Eight

Every Friday, if you subscribe to the quiz, Credo Reference sends out a short, fun quiz to draw you into using their database of over 500 reference books. The quiz is available to everyone on the Credo blog.

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All the questions in this week's brainteaser concern the number eight and things with "eight" in their names.

1. Which popular music group released a song in 1964 called "Eight Days a Week"?

2. What are or were "pieces of eight"?

3. What is the meaning of the phrase "be (or have had) one over the eight"?

4. In popular music, what is the "middle eight"?

5. In mathematics, a horizontal figure of eight is a symbol of what?

6. What is the meaning of the phrase "behind the eight ball"?

7. Who wrote the 1966 novel "When Eight Bells Toll"?

8. The G8 or Group of Eight is an organization of the eight leading industrial nations of the world. Can you name four of them?

9. In 1984, Peter Hyams directed a sequel to the film "2001: a Space Odyssey". Fans of the original movie were not impressed and gave it the alternative title "Ten Past Eight". What was Hyams' film actually called?

10. The Warsaw Pact was a military defensive alliance between eight countries: the USSR and seven East European communist states. Can you name five members of the Warsaw Pact?

Questions set by Tony Augarde (www.augardebooks.co.uk)

Find the answers here, or copy and paste this link into your browser address bar: http://blog.credoreference.com/2011/11/credo-reference-brainteaser-eight/

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I like how they include a link to the citation with each answer.

You may remember from the October quiz, that I knew nothing about music. I can answer a few of these. How many did you 'know'?


-kss

To access Credo reference check with your CTC librarian for the login.

1951 was a very good year

Americans know that the Fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving. Do they know the significance of the Third Thursday in November?

Here we go - a few facts about Beaujolais Nouveau which was released at midnight.
When did the release of the new wine become a big deal? It's been a big deal in rural France for decades. To regulate the industry, in 1951, November 15 was designated as the release date. In 1985 the date was changed to the 3rd Thursday in November. This gave a weekend for enjoying the wine.

A Google search reveals multiple sites with information about Beaujolais Nouveau 2011.

The question is, can I find something about beaujolais nouveau in our library resources? A scroll through GALILEO hunting for a gastronomic database didn't turn up anything specifically relating to consumption of food and drink. Yet, Hospitality & Tourism Complete covers scholarly research and industry news relating to all areas of hospitality and tourism. Coverage includes periodicals, company and country reports, and books from domestic and international sources. Subject areas include culinary arts, demographics and statistics, development and investment, food and beverage management, hospitality law, hotel management and administrative practices, leisure and business travel, market trends, technology, and more. This EBSCO database might have something informative about wine.

A search for Beaujolais Nouveau did pull up articles. I realized the first few were not full text. The purple Find It button gives helpful clues on which library holds the periodical. Limiting my search to full text pulled up this 2005 article, Beaujolais Nouveau, the abstract tells me it-

presents information on the Beaujolais Nouveau wine. Beaujolais Nouveau is a French wine made from Gamay grapes. It is made by the special combination of carbonic maceration and pasteurization. It is best served chilled. It looks like a red wine but tastes like a white wine.

And, it can be translated into French!


-kss

GALILEO, your Georgia librarian has the password
...Databases A-Z
....H
......Hospitality & Tourism Complete

That's Greek to me

A couple of days ago, I mentioned that EBSCO had a translation feature but it had not been activated.

GALILEO has a 'Contact Us' link in the upper right side of the screen. Within 24 hours of contacting GALILEO, the translation features had been turned on in EBSCO.

There are two translation options. One translates the interface. That option is at the top of the screen to the right under Languages. It does not list Greek (as far as I can tell), even though Greek is listed in the Help section as one of the languages for the interface.

After you find the article and open it, scroll below the abstract and article details to a drop down translate box. That list does offer Greek as an option.

EBSCO translates articles in the databases I spot checked- Academic Search, Student Research Center, Regional News, and Primary Search. The interface can be translated in Books but not the content. Neither interface nor content seem translatable in NoveList.

The translate option is good for students (of any age) and immigrants! My guess is the translation may not be grammatically perfect but it's close enough. Language teachers might find the translate option handy for classwork or homework assignments.

Get the GALILEO password from your Georgia librarian and read to your hearts content in the language of your choice!


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Action

How does one tell a story effectively with moving pictures? I've seen enough You Tube videos to know some of us have the skill for visual story telling and some of us do not. It's not just the visual idea but the execution of that idea that can make a video become viral!

CTC offers a Television Production Technology degree.

The Television Production Technology program is designed to allow students to gain education and training for careers in the television production field. Learning opportunities develop academic, technical, and professional knowledge and skills required for job acquisition, retention, and advancement.

The program emphasizes a combination of technical courses and supporting courses. Graduates of the program will have a wide variety of job opportunities in the television production field in the areas of video, audio, lighting, animation, and non-linear editing.

There is a Library guide to assist students in the program. In addition to the standard Book and Article pages, there are pages for Film Festivals, Film Reviews, and Film Schools. The News Sources page has RSS feeds for four film info sources including Variety. The RSS feeds keep the guide current without a lot of attention from the library staff.

The Film Library guide isn't just for students!




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More visual

Thinking about the visual led me to search the catalog for 'history pictures'. Admittedly not an erudite search strategy but still it brought up 357 titles.

My quick skim of titles did reveal one that seems most appropriate to the thought of the day (visual history)- American History Goes to the Movies: Hollywood and the American Experience .

From the Book Description on Amazon - "Whether they prefer blockbusters, historical dramas, or documentaries, people learn much of what they know about history from the movies. In American History Goes to the Movies, W. Bryan Rommel-Ruiz shows how popular representations of historic events shape the way audiences understand the history of the United States, including American representations of race and gender, and stories of immigration, especially the familiar narrative of the American Dream." [more]

Best of all, this is an e-book that you can read right now! It is in the EBSCO collection, get the login information from your CTC Librarian.



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What are you watching?

There are a plethora of online options for viewing pleasure from NetFlix and Comcast, to CNN and other news organizations. What if you want to review real history? Not historical fiction, not a sound bite, but an event.

GALILEO offers a link to the C-SPAN Video Library.

The C-SPAN Video Library includes over 160,000 hours of coverage of C-SPAN programs since 1987. The C-SPAN Archives, which records, indexes, and archives all C-SPAN programming for historical, educational, research, and archival uses, records all three C-SPAN networks seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Programs are indexed by subject, speaker names, titles, affiliations, sponsors, committees, categories, formats, policy groups, keywords, and location. The congressional sessions and committee hearings are indexed by person with full-text.

The C-SPAN Video Library is available freely on the net but would you remember it was there? The GALILEO link is another reason Georgians turn first to their Online Library! Resources gathered to help Georgia residents.


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More downloading

Our director forwarded this info:

ebrary is pleased to announce that you and your patrons may now download ebrary content to computers and other devices including the iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, and Sony Reader!

For an overview of how it works, please refer to our training presentation.

It's active in our ebrary books! The green arrow download link is live. One can 'borrow' the book for 14 days.

I have to get an e-reader.

-kss

To login to ebrary, enter your student ID.

What does that say?

The translation feature in various databases intrigues me. Most databases do not translate the content but they will translate the interface.

- Ebrary translates into 10 languages for the interface.
- EBSCO does not translate the interface or the content (Not true. Clicking on the [Help ?] provides a link to information about translations for the interface and the content. The link needs to be enabled by the system administrator. I've contacted GALILEO.)
- Credo translates into 7 languages for the interface but not the content.
- ProQuest translates into 18 languages for the interface and 14 for the content.

I wonder why they pick the languages they pick? English, French, Spanish seem to be standards but Arabic, German, Italian and Russian pop up. The Asian languages are in the mix as well. What is missing is Greek. I know the Greek alphabet is different but if they can do several Asian languages (Japanese, Korean, & Chinese), Russian, and Arabic, then why not Greek?

EBSCO does translate into Greek according to their info screen. I'm looking forward to GALILEO responding to my query about the translation function in EBSCO.

In most resources, one can at least navigate in ones native language even if the content is in your second or third language. The translate option lets you begin to practice your communication skills!



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Just because

Somewhere a volcano is steadily spewing lava. The video on the news was fascinating. Unfortunately, I didn't pick up where this volcano was shooting forth tall spikes of lava. Using Google to search for volcano current pulled up US volcano sites. Nothing on the first two pages seemed 'right'. I noticed on the left side, options for other types of searches. I selected news. The very first group provided video similar to what I thought I remembered seeing on TV!

Google provides access to web sites that might be authoritative but then again might be hoaxes. I want more information about volcanoes. I'd like to use books for a little more in depth information. Yes, I could search in our catalog and limit my search to Electronic Books but I want to explore a different resource.

In GALILEO there is a Book Collection: Nonfiction. This is an EBSCO product which is a cross-curricular research database that contains abstracts and searchable full text for more than 4,000 popular nonfiction books for youth on core subject areas, as well as information on careers, health, sports, adventure, technology, life skills, and more. It provides content representing a wide spectrum of works, including popular series from top book publishers such as Allosaurus Publishers, Bess Press, Inc., Branden Publishing, Capstone Press, Compass Point Books, Fulcrum Publishing, Lerner Publishing Group, Mason Crest Publishers, Morgan Reynolds, Inc., Morning Glory Press, Oliver Press, Rourke Publishing, LLC and Stackpole Books.

The collection is aimed at K-12. There will be more pictures. The text will be simpler. I think it might be just right for me!

Clicking on the
link brings you to the standard EBSCO search page. I'm not particularly fond of this screen. Once you're inside EBSCO, the user screens are much easier on the eyes.

A nice feature is that the books may be downloaded as an MP3 file. You get to choose the accent of the reader and the speed the material is read. The American accent is female, the British accent is male, and the Australian accent is female. I found the fast reading speed sounded the least mechanical. The words are highlighted as the reader pronounces them. This could be a super tool for anyone practicing their reading skills.

There are multiple books on volcanoes. I feel informed!

-kss

Go to GALILEO - your Georgia librarian has the current password
...Select Databases A-Z
.....Select B
........Select Book Collection: Nonfiction

The body knows

That phrase brings the radio show, the Shadow, to mind - "who knows what evil lurks" .

With the hyper holiday season looming, the Morning Edition story on NPR today has had me thinking about weight, diet, and health. How do we say 'no'? How do we pick wisely?

Our Early Childhood Care and Education program has a class on Health, Safety and Nutrition, with a Library Guide. Under Internet sources there is a page of nutrition links. Making healthy choices begins early. There's no time like today to get ready for the holiday season!

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Mysteries

On the list for School Librarians someone shared the CNN interview with Chris Van Allsburg on his newest title, 'The Chronicles of Harris Burdick' [picture from CNN]. It is the fleshing out in word of the 'Mysteries of Harris Burdick'.

What else could I find on this newest title by Chris Van Allsburg?
Going to GALILEO
..selecting Databases A-Z
....choosing L
......picking Literature Resource Center (Gale).

The Gale search page is intuitive. The results are divided into groups with a tab for each division. There are 99 reviews for Chris Van Allsburg.

The Nov 13, 2011 New York Times Book review by Leonard S Marcus is the first result in Literature Resource Center. You did notice it's dated Nov 13, 2011? I am impressed with how fast the various vendors are at getting current information in their databases but this seems to be extraordinarily quick!


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Check with your CTC Librarian for the current password to GALILEO.

Wait weight

Driving in this morning, the Morning Edition story was about doctors, patients and weight loss. The premise is 30% of us are obese. Some doctors aren't encouraging us to lose weight. As the story progressed, I began to empathize with the doctors. If they tell us we're fat, some of us get insulted and accuse the doctor of insensitivity. Some doctors assume we can see ourselves in the mirror, so they don't point out the obvious. Doctors get paid to cure diseases, not prevent them. Doctors can 'tell' us, but that doesn't mean we'll 'hear' them.

One lady shared her doctor didn't give her enough encouragement when she said to him "do you think I can lose 80 pounds in 8 months and run a marathon". Mind you she's 50 years old. His response- "well, you could but it's unlikely". She left and found 'support' in a friend. Good grief. He responded like a normal human being- let's see, you're 50 years old, you want to lose 10 pounds a month and run in a marathon- yes it's possible but, really?, I mean, really?

What's a person to do - either doctor or patient?

My suggestion, unasked for but here it is. The doctors should point out the obvious when a patient is in their office, your current weight does not match the norms for your height and skeletal structure. These diseases could result from your weight. The doctor should provide a resource or two for the patient.

I admit, my doctor did this - pointed out the statistics and provided a resource. I wasn't insulted. My reflection doesn't lie. The scale is fairly accurate.

So what did I do?
Did I follow his advice.
.....Hmmm, no.
Is that his fault.
.....Hmmm, no.
What's a doctor to do?
What's a patient to do?

Information may result in motivation. Look in your mirror. Really look. Stand on your scale and be honest. If you need a resource (or two), television ads are full of opportunities for help with weight loss. Better yet, read a book.

A search in our catalog for weight loss retrieved 176 titles. I redid the search and limited the library to Electronic Books (which I can read at my desk), this pulled up 43 titles. The newest title in the catalog is 'The gravity of weight, [electronic resource] : a clinical guide to weight loss and maintenance'[2010]

New York-based psychiatrists Sylvia (Weill Cornell Medical College) and Byram (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) review the entire body of medical and scientific knowledge about weight and weight loss, always emphasizing that there are nothing but indications--though some of them very strong--about causes and consequences, no linear relationship between one cause and one effect. They consider obesity in the US; food and the basic principles of calories; the psychology of the eater; the metabolic complexities of weight control; psychiatric disorders and weight; medical conditions and weight; exercise; circadian rhythms, sleep, and weight; diet and weight; psychological treatment strategies and weight; and pharmacological and surgical treatments for overweight and obesity

It's not a how-to book but a resource of information on what might cause the weight gain and weight retention. This could be the needed inspiration. This Ebsco ebook can be downloaded onto an e-reader!

Your CTC librarian can give you the login to access e-books off campus!


-kss