Research pays before you lay money down
Most people put a lot of faith in their broker, and that often works out well. But in the age of Bernie Madoff, wary investors may be looking for some reassurance.
The truth is they are largely left to fend for themselves. With a bit of time and widely available tools, many legal experts say investors can improve their chances of choosing wisely when selecting a financial adviser or broker.
+ Resources for background on your broker
Source: Washington Post
Yesterday we mentioned to searchable databases, one from the U.S. Census and the other from USA.gov with thousands of asked an answered questions about the federal government and the U.S. Census. Excellent ready reference tools to know about.
Today, another database of asked and answered questions This time it’s a Library of Congress resource.
The site is both browsable and searchable.
It’s name: Everyday Mysteries: Fun Science Facts from the Library of Congress.
The home page allows you to browse all of the questions or search with keywords.
+ Agriculture
+ Astronomy
+ Biology & Human Anatomy
+ Botany
+ Chemistry
+ Geography, Anthropology, Recreation
+ Home Economics
+ Meteorology, Climatology
+ Motor Vehicles, Aeronautics, Astronautics
+ Physics
+ Technology, General
+ Zoology
Both answers and the service itself come from Science Reference Services at LC.
Here’s a quick sample of five asked and answered questions from the collection. A link on the home page allows users to submit questions.
1) Does your heart stop when you sneeze?
2) How did the grapefruit get its name? It doesn’t look like a grape.
3) What is “freezer burn?”
4) Is it true that no two snow crystals are alike?
5) Who invented the TV dinner?
This is a great resource for the reference desk as well as for school media specialists and teachers.
LTCFocUS.org — Long-term Care: Facts on Care in the US
LTCFocUS.org is a product of the Shaping Long-Term Care in America Project being conducted at the Brown University Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research and supported, in part, by the National Institute on Aging. The website hosts data regarding the health and functional status of nursing home residents, characteristics of care facilities, state policies relevant to long term care services and financing, and data characterizing the markets in which facilities exist and, in the future, we plan to expand to include information about other sectors of the long-term care system. These data will allow researchers to examine the relationship between state policies and local market forces and the quality of long-term care. Researchers can use this website to examine care processes and resident outcomes within the context of their local markets and regulatory practices. Policymakers can use the information to shape state and local guidelines, policies, and regulations that promote high-quality, cost-effective, equitable care to older Americans.
Source: Brown University Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research
Danny Sullivan on Search Engine Land reports and documents the new Flu Shot Locatorfrom Google. The locator itself comes via Google Maps and shows both locations to get seasonal flu shots as well as the H1N1 shot in the U.S.
Locations are marked with the icons that look like syringes and needed. Red shows seasonal flu shot locations while blue identifies H1N1 shot locations.
Sullivan writes:
Unfortunately, you can’t tell at-a-glance if a particular location is out of stock on flu vaccine.
He goes on to say that you’ll have to look at the list of locations in the left column to find out if the location still has the vaccine in stock.
Finally, we learn that the Google Flu Shot Locator will be added to both Flu.gov and the American Lung Association Flu Clinic Locator.
Direct to Google Flu Shot Locator Database
Source: Search Engine Land
See Also: Google Flu Trends
The QFinance: The Ultimate Resource web site is part of the 2,000 page reference book from Bloomsbury in partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. Content on the web site is free.
Included on the Web Site (Free) Are:
+ Financial Information Sources (Very Impressive)
Much More on the QFINANCE Web Site
Learn More about QFINANCE: The Ultimate Resource in this Article from Publisher’s Weekly:
At a luncheon at the 21 Club last week, Boomsbury publisher Kathy Rooney introduced QFINANCE: The Ultimate Resource, a desk reference volume produced in partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority that was officially released November 3. The 2,000+ page book, a two year project, with essays by over 300 financial experts (investors, economists, professors) includes a glossary, financial sources and even finance-orientated quotations, aiming to position itself as the premier financial resource. The plan is to update the book yearly, while the Web site, www.qfinance.com, on which the entire content is offered free, will be kept current. Price for the print edition, which Bloomsbury is distributing in the U.S. and U.K., is $250.
The book received a positive comments from PW.
Sources: QFINANCE, Publisher’s Weekly
An excellent use of multimedia.
The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) created the Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms to help everyone understand the terms and concepts used in genetic research. In addition to definitions, specialists in the field of genetics share their descriptions of terms, and many terms include images, animation and links to related terms.
Linked information explains how to cite a term from the Glossary in a reference paper. Another link allows you to suggest a term currently not in the glossary that you feel would be a valuable addition. And there is a link to email any of the 200+ terms to a friend.
Source: National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
Resource of the Week: Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States
By Kirin K. Kalia, Editor, Migration Information Source, Migration Policy Institute
Our just-published article, Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States, covers everything from Mexican immigrants to health-care coverage to government budgets and backlogs. A few interesting numbers:
This article is available on the Migration Information Source, an online journal of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C. that studies immigration issues, trends, and policies in the United States and around the world. The MPI Data Hub provides instant access to the latest immigration statistics, maps, and numbers for the United States and other countries. For US state-level immigration data, see the ACS and Census Data Tool.
Also, if this is a subject area of interest to you, be sure to sign up for the free twice-monthly Migration Information Source email newsletter, which offers interesting, smartly packaged articles and data on immigration-related developments in the United States and around the world.
Using the Calculator on this Page you can:
+ Convert Temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius and Celsius to Fahrenheit
+ Calculate Windchill
See Also: Windchill Chart
+ Calculate Relative Humidity
+ Calculate Heat Index
See Also: Heat Index Chart
+ Wind Speed Conversion (mph; knots; m/s; ft/s; km/h
+ Station Pressure
Source: National Weather Service, Peachtree City, GA
Spring forward…Fall back….
It’s ingrained in our consciousness almost as much as the A-B-Cs or our spelling reminder of “i before e….” And it’s a regular event, though perhaps a bit less regular than the swallows coming back to Capistrano.
Yet in those four words is a whole collection of trivia, facts and common sense about Daylight Saving Time.
In 2005 and 2006, Daylight Saving Time begins for most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday of April. Time reverts to standard time at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday of October.
Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and begins for most of the United States at:
2 a.m. on the Second Sunday in March
to
2 a.m. on the First Sunday of November.The new start and stop dates were set in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Everything you ever wanted to know about daylight savings time.
Source: NationalAtlas.gov
ACE Title Search
From the FAQ:
ACE is a database of song titles licensed by ASCAP in the United States. For each title, you can find the names of the songwriters and the names, contact persons, addresses and, in most cases, phone numbers of publishers to contact if you want to use the work. For most of the titles, you’ll find some of the artists who have made a commercial recording.
Source: ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers)
See also: BMI Repertoire Search
The BMI Repertoire is a BMI song title database, which means that you will only find songs licensed by BMI. In some cases, songwriters may have started their careers with another performing rights organization and affiliated with BMI sometime later, or may have affilated with BMI at the start, and then with another organization sometime later. In either case, the songwriter’s songs may or may not have followed the songwriter. As such, BMI may license songs for songwriters who are not currently affiliated.
The other day ResourceShelf posted about a new database from the EU containing over 14 million pages of content dating back to 1952 from the EU Bookshop.
Access to the database and its content (primarily PDF files) is free.
Instead of reposting, simply head to our post from Wednesday and get all the details and links. It’s likely that the site will be busy (slow) so be nice.
The first online database allows users to find area codes in the U.K.
Three options are available:
1) Enter an Area Code and See The Area it Covers
2) Enter an Area and See What Area Codes are Available
3) See a List of All Area Codes
The second database allow users determine the mobile broadband coverage for a specific postal code by selecting a carrier and then entering a postal code.
Access the UK Area Code Database
Access the Mobile Broadband Database
Source: Ofcom
An entire package of resources from MSNBC.
The current headline: Recession ends in 79 metro areas
+ How the Adversity Index detects trends in local economies
+ Main Article
Contains an interactive map.
The Adversity Index, from msnbc.com and Moody’s Economy.com, measures the economic health of 381 metro areas and all 50 states. Each area is in recession, at risk, recovering or expanding. On this map you can explore changes in the four components of the index: employment, housing starts, housing prices and industrial production, each shown as a percentage change from a year earlier. (The change in housing prices will be updated at the end of the quarter.) Roll over a state to see its numbers. Click on a state to see details for its metro areas. Slide left or right to see data for different months. Click play to see all the months. Use the forward and back buttons to step a month at a time.
+ When the Downturn Hit, Month by Month
+ Recession-resistant areas
Map at bottom of page
Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) recently introduced a bill, H.R. 3762, into the House of Representatives to make published Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports available to the public via the Internet.
[Snip]
This recent House activity complements Senate Resolution 118, introduced by Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) in April 2009.
Source: District Dispatch (ALA)
Hat Tip: LibraryStuff
See Also: Read and Track H.R. 3762 using GovTrack.US
See Also: Read and Track Senate Resolution 118 via GovTrack.US
See Also: At the Present Time, OpenCRS is a Excellent Resource to Access Some Congressional Research Service Reports
CSC will operate an online digital library for the Education Department under a new five-year contract worth up to $29 million, the company announced today.
CSC will support the department’s Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) under the contract. The new agreement has one base year and four one-year options.
Source: Washington Technology
From the News Release (via CSC)
“We recognize the importance of providing our country’s educators and others with easy access to educational resources that will improve learning, teaching, decision-making and research,” said Tom Anderson, president of CSC’s North American Public Sector Civil and Government Health Services Group. “CSC is honored to support this crucial system and continue our 36-year working relationship with the Department of Education.”
See Also: Access the ERIC Database and Thesaurus
Update (Friday, October 16, 2009)
We’ve been told by an EU spokesperson that new content has now been loaded into the database. The search interface remains the same. More about “what” and “how much” has been added to the database in the articles linked below.
Database Overview:
You can access the database here (left column). Once, you get a feel for what’s available you can created direct links to various interfaces. For example, this link goes directly to the advanced search interface.
Three searching options:
+ By Words
+ Using Identifiers
+ Advanced Search
+ Advanced Search Options
+++ Select Fields to Search
+++ Theme
+++ Language
+++ Format
+++ Publication Year Range
+++ Target Audience
+++ Digital Archive (3 options)
+++ Price
+++ Select only Key Publications
You can also browse content several ways:
+ Just Published
+ Key Publications
+ By Theme
+ By Author
On both the regular and advanced interface make sure to select the “Digital Library” (Archive) box if you want to search the entire range of EU publications.
Also, the database does not allow for a full text search. You can search the publication title, abstract, and table of contents.
Finally, materials are often available in multiple formats. Printed documents are (fee-based) but all PDF’s are free.
While reviewing an article about the EU and digitisation, we came across a bit of info about a new database (free) going live this Friday. Their motto, “All the EU publications in one place.”
A new service is set to make the last sixty years of European history available free of charge in its digital EU bookshop. [Our emphasis] The European Commission’s Publications Office has scanned more than 110,000 EU publications including speeches, treaties and publications from the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies dating back to 1952. The initiative was borne out of a saturation of the Publications Office’s PDF-on-demand service wherein users could request publications to be retrieved from the archives and scanned as needed. Total PDF downloads jumped from just 65,000 in 2008 to an expected 230,000 per month for 2009.
More in this News Release from the Publications Office:
Scanning 12 million pages makes more than 110 000 EU publications available free of charge for download in the EU Bookshop Digital Library. It offers all publications ever edited by the Publications Office on behalf of the EU institutions, agencies and other bodies since 1952.
The EU Bookshop is a valuable information source for citizens, journalists, education professionals, students, librarians, publishers, and anybody interested in Europe, in 50 languages, including the possibility of ordering printed copies.
See Also: Official News Release (PDF)
See Also: Examples of what can be found in EU Bookshop (PDF)
See Also: Frequently Asked Questions about the Publications Office Digital Library and the EU Bookshop
Note: In the FAQ we learn that 5% of the documents are fee-based but that the PDF will always be free.
Access the EU Publications Office
Sources; EU Publications Office, EurActiv
Eldercare and aging: Online information for librarians and caregivers
News of the growing elderly population can actually be viewed as good news for the academic library’s reference desk. In addition to positioning ourselves as a resource for eldercare with our teaching faculty and campus administration peers, we are also in the best position to facilitate a smooth transition of older adult students onto our campuses. The American Council on Education’s 2007 report “Framing New Terrain: Older Adults and Higher Education” suggests that older adults’ interest in “encore careers” (careers pursued and developed after retirement) will lead many of them back into higher education. Our responsibility is to ensure that we are prepared to understand and address the unique concerns of older adults that may or may not be course related.
However, the cost of lost work-related productivity due to eldercare can become economically devastating for employers. U.S. businesses lose an estimated $17.1 billion to $33.6 billion per year in lost productivity from employees with caregiving responsibilities. A large portion of this lost productivity is linked to individuals seeking eldercare information and resources during their working hours.
Some of us understand from first-hand experience how eldercare impacts our ability to perform at work. As a part of the “sandwich generation,” we share with colleagues our struggle in balancing job performance, marriages/partnerships, childcare, requirements on the tenure track, and active participation in professional associations with caring for elderly family members. On top of that, many of us are our families and friends “personal librarian” and have (or will in the future) field questions about eldercare resources. In that respect, creating this list was deeply personal.
This compilation was written and edited by Alexia Hudson, a reference and instruction librarian at the Pennsylvania State University Abington College,
Source: Association of College & Research Libraries (College & Research Library News)
Hat tip: Sloan Network
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