Category Archives: Reference & Research

Who Goes First?

Posted on September 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Conventions 2012Are you wondering why the Republicans had their convention first this year? Is there a rule about which party goes first?

Since 1956, back when Eisenhower was the president, the party that held the White House has traditionally gone second, so this year the Democrats have their convention after the Republicans.

During the years 1864 to 1956, the Democrats had their convention after the Republicans, with the one exception of 1888 when the Democrats went first.

There is no mention of conventions in the Constitution, and conventions have evolved over the years, along with the process of selecting nominees. The first nominating convention in American history occurred in 1831, when the anti-Masonic Party held their convention in Baltimore. The Democrats and National Republicans followed with conventions in 1832.

Questions?  Ask Us! Interested in government and politics? Check out our subject guide and the 2012 Elections topic page.

kt

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Posted in Events, Government & Politics, Reference & Research

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Once in a Blue Moon…Again

Posted on August 31, 2012 | Leave a comment

Attribution: Some rights reserved by different2une

 

Once in a blue moon we do a post about the blue moon.

August 31st will be the second full moon this month, or what’s now commonly referred to as a blue moon. I’d assumed this was based on ancient folklore, but it’s actually a fairly recent definition.

Sky & Telescope says that calendar-based definition is a mistake, but ironically it’s a mistake that likely arose with a Sky & Telescope article in 1946, and which was later popularized on the radio.

Other definitions of “blue moon” refer to a rare occurrence, an actual description of the moon (due to volcanic particles or other odd phenomena that may make the moon appear to be blue), or the third of four full moons in a season.

To learn more about blue moons and their folklore and definitions, we recommend the Library of Congress’ Everyday Mysteries page, and EarthSky’s interesting site.

hk

 

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Posted in Definitions, Events, Science

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Choosing the Right College for You

Posted on August 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

St. Charles Public Library IL - Choosing the Right CollegeSt. Charles Public Library IL - Four Year CollegesSt. Charles Public Library IL - How To Get Money For College

St. Charles Public Library IL - ACT Premier 2012St. Charles Public Library IL - Barron's AP United States History

Are you starting the college application process and need info on colleges, financial aid, the dreaded ACT and SAT tests, and more?  The library has many resources in print and online that can help you.

A good place to start is the library’s online catalog or you can browse the shelves in the 370 area.  For online resources try our topic guide on colleges which includes practice tests, information on scholarships, and more.

Questions?  Ask Us!

kt

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Posted in Books, Education, Home and Family, Reference & Research

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How do I keep my plants alive in this heat?

Posted on August 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

We are setting records for hot weather this summer, and our poor gardens are certainly showing it.  Wondering how to keep your yard and gardens alive despite watering restrictions and hot, dry weather?

We have several books in our gardening collection that might help you.

Success with Water-Saving Gardens by Graham Clarke provides lots of tips on how to garden in adverse conditions.  The book has numerous  illustrations plus an A-to-Z list of low-water plants. (635.9525 CLA)

The low-water no-water garden: gardening for drought and heat the Mediterranean way by Pattie Barron shows how to garden in today’s hotter and drier conditions.  She uses the Mediterranean garden as a model because these plants are, by nature, drought-proof and work in the increasingly dry, hot summers we are experiencing. (635.9525 BAR)

The dry gardening handbook: plants and practices for a changing climate by Olivier Filippi helps gardeners create gardens that will thrive despite water shortages and dry conditions.  (635.9525 FIL)

For additional books on gardening check our online catalog, Hobbies & Crafts Resource Center or Ask Us!

kt

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Posted in Databases, Hobbies & Crafts, Home and Family, Reference & Research

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On Little Cat Feet…

Posted on July 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

St. Charles Public Library IL - Apple Computer Cat
What do cats have to do with technology (besides the fact that 1/3 of the Internet is made up of adorable kitties doing adorably funny things)? In this case, the little cat feet lead us to our online research database, LitFinder. Another librarian reminded me that LitFinder used to be called Poem Finder. And in fact, you may use it to find full-text poems, in this case “Fog,” by Carl Sandburg:

 The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

 I found the poem by typing in just the bit of it I could remember for certain.

In addition to poems, LitFinder has the full text of short stories, literary criticism and poem explication, and author biographies. It has lots of ways to search, including by era, the type of work (poem, ballad, essay, etc.), and includes about 2,000 works in Spanish.

In addition to LitFinder, we have several other literary databases that would appeal to literature lovers, or those struggling to understand it before their upcoming test or essay (hi students!).

hk

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Posted in Databases, Education, Reference & Research

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Does that hurt?

Posted on July 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

St. Charles Public Library IL - Does that hurt?

If you’re wondering if your child has a cold or allergies, if the new drug prescribed to your husband has side-effects, or if you can treat headaches without drugs, we’d like to recommend a couple of databases to you.

Health & Wellness Resource is a great place to start for consumer health information (including those pamphlets they hand you at the MD), traditional and alternative treatments, and drug information.  Gale is a trusted publisher of medical information and supplies most of the entries, in addition to providing up-to-date articles on a wide variety of medical topics.

St. Charles Public Library IL - Doctor

Similarly, MedlinePlus from the National Institutes of Health is a consumer health site, in this case government sponsored. Both sites are easy to use, have trusted information, a lot of content in Spanish, and refer you to other trusted sites.

St. Charles Public Library IL - Sneeze

Want to learn more? Take a guided tour of Health & Wellness or just start searching. As always, ask a reference librarian if you need any help. We have lots of experience in finding information on doctors, medical conditions, treatments, and even clinical trials.

hk

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Posted in Databases, Home and Family, Medical, Reference & Research

❝To have another language is to possess a second soul.❞ – Charlemagne

Posted on July 3, 2012 | Leave a comment

Google agrees with Charlemagne and is helping researchers and native speakers try to save over 3,000 endangered languages.  That’s nearly 50% of the world’s languages. Losing a language is akin to losing a species. With it goes rich cultural, and even scientific, knowledge.

You might not be able to find someone to teach you the endangered Koro (spoken in India), but if you’ve been thinking about learning a language for travel, work, or simply the pleasure of it, the Library is a great place to start.

Besides thousands of items to check out, we also have complete language programs online to help you learn anything from Afrikaans to Zulu (see Transparent Languages), or Biblical Hebrew to Pirate (see Mango Languages). If you’d like to make a friend in another part of the world who can help you learn to speak their language, or if you’d like to teach someone English, we have a program for that, too (Live Mocha).

If you’re learning on the go download the Mango app on your tablet or smartphone. First set up your Mango account through our website. Then you’ll login with your library account via the app, and you can learn for free. Nice!

Want to learn more about how Mango teaches languages?

Dictionaries and additional resources can be found on our Language Learning page, including resources just for kids.

hk

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Posted in Education, Reference & Research

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