Blog Posts by rkamm
Rob Kamm is a part-time reference librarian. He is a generalist with wide ranging interests and is always curious to find out what new fact he'll learn today.
What's Up with the Doc?
10/21/11
Illinois has reinstated the records for physicians into the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation’s online database. So, once again, we can look up physicians and find out when they got their license, when it is due to expire, and if there has been any disciplinary action taken against them. Combined with the AMA’s Doctor Finder or the Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists (call the Answer Center - we can access this for you), this is a good way to find out a little more about the people we entrust with our health.
Tags: Government Information, Physician Information, Web Sites
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Statistical Abstract 2012 Now Online
10/04/11
Looking for the latest statistics on Housing Sales? How about the number of patents issued over the last decade? Broken down by state? By corporations or individual filers? These and hundreds of other data have been available in from the US Census Bureau's annual Statistical Abstract. Time was you would have to come to the library to look through the bound copy (or buy one, but at $50 you might not have wanted to do that). Now it is available, for free, on the web. So feel free to use it to find that statistic you need for work and spend more of your time with 26,540,000 of your closest friends doing Sodoku puzzles (Table 1240. Adult Participation in Selected Leisure Activities by Frequency: 2010).
What is your Search Engine of Choice?
08/19/11
The Search Engine Wars may be heating up again. Experian Hitwise recently released a study suggesting that Google, despite fielding two-thirds of all internet searches, generates significantly fewer hits than does Bing. Bing accounts for only 28% of searches but generates a website hit on 80% of those searches, vs. Google’s 66% success ratio. This is of particular interest to advertisers, but anyone who uses the internet for research may want to give Bing a try.
Tags: Search Engines, User Surveys
Illinois Citations
06/03/11
On July 1, 2011 Illinois will join about a dozen other states that already use a new method of case citation. According to Chief Justice Thomas L. Kilbride, “The official body of Illinois court opinions will now reside on the website of the Illinois Supreme Court, readily available to lawyers, judges and law clerks for official citation and to any member of the public who wishes to read them.” Also, the state saves the publishing costs of all these …
Take a look at this article for more information.
Tags: Citations, Lexis-Nexis
Lynda Helps with Resumes Too!
04/29/11
If you haven't checked out the video tutorials on Lynda you're missing out. Most of their tutorials are software related, but there are a few other topics hidden away in there. Just the other day they released a new one on making an effective resume; complete with exercises, cover letters, and thank-you notes. So if you are job hunting, or just want to rewarm your resume, check it out!
What page was that on?
02/08/11
Good news for Amazon Kindle users. According to a recent Kindle Blog entry (2/7/2011) newer versions of the Kindle are getting a sneak peak at a new feature. Or maybe it is a really old feature. You will be able to see the page numbers from the print edition of your books - no more fumbling around trying to figure out what part of the book you and your friends want to talk about. Will the older versions of the Kindle get this ability? We don't know. The library's Kindles are Kindle 2s, so we're hoping this feature proves compatible with the older machines.
It was Thirty Years Ago Today...
12/08/10
The 8th of December might not ring any bells for some people, but for many of us it was the day that we all wanted to be outside New York City's Dakota Building. It was the day that John Lennon was killed by Mark David Chapman, a former security guard.
You can learn more about both of these men from the Gale Biography in Context database through the library's website.
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