CHAT WITH A GOVERNMENT LIBRARIAN

Have a difficult question about US government information? Now you can chat with a government information librarian from any of nearly twenty institutions. The project is organized through the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The hours are 8 am to 6 pm, Central time, Monday-Thursday and 8 am to 5 pm on Friday. You can also ask questions or for advice by email anytime.

URL: http://131.193.153.128/

DON’T TAKE YOUR ORGANS TO HEAVEN, WE NEED THEM HERE

OrganDonor.gov is the official US government website on organ and tissue donation and transplantation. (At the end of January 2008, there were over 98,000 people on the waiting list. In the first ten months of 2007, there were 23,706 transplants made and 12,031 donors.) There’s information here on how to become a donor, how to get on the transplant list, and health suggestions. From the Department of Health & Human Services.

URL: http://organdonor.gov

WHAT’S IN THAT CLEANSER?

The Household Products Database will tell you exactly what’s in auto products (like brake fluid, de-icer), pesticides, personal care items (antiperspirant, shampoo) arts and crafts (glue, varnish), home office (ink, toner, pens), home items (air freshener, bleach), yard (fertilizer), home maintenance (paint, grout), or pet care items (litter, flea & tick control). You can search by product or ingredient and records include links to similar products and complete MSDS data. I’m not too sure what you get from this database that’s not on product labels, but if you need more information, here it is. It’s from the US National Library of Medicine, so you can rely on its quality.

URL: http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/products.htm