West Nile virus online resources

There are West Nile virus deaths and illnesses reported in several states this year, but Texas has been hit hardest. As a result, Dallas and most surrounding cities have decided to move forward with aerial spraying.

You may be looking for more information about West Nile virus, mosquitoes, and what you can do to help prevent both. Here are some resources that may help.

Dallas-area information:

• The city of Dallas is posting maps about aerial mosquito spraying and links to West Nile virus information at the city website.
• The WFAA-Channel 8 Health pages are being updated with news stories and briefs as information is released by various health and city officials. 

2012 West Nile virus information:

• The Centers for Disease Control West Nile has an infections by state table:
  http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&controlCaseCount12_detailed.htm
• The U.S. Geological Survey has an infection map posted (current as of Aug. 14, 2012): http://diseasemaps.usgs.gov/wnv_us_human.html

One way to stay abreast of related news is to create alerts from various databases.

• Google Alerts will send you news stories relating to various searches. Go to Google Alerts and enter your search terms, an email address, and how often you'd like to receive emailed alerts.
• The National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus also has a news alert option. Go the West Nile Virus page and scroll down to the box labeled "Get West NileVirus updates by email." Simply enter your email address and press the "Go" button.

Interesting source for health information online

Medstory calls itself the "Intelligent Search for Health & Medicine."
It is a search engine which provides precise, in-depth, quality results.  
Check it out if you are looking for information on any health-related
condition and see how Medstory breaks the results into categories like
drugs & substances, complementary medicine, related conditions, procedures,
clinical studies & trials, and more.

Read freely : Online literature

“The pages of a book shield us from the distractions that bombard us during most of our waking hours.”

This quote from author Nicholas Carr in The New York Times blog post “Do School Libraries Need Books?” eloquently pinpoints my feelings about reading from the page rather than the screen.
 
Carr (author of The Big Switch) and others thoughtfully discuss the print versus digital argument and how libraries should approach it. While we are seeing many articles, blog posts, and books declaring digitization is becoming the norm, not everyone is ready for this switch. I personally prefer a bound book for leisure, scholarly, or business reading. I simply find that sitting quietly with no distractions on the page - as opposed to a screen - helps me to focus and absorb the material.
 
However, I realize there are several instances when a digital book is needed. For example, a software support engineer needs a quick answer about solving a customer’s issue over the phone. Perhaps the engineer can turn to Safari Books Online. A second example is that of the student wanting to get ahead on literature homework when she doesn’t have a hard copy of the reading material. This student could turn to http://www.gutenberg.org/ for out-of-copyright fiction, non-fiction, and the classics.
 
Here in the Richland Library, we have several databases that offer full-text material ranging from historical documents to American and British literature. One of these databases is Literature Online from ProQuest databases.

Today, we had a student looking for a copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It was available in hard copy, but this may not always be the case; however, Literature Online offers more than one digitized version of the 14th- to 15th-century poem. Material from this database is available to DCCCD students, faculty, and staff with current I.D. numbers. Works, which also include critical essays and encyclopedia entries, may be printed or downloaded for personal use. Visit http://www.richlandcollege.edu/library, click on the “Databases” tab, click “L,” and scroll down for Literature Online. (Log onto library databases remotely with your name and I.D.)

Of course, you may always drop by the reference desk, submit a question online, or telephone (972.238.6082) if you have questions.
 
Now I'm off to immerse myself in a hard-copy book about the digitization of the world.
 
Happy reading, 
R.D.

Photo from

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25559122@N06/ / CC BY 2.0

The New Internet Public Library

Two of the most trusted sources for locating credible websites have merged. The Internet Public Library (IPL) and the Librarians’ Internet Index (LII) have joined together to form ipl2: information you can trust. Maintained by a consortium of colleges and universities, ipl2 only lists websites that meet very strict criteria.

Beware of the Horse Dog and other Urban Legends

Is that a real dog? Was the popular Christmas carol, The Twelve Days of Christmas really a coded message? Will Microsoft actually pay me for forwarding an e-mail message to all my friends?

You’ve seen these e-mails and others like them. The subject usually begins with “Fwd:” or even worse, “Fwd: Fwd: FWD.” Some attempt to appeal to our emotions with heart-warming or infuriating stories. Others are pleas for help. Many claim you will receive a reward, like cash or luck, just for forwarding the message. What they do have in common, is most of them are untrue. The internet, as well as our in-boxes, overflows with urban legends, frauds, and scams. Fortunately, there are several sites that help you separate the fact from the fiction. Here are some of the librarians' favorites.

• Snopes.com: http://snopes.com/
• Urban Legends and Folklore: http://urbanlegends.about.com/
• ScamBusters.org: http://www.scambusters.org/
• FactCheck.org: http://factcheck.org/
• STATS: http://www.stats.org/

No, the horse dog isn’t real, but this cat is:










Images from www.snopes.com

New Tool Provides Research Assistance

Research just got easier thanks to a new tool at the Richland College Library. LibGuides is a collection of searchable research guides built by librarians. These guides will direct you to authoritative print and online resources selected by librarians. For example, this general Research Guide will help you get started with most research assignments. We also have guides for specific classes and assignments, such as these guides for Fine Arts Appreciation and an English assignment on The Rebel as Hero.

Librarians aren’t the only ones who get to have fun. You can also contribute these research guides. Most guides allow you leave comments. Some even allow you to suggest or rank resources. See the RCHS Capstone research guide for examples of user-rated resources.

Instructors, if you would like a research guide for one of your classes or assignments, contact your Library Liaison.

Academic Enrichment: Gary Duke

Engineering, Business, and Technology (all disciplines): Jeanetta Burnham

Ethnic Studies, Social Science and Physical Education (all disciplines): Alice Fulbright

Human and Academic Development (all disciplines): Sharlee Jeser-Skaggs

Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts

• Religion: Lennijo Henderson
• All Other Disciplines: Cynthia Clements

Mathematics, Science and Health Professions (all disciplines): Amy Ferguson

Teacher Preparation (all disciplines): Sharlee Jeser-Skaggs

World Languages, Culture and Communication

• Foreign Languages: Lennijo Henderson
• English: Gary Duke
• English for Speakers of Other Languages
• Reading: Sharlee Jeser-Skaggs
• Writing: Alice Fulbright

The old library pathfinder has been reborn!

A new type of research engine: WolframAlpha

In May 2009, the new computational search engine called WolframAlpha went live. This is not your average and typical search engine. It is called a computational search engine because of what it does best: computing from its own knowledge base. It aims to return an answer to your query rather than millions of web page results. Click on the examples page to see just some of what it can do related to science, math, geography, weather, and more.