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The 2012 Academy Award nominations have been announced–now the handicapping for the Feb. 26 ceremony begins.  If your patrons are movie history buffs, or if you’re thinking of doing a display of past nominees, here are a few useful sites to bookmark:

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) lists of all of the nominees since the awards’ inception in 1929, as well as an overview of their history and a timeline.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences maintains several searchable databases, including award winners, acceptance speeches, and motion picture scripts.

The AMC Filmsite lists the winners by categories, such as “Most Acting Nominations by Film” and “Actors/Actresses with the Most Nominations and Wins.”

Rotten Tomatoes has reviews of the nominees.

What are your go-to movie sites?

The Dartmouth Medal, RUSA’s “Oscar” for the most outstanding new reference source of the year, went to Green’s Dictionary of Slang, published by Chambers and distributed by Oxford. It was selected for its comprehensive and inclusive scholarship, providing coverage of English-language slang in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and other English-speaking countries. It is the “OED” of slang, covering 500 years of slang usage with 110,000 words and phrases, more than 400,000 citations, and 6,000 titles as sources. Scholars will treasure it and a wide range of readers will enjoy it.  This title was also on the 2011 Editor’s Choice list for Reference Sources.

The committee awarded an honorable mention to Sage’s International Encyclopedia of Political Science, published in association with the International Political Science Association. The international scope, objective coverage, extensive bibliographies, and 1500 articles written by scholars from 40 countries offer a wealth of information about political science, law, foreign policy, and religion.

Last but not least, the committee announced a Lifetime Achievement Award for the Statistical Abstract of the United States, published by the United States department of Commerce. For 133 years, this source has been the recognized authority for U.S. Statistics as well as a point of entry into government documents. It went electronic in 1993 and it still exists in print. It will be missed, but its legacy offers an in-depth picture of American Life.

Now that most librarians are home from ALA Midwinter, it is time to plan for the trip to Anaheim in June.  Los Angeles may be daunting to those unfamiliar with the area but mqVibe.com may help librarians choose an area of Anaheim for hotels, restaurants, etc.  Searching is first by city and then locations within the city.  Anaheim has a number of neighborhoods including the Historic District, Sycamore Canyon, Disneyland and Anaheim Resort which is the area where the convention center and the headquarter hotels are located. The area receives a “vibe score” based on user votes and other factors such as the comparison between residential areas and businesses and walkability. A map displays restaurants, hotels, health services, spas, activities and local services ranked by votes from users.  This site would also be a useful site for relocation research.

New York’s renowned Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has digitized a bunch of its out-of-print publications and made them available on its website–for free! Many of the books are exhibition catalogs from the ’50s and ’60s, but there are several fairly recent publications as well.

The books can be accessed in multiple formats via the Internet Archive or read online on the Guggenheim website.

Crossword puzzle dictionaries are a staple in most reference collections.  Two of the most popular are the Random House Webster’s Crossword Puzzle Dictionary (Random House Reference, 2006) and The American Heritage Crossword Puzzle Dictionary (Houghton Mifflin, 2003).  As helpful as they are, they don’t always have the answer to every cruciverbalist’s query. 

OneAcross.com is the go-to web site for crossword puzzle help.  Based on a computer program created at Duke University in 1998, the OneAcross search engine analyzes both the clue and the word pattern.  Just enter a clue and either a word or answer length pattern and there’s a 98% chance that you’ll find just the word you need.

There are also a number of blogs devoted to solving crossword puzzles.  The doyenne of newspaper crossword puzzles is, of course, the Great GrayLady, and these blogs are dedicated to solving her puzzles:  WEB’s (William Ernest Butler’s) New York Times Crossword Solution (http://www.nytcrossword.com), Rex Parker does the NY Times Crossword Puzzle (http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com) and The New York Times Crossword in Gothic (http://donaldsweblog.blogspot.com).

Elsewhere in the blogosphere, the L.A. Times Crossword Corner (http://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com), begun in 2008, supplies help for that puzzle as well as more than forty links to crossword sites and blogs.

Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell University began the Legacy Project  eight  years ago.  He and his researchers have interviewed more than  1,500  people over seventy.  They were asked about life experiences, both positive and negative, and how these experiences have enriched their life.   The answers, some with video, are divided by broad topics – love and marriage, raising children, health, living with loss, etc.  Dr. Pillemer just published a book on the interviews, 30 Lessons for Living   (2011, Hudson Street Press).   Anyone may add lessons to the site by clicking on “Give Your Advice.”   Although the project has interviewed people over 70, anyone is encouraged to ask friends and relatives questions such as “what  are the most important lessons you have learned?”, “What advice might you give to others about growing older?”  As 2012 begins here  are two resolutions you might keep – regarding child rearing – “Abandon perfection” and thinking of aging – “Accept it.”

Starting next week, we’ll have two new bloggers joining us on Points of Reference -  Lindsay Harmon, librarian at the American Academy of Art,  and Carolyn Mulac,  GIS Division Chief at Chicago Public Library.  Welcome Lindsay and Carolyn!

If you’ve got something reference-related of interest that you’d like to see posted on Points of Reference, please drop me a line.

If you are contemplating a change of location for a new job or just a change of scene, you need to think about logistics.  MoversReviewed.com can help with that. The database compiles information from 80 regulatory and association sources about moving companies.

Users may search by the geographic area from which they plan to move by state/province or zip code. They may also look for specialty services such as piano moving, auto moving, and fine art moving. The company entries include standard directory and contact information as well as information on association memberships, number of registered vehicles, and links to safety information from the DOT (users must perform this search themselves). There are also reviews for some of the companies.

The tips and info page has lots of valuable information such as questions to ask before hiring a firm, red flags of rogue movers, and how moves are priced. This is a good reference site for anyone who plans to move.

Epicurious and TasteBook have both digitized Random House cookbooks.  Cooks who already have an Epicurious recipe box may add to it through seventy-five digitized cookbooks.  The cookbooks are copied so they appear exactly as they look in hard copy.  Books cost from $10 to $25 dollars and may be previewed before purchase.  Once purchased they may also be read online.  The majority of the books were published in the last ten years.  Some of the authors/chefs include Alice Waters, Bobbie Flay, Rachel Ray, Mark Bittman and Andrea Reusing.

The things that one can find on the Web never cease to amaze. The Internet Pinball Database (IPDB) is just what you need to answer those trivia questions that pinball nerds may have. The site http://www.ipdb.org includes a glossary of pinball terms so that you can learn the difference between SS (solid state) and EM (electro-mechanical-the older, pre-1978 machines), a list of playing skills so that you can learn the intricacies of the double flipper hit and the slap save, and 48,653 images of 5,408 games. You can also go to another site, The Internet Pinball Serial Number Database, to look for specific machines. You can search for games by keyword or field. The site does not buy or sell games or offer pricing information, but it claims to have information about every commercially-produced pinball game. It should satisfy anyone interested in pinball.

Flipboard began as an app for the iPad and now is available free for the iPhone and iPod touch.  It changes Facebook, Twitter and other social network services into pages similar to those in a magazine.  The pages “flip” from bottom to top and the content is presented in a visual pleasing format.   A number of magazines are also available arranged by topic – news, sports, entertainment, etc.  You may choose any or all to be on your Flipboard with links to selected current articles.  Choices include Forbes, Time, New Yorker, PBS NewsHour,  The Daily Beast and USA Today Money.  In time the app will choose stories that match your interests. The app may be synced between the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

For over 55 years Santa has been tracked in the US.  Now there is a web site, noradsanta.org. which shows where Santa is located beginning in the morning of Christmas Eve.  As I write this Santa has been to Australia and his next stop is Fuji Japan.  The site also has information about Santa  – Is He Real,  Santa Snacks and Frequently Asked Questions.  And a Merry Christmas to all!

Hanukkah is here and Christmas and Kwanzaa coming. The celebrations all involve lots of food. At the same time, childhood obesity is a major problem, affecting one third of the children in the United States. Forty percent of the children in the Hispanic and African American communities are obese and overweight. First Lady Michelle Obama is trying to solve this problem. www.letsmove.gov offers information for parents, teachers, community leaders, health care providers, chefs,and children. The site offers nutrition tips, videos on how to prepare healthy food, exercise suggestions, and plans for community activities. Those who are interested may sign up for e-mail alerts and connect to community programs in their area. There are even suggestions for healthy holiday foods. Enjoy the celebration without getting upset when you get on the scale after the holidays.

SpotScout.com is a concept similar to e-Bay but specifically for parking spots.  At the present time the site accepts requests only in Boston.  Searching is by address for parking in commercial garages, or in a private driveway or garage   Entering an in and out date,  time and the walking distance from the spot (5-30 minutes) will provide results with cost for the closest and or cheapest.  For private spots there is a description of the location – eg. outdoor parking in an alley.  The original goal of the site was to save individuals gas and the world from additional carbon monoxide.  Still in a beta version there are glitches but I was able to find both private and public spaces in the Back Bay area of Boston.

Credo Reference has a number of publisher collections which feature the titles from an individual publisher.  They are available for purchase or subscription in Credo, but are generally not part of the Credo General Reference collection.  Credo just announced a new collection from Marshall Cavendish – 9 titles/70 volumes.  Here is more from the press release:

Credo Reference, recently named “Best Overall” Reference Database 2012 by Library Journal, announces a new partnership with Marshall Cavendish, the premier publisher of nonfiction series, children’s books, and a wide array of award-winning reference titles. Read the rest of this entry �

RUSA/CODES Reference Publishing Discussion Forum: Life after the Statistical Abstract.

What will the proposed demise of the Statistical Abstract mean for reference librarians and library users?  Now in its 130th annual edition, Statistical Abstract has played a central role in guiding users to statistics since before we were born.   Since finding statistics can be challenging under the best of circumstances, what are our strategies for dealing with this loss? Are there new services and products we would like to see from commercial publishers?

Join us for a discussion of these issues on Saturday, January 21, at 10:30 AM, in the Dallas Convention Center D167.

Alesia McManus, owner of the “Save the US Statistical Abstract” Facebook page, will be there as well as other librarians, publishers, and vendors.

Have you always wanted to do scientific research but thought that you had to be Einstein to do it? Fear not, the good people at Scientific American have opportunities for you. Just go to www.scientificamerican.com/education and you will find projects for both children and adults. Bring Science Home offers a new project for children ages 6-12 every Thursday. Blowing the best bubbles, making butter, or using physics to keep candy cold are a few examples. The site also has videos to show you how to make a compass or watch yeast breathe. Citizen Science allows adults to participate in ongoing research by counting birds in the Christmas Bird Count, donating computer time to the SETI project, or classifying heavenly objects in the Galaxy Zoo. The site also has current science news, blogs, podcasts, videos, and the 1,000 Scientists in 1,000 Days project, which matches scientists with educators for classroom projects. So go ahead and volunteer. You may be classifying whale songs or tracking infectious diseases in your area-learning while advancing scientific knowledge. What could be better?

For football fanatics that plan Sunday around what games are televised where, The506.com/nflmaps is a unique aid.  By midweek, prior to Sunday games,  a US map is published showing what channels are broadcasting what games and who the commentators are.  There is an update on Friday with blackout information.  Explanation of the NFL TV Rules are summarized:  the basics, primary and secondary markets, blackouts, in-game switches, national broadcasts and flex scheduling.  A disclaimer by the webmaster warns that the maps and information are unofficial and subject to change and that the site is not affiliated with the NFL or television networks.

The holidays are upon us. Both your e-mail and snail-mail boxes are full of appeals from ostensibly worthy causes in need of funding. You are thinking about helping those in need as well as about possible tax breaks. How do you know where to put your hard-earned dollars? Which charities are real and which ones are scams? Charity Navigator can help you decide. Go to www.charitynavigator.org. This site is produced by a non-profit that does not accept funds from the charities that it evaluates. Each organization is rated for financial health as well as for accountability and transparency. Each organization receives from 0 to 4 stars based on an examination of records. The site explains its methods clearly. It also offers Top 10 lists, current news about charities,and a place for users to create and share portfolios of charities (free registration required). So go ahead and give, but check the organization out first. Happy holidays!

Skyandtelescope.com is the web site for the magazine of the same name which has been published since 1941. The web site has “This Week’s Sky at a Glance” which is a good resource to discover what you may see in the clear night sky.  On Saturday of this week (December 10) there will be a total eclipse of the Moon in central and western North America.  There is a link to an article in Sky and Telescope which describes the eclipse and lists times when the eclipse will occur in the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones.  Living on the east coast I feel fortunate that coincidentally I will be in Montana on Saturday and may see the eclipse!