Week 26: Take a stroll through Google Books (http://books.google.com/). Most of us have probably used Google Books in our genealogy research, but have you really taken the time to explore what’s there? Look at the magazines and featured books. Check out the subjects offered. By taking the focus off research for a bit, your mind is open to see other ways this tool can be used.
I do use Google Books with some frequency but, as Amy says, my attention is always within my research focus. I look for specific books regarding genealogy or certain family history. So taking the time to really look at this feature is a really good idea.
I rummaged around in some of the book categories and even placed a book or two in my library to read later. (I'm going to look into how to download books and put them in my Sony Reader later.) Just to show how ignorant I was of all the features available, I didn't even know I had a personal library!!
Before long, however, the time I'd allotted to this task was drawing to an end. Before moving on to other things, I decided to take a look at the Life Magazine Jan 24 1955 issue. I just wanted to see what was going on when I was 10 years old.
There were some great articles in this issue which just had to be read. A small one mentioned Agatha Christi's Witness for the Prosecution being a big hit on Broadway. Agatha was 64 years old at the time.
One very long and interesting article was about Greta Garbo, then 49 years old, which discredited that famous line of hers. She stated (to a friend) she did not say, "I want to be alone", but, "I want to be let alone". That does change things a bit.
Mainly, it was the advertisements that caught my eye. Here are some new and exciting items of the day: contour sheets, instant oatmeal, automatic washers and dryers, Chef BOY-AR-DEE spaghetti dinner in a box, and, believe it or not, Jello only had 6 flavors.
Thanks, Amy, for sending me to a blast from the past!!
By the way, I spent so much time reading the magazine I never did move on to other tasks. It was time well spent anyway.
old life magazines, now that is great. I shall have to look into magazines and other features as you say. I particularly adore the books in old script an in german. recently I wanted to read for entertainment and tried some french style decorating. That was fun.
ReplyDeleteI also found a book about Churdan, Iowa, but no leeway into the book.