Library Centre » Online Research Tools http://blogs.centre.edu/library Grace Doherty Library News and Information Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:43:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 February is Black History Month http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/02/09/february-is-black-history-month/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/02/09/february-is-black-history-month/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:24:35 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=387

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.

There are so many wonderful resources out there for Black History Month. I just want to take a moment to include a few I ran across this week. Pat Padua, author of the Library of Congress blog titled: In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog has put together a post titled African American History Month. Included here are links to African-American Band Stocks, as well as links to celebrated African American composers from the early 20th century. Band Stocks, as explained by Pat Padua, are published arrangements for instrumental groups.
Another great resource is included at the Library of Congress website and is titled: The NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom This site includes many primary sources, including speeches given by W.E.B. Dubois, and Booker T. Washington, as well as photographs and legal documents from the Brown vs. the Board of Education case and other court cases and many, many more informational documents and photos.
Time magazine also hosts a website: Celebrating Black History. Find photographs of Martin Luther King, and read articles devoted to black culture and amazing achievers in the realm of education, sports, politics, business and entertainment. Also, check out the online conversations with newsmakers such as Toni Morrison, Jesse Jackson and Angela Davis.

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/02/09/february-is-black-history-month/feed/ 0 WOLFRAM/ALPHA: Computational Knowledge Engine http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/21/wolframalpha-computational-knowledge-engine/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/21/wolframalpha-computational-knowledge-engine/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:17:55 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=380 WOLFRAMALPHA.COM is not a search engine. Instead of searching the Web and returning links, it generates answers to questions by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base. The data at Wolfram/Alpha comes from many different sources. At the bottom of each relevant results page there is a “Source information” button which will provide background information and references for contributors and authors.

How is WOLFRAM/ALPHA different from Wikipedia? Here is a quote from the WOLFRAM/ALPHA website regarding a the comparison made between the two sources of information: “Wikipedia gives you pages of narrative about topics. Wolfram|Alpha computes answers to specific questions you ask, just giving facts, not narrative. Wolfram|Alpha often includes sidebar links to Wikipedia.”

Check out the Examples by Topic page to see the general categories of information available. These range from Mathematics and Statistics and Data Analysis and Web and Computer Systems to Socioeconomic Data and Music and Culture and Media.

There are many, many more categories of information here and a wealth of information. I did a few quick searches of my own and compared a few corporations, found some socioeconomic data for Danville, KY and used the example given to quickly compute $250 + 15%. This is a great site-check it out!

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/21/wolframalpha-computational-knowledge-engine/feed/ 0 Top 100 Sites Devoted to Health and Wellness http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/19/top-100-sites-devoted-to-health-and-wellness/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/19/top-100-sites-devoted-to-health-and-wellness/#comments Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:40:04 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=373 CAPHIS, the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section, is a section of the Medical Library Association, an association of health information professionals with more than 5,000 individual and institution members.

CAPHIS has compiled the top 100 List: Health Websites that you can trust. The Medical Library Association and CAPHIS have reviewed these sites using criteria such as:credibility, sponsorship/authorship, content, audience, currency, disclosure, purpose, links, design, interactivity, and caveats. The Health sciences librarians are uniquely qualified, through training and experience, to evaluate the quality of health-related Web sites.

The categories provided at this website include: General Health, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Parenting and Kids, Senior Health, Specific Health, Resources for Health Professionals, Drug Information Resources, and an “Other” category for those sites that do not easily fall under one of the other broad topics.

Just a note to our Centre students and professors, the Resources for Health Professionals portion of the list includes a number of open access journals covering all aspects of life science and medicine.

These websites are intended to provide general information and it is important that you contact your doctor for any individual health issues or concerns.

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/19/top-100-sites-devoted-to-health-and-wellness/feed/ 0 Fun Movie Sites http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/12/fun-movie-sites/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/12/fun-movie-sites/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:17:31 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=366 Centre term and many courses are focusing on movies. Snakes and the Holocaust are but a few of the terrifying events chronicled in film and now being eagerly perused by Centre students. I thought it would be pertinent to do a post on some fun movies related websites.
Movie Clips is one such site. This site includes 12,000 movie clips and can be searched by actor, movie title, theme, genre, action, setting, or prop. There are also several featured movies that display upon entrance to the site. Check it out and find some of your own favorite clips or take a walk back in time.
A similar site is Screentoons. At this site, it is possible to find out the title of a song by searching the movie title, or the name of the movie by searching the name of the song or by searching some of the lyrics.
And finally, my favorite, James H. Billington from the Library of Congress has selected 25 movies that will be preserved as cultural, artistic, and historical treasures. These films cover the time period 1911-1995 and include titles such as “The Incredible Shrinking Man” and Bette Davis in “Jezebel” as well as the Muppets’ movie debut and Michael Jackson’s iconic video “Thriller. I could not imagine choosing 25 films to represent this time period, but after reading his list, I credit James H. Billington with a very astute sense of the period in film.

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2010/01/12/fun-movie-sites/feed/ 0 Happy Holidays http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/12/11/happy-holidays/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/12/11/happy-holidays/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:13:20 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=362 There are many holidays, both religious and secular, that are celebrated during the Winter Solstice. Check out this link on the Winter Solstice, hosted by Religious Tolerance.org. Discussions include Christmas, Saturnalia, Yule, and other historical and religious observances.
A Winter Solstice calendar is also included at this site.

Hosted by the Jewish Outreach Institute, this website devoted to Hannukah includes a history, traditions and activities to help commemorate and celebrate this American Jewish Holiday.

Take a look at these Hanukkah Recipes, posted by epicurious.

This site is devoted to Christmas and includes traditions, music, recipes, gift ideas, and fun activities for children.

Audobon has information on the 2009 Christmas bird count for all of you bird lovers.

Here is a site devoted to Christmas around the world. Click on a country to find out more about the ways that Christmas is traditionally celebrated.

Check out the Christmas Food Timeline to learn about the history surrounding some traditional Christmas recipes.

Need ideas for your annual cookie exchange? Check out Christmas Cookies.com.

Everything Kwanzaa describes the symbols and meanings of the holiday and suggestions for decorating, gifts, and the Kwanzaa feast. From Tike, the International Kwanzaa Exchange.

The Food Network hosts this site devoted to Kwanzaa recipes.

From the Morals and Ethics site, here is some information on the celebration of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic Calendar.

More description of the celebration of Muharram, including rites, rules and fasting.

New Year’s Eve is traditionally celebrated at Times Square. Check out the site a countdown to New Year’s Day, events, and the history of the holiday.

A definition and history of the celebration of the Epiphany, from the Catholic Encyclopedia.

An article about Three Kings Day from Inside Mexico.

Chinese New Year, year of the Tiger. Information about the Chinese New Year and the Chinese calendar from China.

Chinese New Year Recipes.

I am sure that I have missed many winter celebrations. If you have a winter holiday you celebrate, or have knowledge of, please share it!

Have a wonderful Holiday Season!

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/12/11/happy-holidays/feed/ 0 Happy Thanksgiving! http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/24/happy-thanksgiving/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/24/happy-thanksgiving/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:04:22 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=328 Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner, I thought I post some links with information the history of Thanksgiving, as well as some fun links at which to get recipes and quotes expressing gratitude.

Here is a link to the original Proclamation announcing the first Thanksgiving Day on November 28, 1782.
http://tinyurl.com/yleqbb8

Here is another link a source in American Memory that gives a peek back to the Thanksgiving celebrations on the prairie, during the Civil War and during the Depression.
http://tinyurl.com/ybgq5yw

Of course, it would not be Thanksgiving without the traditional Macy’s Parade! Here is a link to an informational site on the parade:
http://tinyurl.com/ylgg6wg

Check out this site for yummy Thanksgiving Recipes:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Holidays-and-Events/Thanksgiving/Main.aspx

To remind us that we all have many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, here is a site with quotes on gratitude and thankfulness.
http://www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_gratitude.html

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/24/happy-thanksgiving/feed/ 0 Ad Hoc: Resources for Teaching and Research Relating to the History of Christianity http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/18/ad-hoc-resources-for-teaching-and-research-relating-to-the-history-of-christianity/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/18/ad-hoc-resources-for-teaching-and-research-relating-to-the-history-of-christianity/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:46:27 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=319 Yale University hosts a wonderful site for researchers interested in the history of Christianity. The site, titled Ad Hoc: Resources for Teaching and Research Relating to the History of Christianity, includes links and references to primary documents, images and texts, and covers Early Christianity, Medieval Christianity, the Renaissance and Early Modern Christianity. Due to copyright restrictions, some of the sources (particularly images) may be available only to members of the Yale community. Still, there is a great wealth of information available on this site, or via one of the many links gathered here. Check it out!

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/18/ad-hoc-resources-for-teaching-and-research-relating-to-the-history-of-christianity/feed/ 0 Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/11/talking-glossary-of-genetic-terms/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/11/talking-glossary-of-genetic-terms/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:27:37 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=313 The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) created the Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms to help everyone understand the terms and concepts used in genetic research. In addition to definitions, specialists in the field of genetics share their descriptions of terms, and many terms include images, animation and links to related terms. The site includes audio definitions of genetic terms, illustrations and 3D animations, and self-guided quizzes so that you may check your understanding. Arranged alphabetically, each term is linked to an audio-visual definition given by a specialist in the field. Useful for students of biology, genetics, physiology, etc, this is an interactive and engaging site. Check it out: http://www.genome.gov/glossary/

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/11/talking-glossary-of-genetic-terms/feed/ 0 Traveler’s in the Middle East Archive (TIMEA) http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/04/travelers-in-the-middle-east-archive-timea/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/04/travelers-in-the-middle-east-archive-timea/#comments Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:24:06 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=309 Supported by Rice Universty, The Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology and The Institute of Museum and Library Services TIMEA includes a collection of images, texts and maps documenting European and American travels to Egypt in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This collection is a good source of primary documents and includes photographs, book illustrations, postcards, stereographs, museum and exhibition catalogues, travel guides, travel narratives and cultural studies of Egypt and Cairo. The site includes difficult to find material that would be useful to students and researchers interested in Western interactions with the Middle East during this time. The site may be searched by title, place name, creator, date range or broad subject categories, such as: Art and Artifacts, History and Politics, and Religion and Festivals.

Check it out! TIMEA

]]> http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/04/travelers-in-the-middle-east-archive-timea/feed/ 0 American Rhetoric http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/03/american-rhetoric/ http://blogs.centre.edu/library/2009/11/03/american-rhetoric/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:04:02 +0000 carrie.frey http://blogs.centre.edu/library/?p=306 The American Rhetoric website is a perfect source for a student researching a specific historical speech, or for an orator looking for a speech to present during a competitive performance.
Holding more than 5000 speeches, this resource provides access to all types of documented formal speech including: public and legal oratories, lectures, debates, interviews and various high-profile media events. (for example, Academy Award Speeches).
The speech bank is arranged alphabetically by speaker and contemporary speeches include an audio mp3 of the address, as well as the text in both PDF and Flash formats. Youtube links are often included too.
The top 100 American Political speeches are available and a section for scholars defines rhetorical terms and devices and also lists academic journals and associations.
A few of the notables included in this speech bank are: Malcolm X, Mark Twain, Sarah Palin, Oprah, The Scopes monkey trial, etc.

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