mary

Killer Thrillers for an end-of-summer read

Looking for a good book to read? National Public Radio has just released its list of the top 100 "Killer Thrillers," chosen by NPR listeners. It includes some classics such as Jaws, In Cold Blood and of course many books by Stephen King, but it also includes some titles that you may not have heard of. One book that made it onto the list is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is marketed as a teen book but I have recommended it to several adults who were riveted by it and unable to put it down. The Hunger Games is the first of a trilogy, and the final book (Mockingjay) will be released on August 24th.

Other relative newcomers to the thriller list include Stieg Larssen with his The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, Mira Grant with Feed (a zombie thriller) and 61 Hours, the latest thriller by Lee Child which had me on the edge of my seat for the entire time it took for me to read it.

Happy reading! Don't look behind you....