Digital Public Library of America Launched Today!

After some two and a half years in the making, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has launched today! DPLA will deliver millions of materials found in American archives, libraries, museums, and cultural heritage institutions to students, teachers, scholars, and the public. Represented in this unprecedented national aggregation of digital content is the rich […]

Projects for Pets, Wild Birds, and More!

As it gets a little colder outside, I’ve been answering a lot of reference questions about planning and constructing animal shelters. Some of these questions have been about building projects for pets, like doghouses and rabbit hutches, and other people have asked about building outdoor structures for wild animals, like birdhouses. Whether you’re catering to domesticated […]

Searching for a Grammy

When I was working the desk in a library in another state I both loved and hated certain times that elicited an increased amount of the calls we frustrated librarians called pursuit of trivia. Many of the calls came from Grammy Awards Night parties (or even Super Bowl parties). Tonight if you’re watching the Grammys […]

Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library

Here’s a great place to find primary source documents on Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States.http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library.aspxFrom the website: Unlike modern presidents, Theodore Roosevelt does not have a presidential library. Instead, his personal and presidential papers are scattered in libraries and other sites across the United States. The mission of the Theodore Roosevelt Center is to […]

Veterans History Project

Today is Veterans Day. Thank you to all Veterans for your service! The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. The […]

Weather calculators

We’re having a really hot summer here in east central Minnesota. But I’ll bet that those of us living here already knew that. It’s been a year of extremes – just a couple months ago, we thought that summer had been canceled. Six months ago each snowfall broke a new record. Mostly, living in Minnesota, […]

Legislative Women’s Legislative Timeline Published

The following is a press release about the new Minnesota Women’s Legislative Timeline from the Legislative Reference Library LEGISLATIVE HISTORY TIMELINE IS PUBLISHEDTimeline shows key laws passed for women since suffrage in 1920. On June 15, 2011, the Legislative Reference Library of the State of Minnesota and the Office on the Economic Status of Women […]

Searching and privacy

Do you ever get a little spooked when you type a search term in Google, and the results are just a little too similar to your recent searches or interests or are near you geographically? I have! It kind of makes me look over my shoulder to see who is reading my screen. Or maybe […]

Black History Month

Black History Month, or African American History Month, has been celebrated since 1926. It was started in February 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson. He and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History) chose the month of February […]

Election Results

Yesterday was election day. Here are a couple good sources to find election results: Minnesota Public Radio – lists races by various breakdowns, so you can scan through them.http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/2010/campaign/results/mn/ Star Tribune – “My Vote” directs user to enter address and gives customized results for that location.http://elections.startribune.com/myvote/pf.php?do=start_over Barbara Misselt, Director