Did you know that the full-text of all monthly Consumer Reports issues going back to January 1991, with the exception of the three most recent issues, is available online for free via the Library's EBSCO database? It's true! All you need is a Nashua Public Library card.

You don't even need to be at the library to access the database. Simply get online, go to the NPL's Databases webpage, and click on link for EBSCO. Or, simply click on this link. You will then be asked to enter the last five digits of your library barcode number. Then click on "General Magazine Resources" and do a keyword search in which you limit your results to Consumer Reports by entering "Consumer Reports" in the "Publication" field.

If this sounds a bit intimidating, we recommend signing up for our free computer training class on using EBSCO databases. The class is offered at least once a month and is perfect for beginniners and intermediate-level computer users. Just give us a call at 603-589-4615 to find out when the next class is being offered.

You may have seen the electronic signs recently posted around the city announcing that the Nashua Police Department is looking for a few good men and women. If you're interested but not sure how to get started studying for the entrance exam on November 12th, the library can help. We have a database called Learning Express Library that has police officer practice exams. While officer exams may vary by state, there are basic components that are the same and that's what you'll find here.

To connect directly to Learning Express Library, click here. Be prepared to enter the the last 5 digits of your library card barcode number at the next screen. Then follow the directions below:

1. Click on 'new user' and create a username and password for yourself (that way you don't have to complete the practice exam in one sitting).
2. Select Civil Service exams from the menu on the right.
3. Scroll down the page a little and you'll see state specific police exams followed by the general study guides.

If you don't have Internet access at home stop by the Reference Desk at the library and we'll get you set up on one of our computers.

Still confused? Give us a call at 589-4611. GOOD LUCK!

Tuesday, October 3, was my first day at the Nashua Public Library, and so far, so good!
I am very excited about my new job as a Reference Librarian and look forward to working with you. I will staff the reference desk, teach computer classes, and order books for the 600 section of the nonfiction collection, which includes cooking, gardening, health, pets, engineering, carpentry, and manufacturing, among other topics. If you would like the library to order books on those subjects, or if you just have an interest, let me know. You can contact me at alison.zaya@nashualibrary.org.

I previously worked in the medical library at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. When patients and their families visited, I often referred them to my favorite consumer health website, MedlinePlus.gov. This website offers information from numerous reliable sources such as the Mayo Clinic and National Institutes of Health. People without medical backgrounds, such as myself, can understand the publications.

Two additional great resources that the Nashua Public Library makes available are Consumer Health Complete and Health Source Consumer Edition. Both are accessible through our EBSCO database. Consumer Health Complete includes information from encyclopedias, reference sources, pamphlets, and reports. It also includes resources in Spanish. If you are looking more specifically for magazine articles, take a look at Health Source Consumer Edition. This will give you access to articles on numerous health topics.

To reach either Consumer Health Complete or Health Source Consumer Edition, click here or visit the library's databases page and click on the link for EBSCO. After entering the last 5 digits of your library card number, choose "health resources" on the top of the screen for Health Source, or Consumer Health Complete at the bottom of the screen.

Title: Terrorism Scorecard
Authors: Editors
Source: Middle East; Oct2006 Issue 371, p6-10, 5p
Database: EBSCO

Abstract: The article reports that although key terrorists have been captured or killed after September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001, a new generation has taken their place to run the Islamic terror networks. Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Shamil Besayev, leader of Chechen rebels, and Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, an important strategist in the hierarchy were the prominent figures who were killed. However, a new generation of mid-level field commanders and organizers has taken their place.

About the Publication: This monthly UK publication about business matters and current affairs in the Middle East is available in our EBSCO General Magazines database. Coverage includes the full text of all issues back through July 1996.

If you love reading fiction, Novelist is for you. Novelist is one of the databases available on the library's website. When people are introduced to Novelist and the things which can be done with it, comments range from "This is GREAT ! I wish I'd known about it sooner!" to "Oh I like this! This is FUN!" Novelist is Reader's Advisory in a database. If you have a series of books and want to read them in order, Novelist can organize them. If you have a plot or a character and don't know the author or the title of the book, Novelist can find it through the plot description. If you have read every book by a certain author, and are waiting for his next one, Novelist can suggest "read-alikes" to keep

Be sure to explore the database tabs. They link you to search possibilities, lists of books to read in various categories and read-alike suggestions. Book discussion guides are available for adults and young adults as well as book-talks for adult, young adult and children's books. In the future, I'll talk more in depth about some of these features, as well as introducing Novelist K-8 for kids.

Title: The Dems' Agenda
Authors: Danielle Knight
Source: U.S. News & World Report; 10/30/2006, Vol. 141 Issue 16, p32-34
Database: EBSCO

Abstract: The article reports on the Democratic agenda for possible takeover of the United States House of Representatives in the November 2006 elections. This Democratic agenda could mean investigations into President George W. Bush's administration's conduct regarding the War in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. Republicans are warning that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who would become speaker of the House, is too liberal. Political candidates are discussed.

Connecting to this article: If you have already logged in to EBSCO by entering the last 5 digits of your library card number, click here to go straight to the article. If not, enter the last 5 digits of your library card number after clicking on this link to get to the EBSCO database. Then click on "General Magazine Resources" and do a search for "Dems' Agenda" in which you enter "U.S. News & World Report" in the "Publication" field.

Recommeded Library Books:
• The courage of our convictions : a manifesto for Democrats by Gary Hart.
• Take It Back : Our Party, Our Country, Our Future by James Carville and Paul Begala

Have you hit a brick wall in the search for your ancestors? Stop by the library and try the Ancestry Library Edition database. This is a rich collection of genealogical and historical information including:

• U.S. Federal Census information from 1790 to 1930
• Census information for various states, Canadian provinces, and portions of Great Britain
• Marriage, birth, and death records
• Immigration records
• Stories and articles from newspapers and local histories
• Maps and photographs
• Yearbooks
• City directories
• Military records

Although the collection focuses on the United States, it also includes Canadian and European records.

If you'd like some help getting started, consider signing up for our Genealogy computer class. This class gives you a hands-on overview of the Ancestry Library Edition database and HeritageQuest, our other genealogy database. Just call the Reference Desk at (603) 589-4611 to register.

Of course, we have more genealogical research tools in our local history collection. Stop in to use Ancestry Library Edition (sorry, it's only available from inside the library), and stay to browse the Hunt Room collection!

Immigration, medical marijuana, stem cell research.... All have been debated in the news in recent months. Whether you're researching for a paper or merely want to understand both sides of an argument, you can find information on the pros and cons of these and many other hot topics in the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center database on the Nashua Public Library web site. For each topic, you may find:

• Magazine and news articles
• Pro and con viewpoint essays
• Statistics
• Relevant web sites
• Primary documents
• Images
• Reference articles, including overviews of the topic

Drawing on dozens of publications such as the New York Times and U.S. News & World Report, the Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center provides easy access to multiple resources on both sides of a controversy. You can mark articles that interest you and save them for later perusal. Or, if you prefer, simply print or e-mail the full text of the articles. The database is available in the library or from any internet-connected computer--just have your library card handy and type in the last five digits of your card's barcode to gain access to the database.

If books are your medium, the Nashua Public Library also carries the Opposing Viewpoints series of books. Stop by for a look!

Exciting news from NASA.... Recent photos from the Mars Global Surveyor suggest the presence of water on Mars. Articles about the discovery are available in the EBSCO collection of articles, available through the library's web site. You'll find information in the Newspaper and General Magazines collections. Choose "MasterFile Premier" and "Newspaper Source" from the list of databases. On the search page, use keywords "Mars" and "water". Make sure to click the checkbox next to "full text" so that your search results include the full article. Sources such as the Times of London, Astronomy magazine, Scientific American magazine, and USA Today all covered the announcement.

For more on Mars, check out our science collections for books for children...

• Exploring Mars, by D.J. Ward
• Mars, by Mary Kay Carson
• Mars, by Tim Goss

And adults...

• The Rock from Mars, by Kathy Sawyer
• Roving Mars, by Steve Squyres (an account of the Mars Exploration Rover mission)
• NASA's Mars Mission Reports, compiled from the NASA archives and edited by Robert Godwin. Volume 2 includes DVD with images and movies of Mars.
• A Traveler's Guide to Mars, by William K. Hartmann (of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission)
• Smithsonian Book of Mars, by Joseph M. Boyce

You can also browse by category: "Life on Earth", "Exploring the Universe", or "Humans in Space." There are web pages for kids, students, educators, researchers, press, industry, and employees. A multimedia section has photos, video (including a video of the evidence of water on Mars), podcasts, and more. The site also provides links to other space-related web sites, including other countries' space agencies.

Happy exploring!

Patron: Hi. I'm looking for books about heart attacks. I did a subject browse, but nothing came up. I can't believe you don't have any books about heart attacks!

Librarian: We probably do have books about heart attacks. You said you did a subject browse for the words "heart attack"?

Patron: Yes. That's the subject I want.

Librarian: We do have books about heart attack, but they're not categorized by that subject heading.

Patron: Why?

Librarian: The subject heading for heart attack is actually myocardial infarction. As you can see, when I do a subject browse for myocardial infarction, the catalog returns a list with numerous headings and subdivisions, such as popular works, prevention, and psychological aspects, for myocardial infarction so you can better pinpoint the books you want. When I click on Myocardial infarction -- Popular works, the record is a book about heart attacks.

Patron: Why doesn't the computer just use heart attack?

Librarian: Subject headings are part of what we call a controlled vocabulary. The catalog requires words from an official list so librarians don't use multiple variations of words and phrases in the catalog. This ensures that similar books are listed together under the proper subject heading. Myocardial infarction is a tough one; it's not intuitive. Often, if you enter a term or phrase that's not part of the controlled vocabulary, the catalog will tell you to use another term. When you browse for Revolutionary War, the catalog tells you to see "United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783."

Patron: When I searched for heart attack, it didn't tell me to see myocardial infarction. What should I do if something like that happens again?

Librarian: You can try a subject keyword search. The browse indexes are alphabetical, so if you invert the words in the subject, you won't find them by browsing, but you will find them in a keyword search. The subject keyword search looks for each word you enter in all of the subject headings. Many books have more than one. If that doesn't work, you can do a general keyword search, which will look for your words in all of the searchable fields--title, author, subject, series, notes.... You could get a lot of results. Once you find a relevant book, click on one of its subject headings to find more. You can see here that the subject headings are on the left side of the screen in a box that reads "item information."

Patron: So, why should I even bother with subject browsing?

Librarian: When you subject browse, you'll find books that pertain to your topic. You won't have to sift through records that simply include the word you entered. Plus, you get a list that includes all of the subdivisions. If I have a general idea of the subject, I try subject browse first.

You can also do subject searches in some of the EBSCO Databases. Clicking on the word "subjects" or "thesaurus" (depending on the database) in the green bar at the top of the page will give you a searchable, alphabetical list of subjects used in the database. Searching for subjects rather than keywords is especially helpful in a database. If you enter a word as a keyword, the database can return hundreds of irrelevant results. Although a keyword appears in a record, the article might not be about that topic. This is often the case when you enter common words or words with various meanings. If you cannot find an article on your subject, you can use the strategy I just mentioned. Find an article that is relevant and search its subjects.

Patron: Ok. Thank you for your help.

Librarian: You're welcome. Let me know if you need more help.

It's the birthday of A Christmas Carol. On December 19, 1843,* Charles Dickens published his story, an instant success that has become a holiday favorite. A Christmas Carol is available in a variety of formats at the library. You can find the book under "Dickens" in the library's hardcover Fiction section, or check the Classic Paperbacks area for a copy. There are also copies in the Children's Department.

A Christmas Carol has been the basis for many movies, from the Alastair Sim standard to the Muppets and Mickey Mouse versions. Stop by the Music, Art, and Media Department to check out our selection!

If you're interested in literary criticism of A Christmas Carol, the Literature Resource Center is a great source for articles. You can search by author, title, or subject. In addition to literary criticism, Literature Resource Center provides biographical information on the authors, information on the pseudonyms they used, who their contemporaries were, related web sites, and much more.

For more on the life of Charles Dickens, consider a biography from our collection. Or, try the Biography Resource Center database for articles about the author.

Enjoy!
____________
*Source: Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac and the University of California's Dickens Project.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I took in an exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The exhibit was "Spanish Painting: From El Greco to Picasso". It featured the work not only of El Greco and Picasso, but also such famous artists as Velasquez, Goya and Salvador Dali. Needless to say, it was spectacular.

If you are interested in learning about these masters, the Nashua Public Library has a terrific collection of art books, including several on Spanish painters. Here are a few that I recommend you explore.

Spanish painters, 1850-1950, in search of light / [catalog editor, Santiago Saavedra]
This book can be found in the library's Music, Art and Media department, and specifically in the "Oversized" nonfiction books. Its call number is 'MAM q759.6 S'. As you might guess, the MAM stands for Music, Art & Media, and the 'q' before the 759.6 S means that it is an oversized book. Ask the librarians in the Music, Art & Media department to point out where the oversized books are shelved.

Spanish painting (from El Greco to Goya)
This books is also shelved with oversized books in the Music, Art and Media department.
Call Number: MAM q759.6 A

The secret life of Salvador Dalí / by Salvador Dalí ; translated by Haakon M. Chevalier.
Call Number: MAM 759.6 D

El Greco (Domenicos Theotocopoulos) / text by Leo Bronstein.
Call Number: MAM q759.6 T

Velasquez / José López-Rey ; [translated from the Italian by Nicoletta Sinborowski].
Cal Number: MAM q759.6 L

Footnote: While conducting research for this entry, I learned that one of Goya's paintings that was expected to be part of the Guggenheim's exhibit was stolen while being transported to the museum. You can access this New York Times article, "Painting by Goya Is Stolen On Way to Guggenheim Show" in our Newsbank database.

It's the birthday of the late, great Isaac Asimov. One of the giants of science fiction, Asimov is well-known for works such as the Foundation series. (Movie buffs will remember the 2004 Will Smith film, "I, Robot," based Asimov's ideas on robotics.) But his writing ranged far beyond sci-fi. A search in the library catalog for this author brings up an astounding 190 hits. He wrote detective stories, published in collections such as "The Return of the Black Widowers." He also wrote on a wide variety of nonfiction topics, ranging from history to literature to science.

Asimov backed his science fiction with a strong knowledge of science fact, and many of his nonfiction works cover science topics, such as:

• Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery. (REF 509 A; non-circulating)
• Asimov's New Guide to Science. (Adult Nonfiction 500 A)
• Isaac Asimov's Guide to Earth and Space (Adult Nonfiction 520 A)

Among his other books were works on number theory (Asimov on Numbers), history (Rome, Egypt , the Middle East, France, and North America, and others); the human brain (The Human Brain: Its Capacities and Functions), and even a guide to Shakespeare.

Asimov's books for children include several on the planets; an environmental series covering topics such as acid rain, litter, and rainforests; a biography of Christopher Columbus; and many more.

For information about this remarkable and prolific author, try one of Asimov's autobiographies:

• It's Been a Good Life (BIOG As422)
• In Joy Still Felt : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 (BIOG As422)
• In Memory Yet Green : the Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954 (BIOG As422)

Or, search for "Asimov" in the Biography Resource Center database to read what others had to say about Asimov. For more about Asimov's writings, try searching for articles in the Literature Resource Center. Literature Resource Center provides literary criticism of authors' works, lists any pseudonyms they used, shows who their contemporaries were, and may provide links to related web sites.

Explore!

Our second installment of Library Lingo - - This week we deal with terms related to searching for material in the library stacks (should you already be bewildered, "stacks" definition is in Library Lingo Part 1), material in databases and some miscellaneous terms.

Catalog - list of library materials contained in a collection. Most library catalogs are online as is ours.

Catalog Record – entry in the library's catalog containing information on any given library item, including a description of the item, author, title, subject headings, notes, and the call number. See Freakonomics for an example of how a catalogued record appears in our online catalog.

Call Number – a number and letter assigned to a book to determine its subject and shelving location. Our call numbers are in Dewey Decimal format. Example: 956.7044 I is the call number for The Iraq Study Group Report.

Dewey Decimal System - a system used by libraries to classify nonfiction publications into subject categories. The subject is indicated by a three-digit numeral and further specification is given by numerals following a decimal point. For more information you may wish to visit Duke University's HOW THE DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM WORKS.

Cataloguing - the technical process of describing a work bibliographically and assigning a call number. It includes determining the main entry, describing the item, and assigning subject and additional entries. Our Technical Services Department performs NPL's cataloguing.

Subject Heading - term or phrase describing the subject content of a work. Searching by a subject heading is more precise than a keyword search.

Keyword – word that best describes what you’re searching for. A keyword can be as general or as specific as you may need. For example, “beagle” could be a keyword. The word “dog”, however, will give you many more search results. A keyword search will retrieve those items that have the keyword in the title, subject, author, or content notes.

Boolean Operators - words such as AND, OR, and NOT that are used to combine search terms to broaden or narrow a search of an electronic database, index, or catalog. Examples are “dogs and training” or “Clinton NOT Hillary". Are you curious to find out more? Try A Primer in Boolean Logic.

Database – a collection of data or file of information in a form accessible by computer. In a sense, a database is a computerized library in which individual records can be retrieved. Databases can contain a collection of such items as magazine and newspaper articles, encyclopedias, genealogical information, health information (to name but a few). See NPL's Ibrowse Database web pages for adults, teens or kids.

Full Text – the complete text of an item available in electronic format, such as an article from a magazine, book or encyclopedia. Full text is usually in PDF or HTML format. NPL's EBSCO database gives you the option of searching for full-text articles only or including Abstracts - summaries that gives the essential points.

Citation - information identifying a publication. A citation to a book includes the name of the author(s), book title, place of publication, publisher, and date of publication. A citation to a periodical article includes the name of the author(s), article title, periodical title, volume/issue number, date, and page number(s).

And some miscellaneous terms:
Cybrarian – an automated, self-service computer reservation and printing system used by NPL. It ensures fair access to all users.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL) - service that allows patrons to request books and articles from other libraries if the material is not available at NPL.

Microform - printed material that has been photographed and reduced to a film format to help preserve the material and decrease the space needed for storage, typically used for newspapers. Standard formats are microfilm and microfiche. NPL has the special equipment needed to read microform.

Electronic book – an electronic version of a printed book. EBooks can be viewed online from any computer connected to the Internet. See Audiobooks on NPL’s home page.

Are there other buzzwords that you have come across? Please let us know.

An intriguing story from the Associated Press last Friday, January 19 stated:

"For the 58th straight year, a mysterious visitor left birthday cognac and roses at Edgar Allan Poe's grave Friday."

According to the article ("Mystery visitor appears at Poe's grave," by Kasey Jones, available at Boston.com or through the library's Newsbank database), an anonymous fan honors Edgar Allen Poe this way each year on January 19, the writer's birthday. The tradition stretches back to 1949, the 100th anniversary of Poe's death, and has reportedly been passed along to a second generation.

Known for his creepy poems and horror stories, Poe lived only to the age of 40. He is sometimes credited with creating the detective story with his publication of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and other tales, such as "The Gold Bug," that followed.

Get inspired and read some Poe! We have a wide selection here at the library:

• In the Children's Department, you can find "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Gold Bug," and others in Six tales : including The fall of the House of Usher, The murders in the Rue Morgue [and] The pit and the pendulum.
• For the classic poem "The Raven", check out The works of Edgar Allan Poe.
• If you'd like to try some of his lesser-known works or revisit old favorites, take a look at The Unabridged Edgar Allen Poe.

Today is Monday, January 29, 2007. It might seem like any other day--nothing special, no reason to celebrate. But, did you know that today is Freethinker's Day, the annual celebration of Thomas Paine's birth? It is also Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day, the anniversary of Kansas' statehood, and Oprah's birthday. You can find this information and much more in Chase's Calendar of Events, which the library receives each year. According to its cover, the book includes "4,000 notable birthdays, 1,400 historical anniversaries, 650 national and international holidays, 160 religious holidays, and thousands of additional days of note from around the globe." If you like fun facts, trivia, or history, you will enjoy this book.

Because Chase's Calendar of Events is a reference book, it must stay in the library (see Jenn's last entry). You can, however, find date-specific information online and in one of our databases. The Library of Congress website is a fantastic resource which features a “Today in History" link on its homepage. You will find information about an event that occurred the day of your search, possibly a map or photograph, and additional historical information that contextualizes or is related to the event. The site also includes a "yesterday" link and a search the Today in History archive option, just in case you missed a day. The information comes from the library's American Memory project, which features collections about advertising, immigration and American expansion, literature, sports and recreation, and many other topics. It is a great place to find photographs and other primary sources.

The History Channel's website, History.com, has a "This Day in History" link. The left side of the page lists significant events that you can sort by either year or category. The site also features a video clip that pertains to one of the historical events. Clicking on an event will give you additional information. If you are not interested in learning about what happened today, enter the day of your choice in the search field near the top of the page. The dropdown menu next to the date allows you to specify a category.

If you want to find out what happened on a specific date, check out Facts.com, one of NPL's databases. Click on iBrowse Databases on the NPL Homepage, then select either the adult or teen databases. Choose Genealogy & History from the adult menu or History & Geography from the teen menu. Scroll down to Facts.com, which draws its information from the Facts on File World News Digest. The database includes U.S. and world news from 1940 to today. Facts.com allows you to search for a particular topic or search for the news on a particular date (scroll down to the date search). Aside from educational or research purposes, Facts.com is the way to learn what happened on significant dates, such as your birthday.

The library now has access to a wide range of investing resources that come with our print subscription to Standard & Poor's "The Outlook". To access the online resources, you must be at the library, and you will need to have a reference librarian sign you in.

Here are some of the features/resources that you know can access:

• S&P Portfolios, for example, the PowerPicks Portfolio 2007, a 17-page PDF document.
• Stock, bond and mutual fund screener tools
• S&P Stars available in real-time: "Rising, Falling and New Stars", 5-Stars, 4-Stars, etc.
• Stock Picks and Pans
• Fund Spotlight
• Sub-industry reviews
• "Learn About Stocks", the interactive learning center for information on stocks

Feel free to also take a look at the free content on The Outlook's website, http://www.outlook.standardandpoors.com. And don't forget about the library's other databases and recommended websites for finance and investing.

Did you know there are 4 computer consulting firms and/or software development firms in New Hampshire that have fewer than a 100 employees yet take in over $500,000 in sales annually? I do.

How do I know this? By using the library's Reference USA database. Just login to the database from wherever your are, (you don't have to be at the library,) and run a custom search in their U.S. Businesses database. In the example I give above, I selected four critieria: location, number of employees, annual sales volume, and industry codes. I didn't even need to know the industry codes ahead time since I could look them up in the database.

So what are the 4 businesses that met my criteria? Here they are:
Appropriate Solutions Inc in Peterborough, NH
Crystal Desk in Hampstead, NH
Hiawatha Island Software Co in Concord, NH
Logical Systems PC Consulting in Merrimack, NH

Interested in learning more about ReferenceUSA? Come visit with a libraian at the Reference Desk, or just give us a call from home or the office. Our phone number is 603-589-4611.

Today we celebrate the birthday of Abigail Powers Fillmore, the first wife of President Millard Fillmore. Born March 13, 1798, Abigail Fillmore is not nearly as well known as some of her fellow first ladies, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams, or Jackie Kennedy. So why should we care about her? Well, one of her accomplishments was the establishment of a library at the White House. She noticed that the White House was lacking in books, and so, at her urging, Congress appropriated $250 for a White House library. The first lady was also an early proponent of public libraries. It was Abigail, a teacher, who inspired Millard to join the town library early in his career. You can read more about Abigail (and other first ladies) in the Biography Resource Center database, at http://www.nashua.lib.nh.us/IbrowseAdultAlpha.htm.

More famously, Laura Welch Bush is a former school librarian. For those interested in the life of the current first lady, the Nashua Public Library offers:

Laura Bush : an intimate portrait of the first lady, by Ronald Kessler.
George and Laura : portrait of an American marriage, by Christopher Andersen.
Laura Welch Bush, First Lady, by Tanya Lee Stone (for children).

Her mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, was heavily involved in literacy efforts, as the title of one of our children's books makes clear:

Barbara Bush : first lady of literacy, by June Behrens.

More on Barbara Bush can be found in:

Reflections: Life After the White House by Barbara Bush.
Barbara Bush : a memoir, by Barbara Bush.
Barbara Bush : a biography, by Pamela Kilian.
Barbara Bush, first lady, by Rose Blue and Corinne J. Naden. (for children)

There are many other books on the first ladies in the library's collection. You might also be interested in the White House's own web site about the first ladies, found at http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/.

Want to learn about the subprime mortgage crisis, try looking up any of these articles in our Business Resource Center database. Just enter the title of each article into the Find box and click on the Search button.

Lender Woes Go Beyond Subprime (cover story)
by Mara Der Hovanesian
Business Week, 3/12/2007

Subprime Anguish: Recent market events have Wall Street on notice
by John Hintze
Investment Dealers' Digest, 3/5/2007

Big Subprime Woes at CFC
by Paul Muolo
National Mortgage News, 3/5/2007

Still want more? Come to the library and read the latest issue of Standard & Poor's "The Outlook" in which the cover story "Subprime Sentiment" analyzes the current crisis and discusses opportunities amid the rubble.

To learn more about The Outlook's online resource read this earlier blog entry.

In this last week of Women's history month, it seems fitting that we should celebrate the 77th birthday of Sandra Day O'Connor. Although she will be remembered as the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court, a life in law was not O'Connor's ambition. In fact, as a child, O'Connor aspired to be a rancher. O’Connor’s mother Ida Day, a college-educated woman, wanted her daughter to experience more than the ranch on which she lived. She sent Sandra to a private girls' school in Texas. After completing high school at age sixteen, Sandra Day attended Stanford University and graduated magna cum laude in 1950. Her plan to return to ranch life changed due to the influence of one of her teachers, who was also a lawyer. O'Connor enrolled at Stanford Law School and worked on the Stanford Law Review. She graduated in 1952.

Despite her credentials, O'Connor was unable to find a job at a law firm because she was a woman. Her only offer was for a secretarial position, which she declined. O'Connor finally found work as a deputy county attorney in San Mateo, CA. When her husband was stationed in Germany in the mid-1950s, O'Connor worked as a civilian attorney for the Quartermaster Market Center. Back in Arizona, O'Connor took time off to raise her sons, but kept herself busy as a volunteer for the state bar, local zoning commission, Salvation Army, a school for minority children, and other activities. From 1965-1981, she held various positions in Arizona, from Assistant Attorney General to Superior Court Judge. In 1981, O'Connor became the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, where she served until 2006. According to her biography in Contemporary Authors Online, "Although she does not consider herself a feminist, O'Connor was quoted by Merrill McLoughlin of Ladies' Home Journal as commenting: 'I am sure that but for that effort [the women's movement], I would not be serving in this job.'"

You can read more about Sandra Day O'Connor in the Biography Resource Center database and in the following books:

Sandra Day O'Connor : how the first woman on the Supreme Court became its most influential justice by Joan Biskupic Call no: BIOG Oc518 B

The majesty of the law : reflections of a Supreme Court justice by Sandra Day O'Connor ; edited by Craig Joyce Call no: 347.7326 O

Lazy B : growing up on a cattle ranch in the American southwest by Sandra Day O'Connor and H. Alan Day Call no: BIOG Oc518

We also have a video titled A Conversation on the Constitution: judicial independence in which O'Connor, along with fellow justices Stephen G. Breyer and Anthony Kennedy field questions from 50 high school students from the Philadelphia and Los Angeles areas about the significance of the judiciary and the ways that independence is protected by the Constitution. You can find it in the Music Arts and Media Department. Call no: MAM DVD 342.73 C

Source:
Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC

Yesterday I received a challenging reference question that pertained to property values of homes in New Hampshire. Without going into all the details, I did come across a few information resources that I would like to share with you. The first is a reference book titled State Rankings 2006, a statistical view of the 50 United States, (call number is REF 973.0728 S). Amongst the numerous statistics included for households and housing was a chart including percent change in house prices from 2001 to 2005. As it turns out, the figure for the entire state of New Hampshire was 68.8% increase (as opposed to the national figure of 55.3% increase.)

The source of the chart's data was the "House Price Index" which is published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. OFHEO's mission is to promote housing and a strong national housing finance system by ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal ree accHome Loan Mortgage Corporation).

As you may know, Fannie Mae has been in the news recently for having its charitable work and related tax deductions scrutinized by the Internal Revenue Service. You can read about this in the article "Philanthropy Fannie Mae Style" found in the April 2nd edition of Business Week. Provided you are a Nashua Public Library cardholder, you have free access to this article through the Library's EBSCO database subscription.

Just click on this link, enter the last 5 digits of your library card number, and then click on the "General Magazines Resources" link. Once you are at the search screen, type in Philanthropy Fannie Mae Style just like it is in this picture and click on 'Search'. (You can click on the picture below to see an enlarged version.)

So, if you would ever like to know how New Hampshire measures up statistically to the other 50 states in topics including agriculture, crime, economics, education, employment and much more, drop by the reference desk and ask to see State Rankings 2006. And for free access to any Business Week article since January 1997, use the llibrary's EBSCO database.

Student: Hi, I need to find information about illegal immigrants.

Librarian: We have a couple of great databases that should have some articles. One is EBSCO, and the other is Opposing Viewpoints. Let me show you how they work.

Student: My teacher said I can't use anything from the internet.

Librarian: The articles in the databases come from published sources, such as magazines and journals.

Student: I have to have a copy from an actual magazine.

This exchange happens occasionally, and it is very frustrating. We have great resources that some students are afraid to use becuase they are left with the impression that electronic articles--even if they come from Time or Newsweek--are unacceptable. If students can use photocopies of magazine or newspaper articles, why can't they use a .pdf file, which looks exactly like the page of a print source?

I understand why teachers may communicate to students that they cannot use information from the internet. I would be leery of sources that students found on the web, especially if they have not yet learned how to evaluate websites. There is a plethora of information available, and it is not always reliable. However, searching databases is different than surfing the web. The World Wide Web is only part of the internet, and it contains both good and bad information that can be found by doing a search in Google, Yahoo, or other search engines. Depending on the topic, the number of results might be immense, although they will not include articles that appear in the databases. Those articles are part of the invisible web, which contains pages that search engines cannot find.

Whereas on the web, pretty much anyone can publish a website with information that may or may not be reliable, the information in the databases is controlled. Databases are indexes of articles that appear in print sources. Thus, the articles you find in the databases are the same ones you would find in Time, Newsweek, Consumer Reports, newspapers, scholarly journals, and even reference books. Many of the databases include full text, which is a word-for-word reproduction of an article in either .pdf or html format. In EBSCO's MasterFile Premier and Academic Search Premier (two of my “go to” databases), you can even limit the results to peer reviewed articles, which are written and reviewed by scholars in their respective fields. In addition to helping us find where and when articles about a particular topic were published (think Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature), the full text databases give us access to thousands of publications that the library does not have in print. It is a shame that informative articles sometimes go unused because of the idea that anything electronic is unacceptable.

People often ask at the reference desk, "Where do you keep the newspapers?" Sounds like a simple question, right? If you ask, expect to hear the librarian say, "That depends!"

Many people who ask this question are looking for the latest copy of the Nashua Telegraph or Manchester Union Leader. The latest paper copy of the newspapers can be found in the Stearns Room. To get there from the library entrance, bear right past the circulation desk, pass the New Fiction display, and you'll see an open doorway on your right. In the Stearns Room, you'll also find new an