Earth Calendar

Coming in to school with students on vacation today reminded me that the holidays are coming up. Sometimes, keeping track of the dates of so many different holidays, both religious and secular can be a daunting task. A non-profit website called the Earth Calendar has made it easy. It is basically a database of all types of holidays and celebrations from around the world. You can browse holidays by date (specific date or month), by country or by religion. Did you know that there is an event in April called National Dark-Sky Week? There is also a button on the main page that says "Today" which you can click to find out if there are any holidays occurring that day. On the day that I am writing this, 4/10/06, these are the holidays being celebrated:

Salvation Army Founders Day	United States of America
Semana Santa (one week)	Mexico

Mawlid an-Nabi

Muslim / Islamic

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

TOP 10 WEIRDEST KEYBOARDS EVER

OK- it's spring break in my world. Time for a diversion. Check out the top ten weirdest keyboards ever. Fascinating! This collection was found on Fosfor Gadgets, a blog reviewing gadgets and consumer electronics. A great place to let your mind & imagination wander, as well as find VERY interesting gift ideas for "Moms, Dads & Grads"!

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Finding Articles in DOAJ

Have you ever tried to find a journal article in PDF format, especially in an interdisciplinary field, and come to a dead end? More and more scholarly journals are published electronically. If they are “open access” journals, freely available on the Web, they may be part of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) database. DOAJ provides a user-friendly platform for searching and locating full-text articles in over 2000 scholarly and scientific journals. Hosted and maintained by the Lund University (Sweden) Libraries with the aim of increasing visibility and ease of use of quality open access research journals, DOAJ is freely accessible to anyone at www.doaj.org. The collection is particularly strong in American, European and international journals with the cross-disciplinary content (economic, political, environmental, and cultural) that is increasingly critical to legal research. Searching the “Journal Finder” feature of the Hofstra web site "Libraries" page will also lead you to journal titles included in DOAJ.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

BREAK TIME!!!!!!!!!!! (pt. 2)

Some of your favorite Reference Librarians will also be on break next week. For any of you planning to be here, next week, you will be able to get some help at the Reference desk during the following times:

Friday, 4/7 - 8am - 5pm

Saturday, 4/8 - 10am - 6pm

Sunday, 4/9 - 12pm - 8pm

Monday, 4/10 - 9am - 8pm

Tuesday, 4/11 - 9am - 5pm

Wednesday, 4/12 - 9am - 8pm

Thursday, 4/13 - 9am - 5pm

Friday, 4/14 - LIBRARY CLOSED

Saturday, 4/15 - no reference librarian

Sunday, 4/16 - LIBRARY CLOSED


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

BREAK TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know about you, but I need some down time. So that I can take care of my obligatory prowling AND can catch up on some much needed napping, the Library will be open as follows:

Friday, April 7 - 8am - 9pm

Saturday, April 8 - 10am - 6pm

Sunday, April 9 - Noon - 8pm

Monday - Thursday - 9am - 8pm
April 10-13

Friday, April 14 (Good Friday) - CLOSED

Saturday, April 15 - 10am - 6pm

Sunday, April 16 (Easter) - CLOSED


We will be back on our usual schedule on Monday, April 17th, opening at 8am. HAVE A GREAT BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

U.S. Congress Votes Database

On this Web site from the Washington Post, you will find almost everything that you ever wanted to know about how the members of recent Congresses have voted. Researchers can learn of every vote taken in the Congress since 1991. For Senate and House votes, the site offers both detailed and summary information about a given vote, as well as about the members who participated.

The database is organized by chamber, and is divided between current and prior Congresses. One useful feature provides votes by type, including impeachments, nominations, and treaties. Further, the site offers the following information for each roll call vote: The question on which the vote was taken, the category, the vote description, the vote type, the result, and the date and time of the vote.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Fun with Numbers

For those of you who missed it, early this morning there was a very rare occurrence. A bit after 1am, the "time/date" stamp was 01:02:03 on 04/05/06. How many night owls were awake for it?

For you morning people, you have a chance at a different number combination in June, when the numbers will read 06:06:06 on 06/06/06 on the morning of June 6th of this year.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Katrina Report released

TITLE: A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina

On September 15, 2005, the House of Representatives approved H. Res. 437, which created the Bipartisan Committee to investigate the preparation and response to Hurricane Katrina by local, State and Federal agencies. The Committee presents this official, edited and corrected copy with the findings stemming from it to the U.S. House of Representatives and the American people for their consideration.

For up-to-date news on the aftermath there is Katrina Watch. The Center for Public Integrity spotlights the best coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and tracks government contracts awarded for cleanup and reconstruction. The Katrina Watch project presents original reports by the Center for Public Integrity and a daily roundup of links to the latest information culled from media and government Web sites.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Daylight Savings Time

If you are feeling a little tired today, it could be because of the hour you lost yesterday due to turning your clock ahead for Daylight Savings Time. If you would like to learn more about the history of Daylight Savings time, the laws behind it and what other countries do, you can find this all out and more at this website. Even if you aren't interested in all that law and history, you may be interested in this new change:

"On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday of March and end the first Sunday of November. The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress. Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete." from the When we change our clocks page of the above site.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

DEFENDING FREEDOM IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a non profit group comprised of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists dedicated to defending the freedom of citizens and consumers in the digital world. The EFF fights for these freedoms primarily in the courts (check here for a list of recent victories).

From their homepage, you can get an overview of issues this organization is involved in, such as bloggers rights, e-voting, privacy, spam, and surveillance. The page also contains a running list of featured news, and a link to white papers on some of the organization's key issues.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat