School is fully underway and I am sure that most everybody has a paper due sometime in the near future. Because of that fact, I am going to remind you about our databases and tell you about Ask A Question.
With the Stettler Public Library’s membership with Parkland Regional Library, we have access to 45 different databases. Some can be accessed without a membership such as that Alberta Heritage Digitization Project, which contains local history books that have long gone out of print and Project Gutenberg which houses over 30,000 free e-books, most of which are literary classics.
Most of the databases can only be accessed with your membership and PIN numbers from your home computer. They can all be accessed at the library without a membership. If you don’t know what your PIN number is, it is usually the last 4 digits of your phone number. Databases such as Canadian Newsstand, Canadian Reference Centre, MEDline, World Book, Auto Repair Reference Centre and General Reference Centre Gold will provide you with information that you might need to complete that social essay or fix your carburetor, when to plant lily bulbs or finding out what the symptoms of measles are.
But what if you can’t find the answer on the databases and the library is closed and it is 1 a.m. on a Saturday night and you need the answer for Tuesday. Why not try Ask A Question? Ask A Question (AAQ) can be found at the top of our online catalogue which can be found at http://spl.prl.ab.ca or at http://askaquestion.ab.ca. This service allows you to submit your questions over the web to Alberta reference staff, who will provide help with finding the information you need and respond by e-mail. For broad topics and assignments, AAQ will direct you to resources, such as web sites, database articles, print material or other agencies where you are likely to find information on your topic. For narrow or simple questions AAQ will provide you with an answer that is accompanied by supporting resources. You should receive an answer within 48 hours.