Famous Firsts...

Hi All,

Coming up with a new blog post twice or thrice per week isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. It does require a bit of thought and effort...as a result I am always on the lookout for an idea which I can blog about. Since I work in a public library I try to make the entries a bit interesting and have some 'zing' to them. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't succeed. But I try to make the entries have at least some substantive, educational value to them...

A fairly unknown reference book that I thought about recently (I have no idea why I thought of this book to begin with though...) was a book entitled 'Famous First Facts' by Joseph Nathan Kane. The Farmingdale Public Library owns a copy of this little used book - here is a link to the card catalog entry for the title. Note that it is a reference book and that it does NOT circulate to the public. Also, due to the renovation, we did not take all of our materials down to our current location. As a result the book is not available to the public at this time. However, when we move back upstairs, patrons will have access to this most unique reference book.

What exactly does this reference book do? In the first place it is almost an encyclopedia. Now, if we look at the full title we learn a bit more about the book. The title is 'Famous First Facts: A Record of Famous First Facts, Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History'. Well, there you go...if you want to find out when the first bubble gum was manufactured or when the first spray can was introduced...well, then this is your kind of reference book. Click here for the Amazon.com review of the book.

But you might be asking yourself, how can I create a blog post about a single reference book that I (the reader) can't even access at home or look at while I am in the library...

Good question: The rest of this blog entry is going to be about unbiased, quality, timely reference sources that can be found on the internet...So the segueway for the blog entry was really the book 'Famous First Facts' and the idea of a unique reference title....and then I morphed that idea into a 'reference on the web' type entry.

As you probably know the library subscribes to online resources that you - the public - have access to by using your library card. The link to our online resources can be found here. Before you actually access the database you will need to enter the 14-digit number on the back of your library card, Once done correctly, you will have complete access to the database - in this case we are discussing Credo Reference...

In particular, reference librarians use Credo Reference at the reference desk to answer questions for patrons. Patrons can do a simple search or an advanced search when starting out using the database. I would suggest getting familiar with the database before jumping into an 'advanced search'. Typing in the phrase 'World War II' in the search box gives the user over 27,000 results - quite a bit too many to look at... Users can narrow the search by looking at the left side of the screen and narrowing by subject like history, literature, geography, media, person, and by publication date. In other words, users can sort the results and look for entries that discussed (for example) FDR or Hitler or you can narrow down by other search terms.

Once an article is pulled up the user you can read the article. In addition, at the bottom of the entry are other options for the reader to find information on News, Photographrs, Related Articles on the topic from Credo and much more. Credo Reference is a fast, easy way to get quick information on a wealth of topics - for free and fast - from the library.

Next, we have possibly one of the most well-known public research site on the web: RefDesk.com. Click here for the link to RefDesk. RefDesk.com is the brainchild of Bob Drudge - the father of Matt Drudge who publishes the Drudge Report on the web.

Basically the site is a mass of quick, factual links to a variety of subjects on the web. Topics covered are as varied as headline news, 'This Day in History', links to many dictionaries and encyclopedias, birthday of the day, links to picture of the day, word of the day, today in history and much, much more. It is definitely worth a look - especially since the site is very easy to navigate and to use.

Another excellent site for fast reference is called the Internet Public Library and can be found using this link. Back 'in the day' - as in a few years ago, there were two really excellent reference sites: Internet Public Library and the Librarians' Internet Index. Well, the two merged and have formed the 'IPL2'. The prior link goes to this new site. IPL2 is organized in a different fashion than RefDesk. IPL2 has links to resources by subject, then a link to newspapers and magazines and then to special collection that were created by IPL2. If you want fast info you would do well to bookmark the site in your browser.

Sorry for the post to be so lengthy - but I do hope you visit the sites mentioned. They are free, easy to use and pretty darn helpful.

Regards,
Stu