Government Document of the Month

December's Government Document of the Month is...Retweet this

Government Resources on AIDS/HIV

Today is World AIDS Day.

Here are some government resources for finding out more on HIV/AIDS issues and prevention.

Government websites
Aids.gov
*Testing, treatment, and prevention educational materials
*Immigration policy information
*Incarceration policy information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: HIV/AIDS
*Daily news
*Brochures and fact sheets

MedlinePlus: AIDS
*Videos and tutorials.
*Research information
*Latest news
*Treatment Information

Obama's presidential proclamation for World AIDS Day 2009
*Commitment to combating the disease on a national and global level
*Statistics and information on the PEPFAR program

Food & Drug Administration: HIV and AIDS Medicines to Help You
*Information on the various drug options
*Drug Risks and Side Effects

National HIV and STD testing Resources
*Search by zip code to find the nearest testing site
*FAQs about HIV testing

E-Government Documents
Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990

Methamphetamine Use and Risk for HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS among Youth

A glance at the HIV/AIDS epidemicRetweet this

Usages of Census Data

Government Document of the Month:
Linda Zellmer created awesome maps by gathering agriculture census data. She created a poster of each food item typically presented at Thanksgiving Dinner. To see all of her maps pertaining to Thanksgiving, click here.Retweet this

Website Evaluation: Real Life Examples

Librarians can preach about the importance of website evaluation, but does it "click" with the students?

If your students happen to follow current events and/or sports, using this example may spark some interest.

Yesterday, there was a fact checking fiasco in the social networking AND news world.

It all started when someone updated their Myspace page. This person stated that Orlando Thomas, former NFL (Vikings) player, had lost his battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease.

From there, the word traveled to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The University felt that it was important to notify the Minnesota Vikings (his former NFL team).

The Vikings then posted information on their webpage about honoring the life of Orlando Thomas at the next home game.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune then published an article on the topic.

ESPN and Sports Illustrated followed with articles about Thomas' death.

Wikipedia was edited to list Orlando Thomas' date of death (October 28, 2009). *I saw it. It has since been corrected. I should have taken a screen shot.

Then, the same mess that began with Social Networking ended with Social Networking. A former NFL player, Jake Reed tweeted that Orlando was alive.

This tangled mess and failure to fact check and evaluate websites is horribly sad, but it a teachable moment to inform students about the risks of using inaccurate information from sources that lack authority. This really blurs the line between sources of News v. The National Enquirer or TMZ.

I used these PowerPoint slides today in a library instruction session for a Principles of Marketing class to show the importance of fact checking and evaluating websites.

News articles after corrections were made:
Star Tribune: Vikings' Website Report Citing Thomas' Death Was Incorrect

ESPN: Thomas Still Battling ALSRetweet this

More Google Tricks: Population, time, weather

Here are some more tricks that I discovered with Google. You can find the population by just typing the word Population and the name of the state or county.













Maybe you are traveling and confused about time zones. If so, you can type time and a the name of the city or state, Google will list the current time.








There are multiple websites and news sources that give the weather, but did you know that you could also get the weather in a Google search? Isn't that cool? Just type weather and the name of the city.
Retweet this

Government document of the month

I chose Theodore Roosevelt and the Dakota Badlands to be the Government Document for the month of October. Click here for item location.

Appreciation of the National Parks has been given more attention thanks to Ken Burns' film The National Parks: America's Best Idea. The CSB/SJU library owns the DVD set. Click here for the location information.




Retweet this

Google tricks: Unemployment rate, calculator, conversions,..

I have plugged Google's Uncle Sam feature in the past for researching government information, but there are some other Google features that are really neat. @thenweagree alerted me to the fact that you can type unemployment rate and a county name in the Google search box to get charted data on the unemployment rate of your county.













Also, I commonly use the Google search box as a calculator. You can simply type the math problem into the search box to get an answer.









Google can also be used for conversions. If you are traveling to the United Kingdom, you may want to know the conversion rate from U.S. Dollars to Pounds.








I buy my hot sauce in bulk. I love spicy food. So, when my recipe called for one 2 oz. bottle of hot sauce, I wasn't sure about how much that would be in terms of my measuring cups.







For previous posts on other tricks of Google, click here.
Retweet this