People Are Asking!

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Current Questions


March 16th, 2010 - Dear Librarian: According to the Mayan calendar, why will the world end in 2012?.

  • The 2012 Doomsday prediction is said to be the belief that apocalyptic or transformative events will take place on December 21, 2012. This date is said to be the culmination of the 5,125 year-long Mayan Long Count Calendar. This calendar counts down from a mythical creation date in the Mayan culture (August 11, 3114 BCE on the Gregorian calendar). Each â€ÂÂœday” according to this calendar is like a countdown to the end of the calendar. But whereas the Gregorian calendar is cyclical (ending on December 31 and then beginning again on January 1), the Mayan Long Count Calendar simply ends on December 21, 2012. Still, this date is a day unlike any other in the history of the universe. On 12/21/12, the sun will come into galactic alignment, as the sun and the Milky Way will be in perfect alignment in the center of the galaxy. Contrary to popular belief, the Mayans never actually predicted the end of days in 2012. During the Spanish conquest of the Mayans, the invaders destroyed the majority of the religious scriptures and texts dealing with the apocalypse. So what will happen in 2012 is up in the air. There has been no scientific evidence that anything cataclysmic will happen on that date, no matter how much Hollywood likes to speculate. This article was written using information found in "Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path" by David Friedel, and "The Mysterious Maya" by George Stuart. Both titles are available through the Cecil County Public Library system.



    A reader contributed this correction: Today's note in the Cecil Whig about the Mayan calendar contained some incorrect astronomical information. The "People Are Asking" column says: "Still, this date [Dec. 21, 2012] is a day unlike any other in the history of the universe. On 12-21-12, the sun will come into galactic alignment as the sun and the Milky Way will be in perfect alignment in the center of the galaxy."

    This is simply not true. Every year in December, the Sun appears to cross near the center of our Milky Way galaxy, as seen from the Earth. This is just a perspective effect as the Earth orbits the Sun -- the Sun is only 8 light minutes away while the center of the galaxy is 28,000 light years away. In 2012, the Sun will appear closest to the center of our galaxy on Dec. 18, but it is still over 5 degrees of angle on the sky away. So there is no "perfect alignment", and even the best alignment is not on the date you mention. Furthermore, the alignment in 2012 is not any better than that in any other year.

March 23rd, 2010 - Dear Librarian: I have a friend whose grandmother is a champion at "pickleball". I have no idea what this is. Do you?

  • That'™s a new one to me, reader! Although, with a little bit of web searching we can turn up a pretty interesting answer. According to the USA Pickleball Association'™s website, pickleball is a bit like a combination of ping-pong, tennis, and badminton. Instead of being played with shuttle cock, ping-pong, or tennis ball, pickleball has its own special type of ball. A pickleball looks like a wiffleball (plastic, with holes all around its surface) but is made of thicker plastic. The game is played on a badminton court, with the net lowered to 34 inches, and instead of rackets, the players use ping-pong paddles. Each round starts with a serve, which must be underhand and below the waist. The player must be behind the court line, and the ball must travel diagonally across court to the opponent's side. Unique to pickleball is the "œdouble bounce" rule, where the ball must be played off a bounce by both sides before it can be volleyed back and forth (hit in the air, instead of off of a bounce shot). Another thing that defines pickleball is the "œno volley" zone that extends seven feet on both sides in front of the net. Players can'™t volley the ball if their foot (or any part of their person, even clothing!) is inside of it. You score only when you serve, committing any fault, including violating the double bounce, or no volley rules, results in loss of possession or a point for the opposite team, and you must have at least one foot in bounds to play on the ball. If this all seems like a little bit much, you can check on the official rules at: http://www.usapa.org/officialrules/. Pickleball has an interesting origin: it was created in 1963 by a US Congressman from Washington State, Joel Pritchard, as a way to entertain his children. The game got its quirky name from the family cocker spaniel, Pickles, who made a habit of stealing the ball while it was being played. Because of the rules, the game is more about finesse and strategy than raw power or athletics, and it was a hit among Pritchard's friends and family. It quickly spread through Washington State and by 1972 had been copyrighted, and was being played throughout the country. The USA Pickleball Association was founded in 1984, and has been holding tournaments ever since. Does pickleball sound like your kind of game? You can find courts near you at: http://www.usapa.org/ptp/. The historical information for this article was taken from sportsknowhow.com.


March 30th, 2010 - Dear Librarian: Can I search the CCPL catalog for all the CDs in the library system?

  • You can use our online catalog to find any library materials you want, whether you are searching from home or at the library. The key to finding exactly what you want is all in the way you limit your searches.

    First, I would suggest using the "Power Search" option as often as possible. You can find the Power Search button on the main page of the catalog underneath the library options. Power Search allows you to hone your search parameters in very specific ways: author, title, subject, library location, publication year, item category, and others. All these search options may be too specific if you have a particular title in mind, but Power Search comes in handy if you want to browse a list of all the CDs the library owns. Just set the Format option to MUSIC, the Item Type option to Compact Disc, the Location option to CDs, and the Item Cat1 option to CD Music. Then press SEARCH CATALOG to see the list of 2,745 titles available for you to check out from your local branch library.

    The same search technique can be used to browse the full list of titles in our DVD collection: set Item Type to Digital Versatile Disc, set Location to DVD, and set Item Cat1 to DVD-Video. You can even browse the list according to which DVDs are the newest in the system by choosing "New to Old" under the "Sort by" option at the bottom of the search page. If you are looking for a particular movie and you can remember the lead actor's name but not the title of the film, you can use Power Search to find all DVDs featuring that actor by entering the actor's name in the Author search option.

    If you are trying to find out if your branch carries a copy of the newest book by your favorite author, the library catalog can help you. Entering the name of the writer (last name first!) in the field labeled "Author" will give you a list of books that author has written which are available in all the branches in the system. But if you would like to limit your search to only the books available at your home branch, choose your library branch from the pull-down menu labeled "Library." If you would like to find a particular format, such as CD Book or large print edition, use the Power Search again, and under "Location" you can choose â€ÂÂœAudio Books on CD” or â€ÂÂœLarge Print Materials.”

    The â€ÂÂœLocation” option is a great tool for finding books by genre as well. Choose from Mystery, Science Fiction, Western, Non Fiction, Local History, Biography, and many more. You can even use the â€ÂÂœLocation” option to search our collection of books available in Spanish. If you are not sure what you are looking for, check out our Staff Recommendations or fill out a Book Mate survey to have book recommendations unique to your tastes sent to you.


April 6th, 2010 - Dear Librarian: Why do plastic milk jugs have a circular indentation on the side?

  • When I think of engineering I usually imagine vast bridges and towering skyscrapers, so I was surprised to learn that the one-gallon plastic milk jug was also engineered with consideration for cost efficiency, safety and customer expectations. The circular indentation on the side of a milk jug has a part in the design.

    Because milk is both perishable and a great vehicle for disease when not handled properly, we are naturally concerned with how the container looks. Bulging gallons mean "spoiled" in the mind of the buyer so sellers must make sure containers do not bulge due to normal pressure or the stresses of packaging. U.S. Patent 3,708,082 (1973) explains that milk is packaged under partial vacuum pressures that could warp or weaken the thin plastic used in milk jugs. That circular indentation encourages the plastic walls to collapse inward under the pressure preventing bulging. The milk inside also exerts constant outward pressure, and according to the Midwest Dairy Association, the indentation helps give the thin plastic strength.

    Why not use thicker plastic? A thicker container would mean greater cost in materials and shipping; both bad for the environment and the bottom line of producers and consumers.

    While still fairly uniform in the U.S., milk containers are an area of innovation in Europe where new designs seek to reduce cost and ecological impact of packaging and shipping milk. Some solutions include selling milk in bags, and re-designing bottles so they can be stacked without crates. According to a July 1st article from the Chicago Tribune Costco attempted to introduce a stackable bottle in the U.S. This 2008 initiative spanned 189 stores scattered across the nation and projected sizable reductions in shipping costs, labor, and water usage, but consumers found it too hard to pour the milk. False starts aside, the advantages of making a more efficient container are likely to change the shape of our milk gallons. Want to sneak a peek at what the future may hold? Check out British grocery Sainsbury'™s Jugit system, a re-usable jug designed to make using light-weight milk bags easy to use: www.jugit.co.uk. The Swedish boast lightweight Ecolean bags that stand like a pitcher and take up no more space than an envelope at www.ecolean.com.