Taking a Ride with Research Pro

For those pressed for time or wanting one-stop research help, the St. Louis County Library research section has turbocharged help in Research Pro.  After selecting the Research tab on the home page, on the left side, under databases A-Z, is Research Pro.

This metasearch engine allows the researcher to view results across the internet and library databases.  Searches can be done by keyword, author, title or subject.  The advanced search feature allows for Boolean searches (and/or).

Assume that a student is searching for Jimi Hendrix materials.   Typing "Jimi Hendrix" in the search box as a keyword yields not only his official website, his entry at biography.com, but images, You Tube videos, and database results.  For the serious student, the article "Castles Made of Sand--a Psychodynamic Interpretation of Hendrix's Life and Music" from the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy may be just the ticket.  For more casual fans, "Readers' Poll:  the 10 Best Jimi Hendrix Songs" from Rolling Stone may satisfy.

Research Pro provides a fast, luxurious ride to comprehensive reference results.

--Harry C., Reference

Reference Quick Tip: Consumer Reports

--Tiffany D., Reference

Auto Repair Reference Center

Having car trouble? Need help? The Auto Repair Reference Center by EBSCO is a great source of information on auto repair. To access, go to www.slcl.org > Research > Repair and Maintenance > Auto Repair Reference Center.

Subjects covered include the following:

• Repair Info--Step-by-step, repair-oriented information for all areas of your vehicle. Browse or keyword search to find the repair of interest.
• Bulletins--Technical Service Bulletins and Recall information on your vehicle.
• Diagrams--Electrical Wiring Diagrams for your vehicle.
• Maintenance Intervals--A full list of scheduled maintenance needs for your vehicle.
• Specifications--A full list of specifications for your vehicle.
• Labor Times--Determine the time it takes to do a repair and estimate the cost of the repair.
• Diagnostic Information--For the advanced DIYer. Diagnostic troubleshooting based on symptoms and ODBII codes.

If you like this one, you may also like our Small Engine Repair Reference Center database that covers all terrain vehicles, generators, boat motors, tractors, outdoor equipment and motorcycles.

--Tiffany D., Reference

Official ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists

The ABMS Directory has moved from being a print resource to being completely
accessible online. It provides information about board certified physicians and enables
you to search for them from the database.

You can search in a variety of ways – by name, board certified specialty, location, etc.
It provides information whether or not your doctor is board certified and various sub-
specialties. It also helps locate board certified physicians in a specific location.

Search Tip: With so many municipalities within the St. Louis area, we have found it
much easier to find a specific physician by typing in his or her name and then using just
the State, rather than specifying a city.

If you need help with your search, please call the Reference Department at 314-994-
3300, Ext 2050, and we will be glad to assist you.

--Mari C., Reference

It’s Easy to Be Green

Make simple changes in your life to reduce your carbon footprint and be more environmentally friendly for Earth Day and beyond. Search our websites and databases under the Environment heading for more resources on how you can make a difference!

City of St. Louis Book Reuse and Recycling Links – Contains links for St. Louis organizations that accept materials for reuse or recycling, tips about recycling, and more.

e-Cycle – St. Louis – Donate your old PC or laptop to a worthy cause. E-Cycle refurbishes computers, which are then given to local schools or businesses.

Ecological Footprint Quiz – Take a quiz to find out how much of a carbon footprint you leave to maintain your lifestyle. 

Freecycle – Give your items a second life on Freecycle, where they can find a new home. 

Leftovers, etc. - Provides surplus resources donated by business, industry and the local communities committed to the development and advancement of education and the arts. 

Operation Brightside – Help to make your community a beautiful place through cleaning and greening initiatives. 

The Greens – Kids learn about sustainability and green living. 

Ridefinders – This St. Louis based organization will help you find share a ride to work, reducing emissions and saving you money at the same time! 

---Anna H., Jamestown Bluffs Branch

Issue with Gale Databases [Resolved]

Notification from Gale:

Gale, Cengage Learning is currently experiencing server related issues which is affecting the Gale, Cengage Learning resources. Our engineers are diligently working to resolve the issues and to get the resources back to normal working order as soon as possible. 

Term Paper Help - Part II: Academic Search Elite

In a previous post, we discussed St. Louis County Library's database Academic OneFile and its wealth of academic and news articles, video and audio for research tasks. With Academic OneFile so useful, is there a need for a second academic database, such as Academic Search Elite?

The answer is yes! Assume as before that someone is researching nuclear accidents.  They will start at www.slcl.org, select the Research tab, then databases A-Z on the left hand side and choose Academic Search Elite, the second database under the letter A.  Within this database, after logging in with library card number and PIN, a customer can enter "nuclear accidents" as the subject.  The results can be further limited to full text.

As with Academic OneFile, professional journals such as Nuclear Engineering result.  However, a significant difference is that now there are results from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity.  In addition, Academic Search Elite has an "images" link at the top, which the researcher can use to find photos, charts and diagrams to include in their work.

Taken together, these two databases at the top of the list are a powerful, complementary team for most serious research.

--Harry C., Reference