Thanksgiving quiz with Omnifile

To mark the fact that Thanksgiving is almost here, today's quiz celebrates that holiday as well as giving you a taste of the variety of publications you can peruse if you have an Omnifile Full Text, Mega or Select subscription.

You will find the answers in Omnifile, or you can hang on until later today, when we will tweet them.

Our illustration comes from Art Museum Image Gallery, another key Wilson resource.

1) Which food company fields approximately 100,000 phone calls each November, and around ten years ago was consulted by President Josiah Bartlett (Martin Sheen) in an episode of the West Wing?
(from an article in Advertising Age)

a) Butterball
b) Epicurious
c) Food Network 

2) Which ancient Greek word is usually understood by Christians to mean "to give thanks", although this was an uncommon concept in antiquity?
(from an article in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly)


a) Filotimia
b) Eukharistein
c) Gratitude

3) Why was Squanto able to interpret for the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621?
(from an article in Native Peoples)


a) A trapper taught him English.
b) He went to a missionary school.
c) He had already spent some time living in England.

4) Which three native birds do Texas chefs recommend trying as an alternative to turkey at Thanksgiving?
(from an article in Texas Monthly)

a) meadowlark, blackbird, cowbird
b) chicken, goose, wrentit
c) dove, duck, quail

5) Which little known event is known by some people as "the real first Thanksgiving"?
(from an article in School Library Media Activities Monthly)

a) October 1615: Lost French trapper Jean Baptiste Charbonneau celebrates his rescue by sharing his food with the Shoshone tribe.
b) November 25, 1620: Native Americans at the English court demonstrate their Thanksgiving feasts.
c) September 8, 1565: Admiral Pedro Menendez and Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales share a meal with the Timucua tribe in La Florida

6) Which astronomical phenomenon occurs close to Thanksgiving?
(from an article in Astronomy)


a) Sun spots
b) The Leonid meteor shower
c) The Hale-Bopp comet

7) Which Disney movie took just $16.6 million over its opening Thanksgiving weekend in 2002 to become one of the studio's least successful animated features?
(from an article in Variety)

a) Pocahontas
b) Treasure Planet
c)  Lilo & Stitch

Thanksgiving ideas from Omnifile on WilsonWeb and WilsonWeb Mobile

Wilson Omnifile is certainly a key resource for academic research, but it contains a wealth of material from popular publications also. Using either your office version or your WilsonWeb Mobile account, try a search for Thanksgiving, then choose Recipes from the document type dropdown list. This will turn up a host of articles that include holiday offerings from Rachael Ray, Emeril Lagasse, and more, as well as articles with recipes designed for children to help with, and handy ideas for leftovers.

Remember that if you choose to listen to the recipes using ReadSpeaker, you can play them back at the speed that suits you, and you can select only the parts of the article you need to hear. Language translations also makes these articles available to anyone who is working on their English skills.

Thanksgiving menu 1905 by George Elbert Burr

For other ideas for the holiday, keep Thanksgiving as your search term, choose All from the document type list, and select Education from the list of subject areas. This will return articles on fostering gratitude among school children, as well as craft ideas for the occasion, which could be useful for art classes in school, a project in the library, or to give parents inspiration for keeping kids occupied between now and the holiday.

(The pictures in this article were taken from Cinema Image Gallery and Art Museum Image Gallery, two more excellent sources of art and craft inspiration for Thanksgiving or any other holiday.)

Bruce Conner resources on Wilson Art Suite

31 Variations on a Meal: Eaten by Bruce Conner,

 by Daniel Spoerri

New York's Film Forum movie house is currently running an exhibition of the work of the film maker and artist Bruce Conner.

Conner, (1933-2008) was an important American artist whose works defied easy categorization within either the art or film worlds. He used manipulations of structure and narrative to create an enigmatic sense of time in both his films and his overall career, and he was as much a collector and editor of the world as he was a creator.

Whether you are attending the exhibition or just intrigued by Conner's work, you can find a variety of perspectives on his life and career in the databases of the Wilson Art Suite. Art Full Text has profiles and obituaries of Conner as well as commentaries and reviews covering his work from distinguished publications like ARTnews, Cahiers du Musée National d'Art Moderne, and Artforum International. 

The Rose by Jay DeFeo

Thanks to the seamless links built into Art Museum Image Gallery, you can also see Conner's technique in action. One of his films records the seven-year process involved in making Jay DeFeo's "The Rose" in Defeo's apartment. This film is an important Conner piece because it was filmed by him rather than being composed of found footage.
You can find this film, complete with Conner's voiceover, in the Related Multimedia section of Art Museum Image Gallery's comprehensive record for "The Rose".

Movember mustache quiz with Biography Reference Bank

In recent years, men from Australia to the U.S. have taken on a new challenge in the month of November: to grow a mustache in order to raise awareness of the cancers that specifically affect men. 

To mark the Movember effort to raise both awareness and funds, today's quiz celebrates well-known mustache wearers. You'll find the answers to all these questions in Biography Reference Bank,  or you can wait until later today when we will tweet them.

1) Almost single-handedly responsible for turning his sport into mass entertainment, this prominent mustache wearer studied under the trainer Hiro Matsuda, and gained his popular nickname because of his resemblance to a popular television character of the late 1970s. Who is he?

a) Mick Foley
b) Carl Weathers
c) Hulk Hogan

2) This mustachioed actor appeared in over 50 television commercials in the 1970s, until Universal Television offered him a part in a series that was intended to replace Hawaii Five-O.

a) Burt Reynolds
b) Tom Selleck
c) Sam Elliott

3) Famous for his painted-on mustache, among other things, this actor, writer, and comedian started his stage career as a member of the Messenger Boys, singing in various city restaurants to raise money for the victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Who was he?

a) Charlie Chaplin
b) Oliver Hardy
c) Groucho Marx

4) Known as a suave, mustache-wearing actor, this man originally planned to be a fashion illustrator. He attended the National Academy of Design in New York, where he was spotted by a CBS casting director and began to take acting roles to pay for his art supplies. Who is he?

a) Billy Dee Williams
b) Sidney Poitier
c) Lou Gossett Jr.

5) This wearer of the classic pencil mustache held the first ever screening of his movies in the 1960s--three black-and-white shorts--in the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. Who is he?

a) David Simon
b) John Waters
c) Barry Levinson

6) When Congress declared war against Spain in 1898, this bristly mustache-sporting president of the U.S. organized a regiment of cavalry volunteers known as the Rough Riders. Who was he?

a) William H. Taft
b) William McKinley
c) Theodore Roosevelt

7) Known as a child as "Sosso", this famous mustache wearer also used the aliases "David" and "Koba" early in his political career, and first joined the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party in Tiflis in 1898. Who was he?

a) Joseph Stalin
b) V. I. Lenin
c) Leon Trotsky

The World Series on WilsonWeb: San Francisco Giants and more on Biography Reference Bank

Today's quiz marks this week's World Series victory by the San Francisco Giants, using profiles and details from Biography Reference Bank. If you or your patrons are sports enthusiasts, you will find a wealth of material to suit you in our acclaimed, comprehensive, and trustworthy biographical resource.

Find out about the influences, inspirations, and early experiences of some of our most popular sporting figures, often in their own words. Read about their victories, setbacks, and career experiences, or listen to all or part of their profiles using our ReadSpeaker text-to-speech converter.

You'll find all the answers to the quiz in Biography Reference Bank, or you can wait until later in the day when we will tweet them.

1) I was drafted into the San Francisco Giants straight out of high school in 1982, but then accepted an athletic scholarship to Arizona State University, where I hit 23 home runs in my junior season. Who am I?
a) Will Clark
b) Barry Bonds
c) Michael Young


2) I was a member of the New York Giants' team that beat the Washington Senators in the 1933 World Series, and finished my career by hitting .316 as a part-time player for the Giants in 1934. Who am I?
a) Lefty O'Doul
b) Hank Sauer
c) Danny Murtaugh

3) A player for the New York Mets, I was named NL player of the month in June 2006 after hitting .327 with 20 runs, four doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, 29 RBIs, and three stolen bases, while collecting two home runs in two contests, against San Francisco and Cincinnati. Who am I?
a) Jake Peavy
b) David Wright
c) Xavier Nady

4) I was the only Oakland A's regular not to homer in the 1989 World Series, which was notable for the major earthquake that hit Candlestick Park on the day of Game 3. Who am I?
a) Craig Counsell
b) Ricky Henderson
c) Mark McGwire

5) A player for the San Francisco Giants, I was nicknamed "Seabiscuit" by major league scouts because of my small size. Who am I?
a) Joe Mauer
b) Jose Reyes
c) Tim Lincecum

6) I made my major-league debut with the Atlanta Braves in 1968 as a part-time player, but was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1972. I made the All-Star team in 1981 and also won my first Golden Glove that year. Who am I?


a) Dusty Baker
b) Felie Alou
c) Bob Brenly

7)  A member of the Giants' pennant-winning team of 1962, I began to experience fainting spells and periods of nervous exhaustion in my later career. Who am I?


a) Willie Mays
b) Gaylord Perry
c) Zoilo Versalles

The 2010 midterms: Newsmakers in Biography Reference Bank

Yesterday's elections brought changes to Congress, including a new Speaker of the House, likely to be Ohio Republican John Boehner. If you want to know more about this key figure in the 2010 elections, you will find a detailed profile of him in Biography Reference Bank, including a selection of photographs.

You will also find a profile of Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has represented Nevada in the Senate since 1986.

Reading the two profiles side by side could be valuable, particularly for younger patrons, because it shows that public representatives can start out with different backgrounds, different skill sets, and different career paths, but still end up serving their country in the highest seats of power.

These profiles are also useful for classroom quizzes, as project starting points, or just for general, reliable reading either in the library or on the move with WilsonWeb Mobile.

Remember that you can also listen to all, or just your highlighted sections, of these profiles with ReadSpeaker, and that those who are learning English can translate these profiles into a selection of languages to make their research easier. You can also find many more profiles of politicians and public representatives, searching either by name or using the Profession/Activity search box on the Advanced Search screen to find senators, politicians, legislators, or political leaders, depending on the individuals you are looking for.

New content for Cinema Image Gallery

The vast range of images available in Cinema Image Gallery continues to grow this month, with the addition of 5597 new images to the database. These new images come from recent popular movies like Sex and the City 2, Prince of Persia, Robin Hood, The Karate Kid, Inception, Iron Man 2, and Salt, as well as adding to the roster of images from TV shows like Glee, and classic movies like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Color Purple. 

As well as publicity stills from these movies and television shows, Cinema Image Gallery includes lobby posters, behind-the-scenes shots, and candid shots of characters and stars, all rights-cleared for use in an educational setting.

Use these images freely to illustrate a lecture, kickstart classroom discussions, provide inspiration for homework, projects, or plays, or as supplementary materials for patrons who check out movies and TV shows from your library.

Also remember that Cinema Image Gallery can be searched in conjunction with any other WilsonWeb database, and using keywords other than movie titles, so patrons could turn up unexpected treasures as part of a larger search.