If you are of a certain age, you may remember calling 411 when you needed to find a phone number. After all it was quick, easy, and best of all free. I guess you can still call 411, but it is no longer gratis. Which probably explains why librarians get so many calls at the reference desk requesting phone numbers (really). When this happens, the site this librarian turns to is
AnyWho.
AnyWho is basically an online phone book that is maintained by AT&T. As long as the person's number isn't unlisted, you should be able to find it. The site also contains yellow pages for business numbers, a link to international "phone books", area codes for the U.S. and Canada, and a reverse look up feature. If you have never used reverse look up, you might want to try it; just because it is that amazing. Well, maybe not
amazing, but it is a cool feature. Let's say someone calls you and you see their number on your caller ID, but no name attached. To find out who this mystery caller is: log on to
AnyWho, click on the reverse look up tab, type the number into the box provided, and click find. If that person has a listed phone number, their identity will be revealed!
I hope you have enjoyed this weeks Librarian Secret. The next time you need a number and don't want to pay the 411 fee, try AnyWho or call your local library. :)
FL
Do you need a copy of a birth certificate, death certificate, marriage license, or certificate of divorce and you don't know how to find it or who to contact? Visit the Center for Disease Control's Where to Write for Vital Records page to find out. Simply click on the state or territory where the event occurred and follow the directions for obtaining the records you need.
People often stop by the Reference Deck to ask what day a particular holiday will occur on. Of course, I can always just check the calendar but sometimes they want more specific information - like what is the holiday about, when did it begin, etc. When asked for this type of information, I usually turn to Infoplease's Holidays in America Web page. The site has fun, historical and traditional facts about the holidays Americans have come to love and celebrate.
Are you planning a trip and want to know how far it is from one destination to another? GEOBYTES offers an easy to use City Distance Tool that will calculate that information for you. Just type in the name of the city of origin in the first search box, and the city of destination in the second search box, and click the next button. You will be directed to a page with different locations that include your cities' names. Select the correct entries for your search and click on find distance. Just for fun, I calculated the distance from San Francisco, California to Rome, Italy. I found out the distance in miles is 6,253. Of course, you can also calculate short distances, for example, the distance in miles between Pasadena, CA and Los Angeles, CA is 11.
When people used to talk about Spam, they were referring to a meat product that came in a can at the local grocery store (it still does, if you're interested). As a young couple, my husband and I ate a lot of it. For those of you who aren't familiar with Spam, it is a cheap version of ham and goes well with Pork 'n Beans! Unfortunately, when you hear the word spam nowadays, it is most likely pertaining to the vast amounts of unwanted emails that show up in inboxes across the country every day. If you have ever wondered if there is a place to report these unwanted emails, the answer is YES.
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