Credo Reference Blog

Credo Reference accepted an invitation to participate in the London Libraries’ “E-books marketplace” seminar at Swiss Cottage Library on Tuesday 23 February.  Representatives from 17 London libraries attended, most of whom were Credo subscribers, and all of whom are in different phases of embracing e-books.

Martin Palmer opened the seminar with an excellent account of how Essex Libraries explored and responded to the changing technologies and demands for e-books in the library environment, from the very early days to the huge and growing success that they now are at Essex Libraries.

Though Credo Reference is not an e-book platform, Anne Kail nevertheless found a theme that resonated.  Mindful that in these tough financial times usage and promotion are even more pressing than ever for librarians, Anne showed how Credo’s new Topic Pages tackle both those challenges and demonstrated how the library’s own e-books can be featured on the Credo page.

The event was wrapped up nicely with Tony White’s talk “E-publishing – a writer’s perspective” which he closed with a reading from one of his short stories – check it out at www.artistsebooks.org

Swiss Cottage Library

Some of you will know (or can find it in Brewers’ on Credo Reference) that Swiss Cottage refers not only to the library and the local area but originally to the ‘public house built in the style of a Swiss chalet. The original version was erected on the site of a former tollgate keeper’s cottage in 1803.  Today’s Swiss Cottage Library (pictured) is a branch library of Camden Libraries who are long time subscribers to Credo Reference.

The book's fantastic cover art

Last week I had the chance to attend a reading here in Boston by Marylin Johnson, author of “This Book Is Overdue,” which I have just started reading. I was excited for the opportunity to learn about her process and experiences while researching and writing the book.

In introducing the book, she started out by describing it as her “love letter to Librarians;” there were many librarians in the audience and I got the sense that they really appreciated the sentiment!

Of course one of the very first questions from the group was why she chose to write a book about librarians. In answer, she talked about her last book, “The Dead Beat” and her opinion that the most interesting obituaries she read while researching it were of Librarians so she decided they deserved a book of their own.

She described some of her experiences in researching the book – including attending library conferences such as ALA. Hearing the conference described from her perspective as a total outsider made many of the conference veterans in the audience chuckle, myself included.

Johnson talked a lot about the various librarians she met while doing her research and one theme that came across quite strongly was her sense of librarians’ fierce commitment, as a professional group, to enable access to information to anyone who needs it; so this rant by a blogger for the Huffington Post struck a chord with me. A rather off-key chord based on Johnson’s description and my own experiences with members of the profession. I understand where he’s coming from, but I think he doesn’t understand libraries and librarians and how they operate with a different mission than a business.

After the event was done she stayed and signed books for many of us. I waited in line to say hello and thank her though she couldn’t really sign my book – I have the Kindle version.  She did offer to sign my Kindle, or a sticky note to put ON my Kindle, but it’s not quite the same.

I’m not far enough along in the book to offer any kind of review just yet, but I promise one will follow once I’ve finished. What I’ll say for now is that I am finding “This Book is Overdue” to be a fascinating read with stories that range from funny to sad to inspiring to infuriating. Stay tuned…and if you’re reading the book, please let me know what you think.

Salon.com recently posted an interview with Johnson, you can find it here.

The Winter Olympic Games are taking place in Vancouver this year. Can you answer these questions about the Winter Olympics?

1. How often are the Winter Olympic Games held?

2. Which British pair of skaters won the Olympic ice-dance title in 1984?

3. Which sport, included for the first time at the Winter Olympics in 1998, involves riding across snow standing on a wide single ski resembling a small surf board?

4. The IOC is responsible for the summer and winter Olympics. What does the abbreviation “IOC” stand for?

5. Were the Winter Olympic Games first held in 1904, 1914 or 1924?

6. Where were the Winter Olympic Games held in 1984?

7. The luge was introduced into the Winter Olympics in 1964. “Luge” is French for what?

8. Name one of the three places where the Winter Olympics have been held twice.

9. How many people are there in a team at curling, a winter Olympic sport?

10. Which skier, known as “Le Superman” in his native France, won three gold medals in Alpine ski events at Grenoble in 1968?

Duart da Silva addressing the assembled crowd

There was a terrific, lively atmosphere at the Credo reception to celebrate the inclusion of the National Gallery images in the Credo Reference collection.

Perhaps the secret was the brevity of the speeches allowing our guests maximum time for mingling and enjoying the excellent food and drink:

Westminster Councilor Edward Argar lent an appropriate touch of gravitas to the proceedings and set the pace and a light-hearted tone with his brief remarks.

Louise Rice of the National Gallery gave us a witty whistle stop tour of the Gallery’s contents and its history, egalitarian from its beginning in the early C19 to today’s free public access to one of the world’s greatest collections of Western European painting.

Credo’s John Dove took up the baton and showed how the Gallery’s images would enhance the Credo search results, and Anne Kail crossed the finishing line with a preview of Credo’s exciting new Topic Pages, set to launch later in the year.

Or perhaps the lively hubbub of conversation that then followed over those excellent canapés and wine was down to the eclectic mix of Credo subscribers who came along – university and public librarians rubbed shoulders with newspapers, art editors, art publishers and professional institutions.

The inclusion of this prestigious collection is generating some excitement: “Credo’s Got My Attention, Again!” (From a recent Library Journal eViews column http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1100000310/post/730052273.html)

The Westminster Reference Library is right next door to the National Gallery so we were delighted when they offered to host our reception.  Our thanks go to the team who were there on the night and who all ensured that everything went so smoothly and enjoyably: Rossella Black, Alexandra Buccholz, Peter Collins, Owen Grey and last but by absolutely no means least, Duart da Silva who was a superb ‘master of ceremonies’ (pictured above).

View of the National Gallery

This week: America

One of the books recently added to Credo Reference is the “Encyclopedia of Urban America”. Test your knowledge of the USA with these questions, which can all be answered from this source.

1. Name America’s first landscaped public park, created in 1853 in the center of Manhattan.

2. Which American author is best known for his second novel, “On the Road” (1957)?

3. Fiorello La Guardia was the mayor of which city from 1934 through 1945?

4. In his State of the Union message in January 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared “unconditional war” on what?

5. Louis Armstrong, America’s leading virtuoso jazz trumpeter, was born in which city?

6. P.T.Barnum was the leading showman of the nineteenth century. What was his first name?

7. Coney Island, a beach on the Atlantic Ocean, got its name from being inhabited by what?

8. Which annual prizes are given by the School of Journalism at Columbia University from a bequest of $1 million?

9. Which American painter specialises in pictures of tired old buildings and their lonely denizens – such as “Early Sunday Morning” and “Nighthawks”?

10. What name did Jean Gottmann give to an “almost continuous stretch of urban and suburban areas” extending from Maine to Maryland?

Find the answers here.

This week: Airports

This week’s brainteaser is about airports.

1. Name the main airport serving London, situated west of London.

2. There is an airport and flying doctor base near Alice Springs in which country?

3. What was the former name of Kennedy International Airport in New York?

4. What is the name of the Scottish airport 2 miles NNE of Ayr?

5. At which Ugandan airport in 1976 were most of the hostages rescued who had been held aboard an Air France plane?

6. What is the name of the airport which was upgraded in the 1950s as a second London airport?

7. What is the name of Chicago’s international airport?

8. “MAD” is the airport code for which airport?

9. At which airport just outside Paris did Charles Lindbergh land after his historic nonstop flight from New York in 1927?

10. Name the airport in E Newfoundland which became a major North American terminal for flights to Europe.

Find the answers here.

Image “Airport diagram/sketch” from An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation. See the image here.

Credo Reference is looking to hire a Senior Web Developer – check out the job description and requirements on our website: http://corp.credoreference.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=64. Send any questions or applications to techjobs@credoreference.com.

Last week, we added 5 new titles to the Credo Reference General Reference Collection. Make sure you check out these new titles and add the MARC records to your catalog.

Encyclopedia of Women’s Autobiography, from ABC Clio. Women have been writing about their lives for hundreds of years, and their autobiographical works are a record of the eras and cultures in which they lived. Through alphabetically arranged entries (from Jane Addams through Zami: A New Spelling of My Name), written by more than 130 expert contributors, this encyclopedia overviews women autobiographers and autobiography from the Middle Ages to the present. Entries discuss individual writers, major works, national and ethnic autobiographical traditions, particular autobiographical genres, and special terms, issues, and themes related to women’s autobiography from around the world. Entries cite works for further reading, and the encyclopedia closes with a selected, general bibliography.

Women have been writing autobiographical works for centuries, and these texts are a valuable source of information about their lives and times. They reflect the personal experiences of their authors as well as the larger cultural, political, and intellectual contexts in which they lived and wrote. Multicultural in scope and the first work of its kind, this encyclopedia overviews more than 400 years of autobiographical writing by women.

Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies, from Lynne Rienner Publications. Power and Succession in Arab Monarchies provides an essential compendium of information regarding the politically charged issue of succession in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Based on scarce source material and a wide range of inside information, this exhaustive reference:

* traces the rise of each ruling family
* outlines key constitutional developments
* provides details on current rulers and their approaches to succession
* discusses potential contenders to power

The appendixes supply a chronological list of rulers for each monarchy, as well as the text of decrees, private letters, and constitutional provisions related to succession.

The Praeger Handbook of Latino Education in the U.S., from ABC Clio. Latinos in the United States have fought hard to attain equality, especially in the field of education. The Praeger Handbook of Latino Education in the U.S. focuses on this fight for equal educational access and represents a significant addition to American educational literature. The contributors to this volume reveal that many Latino children still face challenges that were present many decades ago. In addition to such obstacles as cultural conflicts and racism, they also face teachers, curricula, and assessments that are not always respectful to their backgrounds.

Educators, parents, policy makers, and communities across the country will find this work a goldmine of detailed historical and current information.

Encyclopedia of Women’s Health, from Springer. Women’s health is a multifaceted subject, and the up-to-date reference book requires considerable social awareness in addition to wide-ranging clinical knowledge. The Encyclopedia of Women’s Health meets this challenge by bringing together an impressive array of experts on topics from reproductive issues to gastrointestinal illnesses. Informed by current health issues and health-care realities, the Encyclopedia offers readers practical information, historical aspects, and future directions, all meticulously researched and conveniently presented.

Key features include:

* Accessible A-to-Z coverage, including AIDS, birth control, hormone replacement therapy, teen pregnancy, sexual harassment, violence, body image, access to health care and more.
* Entries spanning the medical, psychological, sociocultural, spiritual, and legal arenas.
* Medical topics explored from both conventional and complementary perspectives.
* Cross-cultural data illustrate issues as they apply to minority women, rural women, the elderly, and other underserved populations.
* Special chapters on disparities in women’s health and health care.
* Historical overview of women in health – as patients and as professionals.
* Suggested readings and resource lists.

Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, from Springer. The central aim of this encyclopedia is to give the reader a comparative perspective on issues involving conceptions of gender, gender differences, gender roles, relationships between the genders, and sexuality.

The combination of topical overviews and varying cultural portraits is what makes this encyclopedia a unique reference work for students, researchers and teachers interested in gender studies and cross-cultural variation in sex and gender.

This week: One to Ten

Our brainteasers always have ten questions, but this quiz is about the numbers from one to ten. Each question or answer includes one of those numbers – but they are not in numerical order in the questions.

1. What number in Downing Street is the residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

2. What is a “one-horse town”?

3. A horizontal figure of which number is the symbol for infinity in mathematics?

4. A tetrahedron is a solid figure with how many triangular faces?

5. The ancient city of Rome was built on or about how many hills?

6. A dyad is a social relationship involving how many participants?

7. In cricket, how many runs are scored by a hit which makes the ball clear the boundary without touching the ground?

8. The Three Kingdoms is a period from 220 to 581 in the history of which country?

9. In the song about the twelve days of Christmas, how many drummers were drumming?

10. “The Five” was a group of Russian composers who joined together in about 1875 to create a Russian national music. Name three of these composers.

Find the answers here.

Credo Reference, the award winning online reference library, has signed an agreement to include National Gallery images and information in the Credo General Reference Collection.

Credo has licensed high resolution images of the paintings of the National Gallery, London. Students and library patrons will now be able to find the beautiful images of these national treasures whenever they search their library’s online resources.  In addition to the images, Credo will include the National Gallery Companion Guide, If the Paintings Could Talk… and the National Gallery Visitor’s Guide to complement the images and provide descriptive information about the artists and their works.  Credo has also licensed two Pocket Guides to enable researchers to further understand artistic themes:  Myths & Legends and Narrative.

The National Gallery images will be featured in all relevant searches in Credo.  Users will be able to follow their research into Credo’s other valuable reference content or visit the National Gallery website which feature a wealth of resources, from a virtual tour to explanation of artistic movements and a full glossary.

John Dove, President of Credo said “We are proud to be able to incorporate such an esteemed collection of images into Credo.  We hope that by making these paintings more visible to library users, they will be encouraged to not only visit the National Gallery’s own web resources, but to visit these national treasures in person at the Gallery in London.”

“Incorporating our paintings into Credo Reference enables the National Gallery collection to become much more widely accessible”, said Louise Rice of the National Gallery. “There are many people who are unfamiliar with these works and taking them into the library environment will mean that many more people will be able to see and understand such important paintings as works by Leonardo, Rembrandt, Constable and Cézanne – the list goes on. We hope that this sparks new interest in art amongst people who had perhaps not thought about it before. ”

About The National Gallery, London
The National Gallery, London houses the national collection of Western European painting from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The Collection is on show 361 days a year, free of charge. The Gallery aims to study and care for the Collection, while encouraging the widest possible access to the pictures. It provides lectures, courses and workshops as well as research into the paintings and their preservation.  For further information visit: www.nationalgallery.org.uk.