When All Else Fails...YouTube!

Every once in awhile, our Reference Desk comes face to face with a question that resists even our most resolute research efforts. After trying a handful of trustworthy sources and repeatedly coming up empty, we like to take a step back and put a fresh spin on our usual reference M.O. And you know what? Sometimes a new approach makes all the difference when it comes to solving the tricky requests that are part of our day's work.

Case in point: our Head of Reference Services, Sherie, was asked to supply a patron with the lines to a poem that a patron recalled as having a title similar to "Beauty Is What Beauty Does." The poem was showcased, the patron vaguely remembered, during an old Mickey Mouse Club episode.

After doing a little detective work, Sherie found out that the poem was actually an old song that was once sung on the original Mickey Mouse Club back in the mid-1950s. "Beauty Is As Beauty Does" was a unique MMC tune that was part of a "Words to Grow By" segment in which each female cast member was asked to participate at some point during her tenure. Since the Mickey Mouse Club was (and is!) such a pop culture icon, one would assume that tracking down the lyrics to one of its recurring songs wouldn't be very difficult.

Not so!

It turns out that the lyrics to "Beauty Is As Beauty Does" are harder to track down than Waldo and Carmen San Diego combined! Sherie checked a wide variety of both electronic and print sources and kept running into that frustrating Wall of Unanswer that every librarian encounters from time to time. Taking a step back from the question, she cleared her thoughts and settled on a new plan of attack: YouTube.

It turns out that YouTube isn't just handy for looking up videos of dramatic chipmunks and montages of LeBron James' greatest plays; it's also quite the go-to resource for reference questions involving obscure song lyrics! With just a few clicks, Sherie found a 41-second Mickey Mouse Club episode clip in which cast members Jimmie Dodd and Doreen Tracey offer a charming rendition of "Beauty Is As Beauty Does." Sherie simply listened carefully to the lyrics and transcribed them by hand.

Sometimes a fresh approach is really all you need!

A New Way to Go Green!

Is there a Doogie-Howser-era computer lurking in the corners of your office? Reluctant to pitch it in the trash, have you resorted to using its clunky monitor as a makeshift coat rack/Post-It Note depository/glorified beverage coaster?

Why not recycle it?

This wonderful idea was posed to our Reference Desk a few weeks ago when one of our patrons asked us to point him in the right direction to recycle an old PC. It turns out that the state of Ohio has its own computer recycling program (who knew?) appropriately titled Ohio Computer Recycling. Formed in 2004, it's a service that allows Ohioans to safely and properly dispose of their electronic equipment at various unloading centers across the state. More information about the service, including drop-off locations and information about the disposal process, is available at OhioDropOff.com.

Enjoy that extra office space -- we're sure you'll find another spot for all of those Post-Its!

Workin' at the Car Wash...

It's no secret that as a modern society, we take many of our luxuries for granted. We don't think twice before picking up the phone, turning on the TV, or powering up our wireless laptop that allows us to surf the Internet from any location we wish. That's why we we found the following reference question so refreshing!

A patron recently asked us if we could provide her with an explanation as to how car washes work. She didn't need the information for a school project or a research paper; she simply found herself marveling at the complex automation involved in the process of the car wash and was driven to find an answer simply for the sake of learning!

Fortunately, we were able to scrounge up a pretty comprehensive overview from a handy site called How Stuff Works, a resource that explains the science behind hundreds of subjects, from car engines to CD drives to even marriage (yes, seriously!). The overview explains different types of car washes, the science behind the automation of the system, and the step-by-step process (drive in, soap up, scrub, blast, and rinse). It was exactly what our patron was looking for!

Happy learning!

Extra, Extra!

Our Reference Department has big news! (Pun intended!)

Just last week, we invested in a subscription to Heritage Microfilm's Newspaper Archive, an online database that houses literally millions of newspaper pages (in an oh-so-handy searchable PDF format) from 1759 to the present. Included in the collection of newspapers from across the country are old issues of the Canton Repository, Massillon's own Independent (with complete coverage between 1869-1975), and Tuscarawas County's Times-Reporter and now-defunct Twin City News.

The product itself is revolutionary for reference services because it makes researching the past much more convenient, available, and expeditious for librarians and the public alike. Before our subscription to Heritage's services, our staff and patrons were heavily reliant upon microfilm, which is not indexed (save for obituary files) or easily searchable, for much of our local history research. Now, whether you're searching for your parents' engagement announcement in The Independent, your grandfather's World War I records in The Repository, or old advertisements for a Uhrichsville dairy in the Twin City News, you can do so with ease from the comfort of your own home!

To connect to Heritage Microfilm's Newspaper Archive, click here and select NewspaperARCHIVE. You'll be authenticated through our library's subscription and taken to the site's home page. Select the Advanced Search tab at the top of the page to begin searching!

We hope you'll enjoy this new and exciting service!

Name That Tune!

Law enforcement officials do so much for our communities; a simple "thank you" doesn't seem like nearly enough to express the gratitude some residents feel for these special people. So, to go a little further in showing their appreciation, one local church is taking it upon itself to host a Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, complete with a themed compilation of songs about life in blue.

But...

How exactly does one go about finding songs about law enforcement?

By calling one's local library, of course!

Our staff was able to track down a fairly comprehensive list of appropriate songs for the church's celebration by using Jeff Green's The Green Book of Songs by Subject. This hefty print resource, available for perusal in our library's Reference Department, is a directory of songs listed by subject -- a characteristic that came in pretty handy when browsing for tunes dedicated to law enforcement! Under the heading "Law & Order," we found nearly 100 applicable songs, ranging from John Cougar Mellencamp's "The Authority Song" to Kenny Rogers' "The Long Arm of the Law" to Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock."

We hope our local officers enjoy the celebration -- and music -- on their special day!