Looking for new movies? New music?

We get a lot of questions about borrowing media, especially DVDs & music CDs. How many can you check out on one card? (Ten DVDs. Up to 15 audiobooks & music CDs, combined.) How do you find them? (Most non-documentary films are filed by title. Non-fiction movies & music CDs are filed by call number.) Do you have a list of all the movies at this branch? (No. You can look up in the catalog a featured list of all the movies in the system, but it's a long list. You can do a keyword search with the word "videorecording" & limit to a branch instead of "view entire collection", but it's still pretty unwieldy for browsing purposes.)

To find movies in the catalog, you can search by title, director, & actors, or subject headings such as "Comedy films". To find music in the catalog, you can search by artist name, album title, song title, or subject headings like "Rock music". Also check out our Search Tips for more catalog searching tricks, or just stop by any Reference Desk & ask for assistance.

A lot of times, though, you're probably wondering if ABC Libraries have the latest blockbuster, an indie film you missed because it only showed here for a week, or an album by a band you just heard on the radio. Something that just won an Oscar or a Grammy. In short, you want to know what's new. What the library system just added.

Now you can! We now have New on DVD & New Music guides that customers can access to see what the library system just ordered. New on DVD will feature the latest adult & children's movies that we've acquired, updated monthly. New Music shows you the music CDs that ABC Libraries have ordered in 2011, divided into genres like "Pop/Rock" & "Latin/World". The New Music guide will also be updated monthly, so keep checking back for new titles!

We hope you enjoy these new guides. Don't forget, you can also suggest a purchase if there's an item (book, DVD, or CD) that you would like to suggest! (This is not a guarantee that it will be purchased.)

ABC Libraries' International Collection

In 2009, voters approved a City GO Bond to fund library materials for the International District, thanks to a campaign spearheaded by Rey Garduño, Albuquerque's City Councilor for District 6. In February, Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Libraries unveiled the new collection of materials printed in several international languages.

ABC Libraries is proud to launch this fabulous new collection, featuring materials for both adults and children, written in Spanish, French, Arabic, Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese languages. The collection was unveiled at San Pedro Library, but they will float to other branches. If you don't see the materials at your branch, check the catalog & place holds! Look for the blue globe on the spine.

Ask Us!

If you've been to the ABC Libraries' home page or one of the branch library pages, you've probably seen a box like the ones pictured above. Perhaps you've wondered how to use them, or why. The Need something today? box will do a keyword search limited to the branch page you're searching from, but you can ask pretty much any question using the Ask Us! box. It's like having a reference librarian on call!

In case you haven’t had a chance to take advantage of Ask Us! yet, here’s how it works. As you type in a question, you will see a menu of similar questions that have already been answered. Click on one of the menu questions and you will get the answer right away. This is great for the basic questions like “What do I do if I lose my library card?” or “What does error message OXC00D2711 mean?”

If the question hasn’t been asked yet, you can provide your email address and submit the question, and you will get an email when as soon as a librarian finds the answer. Or, text a question to 505-819-3563 and we'll send you an answer via SMS! (If you want to call us, use 505-768-5141, or call 311.) Currently, 40% of questions are answered within an hour. Over 90% are answered within a day. Once the question is answered, it becomes part of the public database, so the next person to ask it will find the answer instantly-unless it is a question about a specific account, request for an obituary, or other inquiries of a sensitive nature.

What kind of questions have we answered? Here’s a sample of recent ones:

--Can I transfer books to a closer library?
--What is the average temperature for the month of March?
--Can my child read to a dog at Griegos or North Valley?
--Does the History of Bedford,etc, counties PA [974.8/History] contain an account of the group from Lewistown who migrated to Everett about 1860-1870.
--Do you have old Albuquerque phone directories?
--How can I reach Doctor Oz TV online?

Geography Databases

Our Resource Center-which offers free 24/7 access to databases containing articles from encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers and more with your valid Albuquerque/Bernalillo County library card-has a couple of great new databases, particularly if you're planning on traveling anytime soon!

A to Z Maps- is one of the world’s largest online sources for world, continent, country and state maps. In A to Z Maps you’ll have access to proprietary maps, games, images and puzzles developed by World Trade Press — plus public domain maps and images culled from hundreds of resources worldwide. Available maps include earthquake maps, climate change maps, bathymetric & fishing maps, Holy Land maps & NASA maps.
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Global Road Warrior -As a “one-stop” source for country, geographic, cultural, social, business and travel information, Global Road Warrior presents robust, practical and continuously expanding content of interest to all ages. Easy-to-navigate interface and intuitive browsing features help users to find information quickly and concisely. For instance, a search of Finland will give you the title Republic of Finland /Suomen Tasavalta, & you can look up its climate, internet details, look at city views, check out a security briefing, & view travel essentials. There are also printable reports on Finland's business culture, banknotes & coinage, points of interest, & more!
Tip Sheet /Find it!

Getting the Most from Your Library: Interlibrary Loan

Local author Phyllis Morgan, an ABC Libraries customer, has written a new book called N. Scott Momaday: Remembering Ancestors, Earth, and Traditions: An Annotated Bio-Bibliography (while this book is not yet in the catalog, we do have some of her other books). In the acknowledgements, Ms. Morgan very kindly notes that "Without the concerted efforts of librarians and archivists, this type of work would be virtually impossible. I greatly appreciate the help of librarians and staffs of the...libraries and archives where I conducted research." We are delighted to note that the list includes the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Library System!

ABC Libraries is happy to be part of the equation, but we couldn't have done it without Interlibrary Loan. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a fantastic service available to those of you in possession of a valid library card for the price of one small dollar. Looking for an item that doesn't show up in our catalog? Through ILL, these items can be requested from other libraries around the country, ordered, and shipped by mail to your local library.

It is a pretty easy process-just stop by the Information Desk at any branch to ask about getting an item through Interlibrary Loan. Or, check out our website for ILL FAQs-there you'll find a list of items not available for ILL, an explanation of loan periods, & you can even print out request forms! Whether you have research to do or are just looking for something else to read, ILL is a wonderful service offered by the library. I use it myself!