The Regional Reference Center at Memorial Hall Library provides reference support for all NMRLS member libraries. We are happy to brainstorm questions with you, or use our well-developed reference collection to help answer difficult questions. You can contact us by phone at 978-623-8401 Ext. 31, or by email at rdesk@mhl.org.

New Reference Additions

City Profiles USA: A Traveler's Guide to Major U.S. Cities, now in the seventh edition, lists average temperatures and precipitation, major hotels and resorts, airlines and transportation services, and radio and television stations for 249 cities in the U.S. and Canada.

Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: the Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang defines words and terms that reflect the diverse influences on the political jargon in Washington, D.C. Included are terms like bafflegab, doubledome, and mashed-potato circuit.

Interesting Web Sites

Microsoft Accessibility Technology for Everyone
www.microsoft.com/enable/
Microsoft software contains tools to assist people with visual and motor disabilities. In addition to changes in the font size and color, you can change the screen contrast, blink rate of the cursor, and speed of the mouse.

Conversion Maestro
www.ptloma.edu/Physics/conversions.htm
Bookmark this site for quick conversions for length, area, mass, and volume.

Stumper for March

Hemingway substituted the term "obscenity" for four-letter words in one of his novels. Can you name the novel?
Answer: For Whom the Bell Tolls - A patron brought a copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls to the Reference Desk because she thought that it was printed incorrectly. We checked other copies of the book and found that the word obscenity was substituted for four-letter words in every copy.
Source: Source: Ernest Hemingway by Peter L. Hays p. 91.

Stumper for April

I am looking for a web site that provides summaries, thought questions, and teaching ideas for all kinds of movies.

Until next month,
Eleanor Sathan
Regional Reference Librarian
esathan@mhl.org