From the Reference Desk

Where has the year gone? It's already the week of Turkey Day -- the week when we take stock in things that we are thankful for.


Of course, the obligatory answer is that we're thankful for the fellowship of kith and kin as we partake nature's bounty in the form of cooked fowl, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie, among others. Then Uncle Frank begins to complain about politics, whilst Aunt Edna skeptically wonders why 17 year old second cousin Jolean has dropped out of school with a "stomach ache" she's had for months, bringing the dinner to a crescendo, before the tryptophan kicks in during the second quarter of the Lions' game and everyone passes out in the den.


But mostly just that first part about fellowship -- that's what we're thankful for. Oh, and the leftovers.


Also, as much as we all love being librarians and helping customers & what not, we're also thankful for those brief respites from human contact, such as the one pictured above. Ahh, can you hear that? No, you can't, because you really can't hear silence. You may be hearing a slight ringing in your ears though, which could be tinnitus -- you might want to get that looked at.


Anyway, have a safe trip if you're traveling, and enjoy your time with family and friends! See you in December.

Comings and goings in Ref

There hasn't bee a whole lot of activity in the way of new materials filtering through Reference lately.

However, we did receive a new addition to the True Crime section.

Congress A to Z is published by CQ Press, and "offers accessible information about the inner workings of the legislative branch...," as well as keeping tabs on America's Most Wanted with "biographies of influential members."

From the Department of Redundancy Department

A special shout-out is in order for Keli from TEEN (Props!). On a recent fact-finding mission that brought her to our collection, she noticed that we had two different sets of the Encyclopedia Judaica. The older set was housed in the 296 area, while the latest edition can be found in 909. The previous edition has been donated to the Friends Group's Book Sale.

Well We're Movin' On Up

In other Encyclopedic news, the Encyclopedia Americana has moved from the 031 area to the Ready Reference shelf, right next to the World Book Encyclopedia. Details for the housewarming party will be made available when known; bookmarks are an appropriate gift.

Phil'er Up Please

I've recently finished my action plan for FY 2008-09: To become the Audie Murphy of ILL awards!

Cat Resources

Some cat resources that I'd like to point out--

The Atlas of Cats of the World (638.8 Kelsey).

The Cat Encyclopedia (636.8 Verhoef-Verhallan).

And when you need the most up-to-date cat information, The New Encyclopedia of the Cat (636.8003 Fogle).

Why do we care? Well, you may not. In fact, this is just a library-related ruse to fulfill a request for pictures of Refman's kittens. So, by popular demand I present Bosco and Toyo:

New Reference Items - 11/15/08

Just a short update -- only two new items to tell you about today.

The latest United States Government Manual, 2008-2009 (353 United 2008-2009) is in, and located on the Ready Reference shelf. There is a searchable version online as well. And though not quite the same thing, don't forget about the Official U.S. Government Web Portal.

The Fall 2008 edition of Work, Live & Play is shelved underneath the Reference desk with the other local and regional publications. From JCC:

As the official relocation guide of Northeast Florida, Work, Live & Play provides the latest information on developments in residential real estate, education, health care and quality of life affecting our community.

Older editions are kept in the Florida Collection.

Digital TV Transition

Since this question came up today, I thought it might be a good time to review the digital TV transition that is taking place February 17, 2009.

The transition will only affect customers who view TV "over the air", or those who receive local channels only through the use of an antenna. Those who subscribe to cable or satellite programming, or who have a newer digital TV will not be affected.

Affected customers' options include:

1. Purchase a digital-to-analog converter box that plugs into an existing television. The boxes, which are expected to cost between $40 - 70 will be available for purchase in 2008. Beginning in February 2008, U.S. households can request up to two coupons valued at $40 each. Each coupon can go toward the purchase of a single set-top converter box that will allow you to continue watching FREE "over-the-air" television on an analog set.


2. Subscribe to a cable, satellite or telecommunications service provider if all desired local broadcast stations are carried by that service.


3. Purchase a new television set with a built in digital tuner.

Something the customers will need to know about the coupons: it seems that many customers have found that the boxes are out of stock and then their coupons have expired. They should probably check to see if any are available before applying for a coupon.

Unshelved Comic of the Day

More of Bill Barnes' Unshelved here.

Google Advanced Search Update

An update from my previous post.

Google constantly studies how people are using their products and fine-tuning them in response. One aspect they have changed is their Advanced Search feature.

Dan Russell from Search Quality says:

Armed with this insight from field studies, we redesigned the page, simplifying it by removing terms that were unclear to the average user (the word "occurrences," for example, just didn't mean anything to many of the Advanced Search page users), moving rarely used features (numeric range searches, date searches, etc.) into a part of the page that was expandable with a single click. That made them easy to get to for people who knew they wanted to search with those restrictions, but out of the way in a non-threatening way.

One of the other things we noted in the field study was that people often didn't understand how the Advanced Search page worked. So we added a "visible query builder" region at the top of the page. As you fill in the blanks, the box at the top of the page fills in with the query that you could type into Google. It was our way of making visible the effects of advanced search

Read the rest of the article from the Official Google Blog.

Alternatives to Google's Interface

Show of hands please -- how many of you have ever used Google's Advanced Search page?



Since I cannot see anything anyway, I'll presume* that most of you haven't. I know I have only used it a few times myself. Some feel that it is a bit clumsy in its design, which have lead to third parties creating new front-ends for Google searching.



For example, Faganfinder's site includes several different links to Google searches, including their Google Ultimate Interface. It may in fact be just a bit more clear than Google's own advanced page, though if you're already on Google, you're merely a click away from the advanced search, whereas you might be hard pressed to remember the Faganfinder URL.



Another alternative Google front-end -- and one that is easier to navigate to -- is Soople. Soople's designers explain the page:

Soople is an early English dialect, which means 'to soften, make supple'.
That's exactly what I envisioned for this site ; a site that softens all the
fantastic advanced functions Google offers. This site is meant for all those who
are not yet familiar with all the possibilities of Google and all the required
syntaxes.

Instead of having to remember different prefixes used to initiate the various specific searches that Google employs, you can simply use the appropriate search field for the desired results.



Finally, for those of us who work in Reference at the Main Library, this search engine allows users to find information on old brands that are no longer being manufactured, Saab steering wheels and the font used in Momar's logo.

*defensive measure to avoid hearing "you know what happens when you assume..."