question of the month
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Question of the Month: What’s the difference between ‘medieval’ and ‘middle ages’?
Could you clarify the difference between the “medieval” and “middle ages”? Are they related or do they represent two different time periods? I am writing a paper and I am not sure what to use. I was under the impression that medieval is earlier than middle ages, the year 1000 maybe, and middle ages is closer… Continue reading
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Question of the Month: Baroque music notations
I have two music questions, both having to do with 18th century music notation: 1. Quantz used two slash marks, or something like quotation marks, over some notes. It looks like some kind of accent. What is the name of this mark and what does it mean? 2. in Telemann’s engravings he used a mark like… Continue reading
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October Question of the Month – an irregular series
Hi. I’m starting a preschool business in North Seattle. I need help getting answers to these questions: $ spent in US on private preschools; $ spent locally on private preschools; % growth last year. Also, growth potential, trends in the industry, and my main competitors’ products and pricing. Thank-you for your help! Thank you for… Continue reading
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September Question of the Month – an irregular series
I’m having the dickens of a time finding a definitive answer to the question “what is the largest nature preserve in the world?” I’ve searched the web for hours and find many conflicting claims to the title but nothing with a reputable source. Since you have many resources beyond the Web available I’m hoping you… Continue reading
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August Question of the Month – an irregular series
I’m wondering if you can tell me: what makes a hair stop growing? Why do, say, leg hairs or eyebrows stop growing, but the hair on my head continues to grow? Thank you for your question regarding differential growth rates of human hair types. This is a very interesting question that has been addressed recently in… Continue reading
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July Question of the Month – an irregular series
Thank you for enlisting the help of The Seattle Public Library to identifythe history and use of the “floating shift” typewriter key you saw for sale in the FriendShop at our Central library. I am a librarian in the Business, Science and Technology department and I am happy to provide a little background information on… Continue reading
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May Question of the Month – an irregular series
How can I get a copy of the Seattle newspaper birth announcements for babies born Sept 1st 1967? With your Seattle Public Library card you have unlimited free remote access to our subscription database the Seattle Times Historical Archives. (the link will take you to a page where you will need to input your library… Continue reading
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April Question of the month – an irregular feature
I am interested in a rather obscure topic. Do you have any information about the history of the whalebone corset and the industry of whaling and whale oil? Thank you for your questions regarding whales and whalebone corsets. There are a number of library resources that might be interesting. We have a reference book on… Continue reading
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February Question of the Month – an irregular series
During the French Revolution of 1789-1799, a woman was executed. She was married to a member of the nobility. Her husband was a well known scientist (?), as was she. What was her name? Thank you for your question. The French husband and wife scientific team were Antoine and Marie Lavoisier. Lavoisier, a chemist and physicist, established… Continue reading
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January Question of the Month – an irregular series
I would like to know how long it would have taken to travel by train from Seattle to Boston in 1910. Thank you for your assistance. Thank you for using our Ask a Librarian service with an inquiry about the length of time it would take to travel by train from Seattle to Boston in… Continue reading
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December Question of the Month – an irregular series
The reference librarians at Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we showcase.… Continue reading