Questions to the Answer Squad

I don't know who came up with The Answer Squad as the nickname for reference services.  It is on our business cards, and it is the signature for our e-mail reference service, which I handle most of the time.  It's been a busy week for Answer Squad e-mail reference.  We do what is called "ready reference".  That is, we don't have the time for in-depth research.  I can only give 10-20 minutes to a question.  The more open-ended a question is, the more I will try to just point them to some promising sources or links.

>>> 5/29/2011 12:35 PM >>>

I am trying to find what years - say, from 1950 through the present - were the best for safe, sound home construction. For instance, after Hurricane Andrew it was found that codes for homebuilding were not up to standard. Also for instance, I have a friend who has a house built in the fifties that is very sound, and apparently was built better than homes in the '70s and '80s.
I am trying online, but haven't found a way to make a good search.  Any links or hints would be welcome!

Thanks for your question.  I have done some looking.  The best results I have gotten are some forum discussions, in which the question seems to be debatable.

 The best discussion is at MetaFilter, Modern vs bygone home building techniques .  The search string was "era of solid home construction". 

 Another one is The era of the quality home .  The search string was "era quality home construction". 

I hope this helps.

 >>> 6/2/2011 8:46 PM >>>

Hi, I am a master's student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. In order to complete one of the courses I am taking I need to complete a bibliography of ten titles. The assignment requires that I compile a list of books on any topic. I have chosen the topic of “Cinderella tales from around the world” I need to find ten different Cinderella stories from anywhere around the world. I was hoping that you could help me understand how to write an optimal bibliography. I also need help locating 3 more titles. I have thoroughly searched and have found 7 Cinderella stories from:  the Caribbean, the Dominican, Korea, Persia, Middle Eastern, Egypt, and Mexico. I was hoping that you could help me locate a title from Africa, Europe, Spain, or anywhere else. Thank you so very much for all your help.

Thanks for your question.  While I don't have the time to research for you, I can point you to a couple of things.

 A good way to get started researching a topic is to find an encyclopedia entry that includes a reading list.  The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales has a good entry on Cinderella that mentions a number of versions of the story, with print references for further reading.  Your FSU library will have or be able to get them for you.  We have this book in our reference collection.

On writing bibliographies, see the page at OWL, the Perdue Online Writing Lab, Annotated Bibliographies .

I hope this helps.

>>> 6/7/2011 6:30 PM >>>

Can you find out all (or at least most) the newspapers that printed the old 1944-1946 Wonder Woman comic strip in their papers?  So far I only know that the New York Journal American printed.  What other newspapers printed this comic strip back in 1944-1946?

Thanks for your question.  I am unable to answer your question with the resources at my disposal.  Wonder Woman:  The Complete History, by Les Daniels, says on page fifty that the strip was syndicated by King Features, and made its debut "in papers including the New York Journal-American on May 8, 1944, but a year later she was gone.  According to comic strip historian Bill Blackbeard, the strip simply wasn't picked up by enough important papers, and lacking the distribution, 'it never made money.'"

 Daniels doesn't cite his sources.  Other web results such as the Wikipedia entry on WW simply refer to Daniels.

 You might try sending your question to Andy Mangels at the Wonder Woman Museum, webmaster@wonderwomanmuseum.com .

>>> 6/8/2011 11:35 AM >>>

I am seeking information about women in the workforce, all about their lives and how they became equal to men from 1900 to 1960

Thanks for your question.  The library has plenty of books and information about women in society.  A few titles are:

America's Women:  400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines, by Gail Collins

Born for Liberty:  A History of Women in America, by Sara M. Evans

A Century of Women:  A History of Women in Britain and the United States, by Sheila Rowbotham

The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History

The World Split Open:  How The Modern Women's Movement Changed America, by Ruth Rosen

 These are all in the Sociology section at 305.4.

 Online, you could start at the Resource Center page of The National Women's History Project.