MORE is a cool program for entrepreneurs at the University of Michigan. Designed to encourage entrepreneurship in southeast Michigan, the program began in November 2007 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

MORE applicants are awarded grants of up to $5,000 based on the quality of an invention and a solid business plan. Participants also receive coaching, seminars and networking opportunities with successful business owners. Grants have thus far been awarded for enhancements to common items like a clock, a drug patch, a surgical tool, and a bolt.

Feeling creative and encouraged by this? Well what are you waiting for? Click here to search for similar grants for your organization -- or you can sign up for GRPL's grant search basics classes coming this fall. Click here to find out if your idea has been invented, and here to find out about applying for a patent.

Posted by Angela at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this era of green living there's a way to dispose of just about everything we no longer have any use for. You can even donate gently used shoes of any type or style to the Heart and Sole project at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. The program passes donated shoes along to those who needs them, or ensures that they are properly recycled. You can get detailed information at the web site here.

Other organizations that accept shoes for a good cause include Soles 4 Souls, which distributes shoes to people affected by natural disasters domestically and internationally. They've donated shoes to victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami, as well as homeless shelters, hospitals, and abuse shelters.

If you have any Crock clogs you'd like to get rid of, donate them to Soles United, who will recycle them into a new pair of shoes. Another company on the recycle bandwagon is Nike, which collects sneakers and recycles them into new basketball courts and other sports surfaces.

Posted by Angela at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our new Small Business Resource Center is thriving. During May approximately 118 patrons used this valuable community service -- and the user count continues to grow. If you've not visited the business center, but you have an idea for a business, come down to the Main Library and take a look around the center. If you'd like assistance just ask at the Reference desk. Best of all, these resources are totally free.

If you're somewhat experienced and are ready to take your business to the next level, why not consider a business mentor? A mentor may be the voice of experience you need to ramp up your bottom line. Check out these resources.

MicroMentor.org is an online nonprofit organization that allows you to search for established, experienced business owners who are willing to help budding entrepreneurs.

IdeaCrossing.org provides mentor/mentee match making services, as well as assist entrepreneurs in finding new venture capital.

IMantri.com (some services are free) is an online social network for mentors and mentees in multiple disciplines. Subject areas include, long-range planning, project management, corporate social skills, and time management.

Go Big Network.com (fee required) is an online marketplace which helps entrepreneurs find funding resources.

And don't miss these new business titles recently added to our collection:

Posted by Angela at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Among the plethora of new materials located in our newly christened Small Business Resource Center, you can find several specific how-to books that apply to your envisioned business.

The Startup Series from Entrepreneur Press offers advice for any self starter, ranging from Pet Sitting and Vending Businesses to Executive Recruiting and Import/Export Services. Sure it's easy to dream of being your own boss but with a little research and elbow grease, you can use the library's resources to make the dream become a reality.

Posted by Matt at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Passes for various local entertainment venues are available at the Grand Rapids Library. A single pass allows up to three people free access to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum, Frederick Meijer Garden, Gerald R. Ford Museum, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids Civic Theater, Grand Rapids Ballet, Grand Rapids Opera, Griffins Hockey games, or the John Ball Zoo. From time to time we also have passes for special events like the annual Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing.

Passes are available only to Grand Rapids Public Library cardholders and are good for a one-time visit within six days of being checked out. Once a membership is checked out, a patron is not eligible to check that membership out again for one year. Passes cannot be reserved and are available on a first come basis.

Most passes are available at each Grand Rapids Public Library location. For more information about the program, visit our website at www.grpl.org, or to find out what passes are available call 616-988-5400.

Posted by Martin at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whenever I make a new purchase, I want what I'm spending my hard earned cash on to be the best possible product for the cheapest amount of money. To figure this out, I like to start my research with Consumer Reports. Of course, we have paper copies of Consumer Reports on hand at all library branches. But did you know you can also access these articles from the comfort and convenience of your own home? It's true! All you need is the internet and your GRPL library card. Revolutionary, isn't it?

Perhaps you're toying with idea of buying a new digital camera or laptop? Or maybe you are like me and this icy cold weather has you craving a space heater. Regardless, you can find all you need through a little thing called General Reference Center Gold. It's pretty easy to use.

Continue reading "General Reference Center Gold & You" »

Posted by Marianne at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BusinessDecision, a new web-based service that combines extensive consumer household, business, and demographic data with a powerful mapping technology known as geographic information systems (GIS), is now available to Grand Rapids Public Library patrons for free. With this new service, local businesses can access demographic data to help with such tasks as finding prospective customers, analyzing trade areas, evaluating competitors, identifying new store locations, and targeting media buys and direct mail campaigns. Data can instantly be created and emailed to users or stored on-line.

Patrons can access BusinessDecision at any Grand Rapids Public Library, and GRPL card holders can access from any internet computer. Just access the database page of the library website. BusinessDecision is provided to Grand Rapids Public Library patrons through a generous grant from the Titche Family Fund--Ryerson Library Foundation. For more information on getting started, visit our BusinessDecision help page.

Posted by Lori at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A week ago today Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales released his new search engine, Wikia, to the public. Here at GRPL we're always looking for new and better resources to help patrons find the information they need, so I played around a bit with Wikia just to see what it offers and it looks promising.

Wikia has the usual social network options -- personal profiles, media sharing, inviting friends, etc. However, it's different from other major search engines because it's also a hub for subject-specific wiki groups -- currently more than 4,700 in 70 languages. They're grouped into traditional subject categories but they also include categories like biggest, newest, most active, languages, imagination, politics and activism. Each community is filled with content written by people who are passionate about their subject. If the level of detail and information with which most Wikiapedia articles are written is an indicator, Wikia could be the beginning of a really good thing. Here are highlights of some sections I found interesting:

Books is not just about reading and writing literature. It houses wikis dedicated to specific subjects (literature, scifi/fantasy, suspense, romance, etc.) and authors. A few examples are Horatio Hornblower, Phantom of the Opera, Brian Jacques' Redwall series, and even Dr. Seuss. There are fan fiction hubs and book concordances which include plot synopsis old and new -- and Wikia claims they're "spoiler rich."

Entertainment has communities dedicated to favorite television shows like the old Flash Gordon and Hogans Heroes, to newer shows like The Bionic Woman (both series), Hannah Montana, and the Colbert Report. Movies include everything from Indiana Jones and Godzilla to the X-Files and The West Wing.

Gaming hubs are sure to be popular. There's new release announcements and detailed content on old favorites like RuneScape, Warcraft, and Guildwars.

Wales says he wants Wikia to grab a modest five percent of the search engine market, which might be a challenge since Google dominates about 60 percent of the market and the rest of the pie is split between Yahoo and Microsoft Corp. But we'll see how it all turns out. Give Wikia a try and let us know what you think.

Posted by Angela at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Most of us would like to think that we won't be the victim of a crime, especially the non-violent kind like personal property theft. But it can happen to the best of us, especially if the item is pocket-size and can easily be stolen.

With the increased popularity of personal electronic devices, almost everyone carries a cellphone, laptop, PDA, or digital player on a daily basis. While the items themselves are relatively easy -- though not inexpensive -- to replace, it's the information they contain that's often invaluable and not so simple to recover (unless you keep data backups of everything -- which the average person does not). If your device contains a lot of sensitive or hard to recover information, you face the risk of loosing that information if some unscrupulous person decides that they deserve to have your property more than you do.

It's probably worth your time to consider protecting your property by registering it with a serial number tracking service. An example of such a service is SmartProtec, a free online tracking database that lists serial numbers for electronic devices. Check the web site for details. You can register the serial numbers for your cellphone, laptop, PDA, digital player and other items and attach a registration notification label to the item. If your property is lost or stolen it can easily be traced via the database.

There are also paid services that offer personal property protection, with added benefits. For example, Absolute Software and The CyberAngel make products that alert the companies when a computer that has been reported stolen logs onto the Internet. The companies use satellite tracking technology to locate the stolen computer.

Finally, always keep two or three copies of everything contained on your personal electronic devices. You can back them up to an online server (safest), CDs, or a zip drive.

Posted by Angela at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the support of the Ryerson Foundation, the GRHSC Department has added two services to help the visually impaired do research.

The first service is the Merlin LCD equipment, located in the microfilm reader area near the microfiche readers. This equipment enables individuals with low vision to read and view photos and materials that may be too small for them to see. There is a variety of magnification settings, and also 5 different color settings to help those who may have problems seeing certain colors.

The second service is ZoomText software, which is available on computer K-302. This allows magnification of word processing, email, and the Internet pages.

Thanks again to the Ryerson Library Foundation.

Posted by Martin at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)