How May I Help You?

Helen called wanting information about what organizations had received previous Mentoring Children of Prisoners grants. There was a federal grant opportunity open again and she knew that grants had been given in the past and she didn't want recreate the wheel - she wanted to use the ideas of the successful programs. Luckily, she already had the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families website with the information. On the far right was the link to the current grants, and down below, a link for the archives. It was in the Archives that we found the listing for the grantees for the 2006 grants. She was very happy. She also wanted to know if there were any grant writers who could help her. Doing a Goolge search for "grant writing Nebraska" I found a terrific site with listings for Nebraska Grant Writers .

Diane is getting her education degree so she can teach K-6. She said she'd been a para for about 20 years and decided she was going to finish up her degree. She had an assignment to explore how the Puritan movement influenced the literature of Benjamin Franklin and Judith Sargent Murray. We found some information in Gale's Literature Resource Center. It was interesting to learn that Judith Sargent Murray, an early feminist, wrote one of the first "female advice columns" with fictitious letters to help frustrated housewives. These were compiled and published in "The Gleaner: A Miscellaneous Production" (1798) which also included short stories and essays on philanthropy, hospitality, and economy.

It's Jim again, and he doesn't have a computer....so I look for "Sacred Trust: The Medieval Church as an Economic Firm" in AbeBooks .com - there are several; and for a biography of the Canadian Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson, by Bruce Thordarson . Of course there are a lot being sold by Canadian booksellers so I limit this by booksellers in the USA - -and find several. He is always looking for a cheap hard cover in good condition. The other interesting question was "Who was the girl who sang the vocals on the song "Simple Things" written by Jim Brickman . Apparently he had tried to get an answer earlier in the day, and this librarian, described to me by our patron Jim as "tenacious as a bull dog," hadn't been able to come up with the information. I felt good that I found a review of the album by the same title which gave the information he was seeking: Rebecca Lynn Howard.

asked James, the most intelligent man I know. I took a human geography class with him at UNL back in 1990. He has a master's degree in just about every social science discipline and is the most well read person, I am sure, in Omaha, and probably the whole state of Nebraska. I found information for him in our "Cambridge History of Japan" Volume 3, Medieval Japan and the "Kodanisha Encyclopedia of Japan."

asked our customer, Jack - - - He is always watching movies on TV and caught this on the credits at the end of a movie he had missed. I found his answer here: Music for Millions (1944) and at Rhapsody I found the music to " Toscanini, Iturbi and Me " I could play for him while he listened over the phone! And oh, by the way, what other movies did Mr. Iturbi have a part? Good old Internet Movie Database to the rescue.