Thursday, June 22, 2006

The National Debt

The National Debt

You owe the government $26,600. If you have any children, you owe their share also.













Source: Bureau of the Public Debt
Additional Info: U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK and Google's page on the "Public Debt"

Cornell University's Gardening Resources

Cornell University's Gardening Resources

Besides the general Cornell Cooperative Extension web site, Cornell offers a bounty of information with their Home Gardening sites, including extensive information on flowers, vegetables, and lawn care.

The San Francisco Earthquake

The San Francisco Earthquake

At 5:13 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18th, 1906, an earthquake struck San Francisco. It measured almost 8.0 on the Richter scale and killed hundreds of people. It took a week to put out the resulting fires, which killed even more people. The total number of casualities are estimated at 3,000 people, a figure very similar to the number of people killed on Sptember 11th, 2001.
Here are three sites about the earthquake:

How Congress Spends Your Money

How Congress Spends Your Money

Here's a nice chart breaking down how the government spends your money.

For 2006, Tax Freedom Day is June 3rd. That means you need to work from January 1st to June 3rd and give all that money to the government in order to meet your average tax bill. The money you earn after June 3rd is yours to keep.

Pandemic Flu

Pandemic Flu

Sick of hearing about Avian Flu?

Robert Webster, faculty researcher at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Infectious Diseases department, said, "Society just can't accept the idea that 50 percent of the population could die [in a flu pandemic]. And I think we have to face that possibility .... I'm sorry if I'm making people a little frightened, but I feel it's my role."

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife pathologist Ward Stone says he believes the same thing.

The Flu Pandemic of 1918-19 killed an estimated 25 million people, including 550,000 Americans.

World Public Opinion.org

World Public Opinion.org

This site was launched in January 2006 by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) to “provide a source of in-depth information and analysis on public opinion from around the world on international issues.”

The Ethical Researcher: Goals of an Ethics Policy

The Ethical Researcher: Goals of an Ethics Policy

This site includes academic integrity and plagiarism policies for high schools and colleges as well as definitions of terms associated with school policies. It also includes parts of the disciplinary process: reporting, documenting, and procedures.

Irish American Heritage Month and St. Patrick’s Day

Irish American Heritage Month and St. Patrick’s Day

The U. S. Census Bureau Facts for Features page that is devoted to all thing Irish in the U. S. including population distribution, beer consumption, trade with Ireland, and more.

Spring Training: Official Site of MLB’s Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues

Spring Training: Official Site of MLB’s Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues

This site offers complete information of the Spring 2006 Major League Baseball season including ticket information, a list of teams, stadiums, schedules, statistics, transactions, and headlines.

MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorials

MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorials

You can select from a list of Diseases, Tests, and Treatments with interactive graphics.

Newspapers

Newspapers

You can read full-text news and newspapers from all over the world from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. http://library.uncg.edu/news

Assignment Calculator

Assignment Calculator

Do you need some help in time management? Try the assignment calculator from the University of Minnesota.

Always there: the African American Presence in American Quilts

Always there: the African American Presence in American Quilts

In honor of Black History Month: A short bibliography about the meanings of quilts created by African Americans.

Modern Library's 100 Best

Modern Library's 100 Best

Modern Library, a division of Random House, offers two lists of the 100 best novels and the 100 best nonfiction works. Each category has two lists: editors' choices and readers' choices. You can use our online catalog to see if we own a book, and if we don't, you can request it through interlibrary loan.

ROE v. WADE

ROE v. WADE

This week marks the 33rd anniversary of the well-known Supreme Court case involving abortion. Google has many sites on this topic, and PollingReport.com has opinion polls going back at least seven years. Additional information is available through the National Libraries of Medicine.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."

This organization "provides an institutional home for a broad range of activities illuminating the Nobel Peace laureate’s life and the movements he inspired," including a King Encyclopedia, King's Letter from Birmingham Jail [printable version] and his "I Have A Dream" speech [printable version]. The site also offers audio files.

NOAA Winter Outlook

NOAA Winter Outlook

Are you curious about what experts predict for winter 2005-06? Here is a site that may help you with a decision to purchase a snow blower or skis this year. Additional “relevant web sites” are listed as well.

History of Thanksgiving

History of Thanksgiving

At this History Channel site one can find “Mayflower Myths,” an explanation of the “First Thanksgiving,” Thanksgiving links, and more.

Great American Smokeout

Great American Smokeout

On November 17, 2005, the American Cancer Society will hold the Great American Smokeout. This annual event, challenging “Americans to quit smoking” has been in existence since 1977. The Society hopes that if a smoker can quit for one day then he could quit forever.

Great American Smokeout

Great American Smokeout

On November 17, 2005, the American Cancer Society will hold the Great American Smokeout. This annual event, challenging “Americans to quit smoking” has been in existence since 1977. The Society hopes that if a smoker can quit for one day then he could quit forever.

Veterans History Project

Veterans History Project

This project of the Library of Congress has collected “oral history interviews, memoirs, letters, diaries, photographs, and other original materials” from veterans since Congress created the project in 2000. Veterans of both World Wars and other wars and conflicts fought since can be seen and/or heard through videotape or audiotape interviews.

NOLA.com

NOLA.com: Everything New Orleans

Information on the situation in New Orleans, including updates from The Times-Picayune and a large gallery of photos.

students.gov

students.gov

A comprehensive information portal for students, providing answers to your questions on education, career, government, etc. There are special sections on planning your education, paying for your education, career development, military service, community service, and travel.

Park Sites

National Park Service & NYS Parks

Looking for something to do this summer? Visit a National or New York State Park! You can also consider visiting the largest park in the lower forty-eight states: The Adirondacks!
If you go to Yellowstone, look out for the caldera.

Employment Web Sites

How Stuff Works

How Stuff Works

This popular website offers the answer to your question of how does it work. Categories include computer, auto, electronics, science, home, health, money, travel, and people stuff. There are explanations of how income taxes work, how exercise works, how cell phones work and more.

Oklahoma City National Memorial

Oklahoma City National Memorial

April 19, 2005 marks the tenth anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. This site outlines the activities being held during this year’s National Week of Hope, April 17-24, and has links to the history of the memorial, its museum and more.

Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network

Earth Day Network is a "leading worldwide environmental organization" composed of individuals who organized the first Earth Day in 1970. This year we celebrate the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, a day set aside to celebrate earth and work for a cleaner world. This site lists program events and resources for hosting an event as well as educational resources on the environment.

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Since the Middle States Accreditation Team will be on campus April 4-6, this is an excellent site for those who would like to know more about the organization that reviews SUNYIT. Our local Middle States Committee submitted an extensive report after gathering information from many campus committees and individuals. The FAQ section offers a broad overview of topics of interest to students and faculty

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

National Center for Health Statistics

Demographic Profiles

Demographic Profiles

A four-page summary from the 2000 Census for counties, cities, towns and villages, including sex, age, race, relationship, household & housing occupancy, educational attainment, marital status, language, ancestry, employment, industry, income, poverty, and detailed housing characteristics.

Irish Sites

Polling Report

PollingReport.com

"An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion."

Free public opinion polls from leading researchers like Gallup, the Pew Research Center and Zogby on current topics, including the President, Iraq, terrorism, Social Security, abortion, capital punishment and gay marriage.

The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General

The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General

An in-depth analysis of smoking from an authoritative and credible source. The Report notes:

  • Smoking will take 14 years off your life

  • Between 1995 and 1999, smoking killed over 440,000 people, greater than the number of Americans who died in World War II

  • Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death

Martindale’s Calculators On-Line Center

Calculate This!

Currently the resource contains over "19,120" Calculators created by over "3,455" very "creative" individuals, businesses & tax supported entities world wide. There are calculators for science, chemistry, engineering, arts, business, medical, sports, crafts, music, home improvement, weather, etc.

Here are some of the things you can calculate:
Calorie expenditure calculator
How much will it cost to raise a child?
Dental Cost calculator
Picture Frame Molding calculator
Recipe Conversion
Conversion factors for energy equivalents calculator
Unit conversions, English and Metric calculator
Hologram formula calculator

Questions? Contact your friendly librarian.

First Monday

First Monday is one of the first peer-reviewed journals on the Internet, solely devoted to the Internet and has published 574 papers in 104 issues, This journal provides full-text open access for the entire content since 1996.

Articles are contributed by scholars from 30 countries around the world and topics are wide ranging. Here are examples of titles from the "Best Mondays": "The effects of September 11 on the leading search engine" by Richard Wiggins, "The educated blogger: Using weblogs to promote literacy in the classroom" by David Huffaker, and "Online grocery shopping: Consumer motives, concerns, and business models" by Mike Kempiak and Mark A. Fox.

Questions? Contact your friendly librarian.

African American History

For a most extensive list of links for African American History go to the Virtual Library at: http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/african-american.html

This site is organized topically and chronologically from about 1857-2000. It includes categories too numerous to mention including such topics as the underground railway, the Harlem Renaissance, Islam, and the trial of O.J. Simpson.

Questions? Contact your friendly librarian.

The Black Film Center/Archive

If you’re looking for a list of films to watch in celebration of Black History Month, check out the Black Film Center/Archive from the Indiana University Bloomington campus at: http://www.indiana.edu/~bfca/about.html

Although the BFC/A does not loan any of its holdings, you will find lists of lots of great films about African Americans and the black experience. Click on "Collection" to get a list and then click on the format you want to look at such as 1/2" videocassettes or DVD.

If you really want to get into it in a scholarly way look under "Helpful Links."

Questions? Contact your friendly librarian.