September 2005 Sites

Here are a few neat and useful Web sites to welcome fall weather:

CLIP Carnegie Libraries in Iowa Project
This Web site is an ongoing project of two University of Iowa Library
School faculty members. See photos of Carnegie Libraries and read
documents about them. Check in as the project develops. You'll also find a
link at this page to the Iowa Heritage Digital Collections, which I
mentioned in a previous "Cool Sites" email, and which is lots of fun to
explore!

Project Vote Smart
"Recognized as 'THE BEST' most useful political website in the world." We
will begin to get election information for distribution again in 2006 from
Vote Smart, but FYI, in the meantime, check out their Web site. Project
Vote Smart, a citizen's organization, has developed a Voter's Self-Defense
System to provide you (and our patrons!) with the necessary tools to
self-govern effectively: abundant, accurate, unbiased and relevant
information. As a national library of factual information, Project Vote
Smart covers your candidates and elected officials in five basic
categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records,
campaign finances and interest group ratings. It is bipartisan and really
has excellent information!

Practical Legal Brochures
Law library staff at the State Library of Iowa have developed two popular
brochures. They are "Sources for getting help
resolving disputes without an attorney," and "Help finding an attorney -
free, low-cost or private." These brochures are now available on the
State Library's web site; please make sure our patrons know about these!
The State Law Library's Web site has other useful links as well, including a
link to the Code of Iowa, the Iowa Administrative Code, Thomas Federal
Legislative Information, and GPO Access.

Whoa, once again, I'm amazed at how much the Web has to offer! Please
enjoy these sites and use them to help with patron questions.

Jo