The Librarian’s Index to the Internet (www.lii.org) provides links to reliable information on a ton of subject areas. It’s searchable and has over 20,000 links to sites on the web, all of which were hand picked and categorized by professionals. In addition to CPCC Libraries’ collection of books and full-text article databases, LII.org can be a great place to look for information on whatever topic you are studying.

Academic Search Premiere contains journal and magazine articles from over 4,650 publications. Most titles allow you to access full articles from the late 1980’s onward and some are covered all the way back to 1975. Popular magazines covered include Time, Newsweek, Forbes, Black Enterprise, and Health. Scholarly journals include Science, Nature, and The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Academic Search Premiere can be found in the “Find an Article” section of the library’s website. It is a great place to start your research. CPCC students can use it from home with a SNAP ID.

Fourth of July Facts

Hot Dogs — It is estimated that 150 Million Hot Dogs will be consumed by Americans this Fourth of July. That’s one dog for every two people in the US.

Population — In 1776 there were 2.5 million people living in what was then the British Colonies. Today, nearly 300 million people call America home.

The Melting Pot — Each year thousands of people are proud to be accepted as American citizens. 34 million Americans or 12% of the population was born in another country. Another 30 million Americans are second generation, meaning their parents immigrated here.

BBQ’s — 69 million Americans took part in at least one BBQ or cookout last year.

These facts brought to you by the United States Census Bureau. For more statistics on the American population visit their home page.

We have two bits of news for you —

#1 — The CPCC Libraries are running a pilot project that we are calling IM-a-Librarian. We’ve signed up for screen names on AIM, YAHOO, and MSN and would be happy to help you with any questions you might have. We are staffing it from 10am-2pm Monday thru Thursday. Our screen names are as follows —

AIM – ClicKnows
YAHOO – ClicKnows
MSN – ClicKnows@hotmail.com

#2 — We recently came across a disturbing hoax site at www.genpets.com. The site claims to be from a company that will be selling pre-packaged genetically modified “pets” in the “near future”. It was part of an art student’s thesis. For more information visit the artist’s site. This is just another reminder that we must be critical consumers of information.

“Turning the Pages” is an online exhibit by The British Library. It features 15 rare books that have been digitized and allow the viewer to virtually flip through them. The most famous titles include the original Alice in Wonderland, one of Da Vinci’s sketch books, and original music by Mozart. The exhibit also features a magnifying glass that lets visitors examine each book in detail.

It’s time to take another look at bias and hoaxes on the Internet. Today we’ll look at two sites falsely claiming to represent an organzation. On the surface they look authentic, but after reading further it becomes clear that whoever designed these did so with the intent of spreading critical information about the organizations.

Consumers of information need to evaluate the information they are using for authority, accuracy, and bias. For more information on evaluating information on the web visit The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly.

Over summer break each campus received a fresh batch of new books for leisure reading. We’ve got some excellent titles. Head to your nearest campus library and check them out!

The semester is almost over! We are sure everyone is working hard to complete their final assignments. Remember that if you are working on assignments after hours and need information to help you with a paper, use our databases to find journal and magazine articles. All you need is your SNAP ID. If you are running into problems live help is offered 24/7 through the NcKnows chat service.

When the semester is over relax with some of these area activities.

Take a Hike @ Crowder’s Mountain

See the Dead Sea Scrolls at Discovery Place thru May 29th

Visit the UNCC Botanical Gardens

Good luck with finals!

Cecil Adams is a syndicated columnist who researches and answers questions from readers across the country. Check out his answers to these and other practical and not-so-practical questions at www.StraightDope.com. If you’ve got any stumpers please contact your friendly CPCC librarian. By phone at (704) 330-6884 or use our online service, Ask A Librarian.

Why do your fingers and toes wrinkle in the bathtub?

Can I mail a brick back to a junk-mail firm using the business reply envelope?

Did 250 million people worldwide die from smoking over 10 years?

NetLibrary has over 1,000 audiobooks available and downloadable to any digital music player that supports the .WMA format (Sorry, iPod devotees!). Some titles include —

Lullaby, by Chuck Palahniuk (the author or Fight Club)
The Davinci Code, by Dan Brown
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini

There are also many foreign language courses available. Each book has a check-out period of 21 days. If you need any help contact us at 704-330-6884.