By Carla Felsted |
Sedona Public Library
Sedona, AZ - As the musical group The
Coasters aptly put it, "Searchin,’ I been
searchin’ every whi-i-ich a way…" since
I wrote an earlier column
on
Google, a favorite tool for navigating the
Internet.
If you spend time with another media
tool, television, you probably know that
you no longer AskJeeves, you just Ask.com
for information; and you shout Yahoo! when that
search engine finds what you want.
Like the Northwest Mounties, the Sedona Library
will help you bring that
information in with more searching tools and
tips.
Yahoo claims to be the most visited web site and wants to knock Google off its top
perch. (Because I don’t like to “shout” with
exclamation marks I will leave off the ! that
punctuates its brand name.) Yahoo has a number
of strengths, from entertainment to
shopping and traveling. And its free email
service is very popular worldwide.
A library colleague recently tipped me off to
Yahoo Movies
search, which is quite
impressive. It allows you to watch trailers
(formerly called “previews”), get reviews
from critics such as Roger Ebert, check local
show times, and even link to a site
to purchase advance tickets. If your ideal
“theatre” environment is your own living room,
you can add films currently in release to a
Netflix account for rental when they are
released on DVD.
Music lovers will find what’s at the top of the
charts and clips of performances such as
Celine Dion’s farewell Las Vegas concert. For $6
month you can legally download music
(over 2 million choices) and listen guilt-free
from
Yahoo Music Unlimited. You can
even create your own “radio station,” with a
favorite genre, including a feature that
allows you to ban certain artists and songs that
grate on your nerves. Although pre- and
baby-boomers may find material of value, the
site is definitely oriented to youthful
tastes. One has to search for any evidence of
Jazz, Classical, Opera or Big Band music,
but it is there.
Be sure to turn your speakers down before
venturing to
Yahoo Games section, where you
will likely be subjected to whatever video game
is being currently promoted such as Grand
Auto Theft IV. If nothing else, you can educate
yourself on what games your children or
grandchildren have been clamoring for. There are
less violent ones, such as Cake Mania,
with “45 levels of baking fun.” You will find
board, card and word games, and even escape
into alternate reality with Sims. Or into our
unfortunate cultural reality with another
section of Yahoo Entertainment labeled “omg” for
its news of “pop tart” celebrities like
Britney Spears. I think I’ll skip that one.
In the Yahoo Sports section you can follow your
favorite teams, check out the stats, find out
how highly paid players and coaches are, and try
your hand at “fantasy” football and
other sports. If you missed the Davis Cup
earlier this month, there are video clips.
Track your golf game and calculate your
handicap.
There is a serious side to Yahoo, not that
sports aren’t for many of us. Its
Yahoo Finance
section is not just for stock market watching,
although there is plenty of that. You can
read articles about when to start taking Social
Security payments, get advice about workplace
issues, find current mortgage rates, and view
calculators on college costs, household
budgets, and saving for retirement.
Now that you’ve figured out your budget or
retirement income, it’s time to go shopping.
If you are pondering New Year resolutions, you
may look into fitness and sports
equipment. There’s a new type of bicycle called
the “comfort bike,” for those who no
longer need mountain bikes for rugged terrains
or touring bikes for long road trips.
Prices from well-established high-end retailers
to discounters are displayed, with prices
from $99-999. Some look like the bicycles of our
youth, with medium width tires and
comfortable seats for riding in an upright
position.
Yahoo helps you do online shopping as well as
find local retailers (if you live in a
larger city). It sent me to Flagstaff for
bicycles and accessories although we have local
stores with both. Their link to ShopLocal.com
only yielded a total of 5 retailers of all
types in Sedona and the VOC. I also noted that
some product review links led to articles
from Consumer Reports for which you have to pay.
Please note you can get these articles
for free from the Library, and not just from our
shelves, but our online databases, which
you can access from the comfort of your own
home. You’ll hear more about our databases in
a future article.
As for resources on traveling, there are many on
Yahoo and Google as well as other
places. As a former travel writer, I’ll have
lots to say about these later, too. In the
meantime
watch this column for news of library
exhibits—the quilts are coming at the end of the
month—and programs, one-time and ongoing, as
well as new library services and products.
Carla Felsted is a Reference Librarian at
Sedona Public Library.
Past Library News issues:
Sedona Library Archive
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