Toronto Public Library hits milestone with 20 million ebooks borrowed
“Ebooks are making gains on physical books, making up 18 per cent of Toronto Public Library total circulation in 2017, along with audiobooks and other digital sources, says Maria Cipriano.”
“The Toronto Public Library has become the first library in the world to lend more than 20 million ebooks, the library announced this week.
“Our customers are very engaged with the digital book collection,” said Maria Cipriano, the library’s senior collections specialist responsible for ebooks. “As we find out any time it goes down, it becomes an emergency.”
The library, which announced the milestone Wednesday, started its first digital collection in 2007, which included books such as Astrology for Dummies, a book on Joan of Arc, and 17 travel guides.
By 2017, the collection included more than 170,000 titles, which were borrowed more than 4.6 million times that year alone.
Cipriano shared a list of the 20 most popular ebooks borrowed. The Girl on the Train comes in at No. 1, borrowed 19,156 times. Numbers two to five are The Goldfinch(borrowed 13,876 times), Gone Girl (borrowed 12,633 times), The Cuckoo’s Calling (borrowed 10,237 times), and You Are a Badass (borrowed 9,916 times).
“I see these trends … come and gone, but you know we have these enduring classics and modern classics that will go out forever,” Cipriano said. “Like the modern classic, The Goldfinch. It’s gone out a tremendous number of times, and any time I feature it on our landing page, it goes out again. Some of these books are going to be around for a long time.””
Stephen
Posted on: August 17, 2018, 10:00 amCategory: Uncategorized
The key to getting useful information is knowing how to ask and answer questions. This Harvard Business Review article explains how the effectiveness of questions and answers shapes the productivity of conversations. Explore HBS’s comprehensive leadership programs to gain the tools and insights you need to transform emerging and established executives into outstanding global leaders. Read more.
‘As you read through the list, ask yourself how each one will play a key role in your industry and your personal career path.
1. Mobile Hardware, Software, and Interactive Services will continue to rapidly evolve, creating many new careers, as all phones become smartphones, wearable capabilities expand, and our primary computer and tablets continue to evolve as our laptop replacement. This new level of mobility will allow any size business to transform how it markets, sells, communicates, collaborates, educates, trains, and innovates. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) will become increasingly mobile, playing a major role in direct and indirect job creation.
2. Remote Visual Communications is rapidly evolving into a primary relationship-building tool for businesses of all sizes as employees use smartphones, tablets, and laptops, in combination with current enterprise-level video conferencing systems combined with mobile conferencing apps, to communicate at new levels with customers, partners, and employees.
3. Social Business Enterprise Management will continue to grow rapidly as organizations shift from an Information Age “informing” model to a Communication Age “communicating and engaging” model. New careers will emerge as Social Software for business rapidly grows with applications to enhance relationships, collaboration, networking, social validation, and more. Social Search will increasingly shape careers as marketers, researchers, and those on Wall Street create applications and services to tap into millions of daily tweets, Facebook conversations, and much more, providing real-time analysis of many key consumer metrics.
4. Cybersecurity and Forensics careers will grow rapidly as we become increasingly connected and dependent on computer systems and machines using intelligent sensors connected to just about everything. Careers in data and information forensics will grow rapidly as the need to solve cyber crimes increases.
5. Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) will create many new careers in manufacturing as this revolutionary technology allows any size company to manufacture quickly, locally, and with far fewer costs. Additive manufacturing builds things by depositing material, typically plastic or metal, layer by layer, until the final product is finished. Examples of final products today include jewelry, iPhone cases, shoes, car dashboards, parts for jet engines, prosthetic limbs, and much more.
6. Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and AI enhanced Simulations, coupled with the Gamification of Education, will create many new careers as corporations and educational institutions at all levels accelerate learning by using advanced simulations, VR, and skill-based learning systems that are self-diagnostic, interactive, game-like, and competitive, all focused on giving the user an immersive experience thanks to a photorealistic 3D interface.
7. Advanced Cloud Services and Virtualization will be increasingly embraced by businesses of all sizes, as this represents a major shift in how organizations obtain and maintain software, hardware, and computing capacity. IT is rapidly becoming an on-demand service that is rapidly transforming all business processes, resulting in a rapid evolution of current careers as well as creating new careers in every functional area.
8. Big Data and Real-Time Analytics describe the technologies and techniques used to capture and utilize the exponentially increasing streams of data with the goal of bringing enterprise-wide visibility and insights to make rapid critical decisions. This new level of data integration and analytics will require many new skills and cross-functional training in order to take advantage of new opportunities as well as break down the many data and organizational silos that still exist.
9. AI, Machine Learning, and Intelligent ePersonal Assistants (Chatbots) using natural language voice commands was launched with Apple’s Siri, which was rapidly followed by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others all offering what is rapidly evolving into a mobile electronic concierge on your phone, tablet, and television. The technology will rapidly evolve, and soon every profession from retailers to maintenance workers will have an Alexa-like assistant. Adding an epersonal assistant to support an existing product and/or service will create many new careers.
10. 3D Web will transform today’s Internet experience (which is like looking at a flat piece of paper with a few photos, embedded video, and a few hyperlinks) to a true 3D experience, similar to todays video games, where you can virtually walk into a showroom, look around, and both listen to and see the new car you are interested in, or whatever the website is trying to show you. This will employ many new graphic artists, designers, and programmers.
11. Connected Intelligent Sensors and Machines using chips, microsensors, and both wired and wireless networks will create a rapidly growing Internet of Things (IoT), sharing real-time data, performing diagnostics, and making remote repairs. Many jobs will be created as we add intelligent connected sensors to bridges, roads, buildings, homes, and much more. In just a few years, there will be well over a billion machines talking to each other, and people will install them.
12. Advanced Robotics and Automation will take a giant leap forward thanks to networked sensors, artificial intelligence, and Amazon-like voice communications, taking the next level of repetitive jobs from humans. This will create many new career opportunities from design, programming, and installation to service and maintenance to name just a few.
You don’t have to know the physics of a telephone in order to use it. You do have to know it exists and how to creatively use it to accomplish your goal. Don’t wait until next year or the year after, or until you’re laid off. Invest the time to identify what you need to learn right away so that you will thrive both now and in the future, either in your current career or a new one.”
Stephen
Posted on: August 16, 2018, 2:31 pmCategory: Uncategorized
1. Listen into the review session, if possible. 2. It may not have anything to do with you. 3. Reach out and speak with someone. 4. Request reviewer notes. 5. Take those notes and apply it to your draft.
6. Resubmit!
Posted on: August 16, 2018, 6:33 amCategory: Uncategorized
“How can you connect ideas, show the relationship between parts, and expand on concepts?
Mind maps.
A mind map is a type of chart that organizes information visually. Typically, a mind map will stem from a central idea, with supporting ideas branching out from it in a nonlinear order. But as you’ll see in this guide, a mind map can take many forms.
There’s a lot of ways you can use a mind map to visualize ideas. For example, a mind map is helpful for breaking a project down into smaller tasks. You could also use a mind map to show the hierarchy within a company. And of course, mind maps are often used for brainstorming ideas.
Because mind maps are so popular and widely understood, they’re perfect for including in presentations, blog posts, reports–anywhere you would want to present information visually.
In this guide, I’ll share tips and best practices for creating mind maps that are as fun to look at as they are effective. I’ve also included a bunch of creative mind map templates you can use.
1. Start with one central idea and work outwards
Typically, mind maps start with one central idea. Place that central idea in the middle of your mind map, and branch out your supporting ideas radially around it.
Focus on one keyword for each idea. Then, break down those ideas further using nodes, or simply form notes.
2. Come up with a design concept for your mind map
If you want to make a mind map that is engaging for readers, you should follow some basic principles for good infographic design. If you plan on sharing your mind map in a presentation, blog post, or any form of longer content where you want to keep readers engaged, come up with a design concept for your mind map.
Your design concept will determine what kinds of supporting visuals you include, what colors you use, and how you choose to lay out your mind map.
For example, this mind map template uses an image of a lightbulb as the focal point, to reflect the theme of “thinking” and “ideas”. The supporting visuals help to illustrate each idea that branches off from the concept of “design thinking.”
3. Use multiple colors to differentiate ideas from each other
Color selection isn’t just important for making your designs look nice. It’s also an important part of making your charts more readable.
Colors can help you organize information and draw attention to specific points. In the mind map example below, a solid black color draws attention to the central idea. The supporting ideas are all different colors, which helps them stand out from one another. This makes the mind map easier to scan.
4. Avoid cluttering your mind map design by using a neutral color scheme
In certain cases, like if you’re sharing your mind map on social media or in a blog post, you may want to make your mind map especially eye-catching, with lots of decorative visuals. But in other cases where you simply want to communicate the information as clearly as possible, like in a report or internal presentation, plain and direct is more effective.
A neutral background with a few accent colors will prevent your mind map design from looking cluttered and overstuffed. Clean, simple shapes and lines are easy for the eyes and brain to process.
5. Use different line widths to create a visual hierarchy
Visual hierarchy is all about creating different visual weights by varying size, shape, color, position, and density.
For example, in this mind map template, the perceived density of the shapes creates two levels of hierarchy–a dense, filled (and visually salient) central idea surrounded by lighter, outlined ideas. Put more simply, more ink commands more attention!
6. Use different sized circles to create a visual hierarchy
Another way to create a visual hierarchy is to use different sizes shapes in your mind map. Give high-level ideas bigger circles, and supporting ideas smaller circles. This helps indicate that the supporting ideas are part of a larger whole.
Take a look at how size is used to create a hierarchy in this mind map template:
7. Use double lines to create a visual hierarchy
Yet another way to create visual hierarchy in your mind map is to double up on key connecting lines. In the mind map template below, the supporting ideas (storage, forms, and generation) connect to the central idea with double lines. Then, the supporting ideas that branch off from them only use single lines.
Once again, the more ink there is in one place, the more attention there will be drawn to that part of your mind map.
8. Color code different branches of your mind map to connect ideas
Like I already mentioned, color can be used strategically to make your mind map easier to read. While you can use a different color for each idea, you can also use colors to connect ideas.
For example, this mind map breaks down a business strategy into three branches: marketing, customer service and productivity. Each of the three branches has its own color. This emphasizes the three branches of the strategy and also makes it easier to scan for specific information.
9. Use icons to illustrate ideas on your mind map template
Icons are simple vector graphics that illustrate ideas. Because they’re so simple and space-saving, icons are perfect for including in your charts.
Use icons to illustrate ideas and make them easier to remember. For example, this mind map template uses a simple icon for each node:
10. Use a grid layout to keep your mind map organized
If you’re concerned with keeping your mind map organized, then using a grid layout will help you arrange the elements neatly on the page.
On Venngage, you can use the grid tool to make this easier:
By organizing the elements in even rows, the mind map looks neat and organized:
11. Focus your ideas on a few key questions
If you’re not sure where to start your mind map, ask yourself what the main questions you want to answer are. It could be one question, or a couple of related questions. Then, expand on those questions in your mind map.
For example, this mind map template breaks down three central questions that focus on company productivity:
12. Use different shapes to create a hierarchy in your mind map design
Here’s a bonus way to create visual hierarchy in your mind map: use different shapes for different levels of information.
For example, this mind map uses a camera shape for the central idea to reflect the film theme. Then, the supporting concepts use a black rectangle that draws your attention, with smaller, light circle ideas branching out:
13. Print key words in upper case for emphasis
Differentiate focus words from the rest by writing them in upper case. For example, the mind map template below uses upper case for the title and the central idea. This indicates that those are the main points of the mind map.
You could also use a different font to emphasize key words. Be sure to choose fonts that reflects the theme and style of your mind map.
14. Create a symmetrical mind map template
Symmetrical designs are pleasing to the eye. They can also make your charts feel more balanced and organized. To create a symmetrical mind map, place an even number of branches on either side of the central idea.
For example, this mind map template has three branches on either side of the central image. The elements on both side are evenly spaced and aligned, creating a balanced design.
15. When needed, include a brief description of your mind map
Depending on the purpose of your mind map, you may need to offer a bit more context than just a few words provide. In those cases, it’s good practice to include a brief description of what the mind map is about.
For example, this mind map shows the main goals of a business growth strategy. A brief introduction under the title of the mind map helps readers understand how the different branches play into the strategy.
Create a mind map that works for you
These tips are a starting point for creating a mind map. Ultimately, the design choices you make should depend on the information you want to visualize, and the purpose of your mind map.
Think about your audience when creating a mind map: what information do they need to understand your mind map? How in-depth do you need to go? And what can you do to make your mind map more engaging?
For centuries, works of literature have provided inspiration and advice on how to live, work, travel, and love. Characters from the most beloved books offer life lessons and new perspectives that can influence the way we choose to live even when we’re done turning the page. From classics like Pride and Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird to more contemporary works like the Harry Potter series, great writing has the ability to sweep us off our feet and remain with us for years to come.
Whether you are an avid reader, or simply enjoy collecting rare books to display on your bookshelf, classic works of literature are full of motivational and insightful quotes that speak to the facets of the human experience. We pored over our favorite novels to compile 74 literary quotes to live by. Explore them below with our quote generator full of poignant expressions for every situation.
Margaret Mead
Gone With The Wind
You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.
Annie Prouix
Brokeback Mountain
I wish I knew how to quit you.
Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina
He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.
Victor Hugo
Les Misérables
To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.
Aphra Benn
The Rover
One hour of right down love is worth an age of dully living on.
Toni Morrison
Beloved
It’s good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind.
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.
Gabriel García Márquez
Love In The Time of Cholera
I have waited for this opportunity for more than half a century, to repeat to you once again my vow of eternal fidelity and everlasting love.
Edith Wharton
The Age of Innocence
Each time you happen to me all over again.
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice
We are all fools in love.
Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre
Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear.
W. H. Auden
The More Loving One
If equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me.
Homer
The Odyssey
I look at you and a sense of wonder takes me.
Charles Dickens
Great Expectations
I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.
John Knowles
A Separate Peace
When you love something it loves you back in whatever way it has to love.
Junot Dìaz
This Is How You Lose Her
You were at the age where you could fall in love with a girl over an expression, over a gesture.
William Goldman
The Princess Bride
Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.
Great works of literature can offer new perspective on people, places, and events, and compelling writing can even have the power to change our perception of the human experience. Classic novels that were written hundreds of years ago remain just as relevant today, and continue to offer lessons and advice that can make us stop and think about who we want to be.
The next time you’re looking for a little inspiration, consider turning to famous quotes from literature for a bit of a boost. Whether you’re going through a difficult time, lucky in love, planning a trip, or just want a good laugh, these famous literary quotes can offer insight to help you thrive.
Stephen Abram is a librarian and principal with Lighthouse Consulting Inc., and executive director of the Federation of Ontario Public Libraries. He blogs on library strategies for direction, marketing, technology and user alignment.
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