REFERENCE QUESTION:

Patron asks: Who is the author of Cleopatra Gold?

METHODOLOGY:

This is a straightforward question asking for an author of a book, although one which would be most likely followed by questions like: “Do you have it?” or Where can I find it?” etc. It might be most expedient to find out the full range of the patron’s need for information before beginning with a question like: “Is there any other information you would like about this book while I’m looking?” or “Is this a book you want to read?” Assuming the title given is correct, one could search for it in a library’s card catalog, in a more comprehensive online catalog like WorldCat, or in Books in Print.  I first checked CONSULS catalog but did not find the title.  I then check Books in Print online, where the auto-setting of “In Print or Forthcoming” brought up an audio version.  Checking “Out of Print” brought up several printings of the book.

ANSWER:

The author of Cleopatra Gold is listed in Books in Print as William J. Caunitz.  The only version currently in print is an audio one.  It has been printed in cloth and paperback, including large print, but none of these are available in the CONSULS system.  It would no doubt be available through interlibrary loan, or for purchase in some used bookstores.

CITATION:

Books in Print online version accessed through King County Library system (CONSULS database access is giving me trouble today.)  http://www.booksinprint.com/bip/

CLOSURE:

Do you need assistance locating some form of this book?

-----------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Where can I buy a copy of Rudyard Kipling’s Departmental Ditties, Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses?

METHODOLOGY:

Patron wants to purchase this book.  Books in Print might give one the publisher, but Amazon.com would be a more direct route of finding out if it is available for sale.  The lovely features of the Amazon search engine bring up a close match when you plug in the title the patron has given you, that being: Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses.  This 352 page paperback published in 2001 is likely the book the patron is looking for and you could attempt to verify that using the wealth of information available at Amazon.  The price listed there is $24.95 and checking mySimon.com it appears to be about the best available.  Used bookstore availability is doubtful given its 2001 publishing date, and indeed the cheapest available at Half.com is $31.85.

ANSWER:

A 352 page paperback book called Barrack Room Ballads and Other Verses by Rudyard Kipling was published by Fredonia Books in 2001 and is available for sale.  One possible purchase point is Amazon.com where it ships in 2-3 days for $24.95 plus shipping.  That appears to be a competitive price.  You can use the phone or Internet access to check availability at any bookstores you prefer.  The ISBN # is 158963067X.

CLOSURE:

Is that all the information you need about this book?

---------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

My class of Middle School students is studying First Amendment Rights and Censorship.  Where can I find a list of books (for young adults) that have been “challenged” frequently?  Are there any books that will help us with this project?  The information we need to find out includes the reasons why they were challenged and what further readings we could obtain on the author, the book, or the author’s background.

METHODOLOGY:

This question is asking both bibliographic and biographical information.  Since I know that the ALA has considerable information on banned books, I start there.

Searching http://www.ala.org brings up quite a few results including http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/censorshipintheschools.html#links which appears a good place to start both for myself and for this teacher’s class.  Following links I find http://www.ala.org/news/v7n10/banned_books.html and http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html which have lists of banned books, and http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/schoolbooks.html which lists a few helpful books on the subject including a YALSA publication which concentrates on young adult books.  Going then to the card catalog at CONSULS searching “banned books” brings a reference to the proper subject headings ”prohibited books” and “censorship”, which turns up some books but not the YALSA one, which is available by title and under “challenged books United States bibliography”. I examined the Gale Group database “Literature Resource Center” to make sure it would be good for biographical information.

ANSWER:

The following page at the American Library Association website might be a good place for your class to start: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/censorshipintheschools.html#links.  This page has links to information on First Amendment Rights and censorship in school and libraries. Two of the links: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html have brief lists of banned books including why they were banned.  Another link: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/schoolbooks.html  lists a few helpful books on the subject.  One looks to be of particular use to your students:

·        Hit list : frequently challenged books for young adults / prepared by the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association ; with the assistance of Merri M. Monks and Donna Reidy Pistolis , published by the American Library Association in 1996.

This is a reference book in Buley Library. The title listing in the library catalog includes a list of books covered.  I particularly suggest two other books.  The first is a circulating book in Buley.  The second is a reference book available at the State Library or WCSU.  Perhaps your local public library would have it.

·        Battle of the books : literary censorship in the public schools, 1950-1985 / by Lee Burress

·        100 banned books : censorship histories of world literature / Nicholas J. Karolides, Margaret Bald, and Dawn B. Sova ; introduction by Ken Wachsberger

A multitude of other books can be found searching the subject areas of “prohibited books”, “censorship” (including many subheadings), and “challenged books”.

To find more information on individual books or authors, a good online source is the Gale Group database called “Gale’s Literature Resource Center” available through the Buley Library.  There are also a number sources in the Reference section that would serve this purpose.  Contemporary Authors is an example.

CITATIONS:

1)http://www.ala.org and the indicated pages within that website in ANSWER.

2)http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/banned-books.html accessed through the ALA website.

3)CONSULS online catalog at http://csulib.ctstateu.edu/

4)“Gale’s Literature Resource Center”, a Gale Group online database accessible through Buley Library on this page: http://library.scsu.ctstateu.edu/edbs.html.

5)Contemporary Authors, Vol. 1-103. (1967-2001). Detroit: Gale Research Co, located in the Reference section of Buley Library, Call number: Z1224.C58 

---------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

My children love the illustrations in Debi Gliori’s Snow Lambs book.  In fact we have all her books and know that she does her own illustrations.  Has she illustrated any books for other authors?

METHODOLOGY:

Library card catalogues will include illustrators in the author field, so searching a catalog for Gliori, Debi will bring up not only books she has authored, but ones she has just illustrated.  I decide to use WorldCat to get a comprehensive list.  Within a Gliori, Debi search I pick out the other authors and then search both together to get condensed lists.  If the patron was in the library, I would just print out the whole list (which would probably be of interest to the patron in its entirety) and highlight the books by other authors. 

ANSWER:

Debi Gliori has illustrated some of Joyce Dunbar’s books.  Here are the titles that are in English:

·        Tell Me What It’s Like to Be Big

·        The Very Small

·        Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep

She also illustrated several by Roger McGough sometimes with additional authors:

·        The Oxford ABC Picture Dictionary,

·        My Oxford 123 Number Rhyme Book

·        My Oxford ABC and 123 Picture Rhyme Book

·        My Oxford ABC Picture Rhyme Book

·        My Oxford 123 Book of Number RhymesFour by Sue Stops:

·        Dulci Dando, Dulci Dando Disco Dancer, and Dulci Dando Football Player, and Dulci Dando Soccer Star

Four by David Martin:

·        Lizzie and Her Puppy, Lizzie and Her Kitty, Lizzie and Her Friend, Lizzie and Her Dolly

Two by Margaret Donaldson:

·        Margery Mo and Margery Mo’s Magic Island

Two poems by Christina Rossetti that might be filed with Gliori as author:

·        Give Him My Hear and What Can I Give Him

And these additional books:

·        Amazing Alphabets, by Lisa Bruce

·        The Incredible Shrinking Hippo, by Stephanie Baudet

·        Raj in Charge, by Davies and Davies

·        Goldilocks and the Three Bears, by Penelope Lively

Interestingly she used another illustrator, Kate Simpson for her book A Present for Big Pig

CITATION:

“WorldCat” OCLC online database accessed through Buley Library on the following page:     http://library.scsu.ctstateu.edu/edbs.html

CLOSURE:

Would you like a printout of all of Gliori’s books?  Do you need help finding any of them?

-------------------------------

All of the following questions were easily answered by using a print or online almanac or a combination of the two.

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Who were the first and second Presidents of France’s 5^th Republic?

REFERENCE QUESTION:

I need some information on postal rates for printed matter.  However, I’ve heard that the rate depends on what zone the material is going to.  What is a zone?  What is the difference between Zone 1 and Zone 2?

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Where can I find a county by county presidential election returns for all the states for the 2000 election?

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Have there been or will there be any total eclipses of the sun in 2001?  If so, will they be visible in the United States?

--------------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

What event in Czechoslovakia occurred on the night of August 20-21, 1968?  (Extra point – this event brought an end to what Alexandr Dubcek and the people of Czechoslovakia referred to as

“…”)

METHODOLOGY:

I check the almanac for this too.  Major world events are listed in the world history section.  The appropriate decade is on p. 482-3.  Likely answer is there, but still need to verify specific date. www.infoplease.com has a limited date feature that is enough to verify that the invasion occurred on Aug 20.  These sources have used terms that suggest a variety of answers to “…”.  I search one of them, “Prague Spring”, on Google.  One result uses a quote that suggests another possibility.  Several results are from a Radio Free Europe exhibit and this one http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/1998/08/F.RU.980820124835.html quotes a New York Times editorial using similar words.

ANSWER:

According to The World Book 2002, “Liberalization (spring 1968) in Czechoslovakia was crushed with massive force by troops of 5 Warsaw Pact countries.”  www.infoplease.com confirms that this happened on Aug. 20, 1968.  There are quite a few possibilities for the extra point answer.  The World Book’s entry suggests it might be “liberalization”.  History links to the date on infoplease.com suggest it might be “democratization”, and confirm that the movement was called “Prague Spring”.  A Google search of “Prague Spring” results in several references to a Radio Free Europe exhibit. One of these results quotes a New York Times editorial as saying: "the (Soviet-bloc) invasion wiped out what the government of Alexander Dubcek called 'socialism with a human face'”, so that is another possible answer.  I personally would lean toward “Prague Spring” as a term more likely to have been used by “the people”.

CITATIONS:

 The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2002. (2002). New York: World Almanac Education Group, Inc., p. 483.

1) http://www.infoplease.com year search result at http://www.infoplease.com/year/1968.html, and from there the “Czechoslovakia” link, then the “history” link to 

2) http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0857671.html.

3) http://www.google.com searching “Prague Spring” and this Radio Free Europe result 

4)   http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/1998/08/F.RU.980820124835.html.

CLOSURE: 

Do you need any more information about 1968 events in Poland?

------------------------------

The following questions concern periodical indexes.

REFERENCE QUESTION:

I’m a golf pro at a local par 3 course.  We need to redesign a few holes.  Please provide me with citations for at least two recent articles (later than April 2001) articles on golf course design.

METHODOLOGY:

It would seem that this patron seeks articles of golf course design that include design details of individual holes.  Photos would probably be helpful as well.  I search “golf course” AND design with the desired publication date limits at ArticleFirst.  There is only one result, but it appears to be one that might interest the patron.  Given that the citation does not indicate actual date but only volume and issue, I cannot actually be sure it is after April 2001.  I decide to offer it to the patron, but provide at least two other citations.  Next I check InfoTrac but get no results.  Proquest produces results, but nothing that provides hole details.  At EBSCO Host, I notice  SPORTDiscus which I haven’t used before, so I search it, but it provides no results.  Searching the combination of Business Source Premier and Academic Search Elite, produces quite a few results.  Scanning the full texts I find several with at least some hole details and photos as well.

ANSWER:

I found one article using ArticlesFirst online accessed through the Buley Library website.

Stachura, M. (2001) Seeing Greens Award-Winning golf-course designer Dr. Michael Hurdzan is on a mission to make courses more environmental and resource-efficient. ID : magazine of international design. 48, Part 2 (2001): 68-73.

Using EBSCO Host I found several more articles, two of them conveniently in one issue.  I was able to search the text online, and these articles do contain some design detail as well as photographs:

Makin, Tom. (2001) Saguaro Secrets. Golf Magazine, November 2001, 43(11), p. N1, 4 pages, 3 color photographs.

Leslie, Mark (2002) Settle the bet. Golf Magazine, Oct 2001, Vol. 43 Issue 10, p94, 2p, 2 color photographs.

Peper, George (2001). Viva la provence. Golf Magazine, Oct 2001, Vol. 43 Issue 10, pN1, 4p, 1 map, 2 color photographs.

Duthie, Chris. (2001). Meetings & Conventions, July 2001 Supplement, Vol. 36 Issue 8, p11, 4p, 3 color photographs.

CITATIONS:

1) OCLC ArticleFirst accessed through Buley Library website on this page:

http://library.scsu.ctstateu.edu/edbs.html.

2) EBSCO Host: Business Source Premier and Academic Search Elite accessed in the same way.

2) The article citations as noted in the ANSWER section.

CLOSURE:

If these articles don’t provide enough information, I’ll be glad to continue the search.

-----------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION: 

Is Seattle Weekly Indexed, and if so, where?

METHODOLOGY:

I first look at Google.com with the query (“Seattle Weekly” indexed).  Among results were references to a University of Washington database and LEXIS-NEXIS.  I then searched (“Seattle Weekly” online) which gave me the paper’s website and search information there.

ANSWER:

1) You can search Seattle Weekly from 1998-present by subject, author, or title or just browse a particular issue at http://www.seattleweekly.com/search/      

2) Seattle Weekly is also indexed in the Pacific Northwest Regional Newspaper and Periodical Index Online through the University of Washington Library, available to anyone at: http://db.lib.washington.edu/pnw/. The index covers 1997-present and further information on the comprehensive and selective indexing used is at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/pnw_current/regional_cover.html.

3) It is also indexed through LEXIS-NEXIS at http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/, for articles from February 1999 to the present (1997-Feb 1999 removed from index at publisher’s request). If you have access to this database, you can click “sources” on the toolbar, then type “Seattle Weekly” in search box and click “Find it”, then click “search this source” to limit your search to Seattle Weekly.

CITATION: 

Google.com was the source used to locate Seattle Weekly indexing databases whose URL’s are in the ANSWER portion.

CLOSURE:

Do you need assistance searching for a particular topic or article in the Seattle Weekly?

---------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

In order to compare the coverage of the following indexes: Social Sciences Index FS, PAIS Bulletin, and Social Work Abstracts, use each to search for articles on alcohol use among teenagers within the past few years.  Note differences in the titles indexed.

METHODOLOGY:

I went to each index, looking at the database description and the beginning of the titles list to get a feel for the included publications.  I then searched each using the advanced search form for keywords “alcohol” AND “teen*”.  Given that the question asks for articles within the last few years, I first limited each search to 1999-2002.  I then expanded them to 1995-2002, and then did them without any limit on the year of publication.

FINDINGS:

Database Coverage:

PAIS covers a wider universe of journal titles, 3729 in all.  From the list it appears to focus on academic and professional journals from all over the world.  It has no full text availability.  The database is reported to cover 1972-present, but only contains 480,000 records, so the indexing must be quite selective.

Social Science Index FS covers 568 journals in the areas of psychology, sociology, and law from 1983-present.  The database reportedly includes citations to articles, interviews, obituaries, biographies and book reviews.  There are a total of 600,000 records, so it appears that what publications are covered are more fully indexed than in PAIS.  There is some full text availability through WilsonSelectPlus.

Social Work Abstracts contains abstracts of articles from social work and other related journals on topics such as homelessness, AIDS, child and family welfare, aging, substance abuse, legislation, community organization, and more.  This database covers 1977-present, but contains only 35,000 records.

Search Results:

In this particular search PAIS only produced a few citations, 2 since 1999, 6 since 1995, and only 9 even if the year of publication limits were off.  Results were drawn from such sources as: Research Review, Journal of Homosexuality, Swedish Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Public Affairs, Insurance, U.S. News and World Report, Challenge, and Gallop Reports.  Among the few results, several looked particularly relevant.

Social Science Index FS produced the largest number of citations 34 since 1999, 86 since 1995, and 121 without a limit on the date of publication.  Its citations were drawn from such sources as: Adolescence, Addictive Behaviors, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Journal of Drug Issues, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, American Journal of Public Health, The Futurist, Health Psychology, Psychology Today, Psychology Reports, American Demographics, and American Economic Review.  Many of the citations and their sources seem particularly appropriate to this subject.

Social Work Abstracts produced only 3 results since 1999, 9 since 1995, and 16 with unlimited date.  Some of the journals cited were: Adolescence, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Social Service Research, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Social Work, and Substance Use and Misuse. 

CONCLUSION:

All of these index/abstracts cover reputable journals with PAIS leaning toward the international and more general and the other two leaning toward journals just within the social sciences.  There is some overlap between Social Science Index FS and Social Work Abstracts, but the latter has more limited coverage and leans heavily toward research.  What index I would recommend to a patron would depend on the library I worked in (academic or public) and the scope desired. I would probably only recommend Social Work Abstracts to comprehensive researchers as one index they should check, but it can also be helpful by providing abstracts to a few of citations the OCLC Social Science Index.  This latter index is helpful in that it returns the largest number of citations and at least several of them have full text availability.  However, if I were in a public library that had access to PAIS, I would recommend it to the general researcher who only needed a few citations or who didn’t have the current date restriction.  My feeling is that, at least in this search, the citations there would be of more general interest, and probably more easily read by the general public.

----------------------------

These questions involve searching for images.

REFERENCE QUESTION:

My son is in middle school and needs information on and some color pictures of various types of geckos and related species.

METHODOLOGY:

Information and pictures of geckos are likely to be included in an encyclopedia. I check Encyclopedia Americana because it is one of the standards found in libraries, and according to Katz is easier to read than Britannica.  Even though it is an “adult” source, I doubt material on the subject will be beyond a middle schooler.  Searching “gecko” in the index in Volume 30 indicates the relevant articles and illustrations. I then check britannica.com for more pictures, and the online catalog for relevant call numbers.

ANSWER:

By looking in the index of Encyclopedia Americana I found a 4-paragraph article on geckos in Volume 12, p.359.  There is also a picture.  If you then check Volume 17 p.620-24, you will find an article on lizards that you can scan for information on geckos and related species.  There are several pictures as well, including one of a gecko from underneath and one of an interesting legless lizard that looks more like a snake. The article on reptiles in Volume 23 has more bits of information on p.425 and 427, and there is a picture of another kind of gecko in Volume 27 p. 152b.  A web link from britannica.com has a lot of good pictures too.  Click “photo gallery” from:

http://www.britannica.com/frm_redir.jsp?query=gecko&redir=http://www.geocities.com/pama81/Leopardgecko1.html&isbol=0

CITATIONS:

Encyclopedia Britannica 1998 Edition (1998). Danbury, CT: Grolier, Incorporated.  Volumes and pages as indicated in ANSWER above.

http://www.britannica.com searching gecko and related links, in particular the one above.

CLOSURE:  If you need more information or pictures you can of course check the indexes of other encyclopedias, further explore geckos, lizards, or reptiles on britannica.com, look for books on the subject in the 597 or 639.395 call numbers, or use a Google.com image search.  If you still have questions feel free to come back to the desk for help.

----------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

I love gardening and want to start some iris beds but I want to be exactly sure of what I plant.  I know there are about 110 species of iris.  Can you direct me to a source that will provide basic information such as size shape and other characteristics of each one?

METHODOLOGY:

I decide to check google.com, searching “iris species”.  Among the results is one which is an organization of iris growers: http://www.worldiris.com/public_html/Frame_pages/ID.html .  Information there indicates that Cooley’s is a catalogue with reliable species information, and another of the results is a link to http://www.cooleysgardens.com. which gives me the information the patron is searching for.

ANSWER:

The World Iris Organization indicates that Cooley’s is a grower with reliable species information.  Their website is http://cooleysgardens.com. If you first look at http://www.cooleysgardens.com/cg02a.html it will explain how to read their descriptions. Then you can look at a mini-picture matrix of 270 varieties on this page: http://www.cooleysgardens.com/cgpages.html   If you click on the pictures they link to descriptions, or alternatively, you can search an alphabetical list of species on this page: http://www.cooleysgardens.com/cg02b.html.

CITATION:

1) http://google.com searching “iris species”.

2) http://www.worldiris.com/public_html/Frame_pages/ID.html indicating reliable sources.

3) http://www.cooleysgardens.com, specifically the pages listed in ANSWER above.

CLOSURE:

This site should give you a lot of species information for iris.  If you need more let me know.

----------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Somebody told me I was getting oil beetles in my yard.  I don’t think so though.  I need some color pictures of oil beetles so I can make sure.  By the way, what happens if I pick up an oil beetle?

METHODOLOGY:

I pull up Britannica from the online databases in Buley Library. Searching “oil beetle” brings up a pretty clear color picture and some information and links.  The article does not answer the second part of the question so I search encyclopedia.com which provides an answer that distinguishes this beetle from related blister beetles.

ANSWER:

There is a nice color picture of oil beetles in the online Encyclopedia Britannica at this page: http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?asmbly_id=9725.  Encyclopedia.com on this page: http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/b/blisterb.asp provides the following information:

“Another group of meloid beetles has no cantharadin and is sometimes called the oil beetles because of the oily substance they secrete as protection against predators. Blister and oil beetles may be brushed into pans of kerosene or killed with systemic poisons or contact insecticides.” 

This would indicate that if you picked up an oil beetle you would get the oily substance on your fingers, but that it is not a blistering substance.  The best choice would probably be not to touch them however.

CITATIONS:

1) Encyclopedia Britannica online at http://www.eb.com, specifically the page in ANSWER above.

2) http://www.encyclopedia.com, specifically the page in ANSWER above.

CLOSURE: 

If you think you need more information or pictures, I can continue searching.

----------------------------

These are questions concerning searches for historical data.

REFERENCE QUESTION: 

As of closing on Friday, 5 October, 2001, what was the per share value of the following companies’ stock: American International Petroleum, Broadvision, Cisco Systems, America Online, IBM?

METHODOLOGY:

Searching “historical stock prices” on google.com leads me to http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com.

I click on “global symbol look-up” which takes me to this page:

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/symbollookup/symbollookup.asp where I search for the ticker symbols for the companies in question.  Then I return to the historical page at http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/  where I search each for 10/05/01.  The answer given includes the price at close that day as well as the high and low and other information.

ANSWER:

The following list of the companies you asked about includes their name, the ticker symbol and the closing price per share on Friday October 5, 2001.

·        American International Petroleum – AIPN - $0.0835

·        Broadvision – BVSN - $0.95 

·        Cisco Systems – CSCO - $14.94

·        America Online – AOL - $33.81

·        IBM – IBM - $98.02

CITATION:

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/historical/ and the symbol look-up page at the same site.

CLOSURE:

Is that all the information you need on these companies?

--------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Who was known as “Vinegar Joe”? (No – not the band---not Robert Palmer either).

METHODOLOGY:

An encyclopedia/dictionary of nicknames would probably be one place to get the answer to this question, but since I do not have access to one, I check google.com.  Querying “Vinegar Joe” gives me several results, some of which refer to the band or Robert Palmer, excluded by the question, but other results refer to a book published in 2000 called. Vinegar Joe's War: Stilwell's Campaigns for Burma. Another result refers to a 10K run named for General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell.  I look up this name in World Book Encyclopedia to further confirm this information.

ANSWER:

World Book Encyclopedia states that General Joseph Warren Stilwell (1883-1946) was a general in World War II, and the first U.S. general to command Chinese troops.  He was given the name “Vinegar Joe” for his forthright manner.

CITATIONS:

1) http://google.com searching “Vinegar Joe”.

2) World Book Encyclopedia. (2001). Chicago: World Book, Inc. Volume SO, p. 901.

CLOSURE:

Is that all the information you need on this topic?

-------------------------------

The following are questions about word and phrase meanings.

REFERENCE QUESTION:

I can’t think of the work but it has to do with a railroad – it’s the word for a short branch line like you’d see going to a mill or something.  Can you help me?

METHODOLOGY:

A dictionary is an appropriate source in a word search.  I visit the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary, and after going through the tour, I use the advance search page to search for “railroad (in full text) AND branch (in full text) AND short (in full text).  This give me 41 results, of which “spur” is one I recognize as a possibility.  However, without my railroad heritage (both grandfathers worked for Northern Pacific), I’m not sure I would have known that, or have been able to eliminate the rest, so I first search “branch” instead.  One definition there is “anything analogous to a limb of a tree, in being a lateral extension or subdivision of a main trunk; e.g. of a mountain range, a river, a road or railway, an artery or vein, etc.” and a combination is “branch-line”.  This leads me to use “railway” instead of “railroad” and “branch-line” instead of “branch” and “short” all (in definition) which gives me just “line” and “spur”.

OED says “spur” can be: “a branch of a lode, railway etc”, and that a special term in this regard is “spur line” which is “a railway branch-line”.  Several of the other definitions of spur include the adjective “short”, so I think that this is probably the term that the patron seeks.

ANSWER:

In the online Oxford English Dictionary I found the term “spur” or “spur line”, which can be used to describe a railway branch-line.  Is that the term you were trying to remember?

CITATION:

Oxford English Dictionary online at: http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/search.

CLOSURE:

Is there anything else I can help you with?

------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

Is “up the creek” the same as “up the river”?

METHODOLOGY:

Seeking the meaning of a phrase again makes me want an unabridged dictionary.  Returning to the online OED, I search the first phrase in the simple search box which gives me a definition.  Searching the second phrase also brings me a definition.

ANSWER:

In the online version of the Oxford English Dictionary, the first meaning of the phrase “up the creek” is “in a tight corner” or “in trouble” or it can specifically mean “pregnant”.  A second slang definition is “crazy or eccentric”.  The meaning of “up the river” originally referred to going “to Sing Sing prison, situated up the Hudson River from the city of New York” and now has a more general colloquial meaning of “to or in prison”.  So to answer your question, I would say that the two phrases are not the same.  Instead “up the river” could be thought of as a subset of “up the creek”.  In other words, someone who is going “up the river” might also be referred to as “up the creek”, whereas someone could be “up the creek” without being “up the river”.

CITATION:

Oxford English Dictionary online at: http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/search.

CLOSURE:

Is that clear, and does it answer your question?

---------------------------------

REFERENCE QUESTION:

What is a “monkey’s allowance”?  I hear it’s a pretty old phrase.

METHODOLOGY:

An unabridged dictionary that includes outdated meanings would be an appropriate source.  Using the simple search box of online OED, I search “monkey’s allowance”.  It refers me to a quotation, an aspect of the results I have been suppressing. With quotations unsuppressed, I am supplied with an answer of a sort.

ANSWER:

The online version of the Oxford English Dictionary found this term quoted in two old sources, one published in 1785, and one in 1833.  In both the term is combined with the words “more kicks than halfpence”.  I would take this to mean that if one were receiving a “monkey’s allowance”, one would be receiving physical abuse, but no, or very little money.

CITATION:

Oxford English Dictionary online at: http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/search.

CLOSURE:

Is that all the information you need about the term?

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REFERENCE QUESTION:

Who has more rank, a lieutenant general or a major general?  Since we’re talking about generals, who has more rank, a lieutenant general or a one star general?

METHODOLOGY:

Because this unit is about dictionaries, I check online OED to see what I can find, and I am able to answer the first part of the question by searching “lieutenant” AND “general”, and then “major” AND “general”.  However, I have less luck with “star”, so I turn to an almanac, searching “generals” in the index, where one referred page easily answers both questions and more.

ANSWER:

The World Almanac 2002, lists U.S. Army Generals in this ranking, from highest to lowest

·        General of the Army – five silver stars

·        General- four silver stars

·        Lieutenant General – three silver stars

·        Major General – two silver stars

·        Brigadier General – one silver star

So, in answer to your question, a Lieutenant General would outrank both a Major General and a one star general also known as a Brigadier General. 

CITATION:

World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000, (2002).  New York: World Almanac Books, p. 203.

CLOSURE:

Is there any more information you need?

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REFERENCE QUESTION:

Give me at least 5 synonyms for churl.

METHODOLOGY:

A thesaurus is the appropriate source for multiple synonyms.  I search “churl” in Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus online which gives me three definitions and four synonyms.  Instead of searching the linked synonyms there, I use a second source, Roget’s Thesaurus online.  That source, which seems to be a work in progress, includes churl in only one sense of the meaning, linked to parsimony, but provides me with an interesting and unpolitically correct list of 18 additional synonyms: “miser, niggard, churl, screw, skinflint, crib, codger, muckworm[obs3], scrimp, lickpenny[obs3], hunks, curmudgeon, Harpagon, harpy, extortioner, Jew, usurer; Hessian [U.S.]; pinch fist, pinch penny.

ANSWER:

Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus online gives three definitions for the word “churl”.  The first definition of “a rude or vulgar person” gives the synonyms “cad, clown, and boor”.  The second definition of “a peasant or laborer” repeats the “boor” synonym.  The third definition is “a stingy person, miser”, so miser would be a synonym.  Searching “churl” in Roget’s Thesaurus online gives a long list of synonyms for this last sense of the word, repeating ”miser”.  The least obscure of the others would be “skin flint” and “pinch penny”.

CITATIONS:

1) Wordsmyth English Dictionary – Thesaurus online at http://www.wordsmyth.net/.

2) Roget’s Thesaurus online at http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html.

CLOSURE:

Does that list of synonyms fill your need, or do you need a total of five synonyms for one particular meaning?

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The following questions are about government information and are answered using online government resources.

REFERENCE QUESTION:

What is a “fugitive document”? 

METHODOLOGY:

If this question was presented out of the context of this unit’s subject, I might first head to an unabridged dictionary.  However, in scanning the resources suggested in the lecture, I already noticed this term in Central Washington University’s Glossary of Terms used for U.S. Government Publications available at http://www.lib.cwu.edu/documents/glossary.html.  I return there to collect the definition, and the definition of possibly unfamiliar terms within it.

ANSWER:

According to an online Glossary of Terms used for U.S. Government Publications available through the library website at Central Washington University, a “fugitive document” is “a Government publication that meets all of the requirements for distribution through the depository program, but was not sent to GPO, and, therefore, was not sent to libraries.”  The “federal depository library program” is “a system established within the Government Printing office for the distribution of federal publications to depository libraries.”  The “GPO” is the “Government Printing Office”.

CLOSURE:

Is this definition clear, and does it meet your needs?

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REFERENCE QUESTION:

What was the total number of law enforcement officers killed and assaulted in 1998?

METHODOLOGY:

I first went to FirstGov.com where you can search government websites by keyword.  I searched “officers killed 1998” (without the quotations).  A likely result led me to the Bureau of Justice Statistics website at this page:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/lawenf.htm.  Prominently on the page was the information that the requested statistics were available through the FBI.  This statement was also linked, and produced this page: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm where assorted crime statistics documents by year are offered.  The 1998 Officers Killed and Assaulted pdf document produced clearer and more accurate answers than the summary information.

ANSWER:

The statistics you asked for are available through the FBI website.  The 1998 document accessed on this page: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm reports that in 1998, a total of 61 officers were killed in the United States and Puerto Rico, with 5 of those deaths occurring in Puerto Rico.  An additional 78 officers were killed in accidents while performing their duties.  The same document reports 59,545 line-of-duty assaults on officers.

CITATION:

1) The FBI website at http://www.fbi.gov.

2) “Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted 1998” pdf document accessed from this page: http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm.

CLOSURE:

I realize that I assumed you needed only statistics for the United States. Is that correct, and is there anything else I can help you with?

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REFERENCE QUESTION:

Where can the publication “National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Main Findings 1998” be accessed?  Who “publishes” it?

METHODOLOGY:

Again FirstGov.com seemed a likely place to start.  Plugging the title of the document requested into the search box on the homepage (without quotation marks) brings up more than 1000 results, but the first result is “National Household Survey on Drug Abuse Statistics – SAMHSA Office of Applied Statistics”.  On that page, survey documents are listed by year and linked to facilitate access.  The “1998 Main Findings” is one on the list.  The title page of the document itself lists the unabbreviated forms of SAMHSA and the government department to which it is attached where one would normally expect to find the publisher.  However, the access page refers to other “OAS publications” which leads me to believe that this office should be included when speaking of the publisher, even though it appears at the top of the title page rather than at the bottom

ANSWER:

I located the document you requested by searching its title at FirstGov.  You can download the document in pdf format at the following page http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/p0000016.htm.  Its publisher is SAMHSA’s Office of Applied Statistics.  SAMHSA stands for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and it is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

CLOSURE:

Is there anything else I can help you with?

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