The Second Floor Librarians » LibGuides

Travelin’ Man

Alex — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:36:03 +0000

March is here which means spring break and time to plan summer trips. Did you know the 2011 guidebooks for the U.S. and countries around the world are now here and you can check them out? If you’re not planning a trip but enjoy reading about travel, we have lots of travel memoirs set in both familiar and far off places. Take a look at our travel page to see a selection of new travel books, and if you want more suggestions for travel books to read, or have any comments about the travel page, please fill out the survey box located on the right hand side.

Posted by Alex, a second floor librarian

Photo credit: “Train and tracks,” part of the Illinois Urban Landscapes Project on Flickr.

13.8 lbs of turkey…

Lisa — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:34:06 +0000

Thanksgiving turkey, by wishuponacupcake on Flickr

…is how much the average American consumed in 2007.

Cranberry production for 2009 is estimated at 709 million pounds.

250 million is the estimated number of turkeys raised in the US this year, down 8% from last year. That is about 1.2 turkeys per person in the US.If you would like some more weird and wonderful statistics to inject into the conversation lulls at your Thanksgiving dinner, the US Census’ Thanksgiving Day Press Release is for you! Impress your family and friends with your intimate knowledge of these agriculture and economic statistics.

But seriously, sometimes you do need to find statistical information online. And in cases like that, one good source is the statistics page we second floor librarians have put together, giving you a starting point for your research (and of course, you can always ask us for help, too.) (You’ll find the page by going to our homepage, clicking on Databases, and then on Statistics.)

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone! Don’t forget that the library will be closed Thursday (11/26) and Friday (11/27), but we’re back with our usual hours on Saturday (10-6) and Sunday (12-6).

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian

The season of (e)giving is rapidly approaching!

Christopher — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:48:58 +0000

take a bow... by gin soak on flickr

Why not buy someone (maybe yourself) an ereader. There are quite a few options out there and I think this holiday season will be the turning point for near $100 ereading devices.

Give our ebook devices libguide a look and check on some of the big players like Sony, Amazon, Barnes & Noble… Even some of the “little fish” companies look like they have promising devices. This reader device comparison matrix might help too!

If you don’t recall, I have posted a few articles on ebooks. Look here and here.

Posted by Christopher ”waiting for my prs-500 upgrade” a second floor librarian

Our new local history page!

Christopher — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:26:09 +0000

Classic Red Barn by Robert Crum on flickr

Check out our ever expanding online resources through LibGuides.

One area we have been expanding is Local History . Broken down by geographic area, you will find new tools for researching our city, county, Willamette valley and state. My favorite addition so far is the “Inventory of the County Archives of Oregon No. 2 Benton County”…

Click on the cover to search the index. Head on over to the Benton County page to find the rest of the document.

We are also lucky enough to have Oregon State University Archives, Benton County Historical Society and the Benton County Genealogical Society in our area. You will find links to many of their excellent resources on our pages too.

Don’t forget we provide access to Ancestry Plus Library Edition and Heritage Quest for doing your genealogical research. You can find links to them and more on our Genealogy LibGuide.

Posted by Christopher, a Second Floor Librarian.