Day: 17 October 2011

New Zealand Standards online: how to measure up

Colleen2 Comments

Let me introduce library users to Standards New Zealand Online.  Standards are agreed specifications to enhance products and services, improve safety and meet industry best practices. This is a handy electronic resource, as our print copies of standards are presently out-of-bounds. It will be of interest to builders, engineers, electricians and all those responsible for consumer and occupational safety.

This web site enables users to find:

• Standards by industry;
• Standards by law – to find information cited in legislation or regulation;
• Contact details for agencies for confirmation of compliance requirements;
• Why standards are developed, by whom and how.

Of special interest  is an area on the website specifically targeted at  Cantabrians including : “Christchurch Earthquake: Frequently asked questions” and  “Standards New Zealand- assistance for Cantabrians”.

Due to our license agreement you may not download, print out or save standards – they can only be viewed online  at our libraries through the catalogue or at the Source. Despite this, we know this will an incredibly helpful resource for Christchurch – please spread the word.

Find the living and the dead: Biography in Context

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Gale Biography in Context describes the lives of the world’s important and intriguing figures from history, around the world, and across all subject areas.  For example did you know that:

  • Winston Churchill was such a poor student that his father  feared he was intellectually challenged;
  • Anne Boleyn had her head cut off with a sword rather than an axe as a gesture of  ‘mercy’ from her then husband Henry VIII;
  • J K Rowling ‘s book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was rejected by seven  publishers;
  • Whina Cooper is thought to have been the first woman elected president of a rugby union branch in 1947;
  • Barack Obama’s first name means ‘blessing’ in his father’s native Swahili;
  • Lady Ga Ga’s real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Her stage name is from the Queen song Radio Ga-Ga.

Biography in Context gives users the ability to search on names, occupations, nationalities, birthplaces and death places.

Access this and many other fantastic electronic resources  from home with your library card number and PIN, or at our open community libraries through the Source.