Looking for the Answers to Life’s Nagging Questions?

Sometimes the CPCC librarians get so caught up in helping students, faculty and the public find answers (and we love it!) that we don’t have the time to look into the many of the unanswered questions that swim around in our own heads. Then we found a website called Straight Dope, run by Cecil Adams, “The World’s Smartest Human Being”. Cecil has been “fighting ignorance” since 1973 by exhaustively researching readers' questions and providing well thought out and entertaining answers. His column has been syndicated in many papers across the nation.

So, what would we like to know?

Why do hot dogs come 10 per pack, while hot dog buns are 8 to a pack?

Why do the British drive on the left side of the road?

Can soap ever get dirty?

Got a question? Before you ask Cecil, give us a try. Your friendly CPCC librarians are here to help you at your local campus library or by phone, email, and our online chat service.

Attack of the 50 Ft. Hoaxes

Ever found yourself desperate for any information you can get on a topic, but the library is closed, and the paper is due in hours? What do most people do? They use their friendly internet search engine.

This is not necessarily the desperate information seeker’s best option. The open internet is a great outlet to find some of the most random and obscure things one can think of, but there is no quality control. Many times, you don’t know if the information you are looking at was written by an expert or just some guy. Take a look at just these couple questionable internet sites and see if you can tell if they are for real.

BuyDehydratedWater.com – Isn't that called air?

TheDogIsland.com – Where dogs go to roam free…

Feline Reactions to Bearded Men – Is this a hoax or not?

By searching one of CPCC’s trusty databases you can be sure to get quality information from trusted sources. All you need is your SNAP ID. Try Academic Search Premier to search over 3,600 magazines and academic journals – many with full articles. Need a book after hours? Try NetLibrary for access to over 22,000 books online!