Triskaidekaphobia

Today is Friday the 13th. Except in Australia, which by the time I write this it is Saturday the 14th I should think.

Triskaidekaphobia is the term given to the fear of the number 13. This is a fear common in North America and Europe. This fear has morphed into a fear of the date Friday the 13th. Fear of Friday the 13th has given rise to a slasher film franchise, which subsequently created higher sales of ice hockey goalie masks (but that's another story).

A search for triskaidekaphobia in Galileo yields 4 results in Academic Search Complete and 4 results in Research Library. The results span all the way back to 1980, and most of the articles deal with the psychological aspects associated with the number 13 and its perceived lack of luck.

And in unrelated news, the people of Sweden voted to join the European Union on this day in 1994.

JWF

Opening a business

I've heard pundits say real job growth is created by small businesses. How do you start your own business and grow it enough to hire a few folks who then help it grow even more?

Chattahoochee Technical College library subscribes to the ProQuest database Entrepreneurship.

Search worldwide publications and multi-media related to the topic of Entrepreneurship. Intended to bridge theory with practice, the Entrepreneurship database covers a wide spectrum of resources useful to educators, researchers, students and practitioners. Content ranges from the scholarly - including journals, dissertations, working papers and conference proceedings - to a full toolkit of practical guides, templates, forms, sample business plans, and tips from successful entrepreneurs.

The Basic (opening) page has Start-up tools links [right side toward the middle of the screen] to the tools mentioned in the description of Entrepreneurship.

The third tab [Data & Reports] offers options for searching for reports. I tried Pizza Delivery as my search term. I clicked on Articles (profiles/case studies). Over 61,000 articles were pulled up. I noticed the default Boolean term is OR. That makes the search huge. I went to advanced search. I entered pizza delivery as a general search AND Case studies as a subject term. That narrowed the field to 6 articles. I was intrigued that most of the articles are from the 1990's. Entrepreneurship suggests other search terms. One suggestion was case studies AND Pizza. This search turned up 19 articles - with three from 2006-2008.

Check Entrepreneurship out. See what ideas and lessons learned by others, you can gather to make the leap into being a small business owner who creates jobs.

The password to use Entrepreneurship at home is available through your CTC campus librarian.



-kls

Long distance users

At the Sirsi users group, Steven Abram noted that our military can use their public library resources from overseas! That had not occurred to me.

This morning when I was at my local library, I noticed the down loadable audio books poster. I asked how one used them? The instructions are online- you do need to create an account with the library. The books are checked out for 7, 14 or 21 days. They can be downloaded to your computer, mp3 player or i-pod!

If my local library offers this - I'll bet many others offer this great way to listen to books. Remind your military friends and family they can use their public library card even while overseas. I'll bet you could get the GALILEO password for them too....

-kls

Bob Kalsu

Bob Kalsu was the only professional football player to be killed while serving in the US Military during the Vietnam War (although not the only player to serve). Kalsu had played one year for the Buffalo Bills, then in the American Football League, before being sent to Vietnam. Kalsu's story first gained large attention in the media through a piece produced by NFL Films in 1999.

Information on Bob Kalsu is available through Galileo. Once in Galileo, click on the yellow 'search' button. Type 'Bob Kalsu' as your search term and select the full-text option. You will then get four results, two from Academic Search Premier and two from Research Library. Perhaps the best result is the one for the 2001 article from Sports Illustrated.

JF

Finding aids

How easy is it to find information on a web site? The Chattahoochee Technical College Library site is going through an upgrade. Check out the left column with the hints and tips on using the resources available to CTC students!

If you're a visual learner the How Do I... videos will be most helpful. They are short and sweet. Just enough information to get you on your way to successfully using a resource.

We're doing our best to help our students succeed not only in school but as life long learners!


-kls

What's new?

Yesterday I talked about the new books arriving at the North Metro campus. How would you find out what's new in the collection if I didn't tell you?

The catalog has a link just for NEW BOOKS [upper left corner]. When you click on NEW BOOKS a list of the campus libraries is revealed. You have a choice of a specific campus, all new books and new electronic books.The system is set to run the new books report each Friday evening at 9pm.

Now you know how you can find out what is new on the shelves of the Chattahoochee Technical College libraries.


-kls

the Berlin Wall

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall separated communist controlled East Berlin from West Berlin, which was under democratic rule.

An oft remembered event related to the wall's end is the singing performance of American television actor David Hasselhoff.



Hasselhoff, quite the star in Germany and Austria, is best known in the States for his early 1980's work on the tv series Knight Rider and the 1990's lifeguard drama Baywatch. A few weeks after the wall's collapse, Hasselhoff was invited to perform near the wall, singing a collection of his musical tunes, songs that never really caught on in America, but were very popular in Europe. The singer's attire, a self-illuminating jacket, is remembered as much as is his performance. Some commentators have even suggested a reason the East Berliners poured into West Berlin in 1989 was to get their hands on copies of Hasselhoff's music.

JF

Potager

The new book orders are starting to arrive! It feels like Christmas to open the boxes and see what we've ordered.

Timber Press books have amazing photographs. The book that caught my eye was Design the New Kitchen Garden : an American Potager Handbook [SB 324.3 .B38 2006] by Jennifer R. Bartley. I admit to not knowing what 'potager' meant.

A potager garden is the French counterpart to the English kitchen garden, but with an emphasis on growing vegetables.

This seems to tie into the slow food movement - getting fresh food close to home. The potager brings the food right outside the kitchen door yet seems to provide the visual appeal of a formal garden. The gardens that inspired Ms. Bartley are Renaissance potager gardens (Chapter 2). They remind me of Williamsburg gardens, formal yet useful.

If you don't have the space or energy to create a formal potager, Ms. Bartley offers a section on container potager gardening (pg 186). Her suggestions for container gardening might meet the need for fresh food, right outside the kitchen door!


-kls

What do you think?

The folks at GALILEO really want your opinion:

How useful have you found the GALILEO Toolbar? Would you like to search GALILEO from your mobile device? How would you improve GALILEO? Your answers and your students' and patrons' answers to these questions matter.

When you open the GALILEO website today, you will see an invitation to participate in a the annual user survey. Don't miss this chance to provide your feedback on your experience with GALILEO and to enter the drawing to win an iPod Nano. Be sure to encourage your users to complete the survey to be entered into the drawing. The survey will be conducted November 9-15, 2009. Just click on the GALILEOUser Survey link on the GALILEO home page to participate.

Thank you for taking the time to contribute your opinions and ideas and for encouraging others to participate.

-kls

Another chance

Here's another opportunity to express your opinion:

The annual user survey offers you the chance to sound off on your experience using GALILEO and the chance to win an iPod Nano. The link to the survey will appear on the GALILEO website Monday, November 9—Sunday, November 15.

Questions on the survey are designed to measure the satisfaction and identify the issues experienced by everyone who uses GALILEO. To help ensure a broad representation of users, please encourage others to participate, including students, teachers and faculty, parents, your colleagues, and all your patrons.

Your feedback and that of the end users you work with is important, so add a note to your calendar or to-do list to look for the survey link on the GALILEO home page next week. If you have any questions or need more information, please use GALILEO's Contact Us feature or contact OIIT Customer Services at helpdesk@usg.edu.

Seventh Inning

Thanks to Britannica Blog for posting the Harpo Marx YouTube video "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in honor of the World Series.

You can read about the World Series in GALILEO through NewsBank. CTC Library subscribes to this resource!

You may also peruse "Sports Illustrated" (back to 1992) in GALILEO.
..Select Journals A-Z
...type in Sports Illustrated
....Find it pulls up several versions of Sports Illustrated. Select one- notice which vendor has the magazine (Ebsco, ProQuest, Lexisexis).
Ebsco and ProQuest offer alerts and RSS feeds for magazines and searches!

There are a variety of ways to get the latest information. Don't limit yourself to a Google search.

-kls

Naked to the Bone

The information for x-rays in Credo Reference gave me the facts (Just the Facts, Ma'am). My interest was whetted and I wanted a bit more. A search in the CTC catalog turned up a fascinating history of X-rays in the 20th century - Naked to the bone [electronic resource] : medical imaging in the twentieth century by Bettyann Kevles [RC 78.7 D 53 ONLINE RESOURCE]. The best part is, the book is available 24/7 through NetLibrary.

From the Introduction:

On a warm summer afternoon in 1996, six middle-aged people sat around a conference table. It had been a long day and the men's ties lay limp on the backs of chairs while one of the women, her high-heeled shoes discarded nearby, wriggled her toes to restore circulation. ''That reminds me of Berlin in 1936," a man observed. "My mother used to take me to a shoe store where I put my feet under a fluoroscope to watch my bones." The group sat up, revived by nostalgia. They were all children again, recalling the same experience in Indianapolis, Bakersfield, Manhattan, Wellington, and Shanghai. The memory triggered grins at first, and moments later, the barefoot woman was the first to shudder. She was trying to estimate the quantity of radiation....

A little research is the impetus to life long learning!
This video walks you through creating your free account to use NetLibrary
Go to GALILEO
..Select Databases A-Z
...Select N
....Scroll to NetLibrary
......In the upper right corner select Create your free account

Your Georgia librarian can give you the current password to access GALILEO.

-kls

X-Rays

Today (Nov 4, 2009) is RAD TECH DAY at the North Metro Campus! You’re invited to stop by the RAD lab, room 221 in building 200 for “goodies and games” from 11:00am until 1:00pm. Our current RAD students will be there to answer any questions you may have about the program.

X-rays are a tool that I take for granted. My dentist uses X-rays to check the condition of my teeth and gums. My doctor uses X-rays to 'see' the broken bone in my arm. My doctor uses the mammogram to look for unusual features that might signal a cancer.

I don't know much about x-rays other than they are useful tools! A search in Credo Reference found over 4000 entries for "X ray" (put x ray in quotes or as x-ray to limit your search).

Credo Reference offers other ways to limit the search. Look at the left column which offers you links to search by entry types (articles noted as long or brief), media, person, and date published. Credo Reference is using Boolean logic to narrow the search for you with the links on the left.

I like the options offered by Credo Reference to narrow my search by clicking on a link. It's quicker. Yet, I think I have more control by using the search boxes and the And, Or, Not features of Boolean logic through the Advanced Search feature.

I accessed Credo Reference by going to GALILEO
...selecting Databases A-Z
.....selecting C
.......scrolling to Credo Reference

Try both options and see which one gives you more of what you are looking for. You get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.


-kls

Election Day

In many parts of the country, today is Election Day! By now you should feel pretty comfortable with the touch screen voting machines. However, if you need a refresher----



It's a beautiful day in the metro-Atlanta area neighborhood. No excuses not to exercise your right (and obligation) to participate in the democratic process.

-kls

The Discoveries

Alan Lightman wrote The Discoveries [Q 180.55 .D57 L54 2005] a science review of the 20th century.

Lightman outlines the intellectual and emotional landscape of each discovery, portrays the personalities and human dramas of the scientists involved, and explains the significance and impact of the work. In doing so, he explores such questions as how do scientists think, whether there are common patterns of discovery, the nature of creativity in science, which discoveries are accidental and which intentional, and whether the scientists are aware of the significance of what they have discovered. Finally, Lightman gives an exhilarating tour through each of the original discovery papers. In their own words, here are Einstein, Bohr, McClintock, and Pauling, grappling with the nature of the world. The Discoveries is an exploration into the process of scientific discovery and into the minds of the men and women who do it.

Mr. Lightman brings the familiarity of friendship to each scientists own words. It's a fascinating and enjoyable read!

-kls

Bones and more

Posters around the North Metro campus are filled with dancing skeletons to advertise the Rad Tech annual open house which will be held on the North Metro campus on Wednesday, November 4, from 11 to 1 in room 221.

The plethora of skeletons on view reminded me of the rollicking song, Dem Bones. While reading the lyrics (and humming the tune), I began to wonder about the scientific names for the bones.

Medical dictionaries are readily available online. I searched MedLine Plus for hip bone and quickly found

the large flaring bone that makes a lateral half of the pelvis in mammals and is composed of the ilium, ischium, and pubis which are consolidated into one bone in the adult -- called also innominate bone, os coxae, pelvic bone

I wondered if I might find a Medical Dictionary in GALILEO? Looking in Browse by Type and selecting Dictionaries did not reveal any medical dictionaries.

Going to Browse by Subject, selecting Medicine and Health, then Nursing and Allied Health, clicking on the tab Articles & Databases, scrolling down to Other databases in this category, I selected the Merck manual, which really is not a Medical Dictionary. A search for hip bone pulled up all sorts of diseases, treatments, etc but not the scientific name for the bone.

Checking Health Source : Nursing showed a Medical Dictionary link (4th tab from the left). I typed in hip bone, then selected hip bone from the list and the definition appeared....

the large flaring bone that makes a lateral half of the pelvis in mammals and is composed of the ilium, ischium, and pubis which are consolidated into one bone in the adult— called also innominate bone, os coxae, pelvic bone

To answer my question - yes, I can find a Medical Dictionary within a database in GALILEO. Not easily but it can be done!

Your Georgia librarian can give you the current GALILEO password to use GALILEO at home.

-kls

Who has it?

Ebsco offers the option to show a link in NovelList that connects to the public WorldCat. When I've demonstrated the feature, the students eyes get wide with delight. The public WorldCat shows which library holds the book, how far that library is from the computer you're using, reviews, how to purchase the book, and what other books have been read by folks who read the book you're looking at.

What the public WorldCat does not offer is the option to request the book through inter-library loan. For that option, you need to go to GALILEO
...select Databases A-Z
.....select W
.......select WorldCat

This WorldCat is not as 'pretty' as the public WorldCat. The borrowing feature makes the clunky look acceptable. After you've searched for a title and found the one you'd like to read, click on the title. Scroll down a bit to the Availability section - see the link Borrow this item from another library? Select that link and complete the form. Make a note in Comments which campus you'd like the item delivered to. The request is sent to the main library. The Inter Library Loan assistant searches for a library to borrow the item from. Within ten days the item will be at the branch you noted for pick-up.

Knowing who has the book is important but knowing how to get the book delivered to your local branch - is priceless!

Ask your Georgia librarian what the current password is to use GALILEO at home.

-kls

All Hallows Eve eve

It's drizzly, overcast, and cool feeling today. I'm wearing my skull and crossbones knee socks in honor of the holiday weekend.

Halloween has evolved into a more grown up holiday from my childhood experience where we wore home made costumes and gathered in groups to trudge around the neighborhood collecting treats.

For current articles about the growth of Halloween as an adult holiday, I decided to check the Religion And Philosophy collection which "includes more than 300 full-text journals covering topics such as world religions, major denominations, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of language, moral philosophy, and the history of philosophy." A search for All Hallows Eve only turned up three articles. Halloween, though, brought up 81 articles.

The Economist article (yes, the Economist is in Religion And Philosophy) ,The Nightmare Before Christmas notes the economic engine powered by the purchasing of consumables.

Using GALILEO can provide you with interesting articles to read while the weather outside is less than ideal!

Get the current password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian.





-kls

Time flies

On Sunday morning at 2 AM, we set our clocks back one hour. Encyclopedia Britannica offers a bit of history on Daylight Saving Time.

Each time we change the clocks, I hear grumbling about the hazards of sleep deprivation, the efforts to change all the clocks, the aggravation of being too late or too early for an event! Having used Facts.com several times this week, I went to check in Issues and Controversies to see if there were any arguments over the implementation of Daylight Savings time. There were three references in the Almanac but no controversies.

A search in GALILEO for daylight savings using Academic Search Complete and Research Library turned up over 1100 articles.

I was taken by this poem.

The article presents the poem "Time Change," by Jesse Mountjoy.
First Line: Daylight-saving time ended early;
Last Line: Was a light, forgetful matte color.

Which led me to wonder if the poem was noted in any of the Literature databases in GALILEO. I had no luck using
Browse by Subject
..Literature, Language and Literary Criticism
....Literature and Literary Criticism.
search for Time Change

Though a search for the author, Jesse Mountjoy, revealed 62 poems in Academic Search Complete and 17 in Literary Reference Center, all published in Legal Studies Forum.

Is he a lawyer? You know where I'm going - to Lexis Nexis. Yes, there is a Jesse T Mountjoy noted as an attorney in Kentucky! A Google search confirmed my theory.

I started out thinking about Daylight Savings time, was side tracked by a poem, then drifted off to find out if the author is an attorney.

Use the resources in GALILEO to find information.

Your Georgia librarian can give you the current password to access GALILEO at home.


-kls

Color

Each autumn as I drive around the delightful state of Georgia, I marvel at the gorgeous display of color provided by the variety of flora! I am impressed by the landscapers ability to bring color to our surroundings by selecting trees and bushes that add fire and light to the end of the summer greens.

We have a book on the shelf with delightful pictures of the Fall garden, Fallscaping : Extending your garden season into autumn by Nancy J. Ondra and Stephanie Cowan [SB 423.4 2007]. The authors offer hints and tips for selecting just the right plant to add that touch of color to an area.

Get ready for next year by admiring what others have done, learning how they did it, and then planting your contribution to the beauty of our state.

-kls

Slow Food

Greetings.

The Chattahoochee Technical College Mountain View campus library has quite a few books related to all matters culinary. Several of these books are related to the Slow Food movement. Slow Food is a movement that was envisioned as a way to counter the 'fast food' we all know and love in modern day North America. Slow Food also seeks to preserve elements of local culture and tradition that are endangered the disconnect between the foods eaten by people in general and the interest in where those foods came from and how they were produced.


The Slow Food movement is worldwide. There are branches specific to various countries, including that of the United States of America. Local chapters, including one for Slow Food Atlanta, also exist. You can find links related to Slow Food at the Chattahoochee Technical College Library's website at Delicious.

JWF

The stronger chain

Links to links to links. Bill Badke, noted Librarian and author, shared with the ALA Information Literacy list,

If your institution has Google Scholar set up with links to your resources, an easy way to get to full text quickly is to search for part of the title (in quotation marks) and the last name of an author.

I had no idea Google Scholar could be personalized. I tell students that Google Scholar will have scholarly articles. I point out there will be a fee to access those articles. It's part of my pitch to send them to GALILEO.

I went to Google Scholar and selected Scholar Preferences. It's in teeny tiny print next to the Search button.
I searched for GALILEO and Georgia Library Services EBSCOHost Full text appeared.
I clicked on it.
I searched for Georgia Library and Georgia Library Services Board of Regents (FindIT Full Text) - Full Text@GALILEO appeared.
I selected that also.
I saved my preferences

When I did a search, if the article could be found in GALILEO, there was a link (and the purple Find It button).

You will still need the current GALILEO password to access the articles off campus but if you're hooked on the availability of Google Scholar - editing the preferences to pull up GALILEO resources will save you money!

-kls

Exploring a Health Resource

As I was looking at Issues and controversies in Facts on File, I noticed the Health Reference Center icon. Health Reference Center is a new resource for the Chattahoochee Technical College library.

Since I wrote about Ebsco's free resource a few days agao, H1N1 is on my mind. I did a Basic search in Health Reference Center for H1N1. 4 Topics (articles from 3 books) and 41 news articles were retrieved. Not as extensive as the Ebsco resource but still enough reliable information to get started.

As I scanned the page I noticed links to other resources that may prove helpful for students in the Allied Health or Early Childhood programs.

I looked under Subjects (second tab in). There are 5 major headings.
I selected Body Systems because the Anatomy classes are regularly looking for more information about the body.
Selecting Images and Videos from the right side of the screen opened up an opportunity to view movies or illustrations. There are 61 movies and over 500 illustrations for the Body.

The big test for usefulness for the anatomy students in the Health Reference Center is the musculoskeletal system. Toward the end of the quarter, the instructors leave bones in the library for students to handle, study and learn the exact names of each bone.

I clicked on musculoskeletal system. There is an illustration of a skeleton. It notes the axial and appendicular portions of the skeleton. It's not tagged with the names of the individual bones. There is a list noting the axial and appendicular skeleton parts but no pictures. This would not be very helpful for the Anatomy students.

The handiest tool I noticed is the Conversion Calculator! Going from grams to kilograms or ounces to pounds. A very handy tool.

I'll keep exploring. This Health Reference Center in Facts on File will provide another resource for accurate information!



-kls

Just the facts

Chattahoochee Technical College Library subscribes to several databases that supplement what is available through GALILEO. One of those resources is Facts.com by Facts On File.

Facts.com highlights articles on current issues and controversies in society and science. Additionally, Facts.com contains a World Almanac Reference Database, World Almanac Encyclopedia, Reuters news articles, and World News Digest special features and articles from 1940 - present.

The English 1101 classes must write an argumentative paper. One that shows there are two sides to a topic.Facts.com has a section noted as Issues and Controversies which explores more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. This makes it a bit easier for students to see the two sides to a topic.

What I like best about Facts.com is the Need A Research Topic box in the lower right hand corner. They offer a lengthy list of topics that have two sides! There is a bibliography which might offer further information. Scroll to the very end and the MLA and APA citations are noted. It is extraordinarily helpful for undergraduates to have the correct citation noted.

How do students get to Facts.com?
There are two ways- one may access the CTC Library page- #3 is Facts.com (You will need the login and password. Check with your CTC campus librarian for that information).

Or- one may go to GALILEO
..select Databases A-Z
....select F
.....select Facts.com.
By going this route you can click on the Click here link to get the password to access Facts.com .

You will need the current GALILEO password, which you may get from your Georgia librarian.


-kls

Polls

It's getting close to election time. A poll seems an appropriate way to participate in the democratic process.

The upgraded layout option for Blogger.com offers several gadgets. One is a poll.

JWF suggested we ask about the movie Heathers and Citizen Kane. He thinks Heathers is a better movie than Citizen Kane.

I admit I haven't sat through either one- so I don't have an opinion. The poll is a test - to see how it works! We may play with polls just to see what thoughts are flying around.

-kls

The silver screen

JWF is adding Film resources to delicious. He shared with the CTC librarians:

Tribeca is an entertainment company, established in part by Robert DeNiro, that produces independent film and a film festival. A section of their website, called the Reelist, produces insightful commentary related to films along a certain theme. Interestingly, the links to various elements within the postings refer back to Wikipedia. Perhaps this represents a small part of the long slow legitimization of Wikipedia as a reference source. I would suggest that Wikipedia beats ‘authoritative’ reference sources hands down in a matching of comprehensive information on pop culture. I doubt you’ll find an entry for the film ‘Heathers’ in Credo Reference.

That sounded like a challenge to several of us - one librarian did a quick search in Credo and by golly 33 references to Heathers came up. Admittedly most are for the greenery but there are references that include biographies of the stars and the director, the mineral water being mentioned in the movie, and the movie’s release date in Hutchinson Chronology of World History.

I went to GALILEO, looked in Browse by Subject, selected Arts and Humanities, then selected Movies and Film. The Articles & Databases tab mentions International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text includes full-text articles and books for those studying theatre and the performing arts. This database was initiated by the American Society for Theatre Research, and the Theatre Research Data Center (TRDC) at Brooklyn College has published 14 volumes of the IBTD since 1984. I did not find much on Heathers (Film.)

Wikipedia does offer a comprehensive look at this teen flick. Because I have the GALILEO tool bar loaded on my computer, the Find It buttons show up in the References!

If you don't have the GALILEO toolbar - go to Galileo, look at the Getting Started column on the right side of the screen - select Get Your GALILEO toolbar. Follow the directions to load the toolbar (Firefox and IE are supported). Then you'll have best of both worlds- using Wikipedia while GALILEO tags the references!

Your Georgia librarian can give you the current password to use GALILEO at home.

-kls

Scams, etc

The Government is reminding folks to be careful when they hear, read or see information about preventing the spread of the H1N1 virus. EBSCO is providing a free resource.

Due to Pandemic H1N1 Influenza (formerly known as Swine Flu) and concerns about the 2009/2010 flu season, the EBSCO Publishing Medical and Nursing editors of DynaMed™, Nursing Reference Center™ (NRC) and Patient Education Reference Center™ (PERC) have made key influenza information from these resources freely available to health care providers worldwide.

The EBSCO Editorial Team performs daily literature surveillance of thousands of journals and generates reports on the most significant research.

You can create your own daily literature search through resources in GALILEO.
1. Select one of the databases (Academic Search Complete or Research Library).
2. Do a search for H1N1
3. Near the top of the screen will be a Create an Alert or RSS feed link.
Click on that link and fill in the form (In EBSCO for Academic Search Complete, you will need to create a free account)

Keep up with the latest H1N1 information by using GALILEO and EBSCO!

-kls

A little history

The North Metro campus COL101 class was assigned Summer Hill School in Cartersville as their research topic. The Chattahoochee sports team is called the Blue Devils in honor of Summer Hill. When asked, several students happily admitted to using Google for their search. There are good resources online from The Summer Hill Project which has primary sources (newspaper articles) to the Georgia Interscholastic Association. A Living Stories video has been created and shown on PBS with more information.

When I looked in GALILEO I found a few things that could add pizazz to the story of Summer Hill.

In the Digital Library of Georgia I searched for Cartersville. 62 items were retrieved. The items I found most fascinating were the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps - in particular the 1916 map which showed the location of the Negro Public School (on sheet 8 ). Searching the Sanborn maps isn't for the faint of heart. You need to search Digital Library of Georgia then click on the map picture to bring up the map and other search features inside Sanborn (like an address search). As I stood in front of the class I had to quick try to remember how to find that particular section of the map. It's not as easy to navigate as I had hoped. Lots of clicking in and out, left and right arrows to actually see what is on the map.

Comparing the 1916 Sanborn map with the Google map for the current Summer Hill complex made for an interesting compare and contrast.

The other resource I used was NewsBank (provided by the Chattahoochee Technical College Library). I did a search in the Georgia News Sources, limited to Atlanta and Marietta. Several stories came up with Summer Hill in the articles. The obituaries for people who graduated from Summer Hill gave an insight to the people who lived in Cartersville.

A Google search can help get you started but don't forget to check GALILEO for information that cannot be found on the free web.

-kls

Gadgets and more gadgets

Just some musings on the new Credo Reference Gadgets tool . . .

The gadgets tool will appear as a frame on the right side of the Firefox window. If the frame does not appear, you may need to click on the gadgets link in the top center of the Credo homepage.

Not all gadget options will appear on the frame initially. You may click on the + symbol to see what additional gadgets are available and add them to the frame.

Searching within the gadgets is rather straightforward. A search for a word under ‘define’ will take you to entries for that word. The location search appears to have some issues. A search for ‘Atlanta, GA’ did not take me to the desired articles. A search for ‘Atlanta’ did take me to the desired entries.

The conversions tool is a bit simple and compares laterally to similar tools on websites found through a search engine. The conversion answers appear in script below the tool itself and the display is a bit untidy in my opinion.

The quotations tool will take you to entries from quotations books related to the searched for person, as with a search for George Bush, which included both elder and younger. However, due to the slightly dated nature of the Credo materials, a search for Barack Obama through quotations yielded no hits.

The crossword tool allows you to look for a crossword answer. Enter the letters you have and place a ? in the stead of the letters you desire. The tool will pull up a list of suggested answers. There is a drop down list explanatory device that appears with this tool in the form of a question mark icon.

I tested the holidays tool by typing Sweden in the search bar. This took me to a list of entries for holidays that originated in Sweden, followed by entries for holidays associated in some way with Sweden.

A useful tool for ready reference. The image search may lead to students/others using copyrighted pictures in their presentations though. (Even though it is Wikipedia related, Wikicommons is a good source of public domain images.)

-JWF

Credo is available through GALILEO. The password to use GALILEO is available from your Georgia librarian.

Cows

At COMO, Carmen Agra Deedy talked about (and read aloud) her new book 14 Cows for America. It's the true story of the response to 9/11 of a Maasai warrior who was in NYC on Sept 11, 2001. The pictures are magnificent. The story is touching. I bought several copies and asked her to sign them for my children who were in NYC on that fateful day.

You know how I like to search in GALILEO for news stories and articles to confirm what I hear. I did a search for Kimeli Naiyomah (the Maasai warrior) in Academic Search Complete, Research Library (ProQuest), and Newspaper Source. I limited the search to 2001-2003. In both Newspaper Source and Academic Search Complete there was the abstract for the New York Times story "Where 9/11 News Is Late, but Aid Is Swift" [Jun 3, 2002].

I wondered if I could find the story full text some where else. You're already thinking- she's going to Lexis Nexis. Yes, that's where I went. I limited my search to News, entered the headline exactly, limited the search to The New York Times, and the past ten years. The complete story is available!

Now some folks think Lexis Nexis is difficult to use so I went to a resource provided by Chattahoochee Tech, NewsBank. This database is "complete full-text content of local and regional news, including community events, schools, politics, government policies, cultural activities, local companies, state industries, and people in the community."

I admit, it is a bit easier to use. I selected United States, typed in the entire headline and selected headline, limited the years to 2001-2003. The entire story is available. I noticed the e-mail link on the right in NewsBank allows me to send the citation to myself. I received the entire article but not a citation. I looked again and noticed a bibliography export link. In the center of that screen there is a box that tells me I can choose either citation format (MLA or APA). That citation help is very, very useful.

Maybe I'll go straight to NewsBank the next time I'm looking for a news story.

You may get the current password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

What do I see?

Have you ever looked at something and not really seen it? I use GALILEO almost daily. I write about GALILEO resources regularly. I think I'm fairly conversant with GALILEO.

Last week as I stood in front of a class demonstrating Browse by Subject. I selected a subject, clicked on it and began to do my spiel on how to fill in the search boxes, select full text, peer reviewed, limit by date, pick extra databases to search, when I noticed the rest of the gray bar running to the right from the blue Search button. I saw Books & more and thought- what is that? I clicked on it and it took me to the Chattahoochee Tech catalog! Well, really it took me to a search box that went to the catalog.

I was amazed! I said- this must be new. Isn't this a great addition to GALILEO. Look at the Articles & databases, Journals & magazines, Other tools buttons - it's a complete library for this particular subject.

I need to thank the GALILEO folks for continuing to improve this resource.

At COMO, I stopped by the GALILEO booth to thank them and tell them how useful those extra tabs were....I watched them all turn slightly pale as I was exclaiming about this 'new' resource....when one said very quietly- oh my, if she didn't see the bar..... it had been on the page for a very long time.....I was embarrassed. What else have I not noticed in GALILEO's great bag of tricks?

Let's go exploring for other tools that are available to Georgians in GALILEO. You may get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

Say you're one of them

Oprah's latest book club book has arrived on the North Metro campus. Say You're One of them by Uwem Akpan.

Through GALILEO you may access NoveList and read the reviews from BookList, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Kirkus.

A reviewer noted that the first story,"An Ex-mas Feast", was published in the New Yorker. My favorite task is to see if I can really find something. I searched for the New Yorker in the Journals A-Z link. It is available in full text through Ebsco (from 2004), ProQuest (from 2001), Gale, and Lexis Nexis. I went looking in GALILEO for "An Ex-mas Feast".

I did a specific search through The New Yorker. I did a general search through the GALILEO search box. Nada. I searched for Uwem Akpan and did find another short story in The New Yorker, titled "My Parents Bedroom" (2006).

A specific search through the New Yorker showed it isn't really full text in Ebsco. With the date I was able to find the article. The Find It button told me which libraries hold that issue.
Hmm...it's not in ProQuest. I checked by the New Yorker date - 13 Jun 2005- no "ex mas feast".
I tried Lexis Nexis using Uwem Akpan in the New Yorker- I did not find ex mas feast but another article by him.
Went to Gale Cengage Learning- still no luck finding this particular short story.

A Google search for 'ex mas feast New Yorker' did find the short story dated 13 Jun 2005 in the New Yorker archives.

So why couldn't I find it full text in GALILEO? One of life's mysteries.

-kls

It's the beginning!

Fall quarter starts today at Chattahoochee Technical College. The hallways on the North Metro campus are filled with eager, nervous, excited students and faculty. Over 11,000 students have registered system wide for classes this quarter. Over 3500 registered for classes at the North Metro campus.

Students have begun to use GALILEO to find articles and use the references sources. RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) posted a list of free reference sources that might add to your 'library' of information sources.

Get the current password to use GALILEO from your Georgia librarian. Remember there are just a few reliable 'free' resources that can help you find accurate information. GALILEO will provide Georgia residents with the best resources.

-kls

Southern Israelite Archive

Most appropriate announcement to be released during the High Holy Days:

The Digital Library of Georgia and the Cuba Archives of the Breman Museum are pleased to announce the availability of a new online resource: Southern Israelite Archive which spans the years 1929-1958 and 1984-1986 and includes over 22,000 images.

Rabbi H. Cerf Straus established the Southern Israelite as a temple bulletin in Augusta in 1925. The publication was so popular, he expanded it into a monthly newspaper. Later in the decade, Straus sold the paper to Herman Dessauer and Sara B. Simmons, who moved the paper to Atlanta, where it began circulating state-wide and eventually throughout the South. In 1930, M. Stephen Schiffer, a former employee of the Atlanta Georgian, took over as sole owner of the Southern Israelite. Even in these earliest years, the paper not only covered the news of the southern Jewry, but also the issues that involved Jewish populations throughout the nation and world, including the Holocaust and later the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. In October of 1934, the Southern Israelite began publishing a four page weekly edition, supplemented by its established monthly magazine edition. Ownership of the paper was turned over to a corporation headed by Israelite editor Adolph Rosenberg in 1951, while the paper continued its mission as the voice of the Jewish community in Atlanta. In October of 1958, the paper was at the forefront of the coverage of the Temple bombing in Atlanta, giving its readers a unique first hand perspective. The monthly edition of the paper was discontinued in 1973 in favor of its increasingly growing weekly edition. In 1987, the paper changed its name from the Southern Israelite to the Atlanta Jewish Times and guaranteed at least thirty-two page issues moving forward. The paper is today owned by Jewish Renaissance Media and continues as a weekly publication with a readership of over 25,000.

The Southern Israelite database is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia. Digitization is made possible by the Cuba Archives of the Breman Museum and the generosity of the Srochi family of Atlanta.

-kls

We the People

Constitution Week begins September 17th. Thanks to the Britannica Blog for highlighting this priceless clip. As they noted, we all 'know' the Preamble - don't we?



If you're like Barney- go ahead and learn the Preamble again so you'll be ready to say it clearly to everyone on September 17.

-kls

H1N1 information

From our friends at GALILEO

=================================

Dear GALILEO Users,

As many of us begin to deal with the H1N1 pandemic within our institutions and homes, we wanted to bring to your attention the many health-related databases and resources available to you and your users through GALILEO. The following list provides you with the GALILEO Express Links and descriptions of these resources.

Databases that do not require a GALILEO password for home access are denoted with an *.

• *H1N1 Pandemic Flu Information (EBSCO)*: This complimentary resource from EBSCO brings together information on the H1N1 Flu virus from DynaMed, Nursing Resource Center, and Patient Reference Center. The site will be continually updated and offer both evidence-based clinical information and patient education. Patient information is offered in 17 languages.

• Consumer Health Complete: Is a comprehensive resource for consumer-oriented health content, including full text from many health reference books and encyclopedias and thousands of health reports as well as physician-generated videos and hundreds of medical images and diagrams. CHC provides content covering all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic, and integrated medicine. This full-text database covers topics such as aging, cancer, diabetes, drugs and alcohol, fitness, nutrition and dietetics, children's health, men and women's health, and more.

• *Georgia Health Go Local*: Is a joint project between the National Library of Medicine and Georgia academic and health institutions that links users to information about local health resources in Georgia communities. Georgia Health Go Local enables a patient or consumer anywhere in Georgia to visit the MedlinePlus website for information on a health topic or condition (diabetes, for example) and then link directly to Georgia Health Go Local to locate healthcare providers or institutions, support groups, advocacy organizations, etc. in their own county or zip code.

• *CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)*: The CDC’s website offers a variety of options for researching current health issues including, up-to-date information on current diseases and illnesses, vaccine information, general health information, safety, and wellness. Information is available not only for consumers, but for health care professionals as well. Access to statistical data and CDC publications is available.

• *MedlinePlus*: MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from The National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Preformulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.

• Alt HealthWatch: Focuses on multiple perspectives of complementary, holistic, and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. Full-text content comes from more than 180 international peer-reviewed and professional journals, magazines, reports, proceedings, and association and consumer newsletters, plus hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, special reports, original research, and book excerpts.


If you have any questions about these resources, please submit a comment to GALILEO via the contact us form.
Thanks,
-Katie

================================

You may get the password to use GALILEO at home from your Georgia librarian.


-kls

9 09 09

Today is September 9th, 2009 or 9 09 09. This will be the last date with repeating numbers in single digits until the first day of 2101.


Today is also the day that the entire catalog of songs by the Beatles will be released in a remastered format.

Also note that nine is a powerful number. Multiply any whole number by 9. Add the numbers in the product, and you will get 9 (or 9's) as your total. Example 9 x 345=3105. 3 + 1 +0 + 5=9.

The radio station Dave FM in Atlanta played songs related to the number 9 as part of the Radio Free Lunch show. Check out the playlist here.

And somewhere out there, kids are being born with the birthday 9 09 09 . . .


JWF

From the horses mouth

Vendors share information about their product on a regular basis - just to keep the user informed. NewsBank sent out this timely reminder for Friday's remembrance:

Special Reports on a variety of issues are part of your NewsBank subscription. They offer a way to quickly find the latest information on important topics in the news.

Special Reports include a wide array of globally-oriented topics and monthly themes. New articles are added daily to provide current coverage of these topics. The background information helps one to understand today's issues.

In addition to current and background material, these Reports include related images, links to related web sites, maps and suggested search terms to use in your NewsBank products to find out even more about these topics.

Throughout the year, new reports are added and existing ones are featured either for a monthly theme or a significant issue or event relative to that topic.

All NewsBank Special Reports are located on the left side bar on your online resource menu page right under the Current Events link.

Report of particular interest this week:

Remembering 9/11
• Chronological events of that day
• Clean-up and recovery
• The investigation
• Rebuilding
• Impact on the world
• Current related activities

Chattahoochee students may access NewsBank two ways - from the Chattahoochee Tech Library page and through GALILEO by going to Databases A-Z and selecting N.


-kls

A year on the lawn

The title (and cover art) intrigued me - Suburban Safari : a year on the lawn by Hannah Holmes [QL 181 .H65 2005]. At Chattahoochee Technical College, we have an award winning Environmental Horticulture department which is based on the North Metro campus. I thought this title, Suburban Safari , would be about taking care of the yard over a year.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Ms. Holmes spent more time on the safari nature of the yard with her chapter on birds, then the one on insects, and another on squirrels. She does exhibit a light touch when covering what lives amongst the greenery. I found myself looking at my yard with a whole different attitude!

It's not a how to take care of the yard book. Yet, it is a very enjoyable read (and cheaper than taking a real safari).


-kls

Book Review of Columbine

Greetings.

Some time ago I finished reading the book 'Columbine' by David Cullen. This book is a well-researched account of the infamous school shooting in a suburb of Denver, Colorado in 1999. The author manages to cut through the stereotypes surrounding the shootings, such as the killers' alleged racism and the notion that they killed because they were bullied. Many of these stereotypes, the author points out, were generated by the media in the days after the murders. The two shooters were in fact bullies themselves, and had intended on committing far more murder than what they were actually able to do. The author does a good job of setting the stage and context of the shooting. He describes in detail what happened to those who survived the massacre, along with the families of the victims and the killers.

The Chattahoochee Technical College library has a copy of 'Columbine.' You can find it by going to the library's online catalog.
..Type in Columbine as your search term in the search bar.
....Select the 'title' button to search.
The entry for 'Columbine' should be the third entry in the list.
(Also note that if you are a Chattahoochee Technical College faculty/staff member you can read the book for staff development credit.)

You may want to check out the section of the author's official website that deals with the book.

JWF

What's in your wallet?

What cards do you carry around? Do you have a card that will allow you to access books, CD's, and videos? Bet you have a credit card that allows you to purchase those items. It gets a bit pricey to buy every book, CD and video that interests you. The other problem is where do you store all those things.

Do you have a card that lets you use books, CD's and videos for free? Do you have a library card?

September is Library Card Sign Up month. On the ALA web site there are mp3 files you may listen to that extol the benefits of using your library.

For fun- search YouTube for "library card" videos... this one made me smile...



Winner of Best Storyline (or Most Original Storyline) and Audience Choice Award (Sun. 1;30-3;00) in the Quiet on the Set short film competition 2009 presented by MELSA


Get your library card- gain access to books, movies, CD's and GALILEO resources for free.

-kls

Primary sources at your fingertips

Researchers (died in the wool, heavy duty fact explorers) prefer primary sources. To be able to see the original data, not filtered but right there - the raw, pure, unprocessed data. As the researcher views the original documents then their theories can be affirmed or denied.

Where are original documents for medical students, sociologists, historians, and linguists to be found? Usually the unfiltered data is stored at the repository for the documents - courthouses, archives, research institutions. Usually these repositories are far, far away from the researcher.

GALILEO has a resource with 65 separate databases that have original images that can be printed. What you ask, is this phenomenal resource?

It's Ancestry.com. It is only available at the library (so you don't need the GALILEO password).

If you've done any genealogy, you're already aware that you can find relatives in Ancestry.

As a dedicated researcher, it may not have occurred to you to mine the original images in Ancestry looking for patterns, links, and esoteric bits of information about famous (and not so famous) folks.

How do you find the databases in Ancestry with the original images?

GALILEO (in the library only)
Databases A-Z
A
Ancestry
In the middle of the screen under More Collections, there are links to assorted resources.
Select all databases
In the keywords box, type images
Click the Search button toward the bottom of the screen

65 databases are shown. When you click on one, there is a note to the right that says This database contains images of original records. The next best tool offered by Ancestry for the serious data miner is the Sample Forms which are available for each original images database. The Sample Forms allow one to map out the facts that could be gleaned from this particular database.

Now you know. You only need to travel as far as your local Georgia library to access these primary documents and do your own figuring out why things happened!


-kls

What now, oh reader?

You've read everything by your favorite author, including the latest release. Now what? You've asked your friends what they like to read, you've browsed the bookstore shelves, you've even started to look through your own collection to see who you haven't read lately...

Try GALILEO

You did get the password for home use? No? Did you notice the Log in via IP link? It will take you to your local Georgia public library (based on a Georgia IP address)

Select Databases A-Z
Select NoveList

Type in your authors name.
At the Search line click on the Author button

When the list of titles by your favorite author comes up- you may see a title you missed but more importantly -
Look for the Author Read-alikes link (not all authors have a Read Alike…)Click on that - read about your author then see who is like them!

Notice the Find it in WorldCat link under each title? That will tell you which library has that book (and how close they are to your IP address).
If you need a little Readers Advice and you don't know who to ask- try NoveList in GALILEO.

-kls

It must be autumn

The weather has a touch of cool to it- not a blast but a touch. The football parties are being planned. Teams are being discussed. It must be autumn. Where do you go to get your Fall sports information fix? One place is in GALILEO with NewsBank. Chattahoochee pays for our users to access this remarkably comprehensive news tool.

My sons both graduated from Florida- we sort of drip orange and blue. I looked up Florida Gators in NewsBank. Over 1000 articles pulled up, with the most current at the top of the list. The blue column on the left has information that helps me narrow my search. I can easily select the year the articles were published (even though they arrive in newest date order).

The Location link seems to refer to the sections in the news magazine that an article appears- Business, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Sports...heavy on the sports.

The Source link has Sports Illustrated leading the pack with over 800 articles.The magazine that surprised me was FSB : Fortune Small Business. After I skimmed an article in FSB I realized- the NewsBank search had picked up Florida and gators, not the team but the state and the local animal. I wonder if I put the phrase in quotes, if that would eliminate the random Florida and gator article?

The last link in the blue column tells me how many magazine articles and how many web-only resources were pulled. What I realized is- these aren't web sites but articles that are only available on the web through a news organizations online publishing arm.

Try it out- see what NewsBank can find for you to share at the watercooler!

Get the password from your CTC librarian to access the Chattahoochee portion of GALILEO!

(and yes, when I put "Florida Gators" in quotes- the number of articles plummeted to just over 100)

-kls

Fixing the page

I glanced at the View sidebar and realized...there were unedited portions referring to the pre-merged institution. It's been a busy first six weeks as three become one.

A co-worker passed along Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large from September 2009. Way down on a chart, the author notes the View From the Library. That tickled me that my co-worker read the article and passed it along and that Walt Crawford had noticed us!

We are posting less than we did. At the beginning (4 years ago) I created a post almost every day. My excuse for the change is- I've read several articles that said, 'post only when you have something to say.'

Besides, with the merger of three independent institutions into one system. It has been a bit busy. I'm going back to looking for references to North Metro Technical College so I can edit them to refer to Chattahoochee Technical College: North Metro campus.


-kls

Welcome, Guest

When I talk about a resource in GALILEO, I note you need to get the password from your Georgia librarian to access the resources from home.

There is a GALILEO Guest access which includes non-password-protected resources only, such as the Digital Library of Georgia databases, the New Georgia Encyclopedia, and other public databases.

I was scrolling through the 98 resources available to Guests of Georgia's GALILEO. Nothing like Ebsco or Proquest but still a nice variety of resources on, about, and for Georgia.

The Scholastic News Online caught my attention. I like the Book/Author resources- it's similar to NoveList in that you get reviews on a book from a reputable source. The description of the title helps you decide if you'd like to read it. There is a link to purchase the item. It is a publishers web site so they have a vested interest in getting you to purchase the book.

I've suggested to GALILEO through the 'contact us' link, the possibility of adding the public WorldCat link. It will tell you the closest library that has the book you are looking for.

Have you tried the IP recognizer link (GeoLocation tool) to access the subscription resources? I tried it out from home this morning....there is a link on the GALILEO entry page for using your IP address to connect to the local public GALILEO. It works - superb way to get to the resources even when you can't get the current password.

CAVEAT- if your internet service provider has an out of the state of Georgia location...it doesn't work. If you live near the borders (Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida) your internet service provider may be based in the neighboring state. You'd still have to go to your local public Georgia library to get the current password.

It is getting easier and easier to use these fabulous resources!

-kls

Les Paul

Guitarist Les Paul died today. Paul is best remembered for being a musician who was an innovator in the field of electric guitars and recording techniques. Paul produced his own brand of electric guitars. The Les Paul brand was the preferred guitar of several noted rock and roll musicians.

Paul was also a pioneer in the field of recording. He was noted for his innovations in overdubbing as well as with mulitrack recording.

A good place to find reliable and authoritative information on Les Paul is Encyclopedia Britannica a database within Galileo. Britannica is a good database for finding factual information on noted persons past and present.

Another source of information is Credo Reference. Credo is a collection of over 400 searchable reference books. A search for Les Paul leads you to several articles on the man from the pages of these reference books.

Access to Britannica or Credo from home, through Galileo, requires the current Galileo password. Please contact your local Georgia librarian to get the password.

JWF

Sweet tooth

I have a sweet tooth. If it's sweet, I'll probably like it! This morning on the local Fox channel there was a story about scarcity and prices. How when something is scarce (oil, water, etc) the price goes up. Basic economics. You probably have figured if I start off by noting I have a sweet tooth....the scarce item must be - sugar.

Looking for the 'real' story in our databases is one of my joys. I must have been a fact checker in a previous life. Opening GALILEO and selecting Databases A-Z, then selecting All Databases. I scrolled through looking for a database I thought might have an article about the sugar shortage and its impact on processed food producers in the United States.

At first glance I selected Business Source Complete which is "a scholarly business database that provides full-text access to many peer-reviewed business related journals, including disciplines such as marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics".. Nothing-

Back to the All Databases list- Agricola seemed a likely source for information about a sugar shortage. Agricola "contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library and covers every major agricultural subject"...again... Nothing -

Perhaps I need a news story - my favorite newsy source is Lexis Nexis. While scrolling to L, I passed Facts.com which "highlights articles on current issues and controversies in society and science. Additionally, Facts.com contains a World Almanac Reference Database, World Almanac Encyclopedia, Reuters news articles, and World News Digest special features and articles from 1940 - present." CTC has purchased access to this particular resource. I stopped- did a search using sugar in both title and text in World News Digest, nothing current. Redid the search using sugar just in the title- still nothing.

Back to Databases A-Z, All Databases and my scroll to Lexis Nexis. I limited my search to the previous three months, used sugar as my search term, limited the search to Major U.S. and World Publications and TV and Radio Broadcast Transcripts. I sorted the results in chronological order. Victory! In June, July and August there are multiple stories about the shortage of sugar and the rising price of this commodity. Yes, I should have saved time and just gone to Lexis Nexis but I'd have missed the suspense of looking and looking.

If you have a sweet tooth (and are thinking about holiday baking) you might want to read these news stories to see if you need to plan ahead. You'll need the current GALILEO password. You may get that password from your Georgia librarian.


-kls

The information lives on

A blog I read regularly noted the Washington Post's Mensa* Invitational list of edited words.

A search ensued for the original article in the Washington Post so I could comment on the entertaining list (and tell you where to read the original).

NewsBank, a new to me resource, available through Chattahoochee Technical College seemed a good place to start for a newspaper article.

I selected United States, clicked on DC, selected Washington Post, entered Mensa - and did find in 2007 an article "Week 699: Our Greatest Hit"

With mystifying regularity, we continue to receive (often passed through several mailboxes at The Post) unsolicited entries to what's sometimes called the " Mensa Invitational ," and most recently "Change a Letter, Change a Lot": The results of Week 271 have continued to orbit in cyberspace for almost 10 years, picking up forwarders' own efforts along the way. We hope these lost souls find us this week. This week's contest: Take a word, term or name that begins with E, F, G or H; add one letter, subtract one letter, replace one letter or transpose two letters; and define the new word, as in the examples above, which got ink in 1998 and 2003.

A Google search for "Washington Post's Mensa Invitational" turned up a number of bloggers commenting at various times (first one I noticed was in 2005 , then the same list but a different blog in 2006 and again most recently in 2009 ). The 2006 blog noted searching for the original source (and not finding it in the Washington Post's archives)!

Information lives on and on and on - check the sources and recheck and check again....


-kls

* Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other's company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.

The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.

Step by step

Yes, I'm am thrilled with the GALILEO toolbar. They have a video, powerpoint and handouts available to offer reasons why using the GALILEO toolbar is beneficial to the researcher in Georgia. I created a step by step video on loading the toolbar and uploaded it to YouTube - some of us just need that 1-2-3 information.



GALILEO is available to Georgia citizens. Get the current password from your Georgia librarian.

-kls

John Hughes

You might have heard in recent days about the passing of film director John Hughes. Hughes is best known for his work in teen oriented films during the 1980's. Unlike the beach camp of past decades, Hughes' films were marked by a level of angst and insecurity that made the films very mature yet still teen oriented.

The writing and directing within Hughes' films captures the essence of being a teen, without the over the top jokes and absurdities that so often characterize films of past and future decades. The films of Hughes are also intertwined with the decade of the 1980's, and the films manage to capture the mood and feel of the decade, particularly that of the 1980's in suburban Chicago.

Hughes only directed eight films, although he was the writer on over two dozen other pieces. He key works include three films starring actress Molly Ringwald: Sixteen Candles, the Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink, of which Hughes directed the first two. A later film that he authored, Some Kind of Wonderful, is a retelling of Pretty in Pink, with the gender roles reversed.

The release of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles in 1987 saw a move away from the teen genre for Hughes. Much of his later work was comedy for a general audience, including writing the early 1990's hit Home Alone.

Hughes would leave film altogether by the time of his death. Few films in the teen genre have come close to approaching the level of the 1980's work of Hughes. There was a bit of hope for the genre with the release of the teen slasher film Scream in 1996, but this descended into a glurge of copycat films and WB influenced teen comedies that did not meet expectations.

Finding articles on Hughes and his work is easy in Galileo. Click on the 'search' tab and search for 'John Hughes.' You will find articles on his recent death and critique of his films. Be sure to limit your articles to full text.

JF

A picture is worth

Yes, some of us are visual learners. Here is a video from GALILEO...



I'm all agog about this toolbar!

-kls

To cite or not to cite

It's getting close to mid-term. Papers are being generated. Students are asking - "how do I cite this?" We have the 7th edition MLA [LB 2369 .G53 2009] (and we have created a handout with samples). We have the new APA (no samples yet). Both require a bit of thinking and digging and using to get the citation correct. Is there an "easy button" (yes, I watch too much TV) for creating a citation?

On our delicious page, we have collected a list of citation creators. The tag is listed under each program area. These are just links to the citation creators - no commentary on which is best.

We're a fan of ALA on Facebook. They posted a link to Bill Ferris', 16 July Instructify blog, Top 5 citation application.

Back in my day we had to figure out arcane citation formats by poring through dusty old style manuals. This was during that awkward window after people started putting good information on the internet, but before the style manuals told you how to cite web documents.
Your students don’t know how lucky they are...[read it all]

There's the commentary. Go read which ones Bill thinks are the top 5. Then try them out and decide for yourself!

-kls