Search your family tree

Interest in genealogy has grown considerably in recent years, spurring some to call genealogy “the fastest growing hobby in North America.” You can now search through billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more through Ancestry Library Edition. This resource is now available as a one-year pilot project through a federal IMLS LSTA grant awarded to the State Library of Ohio. Unlike most of the library’s databases, it is available from on campus only (no remote access). Though of particular interest to genealogists and researchers, Ancestry Library Edition can also be a valuable resource for course projects through its rich trove of primary source documents.

Going abroad? Learn a foreign language with Mango.

With a focus on practical conversation for common situations, Mango teaches basic language skills travelers can use to successfully navigate a new country, seek out authentic cultural experiences, and engage in polite conversation. Mango offers self-paced, online tutorials for all major European languages, plus around 30 others, including Arabic (Levantine), Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Czech, Farsi, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. (Arrr, me hearty... not to mention Pirate!) Plus, there are 15 English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) packages to help foreign language speakers learn English. (Available as a one-year pilot project thanks to a federal IMLS/LSTA grant received by the State Library of Ohio.)

Imagine that!

"Marquis Who's Who" is available now on the A-to-Z list of databases.
I can search by name, town, college, or political affiliation.
I did a search today by occupation for "performance artist" to see if there were any living in the area who might like to visit Oberlin.
I looked up Ray English, our own director of Libraries and arbiter of the eponymous "RAE board." Now I know a lot about him. He has a degree in German and a PhD from the University of North Carolina. He's been the Library Director since I was in the seventh grade. Imagine that.

Marquis Who's Who is known for covering the well-known and those perhaps only locally famous. Anybody can be selected for entry. If you are prominent in your field, Who's Who will find you.
If one is feeling left out, Marquis Who's Who accepts self-nominations.
Submitting your own biographical material means that notables in "Who's Who" update their own entries and keep them current.

If you would like to know Ray's birthday or perhaps something more mundane as Kazuo Ishiguro's employment history (it involves grouse beating), check out
Marquis Who's Who in the A-Z list of databases located on the library homepage.