Did you know there’s an election coming up? Hard to miss if you’ve been online, watched TV, listened to the radio or used email in the past month. Election Day is Tuesday November 8 across the United States. We’re told it’s the most important election in our lifetime. Ssounds like quite a responsibility wtih a lot to learn. There’s no shortage of info out there. But it’s important to look at everything critically; make sure you’re getting the most impartial...
No — don’t go away! You’re probably tired of election season already and there’s three and a half months to go. But there are political cartoons and ads online that are interesting without being annoying. The Living Room Candidate is a free website that has videos of presidential campaign ads from 1952 – 2012. Curated by the Museum of the Moving Image [a topic for another day] the database of videos is searchable by election year, issue, candidate and...
One week the weather goes from highs in the fifties, the next week into the eighties. It’s Michigan! For those seeking to escape from boredom, or wish to take a break from studies, there are plenty of activities in not so far away places. Huron-Clinton Metroparks: www.metroparks.org Thirteen parks in southeastern Michigan featuring all sorts of outdoor activities. Farther afield, explore Michigan’s excellent state parks and campgrounds, but be advised, many require reservations for campsites. www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails/ For those looking for...
Got your attention? There’s no shortage of news about health and medicine. Everyday there’s something online or on TV claiming that everyday activities or foods may be life saving or can do irreparable harm. Often the words “a new study has shown…” is featured in the story. Your first thought is often “Huh?” or something similar. How to know what to believe? What’s credible? There’s a good bet that a website more known for celebrity gossip may not have...
Maybe you are looking for the number of live births in the United States in the year 2000. Or maybe it’s the percentage of children in Michigan who received the chicken pox vaccine in 2014. Or maybe it’s the crime rate in Detroit. You may have a need to know airline on-time performance or maybe you need the box scores from the 2005 Major League Baseball All Star Game (bonus points if you know where it was played.) The library...
Turkeys are native to North America and were first domesticated by the Aztecs. Turkey was probably not the main dish at the first Thanksgiving; it was more likely venison and small game were on the menu. Benjamin Franklin questioned the choice of the Bald Eagle as the national symbol and seems to think the turkey a better choice. “For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird...
Many textbook are adding additional information at their website to accompany the text of print books. Depending on the publisher this feature could be called ThePoint, ExpertConsult or Evolve. This is really useful in the health sciences. Most are available at a specific site using a login provided in the print copy. Some have been set up by the UDM Library In the past some textbooks came with CDs or later DVDs — this is more convenient. ...
As the new school year is settling in, it won’t be long before you have projects and presentations due. To spice them up you might want to add a picture or two. To use copyright free images search some of the websites listed below. http://search.creativecommons.org has 12 websites with either images, video, or music. However, Creative Commons cautions not to assume that all results are under the CC license umbrella. American Memory, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html from the Library of Congress, includes...
Including a few images can make a presentation much more interesting. Several sites come to mind: The Library of Congress collections are a good source of such material–photographs, and posters such as the one above: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html For scientific subjects one can go to: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/ Note: you should always acknowledge the source of the material even if it is free of copyright restrictions. ...
This one Right here The UDM Library Research Portal How do you know if it’s reliable? Websites can be a great source of info, but also not worth the time it takes to scroll thru it. How can you tell ? ...
