National Parks

This week, PBS is airing the Ken Burns documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea on stations around the country. If you meant to watch, and forgot, or couldn't get to a TV when it was airing, never fear! PBS has the episodes available for online viewing through October 9th. Just start at the website for the series and follow the links for viewing full episodes.

We will soon have the accompanying book available for checkout. In the meantime, we also have travel guides and other materials about the National Parks available in the library.

If the show is inspiring you to go out and visit some parks, or do some hiking, start at the U.S. National Park Service. There you will find maps, podcasts, photographs, and links to all of the national parks, including Little Rock Central High School and the Pea Ridge National Military Park.

Swine Flu Information

School has started again around the country, and swine flu cases are being reported everywhere. To keep yourself educated and up to date, check out the Centers for Disease Control website.

The Arkansas State Library also has health-related databases where you can find more information about keeping yourself healthy.

To try these and other databases, start at the database page on our website. For questions, please use the Ask a Librarian form on our website.

New databases at ASL part 3

Here are a few more of the new databases available at the Arkansas State Library.

Diversity Studies Collection: This collection explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in our global community. This set includes 150 full-text journals. Coverage begins in 1980.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues Collection: This collection of over 30 largely full-text journals aims to provide balanced coverage culture, covering such topics as gender studies, family and marital issues, health aspects, and many more. Coverage begins in 1980.

Religion & Philosophy Collection: Users of this collection can research different religions and philosophies and how they impact our daily lives. The collection is comprised of 250 periodicals, many of which are full-text. Coverage begins in 1980.

To try these and other databases, start at the database page on our website. For questions, please use the Ask a Librarian form on our website.

From Planting to Harvest

As we move into fall, it is time to harvest some crops and plant others. If you are a beginning gardener or a professional farmer, we have resources that can help you decide what to plant, learn when to plant it, and care for your crops throughout the year.

• Year-Round Home Garden Planting Guide: Produced by the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension services, this booklet provides a quick and easy guide to planting for home gardeners in Arkansas. It is available on-line through our catalog, and in hard-copy at the library.
• For home farmers and professionals, the Agriculture Collection may also be of use. It is one of the databases that ASL has recently acquired. With broad coverage of agriculture and its related fields, this collection provides a comprehensive view of this growing body of knowledge. Comprised of nearly 200 titles, researchers will have access to current and authoritative content that spans the industry, from practical aspects of farming to cutting edge scientific research in horticulture.
• Another new database, the Gardening, Landscaping, and Horticulture Collection has resources for farmers, landscape architects, and biotechnologists alike, with this collection of nearly 50 journals focused specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture. A fertile and growing collection, this collection includes content relating to both the practical aspects as well as the scientific theory of horticulture studies.

To try these and other databases, start at the database page on our website. For questions, please use the Ask a Librarian form on our website.

Find Your Roots

The Federation of Genealogical Societies is meeting in Little Rock this week for their annual conference. Yesterday, I had the pleasure to attend the Librarian's Day sessions and learn more about doing genealogical research in libraries. Although most of the documents necessary for doing in-depth genealogical research into Arkansas history are at the Arkansas History Commission, Arkansas State Library does have books to help guide beginning genealogists. Here are just two:

• The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook by Emily Anne Croom (CS 47 .C75 2003) - A guidebook to the numerous sources available to genealogists, including Federal Census records, county and courthouse records, and libraries. There is one chapter on documents unique to African-American genealogy and one chapter on Native American genealogy.
• Black Genesis: A Resource Book for African-American Genealogy James M. Rose an Alice Eichholz (CS 21 .R57 2003) - African-American genealogy poses some unique and difficult challenges, but Rose and Eichholz have provided and in-depth, state-by-state look at what documents are available.

In addition to books, there are now many genealogy websites that can facilitate your genealogical search. One of the most well known is ancestry.com. While you must become a subscriber to make use of all the features on the website, there are still many resources available for free. There are special collections for African-American and Jewish family history, as well as reference works and search tips.

We can help you find the books listed here to guide you, as well as others in our collection, and we can do some obituary searches. Take advantage of these and other resource to start searching your family tree today.