Ancestry adds Florida State Censuses for Years 1935 and 1945

Finally!! The Florida state censuses of 1935 and 1945 have been scanned and indexed and are on Ancestry.
The database is called: Florida State Census, 1867-1945.

This database contains Florida State Censuses for 1867, 1875, 1885, 1935, and 1945. Information listed may include: name, age, gender, race, relationship to head of household, birthplace, birth date, marital status, and parents' birthplaces.

Getting the Most Out of Google

Google Translate offers a package of free, online language tools that can assist in daily use and in your online research. Translations are produced by state-of-the-art technology, without the intervention of human translators. Automatic translation is also often referred to as machine translation. You can translate phrases or Web pages in over 30 languages; search in your native language and find results in others; and use the multitude of language dictionaries.

These tools are great for students, researchers and travelers. Find out more about Google Translate.

Important notification Regarding LearningExpress Update

In January 2009 LearningExpress will release a new version of their existing product called LearningExpress Library Version 2.0. Version2.0 will include significant enhancements to the user interface, making navigation and search for content easier than ever. Most notably, Version 2.0 incorporates "Learning Centers" as a means to logically group related courses, tests, and e-books all in one place, based on various criteria such as grade level, stage of life, and carreer interests or goals. In addition to improved navigation, users will benefit from new search functionality, online help, improved account management, and additional topic-related content adding value for your patrons.

How will this release impact you and your library system?

Although the LearningExpress Library(TM) Version 2.0 is extremely easy-to-use, it does have a new look and feel that may require some getting used to for current users. LearningExpress is developing a full suite of training materials, including online presentations and demonstrations, getting-started guides and tutorials, comparison charts, and more to make the transition as effortless as possible. Once I receive notification that these materials are available I will be passing that onto staff. So stay tuned for more to come!

Holiday Poem from Bookletters

With the holidays upon us things can be very stressful, but below you will find a poem sent out from Bookletters that will make you laugh with delight you. Hope you enjoy it, and Happy Holidays! Remember to checkout the Bookletters page when things slow down and you have time to read again:

http://www.hcplc.org/hcplc/ig/findbook.html

Twas the holiday season and all through the stacks,

Librarians used resources to check on their facts.

All the books had been shelved according to Dewey,

And the tables were clean from crafts that were gooey.

The movies and videos had all been rewound,

The mis-shelved titles had even been found.

Peace and quiet had returned to the building,

Decorations sparkled with all of the gilding.

When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter,

Staff ran to the front desk to see what was the matter.

The library director had a look of great horror,

While staring at a page on Internet Explorer.

“The website’s a mess and needs to be updated,

And it’s late on a Friday- we shouldn’t have waited.

Now we’ll have to stay late to get this work done,

Better plan to stay late and cancel your fun.”

The staff let out a groan that could be heard all around,

A frustrating, irritated and discouraging sound.

But the tech department let go of a big toothy grin.

“We’ve got BookLetters now, where've you all been!”

We’ll add some new content with just a few clicks,

Add new ISBNs to give us staff picks.

Do some quick typing to make e-news for December,

Hit the send button to send to our members.

The widgets will update graphics on the home page,

And all the new content will keep patrons engaged,

The programs are current, no need to worry there,

With BookLetters its easy, no need to despair!

The library staff all gave a big cheer,

“Let’s close up the library and go for a beer!”

The happy director said “I guess we’re all done,

Happy Holidays to all—let’s go have some fun!”

Surname Frequency in the US Census

The New York Times online has done an article about the recent US Census Bureau's analysis of surnames in America. You can visit the article and search a database of the 5000 most common last names.

"The number of Hispanics living in the United States grew by 58 percent in the 1990s to nearly 13 percent of the total population, and cracking the list of top 10 names suggests just how pervasively the Latino migration has permeated everyday American culture.
Garcia moved to No. 8 in 2000, up from No. 18, and Rodriguez jumped to No. 9 from 22nd place. The number of Hispanic surnames among the top 25 doubled, to 6.
Compiling the rankings is a cumbersome task, in part because of confidentiality and accuracy issues, according to the Census Bureau, and it is only the second time it has prepared such a list. While the historical record is sketchy, several demographers said it was probably the first time that any non-Anglo name was among the 10 most common in the nation. "

Where are you on the list?

The Many Features of World Book Advanced

World Book advanced, is tailored for the needs and skills of students in grades 8 and up, World Book Advanced integrates primary and secondary source databases in a single search. Resources include encyclopedia content, e-books, images and sounds, research tools, and a vast collection of primary source documents highlighting the accomplishments of the greatest minds throughout history.
World Book Advanced contains a wealth of fully integrated primary source material, including documents, lesson plans that utilize primary sources for classroom assignments, noteworthy speeches in United States History, more than 1,000 Supreme Court landmark cases, documents illustrating the campaigns of all major political parties for every presidential election year from 1840 through 2004, and the writings of important authors. World Book Advanced offers individual accounts for users to save their research, and an area for creating and saving timelines, citations, and pathfinders. The Citation Builder will give you examples of how to site various works in either MLA or APA styles. Go to World Book Advanced for all your Middle and High school research.

Need Answers? Try Power Search Plus!

Need Answers to indepth research queries? Try Gale's Power Search Plus. Power Search Plus is a type of federated search engine, but more of a discovery tool. What it really does is cross search particular databases (that we have chosen from other databases that we subscripe to) which are NOT Gale products, and then cluster your results by subject and by relevancy.



When you reach our Databases & Websites home page and search in the regular Power Search Box, you will be taken to a page in Gale with results and tabs across the top of the page. Each tab contains particular information in different formats as you will see. The last tab says "MORE RESULTS". If you click on this tab you will actually be going into the Power Search Plus mode, which might take a few minutes, but you will be pulling lots more results from 15 other databases outside of the Gale family. The list of "other" databases will be visable for a few seconds while the results are being gathered. These results from your search, can then be viewed, printed, e-mailed and even posted to a del.icio.us account, if you have one. Power Search Plus returns more information, which will be based and ranked on how relevant it is to your original search. When you get time look for yourself, and get a feel for this new search engine, which gathers vast information from many many sources. http://www.gale.cengage.com/powersearch/plus/index.htm

Proquest Newspapers Content Update

ProQuest is pleased to announce additional years of coverage have been added to several ProQuest Historical Newspaper titles.

The new dates of coverage are listed below:
Atlanta Constitution: 1868-1942
Boston Globe: 1872-1925
Christian Science Monitor: 1908-1995
The New York Times: 1851-2005
Washington Post: 1877-1992
Wall Street Journal: 1889-1991

If you enjoy ProQuest Historical Newspapers and find them helpful, check out these fun new tools that will aid you and your customers to get the most out of our subscription.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers Tutorial Video

Retroview eNewsletter: an entertaining look into ProQuest Historical Newspapers

Facebook, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, The Guardian group: share research and fun finds from The Guardian and The Observer

Getting the Most Out of Google

With the holidays coming fast upon us, wouldn't it be nice to track all of our packages from one place?

You can track packages by typing the tracking number for your UPS, Fedex or USPS package directly into the Google search box. They’ll return results that include quick links to easily track the status of your shipment.