Tag Archives: Sharen’s picks

Resource of the Month: ReferenceUSA

referenceusa_alt_576pxhReferenceUSA is a valuable source of business and residential information for business and consumer research. You can find more than 24 million businesses, 262 million consumers, new U.S. businesses and new U.S. homeowners in ReferenceUSA’s databases, providing quick and easy access to quality information that can be used to answer a wide variety of business questions.

Small business owners/entrepreneurs use ReferenceUSA to:

  • select a location and do a radius search to look up the number of similar businesses in the area
  • check the strength of the competition with years in business and credit rating
  • look for businesses to buy or connect with fellow business owners

Job seekers can locate and research companies they may want to work for. The databases include:

  • 200,000 human resource contact names
  • business descriptions
  • website links to job postings

People who are moving can use ReferenceUSA to:

  • find schools, childcare, houses of worship, doctors and other services
  • research neighborhoods
  • look for housing
  • check home value and median income to see how they will compare to neighbors

Students use ReferenceUSA to:

  • find articles for research on businesses
  • perform complicated searches for papers and class projects
  • use data summaries to profile a neighborhood, city or state by type of business, size of business or household median income

To access ReferenceUSA, point your browser to www.nclive.org and click on the Business and Management subject heading. Scroll down the list of resources to find and click on ReferenceUSA. If you are outside of the library, you will be prompted to enter your library card number.

Resource of the Month: SIRS Issues Researcher

SIRSDid any of those hot button issues come up over the holidays at gatherings with family and friends? You know, those issues that cause your blood pressure to rise as you hear someone present questionable “facts” from the other side, the one you don’t agree with?  If you’d like to be prepared next time, check out SIRS Issues Researcher on NC LIVE, which you can access with your library card.

SIRS Issues Researcher provides analysis and opinions covering the pros, cons, and everything in between on the most researched and debated social issues. Background and current analysis necessary for the research and understanding of 320+ current and pervasive Leading Issues is available in a very easy to use format. In fact, the resource is set up for middle and high school students to use in school projects; however, the information is also on point for adults to research and discuss current topics.

The Topic Overview covers the basics for understanding each issue. Essential Questions, with answers and viewpoint articles, are provided. All articles, websites, videos, multimedia graphics, charts, maps, statistics, primary sources and government documents are hand-selected from thousands of national and international sources. The opening page displays the current Top 10 issues, which are currently:

  • Animal experimentation
  • Bullying
  • Capital punishment
  • Cellular telephones
  • Genetically modified foods
  • Gun Control
  • Homework
  • Marijuana, law and legislation
  • Same-sex marriage
  • School uniforms

From www.nclive.org, under the By Subject heading on the right, click on Current Issues.  Select SIRS Knowledge Source Package from the list.  On the SIRS page, you can click on one of Your Top 10 Pro vs. Con Leading Issues on the right of your screen, or click on the link for ProQuest SIRS Issues Researcher to access all 300 available topics.

Resource of the Month – OneClickDigital’s New App!

oneclickdigitalLast summer we told you about the great online resource for eaudiobooks, OneClickdigital. It’s one of the free online resources available to Chatham County Library patrons and gives you access to more than 1,500 downloadable audiobooks.

Now OneClickdigital eAudio has released a new app, available for download in the app store for all iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, and Nook Color users.  The new app allows users to download individual chapters and titles and maintain multiple user profiles.  The app also makes it easier to search for content and manage titles in your account.

To download the app, search for OneClickdigital in the app store on your device, and select the OneClickdigital eAudio Player. If you already have a OneClickdigital eAudio account, use the same username and password to log into the new OneClickdigital eAudio app. If you don’t have an account, you will be asked to create a new account.

(The OneClickdigital Media Manager is still available to download audiobooks to your computer and transfer them onto your portable device. To access OneClickdigital go to chathamlibraries.org home page. In the menu on the left side of the page click on “Online Resources”. Click on OneClickdigital on the Online Resources page, under “Ebooks, E-Audiobooks & Magazines”.

Resource of the Month: Drug & Herb Information

ConsumerHealthCompleteAre you looking for reliable information on prescription drugs or medicinal herbs?

The Consumer Health Complete database is a great resource for this topic. The Drug and Herb Information section features concise and clinically-relevant drug monographs for all U.S. prescription drugs, hard-to-find herbal and nutritional supplements, over-the-counter products and new and investigational drugs. It also includes revised information on FDA changes.

Using the search bar, readers can find drug and herb information related to a specific illness, or they can find articles about a particular drug or herb. The page also has links to the results of Top Searches, which recently included:

  • Cholesterol medications
  • Diabetes medications
  • Heart medications
  • Pain medications
  • St. John’s Wort
  • Stroke medications
  • Vitamin B
  • Zinc

Reference sources on the site include Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants & Herbs, AHFS Consumer Medication Information, and Complete Guide to Prescription & Nonprescription Drugs.

To access this resource, go to www.chathamlibraries.org and click on the Online Resources link on the left.  Scroll down and click the blue Health & Wellness Information Center button.  (You can also go directly to www.nclive.org and click on the Health & Wellness heading.)  In the top right box, click on Consumer Health Complete. From there, click on Drug & Herb Information.

Many of the resources in the Health & Wellness Information Center are provided by NC LIVE, so you will be asked to sign in using your library card number if you are accessing these resources outside of the library. 

Resource of the Month: Zinio

zinioZINIO provides magazines in digital form, free from your library, to read on smartphones, tablets, and computers!  E-zines offer full-color, page-for-page copies of popular magazines, with easy to use navigation, keyword searching, and even some interactive audio and video.

To start using Zinio, visit the library’s website, www.chathamlibraries.org, and click on the Zinio link.  This will take you to the catalog of available magazines:

  • American Craft
  • Cloth Paper Scissors
  • Dwell
  • Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
  • Martha Stewart Living
  • Mental Floss
  • National Geographic Traveler
  • Newsweek
  • OWL
  • PC Magazine Digital Edition
  • Pets
  • Popular Mechanics
  • Scholastic Parent & Child
  • TV y Novelas USA
  • Utne Reader
  • Vanidades USA
  • Yoga Journal

Choose a magazine, and click on the cover.  For your first magazine only, you will need your library card number to create two accounts:  one for RB Digital, specific to Chatham County Public library’s service, plus one for reading in Zinio.  Please be sure to use the same email address for both accounts.

Once you have an account, you will be able to read e-zines in your computer’s browser.  To read on a mobile device, download the Zinio app.  Zinio apps are available for your computer, iPhone, iPad, Android device, Kindle Fire, and Blackberry.  Once a magazine is downloaded to your device, it’s yours to keep!

Click here to go directly to Chatham County Public Library’s Zinio Collection.

Need help getting started with Zinio?  Come to the library’s reference desk for help, or call 919-545-8086 to make an appointment.

Resource of the Month: The New York Times

The New York Times is one of the nation’s premier sources of information on current events, arts, sports, business, and more.  Now this valuable resource is available online – all you need is a computer and your library card!

Complete text of the newspaper is available back to 1980 and is provided in plain-text format.   Users also have access to The New York Times Book Review and The New York Times Magazine (with coverage back to 1977) in PDF format.

To access The New York Times:

  • Go to nclive.org and click on the Articles icon in the middle of the page.
  • Click on the link for  The New York Times.  This will bring you to the main page where you can search within the publication.

If you want to access just the most recent edition:

  • On the  main page, click on Publications in the menu at the top.
  • On the resulting page, click on New York Times, Late Edition.
  • Click on the View most recent issue link (to the right of the title).
  • The resulting page will list all of the articles in the latest edition beginning with page A1.  Click the Full text link to read an article.
  • The same procedure can be followed to access the most recent NYT Book Review or NYT Magazine; articles from these publications will also be available in PDF format.

For help navigating this database, contact the reference desk at 919-545-8086, or chat with us at www.chathamlibraries.org.

Please note: This resource is not currently included in searches in the nclive.org search boxes, or when searching in EBSCO search boxes. Users must use the resource link to search directly within The New York Times database. 

Resource of the Month: LearningExpress Library

learningexpress-libraryLearn Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Photoshop, and other computer skills using interactive video tutorials from LearningExpress Library!

Do you need to strengthen your computer skills for work?  Or would you just like to learn how to use today’s most popular computer programs and operating systems?  Learn at your own pace using interactive tutorial courses.  Each course offers detailed, easy-to-follow instructions with audio and captions, for beginner to advanced skill levels.

LearningExpress Library offers courses for students and adult learners in many subjects.  Computer tutorials include:

  • Adobe:  Dreamweaver, Flash, Illustrator, Photoshop
  • Corel WordPerfect
  • Microsoft:  Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Project, Publisher, SharePoint, Visio, Word
  • Windows and Mac Operating Systems

To access the computer skills courses, go to www.nclive.org, then click on the Homework Help category.  From the alphabetical list, choose LearningExpress Library.

At the bottom center of the LearningExpress main page, create a new account by clicking the Register button.  Once you have logged in, click on the Popular Software Tutorials link in the left-hand menu and choose a topic.  You’ll soon be on your way to mastering a new computer skill!

(Please note that this resource requires Adobe Flash Player 8.0 or higher.)
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