Create a Great Resume with Learning Express Library

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What Is Learning Express Library?

Learning Express Library is a free online resource brought to you by the Jessamine County Public Library. In addition to helping you improve your scores on academic, professional, or licensing tests, Learning Express Library can also prepare you for career success with Job Search and Workplace Skills courses. These tutorials and eBooks will help you:

  • Determine career goals
  • Build great resumes and cover letters
  • Learn job search and networking skills
  • Ace job interviews.

How Do I Get There?

To access Learning Express Library:

Login Information

    • If you’ve never used Learning Express Library before, you will need to create an account. Under “New Users,” click on “Register.”

Learning Express login page

  • Your username is your library card number.
  • Create your password. Choose something easy to remember, but don’t choose the same password as your email password.

Creating Your Resume

  • In the left-hand menu, choose “Job Search and Workplace Skills.”
  • Choose “Job Search, Resumes, and Interviewing.”
  • Choose “Creating Great Resumes and Cover Letters.”
  • Choose “Career Course: Creating a Great Resume.”
  • Click on the button that says, “Add to My Center.”Learning Express Add to My Center button
  • Click on the link at the right that says, “Start This Course Now.”

“Creating a Great Resume” is designed as a self-paced tutorial. If you’d like to get more resume tips, follow along with the tutorial. Otherwise, you can skip ahead to “Segment 2: Compiling Your Resume” by clicking the link on the left.

Learning Express Compiling Your Resume

Click through the arrows until you see the page marked “Your Heading Information.” Now you can begin typing in your contact information in the empty fields. Be sure to click “Submit” when you are finished with each page.

Learning Express Heading

Downloading Your Resume

  • When you are finished typing in all your information, you should see a page called “Putting It All Together.”
  • Make any changes needed, and then scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says “Download Options.”
  • You can download your resume in the chronological, functional, or combination/targeted format. Save the file to your computer, a CD, or a flash drive.
  • You can also download your responses as a text file. However, keep in mind that you will need to reformat this file in a word processing program such as Microsoft Word before you can send it to potential employers.

Learning Express downloading

Will Learning Express Library Save My Resume?
Yes, Learning Express Library will save your resume.

  • After you login, click on “My Center” in the upper right corner.

Learning Express My Center

  • Under “My Courses,” you should see “Career Course: Creating a Great Resume.”
  • Click “Continue.”
  • To make changes or download another copy of your resume, click “Putting It All Together” on the left-hand menu.

Will Learning Express Library Help Me with My Cover Letter?

Yes, Learning Express Library will also help you with your cover letter. Follow the instructions for creating a resume. When you click on “Creating Great Resumes and Cover Letters,” choose “Career Course: Creating Great Cover Letters.”

Online Travel Resources

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Travel with passport and mapHere are the online travel resources we discussed in today’s Lunch and Learn–just in time for you to plan your summer vacation!

And don’t forget, we have many travel eBooks available on Kentucky Libraries Unbound.

 

 

Dining

http://www.localeats.com
The selective content on this website makes the interface easy to navigate. Links to newspaper reviews of the restaurants. Many listings provide menus. Focuses more on $$ and $$$ restaurants in select cities.

http://www.opentable.com/
Allows you to search for restaurants with available tables and make reservations directly from your computer or device. User-provided reviews.

http://www.urbanspoon.com
You can find restaurants and reviews without an account. The number of reviews depends on the restaurant’s popularity. Many listings include links to the restaurant’s website and user photos. To leave your own reviews, you’ll have to create an account. Not sure what you want to eat? Try the slot machine widget.

http://www.yelp.com
This site focuses on user reviews—some of which are quite extensive. More comprehensive than some of the other sites, which means there’s a lot to choose from!

Flights and Airports

http://flightaware.com/
Track your flights, look for delays, etc. Can receive updates via email, Facebook, etc.

http://www.tsa.gov
Learn about acceptable IDs, what to wear, and just what they mean by liquids, aerosols, and gels. You can also check to see what items are and aren’t allowed through screening.

Guides

http://www.arrivalguides.com
Brief, downloadable travel guides.

http://www.concierge.com/
Find destination guides and build your own itineraries.

http://www.fodors.com/
The itineraries on this site look especially useful.

http://www.frommers.com/
Access Frommer’s guides, reviews, and tips online. Helpful articles and blog entries, including blogs by Arthur Frommer.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/
Find hotel reviews, destination guides, articles, and more.

http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/
Destination guides from the producers of the Globe Trekkers TV series.

http://www.roughguides.com/
Great photography in this very visual guide.

http://wikitravel.org
The Wikipedia of travel! Free travel guides edited by users.

Languages

Transparent Language Online with BYKI
This free library database will help you quickly learn a language before your next trip. Access TLU from the library website at www.jesspublib.org, then click “Learn a Language” on the left. You’ll need to create an account in the library; once you do, you can access the database from anywhere.

http://translate.google.com
Type, or cut and paste text to translate. You can either view the translation or listen to a spoken translation. Sign in to Google to save the answers in your phrase book. Supports text translation for 66 languages.

Organizing & Planning

https://www.tripit.com/
You can forward all your travel bookings to plans@tripit.com and view them all in one place. The free version has lots of ads and fewer features than the paid version, including flight status updates. Connecting to your friends through Gmail or Yahoo allows you to share your itinerary.

http://www.stay.com/
Create your personal city guide using the suggestions of Stay.com and your friends. Take the guide with you on a mobile app.

http://www.triptuner.com/main/en/home
Move the sliders to find your perfect destination.

https://www.mosey.com
Build, share, and explore trip itineraries. A clean, pretty interface.

Reservations and Recommendations

http://www.hipmunk.com/
Search for hotels and flights. A great interface if you’re a visual person. For flights, the site allows you to filter by cost, departure, length, and a combination of all three—what Hipmunk calls the “Agony.” The results are displayed in an easy-to-read visual timeline. Hotel results are displayed in map form and can be filtered by the “Ecstasy,” a combination of price, amenities, and reviews . Once you decide on a flight/hotel, the site sends you to the airlines, supplier, or Orbitz to book.

http://www.kayak.com/
Search flights, hotels, and cars. You can also track your flight and save your trips.

http://www.oyster.com/
Unlike most travel sites where the public provides the review, Oyster employs a roster of reviewers who use set criteria for the hotels. Because of this, the contents are somewhat limited to large cities and major tourist destinations. The site also focuses on hotels with more amenities than, say, a Best Western.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/
Lots of user reviews of restaurants, hotels, and nearby things to do. Provides links to booking sites.

Road Trips

http://gasbuddy.com/
GasBuddy uses crowd-sourced info to help you find the cheapest gas prices around. You have to be a member to submit info but not to view it. Members who report prices earn points which can be used to win weekly prices. There’s also a handy trip cost calculator to help you figure out how much your gas will set you back.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com
From the authors of Roadside America and New Roadside America. If you’re into kitsch, this fun website has it in spades. As the companion app description states, “Never miss another giant twine ball, crazy museum, or hilarious statue.” Indeed. Search for attractions near your location, or search by town, description or attraction. Fun for the whole family!

Travel Blogs & News

http://www.expatsblog.com/
Find expat blogs from all over the world!

http://matadornetwork.com/
Find articles and videos about travel destinations around the world.

http://www.homeexchangeexpert.com/
Interested in trying a home exchange? This expert traveler offers how-tos, advice, and recommendations for the best home exchange websites.

Job Search Websites

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Business woman using computerBelow is a list of online job boards from tonight’s Job Search Websites workshop. For information on how to choose safe, effective job boards, read the “Job-Hunt 15 Minute Guide: Choosing Safe Job Boards” from Job-Hunt.org. You can also click here for a list of library databases, books, and links to help you with your job search.

And don’t forget, we have two more job search workshops coming up this month: Write Your Resume and Write Your Cover Letter. Visit our calendar to register!

Job Search Engines
These sites search across multiple job listing sites and company career boards:
http://www.indeed.com
http://www.simplyhired.com

Major Job Search Sites
http://www.careerbuilder.com
Kentucky.com links to this site. Be careful of email spammers, though!

http://www.monster.com
One of the best-known job search sites

http://www.snagajob.com
Focuses on hourly employment. Registration is required to apply to the jobs

http://www.retirementjobs.com
Focuses on age-friendly employers

Local Job Search Sites
These sites focus on job searching in Kentucky:

https://focuscareer.ky.gov/career/
State job bank. Don’t need to sign in to search for jobs, but you will need to create an account to see how to apply for the jobs.)

http://www.ckycareers.com/index.html
Local job opportunities are listed on the website.

http://lexington.craigslist.org/
Free online classified ads. Proceed with caution. Although there are legitimate opportunities, this site also attracts scammers.

http://www.bluegrassworks.net

http://helpwantedlexington.com/home/208.htm

https://ukjobs.uky.edu
University of Kentucky jobs.

http://personnel.ky.gov/employment
The Commonwealth of Kentucky’s job board.

Finding More Specialized Job Search Sites
If you’re looking for a job in a specific field, such as medicine or construction, these sites will help you find job boards geared specifically to those fields:

http://www.job-hunt.org
This site has an extensive list of industry-specific job search sites as well as lots of helpful information on the job search process—including how to avoid job scams.

http://www.rileyguide.com/jobs.html
This site has helpful information about the online job search process as well as a collection of links to job search sites

http://www.ipl.org
A collection of job links from the Internet Public Library.

  • Browse “Resources by Subject”
  •  Under “Business and Economics,” click “Employment.”

http://www.bls.gov/ooh
The Occupational Outlook Handbook
Provides general information for all types of careers. For most professional jobs, the articles list additional sources of information at the end, such as professional association websites. Often, these sites have their own job boards.

http://www.careers.uiowa.edu/students/joblistings.html#null
This site is especially good if you’re searching for entry-level or federal government jobs.

Searching Company Websites
If you’re hoping to find a job in a specific company, you can always try looking at their website:
• Go to http://www.google.com
• Enter the company’s name
• Click on the company’s website
• Look for links that say Employment, Jobs, Apply Now, Human Resources, etc.

Online Gardening Resources

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Woman in gardening clogsNeed to find answers to your gardening questions? Here are the resources we looked at during this week’s Lunch and Learn!

General Gardening & Reference

Gardening on About.com
http://gardening.about.com/
Extensive directory of gardening articles and videos from About.com

 Cyndi’s Catalog of Garden Catalogs
http://www.gardenlist.com
From the site description: “The home gardener’s one stop to find all the mail-order seed catalogs and gardening catalogs in the US and Canada – over 2000 of them!”

Dave’s Garden
http://davesgarden.com/
The self-professed “hands-down favorite website of gardeners around the world.” A lively website with a strong community of gardeners. Includes discussion forums, plant and seed trading, blog directories, informational articles, videos, and much more.

Farming & Gardening
http://www.kygreen.tv/channels/louisvilles-greenside/
Farming and gardening how-tos and informational videos from kyGREENtv.

 Garden Gate: Roots of Botanical Names
http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/library/glossary/botrts.htm
“Did you know that ‘Lavender’ (Lavandula) comes from the Latin word ‘to wash’? Ever wonder why the daylily is called Hemerocallis? Or what angustifolia means? Here are over 1000 root word of botanical names from a- to zyg-.”

 Gardening in Kentucky
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB11AC4EB98225C07
The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture’s Youtube channel.

 Gardening Resources from the National Gardening Association
http://www.garden.org/
The National Gardening Associate website has tons of information for both experienced gardeners and newbies. You’ll find articles, videos, guides, calculators, message boards, and seed swaps.

 Gardens, Lawns, and Landscapes
http://www.extension.org/horticulture
Gardening resources from the nationwide Cooperative Extension System.

Home Landscapes
http://www.uky.edu/hort/document-list-home-landscape
Publications from the University of Kentucky about home landscaping.

 Kentucky Living Home & Garden
http://www.kentuckyliving.com/garden/index.asp
Monthly garden almanac, plant features, and Ask the Gardener archives.

 Old Farmer’s Almanac
http://www.almanac.com/
Same helpful resource, but now online! Find the best planting dates, plant guides, frost dates, articles, gardening tips, and much more.

 Plant List for Kentucky Garden Flowers: A Selection Guide
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Horticulture/gardenflowers/pl_list.htm
Provides brief performance and planting information for common Kentucky garden flowers.

 Pronunciation Guide: Fine Gardening
http://www.finegardening.com/pguide/pronunciation-guide-to-botanical-latin.aspx
How to pronounce the Latin names of plants.

Rainscaping Guide: Is a Rain Garden Right for You?
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sustainability-conservation/sustainable-living/at-home/rainscaping-guide/is-a-rain-garden-right-for-your-site.aspx
A guide to building a rain garden from the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Vegetable Gardening

Companion Plants Chart
https://www.earlmay.com/media/cms/companionplantschart_25D154AE91635.jpg

 Companion Planting Poster
http://sustainablelivingworld.com/companion-planting-poster/

 Gardener’s Supply Company
http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Home-LearnAndShare
From the Gardener’s Supply Company, lots of informative articles to help with all your gardening projects. The ready-made kitchen garden plans and garden planner are especially helpful.

 Home Vegetable Gardening in Kentucky
http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id128/id128.pdf
A PDF booklet from the UK Agricultural Extension Office with just about anything you’d need to know about making a home vegetable garden.

Home Vegetables—Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky
http://www.uky.edu/hort/document-list-home-vegetable
Publications from the University of Kentucky about home vegetable gardening, pests, raised beds, diseases, and more.

Sustainable Kentucky
http://www.sustainablekentucky.com/
Covers green living in the Bluegrass. Includes tips for organic farming and gardening.

 Vegetable Diseases—Cornell University
http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/Home.htm
Provides access to Vegetable Disease Fact Sheets from Cornell University.

 Vegetable Growing Guides
http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/homegardening/scene0391.html
Detailed growing guides for 58 garden vegetables.

 Garden Planners

Garden Planner
http://smallblueprinter.com/garden/index.html
Free for 15 days, or buy for $24. Good for the visual placement of plants, beds, and other items. However, this planner does not include a very extensive list of plants. You also have to download the program to your computer.

Vegetable Garden Planner Software
http://www.growveg.com/freetrial.aspx
Create the perfect garden plan with this easy software. No need to download anything as the planner uses Adobe Flash in your browser. Helps you plan crop rotation, successive plantings, etc. Sign up for a free 30 day trial; after that, the planner costs $25/year.

Native Plants

Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council
http://www.se-eppc.org/ky/index.htm
From the Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council. Exotic plants list, least wanted plants (with native alternatives) and lesson plans for teachers.

 Kentucky Native Plant and Wildlife
http://www.kentuckynativeplantandwildlife.blogspot.com/
According to blog author Dr. Thomas Barnes, an author and UK Extension Professor, “The purpose of this blog is to provide information on using native plants in the landscape, issues related to invasive exotic plants, urban wildlife management, and wildlife damage management.”

 The Kentucky Native Plant Society
http://www.knps.org/
Where to buy Kentucky native plants, links to other resources, membership information.

 Kentucky Rare Plants Database
http://eppcapp.ky.gov/nprareplants/index.aspx
From the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission.

Kentucky Wildflowers
http://www.kywildflowers.info/index.html
Beautiful photographs of Kentucky wildflowers.

 NPIN: Recommended Native Plants—Kentucky
http://www.wildflower.org/collections/collection.php?start=0&collection=KY&pagecount=10&pagecount=50
From the LadyBird Johnson Wildflower Center, a list of recommended Kentucky native plants.

 Shooting Star Nursery
http://shootingstarnursery.com
A Georgetown nursery specializing in plants native to Kentucky. Provide photos and growing information for each plant.

Threatened Plants Search Results
http://plants.usda.gov/java/threat?stateSelect=US21&statelist=states
A list of threatened and endangered Kentucky plants.

 Wild Ones—Lexington Chapter
http://www.wildones.org/chapters/lexington/
Wild Ones is a non-profit focused on native plants and natural, sustainable landscaping. The Lexington chapter website provides good native plant resources, including events, a list of native plants, and more.

 Blogs

Inside/Out & About
http://gardening.bloginky.com/
News of local gardening happenings from a garden writer with the Lexington Herald-Leader. The site doesn’t appear to update very frequently, but you may want to keep an eye on it.

 The Micro Gardener
http://themicrogardener.com/
Although this blogger is from Australia, many of her articles are still relevant to Kentucky gardeners. The articles are quite thorough and easy to understand.

Mr. Brown Thumb
http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com
A how-to gardening blog—mostly flowers, some veggies—that’s especially good for beginners.

You Grow Girl
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/
A DIY gardening blog from the author of You Grow Girl and Grow Great Grub.

 Library eBooks

Gardening eBooks on Kentucky Libraries Unbound
http://tinyurl.com/KLUGardeningeBooks

 Gardening eBooks on Axis 360
http://tinyurl.com/Axis360GardeningeBooks

Free Facebook Help

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Facebook logoIf you wanted to come to our Facebook for Beginners class last night but couldn’t make it, don’t worry. Here are two great resources that can help you learn how to create and maintain your own Facebook page.

Facebook 101
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/facebook101
Facebook 101 is a free, online tutorial from the Goodwill Community Foundation. The tutorial includes clear, well-written lessons and videos that lead you through the entire process of setting up your Facebook page–from signing up to finding friends to choosing your privacy settings.

Atomic Training
https://www.rbdigital.com/jessamineky/atomic
As mentioned in previous posts, the library provides free, on-demand video tutorials about popular software–including Facebook–with Atomic Training. To use this resource, you’ll first need to create an Atomic Training account in the library, which you can do by visiting the Information Desk or calling us at (859) 885-3523 ext. 228. Login from anywhere once you’ve created your account.

To access the Facebook workshop, click on the “More” tab on the left side of the page. It’s all the way at the bottom.More tutorials screen shot

Then click “Social Networking.” You’ll see an extensive menu of Facebook video tutorials to choose from.

Atomic Training Facebook menu

Once you’ve signed up for a Facebook account, don’t forget to register for Facebook and Privacy, a hands-on class that will be held at the library on Thursday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. You’ll learn about the Facebook privacy and security settings that let you control how much you share with your Facebook friends.

Create Your Own Star Wars Masterpieces with Photography Apps

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If you’ve visited the library this week, you may have noticed that the force is with JCPL in a major way. We’ve got movies, trivia, games, crafts–plus cardboard characters just waiting to say hello.

On Saturday, April 6, you’ll get the chance to have your picture taken with living, breathing Star Wars characters. Make the most of your shots with some low-cost photography apps. See below for directions on how I created the following photos of the cardboard characters.
Cardboard cutout of Luke SkywalkerIt took two separate apps to give Luke Skywalker that certain glow. I added a filter, frame, and overlay with Pixlr-o-matic, a fun and easy-to-use photo editing app for iOS, Android, Google Chrome, and your desktop. Pixlr-o-matic is great for giving pictures a retro, straight-from-the-Polaroid look. I added the text using Over, an iOS app that lets you overlay beautiful typography onto your pictures.
Cardboard cutout of ChewbaccaChewy got the two-app treatment, too. I took the photo in Pro HDR, an iOS and Android app that takes two photos at two different exposures: one that captures the highlights and one that captures the shadows. It then aligns and blends the two pictures for a higher quality HDR image. The 1972 filter and 1980s rainbow frame are also courtesy of Pro HDR. I added the text with Over.
Star Wars collage
Finally, I brought all the characters together with Diptic, an iOS and Android app that lets you create collages with your photos. I added a filter to unify the look of the pictures, then added some text. Voila!

Free Computer Training: Now Even Better!

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Atomic Training logoWe are happy to announce that even more Atomic Training computer tutorials are available to our library card holders. In fact, you now have access to the complete collection of tutorials.

Atomic Training offers free online, on-demand video tutorials to help you become more proficient in popular software. With Atomic Training, you can get computer help when and where you need it. See below for a complete list of all the tutorials offered:

Microsoft tutorials screen shot

Adobe tutorials screenshot

Apple tutorials screen shot

More tutorials screen shot

 

To create your Atomic Training account, visit the Information Desk or call us at (859) 885-3523 ext. 228.

Already have an account? Click here to access Atomic Training.

Tour the World with TourWrist

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TourWrist screenshot

Here’s a sneak preview from this week’s Appy Hour, which will focus on photography apps for iOS and Android devices. I first wrote about the TourWrist app on our general library blog All Things JCPL, and it remains one of my favorite apps.If you’d like to see this app and others in action, register here for Appy Hour: Photography Apps.

TourWrist allows you to travel the world with 360 degree virtual tours that you view from your device–as TourWrist explains, your mobile device becomes a portal.  With the gyro view, you actually move your device around to see the full 360 degree view. You can view the tours on your computer, as with this tour of the Eiffel Tower, but you’ll have more fun viewing it on a hand-held device where you control the movement.

This free app works with both iOS and Android devices.  With some of the newer devices,  you can create and post your own panoramic tours using TourWrist. If you can’t create panos on your device with TourWrist, you might try Photosynth, another free app for viewing or shooting panoramic scenes.

 

Hobby eResources @ JCPL

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From woodworking to quilting to antiquing, JCPL has your hobby research needs covered. Here are a few of our eResources that can help you with your favorite pastimes.

eBooks

Hobbyists can download nonfiction eBooks from Axis 360 or Kentucky Libraries Unbound. Click here for more information.

Circular Knitting Workshop

Carefree QuiltsArtisan Welding Projects

 

 

 

 

 

eMagazines

JCPL subscribes to 50 popular eMagazines through Zinio. Enjoy your favorite hobby magazines on any Internet-enabled device such as a computer, smartphone, or tablet. To create your free account, stop by the Information Desk or call us at (859) 885-3523 x. 228.

Popular Photography

Guitair Techniques

Field & Stream

 

 

 

 

 

Databases

Price It! Antiques and Collectibles

 

  • Estimate the value of antiques and collectibles
  • Find articles about restoration, appraisals, fakes, and more
  • Locate collecting clubs

To access Price It! from home, enter your library card number as your password.

Chilton’s Auto Repair

 

  • Maintain or repair your car or light truck with diagnostics and step-by-step procedures
  • View bulletins and recalls

To access Chilton’s from home, enter your library card number as your password.

Ancestry.com Library Edition

 

Research your family history with access to:

  • Census and voter lists
  • Birth, marriage, and death indexes
  • Military records
  • Immigration and travel records
  • Newspapers and periodicals

Available to customers inside the library.

Atomic Training

 

Get computer help when and where you need it. Tutorials include:

  • Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word
  • iPad
  • Skype
  • Gmail
  • Internet Explorer and more

To create your free account, visit the Information Desk or call us at (859) 885-3523 x. 228.