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Friday, April 19, 2013

Who Are the Executive Officers of h.h.gregg?

"Who are the executive officers of h.h.gregg?  I also need the phone number and address in order to contact them."  The Newton Falls Public Library staff often gets questions for the contact information for companies from people who wish to express concerns, give positive feedback, or for investment purposes.

We were able to find the list of officers our patron needed at h.h.gregg's investor relations' website.  The address and phone number were located by our staff at www.hoovers.com.

Patrons seeking information about companies or investing are encouraged to examine our online research databases.  Go to our library's homepage, select Library Databases, then Clevnet Databases.  In the Business and Consumer Information section, patrons seeking information of this type will find several useful sources of information including Morningstar Investments. "Morningstar Investment Research Center provides independent, in-depth research and recommendations on 11,000 stocks, 24,000 mutual funds, and 950 exchange traded funds."  There are also a variety of books on investing that can be borrowed from the library, including  Worth It-- Not Worth It? Simple & Profitable Answers to Life's Tough Financial Questions by  Jack Otter and What Would Ben Graham Do Now? A New Value Investing Playbook for A Global Age by Jeffrey Alan Towson. Library patrons may also borrow Forbes, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and Money magazines.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Where is Fzilas Located?


"I am working on tracing my family history.  It seems that each online source of information has different spellings for individual family members.  At EllisIsland.org, I found someone I think may be the person I am looking for.   He came into Ellis Island in the correct year and is approximately the correct age.  I don't recognize the name of the town that was listed on the ship's manifest.  I know the area other family members came from in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but I don't recognize the town of Fzilas.  Can you find where that is located."  The Newton Falls Public Library staff is always willing to get people started on their genealogy searches, and the library has many resources available for them. 

Using the search words "towns in Austria-Hungary" we located The AllGalicia Database.  This site covers vital and historical records from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire province of Galicia.  Fzilas was not listed, but it linked to JewishGen's community search.  We typed in the name of the town and narrowed our search by the pre-WWI country selection Austrian Empire.  Our search was successful.  We found that this town is now known as Puclice, Czech Republic; circa 1900 before WWI it was Pustlitz Bohemia, Austrian Empire.  He will now be able to compare this location with those of other family members to determine if this is the ancestor for which he is looking.

For those doing family trees and searches, a free version of Ancestry.com is available inside the library to our patrons. Patrons can access this by going to the library's homepage, clicking on Ohio Web Library, then choosing Resources, Genealogy, and Ancestry Online - In Library.  While we do not do genealogy, we are always willing to get people started by assisting them in finding sources of information in the library's collection and online.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Does Roy Clark Still Play Guitar?


"I saw Roy Clark recently on television; he only sang and didn't play his guitar. Can you find out why?" The Newton Falls Public Library staff has not recently heard anything about this country performer.

Roy Clark's autobiography, My Life in Spite of Myself, is available to borrow through our Clevnet catalog. While we are sure it is very interesting, the 1994 publication date makes it too old for answering our patron's question.  We also searched the OhioWebLibrary MasterFILE Premier | (EBSCOhost) online database of full text magazine and newspaper articles where we found an illustrated article about his collection of guitars titled Roy's Toys by Kate Callahan, printed originally in Oklahoma Today, Sep/Oct2011, Vol. 61 Issue 5, p46-47. However there was nothing published recently about his health.

We found a great deal of biographical information online which our patron enjoyed viewing, especially some funny photographs of Roy Clark when he appeared on the Beverly Hillbillies television show. We did find a possible explanation as to why he did not play in his television appearance.  Fan reviews on the Ticketmaster website included comments, from 2011 and 2012, which discussed his medical issues and recent back surgery.