Public Library Resource

Amber Lansing Spring 2009 Elsie Okobi This resource is in partial fulfillment of the requirements for ILS 504- Reference Materials and

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This resource includes a listing of helpful, reliable and accurate websites to help the reference librarian of a public library. Categories Included: Library Catalogs Bibliographies E-Books Indexes Guides/Review and Selection guides for Reference Tools Access to Travel Resources Literacy Resources Resources for Non-English Patrons Lifelong Learning Readers’ Advisory Government Resources Job Search Resources Resources for Elderly Resources for Children Ready Reference Tools

*Links to each website is also available on www.delicious.com/refdeskhelper.

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Library Catalogs WorldCat www.worldcat.org WorldCat is the largest network of library content and services in the world. Worldcat allows patrons from anywhere to search for books, movies, music, digital audio books and more located locally or Internationally. It is accessible from any computer and if your library permits it you are even able to request items or virtually check them out. Your library may also allow access to databases and WorldCat will direct you to the links to access them. ICONN-reQuest www.ICONN.org reQuest, a service provided by ICONN, is the Statewide Library Catalog of Connecticut. It contains over 4 million titles from more than 400 academic, public, school and special libraries in the state including books, videos, music and other items. More than 200 libraries in the State participate in interlibrary loan through reQuest. Patrons of those libraries can place requests online through the reQuest Main Catalog. ICONN also includes the reQuest Magazine Catalog. This catalog can be searched to find magazines and journals from more than 400 libraries in the state. CONNECT Library Catalog http://ibistro.libraryconnection.info The Connect library catalog through library connection allows patrons to search every public library in Connecticut. There is a feature to search all libraries and also the ability to request items be shipped to a different library for pick up. Patrons can also access information about each library including their phone number and hours.

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Bibliographies EasyBib www.EasyBib.com EasyBib is an automatic bibliography and citation maker. This tool provides an easy way to create bibliographies and citations in MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian style. A pro version is available plus downloadable bibliography guides. Internet Public Library Pathfinders http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/ The Internet Public Library is a public service organization and a learning/teaching environment founded at the University of Michigan School of Information and hosted by Drexel University's College of Information Science & Technology. This website offers “pathfinders” that include bibliographies on books geared towards a commonly sought after topic. ERIC www.eric.ed.gov ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center, provides unlimited access to more than 1.2 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials, with hundreds of new records added twice weekly. If available, links to full text are included. Within the ERIC Collection, you will find records for journal articles, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers, and other education-related materials.

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E-Books E-Book Locator http://www.ebooklocator.com/ E-Book Locator lets you search by state and library to find out if any participating library offers free downloadable audio books. This website is powered by Overdrive downloadable audio books. Library Connection Audio Books http://libraryconnection.lib.overdrive.com The LC Audio Book website allows you to search for downloadable audio books throughout libraries in Connecticut that are members of Library Connection. When first visiting this site it is necessary to download the necessary software to download the audio books. An audio book is able to be checked out for 3 weeks. When this time is up the audio book will automatically be disabled and removed from your playlist. Google Books http://books.google.com/ “Google Books” allows you to search through millions of digitized books. When a book is located a link is given to you to locate the book. If the book is out of copyright or out of print you have access to a downloadable PDF copy. Many items that are still in copyright or not out of print provide a limited viewing. This website allows you to search millions of books for specific subjects within books.

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Indexes Librarians Internet Index http://lii.org/ The Librarians Internet Index is funded by the state of California but provides information for people everywhere. It features dozens of high-quality websites carefully selected, described, and organized by a team of librarians. Topics include current events and issues, holidays and seasons, helpful tools for information users, human interest, and more. You can also search and browse to find the best of the Web. It includes 20,000 entries organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related topics. Social Security Death Index http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ The social security death index provided by rootsweb, an ancestry.com community organization, allows you to search for death records. This index includes approximately 83,959,519 different records. Advanced search options allow you to have minimal information and still find the death record you are searching for. Digital Book Index http://www.digitalbookindex.org/about.htm Digital Book Index provides links to more than 145,000 full-text digital books from more than 1800 commercial and non-commercial publishers, universities, and various private sites. More than 100,000 of these books, texts, and documents are available free, while many others are available at very modest cost. Materials such as reference books, history books, social science and more are included.

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Guides/Review and Selection guides for Reference Tools New York Times Books http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/ The New York Times book review page provides great reviews on books of all kinds including hardcover fiction, children’s, graphic books and more. These reviews can be used in collection development and reference resource development. BookSpot http://www.bookspot.com/ BookSpot.com is a free resource available that provides simplified information on the best book-related content on the Web. Featured sites are hand-selected by BookSpot.com editors and organized into intuitive categories, such as bestseller lists, genres, book reviews, electronic texts, book news and more.

Bookwire http://www.bookwire.com/ Bookwire is the Internet resource that focuses on new titles, new authors, and the general book industry. You can use this site to search book reviews, read about the latest releases, watch author video clips, and learn about upcoming book events. It is updated frequently and newly released items are added often. Many tools are included on this site including access to BooksinPrint and Ulrichsweb.com. It also includes links to book lists across the country.

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Access to Travel Resources Fodors www.fodors.com Fodor's gives you access to insights and tools with travelling. These resources include reference, guidebooks and websites offering current and discerning shopping, dining, hotel, and culture recommendations. People who live in the locations write the provided tools. This includes over 700 travel writers. Fodors.com can also connect you to a like-minded community of selective travelers for further information. MapQuest http://www.mapquest.com/ Mapquest offers mapping tools that can be accessed through the Internet, through wireless and business applications. These mapping tools help people find places and direct them how to get there. The site provides consumers with trusted, reliable mapping and navigation solutions and offers valuable features such as aerial/hybrid imagery, multi-point routing and the ability to find the lowest gas prices. Kayak http://www.kayak.com/ Kayak is a travel search engine and works much like Yahoo and Google. This means they search hundreds of travel sites from all over the world, provide the information to you in an easy-to-use display, and then let you refine and choose the exact result you want, then sending you directly to the source to make your purchase. This site helps travelers find hotels, rental cars, airfare, gas prices, and more. 8

Government Passport Page http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html This page is created and maintained by the U.S. Department of State. This website includes all the information needed for acquiring a passport. It also includes everything anyone might need to know for traveling regulations and requirements.

Literacy Resources ProLiteracy www.proliteracy.org Proliteracy is an organization that works across the globe and works with organizations and individual members in offering adults instruction in basic literacy, GED preperation, math and English as a second language. They strive to provide the highest quality in education. This site will help volunteers and those searching for instruction. National Institute for Literacy http://www.nifl.gov/ Established in 1991 by the National Literacy Act, the National Institute for Literacy provides leadership on literacy issues, including the improvement of reading instruction for children, youth, and adults. In consultation with the U.S. Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services, the Institute serves as a national resource on current, comprehensive literacy research, practice, and policy. America’s Literacy Directory http://www.literacydirectory.org/?op=doc&doc=aboutus America's Literacy Directory is a national database of literacy programs available via the Internet and the National Institute for Literacy's toll-free number. The ALD connects employers, learners, volunteers, social service providers, and others to current information about literacy programs in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. Literacy Link http://litlink.ket.org/ 9

LiteracyLink provides a place for the underserved and hard-toreach adults and their teachers to quality adult basic education and GED preparation tools using technology. It combines video, the Internet, and print materials. LiteracyLink programs are relevant to the needs of the individual learner, adult instructional programs, and the workforce.

Resources for Non-English Patrons Listing of Federal Websites in Spanish http://www.odl.state.ok.us/usinfo/topiclists/us-spanish.htm This site includes a listing of all federal websites that are available in Spanish. These sites include the IRS, the Commerce Department and the Education Department. U.S. Government http://www.usa.gov/gobiernousa/ This website translates the entire U.S. Government website into Spanish for people living in the U.S. that have English as their second language. English Language Programs http://www.esl.com/ ESL.com works with AAIEP (American Association of Intensive English Programs) to provide programs for anyone that desires to learn English. This site can be translated into multiple languages including Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. This site includes programs off all instruction levels

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Lifelong Learning Elderhostel www.elderhostel.com Elderhostel, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing exceptional learning opportunities to adults at a remarkable value. It is the nation’s first, and the world’s largest, educational travel organization primarily for adults. Their mission believes that learning is an integral part of a healthy and fulfilling life and that this is done best through travel. They offer almost 8,000 offerings a year in over 90 countries. Each offering provides comfortable amenities and educational excellence at a great value. World Wide Learn http://www.worldwidelearn.com/ World Wide Learn is the world’s largest directory of online learning. It provides information about all online education programs that provide e-learning. E-learning is an easy way for people with full time jobs and families to continue their education to enhance their skills and help get a better career. This site makes it easy to search for programs available for anyone. Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/about.html Google Scholar provides a great way to search literature that is 11

considered scholarly worthy. It includes peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations. Google Scholar helps you identify the most relevant research across the world of scholarly research. This site can help anyone looking for ways to continue with lifelong learning by finding quality information and research.

Readers’ Advisory KidsReads http://www.kidsreads.com/ Part of The Book Report Network, Kids Reads is a great place to find information about kids books, authors and kids series. It includes reviews of the newest titles; interviews with the coolest authors and special features on great books. Librarians can find great booklists updated monthly based on such topics as “Best Books for Boys”. Novelist http://www.ebscohost.com/novelist/ This site is created and maintained by the very popular publishing company EBSCO. Novelist includes feature articles, booktalks, and book discussion guides plus author read-alikes, readers' advisory training content and a variety of other reader and staff materials. It is comprised of 150,000 fiction titles, and over 4000 custom created articles and lists. 35 professionals make up the team that organize this site that is now well known for readers advisory services. ReadKiddoRead http://www.readkiddoread.com/home 12

The author James Patterson and a board of professionals organize “ReadKiddoRead”. These professionals use their knowledge to create great lists of books for recommendations. Recommendations are broken down by in many different categories including age range, new arrivals and best books for boys.

Government Resources Internal Revenue Service http://www.irs.gov/ This site gives information on everything that the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) deals with. This includes taxes, retirement and social security. Connecticut Government http://www.ct.gov/ The CT.gov website offers information about the government in Connecticut. This includes working, living, learning, visiting, doing business in Connecticut and their system of government. Each branch of the government is covered and there is also a thorough section about CT including statistics and demographics. Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicle http://www.ct.gov/dmv/site/default.asp The department of motor vehicle’s website offers information and answers to any questions about policy and procedure regarding motor vehicles and transportation equipment. 13

Job Search Resources USA Jobs http://www.usajobs.gov/ USA jobs is a website sponsored by the federal government and lists all available job positions within the federal government. It’s the best place to look for government jobs and information about those jobs. Monster www.monster.com Monster works to connect job seekers with employers and provide quality career advice. It is ranked one of the top 20 most visited websites. The site provides anything and everything related to job searching with tools such as a resume helper and career mapping. JobWeb http://www.jobweb.com/ This site is a service of the National Association of Colleges and 14

Employers. It focuses on careers for new college graduates including many tools towards job searching such as resume and interview advice and salary recommendations.

Resources for Elderly AARP http://www.aarp.org/ AARP is a very well known non-profit organization that was founded in 1958. It helps people 50 and over improve their quality of life AARP has grown to 40 million members and has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As the nation’s largest membership organization for people 50+, AARP is leading a revolution in the way people view and live life after 50. This site is AARP’s online access to their organization. American Society on Aging http://www.asaging.org/index.cfm The American Society on Aging was founded in 1954 and is an association of diverse individuals working towards the same goal: to support the commitment and enhance the knowledge and skills of those who seek to improve the quality of life of older adults and their families. The members focus on physical, emotional, social, economic 15

and spiritual aspects of aging and range from practitioners, educators, administrators, policymakers, business people, researchers, students, and more. This is the organizations access to their information online. National Council on Aging http://www.ncoa.org/ The National Council on Aging is a non-profit service and advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. NCOA serves as a national voice for older adults. They especially serve to help those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged. NCOA brings together non-profit organizations, businesses and government to develop creative solutions that improve the lives of all older adults. NCOA works with thousands of organizations across the country to help seniors live independently, find jobs and benefits, improve their health, live independently and remain active in their communities

Resources for Children Juvenile Series http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/series/juv/ The Mid-Continent Public Library hosts this site that includes everything geared around juvenile book series. It allows you to search by author, series title, book title and subject. It is very useful when searching for the next book in a series. BookAdventure www.bookadventure.org Book Adventure is a free resource that strives to make kids want to read more. Book Adventure helps children choose what to read independently reinforcing their ability to become versatile, engaged, lifelong readers. The site also includes technology integration with short quizzes and also giving rewards for reading and demonstrating comprehension of the books read. At BookAdventure anyone can type in a few items within the search criteria and receive a list of books 16

suited to their needs and likes. Children’s Library http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ The Children’s Library works to collect and digitize children’s books from all over the world. These books are available for free and include historical and contemporary. This is great for introducing multiculturalism and provides for a very simple search including subject search and age range.

Ready Reference Tools InfoMine http://infomine.ucr.edu/ INFOMINE, a librarian built database, is a virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level. It contains useful Internet resources such as databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other types of information. Google www.Google.com Google is one of the most well-known search engines available on the World Wide Web. It allows you to search for any kind of 17

information with just a few words and gives you links to the massive amounts of information available online with the most relevant searches listed first. RefDesk www.refdesk.com This site is the ultimate reference desk built into one. Refdesk is a free and family-friendly web site that indexes and reviews quality, credible, and current web-based resources.

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