Archive for March, 2010
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 31, 2010
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the two winners of the 2010 FPinfomart Student-to-Conference Award:
Robert Ambra
Elysia Guzik
The FPinfomart Student-to-Conference Awards provide the winning two students with a $1,500 stipend, awarded by the SLA [Special Libraries Association] Toronto Executive Board. Applicants must be willing to serve on the Executive or Advisory Board of the Toronto Chapter in the 2011 Chapter year and the winning essays will be published in The Courier, SLA Toronto’s quarterly newsletter.
Please join us in offering our best wishes to our two winners. Have a great time at the conference!
Posted in Announcements | Tagged: sponsorship | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 30, 2010
The rules: the first person to enter the correct answer in this post’s comments will be declared the winner. Please follow the answer format below so that we know you’ve used FPinfomart to find your answer!
Spring is upon us, and the weather forecast for the start of April is upbeat (at least, it is here in Toronto). The expression “April showers bring May flowers” is popular this time of year.
- What is the original quote?
- Who is credited with this quote, and what is the title of his book of writings?
- Provide an article citation – headline, byline, publication, and date – for your answers.
This week’s puzzle is a little harder, so here are some hints:
- This was NOT first uttered by Shakespeare’s Juliet.
- It was coined in the mid-16th century.
- The answer is in a U.S. publication.
Posted in Scavenger Hunt | Tagged: fun, Search | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 29, 2010
We’ve just updated our training schedule with upcoming dates for both Virtual and Classroom training.
Virtual Training (via Webex) will be held on the following dates:
- Navigating FPinfomart.ca – Tuesday April 13, 2010, 1:00 – 2:30 pm EST
- Expert Searching FPinfomart.ca – Wednesday April 14, 2010, 1:00 – 2:00 pm EST
Classroom Training will be held in May, on the following dates:
- Toronto – Monday, May 17, 2010
- Calgary – Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- Edmonton – Thursday May 20, 2010
- Ottawa – Wednesday, May 19, 2010
- Vancouver – Monday May 17, 2010
You’ll sit at your own PC during the class so you can try what you’re learning right away. Our instructor-led classes consistently get great feedback from all our participants. Whether you’re a new user or an expert searcher, you’re bound to discover something new by attending one of our sessions! See our training schedule for course descriptions and more information.
FPinfomart training is free for all current subscribers. You must register if you plan to attend. Don’t wait – register today!
We hope to see you at one of our training sessions soon.
Posted in Training | Tagged: Training | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 26, 2010
This week, Google announced a new feature, Google Bookmarks, which will allow you to keep online lists of bookmarks. As well, you’ll be able to organize your bookmarks into lists, and share them with contacts. Shared lists can be both viewed, and contributed to, by other users that you specify.
I’m always interested in new collaborative online tools, and Google has many useful ones (Google Docs, for example). However, I already use the Delicious bookmarking service to keep track of, tag, and share sites I’ve discovered. Will Google Bookmarks add new features that I haven’t yet discovered?
Will you try Google Bookmarks? Why, or why not? If you’ve tried it, have you discovered any interesting features or functions? What uses do you foresee for this service?
Bookmarks are a great way to keep track of your favorite content across the web and we want to help you share them with your friends – via Official Google Blog: Collaborative bookmarking with lists.
Posted in General | Tagged: collaboration, google, links, social | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 24, 2010
The rules: the first person to enter the correct answer in this post’s comments will be declared the winner. Please follow the answer format below so that we know you’ve used FPinfomart to find your answer! (Hint: You’ll need to search the Archives, with special attention to date ranges).
This week, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill introducing major changes to the American health care system. This new medical system has been dubbed “Obamacare” by the media.
- What is the OLDEST usage of the term “Obamacare” you can locate in the FPinfomart database? Provide a citation for your answer – please include headline, pubication name, and date of publication.
Posted in Scavenger Hunt | Tagged: fun, Search | Comments Off
Posted by fpinfomart on March 24, 2010
We have just been notified that effective immediately, the following two Reed Business Information Trade Publications are no longer being published:
- MBT (Manufacturing Business Technology)
- Video Business
The archive for these titles will remain in our database for the foreseeable future, however no new content will be produced.
Posted in Content | Tagged: changes, Content | Comments Off
Posted by fpinfomart on March 23, 2010
We are thrilled to announce that FPinfomart.ca’s Breakfast Series will be visiting four of Canada’s major cities again this year. We had an outstanding response to last year’s traveling Breakfast Series and we are excited to let you know that we will be hosting another round of these informative meetings this spring.
Please reserve the date for the presentation nearest you:
- VANCOUVER – Wednesday, May 5, 2010
- CALGARY – Thursday, May 6, 2010
- TORONTO – Wednesday, May 12, 2010
- OTTAWA – Thursday, May 13, 2010
Please watch this blog for more information later this month, which will contain more details, including registration instructions.
Posted in Events | Tagged: admin, presentations | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 22, 2010
When you view and download Broadcast TV clips on FPinfomart, they’re offered in Flash format. Flash offers streaming video – which means that the clip begins playing as soon as you click it (rather than many other formats which require you to wait until the whole thing is cached before it begins to play). For downloading, Flash offers some advantages such as smaller file size.
However it does mean that a proprietary (Flash) player is required, and that burning a DVD copy is less simple. We get asked regularly if it’s possible to convert these downloaded Flash TV clips to another format.
While we can’t recommend, endorse, or support any specific software, I did come across this article on the always-helpful Lifehacker blog today. The information in the post (link below) may be of interest to those wishing to convert these Flash files to another format.
Free media file converter FormatFactory is a handy all-in-one utility for taking one kind of audio, video, or picture file and converting it to another. via FormatFactory Centralizes DVD Ripping, Media Conversion – Downloads – Lifehacker.
Posted in Technology | Tagged: links, software, Tips, TV | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 17, 2010
We think that this blog is a great way for us to provide you with information about products, services, content, changes, tips, and more. We hope you’re finding it to be a useful medium for communication about FPinfomart’s services, and we would like to reach more of our customers with “Intelligence You Can Count On.”
Please take a moment to answer a few simple questions (below). Information about how YOU’RE using this blog will help us get the word out to a broader audience. Thank you.
Posted in General | Tagged: admin, feedback, poll | Comments Off
Posted by Jennifer Stein on March 16, 2010
We had lots of enthusiasm for our FPinfomart scavenger hunt last week, so we’ll bring it back as a weekly feature.
The rules are the same as last week – the first person to enter the correct answer to all 6 questions in the comments will be declared the winner. Please follow the answer format below so that we know you’ve used FPinfomart to find your answer! (Hint: You’ll need to search the Archives).
Having achieved great success in the Olympics, this was an exciting year for Women’s Hockey in Canada. Let’s look back on the history of the sport.
1. In what year was the first women’s hockey world championship to be sanctioned by the International Ice Hockey Federation held?
2. In what city was this championship held?
3. How many countries participated?
4. What was the name of the goalie for Team Canada?
5. For which team in the Central Ontario Women’s Hockey League did this goalie usually tend net?
6. Provide a citation for your answer – please include headline, pubication name, and date of publication.
Posted in Scavenger Hunt | Tagged: fun, Search | Comments Off
