CuteOverload According to a recent journal article in PLOSone: “The Power of Kawaii,” “viewing cute images promotes a careful behavior and narrows attentional focus.” (http://bit.ly/TE9e4w). So get some cute puppies, kittens, red pandas, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, birds, rabbits, frogs, etc here: something for everyone! http://cuteoverload.com EmergencyCompliment Worrying about finals got you down? Maybe you need [...]

International Encyclopedia of Public Health The article “Vaccine, Historical” touches on controversies that have plagued efforts to immunize populations against infectious diseases. (Note: Find more thorough coverage in the book The Vaccine Controversy  in the circulating collection at RA638 .L565 2005.) Reference RA 423 .I58 2008 Public Health in the 21st Century: Current Issues in [...]

Start off with this article from Smithsonian magazine that gives a different take on the First Thanksgiving and the Native American participation: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/squanto.html Plimoth Plantation The good researchers at the historical site/museum at Plimoth have articles, videos, & interactive features on the Plymoth colonists, the Wampanoag Native Americans they encountered, and the first Thanksgiving. http://www.plimoth.org/learn/MRL [...]

RealClearPolitics Check the latest election polls from RealClearPolitics, an aggregator of numerous polls: Multiple polls http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/ By state: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/president/ Senate races: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/senate/ House races: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/house/ Fact Checkers There are numerous ones. A partial list exists here: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/elections/list-fact-checking-websites U.S. Census Demographics Have the demographics of voting and registration changed over the years? The U.S. Census covers [...]

Faith, Race and Politics Theme of Tipple-Vosburgh lectures, Oct 16-18, 2012 http://www.drew.edu/alumni/events/tipple Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion Extensive articles on Christianity place it in political and geo-political context. Ref. BL65 .P7 E53 2007 Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics Divides into 4 parts, on Hispanic-, Native-, African- and Asian-Americans.  Read up on “Religion and African-American [...]

What’s up with the roofless tent on campus? Find out more about the Jewish festival of Sukkot: the Festival of Booths. New Encyclopedia of Judaism What are the religious obligations and traditions of Sukkot? Look here for a complete overview, including the waving of the “four species” (the lulav & etrog). Online in Credo http://www.drew.edu/library/er/credo-reference [...]

You must live feverishly in a library. Colleges are not going to do any good unless you are raised and live in a library everyday of your life. – Ray Bradbury Summon that Source! Our new service searches nearly everything and then provides a variety of faceted limiters to let you pinpoint exactly the information [...]

July 2012   Research in Ministry Has someone already written my DMin thesis?  Check this index to DMin theses, produced by the American Theological Library Association. http://rim.atla.com/star/rimonline_login.htm Dissertations and Theses And what about all the Drew DMin dissertations?  Many of them are fulltext online in this database.  Limit your search by Drew=School, D.Min.=Degree, to find [...]

Poetry, the language of the gods” (Samuel Rogers, c. 1820) Poets.org I have to teach a class on the villanelle – what are good examples?  What is a villanelle, anyway?  For more information on poetry and poets, as well as interviews with some living poets, check this free website from the Academy of American Poets. [...]

For those struggling with Writers’ Block, Writers’ Cramp, and Writer’s Malaise: The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White Not merely a guide to punctuation for the bleary-eyed late night writer, but also a literate and clear reminder of the elements of composition.  A short classic originally written by Strunk in 1918 and recast by [...]