Today is one of the days the International Earth Rotation Service of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures sets aside to add or subtract a second from the atomic clock to "coordinate atomic and astronomical time."  In case you were feeling a little off.

Source: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2008. Lincoln Park Reference, R.905 C487A1

 

EveryBlock Chicago is a mash-up of government information and Google Maps.  I LOVE the way it pulls together public information from disparate city agencies and departments and adds layers of relevance and accessibility.

You can locate crime reports, restaurant inspection scores, property transfers, street closures and even filming schedules. Search by address, zip code or neighborhood and you'll see a map loaded with the locations of each event. EveryBlock also includes business reviews from Yelp and lost and found ads from Craigslist. You can even look at pictures that have been geotagged in Flickr!  It's a really easy way to explore your neighborhood or your city.

Join us in room 400 of the John T. Richardson Library for a brown bag lunch with author and DePaul professor Achy Obejas at noon on Thursday, June 5th. Ms. Obejas will talk about her writing and read from a selection of her work.

Dessert will be provided!

Achy Obejas is the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz chair in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program and the department of English. She is a writer of impressive range and accomplishment, having written a number of novels, short fiction, poetry, and translations and published award-winning journalism.

The 2002 Economic Census ranks states by their top industries. Per capita, Illinois is first in "construction and mining (except oil well) machinery and equipment merchant wholesalers," which may seem a little boring.  But we are second in “beer, wine, and distilled alcoholic beverage merchant wholesalers”, third in “nonchocolate confectionery manufacturing” and fourth in “Mayonnaise, dressing, and other prepared sauce manufacturing”.  Mmmm, red licorice and jelly beans with a side of  French dressing please!  Should I pair that with a red or white wine?  (We suspect either is fine as long as you are of age and refrain from jumping on a bulldozer afterwards.)

Rounding out our top five is “office machinery and equipment rental and leasing.”  

To see industries in which Illinois ranks first in terms of total sales or receipts, or to check out other information from the 2002 Economic Census, visit Top Ranking Industries Organized by State.  (And yes, per capita,  Wisconsin is still number one in cheese.)

Meebo is a web-based IM service that lets you IM friends on any service(AIM, MSN, Googletalk, etc.) from almost any web browser. All you need to do is set up a free meebo account, and link it to your existing IM accounts. There is nothing to download, so you can use it from almost any public computer. (Great for IM in campus labs or traveling!) All your buddies appear in one big list.

The DePaul Libraries use meebo's "meebo me" widget for our "Ask A Librarian" IM service. If you have a question for us ("Which database should I use to find articles on the global warming?" "How do I renew a book?"), you don't even need to have an IM account--you can just start talking to us via the widget on our "Ask a librarian" or Facebook pages. Of course, if you want to add us to you buddy lists, we are  dpulibrarian on Yahoo, AIM and MSN and  dpulibrarian on Yahoo, and dpulibrarian(at symbol)gmail.com.

 

April 17th
National High Five Day

Don't leave us hanging!  Stop by the reference desk--we won't force you to give us a high five, but if you stop by, we will give you some treats in celebration of National Library Week!

Source: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2008 Lincoln Park Reference, R.905 C487A1

Help us celebrate National Library Week!

April 13th-19th, 2008

Become a fan of the John T. Richardson library or the DePaul Center Library on Facebook, and then stop by either library reference desk for a small, sweet token of our appreciation!

 

According to the economic research service of the US Department of Agriculture, carrot consumption is on the rise, and highest in the East and Central regions of the country.  The online publication "Factors Affecting Carrot Consumption in the United States" examines where and how much fresh and processed carrots are eaten and links this consumption to various economic, social, and demographic characteristics of consumers."  More consumption reports are available from the USDA at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/consumption/ . 

Don't forget to file your taxes today!  We are excited to bring you further posts highlighting the sometimes unexpected information collected and distributed by official government agencies.

 

 

  The safety pin was patented on this day in 1849 by Walter Hunt of New York.

 

 Source: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2008 Lincoln Park Reference, R.905 C487A1

 

 

Anniversary of the birth of Billie Holiday, April 7, 1915.  Born Eleanora Fagen in Philadelphia, PA.  Also known as "Lady Day", she was known for her dramatic and unique vocal style.  She died on July 17, 1959 in New York City.  Click here  for biographies and other DePaul library materials about Ms. Day.

Source: Chase's Calendar of Events, 2008 Lincoln Park Reference, R.905 C487A1, Picture courtesy of the American Memory Project.