QuestionPoint Members
2,008 Active SUPs (service unit profiles)
1,339 SUPs in the 24/7 Reference Cooperative
29 Languages can be handled by QuestionPoint libraries
6,042120 Transactions had passed through QuestionPoint as of 00:00 ET 31 Oct.
2,822,673 Patrons have asked questions via libraries with QP since 2002
23,094 Active records in the Global Knowledge Base
497 Libraries have contributed active, searchable records to the GKB (same as Sept.)
QuestionPoint libraries are in 30 countries (listed by region):
Australia New Zealand --------------- China Japan India Thailand -------------- Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates ---------------- Botswana South Africa -------------- France Greece Germany Italy The Netherlands Spain |
United Kingdom --------------------- Croatia Serbia Slovenia --------------- Russia ------------- Canada Mexico United States ----------------- Jamaica Puerto Rico Trinidad & Tabago -------------------- Brazil Chile Peru |
U.S. - non-U.S. ratio remains steady at 80:20. The 20% non-U.S. membership in QuestionPoint is about equal to the 20-22% average non-U.S. participation since 2002. We have had no new countries join since Serbia.
QuestionPoint Statistics for October 2010
54,111 Questions received via E-mail and Text Messages
58,818 Chat sessions requested
15,285 Chat sessions requested via Qwidget
55,888 Chat sessions accepted
13,747 Chat sessions requested at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries
1,169 Sessions requested after hours at non-24/7 Reference Cooperative libraries
82 Most concurrent chat sessions (up from 70 last month)
30 Average concurrent chat sessions (up from 25 last month)
24/7 Reference Cooperative Statistics
64.8% Overall “Answering Percentage” (Cooperative libraries picked up 64.8% of all chat sessions, and Back Up staff picked up 31.6%)
19,819 Academic sessions requested; Coop members answered 12,632 (64%)
25,252 Public sessions requested; Coop members answered 16,563 (66%)
1,789 Sessions Abandoned (Patron disconnected before librarian picked up, may include some practice sessions)
October Questions of Note
A somewhat timely question submitted to the New York Public Library, was answered in the usual comprehensive manner of that library. We have paraphrased the answer. To see the complete answer, search for record # 201955 in the KB module, or search for "marijuana" from the search box on this blog page.
Q: How much does the government spend on fighting marijuana? [The questioner did not specify whether this meant fighting the illegal use of marijuana or its growth in the U.S.]
A: The United States Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration offers a fact sheet titled "Drug control spending is a minor portion of the U.S. budget. Compared to the social costs of drug abuse and addiction, government spending on drug control is minimal.":
http://www.justice.gov/dea//demand/speakout/05so.htm
"... in 2002, the amount of money spent by the federal government on drug control was less than $19 billion in its entirety. And unlike critics of American drug policy would have you believe, all of those funds did not go to enforcement policy only. Those funds were used for treatment, education and prevention, as well as enforcement. Within that budget, the amount of money Congress appropriated for the Drug Enforcement Administration was roughly $1.6 billion, a sum that the Defense Department runs through about every day-and-a-half or two days. ...
In the year 2000, drug abuse cost American society an estimated $160 billion. More important were the concrete losses that are imperfectly symbolized by those billions of dollars—the destruction of lives, the damage of addiction, fatalities from car accidents, illness, and lost opportunities and dreams. ..."
The Drug Policy Alliance ("... the nation's leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war that are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights ...") offers a number of fact sheets, including this 2002 "Economic Consequences of the War on Drugs". While it doesn't offer a number specifically for marijuana, it does give a general number for the cost of controlling drugs:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/economiccons/f
act_economic.cfm
"How much does the drug war cost American taxpayers?
$40 billion per year and climbing. In 2000, the National Drug Control budget exceeds $18 billion(1) and the states will spend upwards of $20 billion more.(2) This is a dramatic increase since 1980, when federal spending was roughly $1 billion and state spending just a few times that.(3) Between FY1991 and FY2000 more than $140 billion(4) has been spent at the federal level to curtail drug abuse ..."
Another interesting and potentially useful question-answer for all of us came from the Ask Scotland service. It was answered by the Midlothian Council Library Service:
Q: What makes Scotch Whiskey scotch?
A: Scotch Whisky (as opposed to Irish whiskey, for example) is defined by law thus in the Scotch Whisky Act 1988 and The Scotch Whisky Order 1990:
Scotch whisky is whisky:
(a) Which has been produced at a distillery in Scotland from water and malted barley (to which only whole grains of other cereals may be added)all of which have been processed at that distillery into a mash; converted to a fermentable substrate only by endogenous enzyme systems; and fermented only by the addition of yeast.
(b) Which has been distilled at an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 94.8% so that the distillate has an aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production.
(c) Which has been matured in an excise warehouse in Scotland in oak casks of a capacity not exceeding 700 litres, the period of that maturation being not less than three years.
(d) Which retains the colour, aroma and taste derived from the raw materials used in, and the method of, its production and maturation, and to which no substance other than water and spirit caramel has been added.
In October, the French contributors nearly outdid the English-language contributors (61 French records to 87 English ones). Here's an example:
Q: Méthode pour apprendre a parler à mon perroquet? [How can I learn to speak to my parrot?]
A: Voici quelques titres d'ouvrages trouvés sur le catalogue de la Bpi
Auteur : Finbert, Elian-J.
Titre : Les perroquets vous parlent... /
Éditeur : 1965
Auteur : Darchen, Bernadette
Titre : Le jaco ou gris d'Afrique : le plus célèbre des perroquets parleurs /
Éditeur : Paris : Bornemann, 1985
Auteur : Gismondi, Elisabeth
Titre : Grand livre des perruches et des perroquets /
Éditeur : Paris : De Vecchi, 1993
A partir de la page du site indiqué ci-dessous quelques titres d'ouvrages plus récents :
http://www.perroquet-perroquets.com/
-Jouer avec son perroquet
Socialisation et apprentissage par le jeu
Johanne Vaillancourt, 2010
536 pages
ISBN-13 978-2-923426-45-7
Jouer, c'est du sérieux ! Les processus reliés à l'apprentissage et au jeu s'entremêlent les uns aux autres : le jeu comporte inévitablement des notions d'apprentissage et celui-ci inclut des éléments de jeu. Ainsi, lorsqu'il joue, le perroquet acquiert des connaissances en combinant des idées avec des expériences, et ces expériences font partie intégrante de ce qu'on appelle la socialisation.
-La tripolarité comportementale du perroquet
Johanne Vaillancourt, 2005
138 pages
ISBN 2-923426-02-9
Pourquoi les perroquets semblent-ils "vivre à l’envers" de nos autres animaux domestiques? Pourquoi crient-ils si fort, ou pire, pour quelle raison ces animaux de compagnie, pourtant reconnus pour leur intelligence, résistent-ils à notre autorité et nous mordent-ils pour nous le démontrer? Se pourrait-il qu’il y ait quelque chose qui nous échappe? L’auteure analyse avec le lecteur l’univers intérieur des perroquets.
-Le perroquet, touchers et manipulations
Johanne Vaillancourt, 2006
232 pages
ISBN 2-923426-33-9
Pourquoi certains touchers qui nous semblent si naturels avec nos animaux domestiques ne sont-ils pas du tout perçus par les perroquets comme étant affectueux, ni même amicaux ? L'auteure nous emmène dans le monde du toucher comme forme de communication en nous guidant à travers les attitudes innées de nos perroquets et en nous aidant à ajuster nos propres comportements afin de nous éviter de tomber dans le redoutable piège des messages déformés. Le toucher est l'un des plus précieux assistant à la création de liens affectifs; nous découvrirons dans ces pages la façon dont il faut nous y prendre pour séduire cet animal: comment développer sa confiance, les gestes à poser ainsi que ceux à éviter.
Pour localiser ces ouvrages , veuillez cliquer sur l'adresse :
http://www.sudoc.abes.fr/
Site à consulter également :
http://www.perroquet.net/passion_perroquets.html
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