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Posted by: Ellen Terrell
In the 1987 movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Steve Martin’s character is desperately trying to get home for Thanksgiving. While working at the Library of Congress, I have answered many questions which might have interested Steve Martin’s character, from how people traveled, to how much a trip cost, to how long a certain trip was …
Posted in: Favorites From the Fifth Floor, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History, Travel
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
K-rations, better night vision binoculars, and synthetic rubber are just a few examples of innovations resulted from scientific research during World War II. The story of science during World War II is one of partnerships and prolific research. On June 28, 1941, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8807which established the Office of Scientific Research and …
Posted in: Favorites From the Fifth Floor, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History, Inventions, Military science, Technical Reports and Standards
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Aileen M. J. Marshall, our summer intern here in Business Reference is our guest author today. There are a lot of questions that come to us through our Ask a Librarian service and last week I had the opportunity to work on a question where the patron needed information on whether men were performing …
Posted in: Business, Census and Statistics, Favorites From the Fifth Floor
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s guest post was written by our summer intern Brian Horowitz from Montgomery College, Maryland. As an intern at the Library of Congress, Science Business and Technology Division, I have been able to wander in the books stacks of the Library of Congress. It was there that I met Brevet Major Alfred Mordecai, a man …
Posted in: Favorites From the Fifth Floor, Military science
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Our guest author today is Ellen Terrell, Business Reference Specialist, with another in our “Favorites from the Fifth Floor.” We get many questions about business from around the country and often we utilize credit reference books. The most well known, and one I have previously written about, is Dun & Bradstreet. This title has gone …
Posted in: Business, Favorites From the Fifth Floor
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Our guest author today is Gulnar Nagashybayeva, Business Reference Specialist, with another “Favorite from the Fifth Floor.” May 10, 1876 was the opening date of the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia where industrial exhibits of 37 nations were displayed in over 250 pavilions for six months until its formal closure on November 10, 1876. It was …
Posted in: Favorites From the Fifth Floor, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Our guest author today is Ellen Terrell, Business Reference Specialist with another in our “Favorites From the Fifth Floor” series. Quite early in my tenure here at the Library I realized that “history” in terms of business research was not 5 years or less but 50, 100, or 200+ years ago. Coming from the private …
Posted in: Business, Census and Statistics, Favorites From the Fifth Floor
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Our guest author today is Ellen Terrell, Business Reference Specialist. A perennial question for Business Reference staff is about old companies and businesses. And by old I mean from the 1890’s (or earlier!) not necessarily the 1990’s. One of our go-to sets is the old Mercantile Agency Reference books that developed into Dun & Bradstreet …
Posted in: Business, Favorites From the Fifth Floor, New Orleans
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
Occasionally when visiting the stacks we run across something that we find particularly interesting either from a content or historical perspective. Shortly after my arrival here at the Library, I found such an item! Published in 1883 the book The Secrets of Success In Business claims to “show completely and practically how business is done, …
Posted in: Business, Favorites From the Fifth Floor, ST&B Division