Spotlight on…American Fact Finder

In these final frantic weeks of the school year, you may find yourself needing some stats for final projects and papers. If you’re not sure where to get started, we have a lot of resources to help, but if you know you need stats about American people, businesses, industries, or markets, then try American Fact Finder’s Guided Search tool to get exactly what you need.

Screen shot of American Fact Finder homepage shows many options for finding informaiton.
American Fact Finder is hosted by the U.S. Census and is a good source for data about agriculture, education, employment, health, law, etc. Their website features valuable links to other official statistical resources, both domestic and international. Using the Guided Search tool enables you to tell the database exactly what you’re looking for, in an easy, step-by-step format.

To get to American Fact Finder, you simply start at the UGL homepage, and click on “How do I?” in the top right corner:

screenshot: How Do I link is in top-most navigational menu on UGL homepage

From there, you’ll look for the heading for “Find Sources” and then click on “Statistics”:

screenshot: Statistics are listed under 'find other types of sources'

Finally, you’ll see a selection of databases designed for statistics, and you’ll click on “American Fact Finder”:

screenshot: on statistics page, American FactFinder is listed under 'starting points'

Once you’re in the database, you’ll see an option on the left side of your screen for “Guided Search.” Just select that option, and follow the link to get started.

screenshot: Guided Search is a good search option to start with if you're unfamiliar with the resource.

The guided search tool will now walk you through several steps to help you narrow  the information you can access. You start with selecting what kind of information you want (like people, industries, housing, or a specific table or dataset). Next you’ll choose topic areas (like age, education, race, etc.), then location (or geography), and on until you can see results that match your criteria. You can add as many topics, geographies, etc., as you like.

screenshot: the guided search gives you many options to refine your search.

Then the database will give you tables and stats based on your criteria, and you can also easily see what census the information has pulled from, so you know how recent it is. Pretty nifty, huh? This is only one librarian-approved source for statistics. If you find yourself needing other types of stats, check out the UGL’s statistics guide for more great sources of information.

Find other posts in the Spotlight On… series here.

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Poetry is Slammin’

April is National Poetry Month! Poetry can be a great way to express yourself, and some of the world’s greatest literary works take the form of poems. Celebrate this month of poets, rhythm, meter, metrical patterns, stanzas, alliteration, diction and form by learning about one of the library’s many poetry resources.

National Poetry Month was established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets.

Online Resources

  • MLA International Bibliography
    This database is your first stop for literary criticism and analysis of novels, short stories, poems, etc.
  • Literature Resource Center
    This database is a bio-bibliographical guide to writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. It’s searchable by name, title of work, subject/genre, nationality, date and place of birth, honors, awards and more.
  • Contemporary American Ethnic Poets: Lives, Works, Sources
    This one-stop guide to 75 contemporary American poets from 12 different ethnicities includes biographical sketches, thematic discussions, and more.
  • Greenwood Companion to Shakespeare Vol. 4: The Romances & Poetry
    This nifty tool has prose interpretations of Shakespeare’s sonnets!
  • Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets & Poetry
    Separated into 5 volumes, this handy encyclopedia lists both author and poem topics alphabetically, making it easy to locate info on a specific writer, or find sweet poetry about everything from the Black Arts Movement to Visual Poetry.
  • Thematic Guide to British Poetry
    This guide offers interpretations of 415 poems, representing the work of over 110 poets spanning seven centuries of British poetry.
  • Poetry Tool
    Online archive of full text poetry with a robust search engine. It also includes numerous articles, podcasts, and audio on poets and poetry, brought to you by the Poetry Foundation.

Books & More
You can also search the library catalog by poem title, author or genre for books of poetry and books about poetry and poets. If you’re looking for some recommendations, check out our Poetry! Pinterest Board. And if you’re really feeling inspired, sign up to receive a Poem-A-Day via email, courtesy of Poets.org.

Still not finding that perfect poetry source? Ask a Librarian for help, and poetic justice shall surely be yours!

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Everything you ever wanted to know about…

How many movies has Samuel L. Jackson starred in? Aside from the telephone, what else did Alexander Graham Bell invent? How accurate was The Social Network in portraying Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg? With the Library’s biographical resources, you can find out just about anything about anyone.

The world's most interesting man says: I don't always look up my own life story, but when I do, I use the online reference collection.

Finding bios of people online can be super easy. Especially with websites like Wikipedia or IMDB, it may be more difficult to not find information about people online. As helpful as the world wide web can be, it’s often not the most credible of places to find information. Using the Library’s online reference collection, you have access to millions of biographies, still right at your fingertips. And you know it’s coming from Library-recommended, credible sources.

(You can use the link above, or if you start at the UGL homepage, click on Find in the upper right corner, and then select Biographies.)

There are a lot of resources to sift through, depending on your interests. These are some of our favorite multi-subject resources:

Biography Resource Center: This database covers people from all over the world, in all subject areas, from all points in history. You can search in a variety of ways, too: by name, occupation, birth or death years, and many others. Bonus: a lot of times, entries will include links to news articles, magazine articles or other references materials about the person in question.

American National Biography: If you need information about a famous American, this is a great place to get started. In addition to having bios of over 17,000 people, it also links you to other resources if you find yourself needing more info.

Credo Reference Biographies: While it may not contain its own full-text bios, it can link you out to other great resources, all by searching in one place.

In addition to the broad-coverage resources, there are also great places to start like American Men and Women of Science, Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, and Distinguished Asian Americans, all of which cover more specific subject areas.

If you get stuck trying to find information about a specific person, come talk to us at the Research Desk, stop in during Office Hours @ the UGL, or chat us up on IM. Stay curious, #ClubUGL.

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Statistically Speaking…

What people at the "10 items of less" line at the supermarket have: it's mostly more than 10 items.

Data we’ve all witnessed in action…

When you’re doing research, statistics can be excellent evidence to support your topic or claim. After all, data don’t lie. But finding the perfect statistics for your research can be a little trickier. But don’t worry, the library’s got loads of starting points when charts and graphs and numbers (oh, my!) are what you need to find.

Before you start searching for stats, though, we’ve got a couple of tips for you. First, it might seem like data-collectors have probably collected data on every possible scenario under the sun, right? For example, if you are researching how many times people posted on Twitter about the 2013 Academy Award winners in relation to the TV ratings for this year’s ceremonies compared to past years, you should be able to find stats on that, right? Well… Maybe, but maybe not.

First, the Oscars were, like, just last weekend, so there probably hasn’t been a ton of data collected on them yet. Also, one person may’ve collected data on the TV ratings, and another person may’ve tallied Twitter reactions to the Oscar winners (how cute was Jennifer Lawrence when she tripped, btw? Team Katniss!), but they may not have necessarily put the two together. So, here are a few things to keep in mind when you are thinking about what kinds of stats you’d like to find:

  • How recent does the information need to be? Some data takes time to collect, and the most recent data may not be available. Is it okay if your data is from last year? Or even maybe 2010 or 2011? 
  • Some events are too recent to have much data collected at all, so that’s another consideration.
  • If you are looking at how different elements compare to one another, you may have to find your stats in more than one place. For example, you might be the first person in the world to think about comparing professional athletes’ salaries with the money each athlete’s respective college made on sports income while said athlete played there. So, you might have to find data on pro salaries in one place, and data on college sport income in another, and then compare them yourself.
  • Is your research topic something that has statistics at all? Remember, in order for there to be statistics, someone, somewhere (we like to imagine in a white lab coat) needs to collect the raw data that turns into statistics. If no has has collected data on your topic, there might not be a lot of statistics.

That being said, there are still plenty of ways to find statistics—and plenty of ways to get help, too! If you want to browse a few starting points (conveniently organized by subject area), head to the UGL homepage and click on “Find” in the upper right corner.

The 'Find' button is in the top-most navigation menu on the UGL homepage.

The “Find” page is your link to locating all sorts of goodies!

Once on the “Find” page, scroll down to the bottom, and click on “Statistics.”

The statistics page is listed amongst many other helpful pages.

Tips on finding Statistics, among many, many other things!

The Find Statistics page lists a whole bunch of great places to start, including general starting points, which cover a lot of federal information and demographic info culled from census data. We’ve also got places to look for stats relating to Business & Economics, Crime, Education, Government, Health, Historical Statistics, Illinois-specific information, International info, and Psychology & the Social Sciences.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, the Government Information Services Library has an even more detailed list of starting points.

Of course, even if you find some potential stats, navigating your way through the data can still be a little daunting at first. You’re more than welcome to stop by the research desk, Ask A Librarian via chat, swing by Office Hours @ the UGL or make an appointment with a librarian who specializes in government information or other data services. We’re always happy to help you search for the stats that will really make your research shine!

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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s . . . Office Hours @ the UGL!

If you find yourself caught in the clutches of confusing research questions and don’t know where to turn, never fear! Office Hours at the UGL is here to save the day!

Office Hours @ the UGL poster - make your research super!

You’re busy. You have papers, group projects, presentations. Sometimes, it probably seems like you’re lost, wandering the dark alleys with no one to hear your cry for help. But you’re not alone! UGL librarians are here to help you wade through your research with Office Hours @ the UGL.

We’re always here for you, at our Research Desk and online with Ask a Librarian. But maybe you need some one-on-one, in-depth research help. That’s where Office Hours can swoop in to rescue you. Every Monday from 2-4 and every Tuesday from 7-9, we’re waiting in UGL room 291 to answer all your research questions. We can help you with any part of your research process, too, whether you’re just getting started, need more sources, or don’t know if the ones you have are credible.

No matter if you just have a quick question or need more in-depth help, we’ve got both covered. And, if you need help tackling your writing questions, Writers Workshop tutors will be there to answer quick writing queries. So you can come get help with your research and your writing, all in one stop! New this semester, too, is Office Hours @ the Media Commons, where you can get tech tips, troubleshooting, learn more about the UGL’s loanable tech equipment and more. No matter what your trouble, the UGL has a solution for you.

You never know when calamity will strike, so don’t worry about making an appointment. Just stop in and let us know how we can help you. To make sure you get the most out of your visit, here are a couple tips:

  • First, if you have a specific assignment you’re working on, bring any assignment details you have with you. The more we know about what you have to do, the better we can help!
  • Second, if you’ve done any work on the assignment so far, make sure to tell us, so we can start from the best possible place.

Don’t feel like you have to fight alone. Let Office Hours @ the UGL help defend you against confusion and frustration. Researchers assemble!

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UGL 101: How Do I…? Pages

Handouts are available on a variety of topics.

You don’t always have to get online to get research help! Kick it old-skool with one of our handouts, packed with great tips!

There’s a page on the UGL website that’s got all the answers for starting, doing and finishing a research project. No, really! Linked from the upper right corner of the UGL homepage, the freshly updated How Do I…? page has all kinds of library and research-related goodness.

The How Do I page is linked in the top-most menu on the UGL homepage.

Are you having trouble choosing your topic or developing a topic you’ve already chosen? We’ve got pages that can help with that too.
 
The links on the How Do I page will help with every step of the research process, and more!

Links for help Getting Started, Finding Sources (all kinds!), Evaluating Sources and Citing Sources!

One of the best parts is there are also pages that can help you find all different kinds of information including: 
Need to know which library supports your major? Need help citing your sources? What did we tell you, this page has everything. 
 
And the best part? Most of these pages have customized PDF’s you can download and print for reference later. If you’re feeling even more low-tech, visit the display near the New Books section and Media Commons on the upper level and snag a few handouts—all printed out in bright colors and ready to act as your quick guide.
Special thanks to guest blogger Ashley Booth!
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Presidential Picks

Presidents carved in stone.

Mount Rushmore photo courtesy of fotopedia

Because we’re all about celebrating holidays here in the UGL, we’d like to draw your attention to Presidents’ Day! Celebrated this year on Monday, Feb. 18, the holiday was originally established to honor George Washington’s birthday, but it’s since morphed into a standard federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February. Either way, we think it’s a great excuse to showcase some of our resources for researching the U.S. presidency.

Finding Background Info

  • The American Presidents
    Provides an overview and additional reading for each administration from George Washington through Bill Clinton
  • Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns and Elections
    This online encyclopedia has entries on contemporary American politics, including explanations of many of the most commonly used political terms and jargon
  • The Presidency A to Z
    Contains more than 300 entries related to the U.S. Presidency
  • American National Biography
    Contains 17,435 biographical articles on deceased Americans and includes men and women that were significant in politics, scholarship, science, sports, business, theater, film, and activism

Subject Guides

  •  History of the U.S. Presidency
    This subject research guide contains information on find background info, stats, journal articles and more for any research related to the U.S. President and the Executive Branch
  • Presidential Campaigns and Elections
    This subject research guide has loads of information for researching presidential campaigns, campaign history, election reform and more

Movies
Doing research on the presidents not your thing? Don’t worry—Hollywood is more than adept at glamming up the Executive Office for film and TV. Why don’t you kick back and celebrate the holiday with one of the famous leading men (and one woman!) who played Commander-in-Chief instead? Just a partial list to get you going…

All the President's Men DVD cover: Dustin Hoffman is shorter than Robert Redford, but they are both serious.All The President’s Men
What’s better than a couple of enterprising reporters breaking open one of the biggest scandals in Presidential history? Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman playing said reporters, of course.

Battlestar Galactica
In this sci-fi space odyssey, the last remaining members of humanity must protect themselves from the evil Cylons—all under the fearless leadership of Madame President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell).

Deep Impact
While the other meteor-will-destroy-Earth movie from 1998 was much more entertaining (Armageddon, for those of you keeping score at home), Morgan Freeman’s portrayal of President Beck in Deep Impact was harder-hitting. (Pun intended.)

Frost/Nixon
Frank Langella does his best “I am not a crook!” impersonation of President Nixon in this Oscar-nominated version of the famous post-Watergate interview between Nixon and British TV host David Frost.

Independence Day
Bill Pullman kicks some serious butt as President of the U.S.A. (and, really, all of the remaining world) after aliens decide to destroy Earth. Between President Thomas J. Whitmore and Will Smith, we’re pretty sure we can take whatever E.T. can dish out.

JFK
Who killed JFK? In Oliver Stone’s classic conspiracy theory flick, District Attorney Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) tries to find out.

The West Wing
Martin Sheen plays President Jed Bartlett in Aaron Sorkin’s fast-paced, sharp-tongued take on the American White House in the late ’90s/early ’00s.

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Spotlight On… Scholarly Commons

Here at the UGL, we’d like to think we’ve got you covered when it comes to helping out with just about any research need. But, we’re always happy to direct you to other libraries on campus that may be even better equipped to answer your questions. That’s why we’re shining a little light on the Scholarly Commons and all of the super-cool services they offer for students.

The Scholarly Commons is well-equipped.

Dual Monitors!

If you’re taking a course this semester that deals with data, data services, data collection, GIS (graphical information system) data  and mapping, conducting surveys, etc., then you should definitely have the Scholarly Commons on your radar. (This covers a lot of fields, but students taking courses in the social sciences, political sciences, economics and applied health sciences—we’re particularly looking at you!) The Scholarly Commons has access to a wide variety of data sets that you can download and use, along with friendly experts who can help you access the data and the accompanying software.

Aside from access to data sets, the computers (a mix of dual-monitor PCs and Macs) all come equipped with data manipulation programs such as SAS, SPSS, Stata, Atlas.ti, NVivo, R and much more. If you’re familiar with these programs, then you’re already probably geeking out about the fact that there’s a place in the library to not only use them, but get help doing so. If you’re not as familiar, than you should definitely drop in and see what they’re all about.

The Scholarly Commons has plentiful seating.

Comfy furniture!

If you’re planning to collect your own data through surveys, samplings or other research methods, you can stop by the Survey Research Lab. This is a service that the Scholarly Commons pays for (so you don’t have to!) that provides help with constructing and conducting surveys, taking data samples and analyzing the data. The Survey Research Lab is open from 1pm-4pm every Tuesday.

So all of this sounds pretty rad, right? Well, there’s even more! Some other services at the Scholarly Commons include:

  • Copyright Consultation
    While the folks at the Scholarly Commons can’t give official copyright advice, they can talk through any questions you may have and help you explore all of your options.
  • Savvy Researcher Workshops
    A series of free workshops that teach a variety of topics from citation management tools like RefWorks and Zotero to how to use images without copyright restrictions.
  • Special Equipment
    Do you have a lot of pages to scan? You can use their sheet-feed scanner!
  • Usability Lab
    If you’re testing out websites for ADA-usability standards or ease of navigation, the usability lab is equipped with software (Silverback for Mac and Morae for Windows) that tracks what users are doing on a site and how they are navigating through it. (Note: the lab must be reserved to use, but is available for drop-in use as long as there is no other reservation for that time.)
  • Digital Humanities
    If you’re working on a project in the digital humanities, the Scholarly Commons has resources and tools that can help you make connections and create multi-media projects and presentations.
The Scholarly Commons has lots of surfaces.

Ample workspace!

So, what are you waiting for? Get over to the Scholarly Commons asap! They’re located in Room 306 of the Main Library, and are open Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 1pm-5pm and Tuesday-Thursday from 10am-5pm. You can also contact them directly to set up an appointment outside of these hours. You won’t be sorry you stopped by—we promise!

Find other posts in the Spotlight On… series here.

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Spotlight on: Academic OneFile

screenshot: Academic OneFile page with search box and limiters

If you’re not already knee-deep in papers and projects, you probably will be soon. Library databases are one of the best resources to find credible, reliable information. But we know sometimes getting started can be tough, especially if you’ve never used a database before. So we’re here to help.

One database you might consider to get started is Academic OneFile. This is a general-subject database, meaning it has information from a lot of fields. You can access it easily through the UGL’s Find Articles Guide. (If you’re off campus, don’t worry! You can still use the databases. All you need is your NetID and password.)

When you first get in to the database, you’ll see a screen that looks like this:

screenshot: searchbox above limiters, with search tips on right-hand side

The homepage for Academic OneFile

You’ll have a search box and a few ways to limit the results you’ll see. Sometimes it’s best not to select any of the things below the search box until you’ve seen results first. To optimize your database search, use keywords. Most of the time you’ll have more than one keyword you need to use, too. To get more search boxes, all you have to do is click on “Advanced Search” in the yellow bar above the search box.

screenshot: Advanced search is last option on main menu

 

screenshot: Advanced search has multiple fields for multiple keywords, and Boolean operators as well.

 

 

 

The advanced search page will give you some more options. Once you’ve entered your keywords, click search.

 

 

 

On your results screen, you’ll see ways to help you narrow down the results you have. On the left side of the screen, you have options to select the type of source, subjects, and/or publication dates.

screenshot: limiters are in a sidebar on the left-hand side of the results page

Once you find an article you like, you can click on the title to see more information. On this page, you’ll also have options to help you save the results you want to use. On the right side, there are tools you can use to save, email, print, or cite that article.

screenshot: when viewing an article record, options for saving, printing, and citing are on the right-hand side

This is just a brief look at what you might see using Academic OneFile. If you have questions or problems, come talk to a librarian! You can use our Ask-a-Librarian chat, visit us in person at the Research Desk, or come to Office Hours @ the UGL.

Find other posts in the Spotlight On… series here.

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UGL 101: Ask A Librarian

UGL 101: an introduction

Somewhere, in the deep, dark night, a cry goes out for help. A student has an information need, and they can’t make it to the library to get help. Whatever shall they do? There is tearing of hair and rending of garments. All seems lost, until—what’s this? A tiny, yellow image of a running figure? A prompt inviting visitors to share their needs? Could it possibly be…a chat window that connects students to an actual live librarian in real time? It is! Hurrah! The day is saved!

Ask A Librarian Chat Box:

A beacon of hope.

Okay, so maybe it’s never that dramatic. Most people don’t actually rip their clothes in frustration when they need help. Sometimes, though, you do have a reference or research question that needs answering right away, and you can’t make it to the library to ask our reference librarians for assistance. When that happens, you can use our handy dandy Ask A Librarian services to get the help you need.

You might have seen the Ask A Librarian chat window, pictured above, on the UGL homepage. It also appears, with some minor variations, on the main library gateway page, and on the search results page within many different databases—look for it! No matter where it shows up, and no matter where you’re surfing from (be it home, a coffee shop, up a tree—wherever!) it will connect you to a live librarian who is ready to help you with your question. Just start typing in the message bar where prompted, press enter, and a librarian will respond. From 9 am to midnight Sunday-Thursday, 9am-5:30pm on Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturday, real librarians sit and eagerly await your inquiries. Go ahead and ask them!

Chat boxes may look different on different pages.

The chat box may also look like this. They all work!

If you don’t want to use the chat box we provide on our sites, you can add us on AIM, Yahoo, MSN, or Google Talk, and chat with us that way. Our screen name is the same on all four platforms: askillinois. You can also add the main library to your account; their screen name is askuiuc.

If you’d rather not use IM at all, fear not! We have other ways for you to get in touch with us. For instance, you can also text us! Send your question to 217-686-4361, and we’ll text you back with an answer. Be aware that standard messaging rates apply.

All these options are available to you if you need a librarian and can’t come to the library to ask your question. If you can make it to the library, though, stop by our reference desk and ask us in person! We’re directly in front of you when you enter the main doors, near the circulation desk. You’ll know us by our spiffy blue vests. You can also stop by during Office Hours to get research or writing help—no appointment necessary! Whatever method you prefer—we’ve got you covered.

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