Just the Facts...PLEASE!?!?!

As we delve further into this history-making Presidential race, it's important to ask for the truth from those who seek the public trust. Are we not political consumers? Just as we want to know what nitrates/nitrites are finding their way into our foods, or how well a prospective auto will hold-up on the road, we have just cause to ensure that what we're hearing from the Donkey and Elephant are the real deal. Here are a few sources for uncovering the veracity of what we're hearing:

Factcheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org/). Founded in 1994, the Annenburg Foundation is a non-partisan think-tank based at the University of Pennsylvania that seeks to vet (there's that word again) proclamations and statements made by politicians.

The Washington Post launched a new site in early September called The Fact Checker (www.washingtonpost.com/factchecker) that aims to be "the place to go for impartial refereeing of campaign rhetoric."

Politifact.org (http://www.politifact.org/) is a new site, launched by both the Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times (Fla.). Its a bit spashier than Factcheck.org and The Fact Checker with its 'truth-o-meters.' But, like the others, non-partisan.

For my time, Factcheck.org and Politifact are the more user friendly of the two. My fellow Americans, no matter which side of the aisle you stand, prepare to be appalled.

Love Her or Not So Much...Meet Sarah Palin Through A Number of Sources at Your Local Library

In case you hadn't noticed, a self-described 'pit-bull' jumped through your TV screen last night and into the national consciousness. Sarah Palin, the new Queen of the GOP ball, has arrived; gritted teeth, intense eyes, and fabulously coiffed hair.

She's new - new as the day - and I can assure you that for a while the library will have no books on Mrs. Palin. We do, however, offer alternatives until the biographies (and there will be many) start to roll in.

Biography is the art of collecting the essence of a person and delivering that essence in readable prose, whether long or short. The Sacramento Public Library's compliment of Biographical resources are strong. If you have access to the Internet, you can read many of them that way.

The Biography Resource Center Online and Who's Who in American Politics are subscription databases possessing information on Governor Palin. What else? America's News Magazines is a recent addition to our compliment of electronic periodicals. Search Slate, Time, Newsweek, Foreign Affairs, U.S. News and World Report.

You can also take a look at partisan political items like the Nation and the New Republic by going into SPL's EBSCOHost database. And a foray into political reading wouldn't be complete without a look at Newsbank, which enables one to view the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and Los Angles Times.

To access these options, go to http://www.saclibrary.org/, and choose your "Database/Article Searching." Once locating, then clicking on the desired database/index, enter your library card number and PIN when prompted.

JUST IN: For the next few months, SPL patrons will have access to a trial database called ABC-Clio's Election Resources: http://www.abc-clio.com/page/election/index.html. The database is less geared to names and faces and aligned more to electoral and campaigning processes. After choosing a topic from the tabbed index at the top of the homepage, you'll be prompted to end a username and password. They are:

username: SacLibPatron

password: research

Stay with the Sacramento Public Library over the next few months for updates to our collection regarding this historic Prsidential election.

For a portion of Governor Palin's acceptance speech, click on the image below: