This Week's Facts:
-
American Memory Documents
Thanks Giving History
-
Help Raise Epilepsy
Awareness this Month
-
Online States Portal
Provide Access to Unique Data
-
Join March of Dimes in
Fight Against Premature Birth
DWD
Releases Hoosier
Hot 50 Jobs List
With the recent turbulence in our economic
climate, there may be some good news for Hoosiers! The
Department of Workforce
Development published Hoosier Hot
50 Jobs, a
list
of the 50 fastest growing high-wage jobs of the future.
Whether you are under employed or going back to further your
education, this list can help prepare you for future job trends
or help you strengthen skills you currently have if your
profession is listed. The 2010 Hoosier Hot 50 jobs are based
on several criteria based on data from the Occupational
Employment Statistics (OES) survey. There are meaningful
occupations for all skill levels. Some of the jobs listed
require little to no formal education. What better time to
reevaluate your career or learn new skills?
-------------------------------
Friday Facts Editorial Team:
Katharine Springer
State Data
Center Coordinator
Elisabeth
O’Donnell
Federal Documents Librarian
&
Kim Brown-Harden
State
Documents Coordinator
 
-------------------------------------
Join the
FDLP-IN
listserv
for the latest
government info |
American Memory
Documents Thanksgiving History
 It’s
that time of year again! The days are getting shorter and colder
and the holidays are just around the corner. According to the
Library of Congress
Today in History page for November 25,
puritan colonists in Massachusetts were celebrating a day of
thanks as early as 1621. Up through the nineteenth century,
celebrations of thanks occurred on a regular basis, particularly
in the fall. In fact, American Memory has an image of a “Proclamation
for Publick Thankfgiving” dating from 1721 that
you can view online. It wasn’t until the Civil War era that
Thanksgiving became an official holiday. On October 3, 1863,
President Lincoln
declared the last Thursday
in November to be National Thanksgiving Day. In 1941, this was
changed to the fourth Thursday in November, a practice we still
acknowledge today.
The federal government provides plenty of information on the
holiday. To begin with, there are cooking tips! The USDA
provides a
list of different ways to
cook turkeys, from grills to smokers to deep fat fryers. They
also provide a variety of
safety tips. If you’re
interested in sharing your thanks in a different way, the
government also has information on
volunteering. Additionally,
you can fill out a form to send the troops a
Thank You message. Finally,
if you have any young patrons who want to be astronauts, take
them to this
site that shows what
Thanksgiving is like in space.
Help CDC Raise Epilepsy Awareness this Month
 November
is National
Epilepsy Awareness Month,
as announced in the
Oct. 29 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Epilepsy is a brain condition which causes a
misfiring of neurons, or brain cells, and results in recurring
seizures. Symptoms can include temporary confusion, a staring
spell, uncontrollable jerking movements in arms and legs, or
complete loss of consciousness. According to a
2009 Mayo Clinic article on
Epilepsy, this disorder affects about 1 in 100 people in the
United States. Risk factors for developing epilepsy include
having a family history of epilepsy, age, sex, head injuries,
vascular diseases, brain infections, and/or prolonged seizures
in childhood. Epilepsy can now be well controlled by various
medications and lifestyle changes. If you know someone with
Epilepsy who is having any type of seizure, do not try to
restrain the person. Remain calm, keep the person safe and
comfortable, and stay with them until medical help arrives.
Learn more about the condition using the
Medline Plus Epilepsy
webpage, which points to many good resources on the topic.
Online Stats
Portal Provides Access to Unique Data
  Does
your patron have statistical questions that you’ve searched for,
but can’t find the answers? Do you need a good statistical
website to put on one of your library’s pathfinders or
electronic guides? The U.S. Bureau of Labor Services (BLS)
maintains an updated list of
Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web.
The websites are not related to the BLS. As a courtesy, they
provides national and international listings of websites from
different governmental and educational organizations around the
world with access to nation-wide surveys, socio-political
demographics, economic information, and other public statistics.
Some of these resources require online registration. Here, you
can find out the population of different regions in Namibia; the
rate of knee replacements for people aged 65 or over in Wales,
UK; the percentage of Japanese males who traveled abroad in a
certain year; and much more.
Join March of
Dimes in Fight Against Premature Birth
 According
to the
CDC, one in eight babies is
born premature every year. A baby is considered to be premature
when it is born at least three weeks before its due date. While
preterm babies can certainly grow to be healthy adults, they do
face more health risks than babies carried to full term. Those
who survive infancy may still face problems such as cerebral
palsy, respiratory issues, digestive problems and various
intellectual disabilities. It is possible for anyone to have a
preterm baby. However, there are certain risk factors that make
it more likely.
Medline Plus provides a
list of factors that may increase your chances: multiple
pregnancy (like twins), health conditions in the mother such as
diabetes or heart disease, pre-eclampsia, lack of prenatal care
or even age. Because of the risks premature babies face,
November is
National Prematurity Awareness Month.
By increasing awareness of the consequences of preterm birth,
the March of Dimes and other organizations hope to prevent it as
much as possible. For further information on premature birth and
babies, check out this site from the
National Institute of Health
or the
National Center on Birth Defects and
Developmental Disabilities.
|
