» I need a map that shows the number of slaves for each state just before the Civil War. Where can I find one? [5.12.08]
There is a good one available in the Oxford African American Studies Center.
This reference source offers access to the highly acclaimed encyclopedia Africana, the new Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895, the three-volume Black Women in America, the African American National Biography (which will eventually include over 6,000 biographies), the Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature, over 1,300 images, primary sources with specially written commentaries, and nearly 300 maps, charts and tables.
» What is the origin of the Olympic torch relay? [5.05.08]
The Olympic torch relay was first started at the 1936 Olympic Games, which took place in Nazi Germany.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica Online includes the complete encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the Britannica Book of the Year, various country statistics, a selective video collection, historical timelines, a collection of quotations,and links to the day's news. You can also search an Internet directory that includes more than 130,000 links to Web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.
» In Congressional terms, what does Personally Obnoxious or Objectionable mean? [4.29.08]
According the the American Congressional Dictionary it is "A characterization a senator sometimes applies to a president's nominee for a federal office in that senator's state to justify his or her opposition to the nomination."
The American Congressional Dictionary is a part of the CQ Congress Collection, a research and reference tool providing an analytical survey of members ofCongress, their legislative voting behavior, and their interactions with interest groups in crafting public policy.
» Why do Jews abstain from leavened bread during Passover? [4.22.08]
According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, "'matzah' (pl. matzot) is the object of a specific commandment calling for matzah to be eaten on Passover because the children of Israel 'baked the matzot of the dough which they had brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened; because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not tarry'(Ex. 12:39). The speed with which matzot are prepared identifies it with the bread made in the Bible, when there was no time to prepare ordinary bread (cf. Gen. 18:6; 19:3)."
The Encyclopaedia Judaica is the standard encyclopedic work on Judaism. There are more than 21,000 signed entries on Jewish life, culture, history and religion, written by Israeli, American, and European subject specialists. Supplementary information includes place-name lists, a chronology, a Hasidism chart, lists of newspapers and periodicals, more than 600 maps, charts, tables, photographs, illustrations, and other visuals.
» Does the Kentucky Coffee Tree produce coffee beans? [4.14.08]
Actually, no. According to Access Science the "Kentucky Coffee Tree can readily be recognized when in fruit by its leguminous pods containing hard, heavy, red-brown seeds, which were used by early settlers as a substitute for coffee; hence the name coffee tree."
Access Science is the online version of McGraw-Hill's Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 10th Edition. It includes more than 8,500 online articles, 110,000+ definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 15,000 illustrations and graphics, and bibliographies containing more than 28,000 literature citations, biographies of more than 2,000 well-known scientists from the Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography® in all major areas of science and technology.
» How accurately was John Adams' inaugural speech portrayed in the recent HBO special? [4.07.08]
Check out American State Papers to see the offical government document.
The American State Papers are a rich source of primary source material on many aspects of early American history from 1789 to 1838. Some of the subjects covered include Foreign Relations, Indian Affairs, Finance, Commerce and Navigation, Military Affairs, and Naval Affairs.
» When did the last passenger pigeon die? [3.31.08]
The passenger pigeon population once numbered 3-5 billion. According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, the last passenger pigeon died at the Cincinnati Zoo in Ohio in 1914.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America includes 700 original, intriguing articles on topics ranging from Apple Pie to Zombie. It covers the significant events, inventions, and social movements in American history that have affected the way Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink.
» What are doodlebugs? [3.24.08]
Doodlebugs (or V1, V2 rockets -- abbreviation for Vergeltungswaffen, vengeance weapons) were pilotless aircraft, powered by a pulse-jet engine, with a guidance system composed of a distance-measuring device, a gyrocompass, and an altimeter. They were launched by the Luftwaffe against southeastern England in June 1944.
Search Oxford Reference Online Premium for a few definitions. Oxford Reference Online has over 175 fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.
» Is there a map available that shows hotels in Boston in the late 19th century? [3.17.08]
There is one from the 10th census of 1880, reproduced in the collection called Serial Set Maps.
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is a full text searchable collection of sources on all aspects of U.S. history compiled by Congress in numbered sequence (hence its name the Serial Set), including government reports, journals, hearings, messages, petitions, resolutions, monographs, treaties, presidential communications, maps and so forth from 1817 to 1980 (in progress).
» What are New York City's rubber rooms? [3.10.08]
Rubber rooms (or Temporary Reassignment Centers) are where NYC teachers accused of malfeasance and teachers who the school administration believes should not be in a classroom sometimes sit for years awaiting a hearing and collecting their salaries.
Education Research Complete is an excellent database for scholarly research and information relating to all areas of education. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 1,500 journals, as well as full text for more than 750 journals. This database also includes full text for more than 100 books and monographs, and full text for numerous education-related conference papers.
» How can I find diaries, letters, or journals written by women during the American Revolution? [3.03.08]
The database North American Women's Letters and Diaries is a collection of women's diaries and correspondence covering colonial times to 1950. The database contains 222 documents written by women during the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.
» I am writing a paper about Chekhov's plays. Is it possible to view any of his plays online? [2.25.08]
Theatre in Video has "The Enemies" by Anton Chekhov that opened in New York in 1960 and featured Michael Strong and Richard Waring.
Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This release contains 242 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors.
» What connection is there between the Spygate controversy and the Warren Commission's "single bullet theory" regarding the JFK assassination? [2.18.08]
The common denominator would be Arlen Specter, a Senator from Pennsylvania. Specter has been concerned lately with missing football videotapes and as a legal aide to the Warren Commission put forth the single bullet theory, which states that all of the non-fatal wounds in both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally were caused by one bullet. Check out CQ Congress Collection for background on Specter.
CQ Congress Collection provides an analytical survey of members of Congress, their legislative voting behavior, and their interactions with interest groups in crafting public policy. It is organized into four sections: Public Policy Legislation, Members of Congress (biographical, political, and electoral data about every member of Congress since the 79th Congress), Key Votes, and Legislative Branch (information, statistical data, legislative analysis, and Supreme Court case summaries relating to the structure and powers of Congress).
» How did Chuck Berry come up with the "duck walk"? [2.05.08]
The entry in Biography Resource Center notes "he is said to have created (it) during a performance one night to hide the wrinkles in his pants."
Biography Resource Center includes biographies in the fields of literature, science, business, entertainment, politics, sports, history, current events and the arts. There is biographical information on over one million people throughout history, around the world. Links to journal articles and web sites are also included.
» How do lie detectors work? [1.28.08]
According to Access Science, lie detector tests, also known as polygraph tests, are psychophysiologically based evaluations of deception, that measure and record an individual's physiological responses to the fear of being caught lying during questioning. Lie detector tests typically collect data on the following physiological responses: skin conductivity (known as the galvanic skin or electrodermal response), which is measured through electrodes attached to a subject's fingertips; rate and depth of respiration, measured by pneumographs wrapped around a subject's chest; and cardiovascular activity, assessed by using a blood pressure cuff.
Access Science provides full access to more than 7100 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of research updates in all areas of science and technology updated daily. Also includes over 2000 biographies of leading scientists, weekly updates of breakthroughs and discoveries in science and technology, a science dictionary, and links to related websites.
» Where can I find some articles on the Sacco-Vanzetti case written at the time of the trial? [1.21.08]
Reader's Guide Retrospective provides comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States. It covers the years 1890 – 1982. For newspaper coverage, you can search the New York Times online.
» What is an iceberg profile in reference to athletes? [1.14.08]
It is the expected psychological profile of an elite athlete incorporating the six factors measured by Profile of Mood States in which the elite athlete scores low on all mood states except vigour.
The Oxford Dictionary of Sports & Medicine overs all the major areas of sports science and medicine including: anatomy, biomechanics, exercise physiology, nutrition, sports psychology, sports sociology, sports injuries, and training principles. It was compiled with the help of a team of eminent contributors and advisers; the third edition has been updated to incorporate recent advances, for example in the areas of gene technology and drug and doping regulations.
» What is scat singing and who were some of its greatest practitioners? [1.07.08]
According to Grove Music Online it is a technique of jazz singing in which onomatopoeic or nonsense syllables are sung to improvised melodies. Some writers have traced scat singing back to the practice, common in West African musics, of translating percussion patterns into vocal lines by assigning syllables to characteristic rhythms.
Louis Armstrong created a vogue for scat singing. Others were Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Eddie Jefferson, Betty Carter, Anita O Day, Joe Carroll, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Jon Hendricks, Babs Gonzales, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Grove Music Online is the full text of the 29-volume New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, 2nd edition, the 4-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and the 3-volume New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd edition, published in 2003. Over 45,000 articles are included, along with musical examples and links to musical sites. Updated monthly.
» Who were the Steamboat Ladies? [12.17.07]
According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography they were a group of over 700 women from the Oxford and Cambridge women's colleges who came by the steamboat ferry to Dublin to obtain BA and MA degrees awarded by Trinity College, Dublin, between 1904 and 1907, at a time when their own universities continued to withhold full membership (and therefore graduation) from women students.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is collection of more than 56,000 specially written biographies of deceased significant men and women in all areas of British history, from the fourth century BC to the year 2003 (a moving date). Get updates forwarded to you via e-mail, RSS feeds, or podcasts.
» What is meant by Stalinist architecture? [12.10.07]
According to the Grove Art Online it is a "Stylistic term referring to architecture built from the 1930s to the 1950s under Stalin s regime in the USSR and to comparable architecture built in Warsaw Pact countries after World War II. It is characterized by its orientation towards a classical tradition, its monumentality and its representational ornament."
Grove Art Online provides full-text articles for both scholarly research and concise information for all aspects of the visual arts as it now includes continuously updated articles from the Dictionary of Art, the most comprehensive, scholarly encyclopedic reference, and the Oxford Companion to Western Art, a great starting point for basic information. The Grove Art Online is continuously updated with over 45,000 signed articles with bibliographies and links to 40,000 art images on museum and gallery web sites.
» Where can I find a variety of perspectives on the regime of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela? [12.3.07]
Columbia International Affairs Online is a good place to search. CIAO is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.
For example, on the search page, you can enter Hugo Chavez, limit to a type of publication, and retrieve a wide variety of publications.
» How can I locate a 1971 CIA memorandum called "Nothing Succeeds Like a Successful Shah" on the potential dangers to the regime of the Shah of Iran? [11.27.07]
The CIA prepared this document as Iran prepared to celebrate 2,500 years of monarchy. It is available in Declassified Documents Reference System, a source of selected US government documents declassified under the Freedom of Information Act obtained from presidential libraries. Documents originate from various government agencies, including the White House, the CIA, the FBI, and the State Department. Covers many major domestic and international events of the post-World War II era.
» What did William Bradford have to say about the 1621 "Thanksgiving feast"? [11.19.07]
Early Encounters in North America has 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs, and accounts by over 1400 authors document the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850. The collection includes published and unpublished accounts, including narratives, diaries, journals, and letters that document the first impressions of North America by Europeans and of Europeans by native people. The collection includes primary materials, images, environmental studies, and maps.
See Bradford's journal entry here.
» How can I find articles written by Booker T. Washington? [11.12.07]
Search by author in the American Periodicals Series database, which has page images of more than 1,100 historic American magazines, journals, and newspapers from 1740 to the early 20th century.
» What do the characters Emma Bovary (Madame Bovary, 1857) and Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey, 1818) have in common? [11.05.07]
According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, both suffered from bovarysme, a disposition towards escapist daydreaming in which one imagines oneself as a heroine or hero of a romance and refuses to acknowledge everyday realities.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, contains over 1,000 of the most troublesome literary terms encountered by students and general readers. Terms from languages and literature other than English are given, as are pronunciation guides for over 200 difficult terms.
» What is a "riot grrrl"? [10.29.07]
According the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), a riot girl is "a member or follower of any of several loosely affiliated, mainly American, female rock groups of the early 1990s, adopting an aggressive music and performance style redolent of punk as a reaction against male dominance of (esp. punk) music."
The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is a guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English-language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.
» Is a googly like a knuckleball? [10.22.07]
Googly is a cricket term for a ball bowled with fingerspin that breaks unexpectedly in the opposite direction from that anticipated by the batsman given the motion of the bowler.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online includes the complete encyclopedia, as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the Britannica Book of the Year. You can also use EB Online to search an Internet directory that includes more than 130,000 links to Web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.
» Why does a knuckleball dance? [10.15.07]
According to an entry in Access Science, it appears to dance because of its "random" seam-pattern and its slow spin.
Access Science has more than 7100 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology updated daily. This online encyclopedia includes over 2000 biographies of leading scientists, weekly updates of breakthroughs and discoveries in science and technology, a science dictionary, and links to related websites.
» Where can I find a list of top news stories from 1940 to the present time? [10.8.07]
FACTS.com provides full text news articles from World News Digest, listed by decade, since 1940. This database features a live newsfeed from Reuters® and thousands of in-depth features, images, charts, and primary documents. Uusing more than half a million internal links, FACTS.com connects relevant material in the database. Thousands of additional links connect researchers to related information from four other databases: Issues & Controversies, Today's Science, World Almanac Reference Database, and World Almanac Encyclopedia.
» Is it true that the Fork-tailed Drongo can mimic the alarm call of other animals to scare them off and steal their food? [10.1.07]
It is true, according to the New Encyclopedia of Birds, available in Oxford Reference Online: Not only that, it is "bold and pugnacious and will pirate food from other birds and small mammals, retrieving the prey in their bill from mid-air or the ground".
The New Encyclopedia of Birds is the definitive single-volume guide to birds of the world. It gives a systematic account of every family, covering their form and function, distribution, diet, social behaviour, and breeding biology. With one-eighth of all bird species now under threat, special attention is given to environmental and conservation issues.
» Where can I get a list of movies similar to 3:10 to Yuma? [9.24.07]
The American Film Catalog documents feature films either produced in the United States or sponsored and financed by American companies from 1893-1958 and 1961-1970. Entries include comprehensive information on the films (cast, crew, production information, article references, etc.), and most have extensive plot summaries and include subject headings to search (in this case, Alcoholics, Fathers and sons, Posses, etc.).
» I love a good Bollywood film. Are they doing anything in the animation area? [9.17.07]
It looks like Bollywoood is moving in the animation direction. For more articles like this consult ISI Emerging Markets, which provides news, company, industry, financial and economic data on emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The information is provided directly from local markets and from over 4400 publications. Access is offered in English and many additional languages
» Where can I locate video interviews with the Irish writer Sean O'Casey? I already checked Quest. [9.10.07]
Theatre in Video contains more than 250 definitive performances of the world's leading plays, together with more than 100 film documentaries, online in streaming video - more than 500 hours in all. This first release contains over 50 titles, representing hundreds of leading playwrights, actors and directors. Included are landmark performances such as The Iceman Cometh, Hamlet, Othello, Awake and Sing, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Playboy of the Western World, and others. Notable actors include Gene Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Richard Dreyfuss, Walter Matthau, Meryl Streep, and more.
» Who were the "Robber Barons"? [9.04.07]
According to the Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History: The "robber barons" were industrial and financial tycoons of the late nineteenth century. They included banker and financier John Pierpont Morgan (1837 1913); oil industrialist John D. Rockefeller (1839 1937); steel mogul Andrew Carnegie (1835 1919); financiers James J. Hill (1838 1916), James Fisk (1834 1872), and Jay Gould (1836 1892); and rail magnates Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794 1877) and Collis Huntington (1821 1900). Hailed by some for expanding and modernizing the capitalist system, lauded by others for their philanthropic contributions to the arts and education, these businessmen were viewed by many more as opportunistic, exploitative, and unethical.
This resource includes over 1,000 entries, era overviews, event/movement profiles, biographies, business/industry historical profiles, and geographic profiles. It provides an economic perspective on historical events such as Abolition, Prohibition and World Wars.
» Who was Billy Bowlegs and why did he sometimes dress "with a dash of Highland flair"? [8.27.07]
Billy Bowlegs was a Seminole chief. "Seminoles, admirers of distinctive costumes, were quite taken with the Scottish Highlanders who entered Florida in 1736. Both the Highlanders and the Indians shared common customs and attitudes. For instance, both were tribal and organized into clans, both preferred skirtlike clothing and refused to wear trousers, and both wore a similar style of garb in the form of breechcloths." Learn more about this fascinating life in American National Biography, a source for scholarly biographical articles with short bibliographies on deceased notable Americans.
» Where can I find out how my Senator and Representative voted on the revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, to “expand the authority of the attorney general and the director of National Intelligence to conduct surveillance of one suspected foreign terrorist to another without a court warrant.”? [8.20.07]
Check out CQ Weekly. CQ Weekly includes news and analysis of virtually every act of Congress. Each issue provides announcements of upcoming Congressional events, as well as a summary of the previous week's news, including the status of bills, committee and floor activity, debates, and roll-call votes. Browse articles by date or topic or search articles and floor votes by keyword, date, bill number, or topic. (To get to this page, make sure your pop-up blocker is off.)
» Why are there so many science references in The Simpsons? [8.13.07]
It could be that executive producer Al Jean, the show's head writer, is a Harvard mathematics graduate. Read an interview with him at news@nature.com. news@nature includes daily news and interactive multimedia features with blogs, opinion, columns, news and features as well as all the news and analysis from Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Medicine, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery and Bioentrepreneur.
» Who thought the choice of the bald eagle as the national bird was wrong because it is “a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly…”? [8.06.07]
According to the Encyclopedia of American Studies, Benjamin Franklin said those very words. The Encyclopedia of American Studies brings together a wide range of disciplines related to the history and cultures of the United States, from pre-colonial days to the present. It features broad, synthetic articles covering areas such as history, literature, art, photography, film, architecture, urban studies, ethnicity, race, gender, economics, politics, wars, consumer culture, and global America. With over 660 online, searchable articles and bibliographies, the Encyclopedia of American Studies provides an integrated approach to problems, themes, and issues that cut across disciplinary lines.
» Where can I get a list of what books were in the Boston Library Society collection in 1795? [7.30.07]
The database Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800) is based on the renowned “American Bibliography” by Charles Evans and enhanced by Roger Bristol's “Supplement to Evans' American Bibliography.” It is often considered the definitive resource of information about every aspect of life in 17th- and 18th-century America, from agriculture and auctions through foreign affairs, diplomacy, literature, music, religion, the Revolutionary War, slavery, temperance, witchcraft and just about any other topic imaginable. Upon completion this digital version of Evans will consist of all titles contained in Evans microform editions – more than 36,000 items and over 2.3 million images – as well as more than 1,200 catalogued new items.
» I am reading an Australian novel and a few of the characters are chiacking. What does that mean? [7.23.07]
Check out the Australian Oxford English Dictionary. Chiacking means to taunt or tease someone. The Australian Oxford English Dictionary is part of Oxford Reference Online. Oxford Reference Online brings together 170 fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.
» Is there any dancing in the Bible? [7.16.07]
Yes, plenty of it. Check out the International Encyclopedia of Dance. This encyclopedia has nearly 2,000 articles written by scholars from fifty countries and covers the full spectrum of dance—theatrical, ritual, dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Cultural and national overviews are accompanied by entries on dance forms, music and costumes, performances, and biographies of dancers and choreographers.
» I have not heard much recently about the internet refrigerator. Did it ever catch on? [7.11.07]
Check out Business Source Complete: Business Source Complete contains 3,050 full text scholarly journals and business periodicals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, and international business. This database also includes Country Monitor and Industry Yearbook Reports from WEFA, and country reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
»When is an election victory technically considered to be landslide?[7.3.07]
According to the CQ Encyclopedia of American Government, "What constitutes a landslide is not precisely known, but in presidential politics it generally means 60 percent or more of the popular vote."
CQ Encyclopedia of American Government (EAG) provides answers to the full range of questions that students, government professionals, interested citizens, and other researchers have about the institutions of U.S. government. It offers thousands of concise, up-to-date explanations of the who, how, and why of American democracy.
»What was the role model for the Jolly Green Giant?[6.26.07]
According to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, he was "based on a character in a Grimm fairy tale, the original figure sported a bearskin and a scowl. He was white and hunched over, and seemed more like a dwarf than a giant." The original icon dates from 1925, and he did not become jolly until 1935
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America describes the significant events, inventions, and social movements in American history that have affected the way Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink. A collaboration of nearly 200 contributors from academia, industry, and the culinary world, the encyclopedia provides coverage of regions, people, ingredients, companies, advertising, historical eras, holidays and festivals, and political, scientific, and economic currents pertinent to American cuisine.
»Where can I find a recent essay on the meaning of life?[6.19.07]
Try the the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a dynamic encyclopedia published as a project of the Metaphysics Research Lab at the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University. Each entry is maintained by an expert or group of experts in the field.
»Are there standard abbreviations and symbols that are used for units of quantities written on prescriptions?[6.12.07]
Check out the Merck Index
See the table for prescription notation.
The Merck Index is standard resource for information on drugs, pharmaceuticals, common organic chemicals and laboratory reagents, natural products, elements, and inorganic compounds. Individual monographs provide synonyms, physical property data, elemental composition, biological source, physical description, and key literature references. Search for compounds by structure, name, molecular formula or other identifying information.
»I’m told that Carmina Burana is an example of goliardic verse, but I am not sure what that means. [6.5.07]
Goliardic verse is a kind of medieval lyric poetry typically celebrating love and drink, attributed to the goliards, who were supposedly wandering scholars in France, Germany, and England in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Search for this in Literary Theory, which traces the history of literary theory and criticism from Plato to Judith Butler. It contains over 1,000 works by more than 350 writers and includes formal treatises on criticism, essays and manifestos, literary prefaces, theories of imagination, taste, and aesthetics, and major examples of contemporary theory.
» Who were the Exodusters? [5.28.07]
Exodusters were African American homesteaders who moved westward during the last decades of the nineteenth century to settle the Great Plains. After federal troops withdrew from the South in 1877, civil rights for African Americans began to erode. Southern state legislatures adopted laws to restrict the movement, prosperity, and freedom of African Americans. A campaign of intimidation led by the Ku Klux Klan was intended to keep former slaves "in their place," a sentiment that seemed precariously close to the pre-Civil War slave-owner mentality. This situation prompted a mass exodus of blacks from the South during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
The Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History includes over 1,000 entries, era overviews, event/movement profiles, biographies, business/industry historical profiles, and geographic profiles. It provides an economic perspective on historical events such as Abolition, Prohibition and World Wars.
» Where was the term robot coined? [5.21.07]
The term (from Czech robota ‘forced labour’) was coined in Karel Capek's play R.U.R. ‘Rossum's Universal Robots’ ... (From The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable in Mythology & Folklore which can be accessed through Oxford Reference Online). The origin of the term can also be found in the Oxford English Dictionary.
» It seems as though the MBTA escalators are always out of order. Are they that complicated to maintain? [5.14.07]
Access Science is an excellent source for this type of information. Updated daily, it includes more than 7,100 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology. Also included are over 2,000 biographies of leading scientists, weekly updates of breakthroughs and discoveries in science and technology, a science dictionary, links to related websites, and good graphics.
» Has anyone run for president unopposed? [5.07.07]
Because of his stature as a national hero, George Washington was unopposed when elected to both his terms (1789 and 1792).
The CQ Electronic Encyclopedia of American Government has more than 2000 articles cover the history, structure, dynamics, operation, and personalities of the three branches of the federal government and federal elections.
» What is a glottal stop? [5.01.07]
Oxford Reference Online describes a glottal stop as a phonetic stop sound made by bringing the vocal cords tightly together, blocking off the airstream and sealing the glottis, then releasing them suddenly.
» What was the Nonsense Club and who was in it? [4.23.07]
The Nonsense Club was a group of London wits—all former pupils of Westminster School—who met on Thursday evenings during the 1750s and early 1760s and were responsible for a wide-ranging and extensive literary output.
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an illustrated collection of more than 50,000 specially written biographies of significant men and women in all areas of British history, from the fourth century BC onward. There are also several bio-thematic essays, such as The Nonsense Club, The Kit-Cat Club, The Goons, The Few, and the Society of Dilettanti.
» I just read Laura Ingalls Wilder and I want to locate more women writers who wrote westerns. Can you tell me how? [4.17.07]
The Dictionary of Literary Biography includes thousand of writers with biographical and critical essays on their lives, works, and careers. It covers all eras and genres. You can search by Subject/Genre (Westerns) and Gender to get a list of other possibilities.
» Where can I find an online source that has a good brief history of Apple Computer? [4.09.07]
You can find this information in the database Business Source Complete. From the first search screen click on the link "Company Profiles" midway down on the far right section of your screen. In the browse box at the top type in Apple, then click on the Datamonitor Report. You will see the company history listed as one section in the report. Not every company in the database contains the section on history, but most do.
» I need some online lessons in flatpicking guitar. Does the Library have any? [4.02.07]
Smithsonian Global Sound is a virtual encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions, including the published recordings owned by the non-profit Smithsonian Folkways Recordings label and the archival audio collections of the legendary Folkways Records, Cook, Dyer-Bennet, Fast Folk, Monitor, Paredon and other labels.
Try out the Flat-Picker's Guide by Jerry Silverman.
» What is Iggy Pop's real name? [3.29.07]
He was born James Newell Osterberg on April 21, 1947. His "lust for life" is so intense he would sometimes roll in broken glass or otherwise wound himself.
Check out Grove Music Online, which includes the full text of the 29-volume New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, 2nd edition, the 4-volume New Grove Dictionary of Opera and the 3-volume New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd edition published in 2003. Over 45,000 articles are included, along with musical examples and links to musical sites.
» I need to know how much Coca-Cola spends on advertising. How can I find this information? [3.19.07]
The Advertising Redbooks provide information on advertising agencies and companies in the United States and Canada that spend at least $200,000 on advertising. Advertising Redbooks lists the Coca-Cola Company's ad expenditures to be $2,475,000,000.
» Is there really something called the Slow Food Movement? [3.12.07]
The answer to this question, found in a recent issue of CQ Researcher, is yes--the movement began more than twenty years ago with a protest against the opening of the first McDonald's fast-food restaurant in Rome. CQ Researcher is published 44 times a year and each issue focuses on a single "hot" economic, political, or social issue. CQ Researcher provides supporting charts, graphs, and sidebar articles, a pro-con feature, a chronology, a lengthy bibliographies, and a list of contacts.
» I'm looking for the names of people who currently work at companies where I might want to try and get a job. I'd like to contact the VP of Marketing or Sales or even people further on down in the organization, but I only seem to be able to find the CEO or someone in Human Resources. Where should I look? [3.5.07]
Try looking in the database Corporate Affiliations. From the first screen enter your company name, select the appropriate match from the resulting list, then click on "personnel." The information will vary by company, but typically there is quite a lengthy list of contacts. And GOOD LUCK!
» I need to prove to a disbelieving friend that Alfred Hitchcock never won an Academy Award for Best Director. Also, did he really appear in all of his own films? [2.26.07]
Try searching Biography Resource Center, which includes multiple biographical reference titles in literature, science, business, entertainment, politics, sports, history, current events, and the arts.
Search Alfred Hitchcock and choose the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers entry from the results. While Hithcock received an Irving Thalberg Academy Award in 1968, he never received an award for Best Director. The same source also lists his appearances in his own films.
» Where can I get a quick overview of current presidential candidates and how those in Congress voted on major issues? [2.19.07]
National Journal Group's Policy Central is a comprehensive online resource on politics and policy offering access to several distinct journals, including National Journal online, CongressDaily, The Hotline, and Technology Daily. Other resources include Markup Reports, Poll Track, Ad Spotlight, and Campaign Tip Sheets. The reference work Almanac of American Politics is especially useful. Information is updated daily. E-mail and wireless alerts are available so you can stay up-to-date.
» Where can I find a good timeline of African-American history? [2.12.07]
The Black Studies Center is a fully cross-searchable gateway to Black Studies that includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, and historical newspaper articles.. It combines several resources: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago Defender, and the Black Literature Index. Also included are a thousand specially selected Black Studies dissertations, images, videos (and a Timeline!).
» Someone told me that you can actually read today’s Wall Street Journal online. Can you do this and how? [2.02.07]
Yes, you can read today’s Wall Street Journal online in the database Factiva. It can be found on the very first screen that opens when you connect to the database. In fact, a whole week of the journal is available right there from the drop-down menu. You can use the Search function to search through the full text of the Wall Street Journal back to 1984! If you need a little help try the instructions on the bottom of this help screen.
» What exactly is pig iron and how much was imported to the American colonies in the 18th century? [1.29.07]
The Encyclopedia Britannica gives a good definition of a pig iron.
A valuable source for colonial data is the Historical Statistics of the United States. This definitive reference work contains more than 37,000 annual time series of quantitative historical information covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history: population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, governance, and international relations, all from the earliest times to the present. As with all quality data sources, there is extensive background information, definitions, and supporting essays to assist in the understanding and interpretation of the data.
» How can I find a copy of the unpublished play "In a Fine Castle" by the Nobel Prize Winner Derek Walcott? [1.22.07]
Access the database Black Drama. Browse the author table of contents listing to locate Walcott, Derek Alton. There are links to the full text of twenty published and two unpublished plays. "In a Fine Castle" is one of the latter.
» Where can I out find what type of people chew Bazooka gum, Fruitstripe, Bubblicious or just chew gum in general? I’m looking for their age, education, income level, race and sex. [1.16.07]
Use the MediaMark Research (MRI+) database. After connecting to MediaMark Research, you need to register as a new user if you have not already done so. Use your BC email address and select your own password. Once you have registered and are connected to MediaMark Research, click the "MediaMark Reporter" button. Highlight the category "Fall 2005 Product" and enter the word "gum" in the keyword search box.
» I read about a minor league pitcher who had the yips. What does that mean? [1.08.07]
Yips are more common among golfers actually and are usually experienced as a tremor, spasm, or weakness in the fingers or hands before making a shot (especially a golfing putt). There are several databases that can lead to journal articles on this subject, but the Oxford Reference Online is a good source for a definition.
Oxford Reference Online is a collection of more than 100 reference titles covering more than twenty broad subject areas. You can search all 1.5 million dictionary definition, facts, figures, people, places, dates, and quotations simultaneously or select a single subject or title to search.
» Where can I determine when the term hot-link was first used to describe certain sausages? [1.02.07]
The Oxford English Dictionary dates it first use as 1958 (and its first use as a technical application as 1968).
» I’ve heard of cultures that were afraid of cameras when they first confronted them. Can I find this documented somewhere? [12.18.06]
Try the database Empire Online. This database brings together approximately 70,000 images of original manuscript and printed documents on colonial history, politics, culture, and society from libraries and archives around the world. Published in five thematic sections (Cultural Contacts, 1492-1969; Empire Writing and the Literature of Empire; The Visible Empire; Religion & Empire; and Race, Class, Imperialism & Colonialism, c.1607-1969), it is fully searchable and offers thematic essays by leading scholars, with hypertext links which relate directly to the documentary evidence provided.
This is still a work in progress and some of the texts can be difficult to read, but the content is excellent.
» What is a "Happening" and what does it have to do with performance art? [12.11.06]
According to Grove Art Online, Happenings were ‘spatial representations of a multileveled attitude to painting’; .... ‘a form of theater in which one puts parts together in the manner of making a collage’.
Grove Art Online provides full-text articles for both scholarly research and concise information for all aspects of the visual arts. The database is continuously updated with over 45,000 signed articles with bibliographies and links to 40,000 art images on museum and gallery web sites.
» When Theo Epstein exited Fenway Park in a gorilla costume last year, it reminded me of the Guerrilla Girls movement. Where can I learn more about this movement? [12.04.06]
The Guerrilla Girls were a group of women artists whose membership remains anonymous. The Guerrilla Girls grew out of the women’s art movement of the 1970s. In April 1985 the Guerrilla Girls began displaying posters that scolded art galleries, museums and critics for ignoring women artists and artists of color.
Good information about the movement, with examples of their publications, can be found in Women and Social Movement in the United States, 1600 - 2000.
» Where can I find advertising rates for magazines and newspapers? [11.27.06]
SRDS Media Solutions contains media rates for business publications, consumer magazines, newspaper advertising, radio advertising, tv & cable and a direct marketing list source.
» I need to figure out the best way to display a starry night for a play I need to stage. Where should I look for this type of information? [11.20.06]
The International Index to the Performing Arts (IIPA) database could help with this. IIPA includes more than 345,000 article records drawn from 240 periodicals, plus full-text coverage from 84 titles. IIPA covers a wide range of subjects in the performing arts, including dance, film, drama, opera, stagecraft, comedy, pantomime, puppetry, magic, and television. It includes retrospective coverage, with citations dating back to 1864.
» Where can I find polls that tell how many people believe in UFOs? [11.14.06]
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research includes the results of several polls on this topic, as well as polling data on alien sightings and the 1947 crash landing in Roswell, New Mexico.
The Roper Center archives data from polls conducted by many leading survey research organizations for the use of researchers, students, and journalists. Registration is required.
» Where can I find a reference source that will give me some names of Cherokee writers? [11.7.06]
There are several options here, but the Dictionary of Literary Biography provides an option to search by ethnicity Cherokee is one of many Native American choices.
» How might I locate examples of nineteenth century American acrostics and rebuses? [10.30.06]
The database American Broadsides and Ephemera has facsimile images of approximately 15,000 broadsides printed between 1820 and 1900 and 15,000 pieces of ephemera printed between 1760 and 1900. The table of contents on the search screen has headings for both acrostics and rebuses.
» I want more information about the windmill project off of Nantucket – where can I find that? What are the pros and cons for developing this type of renewable energy source? [10.23.06]
Lexis Nexis Environmental would be excellent for this question. It Includes access to thousands of environmental journals, conference papers and federal government reports, with some links to recent full text (1995-), links to full text articles from major daily newspapers and consumer magazines and trade magazines, a section of federal and state case law and agency actions, and more
» I am looking for a fifteenth century print edition with illustrations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Can I find a copy in the Library? [10.16.06]
You can access several scanned electronic copies of pre-1500 printed editions of Canterbury Tales through the Early English Books Online (EEBO) database. When searching you can specify that you only want works published between 1473 and 1500 that have illustrations.
» What countries have the greatest number of cell phones per person? [10.9.06]
There are several places one could look for this, but an excellent place to start would be with a United States government document: The Statistical Abstract of the United States. Browse the Comparative International Statistics – Telecommunications, Computers section.
» I need to give a 5-minute class presentation on a hot topic. Where can I get some ideas? [10.01.06]
Facts.com includes a section called "Issues and Controversies" which is useful for this type of assignment.
» Were Kerry Healey and Deval Patrick at Harvard College at the same time? [9.25.06]
It appears not. A rich source of biographical information is The Biography Resource Center. It is a comprehensive database of biographical information on over 335,000 people from throughout history, more than 427,000 biographies from over 135 respected reference sources (including many volumes of the Who's Who series), and greater than 538,000 full-text articles.
» I keep hearing about the West Nile Virus. What other diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans? [9.18.06]
Zoonoses is the term used for the transmission of diseases of animals to humans. A good source for information on this topic is Red Book Online. It provides today's most reliable and clinically useful information on the manifestations, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of some 200 childhood infectious diseases.
» Where might I find a history of textbooks, their pedagogical role, and their possible future? [9.11.06]
Read an article on the topic from the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, a reference database which covers the current state of the social and behavioral sciences with an international scope.
» In what movie is the song "That's What I Learned in College" performed? [9.04.06]
Rhythm Round-up (1945).Use The American Film Institute Catalog. You can search American films from the years 1893 - 1970 in a variety of ways, including Songs, Genre, Character Name, and Director.
» How did colonizers of North America react to the weather? Did they write about it? [8.28.06]
Early Encounters in North America contains 1,482 authors and over 100,000 pages of letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters. This resource can be searched in myriad ways, including Places and Environment (Cold Weather, Lunar Eclipses, Tornadoes).
» Where can I get an overview of the Israeli - Hizballah conflict? [8.21.06]
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) addresses this topic with its own publications and links to other resources.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.
» Was the phrase "yada yada yada" first coined on the Seinfeld show? [8.14.06]
No: check out the Oxford English Dictionary, which traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources.
» I know that Red Bull is an energy drink, but where can I find information about the 17th century theater by the same name? [8.7.06]
Oxford Reference Online is a collection of more than 100 reference titles covering more than twenty broad subject areas. Included is the concise version of the acclaimed Oxford Companion to the Theatre, containing an entry for the Red Bull Theatre.
» Where can I get the full text of UN Resolution 1559, which "calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non Lebanese militias"? [7.31.06]
Try AccessUN: a keyword search of Lebanon and 1559 will retrieve the Resolution. AccessUN provides indexing of current and retrospective United Nations documents and publications.
» Is it true that Barnes and Noble owns B. Dalton and Borders owns Walden Books? [7.24.06]
Yes, information like this and much more can be found in Corporate Affiliations.
» Do we have online access to D’Alembert and Diderot's Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire in French? [7.18.06]
We do, via the The Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language (ARTFL). This site is a work in progress, so be sure to read the Caveats.
» How many times has a host country won the World Cup?[7.05.06]
The Libraries' subscription to Facts.com contains multiple databases. One of these, The World Almanac Reference Database, lists World Cup results and locations for 1930-2002.
» Where can I find some biographical information on Henry Thacker Burleigh, the singer who introduced Antonin Dvorak to African-American spirituals? [6.25.06]
The American National Biography database offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped the nation. Search beginning with the last name, Burleigh.
» I need an introduction to the Oxford Calculators. Where should I start? [6.19.06]
A good resource for this is the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, which has a comprehensive introductory entry for this group of thinkers at Oxford in the mid-fourteenth century.
» I need some images of 19th century toys. [6.12.06]
ARTstor can help. ARTstor is an expanding database of over 300,000 images plus descriptive information of art, architecture, painting, photography, sculpture, decorative arts and design, archeological and anthropological objects, and visual and material culture.
For this question, Browse the Image Gallery and then choose toys.
» I’d like to find some plays on the topic of the Japanese American Internment that took place from 1942 – 1945. I searched in Quest, but I need more. [5.30.06]
A good source for this is Asian American Drama. This resource contains 252 plays by 42 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more.
» Is it true that the term “Abstract Expressionism” was first coined in relation to the work of Vasily Kandinsky? What does it mean, anyhow? [5.30.06]
There are several places to check, but the best is perhaps Grove Art Online.
» What was Condoleezza Rice's dissertation topic and can I get a copy of it? [5.22.06]
Rice's dissertation can be found using the database Dissertations and Theses - Full Text (ProQuest). This database contains citations and abstracts to more than 2 million dissertations and masters theses. The full text of dissertations published since 1997 is available for download, and some older dissertations (such as this one) are also being made available.
» Where can I locate some musical clips that include the washboard? I’d like this online. [5.15.06]
The Library subscribes to the Smithsonian Global Sound Libraries, a virtual encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. There are more than 35,000 tracks of American Folk, Jazz, Blues, World, children’s, and other musical genres, plus readings by major literary figures, political speeches, and drumbeats and other sounds.
» Members of the BC community often refer to the area in front of McElroy as the "dust bowl", where did the term originate? [5.8.06]
The Oxford Reference Online database, accessed via the Online Databases page, is a collection of more than 100 reference titles covering more than twenty broad subject areas. A search for the term "dust bowl" returns 15 results describing the origin of the term and its use today.
» I need more information about the role Napoleon Bonaparte played in the history of propaganda, where should I look? [5.1.06]
From the Online Databases page, browse by letter or search by title for the database "Gutenberg-e". Select The Genesis of Napoleonic Propaganda.
» Where can I find out what companies had commercials on television network news in the 1970s? [4.24.06]
Access the Vanderbilt Television News Archive through the Online Databases page.
» Is there a way to find some US Government Documents related to United States foreign relations with Afghanistan from the 1970’s to Soviet invasion? [4.10.06]
There are several resources to check, but a useful one would be The Digital National Security Archive. This database is available by searching for the title in either the Quest Library Catalog or the Online Databases pages.
» How wealthy was Oscar Wilde’s mother when she died? [4.3.06]
From the Online Databases page, browse by letter or search by title for the database "Oxford Dictionary of National Bibliography". On the database's homepage, search using the term "wilde" and select the name, Wilde, Jane Francesca Agnes.
» I heard that in 2000 the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) apologized for the bureau's long history of actions that he said were intended to “destroy all things Indian.” Is this speech available in the Library? [3.27.06]
From the Libraries homepage, click Online Databases and search for the database "CQ Historic Documents Series Online".
» Where can I look up the chemical composition of the human body? [3.20.06]
Visit the Online Databases page, then search for the database "CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics". Click "Text Search" in the upper left corner and enter "chemical composition of the human body".
» I'm ready to format my bibliography, where would I find an online citation guide? [3.13.06]
Under "Resources" on the Library homepage, click Ready Reference thenWriter's Resources.
» I know the Library has atlases, but I need a map that shows the locations of the riots last summer in France. [3.6.06]
From the Library homepage click “Online Databases”, then Search for the resource called Facts.com.
» I am researching the history of alcohol advertising and I need some images from the colonial period. What should I do? [2.27.06]
Go to the Library homepage, click "Online Databases", then Browse under "Interdisciplinary", select "Early American Imprints", then Browse by Genre "Advertisements".
» What reference work would provide the origin and first use of the verb to boycott? [2.27.06]
Try the following Online Databases:
» Where would you search for a recent summary of the avian flu crisis? [2.27.06]
Try the following Online Databases: