Research Blog

Start a new hobby in the new year!

GenCrazy@evpl — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:36:00 GMT

Need a hobby? Try genealogy.

Said to be second only to gardening, genealogy is the fastest growing hobby in North America.

I have been doing genealogy since I was 15 years old. I now consider it more an addiction than a hobby, but it is not a bad addiction to have. There is usually an event that gets you started. For me, it was the death of my grandma. She had been in an orphanage as a child, but I really never understood why, so I decided to find out.

Many people wonder how to begin. The best way to start is by writing down what you already know. Your full name, your birth date, and birth place. You can verify the information by getting a copy of your birth certificate from the county health department. Write down the names of you mother and father and their dates of birth, birth places. Add marriage information. You can verify this with a copy of their marriage license. In order to find and verify information, you must figure out the state and county in which a birth, marriage or death occurred. The county is where you can find the vital records. There are many websites that can provide clues or facts that you can later verify. One is the Browning Obituary Database. It can be found at http://browning.evpl.org/. This database is great! You can find relatives you may not have known existed. If you are looking for a relative, but you are not sure if that person is still alive, you may want to check out the Social Security Death Index at http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. There are likely many people with the same or similar names, so use more than one source to make sure you have the right person. You may find surprises along the way.

As you go back in time, the census records hold a wealth of information. Census information is only released 72 years after that census is taken. Generally, people are listed by household. Census records are by state, county and then by township. You may find out about relatives who died as children that you didn't know existed. You may find out that grandparents lived with their extended families.

Once you have found a little information, you can post queries or questions on various websites. Some sites are by county, some are by surname (last name), and some are by subject, like orphanages.

You can also check on military records. You many discover that one of your relatives fought in WWII, WWII or the Civil War; or that two brothers fought on opposite sides during that war.

As you look, don't be afraid to ask questions or post queries. Somebody out there may already know the answer or at least have some pieces to the puzzle. Most people who do genealogy are willing to share the information they find. The internet has made that easier.

Be careful not to give out too much information on people who are still living. Identity theft has become a large problem. Let me know how your search is going. Also feel free to send me questions if you get stuck.

Introducing Encore: A better way to search the catalog!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:54:00 GMT

Last October, we discontinued AquaBrowser. Today I am happy to unveil its successor: ENCORE!

The catalog widget at the top of our webpages now searches Encore. In a nutshell, Encore works very similarly to Google. In the search box, simply type in words about the items you're looking for; this can include a subject, title, author, or a combination of them. Then click the search button.

On the search results page, items will appear in the middle column. Click on a title to find out more about it.

The left-hand column will give you many options for refining your search, such as format, location, and publication date. Clicking on any of the available options will update your search results accordingly.

The right-hand column contains a tag cloud with related keywords. The graphic to the right shows the tag cloud when searching for "puppies". But say I'm more interested in adopting a puppy. "Dog adoption" appears in the tag cloud, and by clicking on it I'll be able to view "puppies" items about "dog adoption".

After trying Encore, please let us know what you think! Feel free to post your comments below or complete our official survey. We're excited to offer Encore and hope you find it to be a useful tool for searching our catalog!

Magazines now included in Google Book Search

googler@evpl — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:46:00 GMT

Google hasn't published a list of titles, for some reason, but they've started adding lots of page images from a variety of magazines, some going back to the 1800s.

Start at books.google.com, and click on the small "Advanced Book Search" link that's to the right of the search box. If you want to find a particular magazine, use its title as a phrase search (as an example, type Mother Jones into the exact phrase box). If you want to look for topic in that magazine, type those keywords into the topmost search box (for example, type in pesticides). Be sure to use the radio buttons to restrict your search to magazines. You can also scroll down and specify years, to make sure you get only recent articles. (Or, for nostalgia's sake, you might enjoy a search in something like Popular Science for a time span like 1850-1900.)

This article has a little more information on this project, for the curious.

And don't forget the Library's vast access to full-text magazines, available through databases we subscribe to (notably Masterfile). These databases can be access by all in any library, or from outside of the library by current resident card-holders.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development website

T-ref@evpl — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:54:00 GMT

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development's website has many useful links: for information about unemployment benefits go to uplink unemployment claim filing system, for contacting the WorkOne office in Evansville go to WorkOneworks.com, for career information in Indiana go to Indianacareerconnect.com. You can use the EVPL computers to access the Indiana Department of Workforce Development's website, file for unemployment benefits, research companies, submit an online job application, develop a resume, etc.

The Christmas tree dilemma: real or fake?

googler@evpl — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:47:00 GMT

An environmental blog, Sustainablog, recently weighed in on the real-or-fake Christmas tree question, and their answer might surprise you. They believe it's more environmentally friendly to use a live tree every year, as long as you recyle it after Christmas, and particularly if you buy a locally grown tree. Buying directly from a local tree farm is always the best way to go, they say. IndianaChristmasTree.com identifies two farms in our area. This site also has a guide to the various species used for Christmas trees and tips on caring for a live tree.

And just for fun, here are some facts and trivia about Christmas trees.

Indiana Veterans of World War I

seeker@evpl — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:53:00 GMT

Do you have a family member who served during World War I, the "war to end all wars""? The original federal military records were lost in a fire in St Louis, so a 5-year project is researching the Indiana Veterans of World War I. Among other resources used, Service Records of Vanderburgh County by Ethel F. McCoullough and C.F. Hammerstein covers 4,537 local veterans, so we are well represented. The site also includes information from interviews from returning veterans: home front stories, camp life, hospital experiences, women in service, P.O.W. memories and explanations of the various brances of service.

Check out the names of veterans you've heard of and see how well they're represented. If you are aware of a veteran who is not listed or have additional information, you can contribute anything you know about him or her by emailing Jan Mattingly at WWVets@Gmail.com.

If you're shopping for toys this month

googler@evpl — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Do you feel a bit overwhelmed when trying to choose gifts for the kids on your list? HealthyToys.org includes test results for more than 1,500 toys and children’s products. This site is a first step in providing parents, grandparents, and others who care about children with the information they need to make better choices when purchasing toys and other children’s products.

Business Week magazine recently published an article on "Toy Shopping in Tough Times," with suggestions for thrifty shoppers.

And on the Consumer Reports blog you'll find toy shopping hints by age.

Indiana Business magazine online version

T-ref@evpl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 18:20:00 GMT

Indiana Business magazine offers a new online version that will allow you to read, save and forward articles, ads and photographs by e-mail. We also subscribe to the print and electronic versions.

Government Fuel Economy Website Updated to 2009 Model Year

Bufkinite@evpl — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:03:00 GMT

The US Department of Energy (DOE) and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have developed a fuel economy web site to try and get the word out about the benefits of using more fuel-efficient vehicles. The web site contains an electronic version of the 2009 Fuel Economy Guide, and features updated fuel economy data for new and used passenger vehicles dating back to 1985, allows side-by-side comparisons of up to four vehicles you choose, and offers fuel-saving tips.

The web site also contains vehicle-specific air pollution emissions information and safety ratings, and provides links to car buying Web sites. This web site can help you make informed automotive purchase decisions, and can help you gain fuel economy with the car you have.

How does your car compare? Find out!

Your free annual credit report

googler@evpl — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:37:00 GMT

We often talk to people at the library who are confused about how to get their free annual credit reports. The source of the confusion is almost certainly the ubiquitous commercials for a site called freecreditreport.com. That site is owned by one of the standard credit bureaus, Experian, which has been in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for its deceptive advertising. Many consumers attempting to receive their free credit report from Experian found themselves enrolled in their credit monitoring service, which is not free.

To get your free credit report, and nothing else, from Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, use annualcreditreport.com. This is the only online source authorized to provide it. You can also order your credit reports by calling 877-322-8228. Many consumer advocates advise getting one credit report at a time, every four months, to monitor your credit on a regular basis, instead of getting all three at once.

The FTC wants to hear from you if you paid for what you thought was your free annual credit report.

For more consumer information, visit consumer.gov.

"Big Brown Books" Now Available on Your Home Computer

Bufkinite@evpl — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:42:00 GMT

How many of you were given an assignment in a high school or college literature course to find "critical reviews" of some obscure author, and despaired of finding anything meaningful before you found - or were directed to by a librarian - the gold mine of the "Big Brown Books"? Actually different series, entitled Contemporary Literary Criticism, Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism, and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, these books compile information from a number of literary journals and poetry magazines, and arrange them by author. Each title now runs to well over 100 volumes, and Central Library has a complete run of all three titles.

But now comes Literature Criticism Online, and all volumes are available online through EVPL's databases page. So, not only can you browse them from the public computers at any of the EVPL branches, you can browse them from home, 24/7!

Logging in to Literature Criticism Online presents you with options for a basic or advanced search. Below is a screenshot of the Basic Search window, and you can see there are tabs for an advanced search, as well as for browsing by author, or by work. You can limit your search to one of the titles, e.g. Contemporary Literary Criticism, or choose to search all held titles with one search. The drop-down menu beside the search box allows you to search by keyword, full text, named author, or named work.

Search results present you with a list of links to pdf versions of the original print materials, so that what you find online is visually identical to what you would find in the original printed books. There are cases where copyright restrictions end up presenting the message "Text Not Viewable Online," but they are very few and far between.

So check out Literature Criticism Online, look up your favorite author or work, and find out what the critics had to say!

Having trouble figuring out Microsoft Word 2007?

HoodooVoodoo@evpl — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:10:00 GMT

As some of you may have been noticing, the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library is in the middle of their own "big switch" when it comes to the public computers. We are in the process of switching out the old Gateway Profile 5 computers to new Dell Optiplex 755 computers. These computers are step up from the old ones, but one constant area where I am getting questions concerns Microsoft Word.

The new Dell computers have Microsoft Word 2007 instead of Word 2003 and the display is noticeably different. All your favorite tools and buttons are still there, but Microsoft has moved them around and made them more user friendly or as I like to say "They made it so easy, that it's hard". To help ease the confusion I found a few easy to follow reference guides and tutorials. These tools are very simple to follow and should answer any questions you may have about the differences between Word 2003 and Word 2007. Check them out!

Word 2003 to Word 2007 Command Reference Guide

Word 2007 Training Tutorials

Word 2007 Help

Office 2007 Training Courses

Plunkett Research Online Just Got Better

Bufkinite@evpl — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:10:00 GMT

One of EVPL's many databases, Plunkett Research Online, is a great tool for researching current trends in 32 distinct industry sectors, including everything from Alternative Energy to Wireless Technology. For each industry sector examined, you'll find a market overview and an analysis of major trends for each company, an industry-specific glossary written in language that is easy-to-understand, a statistics section containing extensive data on many facets of the industry, and in-depth profiles of leading companies in each industry.

Now, Plunkett has added current job information to its company profiles. In the sample page image below, you can see the result of a search for 3M Company. Just below the company name is the heading, "Latest 3M Company Jobs." The first three positions are directly linked, while more positions and job details are just a button click away. In today's very tight job market, this kind of resource is very likely to come in handy.

New York Times Historical Database

T-ref@evpl — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:41:00 GMT

The New York Times Historical (1851-2004) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. It is available through our databases pages and can be accessed outside of the library with an EVPL library card. I received a call today asking for information about Jesse Walker, an Evansville native who committed a crime in New York in 1919 and was subsequently sent to Sing Sing Prison and excuted. Although I couldn't find any articles in our Evansville newspaper index, I was able to find his obituary in the Browning Genealogy Database. The Browning Genealogy Database is the lifetime work of Charles Browning, who compiled the obituary records of Vanderburgh County and surrounding southwestern Indiana from Evansville newspapers. Here is an example of a citation from the New York Times Historical:

BOY MURDERER DIES IN SING SING CHAIR; United States Senators Fail to Win Commutation for Jesse Walker. LAST WORDS FOR MOTHER Companion Also Under Death Sentence for Killing Stationer in Attempt at Robbery.Special to The New York Times. February 11, 1921, Friday Page 7, 567 words.

OSSINING, N.Y., Feb. 10.--Last-minute efforts of influential persons failing to obtain a reprieve, Jesse Walker. 20 years old, of Evansville, Ind., a sallor veteran of the war, was put to death in the electric chair at Sing Sing tonight, [ END OF FIRST PARAGRAPH ]

OverDrive @ EVPL now Mac compatible!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:31:00 GMT

OverDrive @ EVPL is a collection of downloadable materials (including audiobooks, eBooks, movies, & music) available free of charge to all EVPL cardholders. Since launch, patrons with Windows PCs have been downloading countless items from this digital collection...unforunately, Mac users were out of luck.

That is no more, as a Mac version of the OverDrive Media Console (the software required to download items) has just been released! Mac users can now download MP3 audiobooks and transfer them to iPods.

Unfortunately, there are a couple caveats for Mac users:

OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks are the ONLY compatible format available for Mac users. OverDrive WMA Audiobooks, OverDrive Music, & OverDrive Video all use Microsoft-based DRM and therefore are not compatible with Macs. Unless Apple were to license this DRM, which is very unlikely, these formats will never be playable on Macs.
OverDrive Media Console (aka OMC) for Macs can only transfer content to Apple iPods. Transferring to a MP3 player/portable device other than an iPod requires the Windows version of OMC, which only runs on Windows-based PCs.
OMC is unable to transfer content to the iPod Shuffle. Owners of these devices can transfer content to their device using iTunes.
Windows users with iPods will continue to use the Windows version of OMC to transfer content to their device. The Windows version of OMC is also compatible with a wide variety of additional devices, including the Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen series, and more.

Visit OverDrive @ EVPL, browse our collection, install the required software, and download to your heart's content! If you have any questions about the recently-added Mac compatibility, or if you have any questions/comments about OverDrive in general, please post them in the comments section below or contact us via Ask EVPL.

More Information

OverDrive @ EVPL: Visit our OverDrive site to start downloading our digital materials!
What is OverDrive?: Check out this guided tour of OverDrive to discover what it is and how to use it.
Compatible Portable Devices: A list of compatible portable media players that can be transferred to using the Windows version of OMC.