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Need an answer quickly? Now you can text or IM the Enoch Pratt Free Library! Four departments are currently doing IMing -- Business, Science & Technology, Maryland, Sights & Sounds, and Social Science and History. Just ask us a question and we'll get back to you quickly during library hours.

If someone expresses suicidal wishes/tendencies, what are resources that you could provide to the customer to help them?

Although rare, sometimes librarians do get calls from people with suicidal tendencies. We should always treat each call seriously and give the person resources where they can get the help they need. The following resources are reliable, and are good ones to keep at hand for use in such situations:

• 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)
• 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255)
• TTY: 1-800-799-4TTY (4889)

Suicide Prevention Lines

The biggest suicide prevention centers in the US are the Suicide Prevention Resource Center and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Both of these suicide prevention centers have suicide prevention hotlines. These suicide prevention hotlines are: 1-800-27-TALK and 1-800-SUICIDE. You may call these suicide prevention numbers from anywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Concerned people are waiting to help.

If you are you feeling desperate, alone or hopeless? Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a free, 24-hour hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Your call will be routed to the nearest crisis center to you.

Callers to 1-800-SUICIDE reach an AAS-certified suicide crisis center whose staff is highly trained in de-escalating crises and in performing appropriate interventions, particularly if a suicide seems imminent. Crisis centers maintain resource lists for human resources and services in their areas of operation which enables them to refer callers to mental health treatment and other services as appropriate.

Maryland Suicide & Crisis Hotlines website has a listing of suicide hotlines numbers from the State of Maryland. Broken down into Maryland counties, it also includes a few websites with additional information and resources for people who may need or may know someone who could use help.

The American Association of Suicidology has a list of local AAS-Accredited Crisis Centers for the State of Maryland and across the United States. Also includes additional information for people thinking suicide or people who want to help. Additional information includes Education and training, statistics, research and support groups.

A customer is interested in graphic novels – where should I start?

Over the last decade or so, the interest in graphic novels has exploded, and there’s been an equal increase in the number of published titles. Graphic novels aren’t just for super heroes anymore; they have grown to cover as may genres as found in any literature. So, when you’re helping a customer look for graphic novels, or even someone just looking for a good read, remember the wide range of options. You can find science fiction, horror, westerns, war stories, as well as autobiographical and literary graphic novels that are as emotionally complex and satisfying as works in more traditional mediums. There are also many long running series of manga, the Japanese term for comics, that are very popular.

When doing reader’s advisory it’s also important to take into account the customer’s reading level. As more and more styles and subjects are covered, there's been an equal increase in works with mature themes and art. Getting to know the titles will help you give good recommendations.

There are a lot of great graphic novels beyond the familiar names published by Marvel (Spider-man, X Men, Fantastic Four), and DC (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman). ALA also has a yearly list of the best graphic novels for teens. Check out the list below to learn about some of the best works out there:

• 500 Essential Graphic Novels : The Ultimate Guide by Gene Kannenberg
  
• The 101 Best Graphic Novels by Stephen Weiner
• The Librarian's Guide to Graphic Novels for Children and Tweens by David S. Serchay
• Graphic Novels: A Genre Guide to Comic Books, Manga, and More by Michael Pawuk
• Manga : The Complete Guide by Jason Thompson

Sailor Database Review: Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library makes available online the full text of 25 great reference sources. The list of sources available in the Sailor database are:

• Africa: An Encyclopedia for Students , 4v, 2002
• American Decades , 10v, 2001
• American Decades Primary Sources , 10v, 2004
• American Eras , 8v, 1997 history
• Ancient Civilizations Reference Library , 3v, 2000
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Popular Musicians Since 1990 , 2v, 2004
• Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton , 3v, 2006
• Colonial America Reference Library , 6v, 2000
• Countries and Their Cultures , 4v, 2001
• Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library , 4v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion , 3v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of Food and Culture , 3v, 2003
• Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World , 2v, 2004
• Encyclopedia of Religion , 2nd ed., 15v, 2005
• Encyclopedia of World Cultures , 10v, 1996
• Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Supplement , 2002
• Endangered Species , 2nd ed., 3v, 2004
• Environmental Encyclopedia , 3rd ed., 2v, 2003
• Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World , 4v, 2002
• Middle Ages Reference Library , 5v, 2001
• Middle East Conflict Reference Library , 4v, 2006
• Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library , 6v, 2002
• UXL Encyclopedia of Biomes , 3v, 2000
• UXL Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances , 5v, 2006
• Witchcraft in America , 2001

The entire list may be searched by keyword or the search maybe limited to a specific source. A description of each source is available by clicking on the title. For each source, you also have access to an e-index—just click on the appropriate entry and you will go directly to the page with that information.

This database is perfect for those customers who are searching for information on a specific subject and cannot get into the library to access these sources normally available only in print form.

Sailor Database Review: World Book Online Reference Center

For years, one of the essential ready reference print sources, World Book Online Reference Center takes it a few steps further. There are four versions available, which enable different ages to access information that is appropriate for all ages and ability levels.

• World Book Kids: based on World Books Discovery Encyclopedia, this version offers easy-to-read articles, images, web sites, selected and edited for the younger elementary school age group. Also included are many interactive games, activities, and teacher resources.
  
  
• World Book Student: the redesigned and upgraded version of the World Book Online Reference Center. This version is aimed at the elementary and middle school student and contains all the articles from the World Book Encyclopedia (print version), a biography section, a dictionary and atlas, an extensive multimedia collection, as well as many editor selected web sites. There is a great section called How To Do Research which discusses research skills for students and also research skills for educators. Students can save the content from any search results page by checking the box next to the item and clicking on “Save to My Backpack.”
  
  
• World Book Advanced: Designed for high school and college students, this version contains much of what is in the World Book Student version plus thousands of ebooks (both fiction and nonfiction), a primary source database, pathfinders and more. The student can search for information in the fully integrated single search mode, or can opt for the advanced search and limit their search to ebooks or primary sources, etc. There is a citation builder available, and all searches can be saved to My Research.
  

• Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos: This is the Student Discovery Encyclopedia in Spanish. It is organized so information can be found by clicking on the first letter of the article title.

I know the government publishes a lot of information. When would you recommend seeking out government documents to answer a reference question?

United States Government documents are very useful in answering reference questions especially when the researcher is seeking primary sources (e.g., the text of federal laws and federal court cases), expert opinion (e.g., the testimony of expert witnesses at Congressional hearings), or the latest information on a given topic (e.g., current information on a particular country). U.S Government documents also offer demographic and statistical data as well as information useful for consumers. To get a sense of the variety and usefulness of these documents, take a look at our U. S. Government Documents Department’s Documents You Can Use. This will give you some idea of the breadth and scope of U.S. Government documents.

So how do I find these documents?

The U.S. Government Printing Office has created a Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP), which indexes documents from 1976 through present. The vast majority of references are to print documents. The U.S. Government Document can be found at your local Federal Depository Library. It’s worth remembering that the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is the finding aid for both print and electronic documents published by all three branches of government. In many cases, more recent documents are available electronically on the Web and you can easily locate them using this wonderful resource.

Another thing you’ll want to remember is that several of the most useful U.S. Government documents formerly available only in print are now also available electronically. These include the following:

• United States Government Manual – the official handbook of the federal government containing information on all agencies of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches as well as independent agencies.
  
  
• Statistical Abstract of the United States – ready access to statistics on the economic, political, and social organization of the United States.
  
  
• CIA World Factbook – formerly available in both print and online formats, this useful source for information on the economy, geography, government, and people of every nation is now only available online.

What are the five essential ready reference resources?

You can’t go wrong with these books:

• World Book Encyclopedia – a 22 volume source which can help you answer anything from what are the dimensions of a horseshoe court? to what are the signs of the zodiac? Also has great biographies of famous people, country information and covers nearly every other subject you can think of.
  
  
• World Almanac and Book of Facts 2008 – a great one volume resource for questions like: How many $5 bills are in circulation? What are the all-time highest rated TV programs? How many Triple Crown winners have there been?
  
  
• American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language – not only the spelling and definitions of words, but also great usage notes like: When do you use a and when do you use an?
  
  
• Chases’ Calendar of Annual Events – Answers such questions as: Is Thanksgiving always on the last Thursday of November? Who was born on August 18th? Is anything celebrated on September 7th? Or even when do they add leap seconds?
  
  
• Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations – Who said what and where did they say it? For example, who said “Big Brother is watching you?” [George Orwell, 1984 pt I ch1]